CHAPTER 1: KIRA

Ben fiddled with the shiny metal piece Kevin had placed on the table of his garage. "Can we go to Mr. Smoothie's now?" he asked.

Kevin poked his head out from under his car, his face covered in grease marks. "Gwen's not here yet, and put the Galvan Coiler down. It's not a toy."

Ben stuck his tongue at the retreating head, but put the spring down.

Suddenly, a flash of magenta light came from outside. Ben grinned. "There she is! Hey, cuz." He rushed to greet/drag her into the garage so they could leave. Kevin pushed himself from under the car and stood to follow. "Gwen?" he called.

He nearly collided with a stock-still Ben. "Hey-"

"I don't think this is Gwen..." Ben interrupted.

The orb of mana hovering before them bathed their forms, blinding them momentarily. Then, they stood before a gray stone etched with magenta and black scrawling. It twisted into an hourglass shape with a gold band in the middle, with faintly glowed with power. Kevin was more concerned with his girlfriend, who was slowly getting off the floor, holding her head. "Gwen!" He rushed to her side.

"Kevin?" Gwen Tennyson moaned, her eyes still glowing with magenta magic. "You were summoned here, too?"

"You mean, you didn't bring us here?" Ben frowned.

"No... That spell's way too advanced for me... Even with all the extra study time. I think it was a-"

"Time Recovery Spell." answered a new voice.

All three pairs of eyes turned to the source, a familiar figure in the shadows. "Charmcaster!" Kevin and Ben snarled.

"Hope." Gwen said in unison.

The figure moved into the light, and crossed her arms over her chest. "Not quite," smirked the teenaged girl.

She stood at least Gwen's height, her long brown hair liberally tipped with snow white, brushing her waist. Gwen noticed that while her clothes looked like Charmcaster's, they were different. She wore a hooded sleeveless magenta jacket with tails, and a black one sleeved shirt underneath. She wore skinny jeans, black, and finished with seamless dark brown riding boots. Under her eye which they could see, was a magic insignia for insight.

"Who are you then, if not Charmcaster? Her sidekick?" growled Kevin, already absorbing the ground.

"Her apprentice." quipped the girl. "The name is-"

"Kyrie you did it!" called a little boy's voice. "They're here, they're he- AH!"

"Kyrie" turned to catch the young boy sailing through the air by the middle and set him right on the ground. "I told you to watch him, Devin!" she snapped into the shadows.

A moment later, another boy, this one older landed solidly beside the other boy, crouched, before standing to full height.

"Who are you kids?" Gwen questioned.

"Kyrie" turned to glare at the duo of boys with her familiar green eyes. "Like I was saying... I'm Kira. This-" she gestured to the energetic boy with the messy cut brown hair. "is Ken." She gestured to the taller boy, who had mullet cut black hair. "That's Devin."

"And why did you summon us?" Kevin demanded to know.

"To save our family. To save my time; your future." Kira answered empathically. "To save my twin brother, BJ Tennyson."

XXXX

Kira felt woozy, mostly from the loss of mana in the spell. Charmcaster had been right, time spells were especially draining.

"Kira?" Ken frowned, peering up at her. He was the picture of BJ when he was younger, and just as cocky.

"So Ben married Charmcaster?" Kevin Levin stated.

"What? Never... She's obviously lying." Ben defended.

"Charmcaster is my mentor for magic, not my mom." Kira hissed at the two lug heads. They were the Earth's greatest defenders? Maturity really was slow with boys...

"Okay... If you are my daughter, then who are they?" Ben asked, pointing out Ken and Devin.

"Ken is your youngest son." Kira clarified. Ken brandished his Omnitrix and grinned. "He's still in training for that."

"And the punk?" Ben asked.

"I'm not a punk, Uncle Ben." Devin taunted. "I'm a Plumber in training."

She rolled her eyes. "In two years, Devin. Not until you're thirteen."

"He's my son?" Gwen gaped.

"And Kevin's." supplied Ken. He fiddled with the Omnitrix, accidentally turning into Ditto.

Kira slipped off her fingerless gloves and slapped the symbol on his forehead. In a flash of green light, Ken was back. "Stop changing like that."

"Told you to confiscate it. He's gonna get us caught!" Devin grumbled.

"No I'm not!" the eight year old pouted.

"How is transforming going to get you caught?" Gwen asked.

Kira frowned and looked around. "Not here. In Ledgerdomain."

Concentrating hard, she transported all of them to the Door to Anywhere. Standing before it, she sent her mind into the Heart of Ledgerdomain. "I speak the name H ."

The door opened and she ushered them all in. Stepping inside herself, she sighed in relief as mana returned to her in waves. A heady but welcome rush, she twirled around, a satisfied smile settling on her face. "That's so much better..."

"This place as really changed..." Gwen awed.

Kira nodded. "Charmcaster revitalized it, took some human concepts and instituted some design changes with the Alpha Rune. I mostly live in the palace, studying in the library but-"

"Wait, you live in the palace?" Ben parroted. "My future daughter lives with Charmcaster?"

"Its an interning thing, nothing permanent." Kira assured him. "Me and a few of the other students live here for two years, studying with the Great Mages. Aunt Gwen helps Earth-born Annodites choose either the mother planet or learning here." She sobered some. "But I didn't bring you here for a sneak peek into your career paths. K asks you here to save us. C'mon, Bo's waiting at the palace."

"Who's Bo?" the trio of time travelers pondered.