Episode 9

Ari sat quietly in her room. Her parents were arguing again. Da didn't want her using magic at all. Ma didn't see what the fuss was all about.

"The only way to prevent the prophecy is to have her magic removed," Da's voice getting louder and louder as the argument continued.

"You will not subject my daughter to such a barbaric practice," Ma screamed back at him.

Ari was scared. She loved her magic. It felt so good when she made the ice grow, and she'd been learning how to control it rather than it taking over when she got emotional. Why did Da think it was so bad?

Ari pulled herself back from the childhood memory. That was not the Thread she'd intended to observe. It was one of the many memories she had of her parents arguing, only this one was the worst because it was the argument where her father had decided to leave for good. She never saw him again after that. As a child, she'd barely understood why, but now? Now she knew it was because of her. Or at least who her father thought she was. The World Weaver. It hadn't been until she'd entered The Abbey of the Four Seasons and took an ancient mythology class that she'd even begun to realize just how deranged her father was, insisting his own daughter was some being from the ancient past reborn and destined to destroy the world. Ari was Winterborn, as the prophecy indicated the World Weaver would be, but thousands of children were born with winter powers each year - if there was going to be a World Weaver, which Ari highly doubted, it could be anyone.

"Where did you go," Sabine asked, interrupting Ari's thoughts.

"I..." Ari was hesitant. She hadn't told Sabine about her childhood, or that her father had left to start a cult dedicated to preventing his own daughter from becoming the great villain of history. "Just lost in some memories for a minute," she said, "nothing important."

"Must have been important enough to occupy you," Sabine said. "You completely zoned out there."

"Just thinking about Sister Tara's mythology lecture is all," Ari said after another pause.

"You're really into that ancient stuff aren't you?" Sabine asked.

"I..." Ari hesitated again. She wanted to tell Sabine. Wanted to let her in. But she didn't know how Sabine would react to the knowledge that people thought Ari was destined to destroy the world.

Sylvie stood at the door to the World Weaver's home. "How do I know I can trust you?" she said

"You can't," the Weaver responded. "But you don't really have a choice. You sought me out. I'm not easy to reach, and yet here you are. You wanted this enough to risk everything. You can't stay here. You'll be dead in a day if you do. You've been a warrior your entire life. Now I'm offering you the chance to be something else. Stay or go, the choice is yours."

Sylvie had known when she came that was the deal. The realm of the World Weaver was not conducive to human life. She'd had to sell all her property in order to buy the teas that would allow her to visit for even a brief time. To stay there without the powers of the Weaver was a death sentence. And to leave was to walk away from everything she'd become. A fresh start. A chance to do it again and get it right.

She walked out the door, and found herself face-to-face with an old, familiar friend.

"Ari!" she said with surprise, and then looked down at her own hands. Where wrinkled and scarred skin had been just moments before, she found herself smooth and unblemished. Young again. It had worked. The Weaver had reinserted her in the timeline, a chance to live her life differently.