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***The Time Before***

Celeste… Celeste… Celeste—that ship name was all that went through her mind during the next few days.  Jessie sat cross-legged on the bed in a yellow poke-a-dot dress one of her guards had brought from home as she pondered.  The dress belonged to his daughter when she was younger.  It fit her perfectly, white straps went over her shoulders and the wavy white ends stopped just at her knees.  She looked innocent enough as her mind dealt in very dark and dangerous motives.  The only things in the room keeping the thought of who she really was in mind were the red stains on the floor and wall from the recent murders, and the six-foot five three-hundred pound bodybuilder standing very still and stiff at the doorway, looking towards the bed but at nothing in particular.

She wasn’t sure why, but for some reason that ship was important to her.  Jessie had to get to it, even if she didn’t know how.  But something more interesting had to be discovered first—if Sean was able to show her what was happening millions of miles, or even light-years away, what else could she see.  What else could she do if she drank too much? 

There was a slight fear with her visions holding her back though; there were always things she didn’t want to see.  Before her reincarnation she met with a figure calling himself the Devil several times during these visions.  He threatened her, gave her life, but at the same time could have taken it away just as fast.  He terrified her still and though his contract with her ended upon her death six months ago, she feared he would once again try to broker an unrefusable deal and force her under his wing once more.

She felt that vision she had could lead to more visions, but just as easily could lead her right back to him.  Was it worth the risk? Or should she keep Celeste 1 in the back of her head and plan to never go back.

At this moment she’s been back for over a week, but has not done much outside of the inner circle she created with Sean, the bar, and the gang she’s since indoctrinated into her complete control.  Now, however, it was finally time to set things into motion.  She had to make her reveal big, huge in fact—she wanted everyone to know she’s back and to fear her—but she had to do it in a way that allowed the entire world to see she’s back while preventing the government from snuffing her out.  Sure she had several hundred hardened men brainwashed to follow her every command but if the Redeme forces discovered her existence now she’d be tracked down and killed before anything could happen.

There were several things that needed to occur—movements to secure her reign before the World Order even knew she was back.   First, she had to find and take control of their secret projects: spaceships which were rumored.  Second, she needed to find a way into the government, find someone to use to gain access to all facets at the top tier of the Redeme structure—and this someone couldn’t be someone in the spotlight.  It had to be more subtle than that.  Third, intel claims the Directors grip on the world was not solid, there were several other forces out there biding to take control.  She could use one of these external forces to worm her way into complete control before wiping all resistance out. 

So the plan was basically to take over the World Order and show herself as Earth’s supreme ruler when it was already too late to do anything otherwise.  But now, other than a couple hundred intimidating brutes her chain of influence was next to nothing.  And without Thomas to spread the good word it seemed impossible to build up her network. 

Where should she start?  She had no idea where Redeme was building its spaceships, and without a network of satellites that would be impossible to find.  Slipping her way into the government would be a slow grind—she already had an idea, a way to be seen without being seen, to make herself appear like a haunting rather than an actual person.  Ghosts are never taken seriously.  Then what about the resistances?  She had a few hunches of who they may be, but finding them would be a difficulty almost as hard as finding the spaceship sites.

What this all boiled down to was the need for a spy network.  She knew just the place and just the person.  Getting to him was easy in the past, but she hadn’t seen him for nearly a year now.  The last time she saw him was during her first visit to the President of the United States—before she killed the president.  He appeared, threw some threats—and threw her—then vanished, with her never bothering to see him again.  He had a real name, she was sure of it, but she couldn’t remember it.  Pop was the name she had given him and the one which stuck in her head now.  She remembered him well—a boy, maybe around twenty something with knotted up scars on his throat, arms, and chest.  He always wore t-shirts, kept his hair short, and always had this ‘I’m better than you’ aura around him. 

To get to him was easy, all she had to do was think of a red plastic forest as she jumped—if everything goes right she should teleport some thousand miles, several of these jumps and she should end up in his forest.

She prepared for the journey.  She hadn’t jumped much since she finally gained the ability again and for the most part stayed in her poorly lit bedroom above the bar.  Even after she gained back her full powers she feared the outside and what it had in store for her.  Last time nothing good came from being out there.  For all she knew the same thing could happen if she showed herself prematurely.

She stood up at the foot of the bed, right next to the blood stain left there from earlier.  The bodyguard didn’t move, and he would probably still be there when she got back too.  Just think of a red forest, a forest of plastic, and she should get there eventually. 

She closed her eyes and thought about the forest.  At first nothing happened—the she tried jumping.  She faded away and reappeared, when she opened her eyes all she could see was desert in all directions.  It was working.  She closed her eyes and tried again, desert again, but this time she felt a slight tingling pain in her head—this new body wasn’t used to jumping—it would take time before she adapted to the sensation of moving out of existence for a few short seconds.

She jumped again, jungle and more pain, and again, and again, and again.  By the time she stopped her head was pounding considerably and the temperature had dropped off considerably.  She was getting close, but had to take a break.  Her surroundings were mountains, light snow at the top.  There wasn’t much where she was standing, but there was still a chilly breeze and icy patches on the dirt.

When the head pains subsided she jumped again and ended up at the edge of a massive glacier.  Below was the ocean and out into the distance was more salty water.  She took several deep slow breaths, she would have to prepare for this one, crossing the ocean was always a large series of consecutive jumps, and since her body wasn’t used to the effects it could become quite painful and dangerous. 

She waited and realized once again she’s not wearing the proper attire for this journey.  She should have known better—a trip to the artic would mean bitter cold—what was she thinking to start the journey in a summer dress?  She tried her best to shake off the cold, looked over the ocean, thought about the red forest, and jumped.  She was in the clouds and jumped again, and again, and again.  Still in the air.  One more time and she ended up on ice, her head was pounding again and now she was surrounded by ice and snow.  Strong winds were blowing across her, picking up the snow with it throwing it across the vast frozen tundra.

She shivered—she couldn’t hold it back now.  Her body wasn’t nearly as cold as it was when she was Lilly, so cold weather affected her much more.  Even with the pain from the recent teleports she jumped again, and again—she had to make it to the warmth of plastic forest before she froze to death.  A third time and she could already feel ice from the wind spreading up her arms.  Again, and again—finally she was there. 

But something was different, very different.  There was no warmth—it was just as cold as everywhere else was.  But she could see red, the plastic forest, ice covered the trunks and some of the trees had fallen over.  Broken plastic sticks and branches littered the landscape and most of them had a healthy layer of ice, turning them into red popsicles.

She walked around the ruined forest, stepping lightly over several broken branches as she made her way towards what should have been a dome—but looked more like a perfectly even circle in the center of the plastic forest.  Short smooth waves of snow powdered the flat sphere and red icicle twigs were spread around along the frost, less as it got closer to the center of the circle.  Nothing.  Everything was gone.  Pop was gone, his entire secret base no longer there.  How could he move an entire building?  What happened to his bubble of warmth?

She treaded into the center of the circle, everything was just gone.  Around her in all directions were the remains of his plastic forest, her body shuck violently due to the cold and she noticed she had a hard time to moving her fingers.  It was far too cold, even breathing hurt. She wiggled her toes in the white flats she had on, they did no good at keeping the ice away from her toes. 

This was no good, time to leave.  She jumped but ended at the edge of the broken forest.  She tried again, thinking of leaving, but appeared in the exact same place.  A third time, but ended up in the exact same place.  She even tried thinking of something she could see—maybe a test jump to the center of the empty circle, but she ended up right back at the edge of the forest.  It wasn’t working, then she remembered the shield he put over the place, the one that prevented her from leaving unless he touched her.  But how would she get that touch if he was long gone?  She surveyed the landscape around her; away from the forest remains was a wavy white land of nothing.  She expected warmth, quick help, and a simple return trip home, now she’s faced with freezing to death in minutes.

She turned and started walking away from the forest, dragging her feet in the snow until she could no longer feel her toes.  Death seemed inevitable; death so soon after revival seemed ridiculous.  Then she went back to her visions, this was the exact situation the Devil would be looking for, the exact spot where she was left with death or accepting his help.  No, she wouldn’t let that happen, she wasn’t going to freeze out here.  She continued trudging through the ice; maybe if she got far enough away she could jump.  But she’d only get one shot, if she does it too soon and ended up back at the forest the bitter cold would get her.