The Beginning
Aniela lived in a perpetual confusion of déjà vu. Sometimes, her memories overwhelmed her, and sometimes they faded into nothingness, and sometimes they drew nearer, like a recurring dream, until they overtook her and unfolded in the present. It was called precognizance, before-knowing, and for some, it came as visions or as an inexplicable certainty, but for Aniela, it was memory, and her past mingled with her future until the two were all but indistinguishable.
Sometimes, though, she realized in time that her memory was yet to come.
She left suddenly in the middle of winter, when the memory solidified enough for her to be sure. She did that sort of thing, sometimes, disappearing to see to her shipping lines, meet with investors, bargain with the Others. This time, though
