Parker managed to time jump several more times over the course of a couple days to the others. He’d spent several weeks in his reality. He could feel himself growing stronger and stronger every time. They still worried about what this was doing, but it had to be the only way to say the world. To give them another chance.

They promised Parker that they wouldn’t travel so that he always had the same place to jump back to.

As Parker began jumping further and further back in time, he realized that it was getting harder and harder to convince them that he was actually from the future. The most recent jump he made, he hadn’t been able to convince Caleb and Master Sora. Somehow, no matter how far back he went, Alexis always figured it out. It was like she could just sense it in him or something.

Teleporting also started to come easily to Parker. He could, with near one hundred percent accuracy, teleport to where he wanted. He just wished he could sense cores.

-----

“It’s time you take a little break Parker,” Master Sora suggested. “Your blackouts have improved, but this has to be fatiguing your body.”

“I feel fine,” Parker said through a stifled yawn.

“That may be, but we at least need to do some traveling.”

Parker begrudgingly agreed and they set off again that day. They traveled for a several days with nothing interesting or out of the ordinary happening. Parker managed to squeeze in a few nights where he and Alexis had some alone time. It seemed like Master Sora and Caleb were purposefully giving this time to them, but Parker wasn’t going to complain.

During their travels, Parker kept having some weird sensations at random times. At first, he thought he was sensing cores again, but it felt different than it had before. Alexis tried to convince him that things may just feel different on Earth 2.

“I know things are different,” he explained. “But when I held Hailee’s necklace, it felt just like it had before.”

“But you were holding onto something that helped you connect.”

“That is true. I really wish I still had it,” he groaned.

Alexis squeezed him around the shoulders and pulled him into a hug. “It’s not your fault. You know that.”

“I know,” Parker said. “It would just make this easier.”

-----

The next week went by without event. Parker was itching to get back to his practice, aside from his normal Imperials.

“Will you get some firewood?” Master Sora asked. The three of them looked at him, not knowing who he was talking to.

Caleb stood up. “Yeah, I’ll go get some.”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

As Caleb was walking away, Parker got up and ran after him. “I’ll help ya out.”

Caleb looked at him confused. “What? Am I not capable of this?”

Parker laughed. “You’re fine. Heck, you’re probably more capable than I am, I just wanted to talk to you.”

“What about?” Caleb asked, picking up some sticks that were on the ground.

“When I go back, like back back. Do you want me to focus on going back far enough that I land before your accident?”

Caleb dropped the few sticks he was holding onto. “What?” he asked, eyes growing wide.

“I can make my goal to land before you lost your eye. Is that something you want me to do?”

“I–I mean, if you can, yeah,” Caleb said. Then he shook his head. “But the goal should be just to get back far enough to save Hailee and stop Lara and Warwick.”

Parker nodded slightly. “Okay. I’ll do my best though. I want you to get your vision back. You deserve it.”

They finished gathering wood for the fire and made their way back to the camp. As they approached, they could see Master Sora standing next to Alexis with their backs to them. Something seemed off though, they were extremely stiff, as if there was a threat on the other side.

“What’s wrong?” Parker called out to them. A weird sensation rippled through him. He could sense Alexis’s core, it had to be. It was pulsing rapidly.

Parker ran to her and found out why they were so still. Lara was standing ten feet away on the other side.

“Lara…” Parker stammered. “How—”

“With no help from you,” she interrupted. “I’ve figured it out.”

“But how?” Parker asked.

“Not important.”

“Then why are you hear?” Alexis snapped.

Lara sneered at her, making a face of disgust. “Shut it, girl.” Lara turned her attention back to Parker. “You would think she would’ve learned by now to hold her tongue. What do you see in her?”

“What do you want?” Parker spat at her.

“You know what I need. What I’ve needed all along.”

Parker stared at her, confused. He turned to his friends to see if they could help him but all he received were blank stares. “But… you figured out teleporting… what else could I do?”

Lara stared at him like he was stupid. “What have I asked your help for in the past? This shouldn’t be that complicated.”

Parker laughed. “Well, there was helping you make Earth 2, find Terra, stop Terra, re-learn how to teleport, and I’m sure there’s some that I’m forgetting.”

Lara closed her mouth and grimaced. “Fair enough. I need to find Terra. I can’t sense his core for some reason.”

“What makes you think I would be able to sense him? I can barely sense anyone’s core.”

Caleb made his way over to Alexis and Master Sora. The air was tense as everyone could see Lara getting more and more frustrated.

“You’ve seen him, have you not?” she demanded.

Parker nodded. “That doesn’t mean I can find him though.”

“You’re useless! I need to find him so I can stop him!” she shouted.

“What makes you think we’d help you stop him?” Alexis jumped in. “You’re no better than he is!”

“Shut your mouth!” The wind began to whip around angrily. “He needs to be killed. Because of him, I don’t have my daughter anymore!”

Everyone stood still, not sure what to do or say. “We understand,” Caleb said. He caught his breath for a second. “We lost her too. But the answer wasn’t to murder over half of the world. The answer isn’t to murder the one who took her away. You should be trying to honor her. Live a life that would make her proud. Make her proud to say that she’s your daughter. Instead, you’re living a life that she would hate. She would never support your actions. So, I think I speak for all of us when I say, we will not help you kill Hailee’s father. We want to honor her.” The others all nodded in agreement.

“You dishonor her by not defending,” Lara spat. In the blink of an eye, Lara was gone and they were alone once more.