-Well. I’d love to talk like that for yet another day, but I feel like we should finally move out - I said, standing up.

-Why? Is this place not safe? - asked For.

-It’s not really a safety problem… I’d just prefer progressing our search a bit. Sitting here is not going to accomplish anything.

-Okay… but where would we even start? Do you have any ideas? We don’t really have any leads… - asked Kon.

-If we don’t we have to find them ourselves - I simply said. - We go to the place we saw him. Or, well, you saw him, Il.

-But… if what you think is correct… It's been ten years since then! There’s no point…

-We have to start somewhere. Do you have any better ideas? Or you’d rather sit here by yourself… Well, not yourself anymore…

She shuddered.

I think she forgot about the piece of me still merged with her.

-To come back to the capital… I never thought we’d go back there… - mumbled Kon as we were preparing to leave the house.

-Oh, no - I immediately corrected him. - I didn’t mean Arbo. I mean, sure it was the last place he’s been at, but that’s already done and destroyed. There’s not much to find there.

-So where? That small island? With the barrier?

-That’s the first destination.

-I thought there wasn’t anything there…

-It seemed like this - I agreed. - But since then we have learned a lot more. With all of us combined, maybe we’ll be able to find something more.

-I feel like we’re grasping at straws here - pointed out For.

-And do you have a better idea?

-...

-I thought so.

But, despite that, she was absolutely right.

I doubted that we’d find anything interesting there, butI had nothing else to go off of.

Plus, I didn’t want to sit in the house that belonged to Melle… it was not healthy for Il.

Speaking of.

So far, the wooden Il was mostly silent. She was constantly trying to create different things, playing with the abilities of the house.

I thought he’d stop herself, but I guess old habits die hard: she still loved tinkering with magic. And having a toy like that was a dream for her.

I even would be inclined to leave her to it: after all, having a base of operations would be helpful to us, but I started noticing… worrying signs.

The more she was playing with the magic of the house, I started seeing changes in her own mana.

I am not sure what exactly brought the change, but I was able to tell the different types of mana more and more, and thanks to that I was able to tell that her magic was slowly being melded into the fabric of the house, and vice versa.

It looked eerily similar to what the “assimilation” of the Origin Crystal looked like.

If that was not enough, her silence was also worrying.

While I do understand, talking with your mind can get annoying and you want to take a break once in a while, it still seemed strange.

Especially when you consider the fact that in front of her was her daughter. And she was ignoring her, playing with magic.

When I said we should leave, I imagined she’d be protesting.

But she was more responsive than I thought.

I guess she wasn’t “addicted”. Yet.

It took us maybe fifteen minutes before we left the house.

It also immediately presented us with a first question.

-Say, Il… or someone else for that matter… Can you “close” this house?

-Close?

-I mean, when we came here you awakened this thing and turned the tree into this place. You think it’s possible to do something like that in reverse?

She paused, considering my words.

True, it was an ability that she barely got, and yet she’s been non-stop practicing it. A bit consciously, a bit not.

But what I was asking was definitely going far beyond just conjuring a chair.

Honestly, it didn’t matter if she’d be unable to do something like that, but it was a good test to check how much she managed to learn.

-Let me see…

She stepped up and touched the wall of the house.

For a good while, nothing was happening. Nor was I really feeling any change in either of them

-You don’t…

But I didn’t get to finish.

Her form suddenly lit up with magic, sending a spike of mana towards the house.

The house shuddered.

And slowly, just like I remembered with Melle, it started creaking and moving, melding itself to again form a tree.

The same with the garden. Sure, it was not like before, it was a stretch to call it a garden: it was just a bush or two near the side of the house, but not wit started spreading itself further and further away.

In a moment, we were standing in the shadow of a large tree and knee-deep in a grassy bush.

The clearing was no longer discernible at all.

-Wow. That’s effective - I said, taking in the change.

-It worked even better than I thought it would… it was so easy… - she admitted, stepping back.

Ilma, standing behind me, was trying to look indifferent, but was barely able to hold it together. It was clear that this show of magic took her by surprise, and that’s an understatement.

Same with For and Kon. They were looking wide-eyed at the spectacle that just unfurled in front of them.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Can’t blame them. That was some nice magic.

It also was a good indication that whatever was the reason they were able to manipulate this place, at least Il had full control over it.

Hell, she didn’t even use much mana. Sure, the sudden burst of energy at first looked intimidating, but it was just it: one payment at the start.

-Well, if we’re done here, let’s step back a bit and move on. Kon, you’ve got what I asked for?

He nodded and presented me with a small wooden figurine in the shape of a horse.

It was one of the items that they created while “experimenting” with the power to influence that house, a small toy.

-Good. That’s going to be an anchor if we need to go back. Now then…

-I still don’t think it’s a good idea… - interrupted me For. - I mean… We know that this magic is flawed… and we’re going to use it anyway?

-How else are we going to confirm our suspicions then, hm?

The idea was simple.

We didn’t have any anchors that would get us to that island any more, so we decided… or rather I decided that we can kill two birds with one stone: get there by using teleportation magic Ilma was using before.

As For pointed out, it was risky. Or, well, “risky” is not a good way to put it…

Sure, we were risking some strange time dilations. But, according to her, it was the only thing that was wrong with that spell. And considering the fact that none of us particularly cared about lost time, it was the perfect way to test it.

At first, the idea was to leave someone behind, to directly check the time difference after we portal back, but that idea got tossed away almost instantly.

Sure, that would be great, and since we had not really been bothered by aging any more, it would work flawlessly.

We would be leaving someone here to wait for an indefinite amount of time, though. A task that no one was willing to do.

Sure, I could. I even volunteered, but For immediately told me that me staying is not something she can agree to.

She was not trusting either of Ils, and having them both with her would be “stupid and dangerously irresponsible”.

That’s why we went with a bit more complicated, but still viable method.

As I confirmed that everyone was ready, including Il, who was about to teleport us to our destination, I stepped towards one of the trees that was not the masked house.

-Let me see…

I focused a fistful of mana and punched it right into the trunk.

-Vsinqo.

Removing my fist, I looked closer.

It worked. I managed to bind a rather large amount of mana to a place I punched. Now just to…

-Nemjimohot mocisohu.

As I spoke the words, the mana that was just there started leaking. Just like a pierced balloon, it started shrinking, albeit a lot more slowly.

-Good. We are set, the timer is ready. It would’ve been a lot easier and simpler if one of you would stay behind… - I added eyeing For and Kon.

They did not reply.

-Okay. We are ready. Do you need something to transport us? - I asked Il, looking questioningly. - I am not sure how your magic works.

-It’s not really mine… - she admitted. - But no. Just come here.

We all gathered in arm’s reach and she raised her hands, focusing.

I didn’t hear any incantation, nor really did I feel any mana being manipulated, but it definitely worked, because the moment later we already weren’t in the forest.

The shift was so sudden and surprising, that I had a hard time understanding what happened.

I thought that there'd be some kind of an effect. I don’t know, I’d feel something or anything else, really.

But nothing happened. It was just like a jumpcut, and a rough one at that: no transition, no nothing. One instant was me looking at the tree I just implanted my timer into, the next one I was staring at the roaring sea, standing on a familiar rocky outcropping.

-Holy shit, that’s a spell and a half… - I finally yelped, realizing what just happened to me. - How the hell does that even work?

She just shrugged.

-I don’t know. I am not the one who made this spell.

-And who was that?

She hesitated for a moment, not sure if she wanted to tell me.

-It was my mother.

I eyed Iloa next to me, who just gave me an indifferent look.

-No, not her - she said, noticing my look. - I meant… the stepmother, I guess…

-Wait. Melle taught you? She managed to create something like that?

-I don’t know what to tell you - she said, shrugging.

-Well, it seems a bit out of her league… or at least I thought so… - I mumbled. - To create something like that…

-You sure it wasn’t just inherited by her? - asked For. - I know many spells that have been passed down like that…

-I don’t know - she admitted. - But if you are telling the truth, who would she be inheriting that from? You were the pinnacle of magic in your world before, and here only other person who’d be capable of doing something like this would be one of MIRE…

-Well, that’s definitely not me - I said. - And not Mike.

-Why? He had a lot of time. And resources. Why not? - asked For.

-Because, if that was the case, he wouldn’t be using portal magic to travel - pointed out Kon.

-Actually… that might not be the case - I said after a moment of thought.

-What?

-I mean… as far as we know, this spell has a flaw: the travel time is not consistent.

-It is consistent, it just gets longer with distance - protested Il.

-So where did those ten years come from? - I asked.

-...

-Exactly. We don’t know. And Axelrod wouldn’t just risk this spell for casual travel. So it is safe to assume it is possible that he knew of it, but just didn’t want to use it.

-He’s smarter than us, apparently… - mumbled For.

-That he is. But not because of what you think.

-Mhm…

-I am serious. What, do you have another, better way to transport yourself? Unlike him, we don’t have a stash of anchors.

-Well, we had - she pointed out. - But…

-But it’s gone.

-Not completely… There’s still a bunch left on the island…

-Back in Edge? I guess. But we still would have to get there…

Yeah. We would have to get there first.

And now we had a way to.

-Huh. I guess I figured out our next destination.

-Don’t - said For, knowing what I was thinking. - I am not sure what exactly this spell is, but it’s not safe to portal just like that into the Edge. Remember what happened last time?

-So what? You think I can’t bust some of your “safety protocols” or whatever? Would I even have to do it if you’d be with me?

-I mean…

-Don’t worry. We aren’t going yet. Let’s first check this place.

-Yeah, about that…

Her tone of thought was worrying for some reason…

And the reason was clear the moment I actually took a second to grasp our surroundings.

The island looked… different than what I expected it to.

Sure, there still was a broken tablet and an entrance to a cave there, but the island itself was raised about a meter above the ground.

-Er… are we sure that’s the correct place? - asked Kon, looking down towards the water level.

-What do you mean? - asked Il, looking annoyed. - I know where we are. That’s the place you wanted.

-It definitely doesn’t look like it… - said For, noticing the discrepancies.

-What…?

-Or at least it doesn’t look like it did when we last saw it - I agreed, stepping closer towards the tablet.

I tried reading the shattered pieces, but while the pieces were definitely hard to read, I knew beforehand what was supposed to be written there, and it made it infinitely more possible to do.

Yeah, that was definitely the same spell as last time.

-That is the same spell as on your island, Kon.

-And the entrance is still here - pointed out For.

-I can feel the insides of the cavern… it is still flooded. And empty - said Il, standing right at the entrance.

-Yep. The only problem is this… - said For, pointing towards the sea level.

I was wondering about that…

Something was bothering me.

Sure, this spell definitely was skipping us through time, but… was it really the place we saw in the vision?

Okay, the sea level can be easily explained with a low tide or something like that… but the tablet?

It clearly had its writing be what I expected… but the pieces… weren’t sitting right with me.

I mean, it could just fall apart more and differently than before because of the passage of time, but…

-Let’s check the inside too - I said. - Something’s bothering me.