“Tomb Removed from Time? I think my parents mentioned something along those lines when I first moved here.” Lori’s brow furrowed and she frowned, trying to recall the details. “Wasn’t it a place where a corrupt man with a time Anomaly would hold kidnap victims for ransom?”
“Most of the fairy tales and kids’ stories passed down here are based in some truth,” Mrs. Carmichael took a seat next to Lori and waved me over to join them. “Especially ones that are popular among the normal world, but I digress. From everything I can gather, I can’t find any proof of human use outside of one instance. In it, an object that could remove an Anomaly was stored. Sadly, I don’t know when that object was first stored there. Our best guess is around two hundred years ago.”
“There’s an object that can take away someone’s Anomaly, and you’re telling us that no one has touched it for two hundred years?” I asked, having trouble believing that.
“No, it’s very possible that it could have been removed, if it ever truly existed at all. In the same way that Zeus may have been a real person with an Anomaly, it’s entirely possible it’s something that has been lost over time. The most that I can discern is that the Tomb itself is likely real, but that is largely meaningless to us. It’s located in a cave in Missouri, and even with a teleporter, it’s just not efficient to hop around and hope to find it."
“Which is why you want us to do it,” Lori said, making sure that Mrs. Carmichael knew it wasn’t a question. “You want us to find the Tomb in one of those caves? Out of how many caves exactly?”
“Again, it’s not the Tomb itself that interests me. The possibility of an item that can remove someone’s Anomaly has never been needed more than it is today. If it is real, we can turn the tide of this nonsense before the governments of the world start trying to round us up like cattle. If you can find it in a gas station, that’d be great.”
“And what if it isn’t real?” Shelly asked, interjecting. “You’re sending my brother and two other people out on a wild goose chase.”
“They’ll have a chance to help each other and learn to work together. In addition, this is one of the safest things I could think of to have them do. If it exists, the Tomb itself might’ve been destroyed by any number of natural events. If the place is more than just legend, it could have been raided long ago. At worst, this will be a bonding field trip for the three of you.”
“You’re not really leaving me with much hope, Mrs. Carmichael...” I trailed off. I was feeling annoyed, since it just seemed like her idea was grasping at straws when we could actually improve our powers in other ways.
“I might not be, but that last bit of hope that you have means that part of you still believes in this entire thing,” she said, standing. “Right now, this is how you three can help the most while we wait for another attack. Yes, this is a shot in the dark. It’s a shot in the dark that might only yield personal benefits for you. I can find other people, so please don’t feel pressured, though I’d love for it to be you three.”
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She was right about me having some hope for the idea. Every logical fiber of my being was screaming that it was a stupid idea. That hunting a fairy tale item that could do something like remove someone’s ability was a complete waste of time. But if we did manage to find it, how great would that be? It could be used to protect billions of innocent people. It could instantly put an end to this stupid “war” McLeod wanted so bad.
“I want to go,” Lori and I both said at the same time. We looked at each other with surprise at first. Relief and happiness came after. Mrs. Carmichael nodded with a smile, apparently sharing the sentiment.
“What if I want to go with him? And what about his schoolwork?” Shelly sure had a way to bring the mood down by reminding me of my academic obligations.
“We can speak to his school and figure something out,” Mrs. Carmichael said while wincing, as if she hadn’t thought about it. “As for you, Ms. Harper, I would like to discuss something with you. Privately, if you would. With the two of you on board, I know Mr. Snow will join you. You three will depart in three days, so rest up and don’t get a change of heart.”
Mrs. Carmichael guided my suspicious sister out of the room and the three of us were left alone. Shaking her head, Lizzy started to get stuff together to cook herself some dinner, while Lori continued to think hard with her brow furrowed. I just went back to the couch and turned my focus back to the TV, finally braving the idea of turning it back on. They had interviews set up in Philadelphia and there were already protestors in the background. Signs calling us freaks, monsters, and calling for our executions were in clear view. It didn’t appear that anyone had any intention of telling the sign holders to put them away. Luckily for my sanity, the sound was muted and there were no subtitles on, so I couldn’t tell what the angry man being interviewed was saying. His eyes sent enough of a message for me.
“Lori, do we have any idea what we’re ourselves into?” I asked, now trying to find something interesting to look at on Lizzy’s ceiling. I heard a disappointed sigh come from behind me.
“I don’t know, man. Really, I’m going to be glad to get out of here for a few days again.” Most of the anger in her voice seemed to have subsided, replaced with a relatable tiredness. “I can’t believe I want to leave again so soon. Just a few months ago, I couldn’t imagine leaving for anything longer than a day. I really hate this, Ethan.”
I wasn’t really sure how to respond or to comfort her. Then again, I didn’t know if she even wanted to be comforted. So instead of saying something that might have made her upset or dampen the feeling in the air even more, I just tried to imagine what the Tomb and the object Mrs. Carmichael wanted might look like. Would it be some grandly designed burial ground fit for royalty, or a hole in a cave that someone just gave a fancy-sounding name? If the object was real, would it even be small enough for us to reasonably carry back home?
“How many myths and legends like the Tomb are there?” I asked, suddenly curious about how many things Mrs. Carmichael might be looking for.
“There are a bunch,” Lori said, getting a little excited. “The entire mythology surrounding Anomalies is kind of nuts. There are some obvious ones that even made out it to the public, like the Salem Witch Trials. Mrs. Carmichael talked about Zeus being someone with powers. That’s a popular theory. Oh yeah, the Giza pyramids? Mostly done with Anomalies, but that bit was scrubbed pretty well. A lot of it was replaced by nonsense like alien visitors coming to help build them.”
“Do you think that there are other people with Anomalies hidden away that would help us?”
“Hidden away? Yes, there are absolutely very powerful people that prefer to keep to themselves.” Lori snorted. “Would they help us? I couldn’t say. They always could, but with how effortlessly McLeod destroyed a major city, I’d be more worried about them joining up with him.”