“I know you must be exhausted, and I hate to ask this of you two so soon,” Jacob said, sliding the folders he’d just finished explaining in our direction. “However, it must be done before the Winter Solstice Festival in just a few weeks.”
Cove let out a low whistle. “That’s pretty ambitious.”
Jacob’s smile ticked up at the corners. “We won’t have all of the cities connected quite yet. I expect if everything goes well with El Dorado and Agartha joining the Winter Solstice Festival, the others will all join by our Summer Solstice Festival in June.” His eyes hardened. “This is why your mission must be a success.”
“We should be golden.”
Jacob’s smile lost some of its plastic edge. “Take it as a testament to our good work.”
I yawned, my eyes lingering, unfocused, on the pamphlet before me. I’d have to give the mission briefing a thorough re-read later. As it was, even after nearly half a day’s sleep, my eyes burned, and I’d caught myself stumbling more than once.
“Any questions?”
Cove and I both shook our heads.
“Perfect. I trust you two to get this done properly.”
“Of course!”
I nodded my agreement, Jacob’s faith warming my cold chest. With how close the encounters were, I couldn’t help but be struck by the differences between my father and Cove’s. Where my father had focused heavily on criticism, Jacob was free with his encouragement and generally presented criticism non-offensively. Where my father walked around loudly with tense muscles and a scowl, Jacob moved quietly with relaxed joints and fond smiles without being coddling. We were adults, and he treated us both as such.
Cove was buoyant as we left his father’s office, excitement sparking in his eyes. “We’ll go ahead and skip training for the day,” he decided, sidestepping a secretary and shooting a targeted glance in my direction.”We’ll need to rest and pack before we leave.”
I stifled another yawn. “No arguments from me.”
We separated at the entrance. Rather than do as he suggested, I followed the familiar path to the library, slipping down the stairs and into the oldest section on Spaciotemporal magic I could find, hoping my time would prove lucrative. If what I had seen in Zenith Online was a commonly documented phenomenon, Cove would have said something when our experiences differed in Zenith Online. However, plenty of highly regarded scientific advancements were based only on theory, so I was optimistic about my chances. I pulled blurred titles off the shelves and slid them into my inventory, figuring I’d go through them when the letters were legible.
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….If I could find the time.
My desk at home called to me, tempting me with the books in my inventory and experimenting with Zenith Online. I yearned to log back in to find Sinbad and see if I could also speak with him in the game. However, the sting in my eyes and the shaking of my hand stopped me. Whatever I’d done yesterday had almost completely drained me, and with the El Dorado trip tomorrow, I couldn’t afford to waste any more energy. I planned to save the spare magic recovery potions I’d stored in my inventory for emergencies.
Countless ideas and thoughts on what happened and how floated through my brain, scattering like clouds in the wind as I attempted to sort through them. Amid everything, Ani napped peacefully on my side of the couch, and in a petty bout of envy, I nearly dumped him from it. I resided the urge and sat down on the plusher, less-used side. Once I was situated, I pulled everything from my inventory, taking stock of what essentials I’d have access to and what I still needed to add.
They peeked in through the curtains while I worked, the comfortable warmth pulling at my eyelids, dragging them down. The sofa beneath me slowly enveloped me, dragging me down into the realm of sleep.
Tiny pieces of golden dust floated like embers and glittered like stars behind the Flame, reaching up to greet him. A few separated as I approached, little impressions of forgotten smells and tastes spinning to greet me. The ones that danced above my fingertips felt familiar–the pieces of the fragments that had slipped between my fingers.
“Don’t worry. Once you recover enough of a fragment, the rest will be pulled in like magnets.”
The dust scattered, vanishing into the dark. Scared away by the sudden influx of thoughts and feelings from the Flame.
“You need to be more careful. You won’t be of any use if you keep depleting your magic. So, I’ll help you just this once.” A sense of deception carried across with his words.
“Why are you here?”
“To visit you.”
“Why?”
A feeling of exasperation mixed with fondness crept into his presence. “Because you’re stubborn.”
My fingers trailed along the expensive earrings that adorned my ears. The Flame was an enigma. By all accounts, I shouldn’t trust him. He’d already interfered multiple times in our travels, more than I likely knew of. And, for some reason, he needed my magic, in particular, to reach his goals. Yet I found myself incapable of genuine distrust.
That didn’t mean I wasn’t curious.
“You’ll get the answer to all your questions in time.”