Samone was entertaining some guests from Zaci territory. Dimas was preparing to leave for Qizar. Kiah had left to take care of things at the fort. Tavin was resting after returning from Missa-Sidyn. That gave Imre the quietness he needed to do what he wanted.

He remembered only half listening when Lydia described to him what the artifact could do. At the time, he’d had more important things to worry about. There were only fragments left of that conversation now, after all those years passed with him thinking that he’d never need the knowledge.

Cautiously, he held the orb in his hands and mumbled, “Aclither fifteenth, the Year of Shortcomings.”

There’d been such a long pause before it did anything that he’d feared that it didn’t work. Then two projections appeared in the room; the younger versions of him and the Forgotten Light, giving him the clearest glimpse of her that he’d ever seen since her disappearance.

And for the first time in years, he was able to remember her voice.

“That was pretty fun. And we didn’t need to be the peacekeepers for once… everyone actually got along with each other. Then everything kind of slowly started falling apart from there… Now the farthest I ever go is to Hyasari and back again…”

“I’ll tell you what. Once Dimas comes back, we can all go to the beach. Mother wouldn’t mind taking on a bit of my work for that—I’m sure Elena would help out, too.”

“I’d like that. You can’t take it back now; it’s a promise.”

Imre paid close attention to what would happen next, having the power of foresight. It would show Lydia things that she wasn’t even alive for; maybe it would show him what the Forgotten Light had seen that day. The hope didn’t make it any easier to sit through the bad memory again, however.

She looked towards something he couldn’t see, then was gone before he could process anything else. It moved away from what he already knew to reveal what he had yet to discover… what had truly happened to her.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

She looked scared, saying things he couldn’t hear and addressing someone he couldn’t see. He kept watching for something, anything, that might help in his search, but nothing ever appeared. As far as he was going to be shown, she’d been alone that entire time.

He wasn’t foolish enough to believe that. He didn’t take his eyes off of the projections, praying that something might show up.

“Hasn’t anyone ever told you not to try to uncover what’s lost for good reason?”

Suddenly, he was greeted with a splitting headache. He dropped the orb in surprise, then cursed when he realized what he did.

He’d just lost his one chance of ever knowing the truth of that night.

Gaining a second startled reaction out of him was the door swinging open and Dimas poking his head inside. “I heard glass shatter, are you okay?” Then he paused, seeing the broken orb on the ground. “Isn’t that..?”

Imre nodded slowly. “I thought that, possibly, I could use it to help me figure out what happened to her… and if—if anyone’s with her.”

Dimas took a spot beside him and sighed. “You really think that he’s in the same place she is?”

“How else can we explain it? He’s nowhere to be found in Seothia and he’s definitely not in Qizar. It’s like he walked into the forest and vanished… just like she did.”

“Do you think that, maybe… it’s time to step back up and take a break?”

“Give up,” Imre corrected blankly. “You mean to give up.”

“Come on, you know what I mean. Look at this; you could’ve gotten hurt. I didn’t even know that this was what you were going to do. Had you planned on telling me?”

Silence was his only answer.

“I get that I only understand half of what’s going on,” Dimas mumbled, “but that doesn’t mean I want to be left out. I want to know what you’re getting yourself into. And this? I’m afraid you’re going to get yourself hurt if you keep going like you are now. I’m not trying to make you stop completely—just to walk away for a little while. We can work it out together when I get back, alright?”

“Alright.”

“I’ve got to go.” Dimas gave him a kiss before standing up. “Love you. Try to get some rest while I’m gone. I’ll try to be back as soon as I can.”

“Take your time,” was Imre’s hardly-audible mumble. “Zofie’s probably got a lot to talk about.”

Then Dimas left. Imre spent another minute alone before trying his best to gather the pieces of the orb; he sat them all up in the same general area, promising himself to see if someone could fix it later. He went to his room after that, with nothing left to do and hopes of sleeping off the headache…