WITH ZAN GONE, time was again in Luxley's hands. He resumed his activity prior to his arrival. Or would have if Gatson hadn't invited himself into the room. His finger jolted from his lower end, and he turned to Gatson, sighing. "What do you want?" Luxley said.

"Rude, young master. Rude... I am here to wish you a fair farewell. Considering your attitude, I might rethink my farewell and--" Gatson said.

Luxley hardly listened. Without care for what Gatson was saying, Luxley told him how he would be missed. "You and Maggie are a pain, but I am in my father's graces again. You and your shrew maid couldn't interrupt me now if you tried!"

Gatson, having been taken down a notch since their last encounter, merely said, "For true. You and your so-called 'tutor' are up to no good. Is this truly my problem, though? Not after the verbal lashings your father gave me. If you want to be a disgrace, then so be it. Have fun galivanting about the country, you dollop!"

Tossing to Luxley a tiny box, Luxley knew what it was: a small, customary gift royal tutors were expected to give their pupils at the end of their lessons.

Luxley stashed the box in his desk's drawer and removed his own gift which he tossed to Gatson with the same disregard Gatson had given him. "I hope you like it," Luxley commented.

Snidely making a face, Gatson opened the box in front of Luxley, saying how he "Just couldn't wait" to open it when he got back to his quarters. Luxley took note of his face when he saw the gift.

"Gobsmack-sap earrings? Lovely, boy, just lovely..." Gatson said in a way which sounded, to Luxley, not as though he totally hated the earrings.

Bowing, Gatson took his leave.

Alone again, for the second time, Luxley did not attempt to finish the monkey business he had begun prior to Zan's arrival. He would wait for the night.

In the meantime, the effects of the Medy-Em still in his system, Luxley decided to help the movers pack up the wagons.

Outside, high in the sky, the stars were gleaming. Inside, Luxley knew not of the stars and their burning gases, he only knew of the herb.

By his lonesome once more, Luxley returned to his fort and puffed up a storm. The day's stresses had gotten to him and so he needed quality alone time. Herb, hand, and heart was how Luxley would describe such emergency self-help periods.

"All clean, now," Luxley said, removing his 'waste' from his hands by giving them a thorough wash in one of the castle's cleaning basins.

He looked around his room. It was empty. Most of the furniture remained, sure, but it looked emptier than Luxley had ever seen it. Which made sense, considering he had never left home before now. He was taking with him only a fraction of his childhood's items, but it seemed as though whole continents of his soul vanished from his universe, his bedroom chambers.

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Luxley sat on the edge of his bed. He ruefully looked at where Zan vanished. How is it he can traverse... whatever all this is? Luxley wondered.

His bed was bare except for the essentials. Blanket, pillow; everything Luxley helped carry to one of the wagons. The only item left was the sigil-stone above his bed.

On a whim, Luxley removed from the wall the sigil-stone.

Carefully removing it from the wall, Luxley placed it on his bedspread. An unremarkable thing, he thought. Luxley only wanted to examine the item out of boredom. Having now done so, he lost interest in it and walked to his desk to ruminate on the nature of his trade-to-be.

On his desk Luxley had written the next steps. What he would need to soon achieve if he wanted to be successful in life. He liked keeping tabs on his actions, goals, and what he need to do in order to advance himself. He always had; except now, his ramblings weren't idle dreams.

So far, Luxley had written the steps he needed. Only a few steps so far.

First, he would need to travel to and locate his tutors. He had big plans, so he would need more than one. Gatson had on his behalf, contacted the largest university in the land. He, Luxley, and his father had talked about his educational aspirations and how they would flow into his professional life. The head scribe hammered out a plan of action for Luxley, gave him the locations of tutors to help train him, and bade him forth onto the land.

Which meant, his second point of action: he would study under each tutor and learn all they had to give him.

Thirdly, once he learned their lessons, he would need to build a 'Proof of Knowledge,' and earn his tutor's signature on his diploma scroll. To complete his diploma and 'graduate,' Luxley needed the sign-off of every tutor... and then some. The requirements of his program demanded extra-curricular studies to enhance his core knowledge. Luxley had an idea of how once he left the castle, his life would be non-stop busy.

With so much before him, Luxley felt close to giving a resigned sigh. He held such emotional silliness inside of him, though.

Luxley would have continued to entertain his immediate steps had not something from the corner of his eye catch on his glazed gaze. In the wall Luxley noticed a pattern. Between the stones and the simple shaded difference between the building materials, Luxley saw words.

It was The Cursive...

He had not seen The Cursive since his evening meal with father during Zan's disastrous visit. It had returned. Why? What did it have to say?

He focused his eyes to gleam the words in the pattern. Luxley slowly made out one word, "Sigil."

Sigil? Luxley thought. As in, the sigil-stone on my bed?

Humoring the supernatural occurrence, Luxley returned to his bed and examined the sigil-stone. It's the same, Luxley noted.

But was it? He picked it up and examined it thoroughly. Yes, the same...

Fiddling with the sigil-stone, an old relic of the family which had been around for a long time, Luxley's heart stuttered when the sigil fell and cracked against the floor.

Crap--!

Luxley bent down to gather the pieces. Among the shards, he spotted a glimmering rock he had not seen before. Plucking it from the rubble, Luxley felt the odd stone over in his hand. Palm-sized, it looked rather ordinary. Closer inspection revealed, however, it was anything but when a warm light shone out from inside. Faint carved patterns revealed themselves on its exterior. Luxley had no clue what any of this was or meant.

Turning his neck back to the wall, Luxley sought to see if The Cursive had any additional help for him.

It did not. The word was gone, the plain indent of building material visible as ever.

By himself, then, in his confusing world, Luxley returned his attention to the stone and what it was. "What are you?" he asked it.

Many minutes of investigation later concluded nothing he didn't already know. Which was nothing. The stone was magic, in some way. But how, Luxley could not hope to answer. For the moment, he would keep the rock with him, for now.

Luxley dropped the sigil-stone -- now reduced greatly in size -- into his personal leather backpack. I'll figure you out later, Luxley thought. For the moment, he had his education to plan.