The trip back to the tower was just as Amie remembered it. It was only her second day going inside the tower. She was still surprised by the crowds heading into the tower. It was different seeing them from a distance when she was just a girl. She had always had the dream of entering the tower on her own merits. It was the dream; her dream. She could still remember her testing. The wizards that had preformed her testing were impressed enough with her spell capacity that her previous master offered her a scholarship on the spot. Master Aloeus was a kindly man. Their first official meeting had gone well. Eric had yet to marry her at that point but thanks to his support she had moved back to the city and he was quick to follow.

She was pulled out of her thoughts as she approached the entrance to the tower. The same male clerk that she had seen before greeted her. They exchanged pleasantries as he stamped her pass. She worked her way to the elevator that would take her to her new master’s office. The ride down felt a little more mundane. The elevator was crowded this time down. Amie had opted to meet Grand Master Sugg at an earlier time. The woman had agreed readily. There was still enough time for Amie to get the short list of reagents that had been required. There were three small steel rods and a few other elemental powders. She had remembered the path to the office and knocked on the door.

“Come in!” said Mirabelle.

Amie opened the door with a slight bit of hesitation.

“Don’t bother knocking in the future,” said Mirabelle.

“I didn’t want to startle you.”

“You forget I’m a diviner,” said with Mirabelle a chuckle.

“I thought divining was a broken school,” Amie remarked.

“I forgot we haven’t had the conversation,” Mirabelle said with a sigh.

“I guess not,” Amie said.

Amie pulled the materials she had purchased earlier in the morning onto Mirabelle’s desk. Mirabelle thanked Amie.

“I hope you were given a receipt,” Mirabelle said.

Amie pulled out a slip of paper. Mirabelle nodded and scribbled a note which was promptly stamped with her seal. She placed both the receipt and note into an envelope.

“Anyway, back to what I was talking about,” Mirabelle said as she fed the envelope into a slot into a wall, “Would you want a demonstration?”

“How would that work?”

“While diviners may no longer be able to peer into the future, we can still see the present.” She said with a grin.

Amie agreed readily.

“Is there anyone you want to see?” Mirabelle asked with a grin.

“Lets watch my husband, Eric,” said Amie.

“Husband? I thought that—” Mirabelle cut herself off, with her eyebrows knitted together.

Mirabelle shook her head, and then directed Amie to draw water from one of the taps. Mirabelle pulled a silvery powder from her desk which she sprinkled into the water as a large cauldron was filled to the brim. Mirabelle sat in front of the cauldron, placing her hands into the water. Amie sat on the opposite side of the cauldron and placed her hands into the water as Mirabelle instructed. Amie could feel something touch her mind as she focused on the cloudy water. It hadn’t taken long for an image to form.

“Oh!” exclaimed Mirabelle, “He is certainly a looker!”

Amie blushed, but didn’t respond. There was a little curiosity as he went along his morning routine. Eric paced their small apartment. He finished a quick breakfast of eggs and bread with jam.

“He told me the jam was gone,” sighed Amie.

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They watched him clean a little and stopped watching when he picked up the week tower pass from the table near the door.

“I don’t understand why divining is considered broken if you can do things like that,” Amie commented.

“State secret,” said Mirabelle with a grin.

—

Omar was happy once again to be among his own people. He had answered each and every question he had. He had managed to tell them portions of what the elves had done in a few of his past loops by passing it off as information that he had gathered by looking at maps as he escaped. For the most part, that was easy. In a few previous loops he had managed to work himself into the guard, but that always had various levels of success. This time he would act alone. He had kept the javelins he made before he had managed to meet Samuel. He met with a blacksmith to make metal tips for each javelin. After he had made his preparations he intended to enjoy living among his people again. He spent the coming week socializing meeting new and old friend for the first time.

The town hadn’t differed from the one in his memories. The buildings that people lived in where all elevated above ground using wooden stilts. Each structure was easy to remove. As one would move deeper into town more permanent structures were built from stone, much like the wall that had circled the town. The wall had been protected by a variety of magics crafted by wizards from the third tower.

The thought of the third tower sent Omar into his memories. Omar had visited all three towers. He much preferred the liveliness of the second tower compared to the third tower. The main difference that he had noticed from the third tower was the reverence that his people held for the structure. It was almost like visiting sacred site whenever he had been forced to visit. The first tower had always been the worst. Many of the world ending scenarios he had stopped all ended at the location. The memory of the burning orb in his hands played once more in his head.

“Omar?” Samuel called.

“I’m in my room,” Omar called back.

The older man walked to the room and opened the door.

“You seem pretty comfortable here,” Samuel said.

“I don’t know, it just feels like home.”

Samuel smiled, “You know, I used to have a son, although he would older than you at this point.”

“A son?” asked Omar as he sat up from his bed.

Samuel changed the subject with skill, “What do you plan to do from here?”

“I haven’t really thought about it to be honest,” replied Omar.

“Would you want to stay here?” asked Samuel.

“If you’ll have me,” answered Omar.

Samuel nodded with a warm smile, “Good, I’ll be back with dinner later.”

With that Samuel left. Omar had never managed to get any information about Samuel’s son before. Samuel was already a father figure. Omar could hardly remember his own family anymore. There had only been the one life time, and their deaths at the hands of the elves. He had lived far longer than he had ever known them. There was a part of Omar that was a little saddened by the thought, but over all he felt the rest of him becoming uncaring. He had witnessed the death of many companions each time he passed through a loop. Samuel was thrilled to have a potential heir for his craft. Having a skilled position in a town was something to strive for. Omar had mastered a few of the basics but had always managed to be pulled away from the town by some crisis or another. For once Omar hoped that he could stay for longer with Samuel.

Omar sighed and pulled himself out of bed. The javelins were still by the door. He had a leather worker make a quiver for the javelins. He had also spent time refining his own weapons. Omar had been a little hesitant to have them in the house, but his concerns were quickly set aside as Omar started bringing butchered boars back every couple of days. Samuel would bring the processed meat to members of his family to cook. He would leave a portion with them to pay for services rendered and he would bring back the remainder to be split between him and Omar.

Omar left the house and climbed down the ladder. He wanted to train a little more to prepare him for what was going to happen. Before he could make it to where he started running his usual route, he saw a group of guards escorting a woman on a stretcher. This was something new. He had never seen this before. He trailed behind them, tying to keep out of view. Her clothes were bloody and her skin had been covered with a variety of light cuts. Could this change have happened because he let the elf live? The buildings had started to change from the wooden variety to the stone. Omar broke off and made his way back home. He wanted to eat, and he also didn’t want to cause Samuel to worry for any reason.

When he arrived home, Samuel had already set out dinner.

“You’re back,” said Samuel.

“I had to run a little before eating,” Omar replied

“You sure like to keep up with your training.”

“It’s something that my father constantly told me.” Omar said.

Samuel nodded as he cut into the meat, preparing a dish for Omar. Omar took the offered plate and added some vegetables from a few of the other bowls.

“Omar, I have a question for you,” said Samuel.

Omar was surprised. Every time Samuel said that phrase he would offer to make Omar his heir. Things were moving far too fast. He was pleased that he wouldn’t have to pretend he didn’t know the trade, but it would be harder to predict future events.

“What would that be?” Omar asked while keeping a neutral expression.

“Would you like to be my heir?” Samuel asked.

Omar nodded. He quickly swallowed his food.

He coughed a bit as some tried to go down the wrong tube and answered, “I would be honored!”