Dear Diary, there are more of me's.

“Traveller! Traveller!” one of the kids comes running into the forge, shouting.

Both Aluma and I look up at the interruption in confusion.

“I am here is there something wrong?” I ask.

“A man is looking for you,” the kid says while catching his breath.

I looked even more confused. “Did he say why he was looking for me?”

The kid shakes his head, “No, just said that his name was the Traveller and that he was looking for you.”

I frowned, “So he wants to talk to me because we have the same name.”

“It is a unique name,” Aluma says. “I don’t know anyone else with that name.”

“I guess that is true. I technically only know three others. Ooh wait, did he have blond hair by chance?” I ask the kid

“Yes, he did,” he says, nodding.

“Someone, you know? Aluma asks me with a curious look.

“Someone I heard of cured a plague or something. Want to go head out and meet him? We are mostly done for today.” I ask while looking at Aluma.

“Sure, let's meet the other Traveller. If he is anything like you, this is going to be fun,” she says with a smile.

We leave the forge, a literal cave dug into the mountain. Nobody liked the idea of putting something with that much heat on the wooden scaffolding. So it takes us a while to walk to wherever this other Traveller is. And let's say he is not hard to miss. He has down a table and chairs with a parasol, making it look like we are in some Italian restaurant.

“Hello,” I say, “Where did you get the chairs and table from?”

“Hey there”, the man says with a smile. “I got them from nowhere; care to join me?”

“Yeah, sure you wanted to see me?” I say as Aluma, and I sit down.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Yeah, I wanted to return something to you,” he says, handing me…

“The amulet you found it,” I say in excitement.

“Yes, you better not lose it again.” Traveller says

“I will try my best,” I say as I put it around my neck “So is that the only reason you came here, or did you come here for another reason.”

He smiles before pulling on the chain around his neck. “You know the abacus. It takes you to random places.”

“Abacus, isn’t that an old calculator?” I ask, a bit confused.

“It is. I have one lying around somewhere, but that is not the point. We, travellers, have gotten into the habit of naming things wrongly to see if they have a measurable amount of change.”

“That is a weird thing to do, but how would you measure the change,” I ask, a bit confused.

He looks surprised, “you don’t know yet?”

“Know what?” I ask, even more confused.

“The abacus, where do you think it can travel?” he asks

“Anywhere in space, I guess.”

“You would be corrected, but you are missing a dimension.” He says

“Dimension? What dimension am I missing? I think space encompasses all three of them.”

“You forgot the dimension of time,” he says in a serious tone

“Wait, is this a time machine?” I ask, getting both worried and excited at the same time.

“I mean, kind of; I would not really call it that since I feel like a time machine would work with actual precision instead of putting you down somewhere randomly.”

“I see your point. It is still cool. I wonder when I get to time travel.”

“Is this a good time to mention that these people are the first ones to discover space travel that is actually capable of leaving the solar system. Making them the first pioneers of space.”

“What does that mean?” I ask, a bit confused.

“That we are about 100 million years before you actually get born.”

“Well, that is a lot of time. Wait, do you know when my birthday is?”

“Yes, of course, you told me. In the future. Yeah, that is the only strange thing about time travel; you never really meet people in order.” He says.

“So, is there anything else you can tell me?” I ask expectingly

“Not really. I don’t want to spoil you too much; the only advice I can give you right now is to enjoy the journey. I mean, you can time travel you will get back exactly when you are needed”

“Thanks, that helps a lot,” I say as I feel a metaphorical weight drop off my shoulders. “Can you at least tell me how you got the plate back?”

“Oh, I traded with the creature for a chest full of diamonds.” He says with a smile.

“You talked to the snake?” I ask in surprise.

“That was not a snake. Snakes make for way better company. Don’t you agree?” he says while looking at me.

“I have not spoken to any snakes,” I say with a bit of suspicion.

“Yeah, but you idolise a certain lady using snakes and lightning. Your affection for her should have already started by now,” he says without skipping a beat.

“Hey, that is unfair. I am sure that when I tell you that, I am going to do it in Confidants.”

“No, you were just very drunk that night.” He says with a smile.

“Why? I can even drink,” I say

“Not yet, but you will in the future,”

“I feel like I am at a disadvantage with you. You know a lot about me when I know nothing.”

“Now you know how I felt when we first met.” He says with a smile.

I just shook my head. “Did the future boy at least bring some future food?”

“Sure, what do you want? Nowhere has a pizza oven?”