by Sarah Noffke
Chapter Ninety-Two
Made of something different now, Roya Lane appeared strange in shades of black, white, and grays. That meant the gold coin had worked and they’d traveled back to the reset point.
She released Liv’s hand and looked at the cobbled street. It was daytime, the moment when the reset point had been created by Father Time. He’d warned Sophia not to hang out in the reset point for too long, telling her it could be dangerous. However, for this mission, he’d cleared them to hang out there until midnight.
Something else occurred to Sophia and made her gasp with worry. “We can’t be seen by those in this time period.”
As before, Sophia’s body had color, whereas everything around her appeared like a black and white movie.
Liv smiled triumphantly at her sister. “You think Papa Creola didn’t prepare me for this? There’s a reason you brought Father Time’s diplomat with you on this adventure.”
“Because you have the best jokes?” Sophia asked, relief filling her chest.
“There is that,” Liv agreed. “Also, Papa Creola gave me this.” She held up a key.
“Father Time gave you a key,” Sophia teased. “Here I was worried.”
Liv sighed. “The key gets us into the Fantastical Armory, which is locked on the day of the reset point because Subner was a fae then and was having a dance party.”
Sophia laughed. “Poor guy. I bet he hated that.”
Nodding, Liv said, “He did. Called it his ‘dark age.’ Anyway, inside the Fantastical Armory is an object that will help us to forward the hands of time. When we do, it will speed up today’s event, putting us closer to the hour of midnight when we need to visit the candy shop.”
“Awesome,” Sophia chirped. “I don’t see how that’s going to help me to interact in this realm. Currently we are ghosts and can’t touch anything, and no one can see us. How am I supposed to buy a magical stick of gum?”
The worried expression that briefly crossed Liv’s face concerned Sophia. “As time progresses, we become a part of this realm. Apparently, our appearance will change to reflect that.”
Sophia gave her a skeptical expression. “You mean, we’ll turn to black and white, like everything here?”
Liv nodded.
Knowing this was too easy, Sophia lowered her chin. “What’s the catch?”
“Well, remember how Papa Creola didn’t want you to stick around in the reset point for long?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s because you’ll become a part of this realm,” Liv finished, hesitation in her tone.
“If we’re not careful, we’ll get stuck here, won’t we?”
Liv nodded.
“Great,” Sophia said, realizing she should have known a seemingly straightforward task would turn into a deadly mission. “So once all the color is drained from our appearance, we’re stuck here, aren’t we?”
“Don’t worry.” Liv pulled Sophia toward the end of Roya Lane, where the Fantastical Armory was located. “We just have to time it right. Papa Creola said we should have enough time to get to midnight and go into the candy shop and get what we need before we’re fully black and white.”
“How much is enough time?”
Liv shrugged. “Knowing that man, probably a few minutes.”
Chapter Ninety-Three
“Crack the shutters, will you?” Liv asked when they entered the dusty shop known as the Fantastical Armory. It was a pawn shop of weapons and time-related artifacts, and during the reset point, it didn’t have a lick of electricity, making it difficult to see anything once they entered.
Sophia fumbled around, trying to find the switch for the shutters to open them. When she did, light flooded the old store, which looked very similar to how it did in the present time. Apparently, according to Liv, it had gone through many different appearances, much like Papa Creola and Subner, but also like them, it reverted back to old forms, rotating like the two beings it belonged to.
Scrunching up her nose, Sophia tried to refrain from sneezing from the dust she’d kicked up opening the windows. “I don’t suppose Papa Creola told you what we were looking for?” she asked, scanning the glass cases filled with tons of strange objects.
Liv gave her an annoyed glare over her shoulder. “Yeah, he totally did, all while braiding my hair and sharing with me the secret to life.”
Sophia laughed. “Okay, well, do you have any idea what will make us speed up time so we slowly become a part of this realm without actually becoming stuck here?”
Pulling her chin up to the many swords and archaic weapons lining the wall, Liv shook her head. “I think we can eliminate these. It doesn’t make sense to me that a weapon will move time forward.”
“That makes sense,” Sophia agreed. “And all the armor and other combat-related stuff.”
“Which just leaves…” Liv glanced at the dusty glass cases, “all the time-related artifacts.”
Sophia understood the defeated tone in her sister’s voice. A few hundred items littered the velvet-lined cases. “Well, we know it has to be something that turns time forward, so it’s probably not going to be a stone like that, right?” She indicated a purple gem in the nearest case.
Liv narrowed her eyes, looking at what she was referring to. “Yeah, it won’t be that. That’s what Rudolf used to bring Serena back from the dead. Actually, go ahead and take it and destroy it.”
Sophia laughed, knowing her sister wasn’t serious. They wouldn’t be allowed to do anything that changed future events. That was another rule regarding the reset point and going back in time.
“It won’t be the hand mirror or anything like that,” Liv stated, pointing to another neighboring object.
“Could it be an hourglass?” Sophia indicated a small object filled with sand.
“Good thinking, but I don’t think so,” Liv answered. “We need something that moves us forward on the timeline, and I don’t see how an hourglass could do that since the sand currently sits halfway between the two halves.”
Sophia realized she was right as she regarded the object lying on its side. She studied other objects in the case, trying to work out what could move them forward. Then something occurred to her and her mouth popped open.
“What?” Liv asked, spying the reaction on her sister’s face.
“Well, I think it’s you who taught me the most obvious solutions are usually the best.”
Liv nodded. “Yes, because our father taught me that.”
Well,” Sophia said, tapping the case nearest to her, “I think if we want to move forward in time, but at a very deliberate pace we can control, this would be the right choice.”
Liv leaned forward to see what she was referring to. When she saw it, she smiled. “You’re a genius. Yes, the obvious is probably the correct answer here.”
Chapter Ninety-Four
“Hold on,” Liv said, checking her person.
“What are you doing?” Sophia asked, holding the gold pocket watch in her hand. It made the most sense out of all the objects they had to choose from. To both of their surprise, it was the only watch in the entire shop. One would have thought Father Time’s store of magical objects would have more than one watch.
When Sophia had pointed out her guess of what would speed up time and put them into the realm, Liv was certain she was right. Her reasoning was based on an experience she’d had when she first came into the Fantastical Armory.
Apparently, Papa Creola had made her destroy most of the objects that controlled time, afraid they’d get into the wrong hands. Their mother had been instrumental in rounding up many of the objects, but for Papa Creola, that wasn’t enough. He needed them to be erased from the Earth so they never fell into the wrong hands.
The timeline was a bit wonky, according to Liv. They were way back in the past before their mother was born. So that meant many of the objects in the Fantastical Armory would go missing and spread across the globe, giving Guinevere Beaufont the responsibility to round the
m up one day. Then Liv was going to destroy them.
She explained that she remembered destroying almost all the objects that were in the shop during the reset point. Then she pointed to the gold pocket watch. “But not that one. I’ve never seen that before.”
“Do you think that’s because we use it?” Sophia questioned.
“More likely is that we destroy it,” Liv stated.
Worry sprang to Sophia’s face.
Liv dismissed her with a wave of her hand. “Don’t fret. It’s just a guess. Maybe we trade it to a gnome for gold because we run out of money to buy candy.”
Sophia laughed. “This is sounding like a ridiculous mission.”
Liv agreed with a nod. “Welcome to my world.” After running her eyes over her arms, she looked up. “Okay, I’ve officially said goodbye to my body in case this is the last time I see it in color and we get stuck here.”
With a sigh, Sophia shook her head. “We’re not getting stuck here. We’ll just do what we came here for and get out before it’s too late. Besides, you work for Father Time. He’s not going to let anything happen to you.”
“Right,” Liv drew out the word with a laugh. “You know how many others do his dirty work?”
“No.”
“Just me,” Liv answered. “Coincidence, or is it that I’m the only one left because they all got stuck in the past or died doing his bidding?”
“You’re just the best and the only one he trusts.” Sophia held the pocket watch in her fingers. She gave her sister a tentative look. “Are you ready?”
“Yep, nothing like the present. Or rather, centuries in the past.”
Sucking in a breath, Sophia pressed in one of the knobs on the side of the pocket watch that controlled the minute hand. They figured it was best to start small, although technically they needed to roll the clock forward several hours to get to midnight.
With deliberate precision, Sophia began to move the minute hand forward with the intention of speeding up time. At first, she didn’t know if it was doing anything, but then Liv gasped and she halted, looking up.
“What is it?”
“Look,” Liv said, holding up her hand that had been full of color in a black and white world. The tips of her fingers were now gray.
Without a word, Sophia continued to rotate the knob, her eyes skipping between the watch and her sister’s arm. As she moved the long hand around the face of the watch, the color continued to drain from Liv’s limb.
Glancing down, Sophia realized the same thing was happening to her. She continued, grateful the progress was slow. They needed to get to midnight, while also maintaining a bit of color in their appearance. It was a very fine balancing act. They couldn’t have enough color that they were seen in this realm, but enough to hold onto their timeline. Then once they had what they wanted, they could return to using the gold token.
“Keep going,” Liv encouraged, tugging her sister out onto Roya Lane. “We’ve got to find where this candy shop is going to be located.”
Sophia was careful to steadily move the long hand around the watch as her sister steered her onto Roya Lane, where the sun was setting due to her moving time ahead.
Cautiously, Sophia glanced at her arms. When there was no more sunlight in the sky, her arms were completely black and white.
“Don’t stop,” Liv urged, holding onto her bicep and pulling her down the road.
Sophia did as she was told, disconcerted by her brief glance at Liv. Her sister’s head, shoulders, and arms were black and white. She assumed it was the same for her.
Sophia didn’t know how much of them would remain colorized by the time midnight was upon them, but she hoped it was enough to give them time to get into the store.
A strange glow started to take over the night sky. Curiously, she looked up and found the source of the light. The lunar eclipse was mesmerizing, taking up the sky as the moon rose higher into the sky.
“Soph,” Liv said, a harsh tone to her voice.
“Sorry,” she apologized, returning her attention to the pocket watch and continuing to wind the long hand forward.
“Okay, this should be it,” Liv declared when Sophia realized they had about an hour to midnight.
“Good news,” she stated with excitement, her gaze pinned on the watch in her hand.
“Not really,” Liv grumbled.
Sophia feared there was not much color remaining in them. She glanced down, and to her relief, found her legs were still colored. Only her top half was black and white.
She jerked her head up to look at her sister. “What’s wrong? We have an hour to midnight and halfway to go.”
Liv pointed ahead. “That’s what’s wrong.”
Sophia followed her sister’s finger and her heart sank. They weren’t the only ones waiting to get into the magical candy store at midnight. Of course, others would be lined up to get into the shop that only opened on rare occasions. Currently, the line was snaking down the block.
Sophia groaned. “Can’t we use our positions with the Dragon Elite to cut the line?”
Liv laughed. “Well, the House of Fourteen hasn’t issued me identification. Not to mention they are behind the Great War that will start in a few hours, so excuse me if I don’t want to advertise that I work with them. You, well, you’re with a group that’s about to be erased from the history books for a few centuries. That’s not the biggest issue for you.”
Sophia slumped, knowing exactly what her sister meant. Before Sophia, there hadn’t been a female dragonrider, so if she waltzed up to these magical creatures and explained she was a Dragon Elite, they’d simply laugh in her face. No one would believe a young girl was a dragonrider.
“What are we going to do?” Sophia slowly ticked the minute hand forward, knowing they had to at least get to midnight before the shop opened. As she did, the color continued to leach out of their forms.
“We do what I do best,” Liv said, pulling her sister forward.
“What’s that?” Sophia asked.
“We bullshit our way in there.”
Chapter Ninety-Five
Headlights on the dark road that was Roya Lane illuminated the line that went all the way down the block. It belonged to an apparition Liv had created as she told Sophia to continue to move them forward.
“Won’t the magical creatures wonder what those belong to?” she asked, squinting as she stared at the bright lights.
“That’s the point,” Liv said confidently, stomping for the front of the line. “Step one is to confuse your prey. Step two is to disorient them. Step three is to make them beg for your help.”
“What is that?” a magician at the front of the line asked, holding up his arm to block out the light streaming down the brick road.
“It’s my backup,” Liv declared with confidence, sidling up next to the man.
That they could interact with those in this realm was good news. The watch said they had a minute to midnight, so Sophia had no reason to keep winding the long hand. A quick glance at her form made her heart beat fast. The only color that remained was from the knees down. If the last hour was any indication, it meant they had roughly ten minutes until they had no color left and were stuck in the reset point forever.
“What’s the meaning of this?” the magician at the front of the line asked as Liv stepped in front of him, angling him back. “I’ve been in line for half the day.”
Liv arched an eyebrow at him. “Have you considered getting a life? That’s a lot of time to stand in line to get some lollipops.”
He scoffed at her. “They aren’t just any kinds of lollipops. The ones they sell make my hair grow back.”
Liv nodded, pulling something out of her cloak and flashing it at the man. Sophia recognized it from earlier when she was holding most of the contents from her pockets. It was a Pokémon playing card. “I’m with the Quality Assurance Board for Sugary Treats and Magical Properties, and I’m here to—”
“That’s not a real thing,” the
man argued, and the others in line behind him began to protest as well.
Liv looked casually at Sophia. “It appears this lot wants warts growing on their tongues and who knows what dripping off their you-know-whats.”
Sophia pretended to shiver, following her sister’s lead. “They’ll look as bad as the last group who didn’t let us do our checks.”
“I’m afraid so, Steph,” Liv agreed, nodding and supplying a fake name without hesitation. Glancing back at the man, Liv sighed. “We’re here to run a quick check on this place before you enter. If you don’t want us to, you all can chance buying goodies that do more than you bargained for. We’ve gone ahead and shut down three operations tonight that could have infected hundreds with fatal side effects. We also cleared a dozen stores operating well run and safe establishments.” She held up her hands. “Your call, though. We’re here to protect the public, but if you don’t want us to take the two minutes it requires to check this place out, we’ll rejoin our forces.” She motioned to the headlights on the far side of the road, still giving off a blinding force. “Anyway, if that’s what you want, we’ll be out of your hair…I mean, your baldness.” Liv’s mouth twitched to the side as her eyes darted up to the top of the magician’s bare head.
He thought on this for a moment as an elf came to the front door of the shop and turned the Closed sign to Open.
The magician still seemed unsure, and the bickering behind him made Sophia worry they were going to have to wait in the long line to get into the shop. She looked down and her insides tensed. The color had drained down to her calves.
She elbowed Liv in the ribs and shook her head. “Hey, if they want to get poisoned from sugar contaminated with drenchwood, we have to let them. That’s their choice.”
Liv nodded. “You’re right. I’m just tired of cleaning up what those slugs do to people’s insides.”
“Yeah, go ahead,” the magician said in a rush. “Go do your checks.”