"I didn't do it on purpose," I said. "One moment I was there, the next… I was sitting beside you."

"What were we doing back then?" she asked.

"Don't you mean what will we be doing?" I retorted.

"Zedd," Raiya said, frowning. "As much as it baffles and amazes me that you've gone and traveled back in time, we have serious problems to deal with here. If you've learned anything from the future, now's the time to share."

Raiya had pulled me away from the heated argument between Hilda and Elsa. We were standing in the garden outside while the ladies argued at the top of their voices. Things were looking grim for all of us.

"I may have learned something," I said. "But I'd like you to do one thing for me first."

Raiya crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows. "I'm listening."

"Show me Stalwart," I said.

"Why?" she asked. "Did you meet him? Is he coming after us tomorrow? Was I with you? Did he –"

"Hold your horses!" I interrupted. "I'm not even sure I need to tell you about the future, but he isn't coming."

Raiya sighed in relief. "Then why the sudden interest in him?" she asked.

"Do it," I said, "and I'll tell you. There's just something I have to confirm."

Raiya's lips parted into an appreciative smile. She looked at me as though I'd done something impressive.

"What?" I asked, annoyed.

"I never noticed it until now," she said. "But you look a lot like your mother."

"What's that got to do with anything?" I said. "Will you show me the old man now?"

"Alright, alright," she said. "But you'll have to tell me everything about tomorrow."

"Fine," I said. 'If that'll shut you up,' I finished internally.

'I heard that,' Raiya retorted inside my head.

'How did you –'

I didn't finish the question though. An image of an old man flashed before me. He was wearing navy blue silk kaftan this time. He was standing on a balcony overlooking some steep cliffs. He was staring at the horizon, while sipping from a chalice on a hand ornamented with a precious stones.

He may have looked younger, but he was definitely the old man in my Fragment. It was Dif after all. My grandfather was the man who apparently gifted me the fragment. He was the one who poured all that library of knowledge inside my head. He was the one who asked me to take out Lemien.

The image faded and Raiya came into view soon after.

"Well?" she asked. "Was that to your satisfaction?"

I didn't know how to answer. I didn't know if I should tell her about Dif and my grandfather being the same person either. He was the one who gave me the Fragment after all. He was the one who made sure I survived all along. Why? Why would he manipulate me into doing all this?

"Zedd?" Raiya asked, waving a hand before my wandering eye. "h.e.l.loooo!"

"Y-y-yes," I said, trying to recover.

"So? Why did you ask to see him?" she asked. The way she looked at me though… She looked scared out of her wits.

"I'm not really sure how to tell you this," I said.  

I opened my mouth to speak next but no words came out. The world around me started twisting. The gla.s.s doors leading to the dining hall bent to unnatural angles. The floor beneath my legs became gooey. Then I started sinking. I lost balance and fell to my knees, which in turn started sinking below the soft ground.

I couldn't even fight back. In fact, the more I struggled, the faster I sank. It was like being trapped in quicksand, only I could breathe when I was fully submerged.

I opened my eye to find myself in that blank, infinite s.p.a.ce once more. The fragment of time floated somewhere far ahead of me. It was larger and taller than any mountain I've ever seen.

"h.e.l.lo dear boy," Dif called out from behind me. "I didn't expect you to reach this conclusion so fast."

"You!" I spat at the old man as I turned to meet him.

"Yes, 'Me,'" he answered. "Why don't we skip right to business? Small talk is for dummies after all."

"What do you want from me?" I asked. "Why look for me? Capture me?"

The old man chuckled. "How can I look for you while I'm stuck here?" the old man asked.

"Wh" I said then frowned. "What do you mean stuck?"

"Let's start from the beginning," the old man said. "I am your grandfather, yes. I may have given you this fragment, but it wasn't me who had given it to you. I was already stuck in here, trying to find a way out, when you received the Fragment."

"So who gave me the Fragment then?" I asked.

"Probably me," Stalwart said. "No one would ever think of such a plan, he he!"

"You gave me a fragment where you are a prisoner?" I asked. "I guess that's why they call you mad…"

Stalwart roared in laughter then. He looked exactly like my father, or the other way around. He had this look in his eyes that one only gets from years of experience and winning hard battles.

"Another me gave you a fragment where the 'me' right now is imprisoned," he said. "What's so difficult to understand about that?"

"This doesn't make any sense," I protested.

"You traveled one day in the past Myles," Stalwart retorted. "Are you still telling me you don't believe in the impossible?"

"I do," I said. "But when I traveled back, there was only me. How come there are two of you?"

"I'm not your teacher," Stalwart said. "You'll figure it out one day."

"Why tell me this then?" I asked.

"Well, you were about to tell the witch about the future," he said. "I can't allow that."

"Why?" I asked. Rage started building up inside me. "Poor old grandpa's afraid we might pull one on him?"

"If you tell her, you die," Stalwart said. "And if you die, I go with you. I didn't sit in this empty s.p.a.ce for eons to have you ruin all my plans."

"Pffft!" It was my turn to laugh then. I roared, and let all the rage, anger, and frustration out. "Oh that's rich!" I scoffed. "The great Theolonius Stalwart wants me to keep a secret!"

"Are we all like this?" Stalwart mumbled. "Why did I have to give it to this brat?"

"This brat is your only way to salvation right now old man. Why don't you show a little appreciation for the hard work I'll be doing keeping such a big secret from the world?" I held my chin high. My shoulders were square, and my chest puffed up.

"What hard work?" Stalwart asked. "You only sit there and mope. If it hadn't been for me, you wouldn't even have made it out of the fight against the Church."

"Fair point," I admitted.

"And what about all the knowledge I'd given you? What about the help I provided against the necromancer, or the champion of light?"

"You've made your point old man," I said. "How about you tell me what it is you want from me? And we all go our merry ways?"

"Don't tell anybody that you can travel through time," Stalwart said. "Not even me."

"You?" I said. "I don't have any intentions of meeting you. You're too unstable."

"Be that as it may," Stalwart said. "You cannot escape me. I'm inevitable. You will meet me, and you cannot tell me that I'm in this Fragment."

"What?" I asked. "But you put you in the Fragment, haven't you?"

"It's complicated," Stalwart said. "I'll let you use the fragment to its full potential. I'll even help you learn more about your powers. All I ask in return is that you don't tell anybody about me."

"No, no, and no!" I protested. "I'm not fulfilling your wishes. You want me dead, remember?"

"In my defense, I wanted you captured, not dead," Stalwart said.

"Wanted," I said. "You speak in the past tense. You've already lived through this, haven't you? Are you future Stalwart?"

The old man looked away. That was more than enough for an answer.

"Here's the deal," I said. "I don't know what you're trying to achieve by hiding in a Fragment. I don't even know how you did that, but I'll keep your secret."

"I'm not telling you about the future," Stalwart said.

"I'm not asking about that," I retorted. "Tell me why you want me captured. Do that, and I'll consider keeping your secret."

"Consider? That's not very Stalwarty of you," the old man complained.

"You're a mad wizard. My father was a drunk, my brothers a bunch of ingrates who abandoned us. What do you expect from a Stalwart?" I asked.

"A little sympathy for an old man?" Stalwart asked.

"Nice try," I said. "Now tell me what I need to know. If I feel that you've been truthful, I'll keep your freaking secret."