Anachronous

Chapter 4 - Old Father Time

One thing that Vernal was correct about was that Lucian did in fact often miss his daughter's milestones due to his job as an archaeologist. It was now May 13th, the day Lucian would begin his search. As opposed to stopping his search for the Kronos' Hourglass, he now only felt more motivated to continue the search. He followed the instructions on Serafina's map, and after only four grueling days of searching, he successfully found the first, fully intact hourglass at the bottom of an underground tomb. He followed the instructions on the map that would guide him to using the hourglass at the next full moon. 

The date was now May 18th: Ivori's graduation date, when the next cloudy full moon would occur. Lucian had returned home, just in time. He had promised Ivori that he wouldn't miss her graduation, but his plan was that he'd get to do a quick time travel before the ceremony. He wanted to reminisce of the "good old days" when his daughter was a child, before getting to say his final goodbye and return to the present day, ultimately watching his daughter step into the next phase of her life. 

It was time. He was under the full moon, a dark and cloudy night. He removed a picture of nine year old Ivori from his wallet and placed it on the hourglass. He tipped over the hourglass to allow the sand to pour down as he held it up to the full moon. This extracted an energy from the full moon that abruptly pulled him into the cosmos. As his body was floating and moving at an incredibly rapid speed, he saw bits and pieces of memories from each year of Ivori's life going in reverse. It went down a year every five seconds, showing memories of an even younger Ivori and happier Vernal during their marriage, until finally Lucian landed nine years into the past. It was the same date, May 18th, but it was now 2010. Young Ivori was just getting ready to head inside after catching fireflies outside all evening. "Daddy!" She exclaimed. "You're home from work early tonight!" She jumped up and down excitedly. Lucian began to feel tears well up in his eyes. It was a surreal moment for him, getting to witness his daughter as a child once again. He ran up to her and gave her a hug that lasted at least a minute. "Daddy, I can't breath!" Ivori pleaded for him to let go. "You were only gone for the day, what's wrong dad?" Ivori asked, confused. "I had one of the worst days." Lucian responded in a shaky voice, trying hard to hide his tears. "Wait... you have a gray hair on your head! Is that why?" Ivori pointed out. Lucian pulled up his phone camera to look at the reflection of himself compared to the picture of him and his daughter from nine years earlier. Ivori was right. Lucian indeed had fully brown hair at the time of the picture, and looked considerably younger. His few gray hairs on his head were a clear indicator that he wasn't the young father figure from nine years ago. He was getting old. "Yes..." Lucian began to cry freely, tears rolling down his cheeks. Ivori ran up to him and hugged him. "It's okay, dad. You'll always be young at heart to me. Even when you're old enough to be a grandpa." It was at this moment that Lucian realized he couldn't return home so easily. He was getting a second chance at living through his daughter's childhood, and the gray hairs on his head were a clear indicator that his time was limited now. Young Ivori led him inside for dinner, and he once again had a chance to relive his wife preparing dinner every night he came from work. "Honey! You're home so early!" Vernal exclaimed. "I made your favorite Russian dinner: Borscht!" Vernal had grown up with a Russian father, an exquisite chef who prepared only the finest of Russian recipes. Lucian's favorite, borscht, was a recipe that Vernal had stopped preparing years ago. It was refreshing for him to come home again to the aroma of such a fine dish. "I had an awful day at work, so I went home early tonight. Someone else is covering my shift. I realized I've been way too invested in my job and need to spend more time with you guys as a family." Lucian happily responded. "And it looks like I made the right choice!" He said as his eyes were glued to the borscht. He began to dig in as Ivori's older brothers, Augustus and Sozario greeted their father at the table. For once, it was a normal family dinner with the entire family. In the present day, Augustus and Sozario had already grown up and moved on with their lives. Augustus was twenty-nine in the present day, married with two kids. Sozario was twenty-five, having finished college three years prior and now working as an accountant. It was 2010 again, however. Sozario was once again a sixteen-year-old high school sophomore and Augustus was twenty, living with his parents while he attended community college. Ivori was the only daughter in the household and the youngest, only nine years old and about to finish third grade at this time. Having grown up with two rough older brothers, however, it's clear as day where she got her tomboy personality from.

Lucian had never felt more fulfilled. It was confirmed: the Kronos' Hourglass was a legitimate artifact. He couldn't wait to return home and inform present day Ivori of his discovery. Unfortunately, however, such a powerful artifact would have the potential to become an object of greed and corruption. Lucian had forgotten this important fact, and it would ultimately land him in some hot water. While all seemed well inside the Clovis household, Lucian had unfortunately left the hourglass outside next to the street. A shadowy figure came and picked up the hourglass, running off with it silently, ensuring that Lucian would not be able to return to the present day in time for Ivori's graduation.