Anachronous

Chapter 5 - Elongate

There Ivori sat in the gymnasium, alongside her closest friends Ramona Ramsey and Firuzan Saberi. The school's band was loudly and proudly playing the traditional graduation walking march: Pomp and Circumstance. Both Firuzan and Ramona were thrilled for the graduation ceremony, but Ivori had an empty look on her face. She thoroughly studied the audience in the bleachers as she waited for the ceremony to begin, hoping she'd eventually spot her father somewhere. He was nowhere to be found. Her mother Vernal was there, fortunately. She sat alongside Ivori's Uncle Danny and Aunt Raina, two adult figures in Ivori's childhood who had acted as a second set of parents. It was like everyone from Ivori's childhood were here to congratulate her on this rite of passage into the rest of her life. The night of Saturday, May 18th, 2019 was the night she would leave behind her high school chapter, and get started on whatever the hell she wanted in life. Regardless, it would mean nothing if her father never showed up. One thing that made Ivori chuckle a little was witnessing Annabelle from a distance, yelling at her two remaining friends and whining. It was hard to make out what she was saying, but it further reinforced why everyone hated Annabelle. She was always so angry and bitter with the world, and ever since the opening night of the spring musical, she was just more upfront with her anger now.

It was now beginning. Principal Luce was about to begin handing out the diplomas to the Scott Ridge graduates. 

"Annabelle Coefield!" Principal Luce called out.

"Of fucking course." Ivori thought to herself as Annabelle got up, and put aside all her frustration to gracefully walk up to the podium. "Her name starts with A. Well, I guess the pain and suffering is already done for tonight." Ivori rolled her eyes as Annabelle proudly walked off the stage with her diploma.

"Amber Collins!" Principal Luce continued to recite the names in alphabetical order.

Ivori returned her focus to the bleachers. Still no sign of Lucian. As the evening progressed, the names for students receiving their diplomas only got alphabetically closer to hers. Her anxiety was beginning to kick in.

"Ivan Carter!"

Ivori gulped, realizing she was next to be called.

"Ivori Lynn Marie Clovis!"

Everyone except Annabelle cheered and clapped. Her classmates, closest friends, Vernal, Uncle Danny, and Aunt Raina. Ivori walked up to the podium, trying her hardest to keep a smile. She took her diploma slowly, with sweating hands, then walked back to her seat. One more glance at the bleachers, and still no sign of her father. She sat at her seat, looking more hopeless than before. After the ceremony, a large group of the seniors attended their all-night graduation after-party. Firuzan and Ramona looked concerned for Ivori's wellbeing at this point.

"Hey Ivy?" Said Ramona. "Are you okay?"

Ivori sighed. "Debatable." She replied.

"We just graduated though! Aren't you happy?" Firuzan asked.

"I wish I could say I am, but I'm not." Ivori continued to mope. "My father was nowhere to be seen in the bleachers. I mean, it's common for him to miss my school events like plays or concerts, but my graduation was one that he promised he wouldn't miss." A tear began to drip down Ivori's cheek.

"Maybe he's running late?" Firuzan implied.

"Look, guys. I'm not okay right now. You guys should attend the party without me. I need to go speak to my mother." Ivori slowly got up and greeted her mother in the bleachers.

"Ivy, I'm so proud of you!" Vernal warmly hugged her daughter before Aunt Raina and Uncle Danny did the same.

"Where's dad??" Ivori frantically asked. "Why didn't he come to the graduation??"

Vernal shrugged. "I don't know, sweetie. He knows we're getting a divorce. Maybe he was too embarrassed to show his face in front of me again. That's still no excuse to miss your own daughter's high school graduation, though..."

Ivori wiped her tears. "Mom, I have a really bad feeling about this." She said with a shaky tone in her voice.

"Ivy, honey. I'm sorry to break it to you, but you've always known how your father prioritizes his job over his family."

"No, mom, he promised he would be at my graduation! He would never break a promise to me. Not to his own daughter. Not to you. Not to anyone. Something is seriously wrong." More tears began to well up in Ivori's eyes.

"Ivy, it's the night of your graduation. Tonight you should be celebrating this milestone achievement in your life." Vernal insisted.

"Mom, I can't without dad. I'm telling you, something bad has happened. We need to find out what it is." Ivori once again wiped her tears, and left the gymnasium with a determined look on her face.

Upon Ivori's return home, she looked in Lucian's office for clues of where his excavation might have been. She knew of his business trip that week, but had no idea exactly where he went and why he hadn't returned in time for her graduation as he promised. In general, an excavation at some site on the other side of the world was always the reason Lucian was not present for Ivori's milestones, thus his office was the first spot where Ivori would search for clues. Sure enough, there was a photocopy of Serafina's map on Lucian's desk. "Now that was too easy." Ivori thought to herself and rolled her eyes. Lucian had already rewritten Serafina's entire message on the photocopied map in plain English, along with the coordinates of each location. She read the message on where to find the pieces of the second Kronos' hourglass, as well as finding a translated warning message at the bottom right of the map. It read:

"WARNING: Remaining in a traveled time period past sunrise after the night of a cloudy full moon will ensure that the time traveler remains in that time period indefinitely. If they cannot find a way to return to the present day, they will cease to exist both in that time period and the present day. Anachronisms are a threat to the fabric of time, and those who impose them will face the consequences if they do not return to their respective time period."

Ivori slapped the map down on Lucian's desk, and began searching through his files for people to contact. Any sign of help from one of Lucian's archaeologist co-workers would do. She needed a way to elongate the search for her father, given that one night to travel the world was simply not enough time. After thirty minutes of frantic searching, she found a guy. His name was Zane York. He was only 23, a graduate student who double-majored in archaeology and anthropology, and he had become known for discovering an artifact that can teleport people. "This is the guy, for sure." Ivori added his phone number to her list of contacts, and quickly dialed up her friends Firuzan and Ramona. 

"Guys, I'm sorry to bother you during your celebration, but I'm going to need your help with finding my father. We only have until sunrise." Ivori glared down at the map, determined to begin the search for her father.