Where Time Stands Still

Finders Keepers- 1

A/N: And we're back!

Sorry about the break there. It will happen again! Personal health always comes before online stuff <3

Hm? The chapter art? What's wrong with it? Oh, don't worry about it. Everything's gonna be fine!

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Bow hit the ground and looked around. They were back in the Horizon. The sky was still dark, the islands were still floating, and from the looks of it, they had landed right where they had left—just outside of Sky's house.

"Ugh, my head," Mu groaned.

"Timmy, what have I told you? No, I am not fixing Moonjumper's window for him! He has that mechanic guy to do it for him, and I couldn't care less if-" Sky exited her house and froze upon seeing the girls. "Oh. You're not Timmy."

"Hey, Sky!" Bow waved. Sky waved back, smiling, then stopped. Her face fell.

"Wait. What are you guys doing back here?"

"We found another way in," Mu said.

A look of panic spread across Sky's face. "Uh oh. Come on kids, come in."

The three situated themselves comfortably on Sky's floor, as Roupa was sleeping on Sky's chair. They sat in silence for a bit before Sky started talking.

"I... don't even know where to start. How in the world did you find another way back? I've been here for centuries-"

"Wow, that's a while."

"Not actually. Time doesn't exist here, so neither do years. But it's funny to say. Anyways, I haven't ever seen someone exit and then return. Heck, it's rare for someone to even leave here, and yet you managed to do both. How?"

Mu glanced at Bow, and Bow could tell they were thinking the same thing. Can we trust Sky with the time rifts?

"We..." Bow started, then trailed off. "We found another gateway in. A rift."

"A time rift?"

Bow nodded, suddenly nervous. What if Sky knew what timepieces are? And was going to try to get the rest of the shards for herself? "You know what they are?"

"You don't live here for as long as I have and not pick up a thing or two. Time rifts are the most common way of getting here, from what I've been told."

Bow paused before asking the next question. "Do you know what a timepiece is?"

"Uh... yeah. Those artifacts that people use to control time in the Foreworld, right?"

Bow nodded.

"Some of the folks who have travelled through here say that's how they got here. They're worthless to me though." She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. "You can't control time if it doesn't exist."

"Well, that's how we got here. A timepiece broke and created a bunch of rifts that lead here."

Sky's eyes shot open and she sat up so fast she nearly fell forward. "Timepieces can get you out of here?"

"Yes," Bow said, starting to regret telling Sky.

"And you made a bunch of these rifts by breaking one?"

"Not me, but yes."

"So there's more of those rifts out there."

"Yes."

"And can anyone use the timepiece bits to escape?"

Bow nodded, tensing up and reaching for her umbrella. The room was silent as Sky stared at Bow, and Bow stared at Sky, and Mu probably did something but Bow couldn't see because she was too busy watching Sky.