The Summoner of Sanctuary

A Slight Detour

I pushed the door back open, letting sunlight flood down into the room. It wasn't difficult to spot my spare candles now, and soon I had the room properly lit. My laboratory was a mess, more than usual I mean. I usually work without the hindrance of organization, but this state of squalor was a new low.

Many projects and instruments covered the tables without any order or reason, some of which I hadn't worked on for a while, and there were textbooks and tomes littering the floor. I went about putting anything important away, leaving everything else where it was. I was in a hurry, so I just put things wherever I could claim them as being "away", something I was sure I would regret later.

With my mind at ease now that nothing important would be ruined while I was away, I went about looking for my staff. It's a little taller than me with a large diamond in the head, so there weren't many places for it to hide, yet it still took me half-an-hour to find it. It was just there, leaning against the corner by the entrance; not obscured or anything, just there, out in the open. I strode over, ignoring the crunching of glass beneath my feet, and picked it up.

There was a thin layer of dust coating it, which out of everything is what I felt most ashamed about. I sighed, "There was no helping it," I thought, and sat down to clean my partner. It was mainly in need of a dusting, but I went about polishing it for good measure. In time, it once again shone in my hands.

I raised it up and summoned a soft gust of wind to extinguish the candles, just to make sure nothing was wrong. My magic worked as intended, all the candles went out, throwing the room into complete darkness once again, but I was still in the middle of the room. I'm sure the following groan and subsequent thud of me letting my head rest violently on the table could have been heard from outside.

I sat there for a few minutes, wondering if it would be better for me to just go to sleep. But no, Hiro said it was urgent; which didn't mean too much, honestly, but I did indicate I would be there. Besides, I hadn't seen him in a while and I welcomed the excuse. So, I got up and once again blindly shuffled out of the room.