The Sketch Rift: The Eternal Crusade

A Very Important Date

The incessant pattern of a grandfather clock captivated Isabel, who lingered, standing before it, attempting to catch the pendulum in motion despite her knowledge of the glass that separated them. Soal glared at her from across the room, currently unaware of the allegorical connotations this could represent, though worried that the clock may, in a way, wilt with enough force applied.

Soal and his unofficial sister, Isabel, had been residing at her soon-to-be cousin's home while Alice prepared for a wedding with her longtime fiancee, Theodore, whom she had known well for several years already. Theodore had much earlier divorced his wife, who left her two obnoxious daughters with him. Should the wedding occur as expected, Soal would have to scoff at their presence constantly, at the concept of which he rolled his eyes.

But there was something much, much larger at stake here. All of this had been without mention of Hendera, Hemingway and the hectic happenings of late, all of which stemmed from an even more significant problem. Soal was well aware that at any moment, as he was warned five months ago, Hemingway would warp across time and space through the Rift and pull him and Irene (the Master Bringer) back to 2100, to the northwestern Venezuelan coast where Lint Corp and the Fviron once took refuge. If these two events, one of which was vastly superior in importance to the other, overlapped, there would surely be chaos even in Soal's own time period, which was meant to be an asylum for his long-troubled mind.

Isabel's continuous fiddling with the grandfather was quickly put to an end when Soal marched along to remind her of the futility of her assumed task. It would not be the last time Soal had to do something so similar.

Weeks elapsed, and the wedding approached. Calls from Alice suggested that things were going well -- a sign, perhaps, of things to come -- and Soal became increasingly shocked by Hemingway's absence. Soal may have had all the time he needed in his own era, but Hemingway, Gnat, Count, and everyone else had their time ticking away on the other side of the Rift. And whatever did Count intend to convey when he claimed the Master Bringer would return to action when "the Crusade would roll back around"? Clearly, it would play a massive role whenever Soal and Irene would resume their role. If Soal had been one's "average fourteen-year-old", the wedding would play an enormous part in such anxiety. Of course, this stereotype did not apply to Soal or nearly anyone involved in his visit to the dreary Hendera. As the months had passed, the more ominous these warnings -- no, threats -- had become to him. He was paranoid of return and more terrified to remain behind. Regardless of his decision, he was living a life of dread.

*     *     *

On the very day of the wedding, Soal was once again in the midst of a halved-mind attitude. He was uncertain of whether or not he should be more concerned about Hemingway's affairs than those of his family. Soal, despite possessing an utmost objection to anything resembling an enthusiasm for fashion, did not find Alice's selection of his attire (a classic dark tuxedo) troubling, although it was not exactly as comfortable with him as a full suit of well-designed armor. On the other hand, the issue with Hendera and all that lured him beyond an empathetic inclination to be a participant in his adoptive mother's wedding (assuming he had not been forced into the scenario) nagged at the other side of his mind, desperately hoping for a more convenient occasion at which to reign at the helm.

Isabel and Soal together were passengers to the wedding along with their eventual second-uncle -- Theodore's brother, Victor -- who had been more than glad to house them for the duration of wedding preparation, as he was currently unmarried, childless and welcoming of visitors whenever possible. His distinctly green car was boxy and archaic, audibly coughing out exhaust that would slightly cloud the windshield of any car behind it, often attracting an irritated honk that would make Soal roll his eyes every time.