Time's Tragedies- The Books Of Beginning [2]

29. Shard Of Memory

They had relocated to the kitchen. Abby and Jake bustled around with equipment, magnifying glasses and pokey doohickeys and things that combined science and magic that they had created and were the only ones to use competently. Rafe had taken the shard of staff and lay it on the table, on top a sheet of plain paper, to be examined. Eternity watched all this in mild confusion, never having been the scientific type. And Lili just looped an arm through the other girl's, anchoring them together.

"Are you-" Eternity started to ask, but then stopped, because it was clear that none of them were even close to ok.

Lili sighed, "I just hope we learn something from this."

"Me too," murmured the other girl. She hoped they would find what they needed to wake Kate up and defeat Robert. She hoped her best friend never had to suffer the pain of losing her family like Eternity had. And she hoped this new life she was making for herself didn't fall apart. "Me too."

Lili rested her cheek against Eternity's shoulder. The taller of the two teens leaned the same way, so the sides of their heads touched lightly. It was comforting, in the way the gentle hum of Lili's magic and Eternity's strange sense for power was. Subtle, a background thing, but a way to remind them that they were not alone.

Eternity's gaze flicked over what appeared to be some sort of microscope, which Abby was calibrating. "What's that thing do?"

"I dunno," Lili admitted, "I think it reveals what things are made of and how much magic has been embedded into them."

"That's basically it," Jake confirmed.

"Dad doesn't recognize the enchantments and transformations on the shaft just from sight and touch. So we need a closer look," Abby added. Having the device in her hands was doing her well. For the first time since her mother's injury, her eyes were dry and her fear put aside.

"Gotcha," Eternity said, impressed tones creeping into her voice. It was really quite remarkable, how smart the youngest Wibberlys were. They had gifts for research, and for blending technology with magic.

"Jake, Abby, these the books you wanted?" Rafe called, coming in with a stack in his arms. One was about types of weapons, one types of wood found in the magical world, and two were about enchantments.

"Yeah, thanks dad," Jake attempted a smile, even if there was no real joy to it.

Rafe set the books down and ruffled his son's hair. Jake had inherited Kate's caring nature, and the need to cheer people up and help them when they were sad. It was one of the things Rafe loved about his middle child, but right now he shouldn't have to feel responsible for anyone's happiness. 

They were all downtrodden. The most they could do was try their best.

"Anything else we need?" Lili asked her little sister, who had finally tuned her device to her satisfaction.

"Nope," Abby shook her head, "we're ready to start."

Then she pulled out a pair of plastic safety goggles. Jake did the same. Lili and Rafe exchanged looks of confusion, wondering if they had missed something, and if this was more dangerous then they thought. 

Jake noticed their confusion and spoke up, "just a precaution for working with an unknown substance. The rest of you might wanna stand back a bit, just in case, but you should be fine."

Lili and Rafe followed the boy's directions. Surprisingly, Eternity did as well. Usually she wasn't one to follow instructions, and she could definitely be called a risk taker, but she had been shaken by recent events and felt a bit of caution wasn't a bad thing at the moment.