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Unfortunately, I didn’t find much new information on the time stones. According to Tim’s notes, Tim believed there were five stones across the world, each one rooted in a different culture’s mythology. We already had the Maya stone and the Japanese stone. Pops now had information that one was in Cairo, Egypt, and the Camaraderie had another in Washington D.C.. We weren’t sure whether it was the Inca or Indian stone. But the stones were evidently Catonian, they had powers that might... might be useful against the Camaraderie, and both the Camaraderie and Spectator knew they were somehow important. How, exactly, remained elusive. Seemed like something Jim would understand, so once I finished scouring Tim’s tablet for info, I bounded up the stairs to the airship’s third deck where Jim’s office was located.
He sat in his usual giant chair behind his desk, the curtains open to an arched window. Bright afternoon sunlight streamed across a thick book he was reading with gilded pages and a red, leather cover. Definitely pre-Community. He placed a ribbon between the pages and removed his reading glasses. “Yes, Jenna?”
I sat in the chair in front of his desk, not bothering to scoot closer. “Could the time stones actually work to change time? Are they really worth pursuing?”
He placed his book amid the other books cluttering his desk. “Without more research, it is hard to say. How would we know if someone who went back in time succeeded?”
“We wouldn’t, unless we remembered what happened before the change. Or unless they made it obvious.” I twisted my lips, frustrated. Why was I even bothering to ask this? “I’m sorry... it was a crazy idea. Time travel isn’t physically possible. At most, the idea that the stones are enchanted seem to be the main reason we’re trying to find them. It’s just...” I paused. If the time stones actually could change time, what would we do with them? “I guess if we could fix things before the problems started, before the beasties and the Legion Spore and the memory seeds, then that might be worth pursuing. But we can’t.”
Jim removed a box from his desk drawer and gently lifted the pieces of cloth covering the Japanese stone. The bullet-shaped artifact hovered in the air, rotating. “Many ideas seem crazy before they can be proven. Sometimes, all we have is our faith.” He let out a long, slow breath. “However, if the presence of the dragon spirit is any indication, these stones do hold some value.”
“Quin did say that another known Catonian artifact couldn’t be shielded,” I pointed out. “If that’s the case, I could see that being a problem for the Camaraderie.”
“Indeed.”
“Have you had any luck finding information about the others or figuring out what their guardians might be?”
Jim sat the stone in its box and replaced the lid. “Not yet. What information exists is not recent, or has been duly buried. According to our intel, the Cairo stone lies in a museum in Egypt, though it may have been stolen since then, or broken and remade into other pieces.”
I cringed. I didn’t even know how to begin putting something like that back together, or who to ask. “Could it be repaired?”
“If it is an artifact, we would need someone with the proper alchemy-enchantment power to remake any broken connections. Finding someone with that kind of skill is difficult. The Camaraderie recruits or kills anyone with that ability, since they do not want their artifacts getting into the wrong hands.”
I frowned. “Benjamin made the pendants—right? The ones the Camaraderie leaders wear?”
Jim cocked his head. “We believe so. Why?”
“Spectator knew what a Catonian artifact was, and given his appearance, he may have some connection to Benjamin. If Benjamin could repair an artifact like the pendants, maybe Spectator could repair a time stone if it was broken.” After all, he had shown up after we accidently unleashed the dragon spirit. He obviously knew something about them, whether or not he was a time traveler.
Jim stared at me for a long moment, the disapproval evident in his frown before he cleared his throat. “I would be careful of any dealings with this ‘Spectator.’ ”
“But if he could help us—”
“He would likely want something in return, and I have never heard of anyone working with him favorably.”
I grimaced. Jim was still stuck on the idea that he was a bad omen, never mind that we had no proof that Spectator had done anything wrong. If Cass from the game shop was right, Spectator had done more to help us keep our mission going than to harm us.
“Jenna...” Jim rested his hand on his book and worried his lip as if there was something he wanted to say, but couldn’t find the words for.
Odd. Usually he knew exactly what he wanted to say.
I reached for the flower charm. If he was trying to hide something, I could find out for myself—
No. I quickly wrapped the stem of a leaf from my vine around my fingers. I couldn’t give the brain seed the satisfaction—I couldn’t give Lady Winters the satisfaction of winning.
“Yeah?” I asked.
Jim rubbed his chin, and then nodded to himself as if he had settled on his words. “Quin mentioned that during one of your panic attacks, you were repeating the same phrase. Can you recall that phrase?”
Of all the things he wanted to ask, all those horrifying memories of people merging together, flesh knitting, bones shifting—
I trapped my attention on the faded window curtains. The haunting voices echoed in my memory, over and over:
We are legion...
I shivered, one hand trapped in my vines, the other wrapped around the flower charm. “Kind of hard not to.”
Jim shifted forward in his chair. “What were you saying, if saying it will not produce another attack?”
I rubbed the smooth stones of the charm. I didn’t have to actually use the artifact to get comfort from it. “The vessel said, ‘We are legion,’ though I don’t remember speaking. I just remember hearing the voice in my head. It drowned out everything else.”
Jim retrieved his glasses and flipped his book open. “One voice, or several?”
So many voices, all crying out—
“Several,” I said quickly, silencing the memory.
He traced his finger along the page, and then thumped the book with his knuckle. “Thank you, Jenna. I do hope Gwen can help you.”
“I hope so, too.” I frowned. Normally if he was going to ask me a question, he would explain his reasons. “Why do you want to know?”
“Paranoia, I hope. The creature’s choice of words concerns me.” He shook his head worriedly. “The Camaraderie may have finally created something they cannot control. Something none of us can control. I fear Spectator may have been its herald.” His forehead wrinkled with concern. “If so, I hope those time stones truly can help us correct their mistakes.”
“Herald? For what?”
He twisted his lips disapprovingly and put away the stone. “Hopefully nothing.”
Jim was hiding something... something he feared. I could feel that from the artifact. But Gwen had warned me not to use it, so I thanked him for his time and dismissed myself from his room. But why did he think Spectator was a herald of the Legion Spore? It didn’t seem like much of an omen if a person couldn’t figure out what the omen was for before the incident occurred.
Still, Jim’s general consensus seemed to be that the time stones—whether they were intact or not—might be useful. Since Pops had information regarding their locations, he was my next logical stop.
My grandfather sat at his desk, a neat stack of papers beside him. The Coalition’s symbol—the blue stick figure in the upside down “U”—peeked out from the front of his metal desk between two stark chairs. He had the curtains partially shut, presumably to allow him to see his computer screen, but light still illuminated the rough blue fabric and cast a soft glow on the torn photograph of his family on the wall.
A twinge of sadness passed through me. I had my family back, but Pops would never get to spend time with his wife again, and his relationship with his son was strained.
I rotated the flower charm between my fingers. Maybe it would be better if we could go back in time and tweak events... like how Cass said that the Spectator in his role-play game could.
Pops motioned to one of the chairs, his face still intent on the screen. I sat. Once he finished typing, he pushed the monitor away. “Do you need something?”
“Gwen asked me to look into the time stones, since I can’t do much with studying beasts at the moment.”
His salt-and-pepper whiskers twitched. “Go on.”
“I didn’t find much we don’t already know. Jim still seems interested in them, but he pointed out that any of the stones we try to retrieve might be broken. However, I think we might have a solution for that. Spectator seems to be related to Benjamin, whether or not they’re the same spirit. But if he is, then that means he should have the same powers. Benjamin created the Elizabeth pendants, which means he’s an alchemist... or has access to alchemist abilities.”
“You think Spectator could repair any damage,” Pops said slowly.
“When I was on the boat with him, he mentioned Catonian relics by name. Not only that, but there’s the speculation that the stones can travel time. Tim’s translation said, ‘Beware the changing guardian; he who carries the five stones travels time in the circle of stone at the longest day.’ When we were at the game shop in South Africa, one of the patrons said that he’d heard of a role-play game where Spectator was a character who could change time to manipulate events.”
Pops drummed his fingers on his desk. “If Spectator can already manipulate time, why would he be interested in the stones?”
“Maybe he’s not, but he wants Benjamin to get them. Or maybe he can’t actually manipulate time, but he wants to. Or maybe he’s used the stones before. In any case, we might be able to draw him out by interacting with the stones. If we go after the one in Cairo, we might be able to learn why he’s been showing up around us. If nothing else, we’ll have another stone out of the Camaraderie’s hands.”
Pops leaned back in his chair. “You want to go after the stone?”
I shrugged. “Honestly, I’d rather stop beast transformation, the Legion Spore, and everything else that the Camaraderie is doing wrong. I want the Community to be safe.”
“Jenna—”
“I know you don’t believe that’s possible. Neither does anyone else around here.” I rubbed the flower charm between my fingers. I doubted that Gwen had time to give him the latest update on my situation, but it wouldn’t be long before everyone knew I wasn’t supposed to be using the thing, and why.
And they’d know I couldn’t do the research I needed to reverse beast transformation.
“Still,” I continued, “I haven’t given up. Maybe the stones will give us the opportunity we need.” I glanced at the torn photograph and his gaze followed mine.
His salt-and-pepper whiskers twitched. “I’ll take what you’ve said into consideration.”
“Thank you.” I nodded, and then stood abruptly, dismissing myself. “That’s all I’m asking.”
