"Gaylen's core? What do you need to know about that?"
Yeah. Talking Aja into getting them information about Gaylen's core and the weird nursery rhyme is going great so far. The library yesterday had been an almost instant bust. None of them can read Akiridion, and none of them had thought of that until they got to the library. Krel translated some through the video call, but that was slow-going and annoying, so they decided to wait until Krel was free from the hospital or whatever and they could look together. They also decided to pre-emptively ask for information from the Galactic Scholars. Steve doesn't know why Krel doesn't just ask himself, but there must be a reason.
"It's for a school project," Krel says. He's a terrible liar, so Steve butts in to back him up.
"Summer work for Señor Uhl's class, and you know how he can be." He offers her a charming grin, or what he hopes is a charming grin. "We're supposed to make a presentation about something important about our heritage."
"And what's more important than the creator of Akiridion-5, am I right?" Toby adds. "I'm personally doing something on World War I. My nana was a spy. Pretty cool, huh?"
"Dude, how old is your nana?" Seamus hisses.
Toby shrugs. "It's rude to ask a lady her age."
"And I'm doing something on, uh, Georgia," Steve says. Maybe he's also a bad liar. "Because my mom's from Georgia. Uh. Peaches?"
"Come on, Aja, please," Krel says. "You know they'll listen to you more than me."
Steve is tempted to ask about that, but he also thinks it might be, like, sad backstory, which sucks but he really doesn't have the emotional ability to deal with that right now. He is far too stressed. He'll ask later.
"And the nursery rhyme?" Aja says sceptically.
"We think it's connected," says Toby. "Celestial core, Gaylen's core… seems about right."
Aja frowns at them. She's still not happy with Krel or Steve for the argument yesterday. "You'll stay until the information gets here at least?"
"Yes, we'll stay," Krel says, rolling his eyes. "Only until the information gets here and we can look through it. Then we have to get back. To – work on the project."
"Alright," she says. "I'll get you the information. It will take time."
"Hey, maybe we can show you around in the meantime," Eli pipes in, smiling widely and adjusting his glasses. It's still super weird to see Eli in Akiridion clothes. They suit him, sure, but it's really flipping weird. "Akiridion-5 is so cool! You guys will love it!"
Krel gives them a weird look. "I guess I wasn't out long if you haven't looked around yet."
"Oh, no," says Toby. "You were out for like three days, dude, we just stuck by you because we're loyal friends and you scared the crap out of us."
"Three days!?" Krel repeats. "Ay-yi-yi, then we really can't stay long."
"You still have plenty of time to complete your project," says Aja suspiciously.
"Not really," says Steve. "School starts next Wednesday according to Dad."
"Next what!?" Seamus exclaims.
"Oh, we're screwed," says Toby. "We're so screwed. Might as well prepare our funerals now."
"You waited this long to get information for your summer project?" Aja says.
"Hey, why didn't we know about this?" Eli asks.
"Uh," says Steve.
"It was… a… last-minute addition," says Krel. "It's actually due… the second week of school. So we have time."
Aja and Eli both look doubtful now, which is not good. Seamus throws an arm over Krel's shoulder, then one over Steve's. He gives Aja and Eli his brightest grin and says, "We'd love to have a look around now. It's crazy to be on a different planet!"
"It is!" Eli chirps in agreement. Steve mentally thanks his friend for the intervention. "You guys will love it."
"I suppose we can show you around," says Aja. Her excitement is slowly bleeding back into her expression. "Come on! There's so much to show you!"
"Great," mutters Krel. He follows the rest of them unenthusiastically, dodging Steve's concerned glance with practised ease. Steve tries to signal to Toby and Seamus to talk to him, but Aja starts dragging him away before he can.
They really haven't explored at all since getting to Akiridion-5. Steve's seen the hospital place – med-wing, Aja called it – and the hallways between it and the guest rooms, and, obviously, the guest rooms, but that's about it. He has to admit it'll be nice to see the place his girlfriend and friend grew up. He knows Seamus and Toby are mostly excited because, well, they're on another planet. And yes. That is very cool.
"I'll show you the training arena first," says Aja. "Krel! Do you remember our first lessons in fighting?"
"Ugh, don't remind me," groans Krel. "I got pummelled."
"You didn't do that badly. You still came to, what, ten more lessons?"
"Three. I only went to three more."
"I feel like maybe you should have gone to a few more," says Toby. At this point, it's kind of irrelevant. They've all had enough lessons from Nimue and Ikram that they can all hold their own on the battlefield, and Steve thinks he's learned enough already from Mort that even injured, he can protect his friends.
"How are things on Earth?" asks Eli. He and Aja have both been avoiding the subject while Krel was out. Eli mostly filled Steve in on his time on Akiridion-5 – he's been loving it, and Steve is glad for him.
"Uh," says Seamus. "Earth's good. Arcadia's pretty much… casually pretending they've always known about extra-terrestrials and the Morando thing didn't happen."
"We got jobs," says Toby. "At that magic shop? It's really cool. Krel and I help out a lot up front, Steve does a lot of helping Mort – the owner, you met him – preparing stuff to sell."
It's not fully a lie. Steve does occasionally help make potions to sell, and Krel and Toby do help up front when they aren't training.
"You got a job, little brother?" Aja's tone is coloured with shock. "You didn't mention that yesterday."
"Oh, it, uh, slipped my mind," Krel says, followed by an uneasy laugh.
"Steve," says Aja, "you never told us what happened to your leg. What is the colourful plaster? And why do you have those aids?"
"Yeah, Steve," says Eli, because of course both of them focus in on the one subject Steve wanted to avoid, "how did you manage to break your leg?"
Aja gasps, eyes widening. "His leg is broken!? Human legs can break? How do you fix it?"
"Uh, the colourful plaster helps," says Steve. "I… fell. Down the stairs. I – wasn't paying attention?"
"It was funny until we figured out he was hurt," Krel pitches in helpfully.
Aja turns accusingly to Eli. "If I had known you could break limbs, I would not have let you try hover-racing."
"I didn't break anything! It was fine!" Eli protests.
"You did what, Pepperjack!?" Steve exclaims.
"It was fine!"
Krel laughs. "Good job, Eli. Hover-racing is dangerous."
The hall Aja leads them into is bigger and more spacious than the ones they'd been using. Akiridions mull about, offering cordial greetings. Steve doesn't miss the way their eyes linger on the humans of the group and Krel, who looks uncomfortable in his own home. Steve knows there's a reason Krel stayed on Earth, and maybe this is part of it.
"You know, Krel, you should show them your lab while we're walking around," says Aja. "Earth doesn't have anything like it."
Steve hopes that's not Aja's attempt at subtly swaying Krel to stay. He knows it won't work – at the very least, he knows Krel well enough to know he'll stick around at least until apocalypse number three is prevented – but he doesn't like that Aja's still trying to convince him. She means well. He gets that.
"Earth has some pretty cool stuff," says Krel. He's talking about magic, and all of them know he's talking about magic, but Aja and Eli don't, so Steve tries to think of something to support that when Earth pales in comparison to Akiridion-5 in the science and tech department.
"What other planet are you gonna get, uh, genuine Earth music?" Toby says.
"Exactly," says Krel. "You don't have anything like it on Akiridion-5."
Aja's lips twist into a frown when he says "you" instead of "we". Even Steve can see the way he's separated himself with that. She plasters a much faker smile back on. "You know, the people here all really loved your demo tape, little brother!"
"Maybe I will send you copies of the next one I make," Krel says.
Before this can turn into yet another fight, Steve butts in, "Hey! So where's that training arena? You know, a couple of our new friends have been giving us fighting lessons. Maybe Krel can show you."
Krel turns to him with panicked eyes and shakes his head. Steve nods back at him. At the very least, this will show Aja that Krel can sort of protect himself. Toby picks up on this and smiles widely.
"Yeah, me and Krel can spar for you!" he says.
Aja looks even more suspicious, which wasn't his intention. "Why do you need fighting lessons?"
"She's very insistent," says Krel. "It was less her offering to teach us to fight and more her dragging us to the gym and forcing us to learn."
"Apparently, everyone needs to know at least a little bit how to defend themselves," says Steve. "Also she's kind of scary. So. There's no saying no."
Steve does not like keeping this secret. Aja isn't stupid, and she clearly knows something is going on that they aren't telling her. At this point, though, they're in too deep to tell her without her getting super angry, and Steve does not want to deal with a super angry Aja right now. They'll need to tell her eventually, but for now, he's going to avoid it.
"I'm surprised she could get you to go to more than one lesson, scary or not," says Aja.
"I was being very literal with the dragging thing," Krel says flatly.
"He really was," Toby adds.
"Oh, come on, Ikram doesn't drag you," Seamus scoffs.
"Now, because we've learned not to avoid it," Krel says. "At the beginning? All the time. Most of the time. She's scary."
Aja places a hand on a glowing pad, and Steve jumps back on his crutches as part of the wall – that he now recognises is a door – opens to reveal a high-ceilinged, largely empty room. There are markings on the floor that probably mean something, and several platforms that Steve guesses are for spectators on the walls, but otherwise, the room seems pretty plain.
"I do want to see this, if you've been learning how to fight," says Aja. Her brow furrows. "Are you sure you feel up to it?"
"I'm fine, Aja," insists Krel.
"If you insist." She activates her serrator-sword at her side with a smirk. "Then let's spar."
Krel's eyes widen. "Wait. I thought I was sparring Toby."
"Nope," says Aja. "I want to see how much you've learned. Scared, little brother?"
"Yes," Krel says. "I never said I was any good!"
"Come on," Aja goads. "It's just a spar. I'll even go easy on you."
"Ay-yi-yi," mumbles Krel, shooting Steve a death glare. Yeah. This is Steve's fault. Krel walks out to the middle of the room, and Aja does as well, several feet from her brother. Krel activates his own serrator-sword.
"I can ref," Seamus offers.
"We won't need one," Aja says smugly. "This will be quick."
Krel's eyes narrow. He's visibly offended, and Steve sees him adjust his stance to the more proper one Ikram taught them. Oh, yeah. He's not going to make this easy for Aja. He's gonna lose, but he's also going to prove her wrong. Steve is already proud of him for it.
"Suit yourself," says Seamus, who is also well aware that Krel's actually gotten decent at fighting.
Aja makes the first move, darting towards Krel. Krel follows her movements with his eyes, then somersaults out to the way and grins as he pops back up. Toby cheers. Aja frowns, then charges again. This time, Krel raises his sword to parry her attack. Her eyes widen. Krel grins. He's caught her sword exactly as taught, so Steve knows what's coming next. He uses his own blade to twist hers out of her grip, then kicks it across the floor. He holds his serrator up towards her core.
"Really quick, isn't it, Aja?" Krel taunts. "Dead."
"Did he just… beat Aja?" Toby asks quietly.
"I think he did," Steve mutters in amazement.
Krel glances at them, then at Aja, then it apparently dawns on him that, yes, he just beat Aja, and his face lights up like it's Christmas Day. "I did it! Ha-ha! I actually did it!"
"How did you – I don't – what?" Aja stammers.
Seamus pumps his fists in the air. He runs out to Krel to pat him on the back like he does Steve after a good game of football. "Alright, Krel!"
"Yeah, DJ Kleb!" Toby cheers, also jogging to join them on the field. Steve crutches after them and gives Krel his own pat on the back for the unexpected win. Krel looks thrilled, grin wide enough that it must hurt, eyes sparkling in a way Steve hasn't seen since he woke up on Akiridion-5.
"Beginner's luck," Aja says. "I underestimated you."
"I still won," says Krel with another laugh. "Against you! I won against you!"
"You won't next time," she says. Her expression softens and she puts a hand on his shoulder. "I'm proud of you, little brother. You did good."
Krel's own wide beam softens into a smile. "Thanks, Aja. It means a lot coming from you."
Aja pulls him into a hug. Steve hopes it means she isn't angry anymore, or, at least, she won't express her anger anymore. At the very least, she now has proof he won't, like, die the minute the get back to Earth.
"Come on, there's still so much to see," Eli exclaims. "This place is so big! It's crazy."
"Yes, come on!" Aja chirps. "I want to show you the throne room!"
She and Eli bound towards the door. Steve smiles fondly at his girlfriend and friend's enthusiasm. He's really missed them both. He understands both of their reasons for leaving, but it still sucks. Eli's one of his best friends, and Aja – well, Steve's never met anyone quite like Aja. Once this whole apocalypse thing is over, he'll definitely visit more often. It'll be easier, then, when he isn't worried about his friends and the Knights and the evil wizard. He looks forward to it.
The rest of the tour goes well. Akiridion-5 is beautiful, and it looks straight out of a sci-fi world, so of course Seamus ends up being the most enthusiastic about everything throughout the tour. Krel seems amused by this. Steve saw it coming, honestly. He's known Seamus for years and if there's one thing he's always been passionate about, it's outer space. Toby probably comes in second for excitement, by a slim margin.
Dinner is also super weird, because it's Akiridion food that humans can eat, which is vastly different from human food. It doesn't taste bad, but it's definitely unfamiliar and Steve isn't entirely sure how to describe it. After dinner, Aja offers to show them around the city some, but Krel claims he's kind of tired, so ultimately, they decide to do that another day.
It's probably the middle of the night when Steve's woken up by his phone buzzing. He checks it, pausing to glare at the time in annoyance, then opens Krel's text telling him meet in his lab. On the one hand, Steve would rather not, but on the other hand, he doesn't trust Krel not to do something stupid, so he climbs out of bed. He doesn't bother changing out pyjamas. That's way too much effort.
As expected, Krel, Toby, and Seamus are all already there when Steve manages to crutch his way over. Krel waves at him as he hobbles in. "Sorry to wake you. I was going to do some tests, and I figured you might want in."
"What kind of tests?" says Steve suspiciously. He takes a moment to sit down in an available chair and make himself comfortable. "Better not be anything dangerous."
"Relax, it's harmless," says Krel. He shrugs some sort of glowing vest-like thing over his head. "Seamus, can you fasten it?"
"What is this thing?" Toby asks, poking the front of it and frowning as Seamus tightens the straps in the back.
"It's for measuring core output and fluctuations," Krel says. "I had to nab it from the med-wing when they weren't looking. It's usually used when they think someone has a core disease, to see if the energy output is unusual or weak. I'm going to be checking for the opposite."
"They had something like this they used on you," says Seamus.
"Probably a newer model," says Krel. "This one will serve our purposes just fine."
Graphs and numbers – or what Steve assumes are numbers – pop up on screen. Krel's fingers fly across the screen, moving things around and scrolling through menus and Akiridion letters, until the screens blink and show up in English, most likely for their benefit more than anything else. He navigates back to the graphs.
"Is that… good or bad?" Toby asks.
Krel purses his lips. "Well. Here's what a normal Akiridion core's output graph looks like."
It doesn't answer the question, but it does give clear evidence that merging with Gaylen's core has messed with Krel's core. The line that represents Krel is way above the line that represents the average. Both look kind of like heartbeats, actually, which Steve thinks is neat. Maybe Akiridions aren't totally different from humans after all. Except that they still don't have pulses, which, by the way, Steve nearly had an actual heart attack the first time he noticed that.
"Can you add in the data we got from Gaylen's core?" Seamus asks.
"One second," says Krel. A few swipes and hand waves later, and a third line is added to the graph, above even Krel's data. Seamus nods like it's proven a theory, and points to two distinct dips in both the Krel and Gaylen lines that aren't in the other.
"You have more of these than the average," he says. Steve can see that. He doesn't know what it means, but he can see it. "And you're a lot closer to the Gaylen line than the average. I'd say your core is more – whatever Gaylen's is than Akiridion."
"God?" says Toby. Krel scrunches his nose, obviously not happy with that idea. "I mean, didn't Stuart say Gaylen's core had the latent power of a god?"
"Does this mean I can start saying 'oh my Krel', because that would be hilarious," says Seamus.
Krel shoves him. "Oh, shut up. Gaylen was a Celestial. His core was made out of a different material, even."
"Yeah, and yours is acting a lot more like his than like this average Akiridion core," Seamus points out. He watches Krel's face worriedly as he speaks "Like it or not, I don't think you're quite… Akiridion anymore."
Krel's brow furrows, like he isn't sure what to make of this. Steve isn't even sure what to make of that. Toby crosses his arms. "I told you it was a bad idea, but you didn't want to listen."
"I'm still – it's not the same as Jim," says Krel. "So far, there's not any real negatives."
"So far," Steve cuts in. "We don't know that there won't be. What if all this energy is really bad for you?"
Krel inclines his head. "Fair. Okay, well, I'm not a medical professional so I actually don't know if this is good or bad."
"It's cool," Seamus offers.
"Yeah," Krel agrees. "We'll go with that."
"That's great and all, but cool doesn't tell us whether this will, like, kill you," Toby says.
"No, I suppose not," says Krel.
Toby sighs. Steve has just given up. He's pretty sure Krel's always been like this and he's also pretty sure Krel's never going to change. Either Gaylen's core will kill him or it won't, and honestly, Steve doubts it will kill him. Other negative side effects he's not so sure about.
"Okay, onto more tests," says Krel. "I'm going to try using my new powers and see if that affects the data."
"Um, shouldn't we wait to experiment with your new powers?" Steve asks. "You know, just in case using them makes you go crazy evil bananas?"
"Why would I turn into a banana?" Krel scoffs.
"He just means crazy," says Seamus.
"Oh." Krel shrugs and adjusts the vest-thing. "I'm sure it will be fine. I won't do too much. Just the weapons, maybe."
"I'm gonna get away from the blast zone," says Toby. He helpfully grabs Steve's chair and drags him backwards as well before they both give Krel and Seamus, who apparently thinks Krel won't accidentally shoot him, grins and thumbs-up.
"Alright, test one," says Krel. "Sword."
He holds out a hand. A few seconds later, a glowing white sword materialises in it. Steve has to admit it's pretty cool. Mort hasn't taught him how to make magic weapons yet, although he imagines it works like most other magic does – concentration and intent.
The data on the graph spikes briefly, then returns to normal. Or, well, what's apparently Krel's new normal.
"That was anticlimactic," Krel mumbles. "Test two. Blaster."
Like the sword, the data spikes again. Krel frowns, then fires two test shots – away from Toby and Steve, thankfully – at a nearby wall. The data spikes with each shot before returning to normal.
"That is not at all how I thought this would work," he admits.
"It's kinda weird," says Seamus. "I figured you'd have more energy output the whole time the weapons were formed."
"That's what I thought," says Krel.
"How did I not know Seamus is a nerd?" Toby mutters to Steve as the other two continue chattering about hypotheses or whatever.
Steve snorts. "I think you thought he couldn't be because he hung out with me. Trust me, Seamus is a huge nerd."
"Yeah, I can definitely see it now," says Toby.
It seems like Krel's probably done trying to blow stuff up, so Toby and Steve make their way closer. Well, Toby pushes Steve's chair closer, which is kind of embarrassing if Steve's honest. None of them have made a big deal about his injury, though, so that's nice.
"Are you ever gonna tell Aja?" Steve asks Krel.
His face falls. "I guess I'll have to eventually. I don't think I can keep this from her forever if I tried."
"And the end of the world stuff?" prompts Toby.
Krel winces. "When it's over?"
That's kind of what Steve expected him to say. He also strongly disagrees. Aja and Akiridion-5 could be a huge help to them if it comes to some sort of final battle. Steve imagines the evil wizard is super strong, probably stronger than Morando, and they'll need all the help they can get.
"I wonder if I can make myself giant like Morando," muses Krel.
"Let's maybe not try that in here," says Toby.
Krel glances up at ceiling, still high but not that high, and nods. "Maybe not."
Steve yawns and shakes his head. "Are there more tests you want to run or can we go back to bed? You slept for like three days. We didn't."
"You can go back to bed," says Krel. At Steve and Toby's glares, he smiles innocently. "I won't do anything dangerous!"
"I'll supervise," says Seamus. "I lived through Mort's disapproval to have him bring me a bunch of energy drinks, I'll be good."
"What's an energy drink?" asks Krel, face lighting up with curiosity.
"Do not give him an energy drink," Toby warns. Steve nods in agreement. He really can't see that ending well. He does sort of trust Seamus to keep Krel in line, so he and Toby leave. He doesn't understand the science stuff, anyway.
"Think either of them will sleep at all tonight?" he asks as they walk back to their rooms.
Toby shakes his head. "Not a wink."
By midday, the info they'd asked for has arrived from the Galactic Scholars. At first, Steve thinks it's not a lot, because it's on this little tiny device, but the minute they camp out in an empty room, Krel activates the device and there's information everywhere. It takes Krel a little bit of time to get it all translated into English – apparently some of the texts are in an old dialect of Akiridion he doesn't even speak and they aren't scanned properly – but once he does, they set to researching with vigour.
Steve's seeing a lot of stuff they already know about Gaylen's core. The history of Seklos and Gaylen. Latent powers of a god. Created Akiridion-5. Hey, can Krel create planets now? That would actually be super cool. Can Krel make them a vacation planet? Like a private island but a private planet. That would be awesome.
He thinks it's going well, until about a half an hour in, Aja and Eli join them.
"How's the project going, little brother?" Aja asks as she plops down next to Krel. He startles and accidentally sends screens of information flying away from him. "Found anything useful?"
"Uh, not really, yet," says Krel stiffly. "What are you doing here?"
"We thought we could help out," Eli says brightly. "It should go even faster with six of us!"
Krel meets Steve's eyes pleadingly, as if Steve can get them to go away. There's no good excuse to send them away. He can't think of a single good excuse. Usually he's great at excuses!
"So what exactly are you looking for?" asks Aja.
"Oh, uh, fun facts about Gaylen's core," says Toby. "Maybe more about his powers. Krel, didn't you want to make a simulation for class?"
"Yes! That's right!" Krel agrees quickly. "But I need more details about what exactly he could do to do that."
"Also what the nursery rhyme is about," says Seamus. "Like, specifically."
"As usual, Krel's overdoing it with the project," adds Steve.
"I am not," Krel grumbles, although if this was a school project he totally would be.
"From what I know there isn't a lot on Gaylen's actual powers in detail," says Aja. "You could base your simulation on what Morando could do?"
Krel shakes his head. "Morando didn't have full access to all of Gaylen's powers, only a few of them, and they were corrupted at best."
Aja frowns at this. Eli's eyebrows raise.
"What makes you think that?" he asks.
Krel's eyes widen like a deer caught in the headlights. "I – guessed. Based on what we have read so far."
"If he had the full powers of a god, he wouldn't have been so easy to take down," Toby says. Krel scowls at the word "easy" and Toby holds out his hands. "Not that it was easy. But if he was full god I think it would have been a longer fight."
"Hm, maybe," says Aja slowly. "Let's see what we find."
Aja and Eli's presence instantly restricts them from discussing what they're looking for in more specific terms unrelated to the fake-project. It definitely restricts their ability to look for stuff about Gaylen's heir without drawing unwanted attention. Seamus, the farthest from either Eli or Aja, can maybe get away with it, so Steve hopes he's trying.
Steve's knee-deep in an article that he hopes will eventually start talking about Gaylen but hasn't yet when Eli exclaims, "Hey! I found something!"
"Really? What is it?" Krel asks, leaning over his shoulder.
"It says the origin of the nursery rhyme is most likely referring to something called a formstone," Eli says, eyes darting across the screen. "But it doesn't say what a formstone is."
"Narrow down the information to keyword formstone," Krel says loudly. The screens all whirl until there are only nine or ten of them left. Krel swipes through them until he comes to a fairly dense paragraph. "A definition! That's more like it."
"What's it say?" Toby asks.
"Formstones are the points from which planets are made," Krel reads aloud. "Planets can have anywhere from one formstone to hundreds of them. It is believed the cores of the ancient celestials were carved from these. When destroyed, they destroy the planet in turn. Their powers can be harnessed, in moderation, but when too much is absorbed, the formstone crumbles along with its planet. It's said that only celestials can sense and find hidden formstones."
Seamus skims over another document. "Yikes. Look at this planet. Is this really what happens?"
Steve leans over his shoulder. The planet in question is shattered beyond repair. The level of destruction looks straight out of a sci-fi movie. Steve can barely believe that it's a reality somewhere in the galaxy.
"Voltar," he says aloud.
"That's where I've heard that word before!" Aja realises. "Voltar! It was destroyed keltons ago – when all three of its formstones were shattered in a planetary war."
"Cracks in stone apart get pulled, shattered world exists no more," Eli recites. "That makes perfect sense! And you were right. It is related to Gaylen."
"Search Earth formstones," Krel orders. This only yields up one document, and Steve decides to count them as lucky it yields up any at all. Krel reads some of this aloud, as well. "The great Gaylen is said to have originated on Earth. According to most research, Earth has a single formstone from which Gaylen's core could have emerged."
He looks up, eyes darting from Toby to Seamus and finally to Steve as they all reach the same conclusion – or, at least Steve imagines they all reach the same conclusion.
Earth's formstone is in Arcadia, and the wizard wants to find it.