Hollyshadow the medicine cat: Hm...the intuition is strong with this one. Maybe, just maybe, your feelings are correct...but you'll have to read on :D

Shimmering-Sky: Lovely indeed. Tom's in trouble, definitely. And the rest of them? Well...I can't give that away yet, can I?

GoldGriffin: Yay! You're back! And no, you weren't confusing at all. I have to admit, before Chapter 10 was posted, I spent a lot of time thinking about how I would be able to focus on a few characters at a time. My solution was to split them into groups (search parties, in a way), as Tom's letter stated. Unfortunately, that leaves the story an utter wreck until the characters actually split. Luckily, soon I can write about each group individually. Not sure how large of a role Claire will play yet though...but I promise that she'll meet the Professor. Eventually.

Guest: Thanks!

Chapter 15: Once again, this and the next chapter could have gone together, but I decided to make them separate. So this chapter is merely preparation...which I hope does not detract from its quality.

Chapter Fifteen

The Fork in the Road

The Emissary, all work in Chaos done, went back through the Hellspawn portal.

A single command, "Fly back to headquarters", prompted the men stationed around the ruins to rush over and enter the helicopter.

Boarding last, the Emissary had only one puzzle in mind:

How should I dispose of the Time Guardian?

Three minutes later, a wicked grin crossed the Emissary's face.

There's nothing like a diabolical plan.

Within the hour, another letter had been issued.

To Emmy Altava, Flora Reinhold, Arianna Barde, Tony Barde, the Black Ravens, Jean Descole, Angela Ascot, Clive Dove, and Leon Bronev:

Thanks to Hershel Layton, Randall Ascot, and Luke Triton, we have discovered the reason behind the British museum robbery. It was not, as first assumed, to seize the artifacts and fetch a high price, but rather to use these artifacts in a certain way. A way most horrifying and unusual.

There exists an alternate plane of reality, called Chaos. Before, without the Oculus, bits of Chaos would intermingle with bits of our universe, causing the Storm. Bearing an uncanny resemblance to what we call Hell, it is inhabited by twisted, demonic creatures, known as Hellspawn. Chaos is so vast that the number of Hellspawn is approximately three times the number of stars in the Virgo Supercluster.

Frequently, due to collisions between Chaos and our plane, dimensional rifts would open, causing Hellspawn to leak into our universe. Some, unfortunately, ended up on our planet. For centuries, they wreaked havoc, massacring people and razing large expanses of land. Some areas, such as the Sahara Desert, were claimed by the Hellspawn, who burned everything there. Then, Theon, the first Time Guardian, discovered the existence of Chaos. He realized that the presence of these Hellspawn was directly related to the instability of the time stream. Thus, he created the Oculus as a barrier between Chaos and us to prevent more dimensional rifts from occurring, and stabilize the time stream at the same time. Due to its consisting of time essence as well as physical material, the Oculus is near-indestructible. Meanwhile, others built the Hellspawn portal, an artificial dimensional rift, to send the Hellspawn back over into Chaos. They created a keystone and a password to protect the gate from being opened, and should anyone ever manage to acquire both, the portal only opens very slightly, into a tiny sector of Chaos. There are not enough Hellspawn in said sector to threaten world safety. However, that could change very soon.

We have very good reason to believe that the keystone required to open the Hellspawn portal is the Pyriatic Crystal. Furthermore, the password to the portal is actually one of the spells in the Book of the Arcane. Both of these artifacts, as most people know, were taken from the British Museum. We are not sure why anyone would wish to open the Hellspawn portal, but I fear that the Oculus is connected to this incident somehow.

I propose a change in priorities. Instead of finding the Oculus, we must eliminate the Hellspawn first. It is very likely that the Hellspawn want the Oculus as much as I do, for far more dastardly reasons. And if the Hellspawn have humans helping them...this is not so much a race as a war.

I ask that, no matter what may happen, all of you stay strong and persist until the very last enemy is dealt with.

And to finish this letter, I will give you an Azran farewell.

Rei' sina cante. May fate be kind.

-Tom

Tom put down his pen.

"Done?" asked Claire.

"Yes. I've said all that needs to be said."

"Oh!" Claire gasped. "I forgot! There was a letter for you today." She pulled out an ornate envelope and handed it to Tom, who opened it.

To Tom:

I've made the most amazing discovery! There's a large boulder on the cliffs of the Cthlin Chasm with a huge inscription in the Azran language. I can't translate much of it, but the illustrations seem to depict some sort of creature, possibly Hellspawn. I think you should come have a look, the information could be useful.

-Randall

Tom stared at the piece of paper in his hand. Finally, he spoke, "I think I'll pay a visit."

"To whom?"

"A good friend of mine."

"Who?"

Tom paused. "...I can't tell you."

"Why?"

"I...just can't."

Claire pouted. "Well, at least tell me how you met him."

Tom thought for a second, then nodded. "It was quite a while ago..."

It was a cool autumn evening as Tom strolled down one of London's many streets. He stopped as he looked through the window of a building. Sitting at a counter was a man ordering a drink.

Tom immediately walked into the establishment and seated himself next to the man. "Hello. How are you?"

The man stared. "How do you know me?"

"Well, I heard about the incident in-"

"Don't remind me." The man sighed. "I feel so ashamed, just thinking about it..."

"There's no shame in-"

"I was responsible for a death too, you know. I could have saved her..." the man murmured to himself.

"I don't think you could have."

"And what makes you think that!?" he shouted. "Do you know how much she meant to me!?"

"I do." Tom noticed everyone else in the bar was staring at them, so he added, "It would be nice if you could talk more quietly."

"Fine." The man scowled. As everyone else returned to their own business, he muttered, "Who do you think you are anyway? First you come down here, without even so much as an introduction, and then you talk about-"

"I'm a Time Guardian. I think you should know what that term means."

"...you're kidding me."

"Not at all."

"The legend of the Time Guardians is nothing more than a legend, a myth."

"Wrong. I am living proof."

"I still don't quite believe you." The man rose. "If you really are the Time Guardian, you should be able to prove it to me. Drop by my place; you should know where it is, shouldn't you?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." Tom rose as well. "Good day."

"Good day."

"And what happened next?" Claire asked.

"Well, of course, I visited him, proved I was the Time Guardian, and we became friends."

"But how'd you prove you were the Time Guardian?"

"Too many questions!" Tom grinned. "I'm leaving now, see you later!"

"But-" Too late. Tom was already sprinting down the hallway.

Tom sprinted through the streets, hoping that he'd remembered the correct address.

What university is he at now...?

He then mentally slapped himself after realizing he'd been heading in the wrong direction for the past twenty minutes (A/N: Twenty minutes seems to be quite unlucky for our poor friend, doesn't it?), and got into a taxi, too lazy to continue on foot.

Finally, he arrived at a wooden office door. For a moment, Tom was reminded of the Professor's office's similarly unassuming exterior. He knocked on the door loudly.

"Come in."

Tom turned the doorknob and swung the door open.

"Well! This is a surprise! What do you need, Tom?"

"I need you to help me overcome death..."

ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA

I hope you guys liked this chapter! This chapter was one of the most difficult to write, mostly because I had to set up the next chapter. I'm not sure how well I did it, so let me know with a review! And follow or favorite please! It helps me a lot, you have no idea.