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CLEARSIGHT

The watch could be literally anywhere, so finding it wasn't going to be easy. Darkstalker could have used his magic to teleport it wherever he wanted, and she had no clue regarding where it could possibly be.

Simply going out and checking every possible hiding place would be a fool's errand. She didn't need her future sight to know that she'd end up wasting far too much time trying this. Besides, she had no reason to believe that Darkstalker didn't put the watch somewhere completely inaccessible, like at the bottom of the ocean or in outer space. She would almost certainly need to rely on magic to get it back.

There were only two animus dragons in the world: Fathom and Darkstalker. Obviously Darkstalker wasn't going to help her, but he did still have his scroll, which Clearsight could still use if she got hold of it.

Which she thought she could. All she needed to do was utter the words, 'Bring me Darkstalker's scroll,' and it would teleport to her. But when she tried to do that one night while Darkstalker was sleeping, she found that the case to Darkstalker's scroll teleported with the scroll itself. And the case was enchanted to only be openable by Darkstalker.

Clearsight wasn't sure if he intended the scroll case to teleport like that, since it defeated the entire purpose of her being able to summon it in the first place. But the futures that Clearsight saw didn't indicate that she would have any luck in convincing Darkstalker to amend that feature. Trying to do so would just put her at risk of making Darkstalker suspicious of her.

Getting Fathom's help wouldn't be much easier. He was on the opposite corner of Pyrrhia, he had completely severed his ties with the Night Kingdom, and he almost certainly wouldn't be supportive of her plan to turn back time and undo everything that has happened.

Despite the difficulty, there were three saving graces that gave Clearsight hope that she'd be able to pull this off.

The first saving grace was that the watch was definitely not destroyed. The enchantment on the watch kept anyone else from being able to break it besides Clearsight, so even if Darkstalker wanted to destroy it, he couldn't. That meant that the watch was somewhere out there. She just needed to find it.

The second saving grace was that she didn't need to worry about the consequences she brought forth in this timeline. As long as she was able to get to the watch and turn back time, it didn't matter what she did to get to it. This meant that she had options available to her that she otherwise wouldn't have. If some plan of hers involved giving away half of the entire NightWing treasury, or putting Darkstalker into a deep slumber like she did last time, so be it. She was going to be undoing her actions when she reset the timelines anyway, so it was okay if she got a little bit reckless if it guaranteed success.

The third saving grace was that the watch was enchanted not to have an impact on seer powers. This meant that as long as Clearsight kept Darkstalker from learning about her plans to find the watch, his powers wouldn't tip him off to the fact that she was looking for it.

She spent over a month thinking of different ideas. Her seer powers were being astonishingly useless to her. It was so difficult to find plans that had a high chance of success, probably because the future she saw was cut short the moment she actually succeeded. All she could do was filter out plans that would prove catastrophic in the event of failure.

She counted her blessings, though. Having a reliable plan that didn't carry as much risk was certainly desirable, and she made sure to avoid the more dangerous ideas she had as a result.

The plans surrounding Darkstalker's magic involved stealing his scroll at some point when it was out of its case. Using his scroll meant leaving a trace of her actions. It also meant that terrible things could happen if Darkstalker caught her in the act.

On the other talon, the plans surrounding Fathom's magic involved regaining Fathom's trust and opening him up to using his magic once again. It would be a longer and slower approach, but there wasn't any risk of being caught or found out. And it didn't really matter that this approach was slow. All that mattered was that she found her watch. It didn't matter when.

While her plans were brewing, the Night Kingdom was expanding. The occupied territory in the Rainforest Kingdom was ceded to the NightWings, and soon thereafter, new settlements started to emerge on the foothills of Jade Mountain, as well as the base of the Tail Peninsula. Darkstalker had achieved his goal of controlling the entirety of Pyrrhia's southern coast.

More expansion was on the horizon. In a few months' time, the Rainforest Kingdom would fall without a fight. They were not a militaristic tribe, despite their deadly powers. And despite the Night Kingdom's aggression, Queen Fantasia still considered NightWings and RainWings to be close allies in intertribal affairs. Without the ties that the RainWings had with the trade centers of the Talon Peninsula, the Rainforest Kingdom would have no ties to the outside world and collapse into self-isolation. Fantasia, it seemed, would decide that surrendering to appease the Night Kingdom and stay relevant was preferable to fighting back and eroding the remaining goodwill she had with the NightWings.

Clearsight would have to speak with Fathom before the Rainforest Kingdom disappeared, or else relations between the Night Kingdom and the Sea Kingdom would become completely irreparable and a continental animus-fueled war would likely break out. So she made haste, and began with a letter to him.

Dear Fathom,

I understand that you may have mixed feelings about receiving this letter. I admit that I have mixed feelings about writing it. But I promise you that I wouldn't be trying to reach out if it weren't a matter of utmost urgency.

I have not yet admitted this publicly, but I share your worries about the state of Darkstalker's soul. He is growing more evil, and the futures ahead of me that I see are frightful for all of Pyrrhia because of the dragon he may become. It has gotten to the point where I cannot rescue the world from this fate by myself. I am going to need your help.

Darkstalker's aggression accelerated after you left the Night Kingdom to oversee the island colonies. Once he found out that you were returning to the Sea Kingdom and not coming back, he only got crueler and more bitter.

I would never blame you for the deterioration of Darkstalker's soul, Fathom, but there's no denying that you helped keep him grounded while you were with him. You helped keep him good, and if you want to see him become good again, I think you have the power to bring him back.

My hope is that you will not have to use your magic to do this. When we were younger, your friendship with him was all he needed. Maybe that's still the case. Whether he'll admit it or not, Darkstalker misses you more than anything. He valued your friendship, and I truly believe that if you give him the chance, he'll fight to earn it back.

You are always welcome in our kingdom, but if you would like to make your return one of official business, we have a growing need for an ambassador to the Sea Kingdom here in the royal palace, and I hope your sister would agree that you would be perfect for the job. I can have everything you need arranged the minute you reach the Talon Peninsula.

I hope to see you again soon.

Sincerely yours, Clearsight

If the contents of the letter had been sincere, Clearsight wouldn't be trying to turn back time. Darkstalker wasn't going to start turning good again because of Fathom. She simply wrote what she did in the hopes that it would convince Fathom to come back.

And she was pretty confident that it had a good chance, because even she was convinced for a bit. She so badly wanted it to be true. If all it took to bring Darkstalker back from the brink was Fathom's friendship, then this world would be worth keeping.

But she had to ignore her thoughts. Fathom may have had the power to stop some of Darkstalker's worst atrocities, but he couldn't stop Darkstalker's path to tyranny.

After handing the letter off to the royal messenger, Clearsight brought her kids to bed and went to her room to curl up next to Darkstalker. Despite everything, he was still able to lull her to sleep with the warmth of his wing and the rumbling of his breath while he slept.

When she woke up the next evening, Darkstalker was already out of bed. She found him out in the common room of their private chambers, filling a black leather bag with various items, including some jewelry, some towels, and a map of the continent. His scroll was sitting out of its case on the low table next to him.

"Are you going somewhere?" Clearsight asked, her eyes anxiously fixed to the scroll. This was the first time she'd seen it out of its case in weeks.

"Yes," Darkstalker said. "I'm going to the Sea Kingdom."

Clearsight felt her skeleton trying to leap out of her body. "What? Why?" she stammered.

"Because I've been getting visions about Fathom ever since I woke up," he said. "I'm not sure why, but there are suddenly futures out there where he comes back. We can be friends again, Clearsight, I know we can." He looked at her, his eyes bright and full of hope. "I can't let this chance slip away from me. I'm going to try and talk to him. I bet I can convince him that I'm not as evil as he thinks I am."

Clearsight winced. If Darkstalker made it to the Kingdom of the Sea before her letter did, it could completely undermine her plans. She had to convince him to stay. "We can't leave on such short notice," she said. "Who's going to run the kingdom while we're away?"

"You will," he said. "I'm going by myself. You'll stay here and look after the kids and run the kingdom while I'm gone. Fathom is upset with me specifically, so I think I need to do this alone."

"But — but it'll be dangerous," she insisted. "What if you're arrested and they confiscate your scroll?"

"I won't be taking my scroll with me," Darkstalker said. "I'm leaving it with you."

And just like that, Clearsight's mind came to a screeching halt. "W-with me? As in—"

"—If an emergency happens while I'm gone and you need to use the scroll, you have my permission," Darkstalker said. "I've modified the scroll's case to let you open it as well. Don't ever let it out of your sight when it's open, and don't show it to anyone."

Clearsight fidgeted with her talons, looking pensively at the scroll. This didn't feel real. How could it be real? How could Darkstalker make this so easy for her?

"I know you're still worried about the idea of me going to the Sea Kingdom without my magic," Darkstalker said. "But … well, there's something I haven't told you." He looked right at her, then looked away nervously. Then he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and fixed his gaze upon her again. "I'm still an animus," he admitted. "I never actually got rid of my powers."

Clearsight threw a startled gaze at him. Are you being serious right now? Is this the same Darkstalker I went to bed with last morning?

Darkstalker folded his ears, his eyes softening. "Well?" he said, his voice shaking a little. "Aren't you going to say something? I thought you'd be angry."

"I already knew," Clearsight said before even thinking about it. "I-I mean, I've suspected for a while. I didn't know for sure."

"What?" Darkstalker said, tilting his head at her. "Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"Because I didn't want to get into a big argument about it," she said, trying to find half-truths that Darkstalker could believe. "I wanted to wait and see if it would be okay in the end if you kept your magic."

"And, how do you think things turned out?" he asked.

"Well, I can't say that I'm thrilled about everything that's happened," Clearsight said. "But it isn't nearly as bad as I thought it might be."

Darkstalker's eyes brightened for a moment, and he threw his arms around her. He let out a long sigh. "That's a relief," he said. "You're finally starting to trust me. I was so nervous about how you'd react."

Clearsight forced herself to smile as Darkstalker let go of her. "I like to think that I've been fairly trusting of you, actually," she said. "If you saw some of the futures I did, I think you'd be worried too."

"Then consider this an act of reciprocity," Darkstalker said, gesturing to his scroll. "You've trusted me this long with my powers, so I'll trust you with them while I'm gone."

The irony of that remark was not lost on her. And it did make her feel guilty, but there was a cold, nihilistic part of her mind that kept the guilt from hurting too much.

Darkstalker tightened the drawstring on his bag and used a pair of leather straps attached to it to secure it to his back. "I shouldn't be gone long," he said as he started for the door. "If I'm not back by tomorrow, then it probably means I've been arrested. Take that as a good sign. I'll probably end up talking to Fathom if that happens."

Clearsight couldn't help but sigh at that. "Please, just stay safe. And don't hurt anyone."

"You have my word," Darkstalker said. "Take care of the kids. And don't let Remedy trick you into giving her any lemon drops before she's finished her lessons for the day. She can be really sneaky when she doesn't think anyone's around to read her mind."

"I'll keep an eye on her," she said with a chuckle.

"And Solstice's wing is still recovering from when he twisted it a couple weeks ago, so don't let him fly for too long."

"Yes, I know."

"And if I'm not back before bedtime, then don't read a story to them until they've each read a chapter of their scrolls to you."

"Darkstalker, they're my kids too," Clearsight said. "I think I should know how to take care of them."

Darkstalker paused for a second, then shook his head, as though he'd accidentally confused himself. "Right, of course," he said. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to sound like I don't trust you. I just want to make sure you're prepared."

"The kids and the kingdom will be in good talons, Darkstalker. Now go and win Fathom's friendship back."

Darkstalker beamed. "I love you, Clearsight," he said. "See you soon."

And then he left. He walked out of the front door and left Clearsight all alone.

She reached for the enchanted scroll and pulled it closer to her. She almost felt her talons tingling as she thought about the power it bore. Her ticket to the past — it was right there in front of her now, and she hardly needed to do a thing.

She needed a quill. Gathering the scroll in her talons, she made her way to the desk in her room, where a worn quill was sitting on the table beside a half-empty inkwell. She flattened the scroll against the desk and wasted no time in writing the enchantment:

"Enchant the watch that Darkstalker had made for Clearsight to teleport on top of this scroll."

She didn't bother hiding the spell between the lines of previously written ones, or writing in small print to make it harder to read. The words were clear as the moons, and when she finished writing it down, the watch instantly appeared, exactly as expected.

Clearsight picked it up, gently, as though she were afraid that it would break if she weren't careful. It was ice cold to the touch, as though it had been frozen in a block of ice.

But it was still working. When she opened the cover and looked inside, she saw the second hand ticking slowly around the clock's axis.

Seeing it again filled her with a wave of nostalgia. She remembered the time when she first set the watch, all those years ago. Back when she was so much happier, and Darkstalker was such a perfect dragon. She could go back to that time, right now. All she had to do was press the button.

But there was a voice in her mind telling her to wait. The button was a one-way press. Once she rewound time, there would be no coming back. All of the progress she had made would be erased. All of those years that she'd spent with Darkstalker would vanish from reality. And of course, her kids — who were the reason she let Darkstalker take away her watch in the first place — would cease to exist.

She had her watch now, and it wasn't going anywhere. There was no rush. She could stay here in this reality for a little bit longer, just to say one last goodbye to it.

A/N: I learned an incredibly valuable lesson during my hiatus from this story, and that lesson was that I really shouldn't take hiatuses!

I kinda found myself in a weird spot at the end of the last chapter. There were some unanswered questions that I was trying to mull over, and I was really struggling to find answers in my state of mind. After about a month of thought and assessment, as well as some conversations with my main beta reader, I ended up deciding to take a short break to refresh my mind. But I decided that I wouldn't let that break take any longer than a month; if nothing came out of it, then I'd just go back to active brainstorming.

Well, a month passed and nothing came out of it. In fact, the exact opposite happened to me: I'd completely lost my momentum and found myself without any motivation to write. I could make some lame excuses about schoolwork getting in the way, since this semester has been a lot to deal with. But that wouldn't be completely honest. I definitely had time to write, and I definitely should have been writing. Not just because I love you guys and I feel bad whenever I leave you hanging, but also because writing is a creative outlet for me, and my mind tends to go stale when I don't regularly exercise my creativity.

It ended up taking me about four months to get back into the swing of writing, which is way too long, even by my standards. The last time I ended up taking an unexpectedly long time to upload another chapter, I set a compensatory goal to keep uploading new chapters every week for as long as I could. And I managed to uphold that pace for a full month, which I'd consider a success. So I think I'm going to try setting a one-chapter-per-week goal once again. I don't know how long I'll be able to keep it up for, but let's try and keep it going until at least the end of January 2022.

Hopefully, I'll see you before next Saturday. And if it's far into the future when you read this Author's Note, then lucky you, because you probably still have plenty left of this story to read! Let me know if it's any good.