Kitabı oku: «The Magic Factory», sayfa 18

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX

Oliver felt a gentle shaking on his shoulders. His eyelids fluttered open. He was looking straight into Esther’s emerald eyes.

Oliver lingered for a moment, gazing at her pleasant features. Then the grogginess in his head started to fade and he remembered where he was; Professor Amethyst’s airplane. He sat bolt upright.

Unlike with the sleep pod, Oliver could tell that hours had passed. His body was stiff. His neck cricked painfully as he looked about him at the interior of Professor Amethyst’s strange airplane.

The engines were little more than a gentle background hum. There was no telltale signs of jostling.

“We’ve landed,” Esther told him, smiling sweetly.

“Landed?” he asked. His voice came out as a croak. “Where?”

“Home.”

“Home? You mean…”

Esther nodded kindly. “The School for Seers.”

Oliver fell back, stunned. He’d thought he would never be allowed back in this place, that he’d never set foot inside the school again. He was so relieved. Dazed with happiness.

Esther’s musical voice was still sounding. He focused all his attention on her.

“You slept the whole way,” she told him. “Professor Amethyst said you’d burned yourself out using so much of your powers to break the bomb. He can’t believe you were even able to, after the small amount of training you’ve had. But I can. I always knew you were special, Oliver.”

Oliver blushed deeply. “What happened? With the gap in the wall? With the timetables?”

“I held it for as long as I could,” Esther explained. “But when the timetables came on I knew that I had to do something. Edmund of course immediately went to Professor Amethyst about what we’d done to him. I think he was expecting him to condemn you forever or something, but instead he immediately rallied the school.”

“Edmund accidentally saved the day?” Oliver mused. “How ironic.”

Esther chuckled. “I suppose so. Professor Amethyst already knew you were in Germany, at Hitler’s IQ. At least he said that that’s where you ended up in most timelines. So we flew there, parachuted in, and, well, you remember the rest.”

“How did you convince him to let you come?” Oliver asked.

“Actually, we didn’t,” Esther confessed. “He chose us to come. He knew our powers would work the best of everyone’s because of our bond with you, because of the emotion.”

At the mention of his friends, Oliver’s gaze immediately roved around the empty cabin. “Where are they? Ralph, Hazel, Simon, Walter?” He noticed the cabin door was open, letting in bright light.

“They went on ahead to spread the good news,” Esther explained. “Are you ready for your hero’s welcome?”

“My… what?” Oliver asked timidly.

Esther’s smile widened, showing off all her pearly white teeth. “You’re a hero, Oliver! Come on.”

It was all happening too quickly for Oliver to get his head around. But as Esther reached forward and grabbed his hand all his thoughts faded to nothing. All he could focus on now was the feeling of their interlinked fingers, of her warm, soft skin.

She tugged him toward the open doors of the aircraft. Oliver staggered, disoriented by the noise of applause that seemed to get louder the closer he got to the door.

He stepped out to a cacophony of cheers. Bright synthesized sunlight made him blink.

As his focus adjusted, he was able to see he was inside one of the School for Seers’ atriums—a large one filled with every vehicle you could imagine from ferries to helicopters, to futuristic ones like the headmaster’s plane. The plane must have hovered in through an opening at the top of the atrium.

Crowded onto every single walkway around its perimeter were students and teachers, watching him eagerly, clapping, cheering for him, jumping up and down, whooping and hollering at his success.

Oliver felt a swell of emotion in his chest. It was more than just pride. More than just gratitude. It was the feeling of home.

There was a platform ahead, upon which stood Professor Amethyst with Ralph, Hazel, Walter, and Simon in a line behind him. They were beckoning for Oliver to approach. Esther tugged on his hand gently, guiding him toward them.

As Oliver drew up beside his friends, the whole atrium fell silent. Professor Amethyst began to speak, projecting his booming voice all around the auditorium.

“Oliver and his friends completed a remarkable feat today. They saved the world from destruction. Never in the history of our school has a Seer achieved such a feat.”

Everyone cheered again, whooping and hollering. It was only then that Oliver noticed a single blank face in the audience. Edmund. His arms were folded, his eyes narrowed and fixed on Oliver. Oliver shuddered.

“The danger posed to our school by the rogue Seers who attacked has passed,” Professor Amethyst continued. “We cannot be attacked again. Though there will be more challenges ahead for us, for now, we must bask in our triumph. A celebratory feast will be held in the F hall!”

The crowds began to disperse, eager for the meal. Oliver’s friends crowded around him.

“Awfully good to see you back to health, chum,” Simon said, slapping his shoulder affectionately.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Hazel added.

“That was awesome,” Walter grinned. “Talk about brave.”

“Or stupid,” Ralph added in his teacherly tone. “I almost had a heart attack when I woke up and heard you’d gone.”

“It was a mad thing to do,” Hazel agreed. “You’re lucky Professor Amethyst decided to help.”

“He didn’t have much of a choice,” Esther argued. “The whole school was in danger. He had to accept the truth.”

“That he was even able to get back into the school is a miracle,” Ralph agreed.

Their voices carried on, but Oliver got lost in their words. He felt unable to follow any of the threads of their conversation. He felt very disoriented. Something didn’t feel quite right.

He turned from his friends and tugged on the headmaster’s sleeve.

“May we speak privately?” he asked.

Professor Amethyst nodded. He glanced over Oliver’s head and Oliver turned to see all his friends staring at them, confusion on their brows.

“Aren’t you coming to the feast?” Hazel asked.

“I just have to…” Oliver stammered. “There’s some stuff I need to discuss.”

“Oliver, you work too hard!” Walter exclaimed. “Why don’t you eat first?”

“Rest up,” Ralph added.

“Relax a little,” Simon agreed.

But Oliver shook his head. “I’m sorry. I have to speak to Professor Amethyst.”

His gaze lingered on Esther. He could see sorrow in her eyes. It was like she knew something that Oliver did not fully know yet himself, about what he was going to say to the headmaster and what the outcome of their conversation would be.

Professor Amethyst led Oliver by the shoulders through the doors. They exited out into the main atrium, right at the top level of the school, and crossed the short distance to the sixth dimension. Then they entered into the room and started to float upward. Glowing jellyfish in a myriad of bright colors floated all around them. It was beautiful. Relaxing.

Or at least, it would be, if Oliver’s sense of anguish had not been growing greater and greater with every passing second.

“What is troubling you?” Professor Amethyst asked.

“Lucas,” Oliver confessed. “I… I think it’s my fault that he hated the school so much.”

“How so?”

“Lucas was a Seer all along,” Oliver explained. “A cobalt one. But Armando didn’t think he was, and so he wasn’t guided, or sent here to school. The cobalt in him turned him rogue. What if by going back in time and revealing my powers to Armando, I was the one who made him think that Lucas wasn’t the Seer he should guide? It’s all my fault. I made the whole thing happen.”

The headmaster shook his head. “Perhaps you ought to know that Lucas was turned away from the school.”

“What?” Oliver gasped.

Professor Amethyst nodded. “It was my mistake, Oliver. I was the one who failed to see the Seer in Lucas. But even so, we are not responsible for the choices others make. Lucas turned to the dark side of his own accord.”

“Did he?” Oliver contested. “He was the same age as me. The factory was his home. Armando was his guide. Then I ruined everything for him.”

He felt the headmaster’s hand come down on his shoulder. It squeezed.

“Lucas did, indeed, have a hard life as a boy. No one can dispute that. But so too did you, Oliver. And yet you’ve not allowed yourself to get bitter. Lucas chose the path he followed. Your presence in the past was not to blame.”

Oliver wished he could believe the headmaster. But it would take a long time before he accepted he was not to blame. That his meddling in the past had not set off a chain reaction. It was a heavy burden to bear.

“He gets his revenge eventually,” Oliver said aloud. “Perhaps not as dramatically as he wanted to, with Hitler and destroying the world, but he goes on to kill Armando anyway.”

“A Seer cannot fix everything,” Professor Amethyst told him. “It is a hard lesson to learn and you are not the first to grapple with that dilemma. I have had this conversation over and over myself. But there are some things woven into the fabric of space and time that a Seer cannot control. Hitler, for example. You thwarted the plot of a rogue Seer who was interfering with time, aiding him to destroy. But Hitler is still the man you read about in history class. The things he has done cannot be changed. Unless you are acting against the sabotage of the rogue Seers, you must let it go. We cannot make everything perfect.”

“Hitler was going to kill me,” Oliver said. “But is death even possible if it changes your destiny?”

The headmaster replied with a cautious tone in his voice. “Even if your destiny demands you live, you can still die. Nothing is set in stone. But the universe will always try to find a way. If you die when there is more to your destiny, the universe will step in, pull on more threads, call to more Seers. Some things cannot be woven into the fabric of time. Especially the acts of rogue Seers.”

“Wait,” Oliver said, as a sudden a thought struck him. “Lucas was a rogue Seer. Does that mean his actions can be undone?”

If Armando was killed by Lucas, a rogue Seer, did that mean there was a chance he could alter the timeline once more? That there was a better route the universe wanted it to follow?

The headmaster paused. A small smile twitched at the corner of his lips. Oliver got the distinct impression he was leading him toward a conclusion. Excitement raced through him.

“I’m right, aren’t I?” he stammered. “None of Lucas’s actions are woven into the fabric of time because he’s a rogue Seer. Including killing Armando.”

Professor Amethyst’s smile grew larger.

“Armando was never supposed to die,” Oliver said with sudden realization. “Just like Hitler’s bomb was never supposed to detonate.” He gazed at the headmaster. “You knew, didn’t you? You knew all along?”

Professor Amethyst nodded. “Everything has a purpose, a reason. Nothing can be dictated. A Seer must find their own way to their path. And you have. Armando Illstrom is your guide not just because you are a perfect match, but because he, himself, is important to the universe. Your destinies are intertwined. You need each other. And the universe needs you both.”

Oliver felt winded by the revelation. His mind swirled. He’d thought all hope was lost for Armando. But now he had to adjust to the reality that perhaps it was not. That he may be able to save Armando yet.

“Armando is part of my destiny,” Oliver stated aloud.

“And every moment that passes, he is in danger,” Professor Amethyst added. “I told you in our first meeting that I was only able to secure you a few days with him. That is the power of Lucas’s meddling. It will be difficult. Nearly impossible. And with every moment that passes, Lucas’s actions become more entrenched in time.”

A new realization struck Oliver. He felt a crushing sensation in his chest.

“I have to return…” he said breathlessly.

At last, Esther’s look of grief made sense to him. She’d already worked out that Armando could be saved and that Oliver was the one to do it. That he would leave her. Leave the school. And that meant possibly never coming back.

“I’m needed at the factory. I have to go there. Now.”

The headmaster remained silent. But Oliver understood the look in his eyes. This was his destiny. This was where every moment so far had been guiding him.

It had been fate aligning that had allowed him back into the School for Seers. Next time, he may not be so lucky. There was no guarantee that it would again in the future. Leaving now could be the end of his time at the School for Seers.

Professor Amethyst remained stoic. “Do you fully understand what leaving means for you? What the consequences of your actions may be?”

Oliver nodded gravely. “That I might never be able to come back.”

“And is that a sacrifice you are ready to make?” the headmaster pressed. “Are you really going to give up everything you have here for your guide?”

Oliver could feel grief like a weight pressing into his chest.

“I have to,” he stammered. “Armando needs to live. I don’t know why yet, but perhaps it is something to do with inventions. He’s making many great things for mankind.”

“Then I must give you this,” the headmaster said.

He pulled something from his pocket and handed it to Oliver. It was an amulet. The design embossed upon it was a hoop with three eyes. The symbol of the School for Seers.

“Wear this at all times. It will glow when a timeline converges with the moment you are in, one that may allow you back into the school. It will guide you here.”

Oliver clutched it with gratitude. There was a life line after all. Perhaps one day he could come back to this place.

“Now, go to the feast,” Professor Amethyst said. “Your friends deserve to know what you’re planning. After that, I will escort you to the exit. A proper one,” he stressed, arching an eyebrow, “rather than the rip you and Miss Valentini made in my shields.”

Oliver nodded gravely. He left the sixth dimension, heading to the elevator. As he rode down to the ground floor he fought back his tears. How could he say goodbye to his friends? How could he face them knowing he may never see them again? That saying goodbye to them now may be for the last time?

He reached the food court. But before he even entered, the doors opened. Out streamed his friends.

“Oliver!” Ralph cried, surprised. “We were just coming to look for you.”

Oliver turned his eyes down to the ground. Like Esther, they must have sensed something was awry. Surely they hadn’t had time to eat a thing, instead choosing to seek him out.

With a spark of grief inside of him, he looked from one face to the next. The thought of saying goodbye to them was so painful it was almost enough to make Oliver change his mind. But the feeling that he was supposed to go was too strong. It was like a magnet pulling him to the factory.

“I’m leaving,” he said, cutting straight to the chase, ripping off the Band-Aid in one go.

There was no hubbub, no disagreement. It was as if they’d all silently come to the same conclusion. But the sense of loss was tangible, and it swelled up within the silence.

“We’re not going to be able to change your mind, are we?” Simon said.

Oliver shook his head.

“Even if we tell you you’re being an idiot,” Hazel added. There was no cruelness in her tone, just tears shining in her gray eyes.

Oliver laughed sadly and shook his head.

“Or if I told you you’d be breaking the rules again?” Ralph added.

Oliver shook his head again.

“Will you stick around for one last game of switchit?” Walter asked.

“I can’t,” Oliver said, the sadness inside him growing deeper and deeper.

Esther stepped forward. “You promised me a second date,” she said. Her voice cracked.

“I know,” Oliver replied. “I’m sorry. But who knows what the future holds. I might be back one day.”

Ralph clapped a hand down on Oliver’s shoulder.

“Good luck,” he said, his eyes brimming with fought back tears.

Oliver embraced him. Then suddenly arms were all around him, holding him tightly, surrounding him with love and acceptance and friendship. He could stay in this moment forever, Oliver thought, drinking in the feelings of care and warmth he’d craved his whole life. But there was a greater purpose. His duty as a Seer demanded it. Armando needed to live. For the sake of the universe and everything within it, he would have to sacrifice his friends.

He pulled out of the hug, too pained to look over at them one last time. Then he turned and hurried away.

CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN

Oliver walked alongside Professor Amethyst, his gaze on his shoes, his mood morose. They entered the sixth dimension and Oliver took in the sight of the miraculous room, knowing it would be the last time he would enter it. All around him, orbs glittered in the blackness. It was a beautiful sight.

“I have created a wormhole,” the headmaster explained, as he led Oliver deeper into the darkness. “One that will take you back to your timeline.”

Oliver’s mouth dropped open. “You mean to say this will lead me straight home?”

The headmaster nodded. “It will take you directly to the factory.”

“Thank you,” Oliver said with deep gratitude.

But Professor Amethyst’s expression remained stoic. “Wormholes are not things that can easily be created. I wouldn’t do it for just anyone, but for you Oliver, I think the risk is worth it. You must act fast, though. This is a one-time wormhole and will expire very soon.”

Oliver nodded and took a deep, sad breath. He touched the amulet Professor Amethyst had gifted him and felt that it was burning hot beneath his fingertips. Professor Amethyst pushed the door open.

Oliver blinked in surprise at the surreal sight of the factory storeroom just on the other side. A sort of shimmering film seemed to be all that separated this point in space to that one.

“How will I get back?” Oliver asked.

Professor Amethyst studied him gravely.

“You won’t,” he said.

The finality in his voice shook Oliver to his core.

“This is a one-time-only wormhole,” Professor Amethyst stressed again. “Once you step through, the door will disappear from existence entirely. It will not lead you back to the school. Do you understand?”

Oliver looked back at the headmaster. “I understand.”

Oliver felt overwhelmed with gratitude for the time he’d spent at the School for Seers. Without Professor Amethyst, none of this would have happened. He’d never have made such amazing friends in Walter, Ralph, Simon, Hazel, and Esther, nor had the opportunity to learn about who he was and hone his skills. He’d even finally found a sport he loved in switchit! Thanks to the school, he would now have memories he could cherish forever, not to mention powers he could continue to develop.

“Thank you for everything,” he stammered.

Professor Amethyst nodded. “You’re welcome, Oliver. And good luck.”

Oliver turned back and looked through the doorway at the store cupboard. The thought of leaving the school was almost too much to bear. He may never come back to this place, never see his friends or teachers again. The future was so uncertain. He had no idea what was waiting for him on the other side of that door. How he’d changed the future.

But now was the time to be brave. If he’d learned anything, it was to be bold, be confident, to trust himself. And so he squeezed the amulet in his fist tightly and took a big step into the wormhole.

There was a strange whooshing noise. Oliver felt wind whip through his hair. His shirt billowed like the sails of a boat, and his body felt very strange, as though every atom was being tugged apart. It was hard to breathe in the wind tunnel. Harder still to see. All Oliver could do was turn his head to the side and grope blindly forward.

Suddenly, Oliver collided with something hard. He opened his eyes in time to see his flailing hands knock several brooms from against the wall where they’d been leaning. The rushing wind and peculiar sensations stopped completely.

Oliver immediately reached for his amulet. The metal in his fist was now ice cold. He let go and looked behind him. The door was gone, and with it, the School for Seers.

There was no turning back now.