At Time's End

Chapter 12 - Midnight

The morning arrived and I woke up in my study- no, wait, where's the mirror? Wait, why am I on my chair? I don't even have a chair. Huh? It took me about a minute to realize I was in Ignus' study, and another minute to realize it was midnight.

The time is based on the current day/night status of Point Nemo on Earth, and the area surrounding the pole placed there was completely dark. I figured Eterna was asleep, so I had to be careful. Ignus was probably turned off, since he wasn't here.

I sneaked downstairs - the sudden attacks of midnight munchies apply to everyone, 700 years in the future or not - and was shocked to find his corpse had been moved to the kitc- no. There was nothing, no body in the kitchen, and no body in Ignus' study. There was, however, someone laying down on the couch. It was Eterna. I wondered why she was on the couch. She's breathing, and had no visible injuries, at least. But I shouldn't wake her up. She'll be angry.

I went into the kitchen again. I poured water into the kettle. I turned on said kettle. I waited for it to beep, signaling that the boiling point had been reached. I heard footsteps, but didn't bother to turn around. I placed a small bag containing crushed up, dried leaves into a mug, alongside the now boiling water.

"Hello, Eterna. Sorry to wake you up."

"I did that by myself." She got herself a mug. "Is there any water left?" I didn't answer. She did the same routinely steps as I.

We waited.

"How are you?" She tried to start a conversation.

"Fine, I guess." This conversation wasn't going anywhere, if it could even be classified as a conversation. "You know, that mug you're holding." It was a very ugly mug. 'From The Town of Carafei' with a gnarly statue on it. "I gave you that for our anniversary. From Venus, when we went there."

"Yeah. Wasn't that in like 2723 or something? That's ages ago." I mean, it's not that long. Just like 20 years ago. I remember reading that on Earth, 700 years ago, 20 years was a long time, but now? Now we have 200 year lifespans. "You know, maybe we should do that again."

"Come on. Venus is so far away, and the money..."

"What about a sace? I mean come on, they're not that difficult to take care of..."

"YOU'RE KIDDING! They'll claw on furniture, get hair on everything, Ignus said he's allergic once... If you want an easy to maintain pet, for the sake of everything that is holy don't get a SACE?!" 

Sace are feline animals that enjoy stirring up mischief exactly like their Earth counterparts, cats. They came from Venus and goddamn if they do not get their hairy little furball selves back there, I will snap an iron pillar in half. (They are incredibly cute, but Jaiden would never admit to this. - Narrator) 

"Also, don't think you can fool me by asking a larger demand and then making a smaller one!!" Our tea was ready! It was blazing hot. I totally didn't learn this by drinking a full mouthful and finally being able to understand what the word 'agony' truly means. 

"We could just get some sace-proof spray for the furniture... and a vacuum cleaner for the fur... and allergy meds for Ignus..." she attempted. She hadn't drank her tea yet.

"HE'S A HOLOGRAM, I WAS JOKING!" My response was a bit more heated because of the gut-wrenching pain I just felt. Sorry, Eterna.

"Alright, but come onnnn I just want one!" She tried to drink her tea, but burnt her tongue. Just like I did. She slammed her fist on the table.

"You say that and then you'll curse at it like no tomorrow once you reap what you sowed." I drank half of the mug. I was astounded. The mug was exceptionally tall.

"NO! I love him!" This time Eterna slammed her mug on the kitchen table so hard it almost spilled. The mug is approximately one quarter full. I have no idea how she managed to almost spill that.

"YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW IF IT'S A HE YET!" I think I saw a crack in the table... "Also, mind the table." She lifted her mug off the table. I knew it, there was a crack! I'll just have to fix it... tomorrow.

"Well I love the sace anyways! You're still wrong!" She sipped her tea one last time, finishing it.

"CORRECTION: The theoretical sace." I sighed. "I'm too tired for this." I chugged the rest of my tea. "Look, I'll look into it tomorrow, alright?! Good night, Eterna." I heard a content 'good night' from the couch as I walked back up to Ignus' study. 

I guess I could call it my study now. Ignus isn't going to use it anyways. I guess I could move some of my stuff down. Eterna probably isn't going to sleep anyways. 

Down went the mirror, the comfortable pillow, and the sace plushie I am NEVER telling Eterna about. I didn't have much stuff in that room. I mean, I've spent the past 165 years talking to a childhood friend in the future, it's not like I'd have a lot of stuff.

As I checked the drawers of my desk, I found the key again. "Ignus' drawer key'. I had put it back in there for.. safekeeping. I guess it was finally time to open the last drawer in Ignus' study that had a lock on it. 

Mainly papers about research, but there was a separate folder, titled "[CLASSIFIED]". I opened it, and the name I should've, but didn't expect to see popped right up. Alice Hawks. My mother, of course!

I read deeper, and there was all kinds of information on my mother. It seems Ignus was spying on her. Why? She's a threat to our society. Ties to the government - has gotten away with murder multiple times due to said ties. 

Ignus died because Alice found out about his investigation. It all became clear. 

I scrolled all the way to the end. My name was there, but the page was ripped off. 

There was a note in its place.

"You were too late, daughter."