"Look at us doing something important," Tresk said, hands on her hips as she stood on an unfamiliar plateau.

Theo wasn't even certain of what part of the world he was in. Elrin refused to use the new names of things and instead resorted to poking his finger on the map. Theo, Tresk, and Alex had assembled in a region he had never visited before. The map said that it was Bantien, but he was unfamiliar with the entire landscape. It was mostly notable for rocky hills and falling crags. It would not have been his first choice to establish a civilization in, but there they were.

"Everyone has the order of the Shards they're supposed to synchronize, right?" Theo asked. "Between the three of us, it should be easy enough. And Elrin has his communication crystal so he can tell me if things go wrong.”

"A little trial and error never hurt anyone," Tresk said.

"I am prepared to do my duty," Alex said with a somber nod. "Although it feels my time might be better served growing stronger and more draconic."

"You're about as draconic as they come, Alex," Tresk said with a grumble. "If anything, I want to be more draconic. We're apparently at the same level of dragon, and I've got little stumpy horns and barely any scales over my body. I want to be more like a dragon."

“Thumbs are a requirement to hold a throne. Sorry, Tresk,” Theo said.

“I’ve got thumbs,” Alex said, showing what could be described as a proto-thumb on her forepaw.

“Those are barely thumbs,” Theo said. “You need real ones. Like this.”

Alex looked down at her proto-thumb and then at Theo's real thumb with a frown on her scaly face. "I suppose I have something to work on," she said.

"All right, enough talking about thumbs. We need to get going on this because Elrin is very antsy about the Shards being synchronized properly. You all have your tasks. Just communicate directly with me if you need advice, but you should be able to draw on our connection to get all the information you need."

“Gooooo team!” Tresk said, jumping in the air and shooting for a high-five no one else returned. “Wow. Tough crowd.”

With the team assembled, the only thing left to do was zip across the world and tap some crystals. Theo wouldn't question either how absurd it was or the fact that Elrin hadn't thought this far ahead. Perhaps he had expected that the shards would be more helpful when it came to synchronizing themselves, but it didn't matter. Both Tresk and Alex took off to their locations, leaving Theo behind with his own shard. He entered the tower and stood by the massive rotating hunk of crystal to wait for the order. Apparently, the frequency would continue changing until they had them all synchronized to the correct one.

“Ready when you are,” Theo said, squeezing the communication crystal after sensing that Tresk and Alex were both in position.

“Excellent. Let’s start,” Elrin responded.

Theo utilized the Tara’hek to keep everyone in sync. They started with the first set of three, then dashed to the next. Elrin had a view of the entire network, and relayed realtime information to the group when a Shard they had previously visited fell out of sync with the others. It was a pain in the ass how many fell away from the rhythm. Even a few they had just been to did their own thing. As annoying as it was, they all drew closer to the same beat over time. It was almost as though the entire world were swaying from side to side like some great pendulum.

"We're very close," Elrin said, "but you're going to have to circle around to short number 10 again. It fell out of synchronization."

"I got it," Theo said, folding the void on itself. He arrived an instant later in an oasis in the middle of a desert. This was the place Elrin had called Skaral. It was an island south of Tarantham, and had once been a thriving civilization.

Entering the tower, Theo pressed his hand against the giant crystal and produced the appropriate rhythm. It sparkled, just as Elrin had promised, and a pulse of power shot out. After a pause, there was a considerably stronger pulse. It radiated outward, washing over him with an unfamiliar energy. He turned, clutching the crystal hard in his hands and speaking to Elrin.

"I think that did it. I think we're finally in sync."

When no voice flooded into his mind, the alchemist looked down at the crystal and cocked his head to one side. It didn't hold the same pulsing glow that it normally did when it was successfully connected during a call. Instead, it was the same shade of pale blue that refused to change.

"Elrin, can you hear me?" Theo asked, waiting a moment. "I think something might have gone wrong."

“No, nothing went wrong,” a soft, somehow familiar voice came from nearby.

Theo turned, narrowing his eyes on the shard. "Did you do that? Did you freeze time?"

"I might have," the shard said playfully. "Does it matter to you? Your mission is done."

“One of many missions,” Theo said, kicking a rock at his feet. He watched as it went forward, as though to follow an arc that made sense with the physics he understood. But as soon as he stopped applying pressure to it, it froze. “My question is: why do you want to talk to me in a place where Elrin can’t hear you?”

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“You’re mistaken,” the shard said. “I’m not the one that wants to talk to you.”

Theo turned, spotting the form of an unfamiliar spirit. How a spirit had found its way into the Shards themselves was beyond him, but the quality of her soul was powerful. It was the figure of a middle-aged elven woman, floating in the frozen time and regarding him with a curious expression.

“What’s wrong with her?” Theo asked. “I’ve seen a lot of spirits in my day, and the energy that binds her is… The energy is your energy.”

“Give her a moment to gather her strength,” the shard said. “She doesn’t want to speak with Elrin, because she fears it would steer him from his mission.”

“His mission to burn the galaxy?” Theo asked. “Gotcha. Take your time, ghost. If you need to be relocated, I can help with that.”

“I seriously doubt that,” the shard said, the normally sing-song voice dropping to something somber. “Ah, she’s just about ready.”

“Apologies, Dreamwalker,” the spirit said, bowing her head low. “I haven’t had the easiest time. All these years spent in the void, hiding out in a Shard. I thought the end of my time was near when the energy faded to almost nothing. Then my savior came along. First, I’d like to thank you.”

"Just doing my job, ma’am," Theo said, tipping an invisible hat. He shook his head, rebuking some of the silliness that flooded into his mind from Tresk. Even if he was cut off from her in time, he couldn't help but adopt some of her mannerisms.

“And unfortunately,” the spirit said, "I need a bit more help."

“Gladly,” Theo said. He didn’t even need to hear the proposal. He was quite good at adapting spirits to new worlds, giving them new bodies. Tero’gal was the perfect place for her. “We can leave for my world right away.”

“That’s another unfortunate reality of my life. I need to go somewhere specific.” The ghost paused then, as though she were weighing her options. Although her spiritual body was strong, it wasn’t anything close to a corporeal form. “I’m afraid I can’t take a body, yet. I evaded Death’s Gate, but in doing so I’ve bound myself to the Shards.”

“I'm unfamiliar with the effects of shard-based energy on spirits, so you'll have to explain it to me. “

“Of course. To put it simply, the composition of my body is no longer compatible with mortal life. Although I've discovered a few paths forward, there is nothing here within the mortal plane, or the void where I spent countless thousands of years, that could help me.” The spirit drifted downward, her feet passing through the stone ground. A moment later, she spasmed as though being jolted awake. “I’ve listened to the rumors, and understand a place of learning is being established.”

“You’re talking about Leon’s world,” Theo said.

“King Leon.” The ghost said the words with a mirthless laugh. “To think, after all this time he’s still around. Yes, that’s the world I’m talking about.”

“I don’t want to dash your dreams, but it isn’t likely for his world to be ‘a place of learning’ for quite some time.”

The ghost gestured down at herself. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Take this,” the shard said. A small, finger-length section of herself fell to the ground with a clatter. It rolled toward his feet, defying the lacking flow of time. “Bury it somewhere deep in that world. It should give her enough time to find a solution.”

“And if she can’t figure it out on her own?” Theo asked.

“This is my road,” the ghost said. “I know enough to understand how difficult this is. Avoiding death has been arduous. If I die after knowing Elrin accomplished his goals, that’ll be enough for me. And there is still yet someone I need to take from Death’s Gate.”

“Depending on when that person was put into the gate, they might get spat out on their own,” Theo said. “I can also talk to Death for you.”

The ghost nodded a few times before shaking her head. “I’d rather if everyone stayed out of this. Can you plant my crystal, or not?”

Theo thought about it for a few minutes. There were a lot of angles to consider, especially the idea that he’d need to keep this from Elrin. Obviously, the ghost was someone important from his past. She didn’t want him to stick around for her sake. While that was inspiring, it was also somewhat selfish. But Theo was good with ghosts. He wouldn’t fight against her, and a trip to Leon’s academy world wasn’t a hassle. If anything, it was always fun to see what changes had happened since he was gone.

Scooping up the crystal, Theo nodded. “Okay. I’ll bury you there. Deep, you said?”

“As deep as you can get,” the ghost responded. “I’ll be quite fine, so don’t worry.”

With a final shrug, Theo said, “okay, let’s go.”

“Excellent,” the ghost said, clapping her hands together. They made no noise.

Theo staggered forward, clutching the crystal in his hand. He squeezed a bit too hard with both fists, paging Elrin with the communication crystal.

“Yes?” Elrin asked.

“We’re good. Looks like this one is synchronized.”

“Same on my end,” Elrin said. “Let’s keep an eye on this for a bit. We can’t be sure they’ll remain so perfectly aligned.”

“Got it. Keep me posted,” Theo said, rolling the shard over in his hands. “I wonder what your story is.”

“I could tell you if you like,” the ghost said, giving Theo the fright of his life.

The alchemist spun around, hand on his chest as he looked at the ghost. “I thought you were bound to the weird space-time of the Shards.”

“No, I’m bound to that,” the ghost said, gesturing to the fragment. “Now I’m disconnected from the network. Huh. That’s a strange feeling.”

“We have to stick around here for a while,” Theo said. “Until we’re sure the Shards are in place properly, I can’t abandon my post here.

“That’s quite fine. Oh! How very rude of me. I never gave you my name, even if I know yours. My name is Avalara. I was once the matron of the Manastream clan. I suppose that organization is long gone…”

“Nice to meet you, Avalara. Anyway, keep your eye out for anyone or anything. This area is still teeming with monsters.”

Theo and Avalara took seats.

When Avalara caught Theo raising a skeptical brow at her, she laughed.

“I know I don’t need to sit,” she said. “But it makes me feel better.”

“Okay, Avalara. What do you want to do while we wait?”

“Got any games?”

Theo dug around in his shared inventory, shaking his head. “Yeah, we got a few games. How Tresk got her hands on a chessboard is beyond me.”