Falling into Place

Many thoughts now found their way into his head space as he anxiously removed the loose threads and tore right through the leather. To his surprise and ecstatic amazement, he pulled the book right out of the chair. "You always were so clever, Hoder", he said to himself as he chuckled lightly with the book in his right hand.

The book was big and housed a large number of old brown printed papers with a purple cover and a hand-drawn font. He hid the book in his rough leather bag which was on his waist and attached to a rope on his shoulders and he left the office stealthily.

    The old man found his way to the citadel in search of Xalia, the midwife who was given the responsibility of sending Reikus' child to the other world. He went to the hospital where she worked as he was instructed to and talked to her privately.

    "Hoder sent me to you. He asked me to give you this.." Riven, the old man said as he brought out the book and handed it to Xalia. 

Xalia wore a look of awe as she looked at the man who was given such heavy responsibility. She collected the book and looked at the cover with a little grin on her face. "Thank you…" Xalia said as she expected him to say his name.

    "…It is Riven." he replied sharply as he walked away from her presence cautiously in order not to stir suspicion. Xalia thoroughly checked the hallway before leaving with the book behind her back. Xalia was holding the book, not just any book but the only one that there was. She was holding the To Vivlio Tou Chronou; the Book of Time. The book was believed to be long gone after the disappearance of the gods. But yet, here it was.

    Back on Earth, Drake's nightmares were still quite a terror to him, but he took solace in the fact that they weren't real just as Alessia told him.

    Alessia and Drake just concluded their APP class and they waited behind to discuss their upcoming project.

    "I stayed up last night thinking about something for our APP project. But it's okay if you don't like it, we can always change it." Alessia said without a resemblance of confidence.

    "Let's hear it" Drake replied as he nodded his head steadily.

    "It is something about powerful forces. We could use two practical ones or maybe more. The idea was quite a thrilling one, but I can't say the same for the nervous spill of words I'm doing right now" She chuckled with a broad grin on her face.

    "Powerful forces? That's really awesome and I bet whatever idea I was going to have couldn't have come close to that." Drake replied after he laughed at her previous joke.

    "And what could possibly be more powerful than…" Alessia said hurriedly before Drake interrupted with an answer.

    "Time" Drake said with a smile as he looked at her.

    "Love" Alessia continued and said it exactly the same time as Drake. This was an hilarious moment and the two of them burst into laughter.

    "Love? Why didn't I think about that?" Drake said with a look of awe.

    "Time? That is some Einstein brain you've got up there" Alessia said.

    "I think we already have our project. Powerful forces: Time and Love" Alessia said happily with a shower of widening smiles.

    "You bet we do!" Drake replied as he enjoyed this new spirit of teamwork. Drake packed his bag and wanted to leave with Alessia who was already heading out. Alessia turned back to Drake and brought out a Ying Yang necklace which she held on to tightly.

    "I wanted to give you this yesterday but I couldn't find the right time. This helped me a lot when my nightmares were really crazy before I adapted to them and I thought you could have its company too, if you don't consider it delusional or superstitious…" Alessia said as she kept finding her face between the floor and his face.

    Drake was surprised to the marrows. He had never been given something like this before, especially not from a girl. He looked at her and just couldn't take his face away. His blood rushed through his body and his feelings seemed to soak him in his entirety as he tried so badly not to shed a tear.

    "It must really mean a lot to you and I'm grateful that you deem me worthy of its company. Thank you" Drake said softly as he collected it from her hand while still looking at her.

    "Just hold on to it tight" Alessia smiled and she turned her back and left the class.

    Drake waited behind as he looked at the Ying Yang necklace with all his emotions fixed in his eyes.