Quest for the Omnistone

Chapter 53: I Learn to Really Hate Dragons

Johnny:

"No, Lucy. I don't know where Crystal is," I said for probably the twelfth time today. Being in Aslan's country is said to be refreshing for the soul, but here in the library with Lucy pestering and following behind me, I felt far from refreshed.

"But why?" Lucy all but whined, plopping down onto an armchair. "You said you were with her just the other day."

I sighed, choosing not to answer her as I put a rather large volume back on the shelf. Hundreds of books on the history of Narnian culture and the important artifacts throughout the centuries, but not one mention of a sapphire anywhere. "Where are your siblings? Why don't you go riding with them or something?"

"Peter and Edmund have already run off somewhere with Caspian. Lilliandil is teaching Jill knitting techniques or something. Crystal and I always escape those to go out riding," Lucy explained. "But she hasn't been visiting for quite some time now."

I turned my back on the Valiant Queen, taking out another book and flipping mindlessly through the pages. Her mention of Crystal's constant absences reminded me of what had happened three days ago. After going all 'master of death' on us and disappearing once more, Crystal hadn't stopped by or sent word on how she was doing. Did time flow very slowly where she currently was? Where was this... this Organization?

Like a row of dominoes, the question brought up another and another....and another. Now that Crystal was Black Hood, what could her relation to the other ones... Red, Orange and Purple, be now? Was it her involvement with the fight against Red Hood that got her chosen as the next Black Hood? How many people were there in the Organization?

"Johnny?" Lucy's voice caught my attention. I had been so absorbed in my thoughts that I was currently flipping through thin air, the book now closed and in my left hand's grasp.

I looked up at Lucy, who had a worried expression on her face. I tried for a smile which felt like more of a grimace, so I busied myself with putting books back on the shelf. Having the sapphire in technically the same realm we had found the garnet was probably too much to ask for. "Well," I cleared my throat, "looks like I can't find what I'm looking for. Better head back to the others and tell them. I, um, I'll tell Crystal you're asking about her when I see her."

"Okay," she said uncertainly. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah. I just got lost in thought for a second." I gave her a brief smile and a wave before heading out the library doors.

~

"So, Narnia's out. As well as the Kane Chronicles, Star Wars, the Wizarding World, Smurfs Village... and most of our assigned dimensions." Steven sighed, running a hand down his face. "Plus, still no word from Crystal. So, yeah, this'll be quite a task to finish by... when did you say?"

"The twenty-ninth of July," Hailow said.

Steven's face remained calm, but the sparks his hands gave off told us otherwise. However, he tried to remain upbeat. "Right, so around a month from now. That's fine. There are only, uh, four more gemstones to find. So we have, like, a week per stone."

I tried to look enthusiastic, but couldn't help but tighten my grip on my bow. A week per stone, and that was by our timeline. It could very well be equivalent to only two days in the realm one of the stones could be in. And that wouldn't exactly help our case. The others probably thought the same thing. Max was visibly fiddling with his watch across from me and Danny looked too lost in thought to make him stop. Lazlo and Raj were uncharacteristically quiet and grim-looking while Clam started hiccupping, making the ground tremble slightly every once in a while. Meanwhile, Hailow took up station next to Steven, who was tapping away at the screens near the head of the table in search for the stones' locations.