Parallels- an MCSM AU [COMPLETED]

NINETEEN- Volatile Theories

"It'd be risky, but it might work." Lukas agreed. 

I glanced out the window at the town. "Sure. But not now. There's a couple other things I still need to take care of, and we should bother to actually have a plan this time, instead of jumping blind." Julia winced as I said this, but I hadn't been trying to guilt-trip her.

"So, what, we go tomorrow?" She asked.

I shrugged. "Sure. Assuming, of course, that nothing new comes barreling into our lives before then."

Aiden snickered quietly, then caught himself and transformed it into an unconvincing cough. I gave him a look. "Don't think I'm joking. You never know what can happen in the space of an hour, much less a day."

"Yeah, no, I know. I...I know. I'm just..." he made a vague rolling motion with his hand. "Not used to being part of any of this 'quest' madness anymore."

Radar's laugh was uncharacteristically harsh and sarcastic. "Oh, been there, Aiden. And trust me- as soon as you have to say that, you know you're about to be in it deep."

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Soon after that, I went back out into my beloved town that I'd been gone from for too long. As important and interesting as this adventure was, I regretted having to leave Beacontown for so long.

Aiden had been right, though. Most everything was just fine. There were the few little problems here and there, but they were solved easily enough, especially since people were so relieved that I was back.

Even the things I had to sort through and deal with were still welcome. They were classic Beacontown things, which made for a colossal relief after the craziness of the past few days. All my friends and acquaintances were more than happy to see that I'd returned, which lifted my spirits quite a bit.

Unfortunately, I had more on my mind than I allowed myself to let on. I was glad we'd pieced together at least a little bit of Essa's plan, but it wasn't enough. I wasn't sure it would ever be enough.

If all went well tomorrow, we should have more information about the mess that was Essa's timeline, and what exactly she was planning to do to fix it. The time reversal theory seemed unsettlingly plausible, but how would she carry that out?

Always with the questions. Again and again, I ended up with more queries than I could answer.

It was late evening, and I stood up on the bridge that spanned the main street, watching the last throes of sunlight disappear from the horizon. Behind me, the moon would soon be rising above the gates.

The slight breeze that tousled my hair was pleasantly warm, and it carried faint hints of conversations up to me from people walking below. The bridge was one of my very favorite places in the whole town, the oak planks strung high enough between the two jungle trees that I could look down at the whole center of town. It was especially peaceful at this time, the beginning of night when no one else was around.

Well, almost no one else.

"I thought I'd find you up here." A familiar voice said conversationally. I turned to see Lukas stepping out onto the bridge, walking cautiously towards me.

I smiled thinly. "Hey. What's up?"

He stood beside me, leaning his arms on the dark-oak fence. "Aaahh...you know."