The next day found Kaleth in the exact place he had been the day before, alone yet again. The only thing that was different was his possession of an antique wooden clock that Aennin had brought that morning. He would have been satisfied with that alone, but then Aennin rolled out a set of tools and insisted on spending the rest of the morning improving it. While Kaleth found it relaxing to watch him work, he definitely felt that time was wasted. Although adding an extra face with separate hands allowed him to set the time while he experimented with the other side, he wasn't particularly interested in keeping time. Instead, he whiled away the hours watching the seconds tick away on his clock. Oftentimes, he would fiddle with the dials to force the hands to turn.
As his observations progressed through the day, he seemed to notice that the second hand would sometimes move just as quickly without interference as it did when he forced it to turn. Other times it would slow down to a point at which it appeared to have nearly stopped. He watched these occurrences, counting off each spell of sped-up and slowed-down movement in his head and counting still between these moments when the clock seemed to tick at what he thought was a reasonable rate. He stared for as long as he could, alternating winks so he could avoid blinking. He was searching for a pattern in these bursts of fractured time, but none of his counts ended at the same number. All he had managed to figure out by the middle of the afternoon was that his father's magic was truly working at random. Although Kaleth's frustration was mounting, this did not deter him from testing and recording the length of each event.
Kaleth was later startled out of this meditative study of his clock by a sharp and quick series of knocks. When he heard this, he jumped so violently that he nearly careened out of his bed. Recovering quickly, he rushed to the door and opened it carefully, making sure to frame himself between the door and frame so that the visitor he was responding to could see only his face. That was the only part of his body he was sure could pass for human. Unfortunately, this didn't allow him to see the face of the woman who barked at him in a demanding way.
"Kaleth?"
Kaleth was startled once again this woman's tone. Whoever he was talking to didn't sound friendly, but her voice sounded familiar.
"W-who wants to know?"
The woman sighed and replied impatiently, "It's Volt. Aennin said something about me, right?"
It took the Avatar of Kerun identifying herself by name to finally recognize the voice he was listening to. He had seen her countless times since she was married to her mother's cousin Gyanda. But the person who spoke to him sounded a lot different from the Voltairine he knew. A chill ran through his spine as he stepped away from the door, saying, "Yes, I remember now! Sorry! Please come in!"
Without further preamble, Volt practically charged into the room. Once she reached the center of the room, she turned toward Kaleth as he closed the door awkwardly. As he looked into her eyes, he found no trace of her usual vigor. Instead, she wore a hollow expression that dripped with bitterness.
"So, are you okay?"
Kaleth nodded nervously. "I am now. Aennin helped me get out of Tanis. I'd be dead now if it wasn't for him."
At the sound of Aennin's name, Volt seemed to bristle irritably and abrasively replied, "Whatever." She paused for a few moments before adding, "So, what's next?"
Kaleth was confused to have been asked this question by an Avatar and so timidly answered, "I d-don't know! I was told the Avatars were all meeting here to plan your next move. I'm just here to find my parents!"
"Well, I'm not the boss of anyone," the woman grumbled moodily. "I don't really care what happens. It's all bullshit anyway."
Kaleth was stricken dumb by these words, which he couldn't believe were coming from the Avatar of Life. Wondering what could have possibly happened to put her in such a pessimistic state, he asked, "Why do you ask that?"
The question seemed to be ill-considered as, just then,Volt turned and looked at Kaleth incredulously. "Uh, have you looked around lately?" She snapped as she threw her hands in the air. "Everyone is dead, and the only things left are these shitty mountains that are way too cold for anyone to live on without turning into an asshole! Have you met this place, Kaleth? Have you ever been anywhere else? Everything good is gone!"
She collapsed onto Kaleth's bed, which was nearest to the door. "What's the point of trying at this point?"
Kaleth frowned sadly as Volt finished her rant. She was acting so differently from her usual self that it was almost jarring. In vain the vain hope that he could cheer her up, he said, "My mum used to tell me that there is no problem that we weren't created to overcome. That must be especially true with the miraculous powers you have!"
Volt's voice dripped with nasty sarcasm as she turned herself away from Kaleth so that her body faced the wall. "Yeah, they've done me a hell of a lot of good so far."
Kaleth couldn't believe what he was hearing. She had always had faith in the healing power she borrowed from Kerun; a power strong enough to bring the dead back to life using just her tears. Kaleth really wanted to know what she had been up to, but he couldn't think of a way to get her to do so. Finally, decided to ask honestly.
"A lot must have happened back home for you of all people to lose hope so completely. Do you want to talk about it?"
But, predictably, she flatly replied, "No."
Seeing the Avatar of Life so thoroughly defeated was beginning to make him feel miserable. It was then that he remembered the single hope he had held for this reunion. "Do you at least know where my mum and dad are?"
Volt seemed to go stiff upon hearing Kaleth's question. She paused for a few moments before slowly sitting up looking at the boy, a weary, concerned look on her face. "What?"
Kaleth sighed before repeating. "Do you know where my mum and dad are? I know my dad is still alive because his powers are protecting me, but I haven't heard anything about my mother! When Aennin told me you were coming, I was hoping you'd be able to tell me something about them!"
Volt looked severely put on the spot by Kaleth's question, and simply stared at him for a few moments, her mouth hanging open. "Uh..." She rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably before looking away and swallowed. "I don't think they made it out, Kaleth. I mean, I mean...they didn't. I was there."
Kaleth's blood turned to ice. His parents, both dead? He couldn't believe it! As shock began to drain all of the color from his face, he whispered, "Where? What... what happened to them?"
Volt looked away as her eyes turned glassy and her lip began to tremble. "Don't look at me like that." She folded her arms across her chest and looked away.
Kaleth's voice trembled as he said, "But that doesn't make any sense! My dad can't be dead right now! He wouldn't let anything happen to mum either!"
The woman looked pained as she uttered, "He couldn't do anything. He was first."
Something seemed to click in Kaleth's mind just then. If Aennin had rescued him because his father had told him to, then they had to have met after his father split up from Volt and whoever else they were with at the time. Why else would Aennin have been missing from whatever tragedy in which his father was supposed to have died according to Volt? There was only one possible answer in Kaleth's mind.
"But Aennin said he talked to him! Was he there too?"
Volt shook her head confusedly. "No..."
Kaleth's face hardened into an expression of ironclad certainty. "My dad was the reason Aennin came to look for me! If he wasn't with you when my dad supposedly died, then he has to have made it out!"
Volt looked off into the distance, confusion on her face. "I thought...but..."
She trembled, covering her mouth with her hand. She stood up and rushed to Kaleth, putting her hands on his shoulders. "But...but...if Kartal made it out, maybe..."
"He had to have made it out!" Kaleth insisted firmly. "That has to be why his magic is working on me right now!"
Volt nodded emphatically. "Yeah! Yeah, that makes sense! And if he made it out, maybe he and Gyanda got out together!" Her eyes darted from side to side as she processed the information she was given. She manically rushed for the door. "I gotta tell Tir!"
Kaleth stared blankly at Volt as she made her hasty departure, stunned by her sudden change of mood. His certainty of his father's survival didn't extend to her husband. But if she could bring herself to smile again, even for a little while, that was enough to make himself feel slightly better.
"Thanks for stopping by!"
"Yeah!" Volt called back, her voice now far more full of life than it had been when she entered. With that, she opened the door and sprinted away excitedly.
When she was gone, Kaleth closed the door once more with a sigh. He fell back onto his bed and picked the clock back up. He began to stare into one of its faces once again, determined to find a pattern in the way his father's magic was affecting his perception of time.
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