A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long to update! Again, my computer has been acting super weirdly so I've had to write on my phone, therefore the formatting will be a little weird. Thank you for all the support! Votes and comments mean the world to me.
Also, I'll be in New York for the next 2 weeks where I will have limited time to write, and after that I'm going to camp for 2 weeks, where I'll have no access to the Internet. So I might update before I leave for camp, but if not, I'm really sorry and I promise once I get back I'll have loads of ideas for you guys! Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

"Flare?" Flare heard the sleepy voice of Everest from behind her. Mentally, she groaned and spun around. Abby turned around too, lingering at Flare's feet.
"What are you doing up?" he asked, yawning and running a hand through his hair which was even more messed up, if that's possible, after sleeping on it. He wore pajama pants that were just a bit too long and no shirt, revealing his leanly muscular frame.
"I could ask the same to you," she whispered. "Now shush, unless you want to wake up Glacia."
"I don't," Everest replied softly, his face breaking into a charming smile.
"Good. Now, go back to bed. You're dreaming right now," Flare mumbled.
"Nice try. I'm coming with, wherever you're going," Everest proclaimed, grabbing a hoodie and tugging it over his bare chest.
"Everest, no. This is dangerous," Flare said sternly once they were on the porch so that they could argue freely without Glacia waking up.
"I don't mind," he shrugged.
"No," Flare growled.
"Fine," he said, slinking back like a hurt puppy. Flare felt bad, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. She had to do this alone.

***

Flare sidled through the shadows of the castle halls. Lanterns were hung every few feet on the walls of the corridors, dimly irradiating her path. She ran her hands along the mossy stone looking for something, anything, that would give her a lead as to where Eternos could be. If Eon's predictions were correct, he was somewhere in the castle, unlocking some ancient chest that contained the answers to the mysteries of the universe or entering a series of tunnels that had been kept a secret for centuries. Hopefully Flare would be able to find him before that happened, though.
As she wove her way through the hallways, she began to feel as if she was just going in a circle with no end in sight. Her muscles began to feel sluggish and slow, and her mind drifted in and out of reality. The world around her felt warped and unfamiliar, like she didn't belong. Suddenly, in a brief and slightly unsettling moment of clarity, Flare remembered the last time she felt like this - in the chronomancer forest. She knew she must be getting closer to Eternos.
With one final step, Flare turned the corner to see a shadowy figure in the dark corridor ahead of her, leaning over something. As soon as he looked her way, he began to work faster. Flare was suddenly released from his grasp, and her mind faded back into reality. The man, leaning over what Flare could now see was a wooden door with a lock, held the key and jammed it into the keyhole repeatedly. Seconds later, Flare heard a loud click, and the door swung open.
"Don't move," she whispered before she lost the courage. Eternos looked her way and stopped, an evil smile overtaking his face.
"I would pulverize you on the spot, but I admire your bravery. Come closer," he said, sounding almost amused. Flare stepped towards him slowly, her boots echoing against the hard floor.
"I'm Flare, a pyromancer. If you're Eternos, I've heard about some information that you may have regarding the necromancers," Flare said. Eternos narrowed his eyes at her, and Flare did her best to get her racing heart under control.
"I do have some information about them. Why? You want to bring back your mommy? Talk to your boyfriend?" Eternos snarled. "Let me guess. You just want to get the necromancers to do something to fulfill your selfish needs. That's what everyone wants these days."
"Name your price, I'll give it," Flare said with desperation.
"Tell me why you need the necromancers first," he said.
"I just want to... bring back, or talk to, my twin brother. I just want to hear his voice again. He died so young, only a few months ago, at seventeen short years old. His death..." Flare spoke softly. "His death was my fault. I miss him more than anything."
"So you murdered your brother?" Eternos replied. His bored, even amused, voice angered Flare.
"No!" she exclaimed, then quieted herself. If they woke up the king or a guard, they would be dead. "No, I..."
"An accidental murder?"
Flare was unable to speak. She had never thought of it as a murder, but now that Eternos had suggested it, it was all she could think of.
"Yeah," she said shakily. "It was the biggest mistake of my life. I just want to talk to him one more time. I want to tell him I'm sorry."
"Such a foolish creature. Chasing after something so unobtainable," Eternos purred. "What makes you think you're worthy? The necromancers are very busy people. I'm sure they don't have time for just any foolish girl's antics."
"I'll give you anything," Flare begged.
"There's only one thing I want, and I'm sure you don't have it," Eternos hissed.
"I may."
"I'll humor you," he growled. "It's a map of these tunnels I just opened. If only I had it, it would make this so much easier."
"Why do you need the map?"
"There's a treasure hidden somewhere in the corridors. Riches beyond belief. Legends have it that the tunnels are extremely complicated and nearly impossible to get through without the map, but there's only one in the world, so it's nearly impossible to obtain."
"I have the map," Flare blurted. She wasn't sure, but as soon as Eternos mentioned it, it clicked - Adarar's map might've been for the tunnels.
"I highly doubt that," Eternos snubbed.
"No, it's true. I'll give it to you, if you give me the information about the necromancers," Flare said.
"Where'd you get it?" he asked suspiciously.
"Same place I got that key that you stole from the chronomancers. From Adarar, an Amazon Howler."
"The key was yours?" Eternos exclaimed.
"Yes. The chronomancer you killed to get it from stole it from me first," Flare narrowed her eyes at Eternos and crossed her arms. "You're lucky I'm offering you this map after what you've done."
"Your moral compass can't be that much better than mine, if you're willing to help me steal so that you can simply talk to your dear brother," Eternos snickered.
"Maybe so, but do you want the map or not?" Flare asked, her heart racing. As much as she disliked Eternos's statement, she knew it was probably true. Shaking away the bad thoughts that accompanied her realization, she reminded herself that she had one mission - to bring back her brother. And she would do whatever it took in order to do so.
"I do. Hand it over," Eternos stuck out a hand, and Flare fished around in her backpack for the map. As soon as he saw Flare had it, he stretched his arm out eagerly, but Flare pulled the map back and away from his grasp.
"Tell me about the necromancers first," she said. "I have a map of all the chronomancer territories, just show me which one they're near."
"Okay," Eternos said, taking a deep breath, and he began to show Flare where she needed to go.

***

According to Eternos, the necromancers had lived on the outskirts of Eon's small town up until about two years ago, when they moved practically across the country to the edges of another chronomancer territory. Upon hearing the news of their location, Flare's heart sank with defeat. How would she ever get there? It was so far west.
Flare thought about her journey as she lay in bed, Everest and Glacia sleeping in their respective beds across from her, until her stomach rumbled, alerting her of it's hunger. She swung her feet over the edge of the bed and walked to the small kitchen, Abby mincing after her. In the cabinets was a bowl of dried fruit, some slightly stale bread, and some type of jam.
"Better than nothing," Flare sighed, placing the bowl of dried berries on the floor for Abby and grabbing a slice of bread for herself, but not before turning on the tap and using her hands to slurp up a few sips of water. Abby promptly leapt up and lapped at the droplets that leaked from the faucet. She sat at the small, wooden dining table, nibbling at the bread periodically.
"Hey," Flare suddenly heard Everest's voice from the doorway. He ran a hand through his messy mop of hair, avoiding eye contact with Flare as he spread the jam across a slice of bread and hopped up on the counter, eating it with more focus than necessary.
"Hi," she responded. "Listen, I'm really sorry about not letting you come earlier."
"I get it. Lone wolf, huh?" Everest took a seat in the wooden chair next to Flare.
"I don't know. I guess so," Flare shrugged. As much as she didn't want to be what Everest called a 'lone wolf', she fit the description pretty well. At least, she had since her brother died.
"That's alright. Me too," he said, losing interest in his slice of bread and setting it down on the table in front of him, refocusing his attention on Flare. She fidgeted uncomfortably, but Everest didn't seem to notice.
"Do you think there's a reason we're all here?" he asked suddenly, looking up at the ceiling. Flare followed his eyes to see where he was looking, and he seemed to be watching a small hole in the roof where you could see the light from the smattering of stars across the sky.
"What makes you ask?" she said.
"I don't know. I've thought about it ever since I was little, about whether there's a purpose to our small, individual lives," Everest sighed. "Sometimes I think there isn't. Like, we'll all die eventually and we're just part of a cycle as old as the universe that will continue with or without us. But at the same time, a small part of me keeps thinking that there must be a reason. A reason that creatures capable of loving and hurting and feeling were placed here. To discover, to create, to love," he glanced over at Flare. "I don't know. I'm probably not making any sense."
"No, you're making sense," Flare smiled, then paused for a moment before continuing. "I think life has the meaning you give it. If you believe that your life has worth, then it does. We may be destined to return to the dust from which we came, we may not make a huge difference in terms of this vast universe, but that doesn't mean we aren't worth anything. Our lives, however small, contain years and years worth of flaws, of happiness, of heartache and laughter and life. Life that the universe may never know of, but life that means everything to us."
"Yeah," Everest said, and no words were spoken after that. The pair simply stared up at the stars that were so much bigger than them through the hole in the roof until moonlight was replaced with the orange and red streaks in the sky that gave hint that the sun would be glowing up the sky soon. Glacia entered the kitchen moments later, rubbing her eyes sleepily and retrieving some bread and jam from the cupboard.
"You guys up already?" she asked with a grin that was unnaturally cheerful for so early in the morning.
"Yeah," Everest replied.
"Well, good morning," Glacia smiled at Flare and Everest and sat down at the third chair to eat her breakfast.
"Do you guys have any plans to leave soon?" Flare asked to make conversation.
"Yeah. We were hoping to leave within the next hour or two. You?"
"I should probably be going soon as well," Flare sighed.
"What about the information about the necromancers that you needed to get from someone in the kingdom?" Glacia furrowed her brows in confusion as she took another bite of her bread. Everest widened his eyes and looked at Flare, and she gave him a look telling him not to tell Glacia that he saw her last night.
"I got it before you woke up," Flare blurted.
"Early riser?" Glacia grinned.
"Guess so!" Flare replied in a voice that was just a bit too chipper. Hopefully it didn't tip off Glacia. It didn't appear to, as the cryomancer simply kept eating her breakfast in oblivion. However, Everest eyed her suspiciously, and Flare felt her face burn red.
At that moment, the door to the inn burst open and in stepped the same guard that had ushered Flare to her room the night before. He had a panicked look on his face, with damp hair matted to his forehead with sweat and his chest heaving up and down.
"We're on lockdown!" he exclaimed to the trio. "Keep the leaving of the inn to a bare minimum, and of course no leaving the kingdom. We can assure you that you're safe and we will inform you when the threat has been eliminated."
"Doesn't sound like we're safe," Everest muttered.
"When can we leave?" Glacia breathed.
"What happened?" Flare asked.
"We don't know when you'll be able to leave. And I'm not supposed to be telling you this, but..." the guard looked around before lowering his voice. "Someone's broken into the castle."
"Oh, how awful!" Glacia exclaimed. Flare nodded, although she knew she had taken a part in it.
"Stay safe, folks," the guard nodded at them before bolting out the door.