Grain...

The carriage continued to bump along grimly until suddenly, Amaretto heard a chime in her head. She looked up to Katherine who held her gaze and shook her head sternly.

"All right then! I think I have something," Tempus said into her mind directly. She could hear a slight tinny echo and buzz behind his voice.

"Is the connection alright Tempus," she thought.

"Yes, yes, everything is alright. Do not worry too greatly about it. As I was saying, I think I have figured out a way to get at the stone, but obviously you will have to do it without me. Here's what I want you to tell everyone else..."

"Wait Tempus, how do we know if this will work?"

Tempus huffed in her mind and in his quaint accent, he said, "If you think that I didn't check it all then you are sadly mistaken."

"Well you weren't sure if we were even going to survive the jump when you sent us to the Water Mirror," Amaretto thought acidly.

"That was a mistake," Tempus said.

"Yes, a mistake that almost cost us our lives."

"Nothing happened to you in Monde Cruex though," Tempus said in response a little agitated.

"Yes, nothing happened," thought Amaretto bitterly into her mind and at the ring. "Except now I am in another world that I am not from, trying to get to the one person who knows how to get me home. I refuse to believe that this was not a giant mistake, but still, you were a part of making this mistake. So if you have another way to get us out of here, it better work, or I will make sure that you won't have any more time anymore."

Tempus was silent and then spoke directly into Amaretto's head once more. "Yes. I understand."

"Good, now what is this plan of yours?"

Tempus began to speak with a rapid fire pace. "Well, taking into account that you are within the Great Machine Empire... I have figured that the anomaly is actually the Stone of Communication itself. The whole situation makes no sense. The stone was never supposed to be found by anyone in the first place. It was merely supposed to be a marker for the way to the Sand Mirror."

"That's great Tempus, but what does this have to do with,"

"Tut tut, don't interrupt me! I'm getting to it. As the stone itself is actually just supposed to hold a coordinate. However, because of where it is hidden within time, it emits a magnetic pulse so that if there is a need to, we can find it. I consider it a fail-safe."

Amaretto grimaced as they passed by another crossroad where she noticed an IronMan on the street. He was still dressed in a red cape, and Amaretto slunk into her seat as they passed by. She murmured to Tempus in her mind, "So what about this fail-safe? What does this magnetic pulse do?"

"Like I said, it allows us to track down and find the object that holds the coordinate if there is ever a need to get to the Sand Mirror and all we are supposed to do is get them to the Hourglass that you are currently wearing. Once all three coordinates are placed in, then we have a clear shot to the Sand Mirror. However, because it emits a magnetic pulse, there is a chance that other things are able to read and hear said magnetic pulse and follow it to where it is supposed to be."

Amaretto furrowed her brow. "Wait, are you saying that something else followed this magnetic pulse?"

"That is sadly exactly what I am saying." At that moment, Amaretto was tapped on the shoulder by her aunt. Katherine left her hand on the shoulder. Amaretto looked at Katherine. Katherine's eyes narrowed.

"Is everything alright?" Katherine's voice was concerned and she looked a little worried.


Amaretto smiled. "Everything is going to plan."

Katherine raised an eyebrow and then settled back into her own side of the carriage. "Well then, I won't say any more."

Amaretto nodded her head.