"So where do we start?" I asked uncle Russell, I was ready to start the quest to free Fredrick.

   "Start.. what?" Uncle Russell looking confused. Why is he confused? He just told us an adventurous story and he's expecting me to sit still? Not a chance.

    "Looking for a way to free your friend, Fredrick." I stated.

    "Yeah, we can help you." Sean said agreeing.

    "Not a chance. This is not an adventure movie or any childish games." uncle Russell said closing the door to the basement. We somehow convinced the replicas to help us clean the basement so we are locking them here in the meantime.

   "Please, you've already told us your sad story. It's right that we help you." I said trying to convince him. I may have not convinced my parents to let me stay at home alone but I am determined to change Uncle Russell's mind.

    "You know what they say, the more, the merrier. We'll cover more grounds if we work together." Sean said, this is one of the times I'm thankful that I had a friend like Sean.

    "What grounds? How do you know if I'm even working alone now?" Uncle Russell asked.

    "It's obvious, you look tired and stressed. God knows how you've been coping for the past eighty something years." I said in a fake worried voice, "so please let us help you."

   "Ugh! You children are annoying." he groaned.

   "Is that a yes?" Sean asked to be sure.

   "Yes but this discussion doesn't leave this house." he warned.

   "Aye aye captain." Sean and I chorused.

   "So what have you gathered over the years?" I asked following uncle Russell to another room that looks like a hall. The room had shelves of books at the end and the rest was just empty space.

   "I found out that three years before I met Fredrick, he lived in a small town with his father." He explained taking out a book from one of the shelves, "the locals there said that Fredrick met a woman who was suspected to have magical powers. Two days after they met, Fredrick moved out of the town" he concluded.

  "And he moved to the city you were in?" Sean asked.

   "No, Fredrick moved to the town I was in two months before the incident so for approximately two years and ten months, he was probably on the run from his clones."  uncle Russell explained and he raised the book in his hand, "this book was Fredrick's journal. From the time he was in college down to the time he planned the reversal mechanism."

   "Did he say anything about how he created the machine?" I asked curiously.

    "Yes, he wrote each and every step he took to create it but the problem is, even after creating the machine, Fredrick never mentioned anything about the machine creating clones." uncle Russell said flipping the pages of the journal. "But he wrote on this page..

  The bills are pilling up, Pa's health is starting to deteriorate and I'm running out of money. I made a machine that could change my life but nobody in my area knows what it's for, everyone is focused on farming and mining...

  ".. and on the next page he wrote..

   " I just asked Azura for a favour and surprisingly she agreed. Tomorrow she'll come over and as she said, she'll make my machine create copies of myself. With that I can indulge in other jobs and maybe I can change our standard of living. The price I have to pay is large but it'll help me. Azura asked...

  "... And that's where anything about the so-called Azura ended. He didn't mention her name again" uncle Russell concluded.

  "I've heard the name Azura somewhere.." Sean mused.

   "Wait a minute, you don't think it's.." I said realizing what Sean was talking about.

    "Is it..?" Sean asked

     " Where have the both of you heard the name before?" Uncle Russell asked looking at both of us.

    "Last week, Sean and I went to the library, surprisingly Sean agreed to go." I said laughing a bit but uncle Russell was almost glaring at me so I continued, "Sean claimed he knew every sorcerer in the book so I picked up the oldest looking book there and decided to quiz him on it."

   "I had no idea who the woman mentioned in the book was. So I refused to answer the questions." Sean said immediately.

   "No, he got every question wrong. The name of the book is ' Azura ' it was about a witch that possessed great magical abilities." I explained and uncle Russell nodded in understanding.

   "So., what you are saying is that there is a possibility that the woman the book is about is the woman Fredrick asked for help?" Uncle Russell asked.

   "Yes, obviously." Sean said and uncle Russell glared at him.

   "Let's go to the library, if the story is about her then it would contain all her deeds. We might find something about Fredrick" uncle Russell said walking out of the room.

   "I didn't expect my summer to be spent in the library." Sean groaned and I nodded in understanding, who wants to spend their holiday reading? I may be a nerd but holidays are definitely not for reading.

   "Are you kids coming or not?!" Uncle Russell called out.

   "We're right behind you!" I yelled and Sean and I dragged ourselves out of the room.
*******
   "So where did you kids see the book?" uncle Russell said in a low tone, probably because we were in the library or because the librarian had a really scary look.

   "At the far end of the library, I don't think anyone goes there." Sean whispered close to my uncle who just shifted away from him.

   We reached the end of the library and we didn't see anyone there, except for this girl in black clothes that was sitting on the floor in a corner.

   "Found it!" Sean yelled like a crazy person he was and the girl hissed.

   "Keep it down." she said glaring at us specifically Sean. I know other normal people would apologise and mind their business but Sean is far from normal he'd start...

    "Hey there." I knew  it, "so.. do I know you 'cause you look a lot like.." he was on full Sean mode now

    "Don't even start." the asian girl said and I looked at her very well, she had pitch black hair and small stature, she looked our age though.

    "Give me the book, Sean." uncle Russell said rolling his eyes at Sean who handed him the book absentmindedly.

    "How was heaven when you left it?" oh well, there is no turning back now.

    "The book is an autobiography." uncle Russell stated, "I'll be over there reading this through, maybe you can look for anything that's related." he said heading over to an empty sit and I walked over to a shelf and started searching.

   " You are a nuisance, you know that?" the girl said irritated.

   "I been told" Sean said not giving up.

   I started with the first shelf, this is going to be one long day.

******
  Another chapter. Please vote, comment and share.

Thanks for reading.

-Korisa