Addiyln began following her nose towards the kitchen. Jacob was chopping various vegetables on a cutting board while something boiled on the stove.

"I hope you like stew!" He said cheerfully.

"Yes, it smells wonderful." Addilyn propped her chin on her hand and absorbed the magical scents emanating from the pot.

"It's been a while since I've had a real dinner, I guess. I haven't gotten a chance to thank you. So, thank you."

"You're welcome." Letting out a wide toothed grin Jacob began pouring his concoction into bowls and setting them on the table.

"Let's eat!"

Blaise walked slowly to the table while Addilyn inconspicuously watched him out of the corner of her eye. He had a sort of lurking presence that was very different from Brea's. Brea was much more businesslike about everything, even with something like just entering the dining room. Addilyn waited as long as she could before attacking her food. She did it as politely as she could but truth be told, when you're that hungry, restraint is very difficult.

"My apologizes! I haven't introduced you two yet! Addilyn this is my son Blaise. Blaise, meet Addilyn." Addilyn decided to pretend to have never met Blaise. Telling her dinner companions otherwise would raise too many questions. Besides, Blaise had warned her against it. She would demand more answers from him later. She had a feeling she wasn't the only one keeping secrets. It was almost as if Brea and Jacob didn't want to scare her away. Away from what was the question.

After acquiring full bellies everyone slowly meandered away at their own paces. As Blaise moved past Addilyn he discreetly stuffed a note into her hand. It read, Meet me outside in half an hour. She half wondered if she should be wary of Blaise. After all, she barely knew him. She couldn't help but trust him for some reason though. She had a good gut feeling about him. 

As she sat in her room Addilyn pondered curiously over what Blaise might tell her. Half an hour later she stood on the wraparound porch waiting. The wind had picked up slightly since she had arrived and the smell of sea salt hung thick in the air. She waited patiently and watched the ghost crabs of the night scurry in and out of their holes. Just as she was starting to grow anxious, Blaise arrived.

"Sorry that took so long. I had to make sure my father was asleep." He apologized in a hushed whisper. Addilyn nodded her understanding. Blaise signaled for her to follow him down a trail leading into the grass beside the dunes. Once they were far enough from the house Addilyn spoke with urgency,

"Listen, you need to tell me everything. No secrets. Please." Taking a deep breath Blaise began explaining.

"Alright. So it's true that certain people can bend time and cross barriers. Everything Brea and Jacob said about that is fact. But, there has been a recent problem. There is a tear in time. Something broken that they're struggling to mend. If we can't fix it there could be serious repercussions."

"I overheard them talking about it when I first got here. They called it the rip in time."

"Yes. What they didn't tell you is that they might try to use you to fix it. If it absorbs your power it potentially could be fixed. Your gift is much rarer than they let on. It does happen but not very often. Another problem is that there isn't a a perfect algorithm for the gift. They need to train you first however. That'll buy us a little bit of time. I'm not sure how you gained your ability but for some reason they think it's very important. That the reason could change everything. It's okay if you don't want to tell me what happened yet, but eventually you're going to have to. You could fix this rip in time but... it might kill you."

"What?! But..." Addilyn buried her face in her hands miserably. Had what she been trying to forget finally caught up with her?

"I'm not going to let that happen though. I won't let my father do that. Not again." 

"What do you mean?"

"My mother. His obsession with time and magic caused him to lose sight of what matters. The cost was my mom's life in the end." Blaise looked at the ground with silent remembrance. Addilyn understood his pain. He had already spent enough tears. It was at the point where he didn't have any more tears to spend. Just a wound that could never fully heal. Addilyn automatically reached for his hand. They stayed that way for a moment. After a minute Blaise said,

"I have a plan."

"Alright Mapkeeper, what's the plan?"