Sam turned around and interjected, “Hannah said she prompted you to write, because you said the magic clue. It was a game you taught her in the future.”
Ping nodded. “Seems like you put some thought into preparing her to do what needed to be done. Of course you had, or will have, the benefit of hindsight.”
They took their seats at the table.
As they got settled, Diana passed them a basket of rolls and placed the butter in front of them. “You two might get more out of this experience if you spend less time analyzing how and why these things happened, and more time on what they are trying to tell you.”
“What do you mean, Mom?” Mara asked.
“For example, when I meditate, I don’t spend all my time figuring out how it makes me feel more centered. I simply accept that it does.”
“Okay. What’s your point?”
“Stop trying to figure out how and why your future self is communicating with you. Just accept that she is.”
“All right, I accept that my future self is communicating with me. Now what?”
Diana smiled. “Now listen to what’s she’s saying or, in this case, writing. Don’t worry about how or why. After all, she is you, doing what you would do, if you had her perspective.”
Ping nodded. “Your mother is correct. The best course of action is to follow the advice as best you can from the book. How and why we are getting this information are largely beyond our abilities to ascertain at this point.”
Mara shrugged. “Well, the first passage says—”
Diana pointed a fork at Mara’s and Ping’s plates. “I didn’t mean now. You two need to eat more and talk less.”
“They do talk an awful lot, Nana,” Hannah said, scooping mashed potatoes from her plate.
“I know. It’s hard to get a word in edgewise around here sometimes, isn’t it? What do you want to talk about?” Diana asked.
“I’m going to have a baby brother soon,” she said.
Sam choked on his stuffing, spraying crumbs across the table.
* * *
Mara figured her mother needed a break and that Sam probably needed his mother’s support in the living room with Hannah, so Mara volunteered to clean up after dinner, even before Diana suggested it. Ping said he would pitch in. After putting away the leftovers and stacking the dirty dishes on the counter next to the sink, Mara washed, while Ping stood next to her, rinsing and drying.
She gave him a sidelong glance, while she scrubbed. “Are you sure you don’t want to just have a seat? I can get this on my own. You look a little pale and tired to me.”
He shook his head. “I’ll be fine. I’m still getting over the other night. I guess I’m not bouncing back as fast as I used to when I was younger.”
“The dragon still tossing and turning?”
Nodding, he said, “It is still sensing danger, and I think the anxiety level is growing.”
“Is there any way for you to figure out what this danger is?”
“I’m assuming it’s related to the events on the roof over the shop. That’s when it peaked, and it doesn’t appear to be abating,” he said.
“So do you get the feeling that this Aphotis is still a threat? That it’s coming back? Is that why the dragon is so worked up?”
He paused with the towel. “That would be the logical conclusion, especially considering the allusions that have been made about battles and whatnot. Even if the dragon weren’t acting up, it would be prudent to work under that assumption. You said yourself the Aphotis may have taken some of your abilities, and it does have the Chronicle of Creation, so it has the means and the ability to return at some point.”
“At some point? What do you mean by that?”
“If this wraith did absorb some of your abilities and transfer them to Abby, it’s reasonable to assume it would need time to assimilate them, learn to use them, just as you’ve had to.”
Mara didn’t respond and washed in silence. It took a few minutes for Ping to sense something was wrong. “Mara?” he asked. “Something bothering you?”
“I don’t like calling that thing Abby.” She pulled the plug on the greasy water in the sink and stared at it, as it swirled down the drain. “I went by her house today.”
“I see. Why did you do that?”
“I thought maybe I could talk to her father, maybe explain what happened to her or console him or something—I don’t know.”