Barnaby handed Elizabeth the stone. It was very heavy, and unexpectedly warm. She passed it between her palms, weighing it up, considering its proportions.

　　"But I don`t feel anything any more", she said.

　　Barnaby took her hands and wrapped them around the lumpy rock. "Izzario`s right. You need to give yourself more time to recover. But we don`t need much. Just a bit of an extra boost. See what you`ve got left, eh?"

　　Elizabeth concentrated as hard as she could. And it was a most unusual feeling. The stone was tingling, as if it was resonating with her somehow.

　　There was a flicker of light like a gathering of particles, swirling loops of sparkling dust. The striking black veins of the stone began to glow. A bluish tint coloured the air around it.

　　She handed the Quistone back to Barnaby, who returned it carefully to the Omnaria.

　　"Right then", he said, jovially, "all I need to do now is un-specify the groan-handle, isolate the ozzlevalve . . . " (Barnaby fiddled with various dials and whatnots as he spoke) "adjust the altometer . . . remove this piece of toast - no idea what that`s doing there - and then with a little bit of luck . . . it should work".

　　Without any further ado he shut the lid, gave the key on the side a bit of a twist, and flicked a knobbly switch.

　　Everybody in the room held their breath.

　　The Omnaria made a faint buzzing sound and began to jiggle about like a miniature washing machine. The Quistone inside it glowed brighter, radiating waves of warm blue light.

　　"It`s working!" gasped Luella.

　　Elizabeth`s heart began to soar, rising high into sunny, clear skies of hope.

　　The light from the Quistone pulsed intensely, keeping time with some unseen rhythm of the universe. And then, like a projector throwing images onto a screen, a series of small rippling waves infiltrated the space just a few steps in front of it. The world peeled apart as if someone had drawn aside a curtain. On the other side Elizabeth could see a soft-focus version of the memory box that she kept beneath her bed.

　　"That`s my room!" she exclaimed, although what she really wanted to do was scream: "Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod!"

　　Barnaby stooped to examine the image more clearly. "It`s a bit of a mess . . . "

　　Elizabeth`s heart was racing madly, her mouth dry and every part of her starting to tremble.

　　"And you could try and look a bit more cheerful about it".

　　Elizabeth caught herself. There it was, home. Right there in front of her.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

　　So why wasn`t the sight of it filling her with exploding rainbows of happiness?

　　"It`s not that", she said, unable to tear her eyes away from the glimmering hole. "It`s just . . . I`ve been gone for days. My mum`s going to kill me".

　　"Quite right too", Aelgren agreed. "You`re far too young to be running away".

　　Elizabeth looked at him narrowly. "But what am I going to say?"

　　"You could tell her the truth", Barnaby suggested. "Mum`s are good at that".

　　His voice betrayed no expectation that this was ever going to happen.

　　"Why don`t you tell her you were staying with friends?" Luella said.

　　Elizabeth smiled. And suddenly then it was like she was being pulled in two different directions. As much as she knew she had to get home, the thought of leaving Orrica to do it converted every cell in her body to an infinitely dense and heavy weight.

　　"Will I ever see you again?" she whispered.

　　Barnaby offered a warm and easy smile. "Who knows? Funny place, the future. Full of things that haven`t happened yet".

　　"I`m sure you will", Izzario said. "Especially if you choose the right path".

　　"I had a very strong feeling you would say something like that", said Elizabeth, and it made Izzario laugh.

　　It was Aelgren`s turn next. In one ungainly move he scooped Elizabeth up in his arms, holding her close in a giant, rib-crushing hug. "We`re all going to miss you lassie", he sighed, as the bristles of his uncontrollable beard scratched and tickled the side of her face.

　　"I`ll miss you too", Elizabeth said.

　　And she meant it. More than she thought she might.

　　"So I suppose this is goodbye then?" she mumbled, once Aelgren had let her go.

　　The pulsing light from the Omnaria shifted its rhythm, the waves growing longer, the hue moving from blue to green as it dropped lower down the spectrum.

　　"I`m afraid it is", Barnaby admitted, with a note of urgency in his voice. "The rift won`t stay open for long".

　　"Say hello to your mum for us", said Luella, with a smile.

　　"I will".

　　Elizabeth turned, and with tentative footsteps walked towards the softly rippling curtain of light. She put out a hand, following it through to the other side.

　　There was a sucking, a swirling, and a long whoosh as she entered the tunnel, the light inside it growing brighter next to the rushing in her ears. And yet at the same time it was gentle and mellow, and it enveloped her like the peaceful warmth of a sleepy summer`s day.

　　She felt as if she was flying, soaring over the entire universe, with everything there ever was and ever would be stretched out and opening up before her. The eternities of all time itself unravelled like reels of film in every direction, and it seemed to her then as if she could move between and within them all at will.

　　The moment passed in the blinking of an eye, though it felt like it lasted for more than a thousand years.

　　The light began to contract. Elizabeth could detect something turning, if not quite solid then certain, definite, beneath her feet. Ahead of her were the faint outlines of shapes: a chair, her bed, the memory box . . .

　　Moving slowly forwards, towards the familiar impressions of her room.

　　Elizabeth was going home. Back to Hexley-on-Heath. Back to Sky View flats. Back to her mum and to the universe where she belonged. And yet, for all that, she knew that now it was going to be a very different sort of place. The memories of her old life felt as if they belonged to someone else. And in a way, but a way that she could never really explain, she knew that this was true.

　　No longer afraid, Elizabeth walked along the gleaming, cleansing, restoring tunnel of light.

　　The briefest of desires to steal a final look behind her lived and died as embers in the wind. And even though she did not look, she knew in her heart that the world was gone and that there was nothing there for her to see. The only path worth choosing now was the one that lay ahead of her.

　　So on she went, taking step by precious step.

　　Because, in the end, that was all she could ever do.

　　*** THE END ***