“Twelve it goes, I stayed in the ground

  Three it took, the present was found”

  - Poem Of Polaris, Passage of Time Line 3-4, 2000 BW -

  When Tempus woke up he saw Noir just outside the cave entrance with two men in a black robe. Tempus immediately closed his eyes again, pretending to sleep.

  Well that didn’t mean he’s not curious at all. He tried to satisfy his curiosity with his eyes peering over every time he felt a chance to. Thankfully none of them were facing towards his direction.

  “-I see that’s good. So how was my sister’s soldier, William?” asked Noir in a hushed voice, although Tempus still could hear it clearly because he was close enough.

  “I’ve distracted them, my Lord. Though I predict they will catch on soon. Of course I will try my best to stop them, but with me only, I could only do so much,” answered the taller of the two cloaked men, which would be William, Tempus thought.

  That man was muscular for sure, even with the cloak covering him, Tempus could see that. There were swords on both sides of his hip. The man looked at least in his mid-forty, with black beard and scars in a lot of places where his skin showed. At least that was what Tempus gathered from his peeks and also with the cloak covering a lot of other features. He couldn’t even see the man’s eyes.

  “No, you’ve done good. How is Hora, Raymond?” Asked Noir again to the other person.

  “I’ve come into contact and he’ll help us. You owe me though my Lord, the prank he did to me was not amusing,” answered Raymond in a flat tone. Noir laughed mirthfully before clapping Raymond’s shoulder.

  Raymond’s stature, in contrast to William, was thinner, more of a scholar type of body instead of a warrior. He looked younger than William yet a bit older than Noir’s adult form. He looked up quite a bit so Tempus actually saw his eyes. While his hair was the regular Tenebrian hair, his eyes were green. Which would indicate between Ventus’ region or Solen’s border town heritage.

  “I will, don’t worry, anything you want. But for now I need to move, so do as per usual,”

  Both men nodded and went away in a flash. Noir grinned as he caught Tempus staring. Tempus jumped.

  “You knew?” Asked Tempus nervously. Tempus sat up and removed his blanket.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “Yes. They would also notice, you’re not as discreet as you thought you would be. If you want to eavesdrop at least keep your eyes shut. Not that I would mind if you hear my conversations with them though,” replied Noir with an amused tone. That just made Tempus really embarrassed.

  As Tempus folded his blanket, Noir explained that they were some of his most trusted men. Right after, he spread the map that he got from the couple and cued Tempus to get closer. Tempus hurriedly settles beside him, eyeing the map carefully. Noir smiled fondly as if he was reminded of an old memory.

  “So where are we?” asked Tempus. Tempus fidgeted, waiting for Noir to tell him everything.

  “We are in Ignis region, the couples lodge was on the borderline of this forest right here,” Noir pointed out on the map, he then moved his finger, “we cross over the cliff over here, and as you can hear we are near a river, so we’re about here.”

  Tempus nodded eagerly in response.

  “Ok. So where are we heading to?” inquired Tempus. Noir pointed to the land between Ventus, Terra, and Aqua’s region. Tempus sighed and slumped his shoulder in defeat. That is miles away from where they are. As if Noir could read his mind, the man tried to console him. Or maybe Tempus was that much of an open book, and he was getting sure of it.

  “Don’t be so down. Just think of it as an adventure. You, young lad, need more of that,” said Noir as he patted Tempus’ shoulder.

  Tempus would find it easier to do, if they’re currently not hunted by someone. Or maybe if he doesn’t know the thing he is carrying bears the fate of the world. Although he had to admit that a small tiny part of him was excited to travel.

  “I’ll try…” he replied instead. They packed their things after having breakfast and walked towards the rivers. After looking around, making sure they’re alone, Tempus pulled out the pocket watch. He dangled it.

  After letting out a lot of his emotion last night, right now when he stared at it, it left an odd sense of emptiness. But not only that, a lot of questions also came to his mind.

  “Do you just by any chance know how this works? Like the basics?”

  Noir stopped walking and turned back to face Tempus. He put his fingers on his forehead, thinking.

  “All I know is that the instruction is very short. Three sentences if I’m not mistaken.”

  Tempus suspected it was the words he recalled his mom regale to him.

  Back to what once was left

  Right to the one that will be

  And remember, 12 is where it starts and ends

  Which would be still vague, in Tempus' opinion. Noir moved closer to the watch as Tempus contemplated.

  “If you don’t mind, or maybe perhaps trust me enough, I could try to observe and maybe translate the instruction for you,” Noir moved closer but in reflex Tempus moved further away.

  That made Tempus widen his eyes. He hoped that Noir didn’t take it in a wrong way. Noir seemed to be quite relaxed about it though.

  “Just yesterday you were about to throw it away, now you protect it with your whole heart. But I’m glad that you are more cautious,” Noir smirked. The man walked towards the river as Tempus followed. Tempus was so preoccupied with examining his pocket watch that he bumped onto Noir back when the man halted. Tempus rubbed his nose because apparently it was the part most hurting. The man’s back was so hard.

  Noir hushed him and took him to hide in the bush. That’s when Tempus faintly heard sounds of clanking armors. Tempus put his hand over his own mouth, while Noir carefully peered over the bush to see the situation. As much as Tempus wanted to know what’s out there, he thought that it’s better to stay silent for now. Tempus almost yelped when he heard a cry very close to his position, only separated by the bush. The person sounds like a very young lady.