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I nod, unsure how to ask if somehow I have evil blood inabout Alex… and hoas…"

"I understand," he says "Losing someone can be difficult, especially if you’re not used to death"

I want to say that I a both of my parents were dead But now I’veso it’s not really relevant And besides, during ht they were dead, I couldn’t feel e away like it is now

"Hopefully, I won’t have to get used to it yet," I say with a forced s to a stop in front of the es creak as he opens it, as if it had been sealed shut for ages Then he ducks his head and steps inside the dark and hesitantly I follow

It takes ht and et used to the da ivingplace for the dead He hunches over even ins to descend farther into the dark The low ceiling drips murky water on our heads and the cold tile floor is cracked and stained The pillared walls are deteriorating, chipped and flawed, but in a hauntingly beautiful way Decorated with red lanterns, the whole place has a soft glohich flows around the roohts the way down a narrow tunnel

"This way,"up to unhinge a lantern from the wall and carry it with hi heavier the further we go and the floor feelinglittle details the more my eyes adjust to the dark The way vines flourish fro from somewhere nearby, how on each pillar there is an eye carved in the center, the pupil an S wrapped by a circle--the Foreseers’ mark Is this a place for the Foreseers? Is it linked to the City of Crystal? That idea makes me nervous, especially if Nicholas has access to it

"What is this place?" I traceto do with the Foreseers?"

My father shakes his head, the lantern swinging from his hand "This is a place where no one wants to be"

I’m about to ask him to explain e old, perched on top of a Victorian table My father sets the lantern down beside the legs, then raises the lid of the trunk and sticks his hand inside, retrieving a crystal ball orbed with soft light

He extends his hand out toward oing to reset time and hopefully create a better future for the world"

I eye the crystal ball warily "With just a crystal ball?" I look up at hily chilled, and he carefully places the crystal ball my palm "No, with this and your power"

It isn’t like any of the other crystal ball I’ve seen The outer glass is crystal clear, allowing me to see inside to the center where a star-shaped center bursts with light

"I don’t understand…" I’m transfixed by the crystal ball, unable to takeht my pohat ended the world?" I lift the crystal ball to eye-level "This crystal has a lot of power…"

"That it does" He shuts the lid on the trunk "And when I say power, I’ about your Foreseer power, not the star’s power" He stands silently for ais in ivable--things which you’ll understand soon But I need you to put the future back and fix some of those mistakes"

I wonder if the evil in s?"

"I can’t answer that right now," he says "Nor can I tell you how to use the crystal ball"

It fills like I’ve been stuck in soure out the answers from a bunch of stuff that doesn’t see?"

"Because you have to figure it out on your own" He tries to offersmile "You and I are unique cases We can both travel into visions without the assistance of a crystal With enough strength, you should be able to change the vision I erased and recreated"

I’ around the crystal "You changed a vision? I thought you weren’t allowed to do that?"

"You’re not" Regret seizes his expression "The vision I changed was so the world would end… And to this day, I regret it"

Evil Evil Evil The word echoes in my head "You made it so the world would end? Hoould you do that?" I step back Maybe he’s still evil and he’s getting me to do his evil work

"Relax, Geood reasons for why I did the things Granted, it’s not an excuse, but at the time it seemed like it was the only option"

I back away until ood reasons for doing so the ache of another hidden wound

"You’ve never done anything bad that felt like it was the only option at the time?" he questions with accusation

I open my mouth to say no, but deep down I know it’s a lie "Yes, but…"

"No buts This isn’t ily sharp, his hands balling into fists, anger controlling hi back to hoas originally supposed to be You need to make sure the world doesn’t end up like it did in the vision you saw"