The Magic Factory

Professor Amethyst nodded. “It was my mistake, Oliver. I was the one who failed to see the Seer in Lucas. But even so, we are not responsible for the choices others make. Lucas turned to the dark side of his own accord.”

“Did he?” Oliver contested. “He was the same age as me. The factory was his home. Armando was his guide. Then I ruined everything for him.”

He felt the headmaster’s hand come down on his shoulder. It squeezed.

“Lucas did, indeed, have a hard life as a boy. No one can dispute that. But so too did you, Oliver. And yet you’ve not allowed yourself to get bitter. Lucas chose the path he followed. Your presence in the past was not to blame.”

Oliver wished he could believe the headmaster. But it would take a long time before he accepted he was not to blame. That his meddling in the past had not set off a chain reaction. It was a heavy burden to bear.

“He gets his revenge eventually,” Oliver said aloud. “Perhaps not as dramatically as he wanted to, with Hitler and destroying the world, but he goes on to kill Armando anyway.”

“A Seer cannot fix everything,” Professor Amethyst told him. “It is a hard lesson to learn and you are not the first to grapple with that dilemma. I have had this conversation over and over myself. But there are some things woven into the fabric of space and time that a Seer cannot control. Hitler, for example. You thwarted the plot of a rogue Seer who was interfering with time, aiding him to destroy. But Hitler is still the man you read about in history class. The things he has done cannot be changed. Unless you are acting against the sabotage of the rogue Seers, you must let it go. We cannot make everything perfect.”

“Hitler was going to kill me,” Oliver said. “But is death even possible if it changes your destiny?”

The headmaster replied with a cautious tone in his voice. “Even if your destiny demands you live, you can still die. Nothing is set in stone. But the universe will always try to find a way. If you die when there is more to your destiny, the universe will step in, pull on more threads, call to more Seers. Some things cannot be woven into the fabric of time. Especially the acts of rogue Seers.”

“Wait,” Oliver said, as a sudden a thought struck him. “Lucas was a rogue Seer. Does that mean his actions can be undone?”

If Armando was killed by Lucas, a rogue Seer, did that mean there was a chance he could alter the timeline once more? That there was a better route the universe wanted it to follow?

The headmaster paused. A small smile twitched at the corner of his lips. Oliver got the distinct impression he was leading him toward a conclusion. Excitement raced through him.

“I’m right, aren’t I?” he stammered. “None of Lucas’s actions are woven into the fabric of time because he’s a rogue Seer. Including killing Armando.”

Professor Amethyst’s smile grew larger.

“Armando was never supposed to die,” Oliver said with sudden realization. “Just like Hitler’s bomb was never supposed to detonate.” He gazed at the headmaster. “You knew, didn’t you? You knew all along?”

Professor Amethyst nodded. “Everything has a purpose, a reason. Nothing can be dictated. A Seer must find their own way to their path. And you have. Armando Illstrom is your guide not just because you are a perfect match, but because he, himself, is important to the universe. Your destinies are intertwined. You need each other. And the universe needs you both.”

Oliver felt winded by the revelation. His mind swirled. He’d thought all hope was lost for Armando. But now he had to adjust to the reality that perhaps it was not. That he may be able to save Armando yet.

“Armando is part of my destiny,” Oliver stated aloud.

“And every moment that passes, he is in danger,” Professor Amethyst added. “I told you in our first meeting that I was only able to secure you a few days with him. That is the power of Lucas’s meddling. It will be difficult. Nearly impossible. And with every moment that passes, Lucas’s actions become more entrenched in time.”

A new realization struck Oliver. He felt a crushing sensation in his chest.

“I have to return…” he said breathlessly.

At last, Esther’s look of grief made sense to him. She’d already worked out that Armando could be saved and that Oliver was the one to do it. That he would leave her. Leave the school. And that meant possibly never coming back.

“I’m needed at the factory. I have to go there. Now.”

The headmaster remained silent. But Oliver understood the look in his eyes. This was his destiny. This was where every moment so far had been guiding him.

It had been fate aligning that had allowed him back into the School for Seers. Next time, he may not be so lucky. There was no guarantee that it would again in the future. Leaving now could be the end of his time at the School for Seers.

Professor Amethyst remained stoic. “Do you fully understand what leaving means for you? What the consequences of your actions may be?”

Oliver nodded gravely. “That I might never be able to come back.”

“And is that a sacrifice you are ready to make?” the headmaster pressed. “Are you really going to give up everything you have here for your guide?”

Oliver could feel grief like a weight pressing into his chest.

“I have to,” he stammered. “Armando needs to live. I don’t know why yet, but perhaps it is something to do with inventions. He’s making many great things for mankind.”

“Then I must give you this,” the headmaster said.

He pulled something from his pocket and handed it to Oliver. It was an amulet. The design embossed upon it was a hoop with three eyes. The symbol of the School for Seers.

“Wear this at all times. It will glow when a timeline converges with the moment you are in, one that may allow you back into the school. It will guide you here.”

Oliver clutched it with gratitude. There was a life line after all. Perhaps one day he could come back to this place.

“Now, go to the feast,” Professor Amethyst said. “Your friends deserve to know what you’re planning. After that, I will escort you to the exit. A proper one,” he stressed, arching an eyebrow, “rather than the rip you and Miss Valentini made in my shields.”

Oliver nodded gravely. He left the sixth dimension, heading to the elevator. As he rode down to the ground floor he fought back his tears. How could he say goodbye to his friends? How could he face them knowing he may never see them again? That saying goodbye to them now may be for the last time?

He reached the food court. But before he even entered, the doors opened. Out streamed his friends.

“Oliver!” Ralph cried, surprised. “We were just coming to look for you.”

Oliver turned his eyes down to the ground. Like Esther, they must have sensed something was awry. Surely they hadn’t had time to eat a thing, instead choosing to seek him out.

With a spark of grief inside of him, he looked from one face to the next. The thought of saying goodbye to them was so painful it was almost enough to make Oliver change his mind. But the feeling that he was supposed to go was too strong. It was like a magnet pulling him to the factory.

“I’m leaving,” he said, cutting straight to the chase, ripping off the Band-Aid in one go.

There was no hubbub, no disagreement. It was as if they’d all silently come to the same conclusion. But the sense of loss was tangible, and it swelled up within the silence.

“We’re not going to be able to change your mind, are we?” Simon said.

Oliver shook his head.

“Even if we tell you you’re being an idiot,” Hazel added. There was no cruelness in her tone, just tears shining in her gray eyes.

Oliver laughed sadly and shook his head.

“Or if I told you you’d be breaking the rules again?” Ralph added.

Oliver shook his head again.

“Will you stick around for one last game of switchit?” Walter asked.

“I can’t,” Oliver said, the sadness inside him growing deeper and deeper.