Casimir had been staring into his microscope for several minutes, when he sat back from it. His expression was entirely blank as he turned to Hutch. His lips parted, but it took a moment before he managed to speak, saying, "It's myrrget."
Hutch had been expecting bad news, given Casimir's lack of enthusiasm, but even with the good, he wasn't entirely certain what it meant. Casimir had found what he was looking for, and it left him feeling in the dark as to what would happen next as he watched Casimir stand from his seat.
Moving to the far side of the room where there were a series of locked cabinets, Casimir opened two of them, gathered a couple of items and then returned to the table, setting down an empty jar, a notepad, and a small fireproof lockbox near where Hutch was standing.
Pulling a pen from his pocket, Casimir grabbed the notepad and began to write down a series of numbers, with no indication of what they were for, as he spoke.
"Tell no one about this, not even your friend, Ren. I've no doubt he's a good kid, and I understand you had to tell someone about what happened to you, but this, specifically, needs to remain between us, for now."
"How did you know that I'd told him?" Hutch retorted, shocked that he'd figured it out so easily.
"No matter how many years go by, I still know who you are Hutch. I also know how hard it is to keep something like what we've experienced to yourself. He also didn't ask any of the typical questions," he replied, handing the paper to Hutch. "This is a list of the codes you'll need to get in here. In order, starting from the gate code at the end of the driveway. Once you get a car, I'll get you a remote like mine for it. The second one is for the keyless entry on the side door of the house. Third is this buildings code and the fourth is to this lockbox."
Typing in the code, the lock on the box released and Casimir opened the case. Attached to the underside of the lid was a well-used notebook, and a 3½" hard disk for a computer. The case itself was filled with insulating foam that secured a set of three thumb drives on the left and on the right a plastic container.
Casimir removed the container, which, once clear, had yellowed with age. Opening the lid, he showed the contents to Hutch. Inside, protected by pieces of foam covered by a silk cloth, were the missing fragments of the amulet.
"Between these fragments and yours, I'm certain I can rebuild it, or recreate it. I'd like to keep yours here with mine, locked in this case with the myrrget."
Hutch hesitated, taking a moment to look at the contents of the box he brought, before looking at everything that was laid out around him. He knew that this was the right thing to do if he ever wanted to keep his promise to Kahlala, because he also knew there was no way he would get to this point on his own. He wasn't smart enough or rich enough. But he just couldn't shake the feeling that it had all been too easy. The hammer had to drop at some point, and he was certain he'd be the one beneath it.
"How can I trust that you won't screw me over?" he asked, unable to keep his concern to himself.
Casimir sighed. "I don't know what to tell you Hutch. I've given you the codes to my home. Introduced you to my family. Everything I have, everything I want, is right here. I know it was a long time ago, but you trusted me once. Is it really so difficult for you to remember those days when you knew me as Cascel?"
"Stop. You do not get to pull that on me. I trusted you because I had no idea who you really were! You've had years to forget what it was really like between us at the end, but for me it was practically yesterday when I was storming your castle at the head of an army. You pretend like were still friends, but the last I recall we were bitter enemies. So, pardon me if I'm having a bit of trouble wrapping my head around us being besties again with the same goal in mind. It's a bit much, okay?" Hutch huffed and threw up his arms, pacing a circle as he ran his hands through his hair and rubbed at the back of his neck.
"You're right. I apologize," Casimir replied, even as he wore a faint smile. "I haven't been considerate of what you must be going through. I'm asking a lot of you; I know that. And maybe I have forgotten what it was like, because I don't remember us being bitter enemies, even at the end. What I remember is your anger and determination, and the sense of relief I got every time I found out that you were still alive. I understand how strange that must sound to you, and after years of telling our story to my children, I have no doubt that I've twisted my own recollections into something more favorable for the both of us. If we were as bitter as you remember though, then this is all I can do to make things right. My family is the only thing in this life that matters to me, and maybe this is my mistake, but I've shown you where we live, and given you access to them. It's the only proof I can offer that I'm not out to take anything from you. If you're more comfortable with it, how about I only take enough of the myrrget to do some initial testing, and you can keep the rest, along with your portion of the amulet. Take it home, store it someplace you believe safe, and I'll trust that you will bring it back when I ask."
"I just need some time to think," Hutch said, feeling frustrated by the situation. "I guess just secure everything for now. It's safer here than with me. It's not that I don't want to trust you, Cas. I do remember when we were friends. Seeing you here, with your family, it reminds me of what it was like in the first division. I'm the one that ruined that for myself. I've never really taken responsibility for it either." Taking a breath, he slowly exhaled. "I don't understand what happens next, and I can't figure out why you would help me with anything. You told me yourself that you didn't think humans belonged on Illimev, so I don't understand why you would send me back. I need to you explain it to me."
"Okay. Fair enough," Casimir replied with a nod. "What I know is that the amulet needs an owner. I intend to make you that owner so that it will take you back to Illimev. Right now, this myrrget is inactive. It's magic, for lack of a better term, has been released and depleted. But I also know that it is this same magic that is keeping us from aging. Myrrget can absorb and store magic, it's why it's used as a base ingredient for nearly everything. But once powdered or dissolved into a liquid, it can't absorb new magic. Hence, one time use. For whatever reason, this amulet was capable of being used repeatedly, and I always believed it was from the shape of the crystal. With it being broken, I can now study it and duplicate it; if not rebuild it into something that functions, even if it only functions long enough to draw out the residual magic in the three of us. Once that magic is drawn out though, it is my hope that as its owner, it will take you back to Illimev. You'll undoubtedly benefit from the same long-life, I got to experience, and now that you know what will happen, you can smash it anytime you want to return, or you can let it choose someone new and die there, as a happy man. The choice will be up to you."
"Then what's the next step?" Hutch asked, feeling a touch less apprehensive, now that he had a basic understanding of what the goal was.
"For tonight, packing everything up and securing it. Then we go back inside the house and figure that out together," Casimir answered as he turned back to the table and pulled the notebook from the lid of the safe box. "This is the first notebook I made when I first returned. The disk has a copy of those notes on it, and in the cabinet, there's a stack of CDs with my full collection of notes, which I transferred to these USB-drives. The handwritten copies are in a filing cabinet in Celina's office inside the house. It would probably be little more than nonsense to you, but through my years of research, I've found that Illimev and Earth share a very odd similarity to each other. I'm sure you noticed it yourself, when you were there. The animals, the plants, it was all so vaguely familiar."
"Yeah, I did."
"I'd been trying to figure out how since I realized I wasn't aging, but when Julian was born, and he was the same way, it's all I could think about. Until I came to realize that despite the similarities, this world was missing something that Illimev had, myrrget. So far, I've found nothing like it here on Earth. Nothing that could pull the magic from either of us. You're free to read any of the journals if you like," he explained, as he carefully dumped the myrrget from the bag into the jar. Once he had finished, he reached into the jar and pulled out a bristle from a dust broom. "Dare I ask?"
Hutch rubbed at the back of his neck and quickly diverted his eyes, "Probably for the best if you don't."