It is well past midnight when a sudden loud noise wakes me up from another dreamless sleep.

“What the hell.. are they still setting off fireworks right now…” I mumble.

What time is it anyways?

I blindly pet around me until I find my Magitek Device poking the bone of my right hip. In a bit of an awkward manoeuvre I eventually get it in front of my face.

3:34 AM.

Which means that all the firework shows have been over for at least three hours now.

That’s kinda strange. What-

This time I am interrupted by an even louder crash, followed by sound that vaguely sounds like glass breaking.

Wait a second.

I sit up in my bed.

The sounds do not come from outside, but rather…I look towards my right, in the direction of my door.

I am already halfway across my room before the realization can even hit me fully.

However, I don’t make it to my door right away for in my haste I slip on something on the floor causing me to fall down.

My vision turns red and it isn’t until I pull myself up on my elbows and look down that I realize that I have fallen face first unto one of my t-shirts.

It is the shirt I bought at the Artificer convention last year with grandpa.

My vision turns blurry for a second as my eyes begin to well up with tears.

C’mon Cas. There is no time for that now!

I push myself up from the floor and with two large steps I am at my door which I fling open with more force than necessary.

Please be alright. Please be alright. Please be alright.

I always thought that when situations like this happen people would get into this state of hyper focus and that only one thought would be on their mind.

However, right now, as I am running through the dark unlit corridors of my house, a million thoughts are spiraling through my mind all at once.

What is happening exactly? Are my grandparents okay? Is grandpa okay? What if he-

My thoughts are interrupted as I bump into something as I round the corner. I open my mouth to scream, but before a sound could even pass by my lips, a hand clamps over it. Automatically I start trying to fight of whatever has its hand over my mouth.

“Casey, for the goddess’s sake, stop squirming!”

Wait, grandma?

“I am going to pull my hand away now, but I need you to be very quiet, understood?” she ferociously whispers in my ear.

I nod.

As soon as she releases me I turn around and whisper to her, “What is happening? Where is grandpa?”

“Listen carefully child, there is no time for explanations. I just need you to stay upstairs. Go hide somewhere and whatever happens don’t come down.”

“But-“

Grandma harshly shakes my shoulders, “Do you understand me?!”

Again the only thing I can do is nod my head. She releases my shoulders and without sparing me another glance, turns around and runs down the stairs. My eyes follow her until her silhouette disappears around the corner.

It takes a couple of seconds for me to snap out of my daze and start looking for a place to hide.

I end up in front of a pantry closet in the hallway next to this one.

I step into the closet, turn the lock of its door, and then promptly collapse unto the ground as my legs give away under me.

What the hell is going on? Is someone robbing the store?

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I need to calm down before I am gonna pass out.

I close my eyes and start focusing on my breathing.

C’mon Cas, you got this. In and out. Deep breath. In and out.

After my breathing has somewhat stabilised a bit I open my eyes again.

Okay, now what do you see around you?

The first thing I notice is that I can’t fully stretch my legs in front of me due to the fact that the pantry is stacked with boxes. On the ground, on the shelves, just everywhere.

Wait a second..

I get up on my knees and reach out to the one closest to me and look inside it.

I knew it. These boxes are filled with my grandfather’s old stuff which means that maybe..

I go through three other boxes until I find what I am looking for.

A Graphein.

By the looks of it it seems pretty old, but it will do for now.

Now… what kind of Artifact should I create? How can I figure out what is going on downstairs without going down there myself?

Considering it is nighttime I won’t have to go into that much detail for it won’t be visible anyways. Also a permanent, stable object is not needed… in that case a Level 2 Artifact should suffice.

But what should it look like?

It has to not stand out and be small too…

Okay, I got it.

I hold the Graphein in my right hand, between my thumb and index finger, in a grip that comes more natural to me than breathing does.

Before I start with the process of creating the Artifact I send a quick message to the Graphein.

I honor you and I thank you.

In my mind I begin visualising in as much detail as I can in this moment, the outline of the Artifact I want to create, making sure everything is exactly the way I want it to before I continue.

Whilst still holding the image in my mind, I bring my attention to that deep inner well within my being, the source of my life stream, and with my mind I then pull.

A warm current starts to shoot from the center of my body, up through my chest, and then down my arm, where it eventually finds its way out through the tip of the Graphein.

Slowly, but surely as I start drawing in the air, the outline of the image that I am holding in my mind starts to become visible.

Now comes the hardest step.

This will be a temporarily Artifact, so for this one I won’t have to split my life stream permanently. However, I still have to focus on maintaining the flow of the current which, considering my mental state right now, will be a difficult task.

C’mon, Casey now is not the time to start doubting yourself.

There is no time to create another Artifact.

You only have one chance.

One shot.

Who knows what has happened to grandpa and grandma in the time you have spent sitting here in this closet.

I take a deep breath and begin with the last step.