#kaz 02

Harry sat before the obelisk, cross-legged on the ground. It was early morning, but light enough that she'd stopped thinking obssessively about returning to the tree grove, about surrendering herself back to the island. Instead, she could now turn her attention to the cursed crystal she and Sisco had found in the plane engine.

Sitting in front of the obelisk, Harry had to admit that Sisco had been right about the similarities between it and the crystal. But when Harry touched the obelisk she felt... nothing. Cool, glass-like stone. Harry frowned, and carefully unwrapped the crystal from the cloth she kept it wrapped in, a shiver trickling down her back. It was uncanny, and Harry had to admit she felt a little better knowing that Sisco would be praying for her safety.

Harry held her hand above the uncovered crystal. She swallowed, determined not to feel scared. It was a crystal, a rock. It was nothing. Harry closed her eyes, breathed out, and pressed her palm to the stone. At once fear shot down her arm, squeezing her chest, her thoat, suffocating her in black, inky dread. Harry pulled her hand away and gasped in air, wheeling back, staring down the innocuous little crystal that winked back at her with its oil-spill darkness. "What the fuck are you?"

Kaz was a hard guy to find. When Isela had told her about him looking for info on whether the Labyrinth had had a lagoon or not, Lily had put talking to him on her mental checklist, though with her own stuff going on she hadn’t had time. Checking his old mountain home had revealed it had been destroyed at some point, and she didn’t know where he was nowadays.

So she went to where she’d know she’d find him: the smokehouse. When she popped her head in and found him there she was relieved. They didn’t know each other well, but their last chat had gone well in her estimation, so hopefully this one would too.

“Hi Kaz,” she said, stepping inside and smiling at him. The drone of whatever-was-happening was more muted inside here. Thank goodness. “Good morning. How’re you doing with everything? When’s your shift end?”