As Rowan’s small blue car glided through the early darkness of winter, her mind lingered on the day’s classes, tomorrow’s lesson plans, her deep pride in the more proficient students and her belief in those who continued to struggle. The late afternoons she spent a few times a week were far more than worth it to see the growing hope on their faces as they found more ways to believe in themselves. She might not be able to fix everything, but if she could help them find new ways to grow that could be enough for now. She had promised her family that she wouldn’t spend every night patrolling but technically it was early evening and she had worksheets to grade so it would be short. Shortish. She stepped out in front of her apartment building with this plan in mind, hurrying to the mailbox in her eagerness to get out of the cold.

As she pulled open the squeaking door a strange, battered package greeted her. It certainly didn’t look like packaging from any of the stores from which she’d ordered lately and despite the fact that it bore her name and address, she could see no clue as to who might have sent it. With a slight frown, she carried the box up the stairs and into her small apartment. It seemed like Fin had left for the night, though his blankets remained rumpled on the couch’s pullout bed. Given his experience on Dagon she could hardly fault him for being less than organized. Not that he had ever been particularly organized to begin with, but still. He was her friend, even felt like family by this point, and she could afford to cut him some slack when it came to his mess. Once he was a bit less…destroyed she could press him on the matter but for now it mattered far less than it normally would have.

Returning her attention to the box in her hands Rowan dropped onto the loveseat and pulled loose the twine and paper to reveal a small, green stained wooden kaleidoscope. Cone shaped with a faceted lens and a small chip on the rim, she was surprised to find that the unboxing only heightened her confusion. An odd gift from an odd sender, it seemed. Stranger still was the aura that suffused it, an undefinable impression that it was somehow ancient yet not. Examination did little to dispel the mystery, it bore not a single mark to identify its maker. Hoping that there was something she’d missed on the box itself, she meticulously searched each inch, disassembling it to see each fold, each seam. The paper in which it had been wrapped offered no further answers, held up to the light it revealed no hidden messages. A slightly indignant huff escaped her as she found herself profoundly frustrated by the sender and whatever intentions they had in providing her with this trinket. Maybe when the post office opened in the morning she could find some answers, but for now she still had work to do and she could spend no more time on this.