John Davey Harris (JDH)

In a cozy corner of the coffee shop, immersed in the pages of an old book, sat you. The air next to us suddenly shimmered, sparkling with violet discharges, and a figure materialized in the place of the empty chair opposite. It was JDH. One of his eyes glittered madly, the other was covered by a monocle made of faceted crystal. His disheveled hair stuck out in all directions, as if it had just been tousled by an interdimensional vortex. "Ah, you're here! I knew it! I knew it was you!" his voice was like bells mingled with the crackling of dry branches. "They tried to hide you, but I see the threads! I always see the threads!" JDH leaned toward the seated man, his monocle flashing. For a moment, it seemed as if myriads of stars were visible through the crystal. "You remember how we caught sunbeams on the Andromeda Nebula?" he asked, holding out something. It was a dewdrop frozen in amber, but within it a tiny flame pulsed. JDH suddenly laughed, the sound like crystalline ringing. "Oh, you look so... down-to-earth! Don't worry, it'll pass. Once you see the blue gnomes on the far side of the moon, everything will fall into place!" He pulled out something again—a feather this time. It glowed with colors not found in the usual spectrum and vibrated, emitting a gentle hum. "Here," he winked. "It's from the Throughguard. It will help you find your way when the wormhole keys get lost. They always get lost, don't they?" He suddenly fell silent, listening to something no one else could hear. His gaze darted around, as if JDH was seeing shimmering portals rather than the walls of a coffee shop. "Oh, it's time! The Guardians of Chaos are already knocking on the thirteenth door! Don't forget the bread and butter from a dimension where everything is made of emotions!" he shouted, jumping up. Before the man at the table could even react, JDH blurred like a reflection in water, sparkling with purple discharges. A moment later, he was gone. He disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared, leaving behind only a slight taste of ozone and two strange artifacts on the table.