Magic Madness™️

Chapter Twety Two: Family Reunion

Word Count: 1,465

     "I can't figure out where we went wrong. I swear, we came from this direction," Elijah huffed, looking around. They had headed back the way they came, but nothing looked familiar. All the trees were much bigger and taller here than they were in the other place. Everything was overgrown. And where was the mushroom circle? Any sort of path?
     "We definitely did, I just think maybe...we might have gone too far," Alex said, glancing at the trees that surrounded them.
     "Aaaaghhhhhh I can't take this. It's tiring day after tiring day and we're like not even halfway done with the game. I'm gonna, like, rest or take a nap or something," Elijah complained, sitting down at the base of the nearest tree. The bark behind his back smoothed out and he leaned back. Penny didn't hesitate to find a low branch and settle in.
     +10 EXP
     "So that's it? You're not gonna keep looking with me?" Alejandro asked, hands flopping down to his sides.
     "Um. Yeah. That's what I just said," Eli said, shrugging and closing his eyes.
     "You are so dumb," Alex huffed.
     "You sound like a little kid," Eli laughed, "Don't you have any better insults?"
     "The game won't let me curse, that's not my fault," Alex rolled his eyes, beginning to climb the tree Eli was resting against to see if being higher up would help with looking for their lost teammates.
     "If you can't come up with a good insult without cursing, you're horrible at insulting people," Elijah said, "There's other ways."
     "When did you get all wise?" Alex asked. Elijah tapped the tree and Alex's branch snapped. He fell on his back.
     "Um. OW," Alex complained. Eli shrugged again.
     "That's how you broke your leg, right? I totally could have broken something," Alex continued. Eli shrugged again.
     "Stop shrugging at me."
     Elijah shrugged.
     "Seriously I could have gotten hurt."
     "You have superstrength, you're fine," Eli turned on his side and got more comfortable.
     "I could have turned the wrong way and landed on my arm."
     "You were like five feet up, relax. You're such a drama queen," Eli said dismissively.
     "I'm the drama queen, Mr. 'I'm too tired and I need a nap'?" Alex asked, hands on his hips.
     "Is it so outrageous to be tired while on some kind of fantasy quest that takes months to complete? Also a lot happened today. I have every right to take a nap," Elijah said, unbothered.
     "Fine," Alex said, laying down uncomfortably close to Elijah, who began to squirm.
     "Dude, what are you doing, get off of me," Elijah mumbled, kicking and pushing at Alex, who was now laughing and holding him suffocatingly tight.
     "If you get to rest, I get to rest, too," Alex said with a smug smile.
     "Okay. That's fine. Do you have to rest right here?" Elijah asked, prying himself out of Alex's grip and scooting away.
     "Yes...suddenly I'm soooo tired I can't even get up," Alex said dramatically, flopping horizontally over Elijah's chest.
     "And you got defensive when I called you a drama queen," Elijah's voice was strained, and he coughed, "Dude you're crushing me."
     "I don't even weigh that much, you're fine," Alex rolled his eyes.
     "Don't you have a tree to climb?" Eli asked.
     "Don't you have a nap to take?" Alex asked back.
     "Whatever. You're-..."
     "What? Are you having trouble coming up with an insult?" Alex smirked.
     "I wish you had a mute button," Eli mumbled, settling for giving Alex's face a little shove and then ignoring him altogether. Alex got off of him after awhile of laying there and contemplated what he was supposed to do in the meantime.

     Elijah shot up from a deep sleep, eyes wide as he shook Alex's arm.
     "What? Who's that? I hear footsteps," Alex asked groggily, rubbing his eyes.
     "You hear something?" Eli asked, straining his ears.
     "You don't? Eli, if you don't hear anything, why did you wake me up?" Alex yawned.
     "I feel something. I just know someone's coming. You don't think we were followed, do you?" Elijah whispered.
     "If we were followed, we wouldn't have had the time to take a nap," Alejandro reasoned.
     "I guess so...just get up. We need to be ready for whatever it is," Elijah said, dragging Alejandro up by the arm. Alex rubbed his eyes and listened, eyes closed.

     He gasped, smiled, and cupped his hands around his mouth.
     "AMBER?" he called.
     "Amber?" Eli asked, "What about her?"
     "She's calling us!" Alex said excitedly, taking Elijah's hand and running. (Penny noticed this, and flew after them.)
     "Alex?! Hermano, ¿eres tú?" Amber shouted somewhere relatively distant.
     "Yeah, Eli is here, too!" Alex yelled, looking around for where his friends might be.
     "So is Evalyn! And Joan!" Eva's voice said.
     "Over there," Elijah pointed, and he and Alex turned a corner to spot the very people they were looking for. The teens all ran at once. Alex and Eva collided first, and then Amber jumped on Alex's back and Elijah wrapped his arms around whoever he could reach. Joan approached them at a normal walking speed, and he stayed out of the not-really-a-hug group hug, but he was smiling all the same.
     "Where were you guys? One second you were with us and then you were nowhere in sight," Amber asked, panting a little.
     "Well first we fell behind and then we looked for you guys and then someone came and took us to a palace-"
     "Okay, but did you stay there for the entire month or...?" Eva asked, the first to back away and brush herself off.
     "The month? What? No, we stayed there for a few days and then escaped, and now we're here," Alex said, "It's been like...a week, at most. Probably."
     "Alex," Amber said, standing up properly and backing up, "It's been a month. We've been searching everywhere."
     "No, I swear that's not true! We got lost, and then Eli stepped into a mushroom circle and this tall Lord Of The Rings-looking dude came up to us like 'you look lost!' and I was like 'yeah' and he took us to his palace but turns out he wanted to keep us there forever but we only slept there for like one night, cause Eli said he had a bad feeling and this kid named Benvolio-"
     "Mercutio."
     "Right, Mercutio- was like 'the elf dude traps people here! Get out!' and then he tried to poison us so we fought them and left," Alex explained all at once.
     "Woah woah woah, that's a lot to unpack. So Eli stepped in a mushroom circle and an elf man took you to his palace where he tried to trap you?" Evalyn recapped.
     "Yeah, that's exactly what happened," Eli confirmed.
     "And you think you were only there for one night? And you were probably exhausted when you left, right?" Eva asked.
     "Yeah, totally. The first thing we did was take a nap," Alex nodded.
     "Okay. That's because the fae people are all about illusions. One day in their palace is a couple weeks in normal time. And actually, under their fake skin they look like they're made of stone," Eva said.
     "Yeah, we learned the stone part the hard way. But- the time part- Joan, is that true?" Alex asked.
     "Oh, sure, ask the guy to fact-check, cause the girl can't possibly know what she's talking about-"
     "Eva-"
     "No, no, she's right. You had no reason not to believe her. But yes, she's correct," Joan confirmed.
     "It doesn't even matter. I'm just so happy to see you guys," Alex sighed.
     "Yeah, it's great that we can just move on now," Amber agreed, "But we're going to have to be quick. We've lost a lot of time."
     "Have you two, by any chance, gained any new skills or powers? That would be incredibly helpful, if you did, though I know it seemed like only a couple days, to you," Joan said.
     "Um...not really...I mean...this thing happened where I closed my eyes and could feel like...the entire earth and everything on or in it, but I really doubt I'd be able to do that again," Elijah said somewhat sheepishly.
     "You what?" Joan asked, jaw dropping.
     " 'I could accidentally be one of the most powerful people in this game! No big deal, though,' " Amber mocked.
     "It's- we can- Elijah, I will have to train you on the road. Your powers could be the driving force we need to finally beat the game," Joan said, and though his tone was completely serious and his expression was worried, there was a glint of hope in his eyes.

     "If anyone cares, I learned I can make rain happen. So. That's cool, too," Alex interjected.