Magic Madness™️

Chapter Twenty Eight: Questions

Word Count: 2,831

     Eastern Arbran was different. In the other forest areas, the group was allowed to coexist with everything in it, occasionally frightened by certain plants and animals that seemed threatening. In Eastern Arbran, though, everything seemed much more afraid of the group than the group was of them. They barely saw any creatures: only blurred blobs as poor, frightened animals scampered away.

     "I feel so bad for them. The closer we get to the kingdom, the more scared these animals get. I wonder how many creatures they've already taken," Evalyn frowned.

     "I know. I can't wait to put an end to this," Alex huffed.

     "Well, that's nice to hear, seeing as we're getting closer to the kingdom," Joan smiled a little.

     "Just East Arbran and then we're in the outer kingdom, right?" Amber double-checked. Joan nodded.

     Everyone was running low. They had been on the road for no-one-knew-how-long. Alex was counting the days, but there was no point: time passed differently, in the game. They were all low on sleep, food, and energy. Conversation became scarce and dry. Everyone felt like they had said everything there was to discuss, at that point. (Except Elijah: he always had something to say, but chose to be quiet anyway.) Alejandro was getting more and more frustrated with his limited vision, and everyone else was frustrated with him for it, too. Reflexes helped him to protect himself quickly, but without them, he'd have gone down long ago. He had stepped on several loud, startling, crunchy things he didn't know were there (twigs, bones, a trap set next to an abandoned house), and he had tripped on a few animals that blended in too well to notice in time. He had been bitten by quite a few (thankfully non-venomous) snakes. Everything even slightly far away was a blur, which meant he was always the last one to see a threat.

     Amber was, of the group, the worst at concealing her feelings, even if she wanted or tried to. Not one for subtlety, she often made sarcastic comments and grumbled mean things under her breath when something was bothering her. She didn't like the idea of repression, and as an extrovert, she needed to tell someone when she was perturbed somehow. If she had a grievance with someone, she'd make sure they knew it. Usually, that wasn't so bad. But traveling closely with the same group of people for months with limited supplies and lots of pressure, the group got tired of it quickly. Living in such close quarters and poor conditions with anyone would quickly make all their habits seem more annoying: anyone in the group would agree.

     Elijah, as hard as he tried to be optimistic (not very hard), was always irritated with something. Not that he complained that much anymore, but his discomfort was still painfully obvious to everyone else. Between his general bitterness and ADHD, he often couldn't refrain from making a Face or vaguely rude comment when he didn't like something. He didn't mean to, but Elijah tended to way overthink or not think at all before he spoke. Unfortunately for the group, it was usually the latter, nowadays.

     Joan just wasn't one for emotion. He didn't understand it, and he honestly didn't have much desire to. On top of that, as a video game character meant only to act as a guide, he didn't need food or sleep unless he wanted it. He didn't get sleepy or hungry, and didn't understand why being so would make the others so irritable. Even with his nearly endless patience, Joan was nearing his limit with needy, moody teenagers.

     And Evalyn, poor Evalyn, played moderator as everyone approached their wits' ends. With a gentle voice and placating words, she was usually able to de-escalate things pretty quickly. She listened to everyone's sides of the stories, trying to sympathize with everyone, no matter how wrong they were. Evalyn had even more patience than Joan, so she was able to manage, but it was still exhausting.