The Mystery of the Missing Platform 4

The Mystery of the Missing Platform 4 - Chapter 5 - Something New

Summary from Episode 4: Jeremy decided to help W-Sam and Iris by taking them to meet a magician through the gateway of Elixir - a waterfall. Iris and W-Sam were determined - whatever to find their sister and get out of wherever they were.

Iris's shrill shriek pierced through the dry, stale air. 

W-Sam stood up on his feet, brushing dust off his trousers. 'How do you keep doing that?' he asked Jeremy, bemused. 

'Doing what?'

'That. Leaping from place to place through random ... resources.'

'Oh that's not me. Those random resources are portals,' Jeremy said casually. 'We're in the Elixir. Come on, follow me.'

W-Sam and Iris followed suit. They were in a little village, with shops and houses and apartments everywhere. Pots of potion stirred here and there, little goblins danced merrily around the fire and small crickets turned into huge caterpillars every now and then. A man passed them by and jingled a bell.

'Hatch your own Chimera egg! Real Chimera eggs! Bring one home just for five Chits!'

'Are those real Chimera eggs?' W-Sam whispered to Jeremy. He shook his head, laughing. 

'Nope on a rope. Sellers just say that to make you amused and gasp in amazement. Don't fall for it. Once you bring one of those home, all you can find is a baby chick in there.'

'It doesn't look like a chicken's egg,' Iris said, hurrying to catch them up.

'That's because they enlarged the egg with magic. And that's also why that baby chick will turn out ten times bigger than its actual size. C'mon. This way.'

'What are Chits?' W-Sam asked Jeremy, as they turned down a dark, narrow alleyway. There were hardly any shops there, but Jeremy led them down another corner.

'Our currency. Money we use here,' he said. He gestured for W-Sam and Iris to hurry. 'We're here. Eruqhir's inside.'

'Eru-who?' Iris said, knocking on the door. 

'Eruqhir. He's the magician I wanted you to meet.'

They waited in silence for a moment or two, then a gruff voice barked from inside. 'We close at 9, I've been saying that for the past half hour! Scram!'

Jeremy leaned in to whisper to W-Sam and Iris. 'He's an early sleeper,' he said. He cleared his throat. 'Eruqhir,' he called. 'It's me. I've, uh ... got visitors.'

The door swung open. A plump man with a beard stood at the doorstep. He was frowning hard. His coat was tattered like a beggar's, and he didn't look like a magician at all.

'Who's this?' he grunted, directing it to Jeremy.

'May we come in?' Jeremy asked politely.

'No.'

'Okay, fine. So this is W-Sam and Iris. And, long story short, they were actually from the mundane world. They said they wanted to go to a ...' Jeremy wrinkled his nose, 'Platform 4, you say?' W-Sam and Iris nodded, Iris especially furiously. 'Yeah. But then, they found a ring on the ground, their younger sister touched it, and they landed in the -'

'Approach to Elixir,' the man said, not blinking. 'I know.'

Silence. A minute ticked by.

Eruqhir sighed. 'You better come in.'

The three went in, led by Eruqhir. A cozy fire burnt by the fireplace. Eruqhir motioned them to sit and they did. Eruqhir locked the door and sat down on the couch opposite them. He had his gaze on W-Sam and Iris.