Summer Love | TLOS

Ch. 42

15/4/28

Well, I am proud to say that I have brought all my grades up to an A or a B! I think I'm back now, and I'm so happy! You must know by now I don't like getting bad grades! The whole Micah thing still saddens me, but I have found ways to make me happy! First of all, I have joined a book club, and right now we're reading Brave New World. It's a dystopian novel; it is messed up. Lemme tell you, the imagery in this book is INSANE. But, I mean, it's a good book, and at least I'm having fun.

To make a long story short, Conner had figured out he was in the Sherwood Forest, inside the story Robin Hood. He had asked the Merry Men to help him find their way home, and they had done just that- by pointing out Xanthous, Coral.

"Come on, Conner!" Robin Hood had cried, slapping him hard on the back. "You should have figured this out by now, he's a sorcerer and she's his sorceress!"

Coral and Xanthous, feeling incredibly idiotic about forgetting their own magic, had muttered things under their breath quickly and had done a swift spell to transport them back to the Queen of Hearts castle in Wonderland.

It had been a rough ride, and it was almost as if their magic had shut down once they had entered the castle. When they tried to ignite some fire into the pit, their hands had shattered and almost cracked their wrists. Something was terribly wrong.

"Look!" exclaimed Bree, running towards a book lying carelessly on the floor. Sure enough, it had King Arthur written all over it. "Captain Hook had been so sure that we never would've made it out that they just left the book here! What luck!"

With one final look around the castle, Conner, Bree, Xanthous, Coral, and the Chief and his Indians jumped into the book. They felt the smooth silky feeling of the crisp old page and the wet ink of the quill.

And that's where they had bumped right into Alex, Arthur, and the FAT.

Perfect timing, Conner had said, once again. He was truly the master of 'perfect timing'. That was another thing to add to his Wikipedia page! That he had made himself!

The gang and the FAT entered Merlin's cottage. It had a small, round, wooden table right in the middle, and a cauldron was placed in the fireplace above the hot coals. There were shelves lined with colorful potions and other elixirs. On the table, a glass ball with white smoke swirling around in it. The ball rested on an obsidian platform embellished with crystals.

"Make yourself at home," said the wizard, dropping his coat onto a chair to reveal a long wizard robe, very different than his other one.

Merlin walked over to the cauldron, gave it a stir, and brought the spoon up to his to taste the crimson liquid. Merlin coughed dryly and squeezed his eyes shut, tapping the spoon on the lip of the cauldron. The liquid turned black and smelled like burnt potatoes.

Everyone else in the room coughed as well. Merlin heaved the cauldron out of the fireplace, and fanned it with a rag, covering his nose and mouth with the end of his beard. Alex and Arthur covered their noses with their shirts and grimaced at the black smoke coming off of the large pot.

"What is that?" Alex asked, confusion and curiosity lingering in her voice.

Merlin shook his head, ignoring the young girl. "Nothing of your concern, child," he had muttered under his breath.

Once the burning had stopped, the FAT piled into a small corner to sleep in, and Alex and Arthur took opposite sides of the cottage. Merlin slept on the table loudly.

Arthur was tossing and turning on his side of Merlin's cottage. He couldn't believe that he was in his own story, even if there was another Arthur out there. What if he stayed here? He could learn all sorts of magic! Arthur would be a king and would have power, something Conner didn't have.

What about Alex? Was the only thing that made him doubt. He liked her, that was for sure. But did he love her? Did she love him? Well, there was definitely something to find out. Alex's love for Arthur would be put to the test in the next couple of days, and Arthur had to be sure of her choice before he made his own.

Alex didn't get much sleep that night either, and it wasn't because of Merlin's obnoxious snoring or uncomfortable table. True, she was physically uncomfortable, but it was her anxiety about her brother that made her restless. She and Conner hadn't seen each other in so long, but they came close again so fast, and Alex was convinced it was because they were twins.

Alex shifted her shoulders, but no matter how she positioned herself, her shoulder blades still ached. She sighed and rolled to her side. It wasn't very hot in Merlin's cottage, but she felt sweaty and she wanted to get into the night air and take a few deep breaths.

But knowing that she should get her rest, Alex closed her eyes hoping she would get at least a little bit of sleep.

Luckily, after about an hour more of tossing and turning, she fell into a deep slumber and into a dream.

A/N Hi guys! This chapter was written by Amanda (me!) and Flora! We both worked really hard on this to get it up and on time! It's not very long but I hope you like it!!! I know I have said this many times, but we have been very busy and updating has not been our #1 priority. We will get things sorted out, promise!