Pandora's Box

Chapter twenty-six

"I better find my Aladdin after this!" Sonii whines as she stumbles over the sand dunes of the Egyptian desert. Milo can't help but laugh at her even though he's facing forward and can't really see the mess she is.
"Cool. I'm looking for my genie." Milo remarks and bursts out in a fit of laughter when Sonii grunts in annoyance.

Milo soon stops in his tracks and looks overhead at the barren landscape before them.
"Well, I think this is it." He says, questioning his own words.
"I highly doubt it. There's nothing here." Sonii kicks the sand out of frustration. The heat has really been getting to her and she's acting completely different because of it. Milo stamps his feet and hears an odd sound. He repeats himself twice more then the ground starts to shake rapidly. He grabs Sonii's hand and runs towards stable ground.

The sand starts to fall away as a cave emerges from beneath the ground. A cave which symbolizes the opening of a tiger's mouth. He steps towards it, reluctantly at first because he fears what may be lurking in the darkness. Sonii senses this and slips her hand into his and gestures for them to walk in together.

Once fully emerged in the cave, the entrance collapses and they are left in the darkness. Fortunately, torches seem to light themselves soon after. They reveal a spiral staircase which Sonii assumes is the path towards the fire charm.

This cave is different from the one in fairytales. It's cold and damp. There's no sight of jewels or treasures.
There's no magic carpets, no genie, nothing.

Once they reach the bottom, they see the stone floating in midair on a pedestal at the end of the room. The problem is that there is no floor on the space in between; only a gaping hole. Sonii tosses a pebble down to see how deep it is and doesn't hear a soundtrack signally it has reached the bottom.

Their magic seems to have no effect in the cave so they feel powerless. Milo scans the room and sees that the railing allow him enough foot space to make it across. He let's go of Sonii's hand and walks towards it. She tugs on his shirt and doesn't want to let go.

"No, there's no way you're doing that." She looks worried and her pleading voice only emphasizes that. She hangs onto him the way he hung onto her when they were kids. The time when he was too scared to dance in front of a crowd and would hold onto her to reassure himself that he wasn't alone.

Now she needs that reassurance and this time it's not going to come from holding hands. He puts his hand over hers and removes it slowly then moves close to kiss her forehead before moving towards the railing.

Sonii watches as he makes his way across, flinching at every sound made by the weight on the stone. Eventually Milo makes it over without a hitch and she releases a sigh of relief. He reaches out for the stone but as soon as his fingers touch it, the stone catapults itself across the room and into the empty space between them.

Sonii rushes over and notices that it landed on a small cliff and proceeds to climb into to hole, using the uneven rocks as places to balance. She does this despite Milo's cries and says that they don't have any other choice.

She holds onto the flat rock as she climbs down. Remain on the surface so she can keep her balance. Her other arm reaches towards her foot where the stone landed. She snatches it and stares in amazement at the precious stone. It's as if she's holding an entire galaxy in the palm of her hand. Then she hears the creak as the ledge beneath her falters and falls away leaving her scrambling for an escape.

Immediately she feels the weight lifted off her as Milo pulls her up and wraps her tightly in his arms. They are both out of breath and hang onto each other.
No one could account for the fear that swept through Milo's body when he hear the cracking of the stone. He rushed across the weak railing even though it would've broken at any moment.
He would do anything for her.

They look at each other for a moment and Milo pushes a piece of hair away from her face. He leans in and kisses her softly on the lips. A kiss that gets deeper but is over as quickly as it began.

In that moment, Milo feels like he's finally fulfilled his wildest dreams.
The girl that has made him feel comfortable being in his own skin.
The girl he couldn't help but admire.
The girl that he never wanted to lose.

They break apart and smile at each other. This is only for a second then Milo collapses in a fit of pain whilst clutching his chest. He feels as if their are thorns piercing his heart. He cries out in pain and Sonii can only hold him. They stay like this for a while until the pain relieves itself.

Neither of them notice that Milo's bracelet which he had gotten from the Aura of Magic, changes color and fits more tightly onto his wrist. Now he wears a gold bracelet which is tightly bound to his wrist and his heart.
He doesn't realize it yet...