I shouldn’t have been surprised that Marge was the first person to run up to me upon our arrival. Before Sylvis, even. Maverick had teleported us to the gardens at the manor, something I was sure to kick him for later on. I was hoping our return would be a discreet one, especially if we’re… If they’re going back soon.

  “You’re back so soon?” Marge hugged me tightly. Her frame was so small, even compared to mine, but she managed to pull me in with a strength I hadn’t thought possible.

  “Yeah. I wish that weren’t the case.” I hugged her back, gently pushing her to signify I didn’t need nor want a hug right now.

  She frowned at me, seemingly getting the idea that not everything had gone to plan. “We’ll talk about it later.” She smiled at me, giving me the space I so desperately needed.

  I gazed up at the twilight sky. Strange; the first time I’d arrived here, it had been late evening in my world but late morning in Meridia. Now, Meridia seemed to only be a few hours behind.

  “Cross-world teleportation distorts time,” Finn explained as he clutched his head. I glanced at him with concern. “Sorry, I forgot how loud everyone’s thoughts can be.”

  Right. Their magic had been “nerfed” back on Earth.

  “You should get some rest.” Maverick made eye contact with me. “You’ve been through a lot and likely exhausted your ether. Eat and go to sleep.”

  I knew this was one of the few times he meant well, but I didn’t appreciate being bossed around as soon as we returned… home.

  Home…

  I shook my head. I might be home for now, but I would find a way back to my real home one day. Who needed New York, anyway?

  I ended up taking Maverick’s advice. I forgot how good the food was here. Meh, the food in Europe was probably just as good. Or at least that’s what snobby wannabe influencers liked to say on the internet. After my meal, I cried myself to sleep just as I had my first night here.

  Morning came, a knock being the sound to wake me up. I stood up and glanced at my mirror. My hair was completely knotted, my white pajama shirt stained with mascara and eyeshadow that I hadn’t bothered to remove the night before. I didn’t even know if Meridia had makeup removers.

  I sighed at my reflection and decided to answer the door anyway. It was probably one of the boys anyway, so it didn’t matter. Living with them had really changed the expectations I had for my appearance around them.

  So imagine my shock when it wasn’t Finn or jerk-face at the door, but Sylvis. She seemed just as taken aback as I was. It probably had something to do with not being able to see my eyes with all of my hair in the way.

  “Elaina?” she asked, as if checking that it was really me.

  “Yeah. What are you doing here?” I asked, unamused.

  “Maverick and Rosalie explained what happened last night and that the Magus of Historia may have been involved. Are you unharmed?” She looked genuinely concerned.

  “My ego took a hit, but physically I’m… okay?” I glanced down at myself. My physical appearance was another story.

  She took several quick steps forward and pulled me into a loving embrace, like a mother hugging her child. I was taken aback by the sudden action, but felt myself… unusually relaxed. One hand rested on my back as the other combed through my knotted hair.

  “I’m so relieved…” I could hear the tears in her voice. “I don’t know what I would have done if something had happened to you.” She pulled me tighter, yet not nearly as tight as Marge had last night. I could still comfortably breathe.

  “You know, at times like this, you really do remind me of a mother.” I smiled gently.

  Just as I began to reciprocate her embrace, she pulled back, a scowl on her face. “I’m not that old.” She crossed her arms and turned away.

  I couldn’t help but laugh. It came out as a few chokes at first, but then a full-on belly laugh. This seemed to shock and confuse her, but she couldn’t hide her smile from me for long.

  “I don’t know. A thousand years seems pretty old to me—”

  “Near a thousand! I’m not quite a thousand yet! Don’t rush me to my grave, Elaina.” She crossed her arms yet again, raising her chin to me this time as a near-silent huff escaped her lips.

  “Right…” The humor left me as I remembered the situation at hand. She was likely here to tell me of how the others had already left. Maybe they had even defeated the Magus of Historia by now.

  “Age is such a touchy subject for me. Perhaps we should talk about something else, like your feelings.” Her expression became gentle as she ran a hand down my back.

  “Because that’s not a sensitive topic,” I said sarcastically.

  “You want to go with them, don’t you?” She looked me directly in the eyes—sadness reflected in her own. “Maverick told me as much, but seeing you all but proves it.”

  “Of course I do. It’s my world after all. And… and they’re my friends. But I know I can’t go.” I clenched my fists at my side as she pulled her hand away from me. “The Magus of Historia will only use me again.”

  “Then maybe it’s time we do a little training of our own.”

  I was surprised when Sylvis teleported us to a field I had never seen before, as opposed to the small training arena by the manor. The field stretched on for what felt like a mile, a few trees visible in the distance.

  “Where are we?” I asked in awe. Despite how empty the field was, something about the air around us felt… magical, like I could reach out and make contact with the energy around us. Or maybe I was just getting used to Meridia again.

  “One of Meridia’s many unused fields. For what we’ll be practicing, we need as much space as we can manage.”

  I was confused. I wanted to ask what she meant, but I was immediately weighed down by an overwhelming sense of sadness. My body sank, an invisible weight placed on my shoulders and chest—my legs felt like they weighed a thousand pounds. I had the feeling that I had suddenly let everyone and everything down—an overwhelming sense of guilt and regret. I couldn’t do anything but crumble to the ground and cry. Rain poured down all around us.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “Use your emotion to your advantage, Elaina,” Sylvis commanded.

  I shook my head, an action that took all of my effort to achieve. “I can’t…”

  The water poured down on me, matting my hair against my face. Water got in my eyes, preventing me from seeing clearly, but I was too apathetic to care.

  “What’s most important to you, Elaina?”

  “I don’t know…” I answered honestly. What was important to me? What kept me alive every night? What motivated me to get out of bed in the morning? I couldn’t remember, and I didn’t care. Nothing mattered anymore. Everything was pointless. Saving Earth was always pointless. And why did I care whether it survived or not? I’m not there anymore. And if I were, nonexistence didn’t sound so bad.

  The rain stopped, and a chill breeze swept over us. The clouds had since moved to block out the sun, giving the impression of night.

  Sylvis pinched the bridge of her nose. “Maybe we should start with a different emotion.”

  A burst of energy surged through me as the biggest smile spread across my face. Seriously, why was I so sad earlier? Meridia is so beautiful, and I get to use magic! Me! A silly little human like me! I’m going to save Earth along with everyone else, or die trying. Except I won’t die! I’m too awesome to die! Sylvis is going to let me come with them, because I’m going to succeed in our training today!

  Light appeared in my hands, and I found that when I moved them, a streak of light was left behind. I giggled as I tried to finger paint using the light. It was so beautiful—the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

  “Now use your light to fight me,” Sylvis commanded.

  “Fight you?” I looked up at her from my hands, still beaming as hard as I could. “Why would I want to fight you?”

  “Pretend I’m a member of the Magus of Historia. If they manipulate you into feeling happiness, how can you use that against them?”

  “That sounds like a pretty mean thing to do.” I frowned momentarily. But then I was smiling again! “Maybe I could convince them to stop fighting instead!”

  Sylvis facepalmed and shook her head. “Elaina, I want you to face the Magus of Historia just as much as you do. But for that to happen, I need you to work with me, not against me.”

  Anger surged within me as the light was replaced by a different kind of light—flames.

  “Direct your magic at me.”

  Well, that wasn’t very hard.

  I sent a meteor of fire at Sylvis, one I had created with all my might. She was just so infuriating! Who did she think she was bossing everyone around? Bossing me around? That’s all she had done ever since I got here! I was sick of her! You know who else was probably sick of her? Maverick. And I’m sick of Maverick. Which makes me extra sick of Sylvis! I hate Sylvis for reminding me of Maverick's existence!

  I launched ten balls of fire in rapid succession, each of which Sylvis dodged with ease.

  “Good! You’re learning!” Sylvis smiled confidently at me. “Now you need to learn the difference between friend and foe.”

  To the left of me, Aidan appeared. Aidan? What was he doing here? He was weak. Why was anyone thinking of taking him to fight some of the most powerful beings to exist? At least I had potential! He was nothing but weak and stupid!

  “Elaina!” Sylvis snapped, her voice practically echoing in the empty field. “Aidan is not your enemy—I am. I’m going to kill Aidan unless you stop me.”

  “Not if I kill him first!” I shouted, readying a ball of fire.

  “Dig deeper, Elaina. Remember what you’re fighting for—what’s most important to you. Don’t you love and cherish your friends?”

  Friends… Right. I wasn’t angry at my friends. I was angry at Sylvis for trapping me here, preventing me from seeing my friends!

  I launched a wave of fire towards Sylvis that seemed to take her off guard. Unfortunately, she’s stupid powerful and dispelled it with ease.

  A glint appeared in her eyes, as if reflecting the same fire I felt within myself. A stupid-looking wand appeared in her hand with a pointy edge. Perhaps it was half sword, half wand. Either way, I would burn it away.

  I inhaled a deep breath and released it along with another wave of fire. This time, I shaped it similar to an ocean wave… I guess you could say it resembled a wave of lava.

  She waved her wand in the air, drawing something akin to an infinity symbol. I watched as the air around the wand distorted and fell back into place. My wave of lava split around her, leaving her unharmed. She summoned a bolt of lightning above me that I deflected with earth. Wait, how did that happen?

  She looked at me, amused, before disappearing. I felt someone tap me from behind to see Finn. Out of instinct, I swung at him, and he disappeared into white sparkles. An illusion.

  “Well, that won’t do.” I turned to see Sylvis sitting in the air—her legs crossed as she balanced her elbow on a nonexistent platform, which held up her chin. “We can’t have you killing your friends, can we?”

  “Then what am I supposed to do?!” I shouted, annoyed.

  “Focus your anger on your target. Your friends aren’t your enemies.”

  Around me, illusions of my dad, my mom, Rose, Carol, Matt, Marge, Aqua, Finn, Aidan, Zephyr and Maverick appeared.

  Right… They weren’t what was trapping me here. Sylvis was.

  I called down three meteors from the sky, one after another. I watched Sylvis leap in the air from invisible platform to invisible platform—each step a hop and a glide, as if she were dancing.

  I clenched my fists before groaning, frustrated. Fiery rain poured from the sky before Sylvis’ perfect water washed it out.

  “I think you’re ready.” Sylvis’ words caught me completely off guard, and the overwhelming sense of anger disappeared.

  “Huh?” I furrowed my eyebrows.

  “You don’t need perfect mastery over your powers. So long as you show some restraint, you should be fine.” She walked over to me and grabbed my hands—a teal light faintly appearing between our hands. My energy returned, and any soreness I felt completely vanished. She smiled at me. “Besides, I doubt an empath could control you for as long as I did. Try not to burn your home down, hm?”

  “Yeah.” I smiled back.

  The feeling was bittersweet. I would get to fight at my friends’ side and defend my world. But that was exactly what was so terrifying. I’d be putting myself and my friends in danger.

  “You’ll do fine, Elaina. Believe in yourself. I certainly do.”

  “You… do?” I blinked.

  “Of course I do!” She whacked the back of my head. “I would have imprisoned you by now if I’d thought otherwise.” She crossed her arms and huffed away from me.

  I couldn’t help but giggle. For such an ancient being, she sure was childish at times.

  We returned to the manor—more specifically, Sylvis’ office. Rosalie and the boys were already waiting there. Rosalie’s arm was mysteriously reattached.

  “Is she coming with us?” Rosalie asked Sylvis. I didn’t miss the snobbish look she briefly cast at me.

  “Yes. She’s shown some restraint.” Sylvis smiled.

  The boys glanced at her, then me, and I couldn’t help but share in their eager smiles. For once, I was starting to feel like part of the team, even if only temporarily. If I was going to be able to use magic, I had to make the most of it. And that meant not accidentally killing them.

  Rosalie ignored everyone else’s chipperness. “I’ve located the Magus of Historia around this location.” She summoned a map and pointed to what could have been anywhere in New York, really. I was as familiar with it as I was with Aidan’s and Finn’s messy apartment room. “They’ve left a trail, indicating they wish to face us now. We likely have Elaina to thank for that.” Her expression softened for the first time since I arrived. It didn’t last as she immediately soured again.

  “We should be prepared for anything, then,” Zephyr said.

  “This is your last chance to back out,” Sylvis warned sternly. “What you’ve seen them do to Elaina is only a taste of what they will do to you—”

  “We get it!” Finn threw his hands up, exasperated. “They’re going to destroy Earth, destroy us, destroy our mothers and fathers and everything else we hold dear in their trail of destruction!”

  Sylvis cleared her throat. “Yes, well, I don’t believe they have that much of a fascination for destruction. But you are right about them destroying Earth and you. Should anything go wrong, I would like to stress that I won’t be able to save you.”

  Aidan dared to let out a yawn. “So when do we leave?”

  Sylvis let out a long sigh. “Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  In the blink of an eye and only a minor nauseating sensation later, we were back in New York, for what would be the final time.