We did things differently this time. I left a note explaining I wouldn’t be returning home, but I was safe. Maverick allowed me to explain the situation, saying they likely wouldn’t believe it anyway. It didn’t matter to me. I had told them the truth, and there wasn’t much more I could do. It became increasingly obvious that remaining here wasn’t really an option anymore.

  “Anything you want to bring with you this time?” Maverick asked.

  “Maybe—”

  “Keep in mind that electronics won’t make the trip.”

  “Then I’m ready. Actually…” I ran out of the room and up the stairs to my bedroom. I had a collage of photos tacked to a corkboard that I quickly untracked and shoved into my pockets. “I’m ready.” I returned.

  Surprisingly, I felt less nauseous this time when Maverick teleported us.

  I clenched my fists at my side as we arrived in the same office we had the first time. “You’re still watching me!” I shouted at the woman in front of me who looked too calm upon seeing me, as if she expected as much.

  “Of course I am. The same rules apply in your world as they do here.” Sylvis didn’t bother standing from where she was sitting behind her desk.

  “And yet you did nothing to stop me when I burned down the theater in New York or when we were literally being experimented on.” I couldn’t help but feel spiteful. Of all times her silly little rules would have come in handy, she was conveniently missing.

  “Do you have more to say, or are you done?” She sounded surprisingly irritated. I couldn’t recall another time she had been this irritated. She was usually calm and collected—unless her age came up. Even that was nothing compared to this.

  “I’m done,” I answered.

  “Then you should let the others know you’re back," she said, her irritation leaving along with the subject.

  Dodging my questions today, I see. Maybe Rosalie was right to be wary.

  Knowing I wouldn’t get anywhere with her, I decided to make my way to the cafeteria. I wasn’t surprised to find Marge and Aidan sitting at a table together. Aidan’s jaw dropped as he saw me, and Marge quickly turned around to see what he was staring at. She got up so fast that I momentarily thought Aqua learned how to shapeshift and—

  A hard slap greeted me.

  “How could you leave without telling me goodbye?!” Marge shouted. “I thought we were friends!”

  “I-I said goodbye the last time I left!” I sputtered. “Oh gosh, I really am terrible…” I covered my face with my palm. “I didn’t think Maverick would be able to teleport me back and forth, a-and time was running out—”

  She pulled me into a hug and all was seemingly forgiven. “I forgive you this time. But do that again, and I’m only telling you the bad things I predict.”

  “Fair enough… For what it’s worth, I’m really sorry. I’m a crappy friend.”

  “It’s okay.” She pulled away and smiled at me in earnest.

  “Y-you’re back.” Aidan was still standing over the table, as if he were contemplating jumping over it for whatever reason.

  “I’m home.” I smiled widely.

  He ran around the table and over to me, giving me an even tighter hug than he had when I had left. It was only a matter of seconds before Finn and Zephyr ran into the cafeteria. Maverick must have told them.

  “You’re really back!” Finn ran over to me and picked me up, spinning me around. My cheeks heated up in embarrassment.

  “P-put me down! I’m not going anywhere!” I demanded.

  “You promise?” He smiled at me mischievously.

  “Yes! I’m staying here now!”

  He did as he was told and put me down gently. Zephyr was just kind of staring at us awkwardly. Remembering he didn’t like to hug, I decided to also just… stare at him… awkwardly…

  “I’m glad you’re back. I had a feeling things wouldn’t be the same with magic,” he said. “If there was one thing I learned from our time in New York, it’s impossible to live a life without magic once you have it.”

  “I don’t know, I thought you were handling yourself quite well.” I smiled. “You were maybe the only one of us who wasn’t outright giving our magic away every five seconds.” I turned to face Finn.

  “What are you looking at me for?!” He looked shocked.

  “Fries? Really? You were going to let Earth know we had magic over fries?”

  “I-I was careful!”

  “It’s too tempting,” Zephyr continued. “It’s like fine wine—once you’ve tasted it, you can never go back. Just think of how many times we used magic on Earth to benefit ourselves. Money, housing, teleportation, connections… No ordinary person could resist such temptation.”

  I wondered if I could. I’d only had magic for all of a few hours when I went home. And yet I’d felt the pull on the plane… Would I have used it to my advantage several other times? Would Sylvis even have allowed me to do that? Eh, she would’ve gotten bored of watching me after some point.

  “Speaking of magic, aren’t you itching to test yours out?” Finn asked.

  “Wait, Elaina has magic?!” Marge quickly looked between the two of us. “I mean, I guess I should’ve figured with her going home and all…”

  “Yes. I want to see what I can do.” I smirked.

  The six of us met at the field Maverick was so fond of training me at. Marge had decided to join us this time.

  Right, I should start small. I opened my palm to reveal a ball of fire. I could feel the heat radiating from the fire that patiently sat above my palm. If I reached out with my other hand, would it burn?

  My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of clapping. Everyone except Maverick, who was yawning, applauded for me.

  I should test out that teleportation magic now. I stared at the patch of grass several feet behind where the group of my friends stood. How did I do this again? I just pictured myself appearing behind them, right?

  But it didn’t work. Did I do it wrong?

  “No, that was right.” Finn frowned at me.

  “What’s she trying to do?” Maverick asked.

  “Teleport.”

  Next thing I knew, I was on top of a tree, holding onto one of the branches for dear life.

  “There. She did it.” Maverick crossed his arms and shrugged. I couldn’t hear Aidan and Marge’s muffled shouts as they shouted over each other.

  “Can someone get me down from here?” I asked, discovering I had a fear of heights.

  “Use your wind magic!” Finn cupped his hands over his mouth for me to hear.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  I sucked in a breath, realizing that the only other person who could get me down was Maverick. And if that smug look on his face meant anything, he wouldn’t be helping me any time soon.

  I jumped off the tree and created way too much wind to soften my landing. I ended up getting blown up into the air again, causing a sick feeling in my stomach as I fell back down. Aidan, Finn, and Marge had been blown onto their backs several feet from where they had been standing. Zephyr had his arms in front of him, blocking the wind. And Maverick stood where he was, seemingly unaffected.

  At last, both feet were on the ground, and the wind dissipated.

  “You know, I think less wind would have accomplished the task more efficiently,” Maverick smirked at me.

  “Shut up.” I huffed and crossed my arms.

  “Why don’t you try something non-elemental?” Zephyr suggested.

  “O-oh! You could try cloning yourself like you did last time!” Aidan suggested.

  “And it’s something you’ve actually done before, so you should remember,” Finn added.

  “When did Elaina clone herself?” Marge blinked.

  I closed my eyes and focused on splitting myself in two. Or at least I think that’s how I did it before.

  Nothing.

  “Maybe we should start with something easier that doesn’t involve splitting or relocating our entire bodies,” Marge suggested.

  Finn summoned his lance which wasn’t bathed in fire for once. He slashed it across his arm, forming a straight line across. He held his arm out towards me, and I took it that he expected me to heal it.

  I reached my palm out over his arm and tried to recall what I had learned from Zephyr’s class. I wasn’t too worried about overhealing him, considering it was a small cut and I supposedly had a lot of ether.

  To my surprise, dirt covered the open wound.

  “Um, Elaina, healing isn’t earth-related.” Finn smiled sheepishly at me.

  I blinked. Had I subconsciously used my video game knowledge to try to heal him? I shook my head and tried again, but nothing.

  “Why isn’t it working?!” I said through clenched teeth. “What am I doing wrong?!” I tried again, but this time a vine wrapped around the cut instead. “Stupid nature!” I yanked the vine off and rinsed the dirt off his arm. At the very least, I won’t be responsible for infecting his wound.

  “It’s okay, Elaina. Your magic literally just awakened….hours ago? A day ago? Time is weird.” He scratched the back of his head with his uninjured arm. Zephyr reached out to heal the cut in the meantime. “You’re still getting used to it.”

  “I didn’t need to get used to it the last time it awakened,” I mumbled and crossed my arms, sulking.

  “You also had access to literally all of Meridia’s ether,” Zephyr explained. “Your magic is awakening for real this time. This is actually you.”

  “I guess…” I didn’t want to sound as whiny as I was sure I was coming off. But it was so frustrating for my magic to awaken, just for half of it not to work. At least I wasn’t a total liability anymore. “I’m… gonna go get some rest if that’s okay.” I forced myself into a neutral tone.

  They all nodded in understanding—except for Maverick, who was still yawning. Jerk.

  My room at the manor somehow felt more familiar to me than my room back home. Sure, my room back home was a lot more nostalgic, but this felt like returning home after a vacation. Unlike returning home after moving out… Moving out… Is that what I had done without realizing it? Well, I had definitely moved out now.

  I pulled out the pictures from my pocket and displayed them on my desk. They were a little crumbled from being folded, but they were there, and that was all that mattered to me. Dad, Mom, Rose, Carol, Matt, a few other relatives…

  I stared at the picture of Matt. He hadn’t even wanted to see me when I came home… My heart sank at the thought. But at the same time… it didn’t hurt as much as I had thought. Had I already fallen out of love with him? Was I ever in love? I was sure I was, so why didn’t I feel that way now? I shook my head. We’d only really dated for a couple days…

  But more than my lover, he was my friend. We had been friends for literal years and had gone through so much together. I think that’s why it had hurt so much that he would assume the worst of me.

  Oh well. It’s in the past now. I would never see him again. …I wouldn’t see any of them again…

  A knock on the door nearly made me jump in place. I had been so absorbed in my own thoughts.

  I opened the door and wasn’t entirely surprised to see Finn standing there. We stared at each other for a while, both silent.

  “I’m sorry,” Finn finally spoke. “That things didn’t go better.”

  I shook my head. “It’s better this way, really.”

  “You don’t have closure, and it’s killing you.” He frowned.

  I stepped aside to let him into my room. This was the first time he had been in here, I think. He sat on the edge of my bed and motioned for me to sit next to him.

  “Do you think you’ll ever visit?” he asked.

  “No. Even if I wanted to, I’m not sure that Sylvis would let me,” I answered.

  “It doesn’t matter what Sylvis thinks. Maverick would do it for you.”

  “You really think so?” I asked.

  “Honestly? Yeah.” He looked me in the eyes with seriousness. “It wouldn’t be the first time he went against her wishes. He already did that today.”

  “What do you mean?” I furrowed my brows.

  “Do you really think Sylvis wanted Maverick to check on you?”

  “Why would she care?”

  “You made your decision, and that was final. You weren’t supposed to come back. You chose to live as a regular human in a magicless world, and Maverick was supposed to treat you as much.”

  “I really don’t think Sylvis cares.”

  “Sylvis cares more than you think.” His expression was difficult to read.

  “Wait… Just how much do you know about Sylvis?”

  “Not much, really. But when you read the minds of everyone else, you pick up on certain thinking habits. Body language, expressions, subtle pauses, redirection… I can put the pieces together.”

  “So tell me who hurt Maverick.” I tried to smile innocently.

  Finn smiled sheepishly. “Who’s to say it was a person?”

  “Now you have me interested.” I was literally on the edge of my seat, hoping he’d tell me more.

  He shook my head. “That’s not my story to tell, and you know that.”

  I sighed. “I suppose I wouldn’t want you blabbing my story to everyone else.”

  To my surprise, the door suddenly slammed open and Maverick, Aidan, and Zephyr barged in. Aidan’s cheeks immediately turned red, and I could’ve sworn I saw smoke coming from his closed fists.

  “W-what are you two doing?!” Aidan shouted at the two of us.

  “We’re just having a heart-to-heart.” Finn winked, and I immediately bolted off the bed.

  “L-leave her alone! She just lost her boyfriend… Wait, she lost her boyfriend!” Aidan mumbled that last part to himself. I was terrified of the implications.

  To my surprise, Finn jumped off the bed and slapped Aidan across the face, hard. The slap reverberated off the walls. “Do not go there.” If looks could kill, Aidan would be dead ten times over.

  A bucket of popcorn appeared in Maverick’s hands, which he proceeded to eat from. Loudly.

  “What are you all doing in my room?” I flailed my arms out.

  “We came to check on you,” Zephyr explained. “You seemed upset earlier about your magic.”

  “Right…” I glanced down at my hands that refused to do magic properly.

  “Hey, you already got this far with magic. The rest will come over time, okay?” Finn smiled at me, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder.

  I nodded. “I think more than anything, I’m still trying to process what just happened… With my friends and family, I mean.”

  “Maybe a change of scenery would help,” Zephyr suggested.

  “L-like a vacation?” Aidan asked.

  “Maverick can take us!” Finn suggested.

  “Absolutely not,” Maverick said between bites of popcorn.

  “Give me that!” Finn yanked the bucket of popcorn from Maverick. The latter’s eyes widened as he desperately tried to reclaim the popcorn. “You’re not getting it back until you agree to take us on vacation!”

  “What are you, five?” Maverick asked, giving up on the popcorn and summoning a new one.

  “Do it for Elaina.” Finn’s tone was suddenly more serious.

  Maverick looked between me and Finn. “Fine.” He sighed. “Where does Elaina want to go?”

  This was tough. I could go anywhere in the world I wanted. Anywhere in the worlds. Egypt seemed boring, and so did Meridia…

  “What was that place called in that book you gave me?” I asked Zephyr.

  “Celut?” he asked.

  “Celut, yes. I want to go there.” I turned back to Maverick.

  “O-oh! Isn’t that the place with the lava waterfalls?!” Aidan looked excited.

  “Celut…” Maverick looked lost in thought. “I think I’ve been there once. Or I could be confusing it with an entirely different world. Either way, if that’s where you want to go…”

  “Yes. Let’s go to Celut.” I beamed.

  It was amazing that what had started as a trip to save Earth had ended up being a self-fulfilling prophecy. Despite that, we’d ended up destroying an underground organization dedicated to studying magic. And my own magic awakened! I’d also gotten to return home after fighting for months to do so, just to realize that home isn’t always where you thought it was…

  I had learned and been through so much this past journey. I wondered where the next one would lead? Whatever happened next, I had my newfound family by my side to face it together with me. And who knows? Maybe the rest of my magic would awaken. Only time would tell.

  After saving Earth and deciding to remain in Etheria, Elaina and her friends take a well-deserved vacation in the magical kingdom of Caelut. What was supposed to be a time for fun and relaxation turns into a never-ending fetch quest of saving another land. Elaina uses the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of her magic that's just now beginning to fully awaken, but she's not the only one. Secrets come to light that will change everything, including Elaina's relationships.

  Everyone knows how to swim, right?