THE LONG AWAITED CHAPTER
WILL FLYNN PUT THE TWO OBJECTS DOWN AT THE SAME TIME, ALLOWING THEM TO GET TO THE WELL SAFELY AND WITHOUT ANY BOOBY TRAPS???????
WILL THEY ALL DIE?????
WILL MATT SPARE THEM??????
READ ON TO FIND OUT!!!!!!!!
My break was long and awesome. I just finished this chapter, and it's not as long as usual, but that's okay because the content will probably need revision. I'm counting on you guys to provide editing suggestions. :)
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CHAPTER 20
Suddenly, Flynn slammed the bottle and lock of hair down onto the pillar. Marcy gasped, nearly letting out a squeal. Stepping back, the big wizard took a deep breath and bit his lip.
Nothing happened.
“Wait for it, wait for it,” Matt murmured. The two strange items became misty, like they were separating into each individual molecule, then floated away on the wind. The pillar slowly sank back into the ground with a creaking noise.
The group stood around for a few seconds, still waiting. “Is that it?” Dylian asked, adjusting his glasses. “Is that all? Where is it?”
“Not yet, not there yet,” Matt replied impatiently. “Look, it made a hole in the ground, and there’s a button down there.” Everyone started to crowd around for a peek, but Matt shooed them away. “Not now! Merl, it’s your turn. You’ve got to fly down there, press the button, and then fly back up.”
“Wait, fly?” Marcy couldn’t keep it to herself this time. “You guys can fly?”
“No, only people born with the ability can fly,” her father explained. “Merl, go ahead. It’s straight down for a pretty good distance. Do you have an illumination device?”
“Of course, a good wizard always carries one,” Merl said, fumbling in his robes. He pulled out a small glass tube and flicked it with his finger. The tube began to glow with a strange green luminescence, like an expensive and magical glow stick.
“Go ahead and make sure not to bump the sides, it’s very narrow.” Matt gestured to the hole in the ground. “Be my guest.”
Merl stepped forward, nearly tripping on his purple robes. Straightening them, he closed his eyes and walked straight toward the pit. What is he doing? Marcy thought frantically. Is he just going to--
The wizard stepped right into the hole and plummeted out of sight. Gasping, Marcy started forward, as did several others in the party. “No!” Matt commanded, stepping to the edge of the hole himself. “Stay back.” He examined the pit, peering down into the depths of black.
Very faintly, a voice yelled from somewhere down below, “So I just press it?”
“Yep,” Marcy’s father yelled back. “Then come straight back up.”
There was a loud beep, and Merl came shooting out of the hole, his robes dusted in soil. He hovered a few feet in the air, dusted himself off, and turned a backflip. Landing, he winked at Marcy and then changed his face to that of a respectable, solemn old wizard. He flicked the glass glow stick once more and it turned off. Marcy suppressed a giggle. He’s insane.
It had only been a few seconds before a grinding noise sounded from beneath the earth. With a groan, something was being pushed up toward the surface. She began to get nervous. What if there’s spikes under here? she worried, biting her nails. We’re going to be impaled! Involuntarily, she took a step backward, as did Alex because she was still grasping his arm.
With a terrible anticlimax, the noise stopped and the hole disappeared. Marcy began to relax. “That wasn’t what I thought it was going to be,” she laughed.
Then a door appeared where the hole was and she screamed a little.
It was just a normal wooden door in a doorframe, sitting in the middle of the field. It didn’t even materialize, it had just popped into existence. Trying to slow her breathing, Marcy put a hand to her chest, feeling her rapid heartbeat. “I’m pretty sure that this whole trip has knocked twenty years off of my life,” she declared.
“You’ll get used to things like this happening,” Alex said. He looked over at her and made a sympathetic face. “I grew up with that kind of stuff going off left and right, so I’m not as affected as you.”
“Shh, be quiet.” Matt strode over to the door and inspected it. Without looking back, he beckoned to Shawn and Ryan, the only wizards who hadn’t completed a task yet. “Your turns. These are the final ventures! We’re almost done!” He shivered with excitement. “Ryan, do you have your sword?”
“Uh, my sword? Yeah, I always carry it with me, why?” The purple man’s antennae twitched.
“Put it on the door, flat side forward,” Matt commanded.
Reluctantly and confusedly, Ryan unsheathed a large sword that hung by his side and placed it up against the door, looking to Matt for direction.
“Just like that. There you go. Press it in some more.”
Ryan followed.
Metal prongs came out from somewhere inside the door and closed around the sword, pinning it to the center. The purple skinned man let go. “Hey!” he protested. “That’s my sword! Will I get it back? Ever?”
“No.” Matt pushed him away, grabbing Shawn by the arm and pulling him forward in exchange.
“But--But warriors only get one for our entire lives!” objected Ryan.
“And do you know what? You’ll be okay.” Shooting a glance back at the warrior, Matt rolled his eyes. “You’ve survived this far without a blankie and diaper--I know you’ll be just fine without your sword.”
Ryan started to breathe very hard, and Marcy was sure she saw his eyes turn completely black. Dylian reached forward and grabbed his purple arm, drawing him back toward the group. He started to whisper something to Ryan. As she strained to hear, Marcy made out strange clicking noises mixed with an occasional hiss. Ryan whisper-hissed something back, and they had a small conversation. Finally, the purple man spat in Matt’s direction and stepped back into the company.
Matt ignored the whole scene and kept his hold on Shawn’s arm. “Shawn, use your special power and convince the door to open.”
“Hang on, what?” Marcy spoke up. “Can someone explain what’s going on, please?”
Sighing deeply, Matt turned to his daughter. “The door has a mind of its own. It’s something in between a living being and an inanimate object. Shawn here is a wizard and a mentalist, so he can influence people’s emotions. And thing’s emotions, actually. Very handy.” He faced the door again and gestured to it. “Well, get on with it.”
Wordlessly, Shawn complied. He simply stood in front of the door and looked at it. Wrinkling her brow, Marcy turned to Alex. “Is that it?” she whispered. “That’s all there is to it?”
“Yep,” he murmured back. “Basically you can either reason with the person or, uh, door, or you can bring out particular emotions and stress them. The person you’re reasoning with usually thinks it’s their ‘inner voice’ or whatever, since the exchange is silent.”
Marcy watched in wonder as the man creased his forehead, eyebrows going up and down. Suddenly, he stepped back. “It’s done,” he stated in his thick British accent, clasping his three-fingered hands together.
The door swung open.
Matt inhaled sharply. “I’m here,” he purred. “I’m here at last. I’ve worked on this for so long, oh, so long indeed, and now I’m here. Of course,” he took on a mocking tone, “I couldn’t have done it without you guys.” Turning and spreading out his hands to the small crowd, he adopted a wide smile. “So it’s only appropriate that I do you a favor in return.”
Marcy began to feel wary. She unconsciously moved closer to Alex. Without warning, her father’s face contorted maliciously and he shoved his hands toward the group. Shellie’s scream was abruptly cut off as everyone was surrounded by a large writhing bubble.
Everyone except for Marcy and Alex.
As soon as she saw his hands move, Marcy had closed her eyes. She opened them tentatively, peering out of half-closed eyelids.
Although she had felt no push, Matt had somehow separated them from the rest of the group. They stood apart from the bubble, Alex also opening his eyes. The bubble was a smokey pink color. Marcy noticed that it looked just like it was blown from dish soap and water, though she doubted she could have popped it with her finger. Metallic rainbow rivulets writhed across its surface. Inside, everyone was frozen in strange positions. Shellie had her hands halfway to her mouth, which was open in a petrified scream. Aarsa was shielding Prince Quentin with her body, her eyes squinched shut. The strangest of all was Flynn. He appeared to have been in the middle of shapeshifting into a turtle when the freeze bubble surrounded the group, and was shorter with wrinkly green skin and a turtle head. It was very disturbing.
“Why did you leave us?” Alex broke the silence. “Why didn’t you freeze us with the rest of them?”
“Well, I wanted you to see my triumph.” Matt smiled, a sinister smile. “And if you’re smart, you may even join me and I’ll let you have a go at the Well.”
Marcy began to say something but then thought better of it. If I keep him guessing, maybe I can trick him. Maybe I can pretend to join him, and then trick him. She gulped. Maybe. She elbowed Alex in his ribs, causing him to wheeze. “Fine. Come on then, we’ve followed you around for ages.” Sarcastically rolling her eyes, she stepped forward. “I’m tired.”
“Follow me for the deepest desire of your heart,” Matt said in a tour guide voice, spinning on his heel and striding through the doorway.
Alex eyed Marcy. “I hope you have a plan,” he murmured.
“Kind of,” she whispered back. “It includes following Matt for the moment.”
He sighed. “Okay, but only for now. Also, you’re cutting off the blood flow from my arm.”
Startled, Marcy let go of his arm. “Oh, I…I forgot,” she said sheepishly. “Sorry.”
“Coming?” Matt asked from inside the doorway.
“Yes, Daddy,” she said sassily. They trailed Matt into the doorframe.
Marcy looked around in wonder. “I thought it would be more…elaborate.”
“Me too, honestly.” Matt was wandering from corner to corner of the chamber.
“Maybe it’s so simple because the Well is so expensive,” Alex offered.
The chamber was indeed very simple. The walls were brown and appeared to be stone. There were no decorations on the walls at all, except for the ivy that spread its tendrils across its surfaces. Wooden torches cast a flickering light into the room. In the center was a plain looking, old-fashioned well. It had a grey stone base and grey shingles on the conical roof. A bucket hung suspended from a rope, which was connected to the Well’s pulley.
It was remarkably uninteresting, for a well that would grant you the deepest desire of your heart.
“Hang on,” Marcy said suddenly. “When I was in…in Ellah’s house”--she felt a lump in her throat when she remembered her grandmother, but swallowed it quickly--“I saw this picture of the Well of Souhaiters. It was in a forest, not a stone room.”
“A very few people have ever been here, dear daughter,” Matt reminded her. “The picture was probably the artist’s rendition of the Well. It’s almost certain that he had never been there in person.” He moseyed over to the Well, running his hands over it. He looked like a child on Christmas morning, barely containing his excitement. “I am ready. There are no ceremonies for this--you just say exactly what you want. Stand back, you two.” Marcy’s father turned around to look at them and smiled eagerly. “I’m not sure how unlimited power will come to me.”
Turning, Matt flung his arms out wide and tilted his head up toward the ceiling. “Well of Souhaiters, grant me the deepest desire of my heart!” he yelled, his voice echoing off the walls.
Instantly, there was a sound like the rushing of wind and a silver and gold shimering mist wound up out of the Well. It looked exactly like what Marcy imagined a stream of pure magic to look. Slowly, the mist floated throughout the chamber, keeping in a wispy form. It poked around the room, as if searching for something. Even Matt gaped at it in wonder. The mist finally encircled him, slowly winding around his body. His face changed and he smiled, a malicious smile. Almost painstakingly, the magic surrounded him, getting faster as it slithered around him. Matt began to laugh. Marcy shrank back, scared of what would happen next. She didn’t want to see her father given power to do whatever he wanted.
The magic continued to speed up, whirling and whirling until she felt dizzy. Alex, a few feet away from her, was shaking his head to keep his eyes from crossing. Marcy shut her own eyes, listening to the sound of her father’s maniacal laughter. When will it stop? she thought frantically. Still it persisted.
The sounds of wind grew louder and louder, and then seemed to pause at a volume that almost hurt her ears. Marcy opened one eyelid. Then the wind seemed to slow. Sure enough, it wasn’t just her imagination. The magical mist had begun to gradually come to a halt. She could see Matt in the middle of it, his face still upturned to the heavens.
Steadily, the magic disappeared from around Matt and receded back into the Well of Souhaiters. Marcy lowered her hands from her face, not even realizing she had put them there in the first place. Her father was looking at his hands in wonder, seemingly relishing each touch from the mist. As the last tendrils faded, Matt’s smile grew. “Now, I can do anything,” he murmured. “I can create spaces.” His voice grew in volume. “I have all power!” he yelled, clenching his fists at the sky in ecstasy.
“Um,” came an unfamiliar voice from the corner of the room. “Am I dreaming?”
All three turned to see who had appeared while they were watching the spectacle.
Jenny stepped out from the shadows, a confused expression on her face. “Why am I here?”
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A PLOT TWIST
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GOING TO HAPPEN??????
Please tell me edits, this took forever to write since my break was so long and conflict is pretty hard for me to write so tell me if you please. Also, comment. If you want.
I shall write more soon, never fear mWAHAHAAHAHAH
~~Zoë Wingfeather
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