THIS IS THE END OF MY BOOOOOOOOKKKKK
I'VE GOT SO MUCH EDITING TO DOOOOOOO
But anyway....*wipes away a tear*.....here you go. Read on.
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CHAPTER 21
Everyone stared.
Finally, Alex spoke. “Uh…I think something went wrong.”
“You don’t say,” Matt breathed angrily. “The Well of Souhaiters must be wrong. This is not what I wanted!” He seemed to be making a great effort to control his fury. “I…did…not…ask…for this,” he hissed through gritted teeth, gazing at his clenched fists.
“So, why am I here?” Jenny walked forward to stand beside Marcy. She gave her a side hug. “Good to see you, dear,” she whispered. Marcy smiled in spite of herself. I’m glad she’s okay.
“I don’t know.” Matt began to pace, clasping his hands behind his back. “Something went wrong. This can’t be happening! All this time, all this work, the years of research…”
“Hang on,” Alex said slowly. “The Well gives you the deepest desire of your heart, right?”
“Yes,” Marcy’s father answered impatiently.
“So…” Alex bit his lip. He seemed reluctant to finish. “You…uh…I mean, I’m sorry to break it to you, but you still love Jenny.”
“What?!” Matt turned on his ex-apprentice. Striding up to Alex, he stuck a finger in his face. “If you’re joking I’ll--”
“No, I’m not kidding! I promise!” Alex spoke hastily. “If the Well gives you what you want the most, and it brought Jenny here, then that means that you still want her. You still love her.”
“Impossible,” Matt whispered. “I want power. That’s what I want the most. Not…not her!” He pointed at Jenny.
Marcy glanced up at her mother. Jenny’s face was calm, her features as still as if they were set in stone. She was unfazed.
“I worked for years.” Matt stood straight-backed next to the Well of Souhaiters. “I researched. I traded valuables for information. I almost died on some of my trips. And Jenny was what the Well got me?” He shook his head. “This has to be a mistake.”
“Matt, maybe Alex is right.” Jenny’s voice was gentle. “Maybe the search for power was just a cover-up. Maybe…maybe you do still love me.”
“No.” Her husband’s voice shook. “No, I don’t. I can’t. That was years ago. I was just pretending. I didn’t ever love you. I do not love you!” he yelled. Marcy tilted her head. He seems like he’s trying to convince himself, she thought. He’s really angry. I hope he doesn’t lash out with some sort of magic or something.
“Who could have deceived me?” Matt asked. “There must be something wrong with my information. Who told me something that wasn’t true?” He stalked over to Alex and grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him. “You were with me! You went with me when we gathered information! Did you ever hear something that sounded suspicious?”
Alex tried to say something but couldn’t because of Matt’s violent jolting.
“He’s trying to talk!” Marcy reached out and grabbed her father’s arm. “Put him down, he’s trying to answer!”
Matt let go of Alex. “You…you never let me see or hear anything, Matt,” Alex said. He looked dizzy. “You didn’t let me know what was going on, just brought me with you on your dirty errands.”
The wizard stared at his ex-apprentice. “You’re right,” he said finally. “I didn’t. Then who could it be?” He fingered his chin and walked toward the Well. Placing his hands on the side, he squinted into the depths. “Who duped me?”
“Me.” A voice came from somewhere inside the Well. Marcy gasped. There are far too many scary voices coming from dark places lately, she thought. “I duped you, in a way,” it continued
“Is there someone down there?” Jenny called. “Do you need help?”
“Nah, I’m fine. At least, now I am.” A malicious laugh echoed in the stone Well. Matt peered down into the darkness.
“Who’s there?” he said warily.
“Hang on, gimme a sec, I’m coming up there.” A whoosh sounded, and a blast of stale air hit Marcy’s face.
“Ew,” she said without realizing it.
“Yeah, being locked up in a super small space does that to you,” the voice said apologetically. It was closer now, and came from somewhere above the Well’s tented roof.
“Where are you?” questioned Alex.
“Takes a while to form. Give it time.” The voice became stronger. “Ah, it feels so good to be let out!”
“So…who are you, then?” Alex corrected.
“Well, my name is sort of long and complicated, so I’ll just tell you my nickname. My enemies call me The Surge.”
“And what do your friends call you?” asked Marcy apprehensively.
“I don’t have many friends, but the ones I do have call me Daniel.” The vague form of a body came into being above the Well. Matt backed up, staring up at the fuzzy image. “Ah yes, here comes my body. Takes a while, you know. My skills are a bit rusty. Sorry.”
Silence fell in the chamber as the rest of the body formed. It just slowly appeared, little by little, and gained focus. When the process was nearly complete, Marcy wrinkled her brow.
“You’re just…a kid.”
“Wow, amazing!” The form, apparently a boy of about eight years old, rolled his eyes sarcastically and clapped. “You deserve a medal for your originality.” He didn’t look very impressive. He had short brown hair with a strange fire-engine red streak that ran from the left side of his face to behind his ear. He wore jeans and a black t-shirt with a skull design printed on it. Looks like a band nerd, she thought. Except for the weird red stripe, I don’t remember that ever being in style on Earth. Maybe it’s a part of his space’s culture or something.
“How did you get trapped in there?” Jenny asked, concern hinted in her voice.
“Oh, it wasn’t an accident.” The boy waved uninterestedly. “I was put there.”
“Who would do such a thing?” Marcy asked indignantly. “You’re a kid!"
He rolled his eyes again. “Please stop pointing that out, would you? It’s like someone saying ‘You’re extremely dumb!’ or something like that. Yeah, I’m a kid. Yeah, I was imprisoned in there. I did some bad stuff, what can I say.” He shrugged.
“How long were you in there?” It was Alex’s turn for a question.
“You guys are full of inquiries, aren’t you?” Daniel sat Indian-style in the air and crossed his arms. “I was in the Well for, let’s see, going on 1505 years, I think. Yep, that’s about it.”
Jenny gasped. “Why?”
“Like I said, I did some bad stuff.” The boy grinned. “Maybe including taking over the entire universe for around 78 years and killing a whole bunch of people.” His smile turned malicious. “I couldn’t help it. I like to watch people suffer and hear their screams.”
Even Matt looked appalled. To hear that coming from Matt is one thing, but from a little boy? Marcy shivered. That’s messed up.
“Who put you there?” Matt questioned.
“The wizards and witches and sorcerers and many magic users who built the Well, of course.” Daniel turned a flip in midair. “You’re the first one to ever come here. Congratulations! Oh, and thanks for releasing me.”
“So…if you were trapped in there, how did you trick me with false information?” Matt asked slowly.
“I can do soul projection. It’s pretty fun. Oh, the little girl doesn’t know what that is, sorry. Let me explain.” Marcy started. How did he know? Smiling, Daniel turned his light blue eyes at her. “Soul projection is exactly what it sounds like—projection of a soul. I can do it pretty well, because I’m so powerful, so my projection can hold up a cloak. It’s rather fortunate that cloaks are so commonly used in the black market. You never knew it was me.”
“But…but…” Matt stuttered.
“Quite sorry, my man.” Daniel shrugged. “Had to be done. Oh, I forgot to mention, I also did a pretty good job invading the girl’s dream too.” Marcy gasped.
“It was you?”
“Yep. Moving back to Matt: honestly I never duped you, I just put the idea in your head to come here. It was years ago, of course. I spent quite a while trying to find the perfect man. Thankfully you popped up on my radar. All it took was one little sentence, a name dropped, and you were hooked. Didn’t take long.” He grinned eagerly. “The Well actually does grant you the deepest desire of your heart. That was a side effect of my prison. Sorry to be the one to state what’s already been said, but they”—he pointed to Marcy, Alex, and Jenny—“are right about you still loving the young woman over there.”
“I…I…” Matt was speechless.
“I feel the same way,” Daniel said solemnly. “But anyway, can’t hang around. I’ve got 1505 years to catch up on. There’s a lot of people to kill, a universe to take back over, It’s fun stuff. Gotta go!” He grinned playfully, then lost substance and turned into a wispy mist, dissipating into the air.
Alex cursed.
Jenny hit him in the back of the head. “Language!”
“Sorry,” he apologized, rubbing his head. “But honestly we’re—” He cursed again. Jenny hit him harder. “Ow!” he protested.
“There are ladies present!” Jenny reminded him through closed teeth.
“He’s right.” Matt turned to face them. “Do you realize what I’ve just let loose?”
No one answered.
“I just released the biggest threat to the entire universe since 1505 years ago.” He shook his head numbly. “Jenny, you’ve heard of it—remember? We found a book on it. The Surge. It—He—Whatever, that thing killed millions of people. Just…just like that.” He snapped his fingers. “It had a group of followers back then. I think it told them that they were going to help him rule the world.”
“If I recall, you often wished to be born a few hundred years earlier when we found out,” Jenny said dryly. “You admired it.”
“And you’ve had no trouble killing people and torturing them before,” Marcy chimed in.
“I admired its cunning,” Matt corrected. “Well, okay, maybe I admired the killing part now too. But now that it’s on the loose…we could all die.” He looked at Jenny. “You could die.”
Marcy shot a glance at Alex. He seemed confused. I don’t blame him. I’m confused too. He killed Ellah, and now he seems concerned about Jenny’s welfare. He killed Ellah. He killed his own mother-in-law! He can’t love Jenny!
“Okay, hang on for an ever-loving minute,” she said suddenly, stepping forward. “Matt, you killed Ellah. You killed my grandmother. You can’t still love Jenny!”
“You did what?” Jenny gasped.
“That’s right, he killed Ellah.” Marcy turned to face her mother. “He took advantage of Ellah’s sacrificial spirit—he fired a bolt at me, knowing that she’d die to save me. He killed her!”
“Ellah…” Jenny’s eyes filled with tears. “My dear Ellah…oh Mom…”
“There is no way you still love Jenny.” Crossing her arms, Marcy glared at Matt.
“You killed my mother?” Marcy’s mother asked.
Matt was silent.
“Answer me!”
“Yes,” he breathed.
“You won’t go unpunished for this,” Jenny said quietly.
“I know,” he answered.
Marcy looked at Alex again. He seemed a bit uncomfortable.
Jenny snapped her fingers. A string of light, much like the one Matt had used to chain the wizards and witches, appeared around his wrists. He didn’t even try to escape, just stood with his head down.
“You’re going to have a long time to think about what you’ve done,” she said, her voice full of danger.
“I know.” Matt locked eyes with Jenny. “I think I need it.”
***************
Jenny leaned over the counter, stirring her tea. “Doing okay this morning?”
“Yep,” Marcy affirmed. She took a drink of her orange juice.
“Good.”
There was silence in the kitchen. Marcy relaxed, glad to be on Earth again. It felt comforting. She pulled the blanket wrapped around her tighter. “So tell me what happened after me and Alex left the Wizard Convention through your portal.”
Jenny sighed. “I was so confused. It was terrible. Matt froze everyone, remember? He petrified them all. And then before you dove into the portal, you set him on fire. Blue fire. It was crazy. Anyway, after you left, the fire disappeared. It did leave me enough time to gather myself, though. Me and Matt battled for a little while. He got the upper hand, then burned me with his own fire. He said it was revenge for what you did.” She shivered. “Then he set off some sort of smoke bomb, which knocked everyone out, and disappeared as well. He didn’t kill me. I don’t know why.
“When I woke up, Ellah was awake too. She was tending to me. She healed my burns, then took me to through a portal to a friend’s house. I stayed with them till I was fully healed. Ellah told me she was going to find you guys, so I didn’t worry too much. Then I went to Zogomath so see if I could find you too. It was deserted, and I had no clue where else to look. Me and Cyronix stayed home and took care of everyone at the Wizard Convention who was harmed by Matt.” She wrapped her hands around her tea cup. “And then randomly, as I tended to Witch Hebon, I disappeared and appeared in the chamber with the Well of Souhaiters.”
“Crazy.” Marcy shook her head. “So what did you do with Matt after we left the Well?”
Sighing, Jenny pulled up a chair and sat beside her daughter at the bar. “Well, I thought about it the whole time we were leaving. It was hard to decide--he seemed like he genuinely was sorry. But you can never tell with Matt.” She sipped the tea. “After we got through the dark chamber, I decided on what to do.”
“How did we get through that chamber again?” Marcy questioned.
Jenny laughed. “It was a weird one, wasn’t it? From what you told me, we got out the same way you got in. I sang, and we all found each other. By the way,” she added, “sorry you had to hear me sing. I’m terrible.”
“No no, you were good,” her daughter assured her. “I’m just glad we were able to find each other. I was afraid it would only work with sirens.”
“It’s a good thing it didn’t,” Jenny commented. “Anyway, I decided to take Matt to an emergency Wizard Convention. They were all concerned about The Surge when we told them. Some of them remember rebuilding their spaces after he was defeated. We decided to imprison Matt for now, until we consult some others.” She shook her head. “It’ll be hard. He’s obviously sorry about what he did, and afraid too, if I’m reading him right. He’d be a powerful ally. But I think he’ll be a last resort if we ever come to need him. He’ll serve a sentence anyway though.”
“Right.” Marcy leaned back in the chair and set her orange juice on the counter. “I’m still so confused though--how can he still love you? I remember he told me about you, when I first met you…he said he had feelings for you, but that he only wanted you for his own purposes. How can he do both?”
“You know as much as I do, Marcy,” Jenny answered. “I wish I knew. Although, it could be that he was trying to convince himself that he didn’t love me by saying he only used me.” She shrugged. “I’ll never know.”
“What are we going to do about The Surge?” asked Marcy. “I mean, it is kind of dangerous.”
Rolling her eyes, Jenny sipped her tea. “That’s an understatement. The entire universe is in jeopardy. We’re going to need a lot of help defeating The Surge for the second time.”
“Sometimes I want to kick Matt.”
“I do too.”
Alex stumbled downstairs, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “What’s for breakfast?” he said wearily.
Jenny winked at Marcy. “I was thinking…pancakes and bacon, with applesauce on the side.”
“Sounds awesome.” Marcy smiled.
Alex collapsed into a chair next to her. “Hopefully I’ll be awake to enjoy it,” he mumbled.
Seth the butler walked up behind him and thumped his head. “Wake up, Alex. We’ve got a lot to do today.” He winked at the girls. “It’s time to catch up on around seven years of missed school.”
Groaning, Alex sank deeper into the chair. Unable to help herself any longer, Marcy giggled. What will my life will be like after this? she thought. Now that I know what I know…and it’s only the beginning of the summer. She grinned. Wonder if we can save the universe in a summer?
---------*CUE VIOLENT SOBBING* WAIT I WASN'T READY TO BE DOOONNNEEEEE
Okay so now I get the beautiful job of going back and editing it all. *fake smile*
Tell me what you think!!! Was it a twist ending? Were you expecting it?
From now on, I believe I'll be posting a surprise. The lovely woman who I based Ellah off of was mortified that I killed her and wanted some more "screen time." So she's written some lovely "fanfictions" (CAN YOU CALL THEM FANFICTIONS?????????) and so I'll post those if you guys want more Ellah.
I'll also be posting short stories. :3
Please comment!
~~Zoë Wingfeather
i love this book! i just wanted to leave a quick little comment and tell you how much i enjoyed it! your post updates are my favorite thing in my inbox :-)
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