Beep, beep, beep! I groaned as I woke to my alarm clock making it’s annoying sound as always. I sighed as I sat up in bed. A new school year. A new year to possibly have to deal with Marcus Angeleno, the worst bully in all of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Marcus was a big burly kid with arms that could put a silverback gorilla in a choke hold and put him to sleep for a long time. Me, let’s just say that he could, and would like to, squash me like a bug. 

    September 1st. The first day of seventh grade. People always say that middle school is like this big, scary, horrible monster. The truth, the school itself actually isn't half bad. It’s certain kids that are the real monsters. In Elementary school, if kids didn’t like you, they were just mean. In middle school, fitting in was one big test that lasted all year long. I had an F-. 

     In my mind, there were a few types of kids. 1) The popular kids. These were the kids that everyone wanted to be friends with. They were usually nice and they were pretty smart. 2) The athletes. These were the kids that were in a lot of sports and were very competitive. They usually were huddled in a group all the time and talking about the games that were going on. 3) The smart kids. These kids were, well, really smart and got really high grades. They went to a lot of after school clubs that involved science and math and stuff like that. 4) The bullies. This one is pretty self explanatory. These kids liked to pick on other people just for fun. They were good around teachers and staff most of the time. But if they were alone with you, they were totally different people. 5) Random. Literally everybody else in the school. The kids that got noticed but didn’t get noticed. They didn’t get in trouble very much but they got picked on a little. They got good grades. Kind of like a side character in a movie. This, this was me. Except the being bullied part of it. I was bullied a lot more than just a little bit. Most of it was done by our charming friend Mr. Angeleno. 

     “Mika?” My mom walked into my room, interrupting my thoughts. “I heard your alarm go off, are you okay?” I looked at my mother. She was a shorter woman, maybe five feet tall. She had long dark black hair that stopped just below her waist. Her eyes were so dark blue that they looked almost black, like mine. 

    “Yeah, I’m okay mom. Just, tired I guess.” I said. She smiled and sat down beside me. “Anything else you want to tell me?” I looked down at her hand on mine. “I just don’t want to get bullied again. Like last year.” I admitted. “I just know that Marcus is going to give me a hard time every second of every day. Whenever he can,” Mom wrapped me in a hug. “Let’s try to get through this week. If he doesn't stop, then we can talk to Mr. Devonport.” Mr. Devonport was the principal at the school that I went to. I nodded. “Okay. Thanks.” She pulled away and patted my shoulder. “Always there for you. Now how about you get dressed. I hope you're not going to school wearing that.”  She gestured to my pajamas. I grinned. “Wasn’t planning on it.” She chuckled. “Good. I’ll meet you downstairs. I have your lunch ready.” I smiled at her. “Thanks, mom. You’re amazing.” She smiled back. “I try.” 

“You’re doing a great job.”

“Why thank you.”

I did a mock bow. “Anything for you my queen.” I said. She ruffled my hair. “Alright, jester. Just get dressed. You're going to be late for your first day.” She walked out of the room. I put on a red t-shirt and ripped jeans. Then, I tugged on my favorite blue sweatshirt with a yellow lightning bolt on the front and on the left and right sleeve. I looked at myself in the mirror. “Seventh grade. You can do this.” Or you could get bullied again. Said my brain. Like last year and the year before that and the year before that and the year before that-

“Be quiet.” I muttered aloud.

And the year before that and the year before that.

Wow, I was Inconsiderate 

I took a deep breath and exhaled. I walked out the door and down the stairs into the kitchen. I found my mom sitting on a chair by the countertop drinking coffee. I shook my head. “Why do you even drink that? Too bitter.” She looked at me. “You would too if you had kids.” As if on cue, my brother ran into the room. My mom smiled at the four year old. “Good morning, Janner.” He grinned, showing off two missing teeth.

     “Morning, mama. Morning Mika.” I grinned to myself. “Hey, toothless.” He stuck out his tongue at me and ran past us. He grabbed his backpack. “C’mon!” He said.”I’m going to be late!” I think my little brother was a bit more excited than me to get to school. Mom shook her head. “Okay, okay. I’m coming.” She replied, standing up. “You should probably get going too, Mika.” My smile faded. My mother must have seen my uncertain look. She walked over to me. “Remember what I said.” She said quietly. “And one more thing.” She leaned down and whispered into my ear. “The past is past. Forgive, forget.” She straightened. “Goodbye, Mika. I’ll see you after school.” She smiled down at me. “I love you.” I tried for an easygoing grin. “I love you too.” After one last hug, she walked out of the house and closed the door. 

     As I neared the doors of the school, I heard a taunting voice. I closed my eyes. “Not now. Please not now.” I muttered. No such luck. Typical. 

     “Hey, runt!” Marcus called. I turned around. “What was that?” I asked innocently, looking around pretending to look for something. “Was somebody talking?” Marcus sneered and walked over, his green eyes glittering. “You sure you’re at the right school, runt? This place is for smart kids.” I tilted my head, pretending to think. “Then are you sure you’re at the right place?” Marcus growled. “You’re gonna pay for that.” He advanced even closer to me and grabbed me by the front of my shirt. I looked around the front of the school without moving my head. No teachers around. Great. Now he could really give it to me. “I don’t know why you even put up with me. I always get away somehow, you know that, Angeleno.” I said, trying to stall. “Not this time, punk.” He replied. We were so close that our noses touched. I could see the orange flecks in his green eyes. I saw white hot anger but something else too, was that… fear? I wondered what a kid like this would possibly be afraid of. I didn’t have time to think too much about it because a teacher rounded the corner and told us it was time to go in. I saw him glance over at us. And unless it was my imagination, he flicked his hand towards me and Angeleno. As if he was forced to, Marcus dropped me. I stumbled and fell right on the hard asphalt. He towered over me and scowled down. “We’ll finish this later, runt.” He growled. He walked over to his friends. They gave him high fives and laughed and jeered. I sighed, still sitting on the ground. The teacher came over to me and offered me a hand. He helped me up. 

     “Are you alright?” He asked. I brushed off my clothes. “Yeah. I’m okay. Just uh, just tripped.” He nodded and we walked towards the doors. I stopped at the entrance. It felt like a thousand butterflies were zipping around in my stomach “Nervous for your first day?” He asked gently. I nodded. “Yeah. I-I’ll be in seventh grade this year.” I said quietly. “Seventh grade you say?” I nodded again. “Well, you’re in luck, my boy. I’ll be your social studies teacher.” I studied the man. He looked about in his late fifties, maybe in his early sixties. He had a head of brown hair that was turning gray. His brown eyes were alive and sparkling, but they looked a bit sad, like he had seen many things, good and bad, sad and happy. I decided that I liked him. “What is your name?” He asked. “Mika West.” I replied. “It’s nice to meet you, Mika. I’m Mr. Chris.” I shook his hand. His grip was firm yet gentle. his hands were calloused and rough. His smile was warm and friendly. The frantic fluttering in my stomach eased a little. “Well then, I’ll see you in class.” We walked in the doors. When I got to my locker, I tried to open it and it surprisingly worked out okay. Maybe today won’t be so bad. I thought. 

Looking back, I probably shouldn’t have jinxed it.

 I was in the middle of a math lesson when it happened. I was almost grateful. 

Almost.

The speaker attached to the ceiling crackled to life. We all looked up from our textbooks, even the teacher. 

     “Would these six students please report to Mr. Chris’s room immediately, Mika West…” I didn't stick around to hear the other names. I got out of my chair and walked down the hall. Some kids joined me. The first one was a girl with a white shirt, a black skirt, and a denim jacket. She wore sleek black shoes that clacked on the tile floor. Her long blonde hair swept behind her as we walked. I think I knew her name. I was pretty sure it was Isabell Jameson. She was one of the popular kids. The second kid was tall and lanky. He had red hair and blue glasses. He wore a baggy gray sweatshirt and faded blue jeans. I knew this guy too, his name was Max Black. He was a smart kid. The third was, oh no. Marcus. He needed no explanation. The third kid was a girl with long brown hair tucked into a ponytail. Her skin was a darker shade of brown, like caramel. She had deep brown eyes that darted around, as if taking notes on everything. She wore black shorts and a purple t-shirt that said something about a track team. I knew her. Her name was Olive Garcia. She was an athlete, one of the less competitive ones. The last kid I didn’t know. He wore an olive green sweatshirt and jeans. His hood was pulled over his head and his hands were in his pockets. Because of the hood, I couldn’t see his face very well, but I caught a glimpse of brown hair and pale skin. I assumed he was a random, like me. 

     “That’s jack Jersey.” Someone whispered. I turned to see Isabell by my side. “He doesn't say much, kinda mysterious.” She continued. “Yeah.” I agreed, nodding my head. We kept walking. Well, I thought. This is awkward. I decided to break the ice. “Do you know why we're going to an early social studies lesson?” I asked. Isabell smiled. “No. Unless there's a test that we didn’t know about and have to take.” I wrinkled my nose. “Ugh. Tests.” Isabell laughed. “You’re funny. What’s your name?” It took me a bit to answer her question because my mind was reeling. She thinks I’m funny. It said. That doesn't mean anything. I argued. My brain was silent. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. “M-Mika.” I stammered. Isabell’s mouth twitched. “It’s nice to meet you M-Mika.” I rolled my eyes. She laughed. “I’m Isabell.” Hooray for me, I got it right. 

     We reached Mr. Chris’s room. I crossed my fingers. “Please don’t let me be in trouble. Please don’t let me be in trouble.” I muttered under my breath. “You're not in trouble, my boy. None of you are.” A voice said. I looked around but there was nobody there. 

     “Mr. Chris?” Olive asked hesitantly. The invisible Mr. Chris chuckled. He materialized right in front of us. It was the same person, but it wasn't. Standing in front of me was a young man maybe twenty years old. He had sandy blonde hair, a mischievous smile, and startling blue eyes. They had the same knowing sad look to them. That hadn’t changed. He wore a brown leather jacket over a white shirt. No one said anything. Finally, Max spoke up. He gulped, then said,

     “That’s not possible, Mr. Chris. People can't just appear out of thin air, or change their appearance.” He sounded panicked. I didn’t blame him. The new Mr. Chris chuckled again. “Call me Chris. And to answer your question, Yes. It is possible, because I am not at all human. And you six, have more potential than you realize.” My jaw hit the floor. “Okay,” I said. “What do you mean, ‘Not at all human’?” He smiled. “I mean, Mika, that you all are more than you think you are.” It was really weird hearing a man in his twenties talk as if he was way older than what he was. We stared at him blankly. He sighed. “I’m not making any sense, am I.” We shook our heads. Except for Jack. I could see his face better now. He had messy brown hair that waved to the side. His eyes were green and dark. I couldn’t read his expression, but he was the only one who didn’t seem surprised. 

     Chris thought for a second. Then he got an idea. He grinned, “Come in. I want to show you something, then maybe you’ll believe me.” We walked into a big room with nothing in it except a big brown table. When we faced Chris, he looked at us. We waited. “Uh, nothing’s happening.” Marcus said. For once, he didn’t look mean, he looked mystified. He spoke too soon. Suddenly, a tickling sensation went over me. Like when you jump in a pool and a million little bubbles float around you and they make you tense up. That’s what it felt like, and I didn’t enjoy it. Then, I started floating up, higher and higher. I thought we were going to crash into the ceiling, but we went right through. When we stopped moving, I looked over at the other kids. Except for Jack, (Why am I not surprised. The kid’s invincible.) they were all looking down at the ground. I looked down and almost had a heart attack. I didn’t like heights, at all, and we were at least fifty feet in the air. “Gah! N-no! No, no, no! Help!” I yelled, flailing around. Olive looked over at me. “Don’t like being up high, do you.” She said. I shook my head, afraid that if I spoke, I would start screaming like a person on a roller coaster. Much to Marcus’s amusement, I was shaking like crazy. Isabell looked queasy. “I don’t like it very much either.” She said. Then she yelled at the top of her lungs, “Hey, Magic man, some of us don't enjoy this. Can you let us down?” “Yes.” I whimpered. “Down would be amazing. Please, please, please.” Marcus snickered. We heard a whooshing sound. We turned and saw Chris lounging on a big fluffy cloud. He was laying on his back and his hands were behind his head. One leg was crossed over the other. with his sly smile and his bright eyes, he looked like a relaxed alley cat hunting a mouse. I felt like the mouse, cornered, trapped, and afraid. “Magic man?” He asked, his mouth twitching. Olive nodded and glared at him. “Yes. Magic man. Now let. Us. Down.” He changed his appearance again. There was a flash of white light, then we saw a sixteen year old boy with the same outfit and features as Chris, just younger. He sighed and rolled his eyes. “You guys are no fun.” Then he snapped his fingers and we all fell to our deaths.

     Or, at least it felt like that. We fell at the speed of light, which I never thought possible. Meanwhile, Chris was back in his original age. He was in perfect swan dive. “Relax.” He suggested. “Relax.” I yelled. “Yeah, I’m very relaxed as I’m hurtling to my death!” Even Jack, who was usually cool and collected, was glaring at Chris as we fell. 

     We finally reached the ground, landing in a heap. Marcus pushed me off him with a cheerful, “get off me, punk.” Chris touched down next to us. “Well,” he said breezily. “Do you believe me now?” Isabell was on top of me. “Sure.” She said. “Who's elbow is that?” “Mine.” Olive groaned. 

     We managed to untangle ourselves from each other. We stood up and glared at Chris. “You.” I said, crossing my arms. “Are a horrible person.” He spread his arms out. “A horrible person! Come now, I was just showing you a taste of my magic!” He stared each of us down. Unless it was my imagination, his eyes lingered a little longer on me, and his blue eyes flashed nervously, but it must have been my imagination, because he then said, “And you six are going to learn how to do stuff like that.” I closed my eyes. “Oh brother.” His eyes sparkled. “Yes.” He said. “This will be fun.” I opened my eyes but closed them again. “Please.” I begged. “Don’t let those words be engraved on my tombstone.” Chris laughed. “You don’t die doing magic, Mika.” He hesitated. “Well, at least not doing magic like this...” He was silent, staring off into the distance. “Chris.” Olive asked, her voice gentle. “Are you okay?” He blinked. “Yes. I’m fine.” He said. He rubbed his hands together, his usual mischievous smile back on his face, “Now. Let’s see here. What will I teach you today?” “Social studies?” I asked hopefully, not wanting to get caught up with magic… and heights. Chris laughed. “No. I think I know. A simple…” He disappeared right before our eyes. Then he became visible. He hung from the ceiling by his feet. “Disappearing spell.” “Show off.” Marcus grumbled. The young man’s eyes glittered. He walked across the ceiling and down the wall. He sat down on the big table, one leg crossed over the other. “What you will want to do is concentrate on being invisible. Imagine you are in the middle of a big crowd and you just did something really embarrassing.” He ran his hands through his hair and smiled sheepishly, as if that was something he had done before. “You would want to be invisible, right?” We nodded. “Just imagine and concentrate.” He instructed. I closed my eyes and imagined that I had just tripped and fell on my face in front of a big crowd. I concentrated on the feeling of embarrassment and wishing I was invisible. I opened my eyes and looked around. Everyone had their eyes closed in intense concentration. Except for Jack and Isabell. They were nowhere to be seen. Lucky. I thought. I heard Chris snap his fingers. I flinched, expecting to be lifted into the air. It turned out he was just getting my attention. “Look down.” He whispered. I looked down at my body and jumped back. I could just barely see myself. “Whoa.” I whispered. I looked at Chris. “Can you see me?” I asked, crossing my fingers. He shook his head. “Yes.” I said quietly. He chuckled. He gestured for me to look around. I turned my head and saw nothing. “Okay.” I heard Max’s voice. “Now this is cool.” I nodded, then remembered that they couldn’t see that. “Totally.” I agreed. Chris smiled. “This is some of the simplest magic to do. You don’t even have to say any incantations or anything.” The only person who wasn’t impressed was Marcus. “Okay, Magic man. We know how to turn invisible. So? How will it help us and how do we turn back?” I rolled my eyes, glad that people couldn’t see me. Leave it to Marcus to ruin something really cool. Chris just frowned slightly. “All you have to do is think about being visible and standing out.” I thought about standing out in a big crowd of people wearing all black, gray, and white. Me in my blue lightning bolt sweatshirt and hiking boots. Black hair with white frosted tips. I looked down and found out that I could see myself just fine. I looked at Chris. “Forget what I said about you being a horrible person. You are awesome.” He grinned. “Apology accepted. Now, are you ready for your quest?” Max blinked. “Quest?” Chris nodded. “Yes. Quest. You are the six that the prophecy told about.” Isabell shook her head. “Magic man, you are making no sense.” Chris took a deep breath, then he recited something that must have been the prophecy,

On the day where fear rises and conquers.

We will call on six that will fight and prevail, and free us from his fiery grasp,

But if they do not, beware people of earth,

We will crumble and fall.

And there will be no more to see than dust.

We were silent, I mean seriously, what do you say to something like that? Then, Olive said, “Well, I have no wish to be no more than dust, so let’s get going on this quest already!” Chris looked grim. “I wouldn’t be so sure. You need to prepare and train.” My shoulders slumped. “So basically, like school.” I said. Chris’s mouth twitched. There was a flash of white light again. I saw the teacher that had helped me at the beginning of the day. “In 1492, Columbus sailed the seas to America. Although, he thought it was India. That is why Native Americans are sometimes called Indians.” He turned back into his regular form. I rolled my eyes. “Yeah. like school.” 

Over the next few days, the six of us were called in at recess every day to work on magic. The teachers thought it was some kind of extracurricular class so they were totally fine with it. We learned how to fly, (I wasn’t going to be using that one unless I absolutely had to.) we learned how to change what we looked like, and we practiced turning invisible and visible. I had to admit, doing magic was pretty cool. We also learned that there were different dimensions. Some sounded really cool, others, well, I don’t want to go into it because, reasons. We learned that our teacher was really a thousand years old. Boy, that was an interesting day. One more thing. Monsters. They never really died, they could be defeated and banished from the mortal world, but they would always come back. Where they went, no one knew. 

     After a few days of this, Chris announced that it was time for our quest. My stomach did an Olympic gold medal gymnastics routine. “Uh, do you know where we have to go for this quest.” I asked. Chris’s expression turned stony. “The realm of fear.” He said. Even Jack looked nervous. Isabell put her hands up in a timeout sign. “Hold up, realm of what now?” She asked. Chris waved his hand and a glowing black and green vortex appeared in front of us. Summoning the portal seemed to make our friend really really tired. “The realm of fear.” He repeated, steadying himself on a nearby table. A thought occurred to me. “You’ll be going with us, right?” I said. Chris said nothing. “Chris?” I asked nervously. “The prophecy said six would fight and prevail.” He said quietly. I had never seen him this way. It was almost as if he was… scared. Isabell came over to the man and put a hand on his shoulder. “We will come back. It won’t be like last time.” I winced. Chris had told us the story. About ten years ago, six people had tried to go on this quest to stop another demon of evil. One of them was his sister. They had stopped it, but none of them had come back. Chris took a deep breath. “I know you will. Good luck.” He hesitated. “My friends.” With that, we all jumped into the portal. My last vision of my teacher was his all knowing eyes. Searching, and somehow knowing that we would prevail. We would win.

     Kids, this is why you go to college. So you don’t end up tumbling through a portal, traveling through inter dimensional space.

     Imagine the scariest roller coaster you have ever been on. Now imagine going off the rails ten times faster than usual. Flipping and twirling and twisting, feeling like your body is getting ripped apart. This is traveling through a portal. Two words, Not. Fun.

     We screamed as we sped through the portal. Did I mention that it’s pitch black? Yeah. You can’t see a thing. I was almost relieved when we landed in the realm of fear. Almost immediately, I felt a rush of, well, fear. Forget what I said about relief. I turned to jump back into the portal, but it had disappeared. I gulped and scanned our surroundings. It was sticky and hot, like the day after a summer rain. The sky was a neon green color with dark green clouds covering an unseen sun. The ground under our feet was a weird sticky texture. Isabell made a face and lifted up her foot. “Yuck, what is this stuff?” I shrugged. “Not sure.” Suddenly, there was a screeching sound. We jumped. “Duck!” Olive yelled. I looked at her. “What? That was not-” I yelped and ducked my head as a huge creature with sweeping wings and talons as long as a fishing pole flew over us. “A duck.” I finished, my hands shaking. Olive rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.” “Guys.” Max said. “We have a situation.” his voice was small. We turned and saw a huge shadow. Not the kind made by objects blocking the sun, I mean a huge cloud made of shadows and darkness. It looked like rain was coming with it. “What should we do?” I asked. Jack pointed to a nearby cave. Normally, I would have gone running. Now, I hesitated. “Who knows what kinds of things could be in there? Bats, bears…” Isabell’s voice trailed off. It seemed that the realm was affecting us. I guess we could be scared more easily. “Well, do you have a better idea?” Marcus snapped, but he sounded nervous too. Sadly, I had nothing. I sighed. “Unless we want to get soaked, let’s do it.”

      Once we were inside the cave, we all let out a breath of relief. All the adrenaline that I had before was gone and I collapsed on the cold stone floor. Everybody else did the same except Jack. The rain was now pouring down in sheets. He stuck his hand out of the cave, then quickly pulled it back. His expression was full of pain. I stood up on wobbly legs. “What’s wrong?” I asked. He showed me his hand. It was red, puffy, and peppered with blisters. I looked out of the opening of the cave. “The rain is acid.” I noted. “Don’t let it touch you.” Jack put up his hand for proof. “Acid rain.” Marcus grumbled from his place on the ground. “Why not? This world is messed up.” Isabell nodded. “No kidding.” Max walked over and examined Jack’s hand. He frowned, then he got an idea. “Does anyone have enough cloth to wrap around a hand?” He asked. “Water would be great too.” He added. Olive pulled out a canteen out of a backpack that Chris had given her and a first aid kit. I stared at her. “Where in the word did you get a first aid kit?” “Always be prepared. Here.” She said, handing it to Max. “Thanks.” He replied. He dug through the kit and found a roll of cloth. He ripped some off the roll and pressed the canteen to the cloth and tipped it over and soaked the fabric. He gestured for Jack to give him his hand. Jack’s eyes flitted from the cloth to Max to his hand. He shook his head and backed away a few steps. “It’s okay.” Max assured him. “It’ll only hurt for a second.” Jack’s lips thinned. Then he held out his hand. The swelling had gotten worse over the last few minutes. If this was how bad it would get for one hand, it scared me to think what it could do if you were soaked in it. Jack winced and closed his eyes when Max pressed the cloth to his hand, but he didn’t pull away. He waited patiently as the boy wrapped his hand in the cloth. When he was done, Jack looked relieved. He looked at Max with surprise in his eyes. I looked at him as well. “Where did you learn stuff like that?” I asked. Max rubbed his neck and blushed. “First aid is kind of like science. Certain mixtures help or harm certain things. Acid rain though, that’s a new one.” Jack leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. “Jack’s right.” Isabell said. “We should try to get some shut eye.” “I could get down with that.” Marcus muttered. After a while, almost everyone was asleep. Except for me and Isabell. “Can’t sleep?” I asked her. She shook her head. “What’s wrong?” I asked. She looked at me cautiously, as if she was worried I was teasing her. She sighed. “Mika, what if we defeat Fear, but we don’t come back? I told Chris that it wouldn’t be like last time, but what if it is!” She blinked her red tinged eyes. “I don’t want to let him down. He’s taught us so much.” I looked out at the acid rain. “Yeah. I’m worried too. Chris said that we don’t usually die doing this type of magic, but then he stopped and stared off into the distance. He seemed sad.” We were silent. Isabell smiled. “Speaking of magic, I guess we have something in common.” 

“What?” 

“We both really hate heights.

“Oh. Uh...” 

My cheeks burned and I fidgeted, tapping my fingers on the stone. “I-I kinda freaked out back there, didn’t I.” I said, rubbing my neck. Isabell laughed. “Yeah. You kind of did.” I smiled in spite of myself. “It’s just…” I hesitated. “When I was, oh, eight years old, I climbed a really tall tree, my mom warned me not to climb too high.” I laughed softly. “I’m guessing you’re not too great at following orders.” Isabell said. I shook my head. “Obedience isn’t one of my strong suits, anyway, I didn’t listen and...” I clapped my hands. “Bam. Right on the ground. Ever since, trees, flying, airplanes, really tall ladders…” Isabell laughed. “Yeah. Ever since I was little, I’ve been scared of heights. Just the thought of being that high, that you could fall and not get back up.” She shivered. I looked at her. “You know, it’s actually pretty easy to talk to you about this stuff. I haven’t even told my own mother, let alone these guys.” I gestured to everyone sleeping. “You make it easier. So...thanks, I guess.” I winced. “Sorry, that was really corny.” She laughed. “No problem, Mika. You’re easy to talk to as well. I think-I think you could be a good friend.” She fingered something around her neck that I hadn't noticed before. It was a necklace. I pointed at it. “I like your necklace. Can I see it?” I asked. She showed it to me. It was a silver sea turtle, for its shell, it had a lime green jewel in the middle. “What kind of jewel is that?” I asked her. She looked down at it. “It’s a peridot. It’s my birthstone, August.” I smiled. “Well I guess we have another thing in common. August birthdays.” She grinned. “You know. This necklace is old. My great great grandmother gave it to her daughter, my great grandmother. She gave it to my grandmother, who gave it to my mother, who gave it to me.”I shook my head. “Wow. Headache.” She laughed as she unclipped it. “I was supposed to give to my son or daughter when I had kids, but I think I can make an exception.” She gestured for me to turn around. I did and let her clip it around my neck. I touched the jewel in the middle in awe. I wasn't much of a jewelry guy, but I guess I could make an exception too. Isabell smiled. “Now you can pass it on to whoever you like.” I nodded in understanding. She smirked. “Good night, Mika, sweet dreams.” With that, she laid down on the floor and fell asleep. I blinked. “Yeah, sweet dreams.” I whispered. I still couldn’t sleep, so I just sat there in the dark. Listening to the acid rain pour.

 “Mika.” I heard a voice say. I whipped around. “Mika, my boy. I’m here. I want to see you. Come into the light.” Okay. First of all, when someone says, ‘come into the light’, or something like that. That’s usually the part in the horror movie where the audience all stands up and screams, DON’T DO IT, YOU IDIOT! 

     Anyway, I didn’t know where I was. I was in a space that was pitch black. The only source of light was a spotlight maybe ten feet in front of me. I walked toward it. Once I got to it, I hesitated. “Who are you?” I called out. “I think you know.” The voice said. “Just touch the light and you’ll find out.” The voice was gentle, but it made me suspicious. I felt like I had heard it before. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. “Father.” I said coldly. “Leave me alone. You caused my family enough trouble for an eternal lifetime.”  My dad used to be a really nice guy. He was awesome, Then came the fighting. Janner was just a little baby, but I remembered. The shouting, the screaming, the thumping of things being thrown against the wall. I had hid in my room from my father whenever he was home. He wasn’t right in the head. He scared me almost as much as heights did. Not anymore, but he used to. All I felt now, was anger. “Mika. Please. I want to apologize. If you would just let me-” I cut him off. “Explain? Yeah right. There's no explaining what you did. You left us. You left mom. You left me! You left her with no help and to raise two kids all on her own.” Then, I felt a strong wind. It pushed me forward and I stumbled into the light. It blinded me. I jumped back, but it was too late. When I looked up, I saw my father. He looked like I remembered. Curly red hair, fair skin, brown eyes. He wore a gray t-shirt with faded jeans. The only thing that had changed was that there was a soft glow around him. He smiled warmly. “Hello, my son. It is so good to see you.” He had the same british accent that I remembered. I crossed my arms. “You are no father of mine.” He frowned sadly. “Oh come now. Just because I ran away doesn’t mean I don't love you.” I clenched my teeth. “If you loved me, you would have stayed. I bet you don’t even remember what mom looks like, or Janner. I bet you didn’t even love them from the start.” He plastered a smile back on his face. “But I loved you. Isn't that enough?” I glared at the man. “Sorry but not sorry. You don’t love anyone but yourself. Not even me. I wouldn't trust the next words that came out of your mouth.” The glow around him flickered. “You don’t understand what you’re dealing with, boy.” He growled, his friendly tone gone, replaced with a cold and angry voice. I frowned, “I've dealt with a lot of jerks and bullies.” I advanced on him and poked him in the chest. “I guess you’ll just be one more to add to the collection.” He glared at me, the light flickering even more. “You think you know all about magic. The shapeshifter taught you nothing. When you face fear, you will not prevail. He will conquer and I will be his ever loyal servant. And you.” He sneered. “He will lock you up in the darkest dungeon. Every time you run out of oxygen and die, he will revive you and lock you up again.” He looked down at me, his eyes glittering with evil. Then I realized that’s what he was. He was evil. “I’m not afraid of you.” I snarled. My father smiled like we were sharing a dangerous secret. “Oh, Mika. You may not feel fear, but you are afraid. You are very much afraid. Of me.” He reached towards my neck and ripped the turtle necklace off of me. With that he started to glow even brighter. I averted my eyes. When I looked back, all that was left was darkness.

    I woke with a start. I must have fallen asleep. My hands flew to the necklace that Isabell had given me. It was still there. I let out a sigh of relief. “Bad dreams?” Olive asked me. She was sitting up against the cave wall. The others were still asleep. I nodded, my heart pounding. The girl looked out of the opening. “Yeah. I think all of us learned the hard way not to sleep in a place called ‘the realm of fear.’” I chuckled. “Definitely.” Olive took her finger and traced patterns on the cave floor. “Mika, you don’t have to answer this but, are you scared?” I shrugged. “Who wouldn't be?” She smiled a little. “I guess so. I mean, even Chris seemed a little scared. He seems so calm all of the time, but when we left, it was like he was nervous.” I frowned. “Yeah. That was kinda weird. I mean, why wouldn't he be nervous. His own sister died going on a quest like this. I guess he didn’t want to lose anyone else.” She thought about it. “You’re right. If I were him, I think I would be worried too.” There was a flash of light, then Olive was no longer there. Instead, there was Chris.” I laughed. I knew it was Olive, but it seemed so real. She examined her hands. “Wow. Now I know what it feels like to be a thousand years old.” She even sounded like Chris. “Alright, magic man. Turn back into Olive before everyone wakes up and has a heart attack.” A flash of light and she was back. “Magic man?” She asked, in a perfect imitation of our friend's voice. I nodded. “Yes, magic man.” We laughed. After a while, the other kids woke up and we were on our way. 

     “Why does the ground have to be so disgusting?” Asked Max, making a face. Marcus shrugged. “I guess they want this place to be as hostile as possible.” I looked around. “For once, Angeleno, you’re right.” 

     Suddenly, I heard a voice. It was raspy and cold.

     Fear is coming. It said. I froze. “Did guys hear that?” I asked. Their expressions told me the answer. It spoke again. Beware. Hide. Fear is coming. “What is that?” Isabell said nervously. Marcus glared at her. “Well, let’s listen to the voice and hide!” “But we came on this quest to stop fear.” Olive argued. “But who says we have to do it now!” Marcus said angrily. “I think we should do it as quickly as possible and get out of here.” I suggested. “Or we could get out of here now and forget about it.” Marcus crossed his arms. “But then we’ll all die!” Max argued. Suddenly a voice said, 

     “Stop.” It was quiet, but the whole realm seemed to freeze when it happened. “Stop fighting. This is ridiculous.” It was Jack. “But-” Marcus began. He looked at him, not with anger, but with a quiet sense of defiance. That shut him up. “We need to keep going. We owe it to Chris. We need to stop fear.” Isabell nodded. “He’s right.” She faced Marcus. “If you want to go. Fine. Go. If you’re too scared to help. Whatever. But there is no way out of here unless you can summon a portal, which you can’t. But we owe it to the whole world.” He stared at her. Then he clenched his teeth. “I’m not scared.” He muttered and pushed past her. Max looked at me. What was that? He mouthed. I shrugged and followed Marcus. (Hold up, I need to get the bad taste of those words out of my mouth… okay. Carry on.)  As we walked, Jack fell in step with me. “Hey.” I said, not sure exactly what to say. He didn’t say anything, he just looked at the ground. “How’s your hand?” I asked awkwardly. He shrugged. “You know, this conversation is pretty one sided.” I said jokingly. There. A little smile. “If you don’t say anything soon, this is gonna get really awkward, really fast.” The smile grew a little bigger. Just then, I stepped in a particularly big patch of sticky mud. “Oh, yuck.” I groaned, picking up my shoe. “Mega yuck.” I heard laughter. I looked around and saw that it was Jack. He was bent over laughing at me. But not in a mean way. I rolled my eyes. “You should have seen your face!” He said between laughs. I stepped out of the way of the mud puddle. “Yeah, ha ha. Very funny.” I said. But I was trying hard not to smile.

 Suddenly, there was a rush of heat. I stumbled and fell to my knees. Jack helped me up. When I lifted my head, the whole realm had turned blood red. I gulped. “I almost miss the old realm.” Jack nodded nervously.

     Then, a black shape flew over us. It went so fast that I couldn’t tell what it was. It landed a few feet in front of us. 

     “Approach carefully, heroes and think before you speak.” It was the voice. I couldn’t tell before, but I think it was a female. We went closer, I noticed that the figure was tall and had a long black robe with a black scarf over her head. We stopped about a foot away. “Who are you?” Jack asked. He seemed to be the only one who had the courage to speak. If anything, he maybe sounded a little angry. “I think you know.” The figure said. “Don’t you recognize your own mother, Jack?” She looked up and pulled the scarf off of her head. We all looked at our friend. “Mother!” We asked in unison. The boy put his hand on his forehead. “Mother.” He said exasperated. “Please. Not now.” The figure had long silvery white hair that caught the red light of the realm around us, making it look as if it was on fire. Her face...oh man her face, it. Was. Beautiful. She had skin that was pale and fair. Her eyes were a deep brown that seemed to see into your soul.  She looked at Jack with those eyes. “My son, I am sorry I had to go. I missed you.” Jack stood there. He didn’t seem angry, he didn’t seem scared, I couldn’t read his expression. Max spoke up. “Hold up.” He said, putting his hands up in front of him. He pointed at Jack. “Mom!” Jack looked down and glared at the ground. It was hard to tell in the red glow, but I think he was blushing. “My heroes.” The lady said. We all looked at her. “I have come to help you.” I heard Isabell mutter, “Oh thank goodness, because we have no idea what we’re doing.” The lady smiled. “Yes. I have no liking of the shapeshifter, but I also have no liking of Fear.” Her expression turned sour. “So I have come to help you defeat him.” For the first time in a while, I almost felt hopeful. “So you’re going with us?” I asked. She shook her head. “I will give you tools that you will need to get rid of him once and for all.” She tilted her head. “Of course, fear will always be inside of us. But he will never try to invade your world again.” We were silent. Then Olive spoke up. “Okay. Thanks for the help. We appreciate it. But we don’t even know your name!” She shrugged helplessly. “Mystery, or mysterious.” Jack mumbled, still not looking at his mother. (No offense to Jack, but I’m still having to wrap my head around that.) Mystery nodded. “I am very much mysterious, just like my son.” “Thanks.” He muttered, pulling his hood over his head. She continued. “This is how I will help you.” She waved her hand. Three ravens, I mean huge birds, about the size of garbage trucks landed next to us and a few feathers dropped out of their plumage. I picked one up. “Um. A feather?” I asked. Suddenly, it melted in my hands. When I blinked, I was holding a glowing bronze sword. “Whoa.” I said. The rest of the group picked up feathers as well. Soon, they were each holding a weapon. Marcus got a garrote. Max got a pack of smoke bombs. (Those would come in handy. Distractions.) Olive got a spear. Isabell got a shield. And Jack got a jagged knife. My sword, Jack’s knife, Olive’s spear tip, and Isabell’s shield were made of glowing bronze. “The weapons will be there when you need them and when you don’t, they will disappear. These raven’s will be your transportation. Climb on.” Mystery said. I almost dropped my sword. “C-climb on? You don’t mean ah, flying, do you?” I asked, I tried to keep the fear out of my voice. I don't think I was successful. Marcus snickered. “What? Are you scared?” I didn’t answer. I was too nervous. Mystery gave me a curious look. “Yes… You will fly on the raven’s backs. I know you all can fly your own, but the energy that would take would most likely kill you.” Isabell came over to me and put a hand on my back. Thank goodness for brave friends. “Let’s partner up. Jack with Olive, Marcus with Max, and me with Mika. Let’s go.” The birds bent down and let us climb on. “I am going to hate every minute of this.” I muttered. “Think positive.” Isabell whispered. But I noticed that her voice wavered. “Good luck my friends.” Mystery called. Friends. I noticed. Not heroes. With that, we flew off, the color of the realm turning back to the way it was. 

     I held on to the bird’s neck for dear life. “Just don’t look down.” Isabell advised. “Wasn’t planning on it.” I squeaked, my eyes squeezed tight. I felt hands around my waist. I tensed up and opened my eyes in surprise. “Just holding on. I’m not going to bite, silly.” I relaxed a little bit. “Sorry.” I mumbled. Isabell giggled. “That’s okay. I’m guessing you've never ridden on a giant raven before.” I snorted. “No. I think I would remember if I ever had.” For a moment, I forgot to be afraid. I was, dare I say it, happy. It was a mistake to open my eyes. They drifted downward. “Ah!” I yelped. “Mistake mistake. Mistake!” I was shaking. “Mika.” Isabell said quietly. “It’s okay. I’m scared too.” “What?” I asked. “Who said anything about being scared. I-I’m not scared.” She looked at me skeptically. “Okay. Maybe a little.” The raven turned to the left and I fell into Isabell. “A lot.” I yelped. “Okay. Okay. A lot!” She helped me sit up so I faced her. “The only way to conquer fear is to admit you’re afraid.” I shook my head. “That’s hard. It’s embarrassing. Why would you want to let anyone know that you’re afraid of heights or snakes or spiders or anything.” She shrugged. “I suppose you wouldn't want to, but it’s the only way.” She said, stroking the bird’s feathers. “Is there another way?” I asked quietly. “Preferably a way that involves standing safely on the ground on our own two feet?” She laughed. “Like I said before, Mika. You’re a funny guy. I’m proud to have you as my friend.” I swallowed, not sure what to do with the compliment. “Uh, thank you?” She smirked. “You’re welcome. Now how about we try to get some sleep. You go first, I'll make sure you don’t fall to your death.” I gulped. “You just made the idea of sleep much less appealing.” But I could feel my eyelids starting to droop and I laid down on the bird, It’s soft feathers tickling my neck. Isabell gave me a small smile. “Good night, Mika.” The last thing I remember was wondering why I felt so much satisfaction from that one comment, that one little moment.

     I woke up to Isabell shaking my shoulder. “Mika. Mika, wake up. Our ride has something to tell us.” I stirred. “Something to tell us?” I asked sleepily. “But ravens can’t-” 

     “Talk? Do you know anything about magic ravens, lighting dude?” A voice asked. I looked down at the raven in surprise, then at my sweatshirt, (which had a lightning bolt on it.), then Isabell. “Lighting dude?” It was obvious she was trying hard not to laugh. She called out to the rest of the group. “Hey guys! Is your raven talking?” Max and Jack nodded. “Hey, Hugo? When are we going to be there already? My wings are getting tired.” Our raven complained. “Anybody want to trade?” I asked. “I will throw you off my back and let you fall a hundred feet all the way to the ground.” I felt dizzy. “A hundred feet?” I asked in a small voice. The raven made a weird croaking sound that might’ve been laughter. “Scared of heights, little human? Yep. Right over a volcano filled with boiling lava!” The bird said cheerfully

      “Bob, be quiet. You’ll scare them half to death. Also, we’re about an hour away. Deal with it.” One raven said. He must have been Hugo. I looked over at Isabell. She was looking over the side. She didn’t look too good. It took all the courage I had, (which wasn’t much,) but I looked over the side too. The raven was right. Below us, about twenty feet, was a huge volcano filled to the brim with boiling, hot, red lava. “We’re dead.” I muttered. I looked at Bob. “Uh hey. That volcano's dormant right?” I asked. “What? Oh, yeah. Unless you fall in. Then you’ll get burned to a crisp. At least then I wouldn’t have to carry you anymore.” Isabell gave him a look. “What is wrong with you?” The third raven made the same croaking noise. “Everything.” Isabell sighed and muttered something under her breath that I couldn’t make out. I was pretty sure it wasn’t complimentary towards ravens. “What was it you guys wanted to tell us?” She asked in a weary voice. The third raven flew closer to us. “This.” He looked at me. “Beware little human. Fear is not who you think he is. And, he’s a lot closer than you think.” I gulped. “What do you mean?” If a raven could look sympathetic, this one did. “Good luck. We’ll be waiting to take you home.” With that, the ravens landed. We got off their backs and they flew off. It was time to face Fear.

 “You ready?” Max asked me. I shook my head. That wasn’t the only thing shaking. “Yep. Me neither.” I looked around. Most of the team looked nervous. Marcus had his fists clenched and his eyes narrowed. I walked over to him. “Hi.” He glared at me. “What do you want, runt?” He growled. I looked in the distance. I knew I risked a punch into the next century, but I asked, “What are you afraid of?” He scowled. “That’s none of your-” He stopped and sighed. “You ever wonder why I treat you the way I do?” I wanted to scream, YES! WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN TO ME? But I said nothing. He wouldn't meet my eyes. “You are so much better than me at everything. School, magic, anything. Even flying on a huge bird. The truth is, I was afraid to go on this quest. I’ve been terrified this whole time.” I looked at him but didn’t say anything. Finally I said, “Angeleno, did you see me up there? I was freaking out. You, my friend, are way better at raven surfing than I am.” Marcus smiled. For once it wasn’t a sneer. It was just a plain old smile. I cleared my throat. “Speaking of which. Could we maybe try not to hate each other?” Marcus looked at me. He held out his hand. I shook it. “You have yourself a deal, runt.” He said. I rolled my eyes. “I guess we do, Angeleno.” 

     Suddenly, we heard a cold, cruel laugh.

     “Welcome to the party, heroes.” It said. It was as smooth as molasses and seemed to come from everywhere. I recognized the British accent. “Father.” I muttered. “So.” My father said. “You’ve come to defeat me, I suppose?” I clenched my fists. I didn’t know what he was talking about. Defeat him? “Enough games, father. Yes. You know very well that six people would fight and prevail. We intend to do just that. Now let us fight Fear.” He laughed. “Oh, but wait. The prophecy also said that if you don’t defeat me, your world would be nothing but dust.” Me? Then, he came into view. It was my father. Just as I saw him in my dream. Fear is not who you think he is. The raven had said. Then it hit me. “You tricked me.” I snarled. “You're, you’re…” I couldn't form a sentence. My father laughed. “Fear. Yes, my incredibly dense son. You’ve finally figured it out. Now…” Suddenly, his pupils turned to slits. His hands shriveled up and his nails grew into talons. Big, leathery, bat-like wings sprouted from his back. He shot into the air a few feet in front of us. When he flapped his wings, waves of darkness went in all directions, dissolving the moment they left their master. “Let’s get this over with.” He smiled crookedly, revealing pointed teeth and a forked tongue. “I hope you welcome death, heroes, because no one leaves here alive.”

     Tip. When someone says, no one leaves here alive, that’s a pretty good excuse to scatter. 

     We all ran in different directions. Fear flew above us cackling. “Who should go first?” He said. “Who should experience fear like never before?” I looked over at Isabell. “What in the world is he talking about?” I asked. She spread her hands helplessly. Fear cackled his horrible laugh once again. “I know. Why not everyone at once?” My stomach dropped. “Uh oh.” 

     Then we were lifted into the air. Everyone else was frozen in fear as they faced their own challenge. I thought I saw wolves, spiders, and other things that I don’t want to describe. Trust me. It’ll give you nightmares for at least the next fifty years. “No.” Isabel muttered. “No, no, no.” Her eyes were trained on the ground, which was getting farther and farther away. I wasn’t much better off. My eyes were shut tight and I found myself praying. Then I remembered something. “A wise person once told me the only way to conquer fear is to admit you’re afraid.” I said, opening my eyes and taking Isabell’s hands. My voice was surprisingly calm. She struggled to look at me. “Mika. You like this even less than I do. How are you not scared?” I mustered a smile. “Who said I wasn't?” I squeezed her hand. “But the only way to get over this, is to surrender.” She looked at me like I was crazy. “But the prophecy-” I cut her off. “I know. But we aren’t surrendering in that way.” She stared at me. Then her eyes drifted to the ground. I reached out and pulled her close. She held onto me, and for once, I didn’t mind. Just watch.” I listened to the sounds of battle below and I called out to Fear. “Hey, scarecrow.” Isabell’s mouth twitched. I grinned. “We surrender.” He flew over to us. “Yes.” He muttered. “Two down. Four to go.” I remembered something that Mystery had said, that our weapons would always return. I thought about having the sword in my hand. It appeared. My father hissed as if it’s soft glow was blinding. “What are you doing, boy?” He asked. I copied his crooked smile. “How about a taste of your own medicine?” His eyes widened. “No.” He muttered. I grinned and pointed the tip of the sword at him. Isabell summoned her shield and handed it to me. Fear tried to regain his dignity. “Y-you think you can fight me? Fear cannot be fought.” I tilted my head. “Who said anything about fighting with weapons?” I asked. For now. I thought. For my plan to work, I would need them later, not now. I dropped the sword and they clattered to the ground fitty feet below. I tried not to focus on how high that was. Then I realized that was the way to beat him. I looked my father straight in the eyes. “The only weapon I need is my voice” I took a breath. “Father. Let me tell you a secret. The only way to conquer fear is to admit you’re afraid.” He laughed nervously. “What is that supposed to mean, boy?” I took another deep breath and focused on the deep pit of fear in my stomach. How high we were. How easily we could die if we fell. How much danger everyone was in. “It means that I’m afraid. I, Mika West, am afraid. I am afraid of heights and-” I hesitated. Isabell took my hand. I continued with renewed strength. “And of my father. I didn’t want to admit it before, I was ashamed, embarrassed. But I’m not now. Not anymore. And I wonder…” I looked at my father. “Dad, what are you most afraid of?” Fear looked surprised and nervous. Then he laughed. “Me? I fear nothing.” I shrugged. “Okay then. I guess we’ll have to do this the hard way.” My sword appeared in my hand. “Everyone is scared of something, father. Even you.” He backed away. “No. No I will not-no no!” He screams were cut short as I cut him in half. All I heard was a distant wail. I heard Olive call from below. “Mika! He’s trapped. When you sliced him in half, he got trapped in this jar!” I smiled. Then a wave of pure exhaustion went over me. I collapsed into Isabell. “Whoa there, cowboy. Let’s see if we can get down.” We heard a voice. “I think I could help with that.” It was Mystery! She was floating beside us. I would have thanked her, but I didn’t have the energy. She looked at me with concern. “Are you alright, my young hero?” Then she shook her head. “Foolish question.” She put a hand on my forehead. She frowned. “This is not good. He is burning up with a fever. He used up too much energy fighting fear.” I made an undignified little whimper in the back of my throat. “You will live, young one. We just need to get you home.” She snapped her fingers. Then my eyesight went dark.

     “Mika. Mika, please wake up. Please!” Isabell’s pleading voice made me open my eyes. A tear slid down her cheek. I reached up weakly and wiped it away. She smiled and laughed. “Guys!” She called. “He’s awake!” I heard gasps and sighs of relief. My friends came over. Marcus punched me in the arm. “Don’t do that again, punk or I’ll punch you into next week.” That was his way of expressing gratitude. Olive and Max helped me sit up. “Where are we?” I asked. My voice was hoarse and my head felt like it was stuffed with cotton. Jack grinned. “Home. We’re home, Mika. Because of you.” I looked around. We were in a place with trees and bushes and green grass. A park I think. I relished the fact that we were home and safe, with real sunlight on our backs. No acid rain. Not running for our lives every five minutes. Then a thought occurred to me. “Where’s Magic man?” Max pointed. A car pulled up to the curb. A young man got out, then it was a boy about sixteen, then it was an old man, then it was the young man again. “Chris. Stick to one form please. You’re giving me a headache.” I called. “Shapeshifters get like that when they're nervous.” Jack explained. He ran over. “One, two, three, four, five, six.” He counted. He broke into a grin. “You all made it. You’re all okay.” His eyes fell on me. “Mika!” He cried. He knelt down next to me. “Hi.” I said. He looked me over. “I can fix this. Hold still.” He put a hand on my head and muttered to himself. I immediately felt better. I blinked. “How do you feel?” He asked. “Like I could fight Fear all over again.” I shuddered. “Scratch that. Never.” We all laughed, even Chris. “Speaking of which.” Olive said. She dug through the backpack and pulled out a jar. It looked empty, but somehow I knew, inside that jar, was my father.

  Silence. Then Max asked what we were all thinking. “What should we do with it?” Olive set it down on a nearby picnic table. “I’m not sure.” She looked at Chris. “Well, you’re the expert, do you know what to do?” Our friend picked up the jar. Suddenly, it shook and jerked in his hands. “Whoa!” Chris cried. He let go and it thumped to the ground. The glass didn’t break thank goodness, but the cap came off. Something ran out of the jar. It was going so fast that no one could tell what it was. It ran toward Chris and went up his pant leg. “What! Whoa! Hey!” Chris jumped from foot to foot, trying to shake it out. The thing finally stopped. It was sitting on top of our friend's head. It looked down at Chris. He froze. I figured out what it was. “It’s a-” Chris finished my sentence for me. “Mouse.” He squeaked. (Sorry, that was bad.) He looked terrified. “Uh yeah.” I said. “What’s wrong?” “Chris?” Isabell asked nervously. He didn’t answer. His form flickered and for a moment he switched ages and appearances so fast that he became a blur. We backed up nervously. Finally, he was back to normal. That’s the good news. The bad news, his eyes rolled up in his head, and he fainted.

     We ran to catch him. “Whoa, magic man.” Isabell said, trying to hold him up. Olive fanned his face as Max took the mouse and put it back in the jar. He put it in the backpack and zipped it up tight. “What’s wrong with him?” Marcus asked. “His worst fear.” I realized. “Mice?” He asked. I nodded, trying to help Isabell prop our friend up against a tree. “It must be.” He shrugged. “Not judging, but that’s kind of a weird thing for a man like him to be afraid of.” I sat down next to Chris and looked at him, concerned. “I hope he’s okay.” I said. Suddenly, he started to mutter to himself. “No. Please don't go. I can’t leave you.” I looked at my friends. “911?” I asked, trying not to panic. “One step ahead of you.” Olive said, pulling out her phone. She dialed the number and started talking to the people on the other end. None of us could sit still. We paced and walked around. Isabell wiped a tear from my cheek. I hadn’t even realized I was crying. “It’ll be okay. He’ll be okay. We’re home now.” She assured me. “I thought that everything would go back to normal.” I looked at her. “Was it all for nothing?” She put her hands to her mouth. “Oh, Mika, no. It wasn’t for nothing.” I looked at Chris sitting by the tree, an anguished expression on his face. “I don’t know, Isabell.” She gripped my shoulders. “Mika. Listen to me. Traveling through that realm, wasn’t for nothing. Fighting your own father, wasn't for nothing. Meeting you.” She took my hands. “That wasn’t for nothing. Not by a long shot.” She smiled and gave me a kiss on the cheek. When she pulled away, I didn’t know what to say. She smirked and shook her head. “Boys.” She walked away. Jack came up to me. 

“Wow.” 

“You’re the only one who saw that, right?”

“Sure, Mika.” 

I put my head in my hands and made a small noise that expressed my complete humiliation. He laughed. “Oh, by the way…” he hesitated. I looked at him. “Yeah?” He swallowed nervously. “Thanks.” I tilted my head. "You’re welcome. But, for what?” He looked at me with uneasiness in his eyes. “For being my friend. I never had any before I met you and Isabell and everyone else so… thank you.” I smiled. “No problem. You’re easy to get along with.” He shook his head. “I hope so.” I gave him a fist bump. “No need for desperate hope. Not any more.” He looked at me. “Who said I was desperate?” We laughed. 

     I walked over to Chris and knelt down beside him. “Hey, I don’t know if you can hear me, but it’s going to be okay. We’re going to help you. I don’t know what’s wrong, but we’re going to fix it together.” I put my hand on his. “One thing that I learned on this quest is that you can’t hide from fear. You can't run away from it. You have to accept that it’s okay to be scared.” I studied his blonde hair and closed eyes. “It’s okay to be afraid.” Suddenly, his eyes fluttered open. I gasped. “Guys! Come quick!” My friends came rushing over. “Chris!” Max said. “You’re okay!” He blinked and studied us. He looked past us and pointed weakly. Where we stopped. We looked behind us and found medics rushing towards us with a stretcher. Olive ran over and told them something. They nodded and set down the stretcher. They walked over and knelt down beside us. They were a man and a woman. The woman had long brown hair that swept across her shoulders. She had brown eyes and darker skin. The man had blonde hair like Chris and green eyes. He was tall and athletic. 

     “Hey.” He said to Chris. He looked at him uncomprehendingly. “We're here to help you.” He looked at us. I could see something in him that I never had before and I realized something. Chris was scared. Truly scared. He didn’t want to do this alone. And he wasn’t going to. “Sir?” I asked. “Can we go with him?” I looked at my friends who nodded in agreement. “It would mean a lot.” Marcus added. The medics shared a look.

   “Sure.” The girl said. We helped Chris stand up and we got him on the stretcher. The girl looked at us. “You can’t go in the ambulance, but you can follow in a car.” I got an idea. “Thanks.” I looked at the man lying on the stretcher. I walked over. “Mika.” He said. I had to lean close to hear him. “Thank you.” I smiled. “Anything for you, magic man. We’ll be right behind you.” He smiled his old sly smile, but fear flickered in his eyes. “It’ll be okay.” I said, taking his hand. He sighed shakily. “I know it will. I’m proud to have you as my student. And my friend.” I gave him what I hoped was a warm smile as they loaded him into the ambulance. He winked at me. “Good luck, shapeshifter.” I whispered. “Good luck.” 

     The door opened to reveal my brother. “Mika!” He cried. He looked around. “Who are all these people?” He hid behind my legs shyly. I smiled down at the little boy. “Hey, toothless. These are my friends. Can they come in?” He nodded and held the door open. “Mom.” I called. “I’m home from school.” My voice cracked on that last word. I felt bad lying, but what else could I do? My mother walked down the stairs and gave me a hug. My cheeks burned. “Mom.” I said. “Please.” She pulled away and seemed to notice for the first time all the people in the room. “These are my friends.” I said. “Isabell, Max, Marcus, Jack, and Olive.” They waved. Marcus seemed nervous. I didn’t blame him. Me and mom shared a look. She seemed to understand. She looked at them cheerfully. “Well. Hello. It’s nice to meet you all. Is there anything I can get you?” Olive took a deep breath. “Actually, ma’m, is it possible we could all get a ride to the hospital?” 

     “It’s like in those cartoons where like, twenty clowns are in a car that is way too small.” I muttered. Mom frowned at me, but I saw humor in her eyes.

“Are you saying that my car is small, Mika?”

“Uh, would I get in trouble if I said yes?” 

We all laughed, even mom. 

    We were all piled in my family's minivan, driving to the hospital. It wasn’t what you would call comfortable. My mom was surprised at our request, but she didn’t hesitate. Now, here we were. Super fun.

     We finally arrived at the hospital. An ambulance was parked in the front and two familiar looking medics were pulling out a stretcher from the back. As calmly as we could, we walked over. When Chris spotted us, his eyes lit up. He was obviously too tired to say anything, but I could tell he was grateful we were here. The girl turned to us. “He used up too much energy shapeshifting. He’ll be okay, just tired and weak for a bit.” We looked at her in surprise. She grinned. “You’re not the only ones who know about magic.” She nodded towards my mother. “Mom?” I asked carefully. She sighed. “You’re father… taught me a lot of things before he left.” I could tell that was hard for her to get out. I could see the anger in her eyes at the mention of him. Janner was wide eyed. “So there’s such a thing as magic?” He asked. I smiled down at him. “Yep. When you’re older, I’ll teach you. Or Chris can.” I looked at the shapeshifter. He nodded. His eyes were closed. My brother walked over to the stretcher. “I hope you feel better soon, then you can teach me to fly!” He ran around the parking lot with his arms outstretched. He was so happy, I didn’t have the heart to tell him that it would be a lot harder than that. And that I wouldn’t be teaching him. Chris smiled. “I hope so too.” He said. “When is he going to get better?” Isabell asked. The rest of the group nodded. “Soon.” The guy said. “Come with us and you’ll see.” We followed the two medics into the hospital.

 I was expecting the regular hospital look. White hallways. Receptionist desks. Lots of doors leading to rooms with patients inside. I wasn’t expecting what I did see. The whole room was washed in a blue light. There were people with long staffs and white lab coats rushing around, tending to patients. There were hospital beds floating maybe two feet off the ground. Some of them held a sleeping patient and were surrounded by an iridescent bubble. “Not your typical hospital.” Max muttered. The man laughed. “No.” I looked at them. “And I’m guessing that you’re not regular medics.” The woman shook her head and snapped her fingers. There was a flash of white and then I saw two totally different people. When Chris saw their true forms, his eyes widened. Standing in front of us were two people with white robes with flowing sleeves. The man had dark brown hair that was curly and unruly. His brown eyes sparkled as he looked down at us. The woman had long blonde hair that was braided and swept over her shoulder. Her blue eyes were cold and calculating, but friendly. What surprised me the most, was that they were probably around the same age as a college student. Eighteen or nineteen. Maybe twenty. (Granted, they were probably around a thousand years old, like Chris. You could never tell.) I wasn't sure if I should grovel, summon my sword, or run away screaming. Chris tried to sit up but thought better of it when he nearly fell off the stretcher. Marcus and Max helped him into a sitting position. “Y-your majesty's. I never-I mean, I-I thought-” The woman cut him off just by looking at him. “Shapeshifter. You have spent too much energy on magic and spells. It was almost too much for you to handle when you summoned the portal, and you pushed the limits of yourself by changing your form one too many times. You need to rest. Sleep.” The man waved his hand and moved Chris over to one of the beds where he lay and fell asleep in a matter of seconds. We all backed up nervously. I was glad that mom and Janner were waiting outside because they would probably be scarred for life, even if they did now know about magic. The man chuckled. I assumed he was a king. “No need to be afraid, heroes. We aren’t going to hurt you.” We all sighed in relief. Olive looked over at the bed that Chris was sleeping peacefully in. “What’s going to happen to him?” The queen smiled. “He will be fine. Magic is a powerful thing. Using too much of it can cost you. In fact,” her expression became sad. “That is how he lost his sister. He vowed that he would never go on a quest. Ever.” Marcus looked confused. “I thought that she died fighting-oh. She used up too much magic and she died because of-yeah. Okay.” The king nodded. “She was one of our finest healers. As well as her friends. Her brother, though, he was known for his tricks and mischief.” We laughed. “Yeah. I can see that.” Max said. He disappeared and reappeared on the ceiling, hanging by his feet. Even the king and queen laughed. “So, you guys are the king and queen of…” Isabell asked. “All magic.” The queen replied. “Whoa.” Olive said, her eyes wide. The king laughed. “Yes. We have been around helping mankind for thousands of years.” (See! I told you!) The queen smiled at us kindly. “All of the big and little things done every day for millennia have been accomplished with magic. Even if you regular mortals don’t even notice.” Olive shook her head. “I said it before and I’ll say it again. Whoa.” I smiled. “So, the building of the… White house, magic helped with that!” They nodded. I whistled. “Impressive.” The king smiled like we were sharing a secret. “And you six will have to carry on the magic. We will have the shapeshifter keep training you when he gets better. When you have enough experience, you will come to us and we will send you on a mission that could save the world from certain doom. Only if you choose to accept it.” He looked at us seriously. “There is a high chance that you might not come back alive.”

     I looked at my friends. They looked at me. They all looked nervous and scared. I knew my friends counted on me. I realized that they wanted me to make the decision. Oh man. A high chance of dying? Well, the obvious answer would be something along the lines of yelling, see ya, suckers, jumping out the nearest window and running away screaming our heads off. But that wouldn’t work. If we didn't do it, we could all possibly die an extremely painful death. Nothing we weren’t used to, but still… We looked at the king and queen of the universe. I stepped up. “We’ve been through a few life and death situations. Why not a few more?” My friends cheered and clapped me on the back. “Now that’s what I call bravery.” Isabell whispered in my ear. Then she kissed me. An actual kiss. The cheering got louder after that, but my head was buzzing so badly, I could barely hear it. The queen smiled. “Thank you for your time, heroes. We will let you know when… well.” The king looked at all of us. “Remember. The fate of the world depends on you.” “No pressure.” I mumbled. He smiled. “Exactly. Good luck.” And with that, they vanished. “I don't think the king and queen of magic understand sarcasm.” I said. My friends shook their heads with smiles in her faces. “That was a very brave thing to do, Mika.” Chris said. I turned and saw him walking toward us. Isabell crossed her arms. “The king and queen said you need to rest.” Annoyance flickered in our friend’s eyes. I guessed that he didn’t like following orders that much. I could relate. “I will, don’t worry.” We looked at him skeptically. “What?” He asked. “I’m guessing you’re not too great at following orders.” I said. I saw Isabell smile to herself. A flash of light and then there was a sixteen year old boy in front of us. He looked just like Chris. His shoulders slumped. “No.” I grinned. “Me neither. Thanks for the compliment, but the king and queen are right, you’ve spent up too much energy on magic. It isn't good for you to keep pushing yourself. Bad things can happen.” I looked at him. He knew what I was talking about. Light, and he was back. His expression was sad. He nodded but didn’t say a word. I had him cornered. He walked back to the bed and laid down. He stared at the ceiling. I thought I saw a tear roll down his cheek before he closed his eyes and fell asleep. I frowned. “I didn’t mean to make him sad.” Isabell put a hand on my shoulder. “It’s okay, Mika. You were right. Now, he’ll be at full strength to help us.” I smiled as I looked at my five friends. Jack, Marcus, Max, Olive, and Isabell. “You’re right. Let’s go.” I put my arms around them and we walked into the crisp fall evening. The sun shined on our backs and the breeze blew lightly, just enough to be crisp and comfortable. For the first time, I felt like I was exactly where I belonged. I was with the people I was supposed to be with. And at least for now, there was nothing I needed to worry about. I looked up at the sun shining and the leaves rustling in the breeze. For once in my life, I was whole. 

I was home.