Lolirock: Ephedia - Sequel to Lolirock: A New Beginning

Ephedia: Spread

Chandler's POV 

I sighed as I trailed behind Talia, who looked back to wink at me. 

Lately, my awesome attempts to make her like me were succeeding. I had never felt like this for anyone before. I felt like she was my missing piece. 

"Chandler, are you okay?" Dawn asked, tapping my shoulder playfully. I whipped my head around to face her. 

"Yeah," I reassured her. She smiled kindly, like Dawn was, and turned back to talk to Carissa, who was wringing her hands uncharacteristically.

"Chandler, hi.." Talia greeted me, slowly down from leading the charge. 

"You can fly, right?" she asked me, even though she rolled her eyes like she knew. 

"Yes." I replied, not exactly looking at her. She frowned, and went back. I grasped her hand and she turned around towards me. 

"I can fly." I repeated more surely. She grinned. 

"Great! Can you lift me up?" she inquired. I was stunned by her request. She was afraid of heights. 

"Um, sure?" I said hesitantly. 

She muttered a tiny crystal spell, and a firm rope appeared around her wrist. She handed me the other end, and I flew up, struggling to lift Talia from the ground. 

"Crystal Uppendium!" she shouted, trying to help me. After a few more crystals in midair, I was finally able to lift her with ease. We were already in the kingdom of Calix. I could see a Palace covered in crystal, which wasn't unusual, just very rare. Only a powerful being could hold the crystals in shape, as it exerted a lot of effort. Even Talia wasn't strong enough to withhold the midair crystals. 

We flew down slowly, as I couldn't lift Talia much longer. Dawn looked at us, confused. 

"Why were you guys up in the air? We can see things fine from here." she reasoned. 

"Yes, but we saw a castle encased in crystal." Talia said, stating our findings. I nodded, confirming her statement. 

We kept walking, in silence this time. I had a feeling that my relationship with Talia was starting to strain my relationship with Dawn. Dawn kept herself away from Talia, frowning. 

In minutes, we found the castle, covered in magenta crystals. 

Talia and Auriana touched the walls in amazement, and found their way around to the entrance, which was unusually sealed off.  Carissa started to touch it, and drew a circle in the crystal. The crystal started to grow over her hand. 

She frantically tried to pull it off, desperately trying to pull out her maracas and chop it off. Dawn turned, and saw her. She screamed, and jolted away from the wall. Auriana took action quickly. 

"Ribbon of Volta!" with one huge swoop, she cracked the crystal in half, but the crystal began to grow on her ribbon, contaminating it. She yelped, and cut off the crystal-infested ribbon. It magically grew a new one, and she tucked it behind her back. 

We watched in confusion as the crystal overcame the severed ribbon, and a crackling sound was heard after it was fully encased. Carissa was panting, while Lyna was rubbing her hand from crystal contamination. 

"What is this?" 

Auriana sliced the crystals that were guarding the door open in a single crack. In the rooms, we saw Queen Aloisa and several guards encased in a crystal of panic. 

Carissa ran over to meet her mom, who was frozen with her hand over her mouth. 

Lyna pulled out a simple potion from her belt, and poured it over the crystals, which dissipated. 

The Queen took a gasp for air. 

"Carissa! Iris used a crystal spreading spell, but much more amplified." she told her, before the crystals started to grow on Carissa's feet. She gasped in surprise, and jumped off, levitating in the air while Dawn held her. 

Lyna poured the potion all over Carissa, until she was covered in it. As soon as she had poured it on, it disappeared. 

Talila uncharacteristically was quiet. 

"We should split up." she decided. 

"What? No!" Dawn protested. Talia shot her a quiet glance. 

"Lyna and Carissa, go to the kingdom of Borealis. Dawn and Lev, go to the kingdom of Crystalla. Nathaniel and Auriana, go to the kingdom of AniAni, and Chandler and I will go to the land of Pohaku." she decided. 

"But-" Dawn said. 

"It's the only way. I've paired us up with our moral combinations, as we will be powerful, even on our own. We each have our own kingdoms, as we've just come from Calix, and we already have news that she has been to Volta, Xeris, and Ephedia." she remained firm. I placed a hand on her shoulder. 

"Are you sure this is the best way?" I whispered. 

"I'm sure of it." she confirmed. I sighed, not giving up. 

"She's making her rounds, and she doesn't know about the kingdom of Aniani, or Pohaku." I reasoned. She mumbled something unintelligible, and relented. 

"Fine, we won't split up, but Lev and Dawn need to go to Crystalla. We can reach the other kingdoms on our own." Talia said. 

I bit my bottom lip and looked at Dawn, who looked uneasy. 

Queen Aloisa cleared her throat. 

"If I may, it is best that you should stay together. Ephedia is much more dangerous, and all of your combined abilities will be o match for hers." she said, looking at Talia in particular. Talia knew she couldn't argue with a Queen, so she simply nodded and turned away, sulking that she hadn't gotten what she wanted. 

We bid Aloisa goodbye, while Carissa hugged her mom. 

"Goodbye, my darling." she said, as she planted a kiss on her cheek. Carissa frowned a little, but turned on her heel and walked away, but not before she could give her mom a hug. Aloisa pulled me by my shoulder bag. 

"Yes, My Queen?" 

"We had Princess Iris here, but a little while ago, she disappeared and fought us all off, even though I thought I saw her in jail. There's something going on that's definitely not black magic. Borealis usually specializes in herbs and healing potions, but I have something for the job." I looked at the label. Purifying crystal.

"If you uncase her in this, she will be purified instantly." she instructed. I nodded and bowed while she pinched my cheek. 

Talia was waiting for me outside, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall. 

"What?" she snapped. I recoiled in shock. She apologized swiftly, and went over to talk to Auriana, who was happily jumping up and down at our findings. 

I looked at the crystal potion again. Even though I barely knew Iris, after all my years of fighting her, I knew that this wasn't the remedy.