The Magical Islands Of Da

8. A Grim Awakening

The boy was holding onto part of the rope still connected to the hot air balloon, his grip tightened while he was losing control of his balance.

"Cole please, it won't work! If this balloon goes higher up, it will be too high. I alone can't drop down from this height. So, if I can't land safely, then you won't be able to either. You're too important to die!"

"Yuna I'm not! I'm not letting you go!" Cole shouted.

"People are counting on you! For the fate of the islands! Please just let go of the rope." Yuna pleaded to him.

"Just because people are counting on me, doesn't mean I'm better than them. It's wrong! Look I refuse to Yuna."

Cole stammered before he continued.

"What happened to your messaging that WE will find a way! No matter what the situation was? I wouldn't be able to do this without you!"

Yuna started to sob and covered her mouth.

"So please, jump out and I'll catch you!" Cole responded, stream of tears pouring down his cheeks.

 The crochet doll looked down at the boy with a sunken heart. She bleakly smirked down to Cole.

"You were the best friend I could ever have had Cole; I'll miss you...don't keep being a worried walking catfish." Yuna said sad but still in a joyful way.

"Don't you say that Yuna, there has to be a way! There's always a way!" Cole responded immediately; the wind had knocked his glasses off. Even if he couldn't see well, he still held onto the rope. His weary lungs brought him down, he fell face first into the rough dirt. 

The echoes of a frightened Yuna rang out. Cole reached to the sky, no rope. He frantically reached out to find his glasses, he luckily was able to get them back easily. 

He looked up at the sky, she was already in the clouds. Cole just sat on the ground not saying a word, the sky and clouds were grey and gloomy. Everything started to get hazy.

"Cole, Cole wake up. Cole, please WAKE UP!" Elijah muffled.

 Cole opened his eyes. He was looking up at Elijah, who looked beat. There were palm trees around Elijah, "Elijah, wh- where are we? Why are there palm trees around us?" Cole asked.

"We're in the Sand Zone, I followed the marvelous map. We're not in the heart of it yet, just to let you know." Elijah responded lightly, Cole sat up and nodded to Elijah. 

He slowly got off the ground and dusted himself off. The boy checked his satchel, the marvelous map was in it as well as everything else. Elijah started to walk down a sand path they were on, Cole looked over at him confused.

"Why weren't you there helping me with the rope? I understand that you fell to the ground due to the wind. But you didn't come back to help with the rope, w- why is that? How did you even get us out of Briella's Balloon World?" Cole asked.

"Woah, calm down Cole. Why did it take so long? It's because I soooo wanted Yuna to get that outcome, cause that makes sense."

Cole walked up to Elijah, looking up at him with a tired look.

 "No, it's because I went to get tape, to patch the rope back together. So, I'm sorry that it took me a long time to get back, and I'm sorry about what happened to Yuna. I was able to drag you out." Elijah continued.

"Oh please man, what even took you that long?" Cole interrupted. 

 "Stop questioning me like I didn't try or didn't care, because I did! Just remember that YOU were the one to create the escape plan. Stop blaming others for your mistakes!" Elijah responded. The boy didn't peep out anything while listening to the entertainer. 

Nodding to what they heard, they looked away from Elijah; crossing their arms and looking up at the sky, a clear reddish orange sunset was above. Cole closed his eyes and took in a fulfilling breath, he slowly awoke to his senses and spun towards Elijah.

"Wow, congratulations Elijah. Way to hit me below the belt; you must feel so proud of YOURSELF, Look I'm sorry if I'm a little jumpy or rude, it's not my intention in the slightest. I've been so paranoid."

Cole took a breather as his face was bright red, his arms crossed.

Elijah looked ahead and started to walk on the sandstone path again, Cole looked down to the ground. He looked back towards Elijah, he walked off the sand and onto the sandstone path; he jogged towards Elijah, catching up to them.

"I'm so- sorry, I shouldn't have been that way. You're giving me advice and I should take it and learn from it instead of spit back at you. I apologize. Please can we both continue onwards, on this journey together? I still want to be friends with you, please." Cole asked.

Please don't leave me

 Elijah stopped in place and turned to him.

"I just, don't talk to me for five minutes. Then MAYBE we'll talk." Elijah responded simply while Cole nodded slowly in response.

They both continued to walk down the path again, however Cole was walking a little slower than Elijah, making him walk a little behind the entertainer.

The atmosphere was warm and spongy. He raised his glance towards the path forward, he caught up to Elijah. 

 "We better be careful; he could be watching us right now. Cole rambled.

"Yoooo hooo, boy Cole you're a smart kid. You must be some psychic, or heck maybe you even have powers! Ah, I see you lost your girlfriend in the process, that's too bad. It's too bad because I think you both were getting along well." The mysterious man abruptly responded.

He chuckled, causing Cole and Elijah to turn back and look up.

(Hey everyone! This was quite an emotional Chapter 8 for The Magical Islands Of Da. If you liked it, then feel free to give it a vote and to follow my account for updates every Saturday. Let me know what you think, let's see how this ends in 8.5! Anyways have a great rest of your day!)