Lost and found: A journey of time

III

Elizabeth recounted her conversation with Sora to William. "So, let me get this straight - half of our new classmates can shapeshift."

"Apparently so," Elizabeth replied

"And this world even got dragons," William said

"And it's not just shapeshifting, plus the dragons. Sora was talking about magic. As if this world isn't crazy enough already." She continued.

William scratched the back of his head. "So, like Harry Potter stuff?"

Elizabeth chuckled, "Yeah, except Harry Potter didn't have a prince who could turn into a fox in his class as far as I know. And their world is supposed to be secret. Here, everyone seems to know about it."

"Wait, what fox prince?"

"Charlie Hoya, a.k.a. foxy boy," Elizabeth explained, grinning at her brother's surprised expression. "Turns out he's a prince of this... Denise Clan."

"A fox prince?" William let out a breath, looking amused. "This place is getting cooler every minute. Wait, what if I fuck one of Deniae and have a child? Will that make me a dad?"

"William, what the actual fuck?" Elizabeth groaned, throwing her hands up in her face. "You're seriously asking me about having a child with a shapeshifter?"

"What?" William shrugged, completely unbothered. "I mean, if we're stuck here, might as well embrace the culture, right?"

"Yeah, embrace the culture. Just don't start a shapeshifter family while you're at it." Elizabeth rolled her

"I'm just saying," William insisted, holding his hands up in defense. "It's a legitimate question."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "William, please. Let's stick to the issue at hand here."

"Well, it's something to consider,"

Elizabeth sighed, shaking her head. "Whatever oh speaking of the devil, look it Sora and what her name again"

"Vicky"

"Right, Vicky and some other girl we never saw in the classroom"

"Let's say hello," William suggested

"Fuck no bitch, do yourself"

"Elizabeth!" William said

"What? They're not our friends. Why should we pretend they are?" Elizabeth retorted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Plus, we need to take poor little Alicia home to take her nap"

"What nap? She doesn't need a nap"

"William, she's barely....how old she is," Elizabeth

"I don't know why are you looking at me"

"Forgot you're useless"

"You know Vicky is kind of cute, you know," William said

"Ew, I know there was something wrong with you in the classroom; if you want to go over there and make heart eyes at Vicky, be my guest."

William blinked, surprised by her bluntness. "Well... I mean, if you insist..." he mumbled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. With a last glance at his sisters, he started heading towards Sora and Vicky.

Elizabeth pulls William. "I was just joking, you fucking idiot"

"Jeez, no need to yank my arm off," William complained, rubbing his sore arm. "You really need to work on your sarcasm, Elizabeth."

"Nah, Bitch, never ask me that question again"

William sighed and looked at Vicky and her two friends, or he thought that her friend. He wondered what it would be like to hang out with her.

"Stop dreaming' and more walking'," Elizabeth said, lightly smacking William's head.

"Ouch, okay, okay! No need to resort to violence," William said, rubbing his head where Elizabeth had hit him.

"Just making sure you're still with us in reality," Elizabeth replied with a smirk.

As they walked home, William couldn't help but think about this world and all the new possibilities that lay ahead. This world wasn't like his own, where you'd spend your days watching reruns of Friends on Netflix or playing video games until his eyes were sore. No, this was a world of magic, dragons, and shapeshifters, and a prince that turned into a fox. Sure, it was a lot to take in, but it was also extraordinarily exciting.

Something stopped his track and caught his attention. It was bubbles coming out of the ground. William's eyes widened in surprise as he watched the bubbles rise from the ground.

"What in the world...?" William muttered

"Wait, did I do that?" Elizabeth said, pointing at the ground where the bubbles were now popping.

"What the fuck do you mean, wait, did I do that?" William looks at Elizabeth. I'm shocked.

Elizabeth huffed, rolling her eyes. "You know, like in a comic book. The hero discovers they have powers and then 'poof' they can suddenly control earthquakes or something."

"Behold, my secret talent," Elizabeth continued, waving her hands in a flourish. "Creating bubbles from thin air!"

"You're joking, right?" William raised an eyebrow, looking at his sister skeptically. "You're not serious?"

"Yeah, I wasn't serious, but it would be a kind of pretty cool if I did create that bubble"

"Sure, 'cool', until you accidentally flood the place with bubbles. I can see the headline now: A Drown City, cover in bubbles.'" William chuckled, imagining the scene.

Alicia giggled, reaching down to pop a bubble with her finger. "This is so cool! Your Zapyer is always the coolest." William and Elizabeth exchanged confused glances.

"Her/my what now?" they both asked.

Alicia looked at them as if it were obvious. "The bubbles—they're made from Zapyer. Remember, everything in our clan is powered by our Zapyer. I thought you guys know about this"

"Um, yeah, we do; we just play with you," William lied

"Oh okay," she said

Elizabeth looks at William and muttered to him, "Scratch everything that I said. I wasn't serious. I was dead serious, bitch."

William rolled his eyes at Elizabeth's sudden change of heart. "Of course you were," William sighs. How is he going to navigate this world if he doesn't even understand its basic principles of the world?

Later that night, William lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling, his mind racing. He was determined to figure out the mystery behind the Zapie, or was it zwejq, makeup, oh, whatever that word that Alicia had mentioned earlier. He knew that he couldn't rely on Elizabeth to figure it out for him. That girl would probably get him killed, and he would tell Andrew later. Right now, for the moment, it is all up to him.

He closed his eyes and focused, trying to tap into the weird word that Alicia had mentioned. At first, nothing happened. But then he felt a stirring inside him, a faint hum that grew stronger with each passing second. When he opened his eyes, he was surprised to see stars covering his room. The stars twinkled and shimmered, illuminating the darkness of his room.

"Wow," he murmured to himself as he reached out a hand, expecting his fingers to pass through the illusion. To his surprise, he felt a slight warmth from them as he sat up, gazing around in amazement at his star-filled room.

This is what Alicia was talking about. Suddenly, Elizabeth barged into his room without knocking. "Geez, William, you don't have to dim the... oh wow," she said

"Elizabeth, I think... I think I just tapped into my whatever thing. Look!" William said, a hint of pride in his voice.

"Mine is better"

"Really, Elizabeth? Can't you just be happy for me?" William rolls his eyes.

"Why should I be? I can make bubbles! Bubbles," she said.

"We should probably tell Andrew," William said, looking at Elizabeth. They both thought for a while.

' "Later," they both said in unison. William looked at the star. He got that one done, but he still had to figure out his dream.