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Jacquelle landed on Magicorp's basement floor with a soft thud. The stone covered ground scraped her hands and knees, causing the blond to yelp and wince in pain.
"Stupid portal," she grumbled under her breath. After carefully getting up and inspected the damage, she let out a small sigh of relief. Although her black tights now had rips at the knee, the rocks hadn't broken through skin, so she wasn't bleeding.
"Good. I don't have time for that," Jacquelle muttered to herself, then glanced around the room.
Adonia and Amraphael hung from the ceiling high above, their unblinking blood-red eyes staring down at her while the rest of their features pulsated in sync with the heart they were fused with. The smell of rotting corpses permeated throughout the still and silent musty air, causing the blond to gag.
I'm not staying here with that thing! Jacquelle thought while coughing, her face contorted with disgust. I'm going home.
The blond conjured an image of her father to appear within her mind's eye. Although she hadn't spoken to him since departing for Casmerah with her friends, she was curious to know how he was.
"Tw-eh-la-po-ah-th-i-ah."
Magicorp's basement disappeared from view and was rapidly replaced with her father's office. Gone were the red vines of Blood Oaks weaving throughout the dirt covered walls. Instead, dusty bookshelves lined the room Jacquelle now found herself in.
The familiar scent of Matumi's salty fresh air washed over the blond's nose, immediately snuffing out the fetid stench of decomposing meat. A wide window overlooking Matumi Beach appeared before her, as did her father and his desk.
Mr. Demarko's nose was stuffed inside a book. Even though Jacquelle had magically teleported before him, he hadn't noticed her presence.
"Dad?"
Mr. Demarko's dark blue eyes widened in shock at her voice. "Jacquelle?" he said, snapping his attention up and staring at her. "What are you doing back so soon from your band's tour? Is everything alright?"
That's right. I told him we were traveling and playing music to earn extra Lari.
Jacquelle folded her arms across her chest. "Our tour went well, but some venues cancelled on us. That's why I'm back early."
"That's good," Mr. Demarko nodded, his midnight eyes wandering back to the pages of his book.
Did he even hear me? Jacquelle frowned. Cancelled shows is bad news, not good news!
"I saw some really cool places in Casmerah," Jacquelle added, hoping her father would inquire more details about her trip.
"That's nice," Mr. Demarko replied absentmindedly.
