Things Lost and Found (a Waglington and Mianite fanfiction)

Chapter 12

Thank you all for the questions. They shall make an appearance in the next chapter. :) For now, we join our heroes as they try to find their missing wizard friend...

*Jordan's POV*

"Jordan, I highly doubt that whatever your ritual did caused Wag's episode." Tom reassured me as he fed Doughnut 2.0 a piece of steak from his seat at the table. The dog happily gulped it down without chewing before staring at Tom again and wagging his tail, hoping for more. Mot leaned against the far wall next to the stairwell plainly trying to stay awake. I was leaning against the wall by the front door. We were in Tom's kitchen waiting for Tucker and Sonja to arrive before we set out to look for Wag. We had all brought our best armor and weapons, knowing we might have to fight off mobs and keep Wag safe if he wasn't in any shape to defend himself. Tom was bringing his sword—it would be easier to use than his hammer in a close grown jungle. Mot had the hammer Dianite had given him; he'd declined the spare sword Tom offered him earlier. I had my scythe and bow. Thank Ianite it's not a blood moon, I thought to myself.

I still wasn't convinced that Wag disappearing around the time of the ritual was merely a coincidence. Something didn't feel right about it. I didn't bother telling Tom though. He'd only say I'm crazy, and he'd be partially right. I had every scrap of forbidden knowledge from thaumcraft unlocked in my mind, and the side effects that came with them. I had not told anyone about Dianite giving me the pieces I was missing a few weeks ago. I suspected the god knew about me trying to keep myself too busy to remember. For the most part, I was coping pretty well; the only thing that really bothered me was the mind spiders. I had to deal with a round of them almost every day. Oh well, at least penicillin takes care of most of the side effects, and my scythe takes care of the spiders and guardians pretty well.

"What's taking them so long?" I asked, changing the subject. I looked out Tom's window at the black sky. I began to wonder just how long I'd been awake. I saw Mot shrug and yawn out of the corner of my eye. Dang it, Mot. I couldn't hold back a yawn of my own. I removed my sunglasses to rub my eyes as I turned away from the window.

"Yo, Sparklez, you look more beat than Mot. What, did I miss the memo that no one sleeps anymore?" Tom said as he walked over to me. I'd forgotten the bags under my bloodshot eyes. I started to put my sunglasses back on, but Tom snatched them and continued to glare at me. "Explain yourself."

I tried to give Tom a scathing look, but he only smirked. Mot was eyeing me curiously as well. I shifted uncomfortably under their scrutiny. "I haven't been sleeping well since Ianite you know..." I trailed off and looked at the floor. It was a half truth. I'd been having bad dreams since leaving our realm, but I'd been having them every night since Ianite had fallen apart a few weeks ago. "I haven't gotten more than 3 hours per night since then. Now can I have my glasses back?" I asked while still examining the grain of Tom's wooden floor.

Tom set my shades in my outstretched hand. "That's it. I'm making you lot some coffee while we're waiting for the others." Tom walked off and started pulling things out of a cabinet on the left wall, looking for his coffee, and I slipped my red sunglasses back on. I saw Mot look between us, wondering what he was missing. Tom didn't do sympathy well, but he had dropped the subject. That was all I could ask for. He knew that I occasionally had dreams about Capsize's death; it wasn't much of a stretch for him to figure out I'd have the same problem after Ianite's.

A few months after we'd arrived in Ruxomar, Tom had pranked me with a ton of enderman heads in my towers. He snuck in at night and hung them on all the walls on the ground floor, then started going through the higher rooms. When he snuck into the room I was sleeping in, he heard me mumbling and crying in my sleep, and he shook me awake when he figured out what I was dreaming about. He stuck around for a little bit to make sure I was okay—I had been a mess when I woke up. He tried to distract me, saying we could go prank Sonja, but I'd declined and told him I'd just go work on my reactor for the rest of the night. He'd seemed relieved to not have to babysit me any longer and told me to enjoy my gift before flying out my window. I'd wondered what he meant until I went downstairs and saw all the glowing purple eyes staring back at me.