Things Lost and Found (a Waglington and Mianite fanfiction)

Chapter 30

The song of the day is "The Older I Get" by Skillet. I can't help but think of Martha and Steve when I here it, and I can't help but imagine the Mianite crew in the music video. XD

Enjoy the chapter!

*Martha's POV*

"Martha, take it from me. Don't make promises you can't keep," Wag said sadly, raising his orange cat eyes to meet my blue-violet eyes. Before I could think of what to say, he faded out of our meeting completely with a sad yet affectionate look on his face. I tried to process what had happened here.

First, Steve had disappeared—and right after I confessed my feelings for him. Now Wag's life was in jeopardy too. Why on Ruxomar did he turn into a cat partway through our meeting? As far as I know, he doesn't have any shape shifting spells, and he hadn't been working on any before I left. Also, why am I still here? Why was I still here? Our meeting was over; by definition you needed two people to maintain this place. I looked around, a bit confused to see much of the landscape still present, though the edges were disintegrating (at a much slower rate than usual).

I walked to what appeared to be the center of the remaining space—my house at Dagrun. I noticed immediately that the note I'd left was still nailed on my door. Wag must have seen it if it was included in the meeting place he'd made; the first one in the meeting picked the setting. As I reviewed my note, my eyes caught on something that hadn't been there the last time I was home: a single dusty paw print marred the otherwise spotless wood on my front door. It was too big to belong to a typical cat, but it lacked the nail marks that would have defined a dog's paw print. My mind flitted to the image of Waglington's robed figure melting into a large cat. Maybe he figured something out? Speculation would get me nowhere; I needed to get back to Dagrun. I needed to find Steve, and I needed to find Wag. The last of the scenery and my house finally vanished, and I focused on waking up.

Considering I'd been meditating for a few days straight now—discovering the lengths of my godly powers—it took a while for my dormant senses to return. As I opened my eyes, I realized it was night, and a blood moon at that. The inside of my modest home was nearly pitch black, the only light source the red moonlight filtering through the windows. The rich scents of the maple and spruce wood of my house filled my nostrils as I took my first deep breath in days. I had gone to my cottage on the outskirts of Katsir. It was more peaceful here, and I had always found it easier to clear my mind in this place. (I totally didn't go watch the Katsir episode again to see what type of wood her house was made of... and to re-watch the scene of Tom and Tony calling Jordan at 1 a.m. XD)

I slowly uncurled myself from the cross-legged position I had taken on my bed. I stretched out the kinks that had settled into joints that didn't yet realize they belonged to a goddess and stood. My movement alerted someone who had been waiting for me. "Martha! I have been trying to reach you for hours. Your wizard is in trouble. His friends are still looking for him, and they need your help. Even I can't find him," Dianite hurriedly conveyed from where he hovered by my bookshelf across the room.

"Where is everyone?" I asked with a voice far more calm than I felt.

"They were coordinating the search from Syndy's house when I left."

"Okay, let me gather my things," I said as I picked up my spell book from the bedside table and searched for a bag. "Tell me what happened." Dianite quickly summarized the events of the past 48 hours and informed me of just how bad Wag's Nvidia predicament had been. Wag had assured me that he was fine on multiple occasions when I asked him about it. I had taken his word for it too, since the blackouts didn't seem to happen very often. I should have known better after that time I went to visit him and found him unconscious. How did I miss that he was lying? He's my champion and friend; I thought I knew him better. Did he not want me to worry, or did he not trust me?