The Land of Magic

The Aftermath

Alex was panic-stricken. He had lost his sister just a few weeks ago. He lost his mother today. He can't lose another friend. 

He frantically dug through the rubble, while calling Sylvie's name. He looked up at the others. "Why are you guys just standing there!? We have to find her!" 

They just stared at him with a sad look on their faces. "No! We can't just give up without finding her!" Alex shouted. Emerald went over to him, and kneeled down. "Here. I'll help." The both of them kept digging. Farine went over to help too. Soon, they were all digging for Sylvie. 

After a few hours, Hamlin let out a cry of joy. "I found her!"

The last thing Sylvie remembered was the world around her falling. Something had hit her on the head, and she had blacked out. 

She awoke in a hospital bed. She tried to get up, but there were needles in her arm. Now that she noticed them, it hurt. From her bed, she could look out the window. That's strange, she thought. This looks nothing like the world I know.

The door opened and a nurse came in. She saw that Sylvie was awake, and smiled. "Good morning miss, you're awake. You have been in a coma for 5 days." Sylvie smiled back but didn't say anything. 

"So, how are you feeling? You came in a pretty bad shape. Luckily, the doctors were able to take care of it. You should be ready to go in a week. I'll go call your family and give them the news. They must be very happy." Sylvie nodded. "Thanks."

The nurse left the room. Sylvie was now alone with her thoughts. Not for long, though. A few minutes later, her mother burst into the room and hugged her, crying. "Oh, Sylvie! We were all so worried about you! I'm so glad you're safe!"

Sylvie smiled and hugged her back. "Thanks for worrying about me, mom." 

Everyone else arrived shortly after. They all watched as Sylvie's mother cried and hugged her. Sylvie gave them a little smile and a thumbs up. Everyone smiled back. "We'll fill you in later," Sapphire mouthed.

A week later, the city was still in ruins. Everyone was helping with the rebuilding. "You'd think they'd have a spell for rebuilding, but they don't. Weird world, this is," Alex said. Emerald, carrying some bricks walking beside him, smiled. "Yeah. We can only hope it will get better from here."

Soon enough, everything was back to normal. One day, the team decided to have a party. "Okay. We have lost quite a lot, but I think this battle was a victory!" Hamlin said, smiling. Alex tried to smile, but he remembered about his mother. 

"Hey. Don't feel sad. Your mother made a choice. Besides, she knew it would happen anyway," Sylvie comforted him. Alex looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean she knew?" Sylvie tried to think of what to say. "Your mother has visions of the future. Every night when she sleeps, she gets dreams - predictions. She knew that it would all happen. She just didn't tell you, she was worried that you'd be too afraid. So don't feel too bad, okay?"

Alex gulped then nodded. "Yeah. Okay." 

After the party, Alex was sitting in the school's courtyard. He was thinking about everything, rewinding the past events in his head. Just a few nights before, he himself had gotten a dream. It was about what had happened while he was dead. He just hadn't told anyone about it.

He couldn't decide if his father was a bad person or not. Sure, he had done bad things. But all good people sometimes did bad things and made bad decisions when they were mad. 

He tried to sort his thoughts out. "Thinking?" a voice said. Alex looked up. Eldritch-Pareslaei was standing there. He walked over to Alex and sat down beside him. "Don't worry. Everything done has a reason for it."

Alex sighed and looked down. "Yeah, I know. I still don't know why though," Eldritch exhaled. "Everything will make sense soon. You may have won this time, but there is still evil. You should never let your guard down, for the next time will be soon."

"Soon? What do you-" He looked up, but Eldritch had vanished. Alex stood up and took a walk around. 

He was hugged so suddenly that he nearly screamed. "Hey! I thought you seemed lonely," Sylvie said. Alex smiled. "Yeah. I guess I was."

They walked to the top of a hill overlooking a grassy meadow. It was peaceful. Sylvie laughed. "What are you laughing about?" Alex asked. She smiled, then said, "I'm laughing cause I know you can't catch me!" 

She ran down the hill into the grassy meadow. "Hey! That was unfair!" Alex shouted, chasing after her. For the first time in a long while, he felt an unfamiliar feeling. 

He was happy.