The Other Side - A Jamilton Fanfiction

Chapter Nine

"Okay! So take that rock, right? And move it over there."

Thomas complied, holding back his smile and failing horribly. As if on command, the rock quickly yet steadily rose off of the ground of the park and moved over to where I was pointing before being set down carefully.

"Anything else?"

"Yes! Take that rock, and put it over there!"

Thomas added the newcomer to my growing pile of rocks stacking up into the sky.

"I can do more than move rocks you know," he said teasingly, his eyes alight with a playful humor.

"Baby steps, Thomas. Baby steps. This whole magic thingy takes some getting used to, and I personally think moving rocks should be a sought after talent."

Thomas mock-sighed and continued to move the rocks I continued to tell him to move. Finally, the mock-sighs began to turn into real ones as boredom replaced his humor. The boredom, however, soon disappeared as one of his stupid birds landed on his shoulder.

Thomas ignored it at first, which seemed to really anger the creature. It grasped a curl of Thomas' hair in its beak and pulled on it, earning itself the attention it so desperately craved.

"What?" Thomas snapped, holding out his hand palm up. The bird landed in it and let out a series of chirps, which were unintelligible to me but no doubt communication for Thomas.

When the bird finished, Thomas nodded thoughtfully.

"What? What is it?"

He shook his head as the bird—Amica, I'm pretty sure—flew off into the sky, disappearing behind a cluster of trees.

"Thomas?"

"I have to go to Perriterra to take care of something." He paused and looked at me, adopting an unsure expression. "Would...would you like to come with me?"

"To Perriterra?"

"Yeah!"

"Absolutely not." I grinned at my own reference and began to sing the rest of the song while Thomas watched me impatiently.

"Are you done yet? Wait, shit! I—Alexander, focus, please!

I laughed. "Do you really dislike my singing that much?"

"No! I just asked you a really important question and you responded with Dear Evan Hansen." He sighed and picked up one of the rocks from the growing tower before rising to his feet and dusting off the dirt and grass that accumulated on his jeans. "Come with me just this once? You saw the worst part of Perriterra. You haven't seen the scenery, the culture, the magic! Plus, there are some people I really need you to meet. Or, uh, re-meet, rather."

"Re-meet?" I asked. "What do you mean?"

"You'll find out. If you really don't like it, I'll leave you alone and you'll never have to worry about it again."

"Why can't you just tell me these things? Fine. I'll go with you if you tell me what you mean by 're-meet'."

Thomas sighed. "You aren't who you think you are."

"Can I ever get a straight answer from you?"

"That makes life boring. Just come with me. Please? I'll never ask anything else from you ever again, I promise. Please? For me?"

"Don't do that," I said, glaring at him as I stood up. "Lead the way."

Thomas smiled, a sight that made me smile as well, in spite of myself. "C'mon. It'll be fun, I promise."