Shore ( A Modern Fantasy Beach Action Adventure)

A Little About Yourself

     A small steel door on the wall swings open. Lahar peers inside to see a glass jar sitting inside with wires attached to it. What she finds interesting isn't the jar itself; it is what's inside. Bursting with a flurry of neon colors is a lightning bolt. "So this is how the house has electricity," she says.

     Leaning on the wall, seemingly annoyed, is Arena. "I can't believe you thought I was lying."

     Lahar closes the steel door. "Well, when someone says their house is powered by lightning, skepticism follows." She walks down the hall toward the living room.

     "After yesterday, I find that shocking," Arena says as he sits on his gray couch. He pulls a red leather-bound journal and a pencil from a table.

     Before sitting, Lahar looks around the living room. It is clean—well, to Arena's standards—with only one picture of his family. Besides the TV and the couch, there is just a tall bookshelf filled with a variety of books and a black glass coffee table.

     "Before we go into your lessons, there are a few things we need to go over," Arena says, making himself comfortable. He places one foot on the sofa and uses his knee as a surface to write in his journal.

     Arena taps his pen on the page as he speaks, ready to jot down what she will say. "How did you get here?"

     Lahar is caught off guard. "You already know how."

     "Yeah, but I want you to tell me again. This time I'll write it down. Maybe I missed a key detail or something that can help the situation."

     Lahar stares at Arena, and he begins to write down as much as he can. "Well, it was at night. I finished my classes for the day, and work kept me on till late, so I was exhausted. I started to watch TV—just a random comedy show I had started to binge about doctors. I was curled up in my bed, and my eyes started to get heavy. Then, before I knew it, I was knocked out.

     "I don't remember dreaming, really. I felt the wind hitting my face. At first I thought it was my fan, but I remembered I had left it off, because it was freezing in my apartment. Then I thought I had left the window open. Then I realized it was raining the previous night, so I wouldn't have opened the window.

     "When I opened my eyes, I was under this massive tree with beautiful, diverse colors of leaves. The obvious conclusion was that I was still dreaming. I sat there for a bit, waiting to wake up, but nothing. I tried slapping myself, pinching—whatever, really—but nothing.

     "Then I freaked out for a while, and then I wandered the field until I hit the beach, and then I found you. Freaked out again, and you know the rest. You brought me here, and we started out to find Void, and then, two days later, we did."

     Arena places the pen in his mouth as he thinks.

     "Did any of that help?" Lahar asks.

     "No, not really." Lahar has a disappointed expression. "Still, it's good to have it written down.  Maybe we should tackle this from a different angle. Why would he pick you of all people? We had never met before, and you had never seen Void before, let alone magic. So what do you study in college? Is it history? Did you stumble upon an ancient rune or something?"

     Lahar shakes her head. "Nope, nothing like that." Lahar raises her head in pride and says, "I'm a chemistry major."

     "Then where did you work? An old shop, maybe, or a museum, perhaps?"

     "Nothing that fancy. I work as a server at a chain restaurant. It's an okay job that keeps the bills paid, and the people are nice there. Besides that, nothing spectacular." A grim expression falls on her face. She sinks in her seat and lets out an audible groan.

     "What's wrong?" Arena asks.

     "I just realized that I am missing out on a lot of my classes. I'm going to fail, and all that money will go to waste."

      "Oh. I thought you realized your work would fire you for missing so many days without calling them."

     With those words, Lahar sinks deeper into her depression, and she groans louder.

     Wanting to cheer her up, Arena reaches into his pocket and pulls something out. "Here, take this."

     Lahar holds her hand out, and he gives something to her. She looks at her hand to find a small crystal no bigger than the tip of a pen.

      "What's this for?" Lahar asks.

     "Simple. You put it in your ear. It's so you can talk to the wisps now. I know up to this point is has been charades and made up sign language. Now their flame flickers will make sense," Arena says, gesturing to indicate how she should place it in her ear.

     She places the crystal in her ear, and it turns to liquid and burrows deep into the cavity. She compares the sensation to water dripping into your ears when you are at a pool.

     She shivers at the feeling. "Okay, now that that's done, is there anything else you need to ask?"

     "Nope. That's all," Arena says, closing the book.

     "Good. Now it's my turn," Lahar says with a grin.

     Arena's smile drops, and his eyes glisten with a nervous shine.

     "Oh, did you think you were the only one with questions?"

     Arena swallows deeply as he prepares himself. "No, that's fair. Fine. Fire away."

     "Don't worry. I won't dive too deep; it's really simple. The first thing I want to know is, how did you get into all this...you know...magic?"

     "Oh, that's an easy one. My mom took me to a thrift shop in the town we were in. I was very young and very interested in all that was around me. Then something caught my eye. On the bottom shelf of a bookcase, tucked away as if someone were trying to hide it, I saw an old blue leather book. I picked it up and started to flip through the pages.

     "It was about magic. Obliviously I thought it was fake, but something about it made me want to get—not want, need—it. So, she got it for me. I read that book a thousand times, each time till I could do a spell. My parents thought it was cute, while my sisters thought I was stupid. I did that for a while—that is, until I caught my sofa on fire."

     Lahar perks up. "You caught your sofa on fire?"

     "Yes, I did, and my family was mad. I lied and told them I was playing with a candle, but from that day on, I kept practicing. I scoured all around for more books like that one, or any object of magic. It became my life's goal and dream."

     "Wow, that's amazing. And your travels led you here? Speaking of which, what I want to know is where we are? When I asked that when we first met, you just responded with you didn't know."

      Arena sighs in disappointment. "That's the thing. I really don't know. I tried every location spell in the book." Arena gestures at the bookcase in the living room. "I wasn't being figurative; that was literal. I looked at every single book on that shelf and hundreds more after. This place is an anomaly."

     "Then why did you make this place your home?"

      Arena stands up and stretches. "I guess I enjoy the serenity of the place—no distractions. Plus, the area is beautiful. Also, it may be because I have no idea how to leave—no matter how hard I try, no matter the spell. Looked like I was stranded here, so might as well make it comfortable." He starts to grab books off the shelf near him as Lahar stands up and walks over to him. "I feel like we've talked enough. How about we start your lesson?"

     Lahar's eyes light up as she lets out an enthusiastic yes.