The Adventures of Adam Arcwave

Going 'Home'

It's been two weeks since graduation. Two weeks of gathering materials, supplies, spells, and goods. It's been four years since we've not heard anything from the Realm, it's time to make our own way back. It's not been easy, coordinating everyone, closing up loose ends, saying goodbye to friends and family that we've met and made over the past few years... But here we are. 

I stand in front of the crumbling old archway at the head of the falls in Glimmerbrook. I'm not alone. Standing beside me are my old friends Simeon, and Morgan. Luke is standing off to the side, on the river bank, holding Lisa in his arms. Though we've spent the past several hours saying goodbye, I still feel like it's not enough. We're all going to really miss him. 
Jennifer and Morgan are holding hands, quietly talking as they tearfully say goodbye to one another. We gave Jennifer the option to join us, unsure what a mundane would do in the Realm, but we didn't want to limit her choices. She tearfully shook her head, she knew just as much as we did that she has no place in the Realm. Parting is so hard. 

I take a deep breath, well, it's now or never. 
"Luke, we'll need your help with the ritual - even though you are not joining us - we need at least four, or this will not work as easily. "
Luke nods, his focus on Mischief Magic is going to be one of the new schools we plan on forming to rebuild the Realm. 

We've spent the past few months figuring out, not only how we were going to open a portal, but what we were going to do with the Realm once we get there. Assuming that the whole Realm has gone into shambles and will require rebuilding - which is what we have been getting in fleeting images as we've tried to scry images of home. 
So, there will be 3 new beliefs for magic: Practical Magic, Mischief Magic, and Untamed. Each new philosophy is a combination of several of the old schools of magic that we once knew before we came to the mundane world. Simeon will lead the Practical school, Adrien will lead the Mischief school in Luke's stead - seeing as he's not joining us. Luke is stronger of the two, which is why we need his voice in the ritual. The last will be Untamed, all the dangerous and aggressive magic I've left in the care of Morgan. Of all of us she's the only who has shown the most control over unstable elements. Truth be told, she's been a rather unstable element herself of late, something about her relationship with Jennifer has brought the masculine side out in her, and she's been acting differently, more aggressive, and dressing less feminine these days. 
What about me? I know some have asked, shouldn't there be a fourth school, one for elemental and force magics. While the idea would be promising, it would cross over too much with the other three we've chosen, and may cause a rift yet again in our young council of six. So I've decided to just stay neutral. It will help if we can find another Mischief specialist on the other side. Being seven to start on the new council would mean that there would never be a stalemate or stale vote.  The ultimate goal is to have two Sages for each school. We need an uneven number, and for that to succeed properly, I can't be a part of any school. I won't be teaching magic, I have too many other things to do. Some say that 13 is an unlucky number, we'll just have to see if that holds true.

Simone looks at the archway. "How far should we stand away from the portal? What is a safe distance?"
"We will all stand on the edge of the dias, out of the water. but no one should stand in the middle, just in case the portal needs space before it stabilizes.
Jennifer gives one last kiss to Morgan before joining Lisa's side on the riverbank.  The rest of the group are standing there as well, we don't need to risk everyone in the slim chance that the spell may have a recoil, or worse, fail. 

We all nod to each other, taking our spots on the 4 corners of the dias. Not that the round platform really has corners, but we're stand at equal distance from one another with the portal in the middle, giving it room if the door 'wobbles' before settling. 
I raise my hands and close my eyes, starting to cast the ritual. Each of my friends adds their voice to the ritual in turn. The archway shifts and bends, the different glyphs that we had scratched into the top to form the ritual embed themselves in the archway and start to glow.
I open my eyes as I wait for Simon's part of the incantation to finish. The glyph he drew glows a blue-green colour. He put his hands down, but leaves his arms outstretched as the ritual continues. 
Next is Morgan, her glyph glows a red-orange as she finishes her part of the incantation. She brings her arms down and spreads her hands out, almost touching Simeon's fingers to her right.
Luke is the next to finish his part of the incantation, the glyph he drew into the archway cements itself and starts to glow a pinkish-purple.  There is a smile on his face as he finishes his part of the incantation. We can feel the energy of our ritual building, the air is crackling with it. 
I can feel the spell's power build, but it's not quite there as we continue to chant, and - finally - at the last moment, when I can feel the mana has reached it's peak, I speak the final words.