Meet me Halfway (Slymau)

Chapter 8- Stuck

Sly's POV (A day and a half later)

Willow says we're getting closer to the border now. Wow, Jess went quite far. I look around as Willow stops beside a certain cherry blossom tree. She nods, "The border starts here" she says, "Wait here, Jess should be here within 10 hours" she says before going forwards.

We wave to her but then she just stops in place. "H-Huh?" Willow says, putting her hands up and pushing on something invisible. "What the?!" she squeaks.

"What's wrong?" Jose asks.

Willow turns to us, fear in her eyes, "The border has been made solid... I can't get back through!" she says, pulling on her ponytails.

My eyes widen. I go up to the barrier and try walking through it but I hit the barrier, finding it to be solid, invisible but solid.

"Oh no..." I say. If Willow can't get back through then how is Jess going to survive?!

"Wait, I need to contact Phoenix about this" Willow speaks. She leans against the tree and closes her solid white eyes.

Jess's POV

I feel horrible. My heart is racing and my legs are getting weaker, I can barely keep myself standing, and Phoenix is struggling too. She's gone silent for the most part, but I can feel that she's pushing all of her energy to keep me alive.

I try to sit up but Phoenix forces me to lay down, "No Jess, you need to lay down!" she says.

I roll onto my side and hug my pillow, groaning in discomfort. I've never felt this bad before.

"Wait, Willow is contacting me" she tells me. I didn't know they could do that. I guess you do learn something new every day.

I close my eyes, trying to rest, but my legs are very uncomfortable and it doesn't help me to sleep, at all.

About 2 minutes later, Phoenix speaks again, and I can hear the fear in her voice. Oh no, what happened, "So, Jess..., change of plans" she shakily says, "Willow thinks that Loki and Silas made the barrier solid, she can't get back through to us" she tells me.

My eyes widen and I begin to shake, "S-So, what do we do?" I ask, feeling like I'm about to cry. I am in no shape to walk there. I could try and teleport but something tells me that this energy loss and pain is not going to allow me to.

"You might have to walk there, or maybe we could get a horse on the way there" Phoenix says, "We should probably leave soon, we can't waste anymore time, especially if your state is only going to get worse".

I shakily nod in agreement and carefully get up. I begin going around my room and packing everything. Once I get back to The Hall and I have my powers back, I can teleport everything from here to my room in The Hall. I shouldn't carry too much, just water and some clothes, along with my writing pad and pictures, I can't risk Katelyn or Kawaii~Chan seeing them while i'm gone. I also pull out a jacket, just in case it begins to rain again. It's been sunny all day, but I wouldn't be surprised if it begins to rain again.

I put everything into a backpack and then pull on my coat and shoes, swinging my bag onto my back and then heading out of my room and down the stairs.

Katelyn is on the couch. She hears me as I walk, "Where are you going?" she asks.

"I-I'm just going to the shops" I lie to her. She narrows her eyebrows, "You aren't going anywhere. You've been sick for half a week!" she yells at me.

I brush her off and head outside, "Aphmau!" she yells after me. I jump in surprise and try to pick up my pace, despite my shaky and weakened legs. Phoenix puts her energy into keeping me walking and keeping my legs steady enough.

I'll be walking for a while, unless I do find a horse that I can borrow.

Sly's POV

I'm pacing. I'm nervous. I have no idea how long Jess is going to last without Willow. Phoenix can only hold her together for so long before she'll run out of energy.

Lake is trying to comfort me, but since she's only 3, she doesn't understand much of the situation.

I suddenly feel a buzz on my bracelet. I look at it and answer it.

"Sly?!" a high-pitched voice comes through. I jump in surprise, "Hey Shelby" I say, it's been a while since we spoke, but I've been keeping her updated on if and when we find Jess. Shelby is Jess's sister after all.

"Did you find Jess?" she asks.

"We found where she is, but we can't get to her" I say.

Suddenly, Shelby teleports to me. I jump in shock and look up at her from where I'm sitting. "Where's my sister!?" she asks. She looks around at everyone, then she sees Willow and her eyes widen, "WILLOW, WHY ARE YOU OUT OF JESS?!" she squeaks in fear.

I cover my ears from her shrill squeal.

"I had to send a message to Sly, but now I can't get back to her" Willow speaks.

Willow then goes on to explain about the border to Shelby. Everything from Jess's locked out powers, to Loki and Silas making the barrier stronger so Willow can't get back to Jess, and now Jess has to make her way here on her own.

Shelby looks at the barrier and attempts to run through it, throwing balls of energy at it, hoping to shatter it. All of The Few look at each other in fright. Shelby is scary when she's worried, we've all learned that the hard way..

Lake and Lily look at Kala and I in confusion. I don't blame them at all.

Then suddenly... "I did it!!" Shelby squeals. We all look over to see that Shelby has gotten through the barrier, "Come on!" she says.

We all get up and head towards the barrier. We all try to go through, but we just can't get through. All of us use our powers like Shelby had done to let us through, but nothing works.

"Shelby, it's up to you, you have to find Jess and get her here!" I shout.

"Will you all be okay here?" she asks.

Alex gives her the unimpressed 'Really?' face, "Of course! We're heroes!" he say.

She nods, "I was just making sure. I'll be back soon!"

She summons a horse, gets on and then off she goes into the distance.

I sit down again. You have to be okay Jess... you have to...

Shelby's on her way, you'll be fine... I promise...

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Here comes Shelby!

One thing I forgot to mention, if you haven't guessed already, Willow is from the game 'Don't Starve' and Phoenix is Jess's character from her role-play 'Meteora Valley'.

See you later,

-Amber