49 - Shining Skies//Lea

When Lea woke up, she was about fifty feet in the air. It took her about half a second to realize she was falling.

Instead of screaming about an impending doom, she quickly spun around so she was falling feet-first and slowed her descent. On her way down, she spotted Mr. Foley.

He was lying on his back, slowly floating down beside her. His face was expressionless, but she could see a strange sparkle in his eye as he looked up at the clear blue sky, no longer blocked out by the dark cloud of the Seal.

When she landed, she looked around to see Paradox Park, now filled with people. Most of them were asleep, but a few were slowly stirring and waking up. It was still morning, but the sun was now high in the sky. It reflected against the multicolored flecks of magic that were falling like a light rain. They hit the ground, soaking into the soil.

"Lea!" Nora shouted, running down Paradox hill. Lea sighed happily; the dark seal was gone. She'd done it.

"Lea!" Paxton joined in. Her name suddenly became the focal point of an ecstatic chorus; everybody she'd left behind was there waiting for her.

"That weird cloud exploded in this shower of light, and then all of these people were here!" Nora explained. excitedly, pointing them out. "Then we saw you falling from the sky!"

"What are you wearing?" Nora asked as she approached.

"Probably a leftover," Lea said, doing a quick spin. Her new outfit shimmered before dissipating into the same magical flecks that were floating down on the city. In the blink of an eye, she was back in her normal clothes.

"How did you do that?" Paxton asked, putting his hand out to touch some of the flecks of magic. "What is this stuff?"

"It's the Noiz," Lea explained. "I destroyed them, I guess."

"You guess?" Navy asked incredulously.

"I didn't wish for anything," Lea said. "I just allowed the Seal to take the Noiz. I guess it must have destroyed them all."

"But the magic inside them," Paxton said, poking at one of the flecks of light. It popped like a bubble, showering his hand with a sea of sparkling light. "It survived?"

"Not the original magic," Lea said. "The magic we gave to them."

"But this stuff is raining all over the city!" Nora said. "It's all over the news."

Lea smiled.

"I guess Paradox City is going to be weird for a little bit longer," she said. "But I don't think that's it."

"What do you mean?" Nora asked.

"Look around," Lea said happily. "You might find some people you were looking for."

Nora took off running at Lea's words, and they all followed after her.

"Nora!" Alejandra shouted, rushing towards her sister. Behind her was an old man holding a sizeable suitcase; their grandfather.

After a few minutes of searching the sleepy crowd, Nora suddenly came to a stop before a couple clad in archeological gear. A tan woman with mid-length blonde hair was helping a tall man with a pale, pointed face and a brunette manbun stand.

"Mom!" Nora shouted. "Dad!"

"Nora!" they both shouted, scrambling over to their daughters. "Alejandra!

"You did it, sis," Waco said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'm not sure what 'it' is, but you sure did it."

His comments suddenly reignited Lea's concern at the man who had put them all in this situation. Back where she'd landed, she spotted Navy and Deanney standing over Mr. Foley. At the edges of the park, a few curious faces were staring at him as well.

Lea looked at Mr. Foley with her heart full of pity. Even as the rainbow fragments fluttered around them -spelling the end of their little adventure- she was unable to accept that there was nothing more than he, or she, could do anymore.

"Lea! Paxton!" Nora shouted. "Come meet my parents!"

"Thank you so much," Alejandra shouted. "For staying, for believing."

"Always," Paxton said, adjusting his glasses and rushing over. Lea took a final look at Mr. Foley. Navy was helping him up. She wondered for a moment what would happen to them. It wasn't her responsibility past this point, she knew that. But she was still concerned.

"Come on, Lea!" Paxton called.

She took one last look before running off to see her friend's family.

Because this was the end, but it was also a beginning.