Thinking

As the discussion dragged on and on, Maria thought about the snippets she had heard spoken in whispers. She still wondered why did it sound like Mr. Brown said she... would die if I stayed here. Just the thought of that sent a chill down her spine. She took a moment to even out her breathing and quiet the voices that were raising up in volume. She then thought about the shadow that would save her. That was another interesting snippet from the conversation. It was clear that such a shadow would only exist in Elementum, which was probably the reason why Mr. Brown wanted her to go there. But then why would her dad

oppose him, especially after Mr. Brown said she would die? Some things just didn't add up. All of this thinking and fretting was starting to give her a headache.

So she sat down on the bed, headphones in, listening to her favorite music and just trying to unwind. She needed time to process all of this. How could all the heroes deal with knowing they belong to a magical world and just be okay with it? Maybe they just didn't think about it as much as she did. Maybe they just went along with it. Maybe she should do the same... She let the music carry her and maybe, at some point, she fell asleep.

----

Around dinner time, the door finally opened. As soon as the door creaked, Maria was up and running down the hall.

Everyone looked exhausted. Still, her mom came to her with a tired smile and gave her a hug. Her dad was saying goodbye to Mr. Brown. Then Mr. Brown rotated his fancy cane and disappeared. Honestly, after everything that happened today, Maria wasn't even that surprised. Or maybe she was just starting to go along with it.

Then her dad came to her and gave her the big news: "We're going to Elementum."

Maria hopped up and down, giddy with excitement: "For real? Oh my, this is awesome! I am so-"

Mom put a hand on her shoulder, stilling her. "But I'm not coming."

It felt like I got punched in the stomach. All at once, the voices drowned any semblance of thought, screaming of betrayal and fury and revenge and all she could say was: "What? But why? I-"

Her dad continued: "We're going to stay there for 2 years and after you manage to master your element, we're coming back home. Mom's staying just so she can keep her job and the rent paid so that we can have a home to return to."

If the noise was insufferable before, it was now all encompassing. Black blotches started to cover her vision and she realised she hadn't been beeathing. She took a shivering breath and then, like rotating an old rusty faucet, she let all the feelings of the voices leak through: "We're not... staying?" One small hot tear glided down her cheek. Her breath quickened. "I get to find out that there's a magical dimension out there and that we're going to it, but we're not going to stay?!" Her cheeks burned and the air in the hall turned into the unbreathable atmosphere of a jungle. More tears flowed down. The voices shouted and cheered. The faucet broke. "And mom isn't coming?! I can't believe this! How can you do this to me!"

"Maria, please-" said her dad.

"No! You don't get to reply to this! You didn't want to tell me and now that I know, I don't even get to stay?! I was willing to leave this all behind! It's not-" and her voice broke, before she continued "like I had friends anyway." The water from her broken faucet had stopped leaking out. And the water that had come from it? She felt like she was drowning in it. "I- I am going to-" and she stormed off, closing the door to her room behind her. She heard her parents call out to her, but she didn't want to see them anymore.

Climbing into the bed, Maria curled up and thought about the mess this day had been. Tears wet the blanket as she tried to make sense of the decision that had been made without her. The voices were rumbling, whispering so quietly she didn't really know what they were saying, but surely they were as outraged as her. After all, she was supposed to experience all the wonders of a magical world in 2 years and then be forcefully removed from it? She wasn't gonna be with her mom for 2 whole years and then return to this world, friendless on both sides. When she wanted to go the magical academy, she didn't imagine it would be like this. The room felt chilly now. Maria took an edge of the blanket and covered herself up. Why didn't her parents want to move with her forever to that other world? What made them so scared that Mr. Brown had to come here to convince them to even let her come for 2 years? Was the discussion about the shadow saving her enough to change their minds?

She started shivering as something cold touched her hand. She opened her eyes to see that her room was covered in a thin layer of snow and snowflakes were falling down from seemingly nowhere.

Panic overtook all the sorrow she had felt before.

"Dad! It's- it's happening again!"

The door opened and her dad entered the room. He looked at the falling snowflakes and then looked at her. He held his hand out and she took it. It was nice and warm, as always.

"C'mon, let's get you out of the snow" he said.

She was at a loss for words, still shook by the sudden snow, but somehow she mumbled:

"I- I'm still mad at you..."

Her dad looked at her with sadness. "I know. I should have prepared you better for this."

He knelt down, just like he did after Mr. Brown told her she controlled water.

"Look at me. The reason we can't afford to stay longer is because I know that Aether has the potential to become very dangerous. It could put in jeopardy the whole continent and I don't want you to be in such danger. I-"

"What kind of danger?" Maria was tired of more bad news, but she was also curious.

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Well, again, it's complicated. And you've already heard a lot of difficult stuff today."

He ruffled her hair and tried a smile. "Now let's get your room cleared of snow, shall we?"

Turns out, her dad had fire powers. He just melted the snow and dried everything in like 5 minutes. Maria stood in awe and watched as he worked. She wished she'd known he had powers sooner. That she had powers too. She was still mad at the whole situation, but then again, if he was scared of a threat that could affect a whole continent... that must have justified things quite a bit.

Over dinner, Maria asked at least a hundred questions and although tired, her parents told her stories of Aetheria, many of which she still half remembered.

She went to sleep in the still warm blanket.

Soon, they started packing.