by Lisa McMann
Sky was quiet. And then she gently draped her arms around his neck and hugged him.
He closed his eyes, digging his foot into the sandy floor of the sea.
When he turned to see just how many witnesses he’d had to his latest spectacle, the beach was strangely empty.
“You can touch the bottom here,” Alex said, loosening his grip so she could slide down to her feet. “Come home with me?”
Sky nodded.
“Stay until we’re ready to crush the pirates and live to tell about it?”
“Okay,” she said.
He cast a sidelong glance at her as they slugged through the shallow waves in their wet clothes. “Promise?”
She grabbed his forearm and almost tripped over her own feet. “Promise,” she said, laughing.
Alex caught her and laughed. “Ow. You’re seriously killing me now.”
Back to Normal
Alex’s ribs slowly knit back together over the next months, and Artimé resumed its normal routine. Alex began wearing one of Mr. Today’s robes all the time, knowing that if the world disappeared and he didn’t have one, they’d be in another mess. After tripping a few times on the long hem, Sky took the robes and tailored them to fit him.
All the various classes, Beginning and Advanced Magical Warrior Training, and picnics on the lawn began again.
And so did Alex’s plan for Pirate Island. With Artimé situated on the sea, most Unwanteds learned how to swim whenever they felt like going into the water—there was always somebody older willing to teach a new Unwanted how to hold his breath underwater and how to move through it safely using arm strokes and leg kicks. But now Alex asked Ms. Octavia, in addition to her art classes, to begin teaching an extensive swimming course for those who wanted to volunteer to help rescue Sky and Crow’s mother. Dozens of people signed up. After the initial lessons, when some naturally dropped out upon realizing they were not suited for this quest, and only the strongest swimmers plus Sky and Crow remained, Ms. Octavia began to share the secrets of sea breathing with the determined ones who remained.
She began to teach them little tricks and helps that would allow them to eventually hold their breath for an extraordinarily long time by utilizing the oxygen that was stored in their blood, not just in their lungs.
It was the most strenuous, exhausting exercise Alex and the others had ever tried, and the progress was slow. But it was necessary if they were going to succeed.
In the evenings, when Alex wasn’t spending time in the lounge with Lani, Sam, Meghan, and Sky; strategizing about Pirate Island; or training his lungs and muscles for the rescue, he went to the Museum of Large to clean up the mess of whale bones in there. Claire, Gunnar, and Octavia all offered to help, but he declined. It was something very soothing for Alex—an enjoyable, creative task he could do alone. It gave him the opportunity to decompress from his day and think up new ideas for Artimé. Now he understood exactly why Mr. Today had spent so much time fixing up the pirate ship. It was a relief to realize that not every day as mage of Artimé would require him to work at a breakneck pace.
Alex placed each whale bone carefully into its socket, sometimes looking for hours to find the exact piece he needed next. It was a glorious puzzle with hundreds of pieces, and it took him months to finish it.
And when he finally did, he was sad to leave the whale, so he began to sculpt muscles and tendons and tissues over the bones out of materials he found in the sea during their sea breathing lessons. It was his own secret project, and it was amazing to watch the whale take shape as he layered it. One day maybe he’d try to give it a mosaic exterior like Jim’s.
Claire Morning, Henry Haluki, and Carina Holiday became the lead researchers and chemists, experimenting with all kinds of serums made from plants they found in the jungle. Henry practiced his magical stitches on various fruits and vegetables that he found in the giant kitchen pantry, and Carina began to work hard on a concoction that would ease pain—and not cause a person to vomit incessantly. Sean became a willing volunteer for Carina, who administered the medicine whenever she thought she’d improved on it. They had varied results, including one rather explosive multicolored vomit rainbow that the team oohed and aahed over, and even Sean was impressed once it stopped. He decided to keep a vial of that version in case he ever needed it for a practical joke.
The interest in spell making began to bloom after Artiméans saw the success of the spells Alex, Meghan, Samheed, and Lani had created. After a while, Florence had to limit the number of presentations to one per week, per student. And then, after numerous crazy spells were presented that seemed unlikely to assist Artimé in battle, Florence had to establish a committee of students who would decide if a spell was useful, like the jabbing violin bow spell, or unnecessarily dangerous like the guillotine spell, or merely frivolous and fun, like the pink hair spell. There were definitely a few students who were gifted in this area of spell creation, while most of the others found it to be a passing craze and soon went on to find something different that they could be fabulous at.
Quill’s national holiday, the day of the Purge, came again. A new crop of Unwanted thirteen-year-olds arrived at Artimé’s gates. Alex, the girrinos, and all the other Unwanteds welcomed them. And for the first time, but certainly not the last, Alex declared that Artimé would hold a masquerade ball the following week to celebrate.
All the seasoned Unwanteds spent the day of the masquerade in preparation, some opting to create magical masks that would change color and shape depending on the mood of the owner, and others choosing to fashion more elaborate, less flashy masks to be worn in a traditional manner. Mr. Appleblossom, of course, was the coordinator and producer of the event, and he was having a most delightful time planning the gala, which would be complete with musical numbers by his students—and of course, the lounge band.
The mood and timbre of Artimé was as high and rich as it had ever been, and the Unwanteds looked forward to a most amazing evening indeed.
Masquerade
Alex opted for a simple pirate eye patch as his mask, which wouldn’t clash with his brightly colored robe. He sat at his dressing table combing his hair and trimming the ends of it with a magical finger scissors he created on the spot for such an occasion. He wanted his hair to look nice and fresh, as it had grown into long waves by now.
He shaved the soft dark fuzz above his upper lip because he thought it made his skin look like it was smudged with dirt, and then he checked his chin and found a few stiffer black hairs there to shave as well, which seemed like quite an accomplishment. “I wonder if I should keep these whiskers and give them to Simber in case he ever learns how to use a seek spell,” he mused, straightening his tie and jacket underneath the robe. “It seems I grew them my very own self. Very creative of you, Stowe.” He grinned to himself in the mirror and patted his pocket, where Simber’s stone dewclaw remained. He was in a chipper mood tonight.
He had the benefit of spying on his side. He could look out the giant window at the end of the hall to watch the decorations go up, and when the time came to meet Sky on the balcony, he had the good fortune to be able to see her standing there without her seeing him until he emerged.
She stood in front of the secret hallway, one hand resting on the banister. She wore a burnt-orange gown covered in multicolored sequins. Attached to a stick in her other hand was her mask—a butterfly shape with plumes of orange and purple feathers. She looked in the direction of the staircase, not smiling or frowning, just gazing at the flurry of students as she waited for Alex. Her hair looked glossy and smoother than usual, somehow enhancing both the dark under layer of her hair and the bright natural highlights that had grown even more distinct after so much swimming and training. It jetted down to rest below her collarbone.
Alex liked that Sky didn’t try to cover up her scars around her neck, and he admired her profile for a moment in secret. He watched her face light up as Samheed and Lani joined her at the railing.
“You look s
tunning,” Lani said. “What a great idea to match your eyes to your dress. I wish I’d thought of that.”
Samheed rested his hand on Lani’s shoulder and glanced down the secret hallway, startling only slightly when he saw Alex standing there. Sam grinned and Alex grinned back. “Busted,” he mouthed. Samheed nodded and turned his attention back to the girls as Alex came bustling out of the hallway, pretending to straighten his robe, as if he hadn’t been there all the time.
“Fabulous. Gorgeous. Divine,” Alex said, mimicking a voice that Mr. Appleblossom often used when playing the part of a wealthy nobleman. His eyes lingered on Sky. “You look amazing,” he said.
She grinned. “You look . . . like . . . some weird, psychedelic pirate. A cute one,” she added.
“Then my costume is a success,” Alex said grandly.
They fell into step together, picking up Meghan as she exited the girls’ hallway. Alex linked his other arm with hers, and the five descended the steps in elegant fashion. By the door, Florence wore a cheetah mask and Simber wore a simple black warrior-looking mask.
“Who do you suppose they are?” Meghan asked.
“Wow, I just can’t tell,” said Lani.
Florence opened the door for them and they swept out onto the lawn, which was glowing with light and color. Ms. Morning played in the band with the fox (and the kitten, who played a tiny triangle), and there was an enormous spread of food and drinks.
The five mingled together and apart, laughing and chatting with people they hadn’t had a chance to chat with in a while, and everyone made a point to be kind to the newest batch of Unwanteds, who wore looks ranging from shock to pure fright on their faces.
Alex said a few words of welcome to everyone but kept it short, which is what Meghan told him to do. After that the party continued late into the evening with dancing, everyone changing partners and having a blast.
And so it happened that when an enormous boom echoed in the sky, only those on the outskirts of the party and the very best music students could distinguish the fracturing noise from the kettledrum in the song the band was playing. But when flashes of fire lit up the air, it was hard to miss.
The music stopped immediately as a gasp rose up from the crowd.
“What was that?” Meghan asked. She grabbed Alex and Sky and they ran to the shore, straining their eyes to see in the darkness. There, amid a cloud of smoke, they saw a large piece of something falling from the sky. It whistled as it fell, and hit the water with a smack that rang out. Soon there was the raining sound of the splash coming back down before all was quiet again.
Half the Unwanteds ran into the mansion in fear, and the other half lined the shore as Alex ran to Simber to see if he could see or smell anything.
“Whateverrr it is, it’s floating on the waterrr,” Simber said, eyes narrowed. “It’s big. And I smell . . . something.”
“What do you smell?” Alex said, craning his neck uselessly, for it was too dark to see anything.
“It’s . . . ” The cheetah sampled the air once more as if he wanted to be sure. “It’s death.” He rose up on his haunches.
Alex glanced at Sky. “I need to take a look,” he said, an apology in his eyes.
Simber glanced at them. “May as well have two of you.”
Alex looked at Sky, and then at himself. “We might have to go in,” he said. “Sim, we’re going to do a quick change of clothes and grab some lights, and we’ll be back in a flash. Less than a minute. Right, Sky?”
Sky nodded, excited, and the two of them raced into the mansion, Sky pulling her dress up a little so she could take the steps two at a time. “Unzip me!” she cried.
Alex fumbled with her zipper and yanked it down her back while running. “Meet back on the balcony!” he shouted, and they split at the top of the stairs and went down their respective hallways, stripping the formal clothes off as they flew into their rooms. Alex tossed his robe, jacket, tie, and mask on the bed, kicked his shoes at the wall, and slid into his normal day clothing. He fumbled with his sandals for several agonizing seconds, and then decided just to go barefoot. He whirled the robe over his shoulders once again, patting the inner pockets to make sure they were full, shuffled around trying find a component that would shed light, and then raced to his door and flung it open.
What he saw on the other side of the door stopped him cold.
A Visitor
What—how the—” Alex exploded. “How did you get in here?”
Without a second thought, the High Priest Aaron Stowe threw a punch, hitting his brother square in the jaw. Alex reeled back into his room and caught himself on the bed, then scrambled back and charged at Aaron, slamming into him and knocking him flat in the hallway.
The two scrabbled on the floor until Alex gained the upper hand, thanks to his recent strenuous workouts, and pinned Aaron to the floor.
“What the world is wrong with you?” Alex shouted, breathing hard.
Aaron, who looked like he was in a state of shock, whimpered, “Don’t hit me.”
Alex stared at his brother through narrowed eyes. “Why not? I should kill you.”
“I didn’t mean to punch you,” Aaron said, regaining his composure. “It was a reaction. You practically exploded out of there. I wasn’t expecting it.”
Alex’s mouth hung open. “Why don’t you tell me just what you were expecting?”
Aaron struggled. “Will you let me up?”
“No!”
“All right,” Aaron said, his voice straining to remain calm.
“How did you get in here? Don’t make me ask you again,” Alex warned. “I could kill you approximately a hundred and fifty times with a flick of my finger if I wanted to.” It was a lie, but it was a good one.
Aaron tried to melt into the floor. His breathing grew ragged. “I came through that glass thing. From Haluki’s house.”
Alex’s expression didn’t change, but inside he was kicking himself. He’d meant to do something about that after he rescued Ms. Morning, knowing that the guards had probably figured out what the tube did. But there had been so much happening back then that it had slipped to the bottom of his list of things to do. And after his injury, the entire list had all but disappeared.
“Well, what do you want? Last time I tried to get you to come in here, you didn’t want to have anything to do with it. So get out. Here, I’ll help you.” He let Aaron up, not letting go of his brother’s shirt, and shoved him toward the kitchenette’s tube.
Aaron stumbled, throwing his arms out to catch himself. “Alex, I came here because I saw something, and this was the quickest way. There was an explosion in the sky over in this direction, and I . . . I just know it’s got to be one of the enemies attacking us.” His face was rather pale.
Alex was starting to believe Aaron really was scared, and he wasn’t sure what to make of it. He glanced down the hallway to the balcony, where Sky paced anxiously. “How could you see anything at all from Quill? Oh, wait,” Alex said, remembering something he’d seen when he was slung over the pirate ship railing on the way home from Warbler. “You made a hole in your wall, didn’t you?”
Aaron’s eyes widened. “Yes. How did you know?”
Alex nodded secretively. “I have my ways.” It felt good to have the upper hand for once. He glanced at Sky again. He hesitated, debating about what he should do with Aaron. If he forced him back into the tube, Aaron could just come again later, and he could wreak a lot of havoc in Alex’s new office, which didn’t have a lock on the door. Plus there were the monitors. . . . He let a frustrated sigh escape, and then in a flash he shackled Aaron’s wrists with a spell and grabbed his arm. “Fine,” he said. “Sit here in the hallway until I come back. I’ll destroy that tube later.” He reached for the door to his private quarters and pulled it closed, putting its magical lock in place, and then he went down to the office door, closed it, and pretended to lock it so Aaron wouldn’t even try to get in.
Aaron, who had followed Alex’s gaze t
he second time he’d looked down the hallway, barely resisted the shackles and couldn’t turn his head away. He frowned. “Who is that?” he said in a quiet voice.
Alex glanced at Aaron and turned to see what he was staring at. All he could see was Sky, and he wondered if there was some picture or artwork on this side of the opening like there was a mirror on the other side, though he didn’t know why there should be. He narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”
Aaron’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “That girl,” he said. “On the balcony.”
Alex’s heart jumped to his throat. “You can see her?”
Lights
Of course I can see her,” Aaron said, snapping out of whatever trance he’d been in. “She’s standing right there.” And she was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. Not that he spent a lot of time thinking about girls, what with all the takeovers and falls from grace and rises to power. But he’d turned his head a time or two, just like anyone might expect.
Then he looked down at his hands and realized what Alex had done. “You shackled me? How dare you? Did you forget who I am?”
Alex just stared at him with a look of horror on his face. Impossible, he thought.
“What?” Aaron said.
“Describe her.”
“Honestly, Alex, don’t you think we should figure out this explosion thing? If the island is being attacked, maybe we ought to, you know . . . consider . . . ” His mouth went dry, hardly believing that he’d almost proposed working together. But right now Aaron wasn’t sure what kind of support he had, and he’d do anything to keep his place in the palace. Absolutely anything. Still . . . He jiggled his arms impatiently. “Take these things off my wrists.” It was annoying.