by TS Thornton
than he had before. He didn’t understand what the sea had said about the moon changing him but he saw a change in his swimming because the crossover from Otherland to the human land was not too far way. He didn’t exactly feel different. He felt like himself. Once at the crossover he felt like he was being followed. He blasted light from his hands to find nothing but the water of the sea. A chill went down his spin. He made the crossover then put all the speed he could into swimming. He was tiring but the feeling of being followed disappeared.
Once at the beach where he and Winter had their first encounter he glamoured himself as he walked up to shore. It was the human male he was for her. The cute guy as she called it. He thought he looked quite funny after all. No color to his skin, the brightest thing about him his eyes a light brown that could see through the soul, his mother’s eyes.
He ran as fast as the surrounding area would allow. It was late eve the beach empty but the boardwalk bustling. He hoped no one was looked his way. He had things to do and lots of magic to use. As he continued on the path to her home he was stopped by a woman that it took him a moment to place.
“Hey aren’t you Winter’s friend?” He froze he inhaled slowly before answering.
“And you are?” He asked trying to get conformation.
“Her boss, Marcia,” She went to shake his hand and his was watched her. He wasn’t going to touch her, no matter what it may look like odd or not.
“Oh I remember you.” She finally let her hand fall acting as if she never offered it. A smile still spread across her face.
“Have you see her lately, she hasn’t been to work in four days. She isn’t at her apartment anymore. I saw her the other day she was sleeping really deep, like in a coma. I called all the hospital’s I could think of. I haven’t called the police. I don’t want to.” A frown on her round face as she looked up at him.
“I was just going over to see her. I haven’t seen her either.” Playing along so he didn’t sound suspicious even though he figured he was going to have to use magic on her somehow to wipe away her memory of Winter, but how. Out in public no matter how late he could not use his magic here. He thought that over but came up with nothing.
“Well if you do see her could you please tell her to call me, I am worried about her. She is a good person, quiet but good. Always shows up. I feel like something happened to her.” He wanted to touch her now to take away her pain but he couldn’t risk using his magic that way. He had to figure something else out.
“I will be sure and let her know if I see her that you are worried. I am starting to worry. I gotta go.” He took off towards her apartment like a bullet but not too fast. He would have to get magic to her somehow. He didn’t like lying it didn’t come to him like others. Once at her apartment door Solin glanced around not seeing anyone. He turned the knob and walked in using his glamour to hide him completely from sight.
When the door open two people turned to look to see who entered. When they didn’t see anyone as it closed they looked at one another and screamed running around the room. He laughed to himself but it may have been louder. The men stopped mid-scream to listen. He shot up the stairs smiling as he did so. He hadn’t scared anyone in a while he forgot how good it felt, the unsuspecting unbelieving of the unsuspected.
He unlocked her door with magic as a neighbor entered their apartment. He quickly walked inside scenting that her landlord had been inside her apartment and recently. He wondered if he was checking up on her. He opened her bedroom door. Her things were untouched. He grabbed a duffle bag and filled it with her under clothing. He took grabbed most of her tee shirts that he thought would still cover her. He grabbed four pair of pants. He shrank all of those with his magic as he filled her pack. Everything her thought she would want including her TV and DVD’s. He took every electronic thing that she had shrinking it all and putting it all in a smaller softer bag. He turned to think of what would make her feel at home. He turned and turned around as he searched the area. Nothing he could think of. He didn’t understand the concept of home until recently. He thought of the laughter they shared on the couch. It clicked. The couch the bed, and the coffee maker. He would have to figure out how they would use these things where there was no power for them to work. He didn’t care he wanted to make her happy.
He stopped his project when he thought he heard a knock at the door. He listened and waited. No jingle of keys or another knock. He had to be quick now. He didn’t want to be here when someone showed up. He wrote to notes by magic in her hand writing that he seen on her written work schedule. He wrote Marcy with an apology. Telling her that Winter would not be returning to this place. He stayed vague as to where she may be or why she left. He imbued the paper with a magic spell to forget. He wanted her to just simply forget Winter Skye Bluu, the human girl with olive green eyes and ever color changing hair. That reminded him he should take her bathroom sink or the cabinet part. He didn’t exactly want to go through her things. He walked in to her bathroom and shrank her towels and the contents of the cabinet. He scooped everything up and put it in a smaller bag.
He finished packing the things he thought she would miss most. They could always come back. He did one last sweep finding a few boxes with pictures and old items in them. He wrote the landlord a message on magicked paper with paper that looked like human money. When it fell it to the hands of evil or a bad person it would turn to dust within two hours. A little trick he added to the paper he didn’t want the money to seem phony. So he left three stacks with months attached. The letter said that she would be back for her things within the following months. He wanted her to have any and everything that was a part of her home before him.
He was done and settled. He was ready to get back to her. He had one stop to make and that was to the bar to leave the note for Marcy there. After he did so he was loaded down with his duffle that was full of tiny contents. He smelled smoke the color he got to the beach. There were humans everywhere. He was in his human glamour one moment then he was gone to their eyes, not that any of them noticed they were enjoying the party on the beach, bon fire and all. How was he to get through all of those people he thought? He thought of going around but he would have to back track. He was annoyed now, where did they come from? The thoughts of doing harm as he walked through the crowd came to him. He roared loudly and unbelieving, his glamour blinked unbeknownst to him but just for a moment when his emotions were filled with magic then his was gone to sight again. No human saw him but something that couldn’t see through his glamour but not at all human did. The humans on the beach all stopped talking and moving. Solin was light as air as he ran through the startled partygoers. As each person was looking for the source of the sound he made his way to the water. Slowly one by one they left the beach, there were no screams of panic, just humans leaving the part of the beach that he needed at that moment. The other that saw him for a blink in time watched the waters for some time later.
Once he was in the water he swam as much as his exhausted magic would like him. He had only eaten once and that was not exactly enough to sustain a monster his size. He used his air to cocoon his torso and head in a cocoon of air to help him breathe easy. He was halfway to the crossover when he felt like he was being followed. He thought that maybe someone was one there way to the Otherland.
I am with you my lovely. I felt your fear.
“I am not afraid.” He told her in truth. “Frightened and afraid are different. I had felt it once before when I made this trip in reverse. I just felt unease, but now that you are here I am fine again.”
You are my favorite.
“What is it with you and the moon?” He had wanted to know and wondered if the sea would get an answer.
I am he, he is me. We are one in the same.
“I am tasked at…” How to phrase this without sending her away, he thought as he passed through to his new home. There was a point deep enough in the water the no human could go without lots of gear. It is not a swim for them. The
Otherland was built for magic users, ones who could swim to and survive the crossover. “I was given a task and I don’t know how to complete it without all the details. I don’t see how your answers could help me.”
I sense the moon in you. He has touched you Solin. You are now a child of the moon No longer a child of sea and air. He didn’t understand the sea. He was of water and air magic as all monsters of his ilk. He knew this from the lessons his grandmother taught him. Yes you are of the sea and air forever but your magic is unlike mine or my sisters now. I know this essence it lives within me. I am he, he is me.
“Okay.” He was at the shore before he knew it. The sea had left him shortly after.
Solin ran with the pack to his tree. He wanted to see Winter but getting their home in order was best. He had idea for the outside of their home as he walked up to it. The tree was alive with magic. The tree was happy he could feel that when he set foot above its roots in the ground. He patted his door as he entered the walkway, a thank you to his home that welcomed him with joy. The fire was low and cozy. A hearth or stove first lasts all day because of magic, the fire won’t spread because the tree is keeping a look