Julia and Silvio followed Cole into the meadow next to the university. They held hands in a circle as Cole chanted something indistinguishable. The sky went dark, and the clouds approached nearer. She saw that there were raindrops on the ground. A host of sparrows flew across the sky and downwards, and then circled them. Julia blacked out for a few seconds and when she opened her eyes, she was back near the core tree. It was raining there as well, but the bubbles still persisted.

“I should’ve brought an umbrella,” said Silvio.

“Follow me to the Puppet Master’s house. It’s a long way,” said Cole.

The rain was so cold, and Julia sneezed while shaking.

“Let’s wait for the rain to end. In the meantime, let’s take shelter elsewhere,” said Silvio.

“Okay, we’ll go to my house. It’s right behind the core tree,” said Cole.

He recited the spell for a broom, and Julia did the same. Silvio sat behind Julia as she wondered how she would maneuver the broom with the two of them. He held onto her shoulders. Cole looked at them for a few seconds, rolled his eyes, and then they flew in the rain. It was worse because the bubbles would often pop and be an obstacle for her sight. Silvio must have noticed this, since he moved the bubbles away as she controlled the broomstick.

“We’re here,” said Cole.

It was a blue house that had a black roof that looked more like a witch hat without the brim. There were several orchids hanging there, and an orange tree. Julia walked inside after wiping her shoes on the welcome mat. She made the broom disappear again. Cole handed them towels and left for the kitchen.

“Where are you, Cole?” said Silvio.

“In the kitchen!”

“Why man?” said Silvio.

Julia sneezed again. Cole brought three cups of coffee in a minute.

“Thank you,” said Julia.

Cole said, “It’s time I told you.”

The Puppet Master came forward and grabbed Cole by the collar, and punched him down.

“Stop! What do you want?” said Cole.

“I want your power,” said the Puppet Master.

“You wanna be a warlock?” said Cole.

The Puppet Master cracked his knuckles and took off his mask.

“Don’t play dumb. I finally found out who got the power from God and received infinite reincarnations. It was supposed to be me from the very beginning! Give it up or I’ll kill that pink-haired girl.”

Cole was a bit slow in finding the seal and the book that would remove his power if they were robbed. It had such an extensive password that even Cole had trouble remembering it. So, he captured Cole, made him his puppet, and tied him to the core tree. People feared the DTCA Land because the Puppet Master was its leader. Cole somehow escaped. The bracelet was meant to protect Julia.

The rain had stopped.

“Let’s go,” said Silvio.

They travelled by broom, and this time Silvio was behind Cole so that it would ease Julia of her suffering.

It took almost twenty-five minutes, but they arrived in front of a wooden palace. There were large eagles as tall as Julia who were guarding the palace.

“Umm, Cole, you should have told us to come with an army,” said Silvio.

“Oh,” said Cole.

“Who are you? Reveal yourself,” said the guard.

“Cole Letter, keeper of the Holy Seal and the Book of the Ancients and the Future.”

“Do you think he has a plan?” said Julia.

“Isn’t it obvious? No,” said Silvio.

“Bring forth the Puppet Master’s new body,” said the guard.

Julia wondered what they meant by new.

A group of four brought a large statue which was part man, part snake, with bird wings and a mace.

“We’re screwed,” said Julia.

It was weird how Cole didn’t even flinch. His lips were moving with no sound. The statue moved and glided along the ground with its snake body.

“So, you have come at last! Give me my seal and book,” said the Puppet Master.

He swung the mace and Cole dodged it.

“Julia, the exam transformation spell!” said Cole.

“Still image…” said Julia.

“The other one, stupid!” said Cole.

Cole was running for his life. Meanwhile, Silvio brought forward his sword, and made deep cuts into the snake part’s body. He dodged the mace and the Puppet Master flew away. The Puppet Master came forward while flying. Drops of blood turned to puddles and there was a foul stench.

“Transformation into a newer form, no more flight!” yelled Julia.

He lost his wings, and crashed into his own blood, leaving drops of blood on Julia and her clothes. He dropped his mace.

“There needs to be reinforcements!” said the guard.

“Just a wooden box, trapped you will be as you’ve trapped others!” said Cole.

The palace came apart, and formed a box around the Puppet Master before he could reach for the mace.

Armoured men and women came forward. Silvio warded them off with his sword, but didn’t kill any of them.

“Allegro disintegration!” said Cole.

It disintegrated the enemies, but also made the box break into pieces. The Puppet Master came forward with a sluggish movement.

“Allegro Disintegrate!” said Julia.

Nothing happened. Cole shouted that it doesn’t work on such large objects. While Julia and Cole were trying various spells, Silvio climbed onto the Puppet Master, and sliced his head off. Julia cheered.

“Don’t just stand there! Take care of the new guards,” said Silvio, panting.

Alas, the guards captured them. As soon as they tried to get the seal and book from Cole, he opened the book and murmured while the page was open. Cole and his belongings vanished into petals and leaves.

They locked Silvio and Julia up.

“Did he abandon us?” said Silvio.

An hour later, a key turned in the lock as Cole appeared in front of them. He signaled Julia and she woke Silvio up.

They snuck out of the prison.

As soon as they were out, Cole said that he had a talk with the council of IMSO and that they were glad that he was able to free the DTCA land, and that they’ll send troops to recapture if needed.

“We need to go home for vacation!” said Silvio.

“Yeah, let’s meet during vacation,” said Cole.

A zombie-type DTCA organism appeared at the end of the road. They cast one last spell and Silvio did one last strike before they could go home.

Julia took her belongings and received a text. Julia didn’t know if she had a family or not.

She was taking the suitcase out, but then wondered where she’d go.

Someone rang the door. Julia saw through the keyhole that it was Silvio.

“Come in,” said Julia.

“Where are you going?” said Silvio.

“I don’t know.”

Silvio chuckled and handed Julia a note.

“No wonder his surname is Letter,” said Silvio.

“What’s this?”

“He got all of his control powers back, so he wants you to recover your full memory,” said Silvio.

“Okay,” said Julia.

“He refused to come here, but I guess that isn’t a bad thing. We get some time to ourselves,” said Silvio.

This made Julia wondered why he refused to come.

“Dancing in a sea of forget-me-nots are your memories, they will come back like a breeze,” said Julia.

Her vision went black for a while. When she woke up, she saw Silvio’s face. She remembered every moment that she had with Silvio. It was then she remembered that it was a silhouette Cole who watched Julia’s soul after she fell, and then turned and left and did nothing to help her. Soon after, Patricia jumped from the cliff. There was no one to save them. She was already dead when someone dragged her body into the haunted house. The person who called Julia’s name was Patricia. There was a bit of hope left in Julia, which is why she escaped and went into the cottage.

“Julia! Julia!”

She was able to hear his voice again. Silvio was different after all.

“Silvio…” said Julia.

“You’re awake! Let’s take you to the emergency…”

“I’m fine, I remember everything,” said Julia.

“You do? Well, let’s go to the doctor anyway,” said Silvio.

“Patricia is my sister, I can’t believe it. The one who pushed me off the cliff,” said Julia.

“Well, we have no control over our dreams most of the time. Maybe you’ll forgive her,” said Silvio.