Episode 21: The Path to Arkon’s Magic
The time was afternoon. Matt was leaving Jen’s house while the sun is on its way of setting. Matt said to Jen, “Thanks for helping me on my math homework. Seriously, it’s probably my worst subject.”
Jen joked, “Let’s blame your teacher. Didn’t you tell me that your friend Yessenia got an A in her math teacher’s class without having to do homework at all, while you try super hard on your homework but your teacher grades your homework on if they’re correct or not?”
Matt stomped his right foot, “Exactly! That is so unfair. I think she has straight A’s right now.”
Jen was surprised, “Really?! That’s cool, me too!”
Matt turned around in shame, “Noo, don’t rub it in!”
Jen giggled as she said, “Well, I didn’t really help much did I? Half the time, we just went on Gaia Online. I heard the marketplace is going to change a whole bunch. It’s on beta, right?”
Matt nodded, “Yup.” Matt noticed the clock in Jen’s house, “Whoa! 6:36pm. I only have four minutes to walk to the bus stop across the street from school. I’m gonna go now, see ya!”
Jen waved as she watched him run away, “Hehe, that Matt. He’s starting to focus more on his math. Anyway, back to reading! That’s even more fun than having a best friend over at my house.~”
~~~
Matt was near the park, “I’m almost there! Darn it, if only Santi was here to stop or slow down time for me.” He suddenly heard a loud ‘clank!’ noise nearby. He turned his head to the Double Freeze restaurant across the street from the park and the school, “What was that?” He ran towards the restaurant and he saw the tip of a sword, “What- No! Could this be?!” He ran up to the sword and he saw Yessenia lying on the floor.
Matt ran up to her as he thought, “(There’s no blood, but it looks like she fainted… What to do in a situation like this?!)”
Yessenia started moving her hand, then her whole body. She turned her head slowly at Matt, “Matt…! Help…” Her head suddenly fell again.
Matt became frightened. He began to shake as he said while stuttering, “Wha… what’s going on?” His eyes were the widest it could be. He noticed there was a cell phone near her hand, “And what’s this...?” He picked up the book and opened it to the first page, “Arkon’s magic? What kind of list did you put on here? You know what, I’ll bring the ambulance. I’m gonna go to Jen’s house really quick!”
Yessenia screamed at him, “No…! That’s not… necessary. I’m alright. Get my cell phone and press OK.”
Matt saw the highlighted words ‘Arkon’s Magic’. He clicked OK and there were images of something he could not decipher, “What are these?” Yessenia grabbed Matt’s arm and she waited until they suddenly vanished!
~~~
Matt fell from mid-air, “Agh! Ow, what was that?!”
Yessenia sat up, still feeling pain, “Welcome to Arkon’s Magic city. This is the only place where Jon can severely attack us.”
Matt questioned her, “That doesn’t make any sense. Jon’s power is to disable our powers. How is that destructive?”
Yessenia answered him, “Antagonists have the power to more excessive things that have nothing to do with their own power.”
“Antagonist?”
“Yes, the enemy. Arkon’s Magic is the place that only Jon and I have so far on our list.”
Matt was amazed, “Wow, why just you two?”
Yessenia responded to him, “Arkon’s Magic is only added to your list if you receive an object that this place requires you to get. At that time, I barely knew much about my powers. I didn’t have Arkon’s Magic yet.”
~~~
Yessenia was wandering around school. She was trying to figure out why she had Wind powers. From there, her English teacher told the principal, “Here, I found this in my storage. It’s very pretty but I’m sure it does not belong to me. Do you mind keeping it? You can put it in the lost and found.”
The principal smiled for her, “Oh! You are so kind. Why, of course I’ll do it. It looks really nice.”
Yessenia looked closely at the necklace. Suddenly, her stomach started to burst with a strange feeling. She froze as she stared at it. The principal looked at her, “Hm? Miss, is this your necklace?” He put the necklace on her neck, “It looks good on you.”
Yessenia lied, “Y-Yes, it’s mine.” The principal felt relieved as he walked away. Yessenia said to her self, “What is with this necklace? It suddenly gave me a strange feeling.”
Jon interrupted her, “You found the necklace of Wind. This is such a huge coincidence. I did not expect you to get it so soon. If you go into your room in your house, I think you’ll find a new content on your cell phone.”
~~~
Yessenia continued, “At that time, Jon was still a good friend. He did have his powers but the negative aura of his antagonizing powers did not reach him yet. Now that we both have Arkon’s Magic on our list, I’ve been fighting him ever since.”
“In here?!” Matt felt surprised.
Yessenia shook her head, “Yes. As you can see, time stops in the real world while we are in here. That’s one good thing. I am trying to find Jon. I was so close to defeating him but his obstacles almost killed me.”
“Obstacles?”
“He had created a huge fort before I even had my necklace. He didn’t use it for evil back then. But now, it’s all gone wrong.”
“Where’s your necklace?” Matt still asked questions.
“It turned into my blunt sword. I didn’t want to tell you any sooner, but… you are the third person to have the list with Arkon’s Magic too. That stone coming from the pigeon…” Yessenia said.
Matt was surprised, “Third?! How can you tell we are the only ones?”
“Actually, I can’t. I am guessing there are only three of us. If there was another person, then they would be hiding. Anyway, you’ve got to find that book. Your powers are nothing if you enter through mine. My cell phone does bring you to Arkon’s Magic, but only I have access to my powers. You have to enter here through your own list.”
Matt glared at her, “Heh, then why did you take me here?”
Yessenia joked, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you there was a list that popped out of nowhere in your cell phone and that you must find it.”
Matt face-palmed himself, “That’s it?! Wait a minute, I don’t even have a cell phone.”
Yessenia yelled, “That’s not good! You cannot enter Arkon’s Magic through your own cell phone then!”
Matt frowned, “Aw man! My mom told me I am getting one in the summer but that is in a long time.”
~~~
Jon appeared in front of his fort, “Oh? What is this? Matt has Arkon’s Magic listed on his cell phone?”
Matt corrected him, “I have no cell phone. Stay back!”
Yessenia shook Matt, “Are you stupid?!” Matt turned to her in confusion.
Jon laughed, “Ha ha! No cell phone? Are you telling me you went in here through Yessenia’s phone? That can only mean one thing… you have no powers to help you right now.”
Matt looked away, “Yeah, NOW I’m a normal guy with no powers.” He took a step back, “Stop hurting Yessenia. What did she ever do to you?!” Jon stopped. He said nothing. Matt smiled, “Yeah, that’s right. Hurting people for no reason is the worst kind of motive. You have to leave her alone!”
Jon yelled, “There IS a reason, idiot!” Matt stopped smiling as he listened carefully. Jon went on, “I don’t become some antagonist for no reason. You must be some idiot to think like that. It’s because ever since the Summer when Yessenia and I did not have any classes together, she’s been hanging out more with some other girl in her Critical Thinking class. I don’t remember her name. But, that girl had been telling me things that made me VERY angry.”
Yessenia took her sword and she clenched it, “What did she tell you?!”
Matt was confused, “Who’s ‘she’?”
Jon pointed at her, “You should know!!”
Yessenia’s sword vanished. Her weapon was part of her powers but Jon disabled her to use them. Matt said in defense, “Yessenia is not that kind of person to make you angry. I know it. Sure, she might be a little evil and intimidating, but she does it for humour. She would never do something so low. She told me you guys used to be good with each other in the past. Do you think she would randomly start telling her new friend bad things about you?”
Jon blushed but he suddenly went back to his evil senses, “No, no! Shut up. I can’t trust you. We grew up together with a strict trusting issue.”
Yessenia stood up and she whispered to Matt, “Come on, let’s get out of here. I didn’t want anyone to see me in pain in the real world so I brought us here.”
Matt chuckled, “Heh, so that’s the real reason?”
Yessenia took her cell phone, “Don’t joke around right now.” She pressed the button.
Jon shook his head in shame, “They ran away, again.”
~~~
Yessenia explained to Matt, “So now you know the whole story. Arkon’s Magic is pretty dangerous, anyone with powers are free to use as much as they can. In the real world, you’d have to do it where no one else would see.”
Matt crossed his arms, “So what, it’s like a PvP area?”
Yessenia sighed, “Don’t tell me this is one of your online game terms…”
Matt gave her the peace sign, “Yep! It means Player versus Player. Everyone can fight each other.”
Yessenia shook her head, “Not quite. Like I told you, some people are antagonists and some people are protagonists. They don’t get to choose it. Now you’ve learned that if someone had a really bad grudge against another person, then they become closer to an antagonist and that evil spirit will come and eventually haunt the person, just like what happened with Jon. Even by rule, people with powers are stated not to attack each other unless they are antagonists, then we can. But do not tell anyone about Arkon’s Magic. I trust you on this.”
“Whoa, you trust me?”
“I didn’t say I trust you. I just meant that I hope you won’t tell anyone. I don’t trust a single person in this world.” She started walking away.
Matt sighed in sadness.
~~~
Jen appeared from the corner of Double Freeze. She glanced over at the parking lot and she turned away. Quickly, she looked back again and said loudly, “MATT! What are you doing here?! You’re late for the bus aren’t you?”
Matt scratched his head, “Huh? Oh shoot! The bus!!”
Jen placed her hands on her hips, “Wow, as clumsy as ever. What are you even doing here on the parking lot?”
Matt looked around for Yessenia, “(Crap, she’s gone.) Nothing. I just dropped a coin and it rolled ALL the way over here.”
Jen walked towards him, “No. I think I know what you did. I can tell.”
Matt was scared, “Don’t tell me you know everything then?!”
Jen poked his nose, “You’re doing drugs again hm?!”
“What do you mean again?!”
Jen laughed, “OH! So this is your first time doing drugs? I can’t believe you, Matt. All these years, you were such a good boy and all the sudden you’re throwing all that away as if it is nothing. Sheesh, I guess it’s typical that people who do drugs don’t give a crap about the world, isn’t that right?”
Matt stopped her, “No, no, no. I love the world, it’s pretty and… sexy. ANYWAYS, why are you even here?”
Jen showed Matt two books, “I finished two of these in one week. I’m so gonna get another right now. Wanna go to the library with me since you are late for the bus anyway?”
Matt said slowly, “Well uh, actually… I should walk home.”
“No, you’re coming with me. I didn’t ask you a question. I am making you.”
“But you DID ask a question-…”
“No ‘buts’! Let’s go.” Jen commanded.
~~~
At the library, Jen looked around the teen bookshelf, “Oh my gosh! I want to get all of these. The library card limits me to twenty books I think. Hey, hey, your mom is a librarian right? Tell her if she is able to get me all of these. Here, I’ll get you some too.”
“No, stop. I hate reading. And just because my mom is a librarian doesn’t mean she can rule the whole library. I think she only puts the books on the shelf.”
Matt’s mom appeared nearby, “Oh, hi there, Matt. Is this your girlfriend?”
Jen giggled, “Nope, we are besties!”
Matt pushed her away and he joked, “We won’t be if you don’t stop acting so scary.”
Jen slapped his shoulders, “Jerk!”
Matt said to his mom, “Ouch! Mom, aren’t you gonna do something about that?”
Matt’s mom shook her head, “No, no. You called a woman ‘scary’. You deserved it.”
Jen giggled in front of Matt just to spite him as Matt looked away in annoyance. He suddenly took a look behind his mom. “(HUH?!)” The voices of Matt’s mom and Jen were now unimportant. He focused on what was behind Matt’s mom. He saw a glimpse of Jon passing by the bookshelves. “(It’s him… what’s he doing here…?! Is he going to mess with my mom? T-This can’t be…!)”
~~~
---- Next chapter preview:Matt: On the next chapter, there are a bunch of locks on Jen's door! There seems to be a burglary going on.
Jen: Yeah, and it's twice now! Argh, and I'm going to be alone. My dad's working, my mom might go to the groceries, and my sister is out at her sixth grade camping trip for a whole week.
Matt: We're gonna have to check up on this then! Next chapter, The Door Which Breaks for Burglary!
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