Part 18 (1/2)
”No getting involved in other people's stories!” her mother yelled up from the ground. ”I'm tired of having to fix them!”
”I won't!” Bethany lied, then grinned.
As the ground pulled away, Bethany could just barely make out Mount Olympus through the clouds. Lightning played within the city of the G.o.ds, and for a moment, she wondered if she could ask Zeus for a lightning bolt, just to borrow.
”Bethany,” whispered a voice, a man's voice.
She glanced around, but saw no one. Was one of the G.o.ds speaking to her? Or even better, was her Pegasus telepathic? She'd always wanted to- ”Bethany,” said the voice, stronger this time. It seemed familiar, and yet not one she could place. Where had she heard it?
”Bethany, you need to break out of that story,” said the voice. ”This isn't your life.”
”Who is this?” Bethany said, her voice getting carried away by the rus.h.i.+ng wind as the Pegasus glided toward Olympus. Lightning began to flash through the clouds as rain whipped against her face.
”n.o.body important,” the voice said. ”But I know who you are, and I know that all of this is just a story, not your actual life.”
”What . . . what do you mean? Just a story? Of course it is!” She glanced around. This wasn't her life, it was a book of Greek myths. Who was this- ”The Magister put you in a story, Bethany,” the voice said. ”He had Jonathan Porterhouse write you a new life, a life with the father that you never actually had. You need to let it go and come back to reality.”
”There's no such thing as reality,” Bethany murmured, trying to remember who the Magister or Jonathan Porterhouse were. ”That was the first thing my father taught me. The fictional world is just as real-”
”Of course it is,” the voice said. ”But this story isn't yours. You need to be living the story you're meant to, not one that the Magister created to make you happy. Leave this behind and come back out to reality.”
The rain and lightning and man-eating Pegasus didn't bother her, but for some reason, the voice's words sent a chill down her back. ”No,” she whispered. ”I'm not leaving.”
”Bethany!” the voice shouted. ”If you don't come out, the Magister will sentence your entire world to live out fictional stories!”
”NO!” she shouted this time. ”I have my father back, and I'm not leaving! This is the life I was supposed to have. This is the life I didn't mess up. I don't care what it is, I'm taking it and you can't make me leave!”
”You're right,” the voice said. ”I can't make you. But that's not your father, Bethany. Not the real version. And there are people counting on you. The Magister has Kiel, Bethany. And Owen is still trapped.”
The names formed images in her mind. A boy, a boy who knew magic, and his former master, the Magister. They'd . . . they'd escaped from their book, because of . . . because of Bethany, and a friend of hers. Owen.
OWEN!.
The realization almost knocked her right off her horse. How long had she been here? How long had Owen been trapped in the Kiel Gnomenfoot books? And how could she let the Magister run loose in the real world?
”Kiel needs your help,” the voice said. ”As does Owen. Come back for them.”
”I . . . I don't know!” she shouted over the wind. The lightning and rain crashed all around her now, and she could barely see. ”I need to see my father. I need to . . . I need to say good-bye, just for now. Tell him that I'll come back.”
”He's not your father, Bethany,” the voice said.
The Pegasus below her turned its head and bit down on her hand, hard. She screamed, and the winged horse bucked hard. She slid right off its back, off into nothingness as rain and thunder pounded all around her.
”Bethany!” the voice shouted.
”NO!” she said, even as wind whipped past her so fast she could barely breathe. ”I'm not leaving! I'm not leaving without saying good-bye!”
The clouds whizzed by, revealing a lush green land that rose alarmingly fast. Above, the Pegasus dove straight for her, his mouth open, his razor-sharp hooves ready to strike.
”NO!” she shouted again. ”I can't . . . not again!”
But the voice didn't respond as Bethany tumbled down and down, everything falling apart.
CHAPTER 34.
Owen sat by himself, his head on his knees, staring off into the blackened, charred remains of the Magister's study, not speaking, barely moving.
He wasn't sure how long he'd been there, just sitting. It was hard to tell time in a place that didn't believe in the science behind clocks. Though those clocks probably would have been destroyed in the explosion that Owen had caused anyway. Ruined just like everything else.
A light appeared in the dimness, and Charm stepped out of a teleporting beam, then slowly walked over to Owen, who didn't look at her. Kiel's winged cat, Alphonse, appeared right after her, then took to the air, sniffing all around as he flew. Owen watched as the cat settled on the remains of a high cabinet, then moved one glowing paw in a circle. Food magically appeared in a bowl in front of him, and the cat happily began to eat.
”What are you doing here?” Charm asked him, sitting down next to him. Owen noticed out of the corner of his eye that she had a new robotic arm. Apparently, her s.h.i.+p didn't just do brain surgery.
”Waiting,” he told her.
”For what?”
”To go home.”
She looked all around. ”This isn't home?”
He shook his head. ”You should probably leave.”
”I can't. You know that. All of Magisteria is about to be destroyed in just a couple of hours, and-”
”I can't do this, Charm,” Owen said quietly. ”I don't belong here. I never did. She was right, and I should have listened.”
”She?” Charm asked quietly.
”This friend of mine,” Owen said. ”I thought this was going to be fun. We'd go on adventures. I'd cast magic spells and fight Science Soldiers and take down Dr. Verity. My friend told me it was a mistake, but I didn't listen. And the worst part is, I might even have put her in danger, and it's too late to do anything about that. I have to leave. I have to go home.”
”I'd do it myself, you know,” Charm said, turning her head back toward the burned study. ”Give up my heart, if it weren't made of metal and plastic. So you wouldn't have to.”
”You're a much better person than I am, then,” Owen said, looking away.
”That's not why I said that. I meant that if I could take this choice away from you, I would. It's not fair. You've given up almost everything to save your world, and now it's asking for what little you have left.”
Owen squeezed his eyes shut, wanting to punch something. No, he hadn't. He'd done this on a whim, wanting to play Kiel Gnomenfoot instead of doing the smart thing and heading home with n.o.body! At least then he could have made up for his original mistake by helping find Bethany and bringing the Magister and Kiel back. Instead, he'd chosen to stay, knowing that by not helping, it'd give him more time to be the hero.
And now, when people actually did need him, all he wanted to do was run home.
Part of him wanted to scream and yell, kicking floors and punching walls. It wasn't fair! This wasn't his fight. He didn't know any of these people. Were they even real? And if so, was there even going to be an attack, or was that just what they as characters were told so the story could move along? What was real here?