Part 18 (2/2)

Part of him thought those things. But the rest of him knew better. The people of Magisteria might be fictional, but they were as real as Charm was, sitting there beside him, trying to be there for him when all he wanted to do was run from his mistakes and from Kiel's future. And he'd chosen this to be his fight when he hadn't left with n.o.body. He hadn't realized it at the time, but not knowing didn't change what had to be done.

”Whatever you decide, I'll understand,” Charm said, pus.h.i.+ng herself to her feet. She paused. ”But in the meantime, I have something for you.”

He glanced up to find her holding a familiar-looking box, one that increased in size as he took it. ”It's the magic box you gave me when we found the First Key,” she told him. ”You should have it back. Just in case.”

He took the box but didn't open it, not even sure what had been in it when it'd first turned up back in the original Kiel Gnomenfoot book. ”Thanks.”

”I'm going to go back to the s.h.i.+p,” she said, standing up. ”Even with a robotic heart, maybe there's still some way I can stop Dr. Verity. I'm not going to give up. You . . . you do what you need to.”

He watched her move away and ready the teleporting beam. ”Charm?”

”Yes?” She stopped before pus.h.i.+ng the b.u.t.ton.

”Since when were you comfortable being all emotional like that?”

Her eyes narrowed, and she started to yell something, then stopped. ”Honestly? It's been you. Without all that arrogant bragging and those clever jokes, I actually don't hate you.” She grinned slightly. ”At least not as much.”

Then she clicked the b.u.t.ton and disappeared in the same light that had brought her.

Owen dropped the magic box, gritted his teeth, and let out a growl of frustration. ”I don't want to die!” he shouted to no one except Alphonse, who looked up for a moment, licked his lips, then went back to eating. ”It's not supposed to be me. I just . . . I just wanted to go on an adventure. Is that so wrong?”

No one, nor n.o.body, answered.

Owen looked across the destroyed study, the room that he'd destroyed himself. Yes, Kiel should have been here, and he would have been, if Owen hadn't tricked Bethany into coming in the first place. None of this would have happened, and Owen would still be safe at home, reading about Kiel sacrificing himself for his entire world.

Magisteria, all those people . . . They didn't have a hero anymore. Not when they needed one. And it was Owen's fault.

He glanced up at Alphonse noisily eating his magically created food. The cat looked up again, then leaped into air, his wings gliding him over to Owen, where he landed on Owen's shoulders. The cat began to purr, pus.h.i.+ng his head up against Owen's, his wings wrapping around his body comfortably.

With a sigh Owen opened the magic box Charm had left him. Inside was a teleportation b.u.t.ton, which would bring him back to the s.h.i.+p. She must have left it just in case.

Owen reached up and scratched Alphonse's neck. ”This is the dumbest thing I've ever done,” he told the cat.

The cat just purred in response.

”I really hope there's a big funeral,” he said.

Right as he pushed the teleporting switch, he glanced down and noticed one last thing in the box as he disappeared in a beam of light.

There, at the very bottom of the box, lay a robotic heart.

CHAPTER 35.

Bethany's Pegasus dove straight for her as the ground rushed up to meet her. She screamed, then at the last possible moment jumped out of the story and into complete darkness.

”NO!” she screamed, feeling all around her. Where was she? Was she dead? And if so, why did it smell so bad?

”Bethany?” Kiel said from a short distance away. ”Is that you?”

Her heart beat fast, too fast, at the sound of his voice, and she took a deep breath before answering. ”Yeah, I . . . I think so. Where are we?”

”The tower's dungeon,” Kiel said. ”I a.s.sume, anyway. It's a bit hard to see in all of this darkness. Definitely smells like it, though.”

She felt around, and little bits of hay stabbed into her fingers. ”We're in jail cells?”

”Basically. I'd watch where you put your hands, by the way. The hay isn't just for sleeping on.”

Ugh. ”I . . . I was in a story. A voice told me that the Magister had Jonathan Porterhouse write me into one. Was that you, the voice I heard?”

”Um, not that I know of,” Kiel said. ”I saw the Magister push you into some pages, but I didn't know you could hear anything in there. What did this voice say?”

Bethany paused, then shook her head in the darkness. ”It's not important. Can you magic up some light or something? We need to get out of here.”

Kiel went silent.

”Kiel?” Bethany said. ”Are you okay?”

”He took my magic,” Kiel said softly. ”Just like he said he would. The Magister used the forget spell on me, and suddenly I can't remember any spells at all. I can't so much as make one finger glow.” He sighed deeply. ”I think you might have been right, before. About the Magister, and how he'd use the Source of Magic to destroy Quanterium. I never thought he'd be capable of it, but look at what he's doing.”

Bethany's eyes widened. ”So we're stuck in his dungeon with no magic and no books?”

”Not unless you count the story pages you were just trapped in. Can we go back there?”

Bethany's shoulders drooped. ”No. It wouldn't do any good. So that's it, then. We're done.”

”Not quite. There is one thing we can still do.”

Bethany slapped the hay-covered floor in frustration. ”What? Give up now before we're tossed into whatever horror novels Jonathan Porterhouse had hanging around his house?”

Kiel paused. ”Okay, I guess that's two things. Horror books, or my idea. It's a bit simpler than yours, honestly, but yours sounds more exciting!”

Bethany sighed. ”What's your idea, Kiel?”

She heard him rustling around on his side. ”I may have forgotten my magic, but the Magister must have forgotten how I took care of myself before I met him.”

”Did it involve teleportation spells?”

”Ha, no. Not many of those on the streets of Magisteria. Remember the t.i.tle of my first book?”

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