154 Home Again (2/2)

\”We're really home, right?\” Ty asked.

His question sent my mind back to the here and now, and I joined him in glancing back at the center of the circle of stones where we'd magically popped out of.

\”Yeah, we're home, man,\” I said, patting him in the back.

\”All your stories about the Fayne… It was all so out-of-this-world that a part of me never really believed it, you know?\” he admitted, lowering his head as he did. \”And there I was, a slave…\”

My brow furrowed. I couldn't let Ty spiral down into a depression similar to Luca. He, at least, got out, even if he does have to come back every night from today onward.

\”It's not all bad, dude,\” I said placating. \”You can use magic. You're like the only human in both worlds who can.\”

Ty turned his face toward me and I could see the sheepish grin on his face. The sight of it made me laugh which in turn made him laugh, and we continued to laugh until our stomachs hurt.

\”If you forget the bad stuff… like the whole torture and slavery bit, it kind of feels like we're in one of those transmigration novels that are super famous now,\” Ty said.

\”Sure… if we forget the bad stuff, I see that comparison,\” I laughed again.

Ty scratched his head. \”Yeah… you think I'll get a harem?\”

I smacked him in the shoulder.

\”Why would you get a harem before me, dumbass,\” I countered. Then my mind drifted off to that special place where I kept a mental image of a pretty blonde elf with blue eyes and a smile that lit up any room she was in. A lopsided grin formed on my face. \”Definitely a lot of pretty fairies to start a harem with.\”

\”Definitely,\” Ty agreed. \”But you know they make them fine over here too.\”

His words reminded me of that scene I saw in my vision of Ty confessing his feelings for Arah, and I suddenly realized that we had zero time to lounge on the grass.

\”Ty,\” I called. \”We gotta go tell everyone you're safe, dude.\”

\”Um, yeah… sure… but, you think it'll really be okay?\” he asked.

\”Aura assures me that this is how it's always been done whenever people get abducted and then return from the Fayne,\” I assured him.

\”People are just supposed to forget that I was gone for more almost a month? Just like that?\” he asked.

I pointed to the rune Aura and Varda had placed on Ty's forehead. \”The Jinx of Disremembering is a powerful spell that alters the minds of anyone who sees you into thinking you weren't gone at all.\”

\”Why is it a jinx again?\” Ty asked as he touched his forehead.

\”Because it's like a curse that is passed on from those who meet you to others who haven't,\” I explained. \”Basically. You're the virus carrier and you infect a few people who will eventually infect everyone in town with Ty-titus.\”

I laughed at my own explanation. Ty didn't.

\”That's some powerful magic,\” Ty gulped.

\”Don't worry…\” I pulled out the pebble that Varda had given me. On its surface was another rune that held the Curse of Remembering. \”There's one person who won't forget.\”

Ty and I made our way out of Elfwood Forest, but neither of us went home. No, our first stop was three blocks away from my house, on a cul-de-sac where one could find an ultra-modern home.

I rang the doorbell while Ty hid from sight.

When she answered the door, Arah's eyes were red with recent tears.

I sighed and then offered her the runestone. \”It's okay now. I promise. Just hold onto this for a bit.\”

Arah took the stone in my hand while looking confused. She turned it over and saw the rune on its surface.

I watched as it flashed once like a blinking LED light. Satisfied that she wouldn't forget, I called Ty over.

He arrived with both his hands in the pockets of the breeches we'd given him back at the Undercroft. In fact, he looked like a cosplayer who was lost on his way to some fantasy-con. His reddening face, however, showed all the worry of a teenage boy about to meet the girl.

Arah looked at Ty in surprise and then with sudden recognition. Then she looked over to me. And finally, after weeks of coldness, I saw the anger melt away from her face.

There were no words. She simply grabbed the both of us with her hands and gave us the biggest, warmest hug you could imagine. And for those few moments, all was right in the world again.