Derek didn’t understand why it took until dinner time on the evening of the first day of school for the dots to connect. Probably because the day before he was tossing and turning in anticipation of his first day of senior year, and also because of the added stress of mythical CCNC characters being real and in his hometown. And that Milo was losing his ability to cast cantrips. And wondering how his family could ignore the loud boom coming from the kitchen when one of the vials of dirt blew up while Milo tried to shock it with electricity from his cantrips.

Which was why he sat gathering his beans and rice on his spoon and almost brought it to his mouth, feeling awake enough to focus when it hit him.

There was a lab at school.

Derek felt his jaw slacken. He realized the dots didn’t connect because his AP biology class was his first class of the morning, and his caffeine hadn’t kicked in at that point.

Not like Mr. Anderson helped much. It didn’t matter that Derek was taking a college level course of biology. Mr. Anderson was, simply, Mr. Anderson. There were rumors that swirled around this guy. Fired from a Phoenix area High School and divorced the same year before moving to Elmwood, a town of ten thousand residents an hour and a half away from Phoenix. The man knew his stuff, but there was the edge of bitterness to him that the most socially inept could pick up on.

“Most of you are seniors, so I recognize some of your faces. But it goes without saying that many of you need to be reminded of this. I’m not your friend, I’m your teacher,” Mr. Anderson had said that morning. He was passing out syllabus when Derek was trying to get his caffeine intake to work in his system. “And, since this is the first class of the day, no one should come in here early to waste time. You may, of course, ask questions on any homework assignments, but if you’re asking a question before class, don’t talk to me until my second cup of coffee.”

Derek could relate to that sentiment, mostly because he was barely understanding Mr. Anderson as it once. Once the syllabus was out, Mr. Anderson pulled out a fresh white board marker. “And congratulations, you’re in an AP class. There’s too much information to give you, so we have no time for fun ice breaker games.”

Derek had taken notes nonstop during the first class period. He respected Mr. Anderson’s somewhat prickly nature. The guy was in his fifties and had a constant look on his face, like he was waiting for bad news to drop any time someone approached him. But there was no denying Mr. Anderson knew about science. Sometimes Derek wondered if the man was actually a college professor.

Which is when he remembered what was in the room right next to theirs. A lab. With high school equipment, but it was better than a stove and a microwave. And maybe the booms wouldn’t be so loud.

Derek thought about Mr. Anderson, worried. There was no way his teacher would let him use the lab whenever he wanted. And there was also the genuine fear that if he ever got caught breaking in, it could look terrible on his record. He needed to go to ASU and take that alien class. Milo had been busy with a lot of experiments, but nothing was producing mana. Derek doubted anything would. Their world simply wasn’t magical, but if it wasn’t magical, they couldn’t get their mana replaced. His squishy mana fusor would turn into an even squishier target when there were actual creatures out there that could tear him apart.

“Derek?”

He couldn’t help it and jumped. He was brought back to reality, to dinner time. Amanda was giving him a worried look. “Did your first day of school go okay?”

“Yeah,” Derek said before shoving his spoon in his mouth. He smiled as he chewed. “It went fantastic.”

“Good.”

Derek got back to dinner, because he wanted the conversation to move on. Derek’s head spun with thoughts. Milo needed access to a lab. How Milo, a man who was invisible to everyone else but their CCNC group, was going to get access to a school lab, was going to be an interesting conundrum of its own.

If he wasn’t so desperate for Milo to discover mana, they’d stick with the stove and microwave. But time was ticking, and the cantrips weren’t becoming powerful anymore.

***

Evelyn wasn’t sure what woke her up. It wasn’t the buzz of her phone. It was almost instinct. Something was wrong.

Considering all the things she experienced the past weekend, there was a long list of things that could be wrong.

She sat up, looking around. It was one in the morning, and she needed her sleep, but something deep in her gut kept her awake. It was the same feeling. Something was wrong. The feeling went deeper. Evelyn needed to help, and she could solve what was wrong.

She got out of bed, throwing a robe around herself. The house was silent, and that’s when she discovered what was wrong. Clarissa was nowhere in sight. Being an elf, she just needed four hours of sleep. The druid was well rested, but also not here.

Evelyn ran to the door, throwing it open as she shoved her arms through her bathrobe. They lived on a cul-de-sac that was near an open area of desert, and she saw a tall figure out there. She shut the door and ran. She didn’t want to, and she had a feeling the dice would appear if there was any real danger, but Evelyn still wanted Clarissa back in the house.

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“Princess Clarissa,” Evelyn called as quietly as possible. No one else would see the druid, but they would see the teenager talking to nothing. “Princess, stop!” To her surprise, the druid did. Evelyn ran up to her, seeing tears racing down her cheeks. Evelyn panted as she caught up with her.

“Hello, Evelyn,” Clarissa said.

“What are you doing out here? Alone?”

Clarissa didn’t look at her. She looked at the desert in the moonlight. “It’s so dead and barren. It’s not like the forest at all.”

Evelyn looked around, trying to understand Clarissa’s point of view. “It’s nothing like the forest at all. You’re right. But it’s far from dead and barren.”

Clarissa closed her eyes, the tears continuing to fall. “Will I ever see my family again? My brother?”

Evelyn held in a sigh. The bushes rustled next to them, and she tried not to think about what it could be. If it was a tarantula, she was going to scream. “I promise to do everything to get you back. My older brother and I butt heads all the time, but I would be devastated if I could never see him again. I don’t know why this happened, but I promise you we’ll get you back.”

Clarissa nodded as she let out a little shiver, rubbing her arms. She looked every bit the princess, even while crying. Nick sometimes teased her that princesses did nothing but get waited on hand and foot, but only sometimes. The other time, Clarissa was usually saving everyone’s ass with her scimitar, her magic, and her unicorn. Evelyn didn’t recognize that woman now, because Clarissa was scared. She was so far pulled from the familiar that she needed a moment to collect herself. Evelyn yearned for the part where she saved everyone, but Clarissa already had that moment. Despite the heat of the morning on Saturday, Clarissa smashed through zombies and healed Milo twice. She pushed herself, and Evelyn knew the power of having a moment alone to collect oneself.

She also knew the power of a good friend, and Evelyn fully expected to be that for Clarissa.

She walked over to the druid, who was trying to hide the tears in her eyes. “I know the forest was your home. But… but the desert is mine.”

Clarissa quickly dried her eyes. “What?”

Evelyn gestured toward the desert. “This place has a beauty on its own. It is far from dead and barren. Just look.”

She finished drying her eyes as she looked. Evelyn wasn’t sure what Clarissa saw, but the desert was an ecosystem full of life. The bush rattled again, and if there was a spider in there of any size, she was going to scream and ruin this moment. Instead, a little mouse ran out, rushing into the open desert. Even in the moonlight, they could see for miles. They heard a cry of a hawk, no doubt terrifying the mouse that just ran from its cover.

Clarissa knelt down where she was. She touched the dirt below. It was hard, but she dug her fingers into it. She glanced around, curious, before she closed her eyes. There was a cry of a coyote that was far away, but she didn’t want it to come any closer, either. Then there was another cry of a bobcat, and Evelyn felt nervous. Yes, the desert was her home, but she also respected it.

“Not dead…” Clarissa dug her fingers deeper into the dirt. “Dead…ly.”

Evelyn couldn’t deny that. Wind blew from Clarissa’s palm, the one stuck in the ground. She began chanting something in elvish.

“What are you saying?” Evelyn asked, too afraid to speak much louder.

Something was happening with her vision. Clarissa’s character chart appeared, some words fading in and out. The chants made sense to her ears.

“This is Evelyn’s home. She has created me, and therefore, I am her protector as much as she is mine.” Goosebumps rose on Evelyn’s arm. “I invoke the right I have as a druid to become one with the domain I dwell in for a season.”

The wind picked up. Dirt and sand spiraled around Clarissa’s hands. Evelyn stared, wide eyed.

“The wood elves have served me well. There are no desert elves to give me this title. Therefore, I claim it for Evelyn, and beseech Earth Mother to give me the power of the desert.”

The sand picked up as the desert became alive with animal sounds. Evelyn backed away, terrified that she was going to get hit with a sandy wind, but it remained around Clarissa. Evelyn covered her face as a whirlwind of dirt swirled. Coyote and hawk, bats and bobcats, all cried out into the evening. Evelyn was seriously afraid of what was out here. What the druid had awakened in them. They were all screaming and screeching as Clarissa’s entire body was hidden from sight. The character sheet in her mind’s eye began erasing wood elf, and desert elf replaced it.

Words floated in front of her. She mentally went through them.

Plus one to constitution added.

Advantage on perception in harsh sunlight.

No longer takes heat damage while in harsh sunlight.

Physical changes complete.

Evelyn blinked them all away, then looked at the whirlwind before her. All at once, the sand and dirt dropped to the ground. The desert that was once screaming with life returned to its calm and quiet, but Evelyn knew what was out there. Clarissa’s green hair was gone, as were her violet eyes. Instead, she had long, golden blonde hair with striking sky-blue eyes. Her skin somehow looked both soft yet hardy. More importantly, the assured smile that Evelyn always imagined on Clarissa’s face was now there. She had a beautiful gown of the deepest blue with golden trim around the edges. It would not blend in with the desert at all, but Clarissa wasn’t one to blend in. Her fingers brushed against her crystal tiara, now fitted with sapphires to make sure it was there, even though it would always be there. She didn’t wear any shoes, but she never needed to. She was in the desert, in her domain.

Evelyn’s eyes rose to above Clarissa’s tiara. She gasped as she watched the blue mana bar fill up to the top. “Princess…”

Clarissa smiled. “I feel it too.” She lifted her hands, then shot them forth, saying a single word. A few yards away, a fire burst into existence, roaring like it had been burning for hours. “I believe I just tapped into the mana of your world.”

Evelyn stared at the fire, wide eyed, until it disappeared. Mana. Here. Clarissa found mana. She couldn’t hide the smile on her face. Another couple of sentences appeared in front of her.

Side quest complete. Princess Clarissa finds a way to not get hurt by the heat.

Evelyn blinked as it went away. “We have quests?”

In response, a section of the character information she’d never seen before popped up in her mind. The side quest was there before it dissolved. Instead, the experience point bar appeared, dropping twenty-five more points, bringing the grand total to sixty-five. Evelyn stared at it, surprised. “Huh!”