Nope, you are strong, you can overcome anything, even your mistakes. I breathed deeply. But what if you let everyone down? More and more worries filled my brain. I lay on the floor and looked up at the ceiling. I focused on one point.

“Zoe needs you, Berry’s depending on you, everybody is.” I whispered to myself. Just as I was about to get up and brush myself off to appear normal, I heard Tommy’s voice talking about how me and Zoe had gone in the secret room but he didn’t know how because it was rusted shut. I smiled, Tommy was going to be shocked.

I waved my hand and melted the rust off the doors. I then used air to swing them open.

“Whoa!” Parker jumped.

“What just happened? How did you?”

I laughed.

“That was all an illusion. Just focus on it being fake. You need to make yourself believe that it is fake. Like this.” I focused on a piece of the wall paper and it disappeared.

“That is so cool!” Tommy and Parker went off to explore more of the illusions. I shared a small smile with Eva, I could tell she wished to be a child, ignorant of everything around them, only focusing on the joy and fun in the world. It couldn’t happen now, there were much too many problems in the world for me to worry about.

Me and Eva were walking some distance behind Tommy and Parker when they gasped.

“Um Joe!” I ran over and almost had a heart attack. Tommy and Parker had unknowingly opened a secret passageway in the wall and inside, huddled in a corner was the little man that had burned me. He still had the little stick with a hot metal on it. He was covered in soot, from head to toe. He seemed dazed and weary. He saw us and backed up, putting his hands in the air.

“Stand back.” I ordered Tommy and Parker. I put a wind wall in between them and me, and also in between me and the man.

“Put the weapons down!” The little man obeyed, shaking with fear.

“What are you doing in there and how did you get in there?”

“I, I don’t know. The master- I mean Kevin ordered me to run and I did. I collapsed after getting as far away as possible. I woke up here and have been here for I don’t know how long.”

I did some calculations in my head. If what he was saying was true then he had been in here for at least a full day with no water or food. His scrawny body did make up for that though.

“Are you hungry?” I wanted a chance to put him asleep.

“Not really, I feel the same as when I left Kevin’s palace. I don’t think that we feel hunger in here.”

I was almost certain that this was a trap but I couldn't help myself.

I walked in and the small man lunged at me faster than I could react.

I heard Tommy scream in the distance and a sharp burning pain erupted in my ribs. I crumpled to the ground and saw Parker run in, fearless, he let the metal rod hit him then reflected it back at the little man. The little man screamed and fell over. Tommy helped me up and Eva came from nowhere followed by medical people. They wrapped me up and I thanked Parker and Tommy profusely. Tommy tied up the little man with some string. I wondered where he had gotten that.

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Somebody must have notified Zoe because she appeared very soon after, heaving for no apparent reason. She should have been flying, not running! It was like 5 miles, I had seen how she ran before and trust me, she would not make it.

“Bro! You're going to get yourself killed one day! You have to be more careful and not listen to the bad people. How could you fall for that?”

“Yada yada yada, I know I know!”

“But look at you! You have an invisible cast which you spcast illusion over to make it seem real, you had a hole in your hand so you have a cast on it, you had a burn mark on your neck and not you have a hole or something in your body. You may think that you're all invincible and all that but just, I need you. Joe, I can’t afford to lose you after…” Zoe trailed off.

“After what?” I asked.

“Nothing, it’s nothing.”

“Are you sure?” I studied Zoe’s face. She had a mixture of sadness, guilt, and regret on her face.

“Yes it’s fine, don’t worry.”

“So um Eva, Tommy, and Parker. Do you guys want to stay here or go back?” As they were considering their choices, a sudden thought came to mind.

“Psst!” I called Zoe over to a discreet spot.

“So Tommy is king now just by himself but the library ground was laced in red and lime green. I think those are Tommy and Parker’s colors. If they leave, who would be king though?”

Zoe looked troubled.

“Both Tommy and Parker must be very powerful to become kings the second they arrive. Unless…” she trailed off.

“Unless what?”

“Unless, they had a plan and were secretly together as kings before.”

I mulled this over. If that was true, then how had Eva not known. Maybe she was in on the plan too?”

“Hey Joe? I think that we want to stay here but my mommy wants to go back. She can come visit right? Or maybe we can go over?”

“Yes! Of course! That will be just fine.” Me and Zoe let them have their goodbyes and then the three of us flew back.

There was very little talk on the way home except occasionally I would grunt or groan in pain and Zoe would guiltily say sorry, I would then reply with no problem. When we got to the palace, I realized that the workers were much faster and more skilled than I had first thought. The whole palace was almost rebuilt, it looked much bigger and more magical than before. With a huge moat that had crocodiles being dumped in it and large tall watch towers, the palace stood out. Even though there were churches and other buildings in the surrounding, it was much taller and majestical than before.

Zoe set offered to take us inside but Eva declined. Zoe set her on the ground and she set off on foot, walking at a brisk pace. I could tell that she held herself to a high standard and was proud of it. Zoe flew me to the hospital room where I had been just hours earlier, getting a cast put on my hand. Eva walked past the hospital room and disappeared into a hallway. Stephanie came running from the hallway, panting and out of breath.

“Oh thank goodness! I thought you wouldn’t come back! And when the reports came in that Joe was hurt!? I almost had a heart attack and died myself!” She looked down at my pathetic body, with one leg amputated, a cast that was cracked and broken, and now a gash in my ribs that had gauze wrapped around it, gauze soaked in blood and sweat.

“Oh goodness honey, what happened to you!” I tried to speak and remembered my burn mark, a reminder of the evil in the building.

“Here this is going to hurt so I will put you under.” The nurse gave me a shot in my wrist before I could react and I fell into the darkness.

I dreamed that I was somebody else, they ran past a hospital room that had a person that looked oddly like me. We zoomed past, chasing after a dark figure. He had blond hair, bright orange shoes, black trousers and a neon orange shirt. I felt that I knew who this person was but I just couldn’t place it. We started flying, gaining on him ever so slowly. When we were just about to catch him, something flew out of nowhere and knocked us out of the way. The person turned around and I saw his eyes, a bright baby blue color. He smiled, and his perfectly inline teeth showed. He moved his hands and a pile of rubble came flying at me. I flew backwards and tried to move but I was stuck. More and more rubble piled onto me until I was so trapped I couldn’t move, and could hardly breathe.

I woke up from my dream and saw Berry running down the hallway. It suddenly came to me that I had been in her body and that she had been trying to chase down Kevin. I tried to sit up but found out that a was strapped to the medical bed. I yanked with all my strength and it finally came true. I ran as fast as I could, following the path in my mind that I had from my dream. I started to pull the rubble off the pile that Berry was buried under.