Chapter 2: The Island BoyZ

Noel found himself without a paddle and without the chance to secure a grip before the ride began. Aze effortlessly grasped underneath Abdul's thick leather collar and they set off.

With a swift pounce, Abdul sent sand flying behind the group reaching as high as the palm trees. Noel was clinging to his brother's waist, struggling to maintain his hold as they were launched into the air. They found themselves no longer on the beast's back but airborne desperately clutching on to the collar as if riding a raging bull. As Aze began to levitate so did his brother, forcing Noel to release his waist. At the last moments, Noel managed to snatch his brother’s ankle and shoe. Their bodies were now parallel with the spirit beast dangling with only a single hand holding on for dear life. The air was filled with their terrified screams, their voices echoing into the depths of peril.

“AHHHHH!” The two screamed in terror.

The jungle they passed through seemed to blur at the speeds at which they were traveling, the rustling of grass and trees booming in their ears. Ahead, the sight of the ocean came into view.

"The edge of the isles!" Aze thought, anticipating what was about to occur and bracing himself for the leap across the body of water.

A lifting motion upwards caused their stomachs to churn with illness. They were perpendicular now, and the air grew thinner. Mid-air, Abudul observed their landing spot: an island in stark contrast to the one they had just left. Glaciers and snow-covered mountains dominated the landscape, with frosted valleys below.

Looking down, they also saw the water they were leaping over transform into solid ice. The two islands were perfectly divided by this line of water and ice. The wind blowing against their faces changed abruptly, becoming strikingly cold.

Noel could no longer hang, slipping slowly.

“Let go!” Aze urged. Noel found himself losing strength quickly as he attempted to climb on his brother's pants. Aze repeated more urgently, “Let go! You’ll drag both of us down!”

Noel never realized his brother was so selfish, acting solely for his own sake. Reluctantly, he gave in to the strain on his exhausted arms. Just before releasing his grip, he yelled, “You coward!” With that, he slipped and was carried away by the current of the winds.

Abdul leveled out, with Aze comfortably readjusting on his back. With one hand in the air and the other holding onto Abdul’s collar, Aze chanted, “A person falling in the snow—that is not his way to go. So, pick him up and make him fly. Today is not the day he dies.”

Meanwhile, Noel descended uncontrollably, flipping and spinning, flailing his arms and legs. His trajectory? Straight for the ground. He inched closer to earth, and quickly he pressed his eyes not to see his demise. "Anytime now, and I should die. I didn’t even get to live. I wish I could live. I want to live. To tell my mother I loved her! To meet a girl and to kill my brother. Yes, I will kill him. This is all his fault that I'm going to die. I WILL GET MY REVENGE IN THE NEXT LIFE... IN THE NEXT ISEKAI!” Noel thought anxiously. He then had another thought, and another, and another. “This is taking a very long time. Wasn’t I almost to the ground?” he pondered.

Opening his eyes, he checked how much more time he had left on this planet. He still felt the fall, the air rushing against his entire body. However, he was no longer looking at the ground but at the sky. Falling backward because he was being carried up, Abdul and Aze weren't far behind. Noel spotted a thin translucent line barely visible to the human eye coming out of his chest and connecting to his brother's hand.

Aze turned his body toward his brother as much as he could without loosening his grip on Abdul. Then, he yanked the line, throwing his hand to his rear end as far as he could, pulling his brother back to safety as if he were tugging a fish out of water.

“You, okay?” Aze asked.

Noel had to take a breather before answering. “Yeah. I was beginning to think you weren't going to get me there.” He said this directly into his ear.

Aze giggled at the comment, “You're my brother. Why wouldn’t I save you?” He spoke. Aze repeated the remark, “I wasn’t going to get you... Why the hell would you think that? I’d save you no matter what.” His chuckle turned to hysterical laughter as they rode on.

Noel’s heart warmed first, then his stomach felt snug. He regretted the criticisms he made about his brother hugging his waist and resting his head on Aze's spine. Aze turned his head, seeing that Noel was now secure and seemingly content. Aze pointed forward, telling Abdul, “Full speed ahead!”

The group journeyed through various terrains: a desert, an oasis, canyons, rainforests, and marshes, until they reached a hilly island. Stretching out before them was a vast expanse of healthy, bright green grassland, devoid of trees, structures, or any obstructions to the view. They landed atop a cluster of hills, a junction, arranged in a circular formation. Nestled within the dips of these hills was a bustling village, teeming with homes and people. Abdul skillfully guided their descent into the valley, where the villagers greeted Aze and Noel with waves as if it were a routine occurrence.

They arrived behind their two-story home, finding themselves next to a pig pen in the backyard. Upon landing, the pigs shrieked. "Be quiet, you guys," Aze urged, but the pigs only grew louder. "SHHH!” Aze said it as quietly as possible. “Look, I’ll get you two loads of food instead of one tomorrow, okay?" Aze pleaded to appease the noisy animals.

One of the pigs on all fours stood up, crossing his front leg, or in this case, arms, and telling Aze, “Two loads of grub? For everyone, right?”

“Well, I mean... We are running a bit low. How about half of you can have two, and then I’ll get the other half later?” The pigs raged once more. This time louder than before. “Alright, calm down. Yes, of course, sir.” Aze rolled his eyes. “Everyone can have as much food as they want now. Just shut up.”

The pig’s leader reposed and went back to the ground and said, “Nice dealing with you, Aze.” Aze and Noel walked away. “By the way.” He said it in a menacing way, with a smirk and a glare in his dark eyes. “Your mother’s washing dishes. Better hope she doesn't find out.”

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“Okay?” Noel said, and they walked away.

Noel went to Aze’s ear, telling him, “Do they know we eat them?”

Aze replied quietly, “I'm not entirely sure anymore. But I want him next.”

Aze opened his satchel from his waist side and before getting to the door put it on the ground. Only seconds later, two teenagers crawled out and expanded the purse. One was yawning, and the other was smoking out of a wooden pipe.

“Were you smoking inside?” Aze was offended, but still very quietly.

Luca and Jonah quickly look at each other and back at their brethren with different answers.

“Yes,” said Luca, and “no,” Johan said.

Aze scolded the two saying, “That was not a part of the agreement we had”

"Chill out. We’re sorry, Aze.” Jonah went into his pocket, flipping a silver coin to Aze. “For the troubles.” Aze went to catch the coin, but he missed. He picked up the coin and acted like nothing happened, clearing his throat that didn’t need to be cleared.

“Later Aze.” Luca said, waving his hand as the two teensters walked away.

Aze pulled the horn from his belt, blowing into it. “Call me whenever you need me.” Abdul disappeared into thin air.

Noel waved goodbye before he left.

“See you, buddy.”

Noel and Aze exchanged glances and silently concurred. They looked at each other and nodded. With synchronized feet, they tiptoed towards the back door, slipping into their home without uttering a word. Waiting for them at the door was their mother, Herra, a female version of Noel. With her blond, curly hair, soft facial features, pale white skin, and slender frame, just like her boy, she stood visibly angry and disappointed at the same time. She tried to contain her rage. She asked the two boys, "Where have you two been?"

Aze attempted to lie, saying, “No, we were... We've been here the entire time, feeding the pigs.” Aze stuttered and pointed at the window where the pigs were sleeping in the mud.

“That’s the best you can do. You were feeding the pigs... I fed an hour ago?”

Aze gasped as he looked out of the kitchen window at the pigs. Under his breath, he muttered, “Those pigs are so evil.”

"Noel, to your room, now! I'll speak to you later," their mother commanded. Noel was more than happy to oblige, rushing upstairs. Aze tried to follow closely behind; his head hung low, hoping to evade any serious consequences. Just as he thought he might escape with a slap on the wrist, he felt a grip on the collar of his shirt and pulling him in it choked him. "Not you," Herra stated, bringing her attention back to the troublemaker child.

“I love you, mom!” Noel said this from up in his room.

Aze walked to the living room area, where a fire burned in its chimney's heart. The ambiance was the logs chirping in that fire as his mother sat him on the rugged couch. “You’ve been going to the Isles, haven’t you?” His mother asked in all seriousness.

Aze crossed his arms, looking away from his mother. He held his breath and sweat came pouring down his head. He wanted to lie, but both he and she knew he couldn't, and even if he tried, it would be a bad one. Aze released his breath, being strong, and spoke the truth to his mother. “Yes.” She sat next to him, rubbing his back. She was no longer angry; she realized that being mad wasn’t going to get to the bottom of Aze’s disobedience.

“You're not in trouble, although what you did was against the rules. I'm sure the elders are going to be angry at this one, that's for sure." Aze's ear perked, not liking the sound of that. "And taking your little brother, he would never attempt such an act.” Aze had a humiliated look in response to the truth being spoken. Herra softly said she didn’t want him to feel shameful. “What I’m trying to say is, why? Why, go there?”

Aze reflected back and said, “I just wanted to see what was beyond the boundaries of this stupid old place.”

"Beyond?" His mother asked in shock. "No one is allowed beyond, and you know why, don't you?" A moment of silence lingered before they both voiced the reason simultaneously. "If the outside world discovers the secrets of magic, we could all be in danger," they echoed in unison. Herra continued, her tone grave, "The people out there, in the outside world—they aren’t like us, Aze. They would either consume you whole or cast you out, stripping you of all dignity along the way."

A rebuttal came from Aze, his tone defiant as he stated, “How do you know? What if they are like us? Who cares if they're not? You don’t know. You believe what everyone else on this stupid little rock does. I know it's not the truth." Under his breath, he added, "I know it's not."

Herra didn’t want to get into a full-blown argument, changing the topic. “In one week is your 14th birthday.”

Aze anticipated what was to be said next—perhaps something about his upcoming ceremony, marking his transition into a full-fledged magician, a milestone according to society's standards. Alternatively, his mother and father would express pride in Aze's accomplishments and his dedication to his mage duties. But what she didn't know—what no one knew—was that Aze didn’t aspire to be a magician. Throughout his life, his family, friends, and everyone else around him spoke as if this destiny were inevitable, as if his path were predetermined. It was their desire, not his.

Herra continued on, “Your father will attend your Magika Ceremony next weekend.”

“Why should he?” He put his head down towards the floor, saying, “He’s barely been around. I haven't seen him in 5 years! Noel has only met him twice in his whole life.”

Herra explained, “Your father is on a mission that very few can do. He’s protecting us.”

Aze’s face wasn’t shown, but his mother saw his tears dripping onto the floor one by one, creating a small puddle on the floorboards. “So, he can’t be here for us? It’s a load of crap! If he really wanted to see us, he would be here right now.” Aze's outburst startled his mother. Aze had never expressed this much to his mother; she never knew this is how Aze felt. She went to reach for her son, but he got up from the couch, running up the stairs to his room, then slamming the door shut. Herra tried everything to avoid this response—being gentle with Aze, not angry, changing the conversation—but the outcome was disastrous either way.

Here in his room, Aze finally let everything out. He made a firm decision—he would never become a magician. With determination in his eyes, he rushed to the far end of his room and lifted a part of the floorboard, revealing a single scroll displayed underneath. Gingerly, he picked it up and began to unravel the cylinder, exposing a spell for teleportation. This, he knew, was his one-way ticket out of here.

Though thoughts of leaving Tamari had crossed his mind before, they had always been fleeting, returning only in moments of uncertainty. However, Aze had never seriously considered it until now. He had been told about force fields at the edge of Tamari's boundaries, designed to keep everyone within apparently safe and sound. That's why he had stolen this scroll from his father’s private room when he first saw it. It was as if he had acted on instinct, as if he had always known deep down that he wouldn’t live up to his parents' expectations and that he was destined to leave this little ole village called Tamari.

He didn’t need to pack anything; everything he needed was already inside his satchel. It contained hundreds of pairs of clothes in various sizes, food that would last him for years, and items to keep him distracted. Over the years, he had gathered survival essentials, knowing that one day he might need them.

With everything in place, all that remained was to utter the magic words, "Goodbye," one final time.