Levon trudges up the other side of the ravine and my wildest dream of having a simple plate of food, which I never knew would be such a challenge, is before me. Sort of. About a dozen wooden picnic tables are filled with all sorts of people and behind the tables are tents. Rows and rows and rows of tents. They expand behind and to the sides of the picnic tables until the dark swallows them. Bursts of fire are in the distance of each direction and one big fire pit is in the center of the tables.

“Yo, Tessa!” Levon yells. She waves and we head to her table. “So this is a campground. They’re all over the world and based around the seam. Everyone is gathering more than ever now that there’s a real problem with the seam staying shut and evil popping through.”

Firelight glints off his necklace while we sit down. “So you gave this to Levon?” I ask Tessa.

“For them, not I. Did you not friggin’ tell her?” Tessa asks Levon. She chews on gum and batts her lashes. “I’ll tell you,” she says. “It’s a gift I made for him. I forged it here, in the Otherworld with starlight ash and braided Mane’s tail. And then Siegrist blessed it so it’s like, super magical and powerful. It’s how Levon and I talk when I’m in the Otherworld and can’t get cell reception.”

“So made of mane’s tail, like a horse tail?” It’s the only question I really have to all that information. I mean, really, it makes sense why Levon touches his necklace all the time and smiles.

“No,” she says, “Like a Mane’s tail.”

Right, right. Mane’s tail. Sure.

“I gave it to him last week, right hon? Did Talis-”

Levon grimaces with either the word hon or Talis. It must be Talis because he says voice lowered, “Tessa, remember? You said you would keep it a secret.”

She rolls her eyes. “You know who I’m talking about but I’m just saying, that particular Protector is overdramatic, you know what I mean, right?” Tessa reaches for Levon’s hand and he hesitates before he places his hand in hers. “And I totes did keep it a secret. I told you, I will never ever lie to you, ever.” She pulls her hand back and pushes her plate to me. “I made a plate for you.”

“Thanks,” I say. Melted butter is pooled in the mashed potatoes and what is this? A turkey leg? It smells like it’s been smoked with a classic barbeque rub. “You sure you don’t want all this?”

“Protectors don’t eat like humans,” she says, “like Leavers.”

It’s so delicious. You know, I’ve made this exact meal before and it was grand. Mom floated around the kitchen wearing her usual bright sundress. Her bracelet charm clanked against the metal bowl while she mashed the potatoes. Did you know the key to a good mashed potato is warming the fats. Warm the milk and butter and then add it to the mashed potato. Stir, salt, a dash of fresh rosemary. The turkey leg was a new recipe for me. Separate the skin from the meat but smooth it back down. Let’s the heat crisp the skin easier. Rub with salt and pepper and paprika. Bake. Check the temperature. Let cool. My God, mom was a good cook. And thank God I have this food in my stomach while I think about her.

Oh my, oh my.

Tessa stretches her bubble gum and twirls it around her finger while she giggles at something stupid Levon said and another moment where Levon’s facial expression doesn’t quite match Tessa’s.

“Damn, sis,” Levon says. “You cleared the plate.”

“I’ve literally talked about being hungry this entire day. Obviously, I was going to eat like a boss.”

“Straight boss,” Tessa says.

Levon says, “We got to get you back to The Host but I want to tell you a story.” He looks around and talks quietly, “It’s important, I think.”

I nod. Why not, at this point? Yes, tell me a story. Any story. Tall tale, fairy tale, yellow-brick road tale. Keep them coming.

“Siegrist,” he says, “remember him?”

“Yep. Super weird guy.”

Tessa grunts while she takes a knife and carves into the wood of the table.

“Yeah, for sure but he’s a part of your training,” Levon says. “That’s what the boss said. You’ll be training with him but I want to let you know, the first day with him is going to be crazy. Tessa talked to him about your training because, she happened to mention your Protector might already be here but don’t worry, she didn’t say his name or anything. Not that Siegrist cares about names but anyways. You’re first training day is still going to be super intense because he has to unlock your magic. My first day, he had me,” he pauses, “actually, did you learn what your magic is here? Did Talis tell you? Mine is strength. Like I’m strong as hell. It’s awesome, am I right Tess?” He winks at her.

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She blows wood shavings towards me then grins at Levon. And then I cringe somewhere inside of myself.

“Anyways, you have to discover your magic during training. Only Siegrist knows what it is. He took me out in the woods and cut a tree down but he dropped it on me. Most terrifying moment of my life. But in that moment, I discovered Tessa and she unlocked my strength and together we pushed the tree off.”

“Mhm, unlock, neat. Tree falling on you. Cool.”

“No seriously. Like your charm can literally unlock your true soul and all the magic that comes with. No memories though, just who you truly are which is a friggin’ Leaver. The only thing we do remember is the face of our Protector from the past few lifes we’ve lived together. The soul we have is the one that’s from the Otherside or Heaven or whatever you want to call it.” He flicks my cheek and says, “Before we leave the Otherside and join these vessels the Angel of Oblivion hits us on the lip so we forget our former selves and focus only on the now. On the mission and tasks we have for this lifetime. But unlike true humans, we get to have this part of us unlocked before we die and it’s awesome. Just an awesome moment of revelation.”

“You’re using some high-dollar words, Levon,” I say.

“Hey, Tessa,” he says, “do you mind taking her plate to the trash?”

Dust flies in the air with a final blow of air. She wipes her hand over the table and without missing a beat, takes my plate and walks away.

“Floor is lava,” Levon whispers.

We clamber to the benches of the table. “One, two, three, four,” we say.

“Aye, aye, Captain.” Hand to my forehead while I await Levon’s command.

“Clockwise, six!”

“One, two, three, four, five, six.” The fire pit is in front of me. So are a few rocks, a tiny tree, a little log, and a paper plate. Tessa fakes a smile towards us while she talks to a human-like creature that’s as this as my finger. Its hair is wiry and its mouth has several rows of teeth inside which glint with sunlight as she laughs. Or he. Or it. I don’t know what it is but I’m about to win this game.

“And jump!”

Ah, perfect. “Check it out, Levon! I made it to the plate. Counterclockwise, four!”

“One, two, three, four,” he says before he throws his hands in the air.

“Aha! Walk the plank, ya idiot.” Levon knows well I can’t really hold him up so we pretend that he falls backwards into the ocean below our feet. “You lost. Another round? We’re one to one.”

“No, but she hates this game. Well she never used to until recently so whenever I play it, she stays far away until she’s sure the game is done.” We sit back down and Levon glances over my shoulder before he leans over the table and whispers. “Something’s wrong with Tessa.”

My brows raise with the obvious statement.

“No, for real. The day she gave me this necklace, my body has been doing weird shit. Like look,” he moves the necklace, the red streak now turning black. “And the bruise on my face? She ‘accidently’ pushed me down a ravine the other day and my face met a rock.” The rush of his gaze past my shoulder before it lands on me again sends a shiver down my spine. “I just, I can’t get ahold of mom right now to see if she knows what’s going on or if this is normal Protector stuff because they do weird stuff anyways like dad. But Tessa never has ever ever hurt me before ever and the charm she gave me before was braided from her own hair and was a bracelet and then when Tessa gave me this necklace, she burned the bracelet in a fire even though I begged her not too and Lyla, I know you can’t help me but I just need to tell someone.” He sucks in a big breath and sits back, smile plastered on his face.

“Oh my, oh my, sis.” Tessa sits next to him again. “Tessa, we need to send her back to The Host before it gets dark but I was just telling her how I’ll see her in the morning to get her ready for training.”

“Let’s walk you to the seam, at least.” The corners of her lips rise before she stands.

She takes Levon’s hand while I untangle my legs from the table. But the words Tessa carved catch my attention.

Flectere si nequeo superos, Archeronta movebo.

The leaves crunch under Levon and Tessa’s feet as they meander towards the seam. A couple where Levon is playing another ridiculous joke where his life is in peril or it’s real. Has to be a joke, has to be. But let’s consider another topic much bigger than Levon’s nonsense. I’m supposed to recognize Talis and I’ve heard this line so many times today but it doesn’t change the fact that I don’t remember his face at all. Souls live in Heaven and then come down to Earth to either the Lifeworld or Otherworld and then as a Leaver, I get to unlock all this knowledge and enjoy it. Oh, and magic. There’s that.

There is that.

Behind me. All behind me is laughter and sparks and all sorts of things. A gray creature walks around on all fours and grunts at me when it sees me looking at it. Siegrist wanders from a few tables away, eyes locked on mine, thin-lipped smile as stiff as Levon’s when he looks at Tessa. There’s a man twirling his hand and making a flower appear. He tucks it behind the ear of the woman across from him. The woman touches its petals and the flower transforms into a paper-thin dragon with no wings and no feet but it swirls up towards the tree canopy and disappears into the sun that glitters against the leaves. A kid darts past and instead of tumbling of the gray creature, she disappears and reappears on the other side of him. The trees are stranger than the things around me. They grow taller than the Redwoods I’ve visited with my family. The bark is colorful but finely. Like a translucent sheen and the colors shift subtly but so gracefully I hardly notice the tree trunk adjust with the breeze from the little girl sprinting by, laughing. Fire pits. Picnic tables. Tents and tents and tents and so many voices. Lots of laughter.

Levon and Tessa stop at the top of the ravine. She leans in and throws herself all over my brother. Laughter and squeals sound off from the gathering we walked away from. A girl who looks like she belongs in middle school stands on a table a pretends to shoot a bow and arrow at a boy just a few feet away. Kids run to adults and adults talk to old people and the old people sit with their backs against a tree with their eyes closed. Then Levon and Tessa take a break from their heat and throw their heads back in laughter too.

You know, planning their wedding in my imagination is not a beautiful, awesome image in my mind at the moment. Not endearing and not sweet.

I’ll finish this walk back to the house by myself through this creepy dark forest and over the terrifying seam if only, in the hopes that Talis will interrupt the nuptials I’m too disgusted to think about and maybe tell me about what magic I have.