Wander regained his consciousness upon hearing the whispers of his friend and Ignitus. He felt somewhat disconnected from his body, as if his mind was a liquid yet to fill up the shell. Turning his head, he saw Maria sitting with her back against him. Ignitus was leaning on the wall, arms crossed, frowning. " Fulish will not be happy about this. We promised not to reveal each other's location." He said.

            " Is that promise bound by a blood contract?" asked Maria.

            Ignitus shook his head.

            " Then you can break it."

            " It's not a matter of where I can break it or not. I don't want to break it. I promised that child."

            " I see."

            The room fell into silence with the only source of sound being the crackling fire from the hearth, whose light danced on the walls. Wander sank into the softness of the bed; the cozy atmosphere induced a drowsiness feeling in him. He wished one of them would say something. His wish was answered by Ignitus. " How old are you? No sixteen-year-old girl can fight like that."

            " I'm more than a century old. Don't ask for a specific number. It's rude to ask an old lady her age," she said then chuckled.

            " Strange. I have never seen or heard of you. You are too powerful to remain undetected."

            " It's easier than you think."

            Ignitus frowned."Anyhow, why do you want to find Fulish?"

            " He's keeping something of mine. I need to take it back."

            " He stole it from you?"

            " Someone stole it from me then gave it to him. I need that thing back to discover the thief."

            " What is that thing, actually?"

            " I cannot reveal that piece of information. Its name alone is too dangerous to be said."

            " So Fulish is keeping something of that caliber and all along other familiars knew nothing about it. That child is still good at hiding stuffs from his comrades."

            " I don't suppose he knows what that thing is. Let's just say in the eyes of strangers that item is nothing special. But who knows, he may have already figured out how to use it and is planning to show his new power during the crowning ceremony of the next Eternalia Regis."

            Ignitus walked towards the hearth, his arms crossed behind his back. His large build overshadowed the fire. " Only less than two years left for me to choose someone," his voice turned soft." I'm really tired of that title. Fulish, Kaze, Aniu, and others, we have grown distant because of that Eternalia Regis stuff. Those guys have a cult for themselves now, while this old man becomes a recluse living amidst fynbos."

            " This place is not so bad, you know? I mean, it's cozy, and warm, and homely," Maria said with an upbeat voice." What's so bad about living alone?"

            " I'm the socially needy type. I crave connection. Living on my own does not help."

            " Then why don't  you leave?"

            " I just...can't quite fit in with the world now."

            Maria stood up, moving to Ignitus' side.

            " Let's make a new promise then. You reveal to me Fulish's location, and I... give you the last volume of Until That Day."

            Ignitus turned his head at Maria, his eyes widening, his mouth half-open. Wander could feel how hard he tried to utter a reply.

            " How? But..."

            " Every question is irrelevant. I just want to give you the last volume. And to be honest, even if you refuse, I will still leave the book with you. Just to make life seem fairer, perhaps you will partake in this exchange?   

            Maria glanced at Ignitus. The fire reflected upon her eyes.

            " Yes, I will." Ignitus answered with a slight nod.

______________________________________________________________________________

            When Wander and Maria left the cave, the moon was still shining. The field had returned to its usual calmness, and the heat was no more. Vuur successfully transformed into an idyllic picnic site instead of a hellfire on earth.

            Maria observed the surrounding. Her hands illuminated. "Can you dispel your Halcyon for a minute? It's troublesome to cross space when it is twisted." She said.

            Ignitus nodded at her. He raised his hands, clenched his fists; the spell layer disintegrated quietly.

            "Time to go, Wander."

            Wander turned to Ignitus. "Thank you for not killing me. It's been super cool to meet a legend." He said. "And what a nice field you have!"

            " Well, good fertilizer can do anything," Ignitus smirked."Little demon,  I've not let you off the hook yet. We'll meet again."

            Wander smiled and nodded at Ignitus. He ran towards Maria, looking back twice to see the melancholy face of the familiar.

            " Goodbye, old lady and little demon." Ignitus waved at the two.

            The light from Maria's hands engulfed the two. " Goodbye," she whispered as the scenery faded to white. "Vuur."

______________________________________________________________________________

            Wander and Maria emerged in an alley, behind a dumpster. Wander winced at the putrid odor. He said, observing the surroundings. "I had expected you to land us in another forest."

            Maria did not reply. She lifted the impact lid, jerking her thumb at the dumpster. "Jump in."

            Wander stared at the girl with his eyes wide open. He sighed, climbing into the dumpster. With his eyes closed, he let himself fall into the pitch black bottom. Maria jumped after him.

            Contrary to his expectation, his body did not sink under layers of rotten vegetables, decomposing meat or questionable liquid.  He opened his eyes and saw light down below. He extended his arms towards it; to him that light was somehow mesmerizing. He glanced at Maria, and noticed she was looking at him. She smiled, pointed at the light. "Heaven," said she.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

            Wander shook his head. He knew too well what that is. The dumpster was a gate that led into a Halcyon. One that he might have never seen before. He had been to Nova Scotia before on a field trip with his schoolmates, and Washington also.  Those were the only Halcyons he visited aside from New York.

            Thinking about New York reminded him of the two friend he left back home. He had never missed Aria and Hiatus as much as he did now, which surprised him, considering he had been away from them for at most 3 hours.  They helped him escape, and even though the attempt was a failure, he still appreciated their loyalty. His heart sank as he thought of Hiatus' and Aria' faces when he revealed to them he was a demon, when he hid the truth from them.  He bit his lips, realizing he had left without saying anything to them, and one day he had to tell them the truth about Jonathan. What would they say, what would they do, what faces would they make, Wander kept wondering. Ten years of friendship, built upon thousands of truths and one big lie, one day might crash because of that one lie. Wander did not want to part from his two friends.

            The other side of the dumpster was an empty alley, except for a vending machine Maria and Wander walked out of.  Wander looked up and noticed this halcyon was limited in size. The layer was only 40 meters above his head. " Where are we?" He asked.

            " A hidden Halcyon. Earth Realm, San Francisco. Stick with me. This place is quite small; you may accidentally traverse the Halcyon and end up in Earth," said Maria.

            Wander nodded. As he walked by Maria's side, he heard the sound of waves again.  He saw a dock just few meters  away from him. This time he was sure no one was filtering the water, since in front of him lied a port and the Pacific Ocean.

            The  port seemed to have been abandoned for years.  Rusted anchors leaned against dilapidated cabins. The wood planks under Wander's feet had become the home for mosses. A musty smell perverted the air; rats gnawed on  pieces of junks lying around. No ship or boat was present.

            Wander glanced at Maria. She had regained the pensive look on her face. Only this time it had a tinge of sadness. Her downcast eyes was fixed on the surface of the ocean.

            Mustering his courage, Wander broke the silence. " You were not telling the truth back then, weren't you?"

            Maria turned to look at him with the stares of a drowsy person. " What do you mean?"

            "You know, when you told him his place was cozy. To me, it indeed was. But you didn't think so. "

            The girl closed her eyes, letting out a soft sigh. She turned her face away from Wander. " How do you know?"

            "Intuition." Wander shrugged his shoulder.

            Wander could not tell the girl that when she was saying those words to Ignitus, he found her voice oddly familiar to that of Nito, the voice the Exsomnis was using when he promised to get Wander out of New York with him. Wander wondered if when people lied and made false promised, their tones converged. He wondered if he was using the same tone when he talked to Aria and Hiatus.

            " Maria," Wander clenched his fists." Please tell me what I did to Jonathan."

            " You banged your head against a rock, then blamed it all on him." Maria replied instantly.

            Wander stared at Maria with eyes wide open. He looked up, then down.  There was no inner screaming, aching remorse, vindictive glee, just emptiness swelling inside him.

            " It's horrible that I did such a thing. But... I can't feel anything. In my memory, I did not do it. Yet I know I did do it."

            Maria glanced at him. " It's meaningless to say it's horrible if you don't really feel that way."

            " So I must have really pushed my sister down the stairs" Wander murmured.

            Maria frowned. " What is wrong with you, boy?"

            " I really don't know."

            Wander looked up at the sky. Even though the Halcyon had blurred everything outside, he knew it still must be early. For the past hours, he had traveled past so many time zones that it had disorientated his sense of time. It felt like days had passed since he left New York.

            " What are we doing here?" he asked.

            " Waiting for our ride."

            " Can't you just teleport us there?"

            " Hawaii is among the many territories that I have not marked. I can't travel to a place I have not marked."

            " I was thinking you could pop up anywhere in the world."

            " Eastern Russia, Southern China, Southeast Asia, North Africa, Mexico, to name a few region I cannot travel to. Not to mention other realms."

            Wander scratched his head." Oh yeah, I think it's time you explain to me why you activated that Demex machine back in New York."

            Maria's answer was interrupted by the sound of water splitting in two, signaling the arrival of their ride. From beneath the ocean, a submarine emerged. Its length was that of 5 buses combined, its width the length of a container. On its side was the name, N.Y.L. Wander could tell the submarine he saw was only the tip of the vehicle. The rest of this thing must still be under the surface.

            The water in front of Maria and Wander froze, creating a path towards their ride. The hatch of the submarine was unlocked and a man in white blouse stepped out to greet the two.

            He nodded at the Maria and Wander, but  extending his hand only towards the former. " Welcome on board, lady Gwendolyn. Your room has been prepared." He said with a smile.

            " Good day. You must be new here. Nobody calls me lady anymore." Maria smiled.

            " My boss will kill me if I call you Maria, my lady."

            " She won't know about it. Okay, we waste enough time here. Let's head for Hawaii."

            " Right away, my lady. Please follow me, I will show you to your room."

----------------------------------------

We are coming close to the end. Which will be a mess.