Addie’s magic cut out, and she and Squishy were abruptly forced out of Realmspace. Addie was still screaming when she reappeared in Auntie’s living room.
Upon noticing the familiarity of Auntie’s living room, Addie put her hand on her chest and took a deep breath as she started to control her breathing again.
“That was crazy! Did you see that thing, Squishy?”
“I’m sorry, my lady, but neither my eyes nor my spatial sense detected anything unusual.”
Addie’s heartbeat began to slow and her adrenaline began to fade, yet the silhouette of the monster still stood out in her memory. It had stood on two legs like a man, but that was about where the similarities ended. It had been hunched over, with a curve of its spine, and it had dark green skin. The face had looked more like a pig with razor-sharp teeth, and it didn’t have any hair on its body. Addie remembered its yellow eyes staring directly into her soul just before Realmspace pushed her out. Reappearing in reality reminded Addie of escaping a stressful dream by forcing herself to wake up.
“It was really disgusting looking.” Addie decided aloud.
“Nettal, are you ok?” Addie turned her head around and looked behind her.
The empty living room rug greeted her. Addie looked all around the room, at the two couches, and the various lamps around the room, but she didn’t see Nettal anywhere.
“Uh oh.”
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At first, Addie didn’t understand the full scope of the problem. In the first place, they hadn’t walked very far. This was reflected by the fact that Addie reappeared in the living room after the trio had started in Nettal’s bedroom. Addie thought that maybe Nettal had just reappeared somewhere else nearby, maybe she had run off in the time Addie wasn’t paying attention.
Addie searched throughout the whole house, the bathroom, their bedroom, the kitchen— Addie even checked all the closets, but she didn’t see Nettal anywhere. The longer she couldn’t find Nettal, the more stressed out Addie became.
It started as a slight worry, that maybe Nettal wasn’t back in reality. But the slight worry grew and grew until Addie was frantically running all around looking everywhere she could think of.
With a slam of the door, Addie barged into Auntie’s office, “Have you seen Nettal?”
“I thought you girls were playing together?”
“Um, yeah, but I can’t find her.”
“Well, she’s not in here. Is everything ok?” Auntie must have picked up on Addie’s concern.
Addie gulped, “Uh, hmhm,” she nodded her head, “Everything’s ok.” Addie felt guilty about lying, but she still felt that Nettal was probably nearby. That’s what she told herself, at least.
Addie sprinted out of the room without bothering to close the door. Christena was off visiting her dad right now, so she couldn’t ask her maid if she’d seen Nettal, either. Addie ran out of the house and started searching the nearby swamp, just the outer perimeter near the mansion. She sent Squishy off to scout out a bit deeper into the swamp, but by then, it seemed pointless. There’s no way Nettal could have run off so far during the brief moment that Addie had been distracted and screaming at the weird creature.
“Oh no,” Addie repeated.
With a small tug on her soul bond, she told Squishy to come back.
She started talking the second Squishy was back, “She’s still in Realmspace! She has to be. But, that doesn’t make any sense! My magic completely ran out!” Addie was pacing as she vented.
Squishy sat patiently and just listened.
“We have to help her! She hates the dark. I can’t imagine being alone with that thing and not being able to see! Oh no. This is really bad.”
Squishy rubbed his side up against Addie’s leg, “Fret not, little one. Let’s go save her.”
“Alright. Ok. Yeah, let’s go.” Addie shook out her whole body and then started to focus on her soul.
The pair put their whole effort into building up their magic, just like that time Addie forced Christena out of the basement and into Realmspace. She built and built the magic until her soul strained against the rebound pressure, and then she built the magic even more.
Their magic seemed to click into place, and the duo were forced out of reality.
Realmspace was as dark as ever, and Addie realized she had forgotten the stupid lamp.
They didn’t find her.
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With a heavy heart and strong feelings of guilt, Addie prepared to knock on Auntie’s office door. Even Squishy seemed to be drooping.
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“I blame my own lack of foresight,” Squishy had said.
Addie blamed herself for not keeping a hold of Nettal’s hand. If she had just kept holding on tight, they wouldn’t have gotten separated. If she had told Auntie right away instead of scrambling all around trying to find Nettal herself, maybe Nettal would have been home by now. Addie blamed her own selfishness for not wanting to get in trouble.
Now, it was only going to be worse. She should have been honest from the moment she realized something had gone wrong. Only now, about two hours after Nettal disappeared, was Addie finally going to tell Auntie the truth.
Addie’s hands shook as she reached out to knock on the door, her palms slick with sweat. Each beat of her heart thundered in her ears, louder than she ever remembered it being. She didn’t know how Auntie would react when she learned it was Addie’s fault that Nettal was missing. But it hurt her so much more inside knowing that Nettal was scared and all alone without any help.
Addie knocked on the door to Auntie’s office.
“Come in.” Auntie projected through the door.
Addie shuffled her feet inside, with her eyes downcast.
“Oh sweetie, why are you crying? Do I need to give Nettal a stern talking to?”
Addie sobbed. This wasn’t the time for Auntie to be concerned about Addie.
“Nettal,” Addie hiccupped, “She’s gone.”
Auntie stood up and ushered Addie into the room, “What do you mean, she’s gone? I thought you two were playing?” Auntie seemed concerned about Nettal being gone, but she was also surprisingly tender with Addie, kneeling in front of her and holding her hand.
“It’s my fault,” Addie rubbed her eyes and looked away, “We went into Realmspace together, but she got stuck there and now I can’t find her.”
The concern on Auntie’s face grew wider, “Did you leave her there on purpose?”
“No!” Addie nearly shouted at the thought, “I thought she came back with me! But after a little bit, I realized she wasn’t here. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have brought her there.”
“Did you know that Realmspace was dangerous?” Auntie asked.
“No.” Addie said simply, “I thought it was empty.”
“Oh dear child, it’s not your fault.” Auntie hugged Addie tightly, “You did a good job coming here and telling me the truth.”
A stab of pain pierced through Addie’s heart. ‘I should have told her about Nettal sooner. I shouldn’t be the one getting comforted.’ Addie thought morosely.
She pushed against Auntie’s shoulder and separated herself a bit, “We have to find her.”
“I’m going to find her. You stay here and recover for a while.” Auntie put on a mask with a confident smile, but Addie could tell she was worried, too.
“What if you get stuck in Realmspace, too? Then I really won’t know what to do! You have to take me with you so I can hold your hand and make sure you don’t get lost.” Addie’s sincerity bled through into her tone.
“When you told me about your powers the other day, you said that the amount of time you can spend in Realmspace is limited, is that correct? That after a little while, your magic runs out and you are forced back into reality?” Auntie asked.
Addie nodded her head in confirmation.
“I don’t think Nettal is in Realmspace. I’m going to search through the swamp. It’s my Area, after all. Don’t worry, I’ll find her quick.”
“You really think Nettal is in the swamp somewhere?” Addie was hopeful that Auntie was right. Nettal would hate being stuck in dark Realmspace.
“I started searching the swamp the moment you told me she was missing.” Auntie put on a gentle smile.
Then, she put on a faraway look for a moment. “I found her.”
“Really!” Addie was excited now.
Auntie scrunched her face and Addie saw a flash of fear in her eyes. The next moment, Auntie turned her head back to Addie and put her gentle smile back on. Addie thought it looked fake. The same kind of face adults would give her when something is terribly wrong, but they don’t want to upset the little child in the room.
“I’ve found her. I’m going to be right back while I get her, ok Addie? You stay here at the mansion.”
Auntie’s viollow flapped her wings from her position on Auntie’s shoulder and flew out the window at a blindingly fast speed.
Addie remembered the last time an adult told her to wait patiently. That was when she thought her dad would handle the situation in the basement by himself. That was an awful memory.
“No! Let me come. I want to help.”
Impatience bore itself across Auntie’s face, “Addie, I need you to be a good girl and stay here now, ok? We don’t have time to argue right now.”
Addie agreed they couldn’t waste time, but she still felt indignant. Addie had to help.
“I will join your Aunt for her search, Addie.” Squishy looked up at Addie with earnest eyes.
“Fine, I’ll stay here.”
A weight seemed to lift from Auntie’s shoulders, her posture softening.
“But take Squishy with you. He can talk to me while you two get Nettal.” Addie crossed her arms as if to say ‘I dare you to disagree.’
A bit of annoyance flashed back onto Auntie’s face, but she acquiesced anyway.
Auntie sighed, “Alright. Come now Squishy. I won’t have you fall behind.”
Squishy jumped up onto Auntie’s shoulders much like he would do for Addie. He really seemed like a cat up there, and Addie smiled a bit for the first time today.
After Squishy was positioned, Auntie didn’t even bother to walk out the door. Auntie left Addie gaping as she jumped out of the second-story window.
Addie rushed over to the window to look down and already saw Auntie rushing off in a sprint. However, it felt like she was much faster than she ought to be. Her bare feet kicked up swamp mud leaving a giant trail of ick in her wake as she zoomed out of sight within just a few seconds.
“Wow.”
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Addie was waiting by the mansion door to greet Auntie and Nettal when they returned. Auntie had only been gone for around twenty minutes when Squishy told Addie over the bond that they had found her.
According to Squishy, Nettal had just been lying in a random spot in the swamp, with mud all over herself. The plants nearby had taken on what Squishy called, ‘an honor guard formation’ and looked, ‘intimidatingly strong and ready to ward off any potential foes’.
Auntie hadn’t slowed down for even a moment before reaching Nettal.
Now, watching Auntie approach the mansion at a fast walk while holding Nettal in her arms, Addie could tell something wasn’t right. Nettal wasn’t moving.
“Is she awake?” Addie shouted into the distance where Auntie was still approaching from.
She heard Squishy over the bond, “She has not stirred since we retrieved her.” Her companion was still standing on Auntie’s shoulders, but after he started speaking he jumped down and started running ahead to Addie.
Auntie’s viollow was flying overhead; Addie guessed she was scouting the area.
When Auntie finally got to the front door of the mansion, her face looked downcast, but not completely without hope.
“She’s alive,” Auntie said, almost to herself. The confirmation relieved Addie.
“But, her soul has been damaged.”
The worry came back.