Next Mage
19.Mage Hunting

~Marilla's POV

We were engulfed in a whirlwind of colours. Streaks of red and orange flew by like brightly coloured birds. Whorls of purple, blue and pink dotted the gleaming tunnel while splashes of green and gold joined the parade. It was spectacular.

Then it was over, landing with a bump on the hard, grey concrete, finally in the mundane world; the rainbow replaced by greys and maroons and dull, dark colours. I looked up at the storm clouds gathering overhead. I was home. dashy line thingo

Earth seemed too dim after travelling through the portal. I stood up, feeling dizzy, and clutched Emma's arm for support.

"Why can't we bring like, cushions along in the portal or something?" She whined, rubbing her back. I rolled my eyes, but I secretly agreed with her. At this rate we were all going to end up with broken butts.

"Oh, suck it up, princess," Elvira waved her hand dismissively at Emma. "Us spirit mages can always heal you up anyway," Elvira's mouth turned up in a smug smile. "I mean, it's not like I'll want to heal you or something," Before Emma could say anything, she flounced off towards her darling and started to drool all over him. (Not literally. Don't worry, Elvira isn't a cannibal.)

"D-did she just call me a princess?!" Emma fumed, face turning redder than usual and freckles darkening. "SHE'S the princess, NOT me!" I held back a laugh as Emma practically screamed in my ear.

"It's okay, Emma, just ignore her," I said as comfortingly as I could. I looked around me. Where were we? This didn't seem like America. We seemed to be on a side street, with crooked little houses and shops lining the edges, and small light- up signs with strange, boxed writing on them...

Something in my brain seemed to click.

"We're in Japan!" I squealed excitedly, hugging Emma's arm. "I have always wanted to go to Japan! We can buy sushi and look at the cherry blossoms and eat mochi and go to Mount Fuji, and-" I shut my mouth when I noticed Oliver staring at me with that lopsided grin of his. I blushed and looked away. Elvira saw me blushing, then looked over at Oliver, then back at me again. She closed her eyes irritably and massaged her temples.

Rika, however, looked around in wonder.

"I haven't been here since I wasn't seven years old," she explained. "We moved to America after that. This place has changed so much, I—"

"Stop!" Elvira cut Rika off, squeezing her eyes even tighter.

"What, seriously? You don't let others speak just because you have a headache?" I snapped.

"Shh," Oliver put a finger over his lips. "She's concentrating." Heat rose to my cheeks as I realized what Elvira was doing. She was finding a new mage. ~Oliver's POV

I watched as Marilla turned scarlet. She was so cute when she blushed. I grinned at her, and she turned redder. Everyone stood quietly, waiting for Elvira to say something while trying not to wake the residents in their small apartments. "Uh, how long is this gonna take?" James whispered. "We've been standing here for half an hour. I kinda need to get back to my parents at seven, and it's," James looked at his watch, which had resumed it's ticking now it was back on Earth. "Five-thirty-"

"Got it!" Elvira shouted suddenly, opening her eyes and pointing towards a building a few streets away. "Let's move!"

"So, are we gonna jump through this mage's window?" Marilla asked cheekily as she ran alongside me.

"Would you have the honor of doing so milady?" I shot back, grinning.

"Pleasure." Marilla said in a British accent, (ANOTHER HARRY POTTER REFERENCE OMG but a bit more subtle tho) and we both laughed. dashy line thingo

The building was tall. Really tall. It stretched up to the sky, towering above us, and made me feel like a beetle in comparison. Apparently this building was a house. A condominium, Marilla called it. She said this 'condominium' was actually dozens of little apartments all put together in one house.

There were approximately thirty-five floors, Cam had said, pushing up his glasses and ruffling his sister's hair with a puff of air. She slapped him. Elvira led the way into the building and I brought up the back, chatting with Marilla the whole time. Emma and Rika were giving us strange looks. I shook my head, confused. (Oh Oliver you oblivious little nugget) We passed through this large gate, which opened and closed automatically. A guard stood inside a sort of glass box by the gate. Elvira stopped time and we snuck past the guard.

"He's on level...level..." Elvira squeezed her eyes tighter. "Level twenty-seven!"

"Do we have to use the stairs?" Destan complained. He caught Elvira glaring at him and turned pink.

"We've got something better," Marilla grinned. "Follow me!"

Another dashy line thingo

The humans called it a lift, or an elevator.

Technically I was a human, because I wasn't mage-born, but I had never lived in the human world, neither had I experienced what it was like to be human.

The lift was a large, metal box that moved up and down the building with a push of a button. While we were waiting for the elevator to reach level twenty-seven, strange, tedious music came out from little holes in the lift. I sighed. Finally, there was a little ding and the rectangular screen above the elevator door flickered with an orange light.

27, it read. The elevator door opened to reveal a long corridor with multiple doors along the walls. The place reminded me of the Mage dorms, and a sudden wave of homesickness hit me hard. But this place could've been my home, I reminded myself firmly. I looked over at Elvira.

She had closed her eyes again, and was muttering something. Everyone was staring at her intently. "Uh...I think he's in that one," Elvira said, pointing towards a door on the left side of the corridor. "Shame, there aren't any windows," Marilla whispered mischievously. I chuckled.

"I guess we'll just have to knock, then. Um, maybe just a few of us should go in, so that it won't seem so suspicious. We'll pretend to be the new mage's friends." I suggested, and, holding my breath, I rapped my knuckles softly on the door.