Makenna, Gina, and Raeven stayed with Tracey until he woke up. Luckily, it was still morning when he did.
Makenna heard him groan and gasped. "Tracey!" She whirled around, but accidentally broke her sandcastle with her wings.
Tracey seemed more like himself when he woke. Maybe it wasn't so bad that Makenna knocked him out?
He yawned and stretched his arms over his head, saying, "I just had the best sleep. I dreamt of puppies and kittens. It was delightful, at least until one of the kittens hissed and clawed me."
While Makenna knew Tracey was a little better, she still feared greatly for his safety. He was still under the Octopus Man's curse, and what had happened had proved it.
Makenna ignored the broken sandcastle and crawled to Tracey. She sat on her heels and placed her hands on her thighs.
Gina soon dropped onto Tracey's shoulder and rubbed against his face.
He lifted his hand and tapped a Band-Aid Makenna had put on his temple while he was out. Tracey flinched, and Makenna gulped. She hoped she didn't seriously hurt him.
Tracey soon lowered his hand and shook his head. His eyes rotated around the beach, and bewilderment flashed across his face. "Makenna, what am I doing here?" Tracey groaned and added, "What happened?"
Makenna gave him a stressed-out look and answered, "It's a long story. Wait a minute! Tracey!" She gasped suddenly. "Can you repeat my name?"
"Why?" Tracey wanted to know.
"Just do it!" Makenna impatiently bounced up and down on the sand.
Tracey jumped. "Okay! Makenna, what happened?"
Makenna sighed in relief. "Oh, good. You finally called me by my real name."
"Do what?" Tracey questioned. "What are you talking about, Makenn?"
Makenna sighed and explained what happened after she accidentally spat on him.
Tracey listened intently, Makenna's cape in his lap. With a wave of his hand, he created a cup of water and sipped it. When Makenna mentioned that he had said he loved the Octopus Man as if he were his own father, Tracey gagged and choked on his water. He reached for his chest and coughed.
Makenna patted his back and quickly stated, "Don't worry, though. You're okay now, and I can guarantee that's not going to happen again. I'll make sure it doesn't. For now, we're here. We're at the cove you mentioned. We can't stay for long, though, because we have to fly to Coutarine Island and deliver that package to Merlin."
"Oh, so we do have to deliver it," Tracey said, glancing at her. "I thought so." With his following sentence, though, he changed his personality again and brought his attention back to the ocean. "Have you ever noticed how strange humans look? How do they walk with those things called 'legs'?"
Makenna immediately became uncomfortable. "What?"
Tracey smiled and added, "Now fish, for example, are built to skim through water as swiftly as a spirit. Don't you think we all need to eat a little more fish? I think so. Compare legs with fish fins. Don't you think a fish's fins have a lot more panache vs. legs? Why don't we go for a swim, Makenna?"
"Tracey!" Makenna yelled. "Snap out of it!" She did what he did to her. Makenna flicked his forehead with her index finger.
"Ow!" Tracey yelped, reaching for it. "What was that for? All I'm saying is that I wish we were more like fish."
"Well, stop wishing!" yelled Makenna. "Because it's not gonna happen. You're not the only one going through stupid changes! Have you ever thought of anybody besides yourself for once? Ugh!" She didn't mean to yell at him—she was just so frustrated.
Makenna snatched her cape from Tracey's lap and put it over her shoulders.
Not affected by her insult, Tracey tried telling a few jokes to make her smile. "Hey, Makenna, why don't fish pass their exams?" He chuckled. "Because they work below C-level! What did the boy octopus say to the girl octopus? I want to hold your hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand. And I saved the best for last. What is dry on the outside, filled with water, and blows up buildings? A fish tank!" He laughed and clapped.
Makenna didn't laugh. She merely crossed her arms and admitted, "Tracey, no offense, but you stink at jokes. Can you, for once, forget about fish and talk to me about what's been happening at my home?"
"Sorry," Tracey apologized. "Sure, go ahead." Makenna opened her mouth, but he interrupted her. "After I have my swim." And just like that, Tracey stood and sprinted toward the ocean again.
"Tracey!" Makenna bellowed. "All right, that's it! You get back here right now, and we're flying straight to Coutarine Island!"
Raeven soon hovered beside her and begged, "Makenna, please. Let me get Ash. You can't do this alone. Nobody can succeed in something alone."
"No!" Makenna shouted. She swatted Raeven away and flew to Tracey, grabbing him. As soon as she did, blue magic outlined him, and Makenna dragged him into the sky.
"Where are we going?" Tracey said.
"To Coutarine Island!" Makenna responded, pulling him toward Merlin's Cave. "We can't stay here. We have a mission to seek out Merlin and a wizard who can get us started on our next journey. We first need to pick up the parcel."
Raeven and Gina joined the two fairies and flew with them.
They soon entered the jungle.
Raeven kept trying to get Makenna to call Ash for help. "Makenna, I'm sure you don't want to constantly bang Tracey in the head with driftwood to snap him out of his trance, right? If you get Ash, you won't have to. Ash will bring him back to almost the way he used to be. He did it with you."
"Fine!" Makenna shouted, flinging her free hand. "Get Ash, Raeven, if that will shut you up! See if I care!"
"Awesome!" Raeven cheered. "Trust me, Makenna, you can rely on Ash any time you need to help Tracey."
Makenna scoffed and held Tracey tightly. She watched as Raeven flew forward and began hovering.
He closed his eyes and gracefully flapped his wings, saying through telepathy, "Ash, please. Makenna needs your help. She can't take care of Tracey alone. Please, Ash, help her. Help Tracey. Bring him back to almost the way he was before. Lead them to Coutarine Island. Please, Ash." After Raeven said that, he opened his eyes and waited.
As did Makenna, but nothing came.
She finally said, "Well, Raeven? Where is he?" Raeven tried to speak, but she didn't let him. "I knew it! You set me up! Are you trying to stop us from reaching Coutarine Island and seeking out that wizard? I don't have time for your games! I have a friend to save! I thought we were partners, Raeven!"
"We are!" Raeven fought. "But, Makenna, please. Just—"
"Then where is Ash?" Makenna interrupted. "Please, Raeven, I don't want to have to knock Tracey out with driftwood all the time. That will eventually give him a brain injury. Where is Ash?"
As soon as she asked that, somebody yelled in a Scottish accent from the sky, "Heads up!"
Makenna gasped—"What the—?"—and examined the jungle's treetops.
A green blur appeared and dropped from the heavens like the tears of the moon. Ash crashed through the jungle's treetops and yelled.
Makenna screamed and quickly flew out of the way so Tracey wouldn't get hurt.
Ash landed in the jungle, but luckily, the sand cushioned his fall. Where did he come from? Had he been following Makenna? His sword/sword case flew from his back. Only his shield remained.
Where Makenna, Raeven, Gina, and Tracey hovered, Raeven glanced at Makenna and smirked.
He pointed at Ash. "Here he is."
Makenna groaned and slapped her hand to her face. "I can rely on him, huh?" Dropping her hand, Makenna glared at Raeven. "Don't you see, you worthless bat scum, I don't want a stupid, clumsy Wizard Fairy helping me!"
"He may be clumsy," Raeven explained, "but he's not stupid. I think you'll see that soon enough, Miss Delling. I'm sorry that Ash is this way, but that's who he is. Accept people for their different personalities, my friend, just like how you befriended Tracey. Well, are you going to check on this wizard, or am I doing that?"
Makenna moaned. She hated being bossed around by a bat, but she finally flapped her wings and soared down to the jungle's bed.
Makenna sat Tracey down on a rock and held her finger up to his nose. "Don't move!"
Tracey smiled and nodded. He bounced up and down and watched some butterflies as they fluttered by his head. One landed on his nose, and Tracey went cross-eyed trying to look at it.
Raeven and Makenna headed for Ash.
He rose to his knees and reached for his head. Ash pulled twigs and leaves out of his hair. Afterward, he felt around for his sword. When he realized he didn't have it, he gasped and immediately began searching for it. Luckily, he found it quickly. When he saw his sword, only a few feet away from him, Ash grabbed it with both hands.
Makenna and Raeven soon reached him, and Makenna crossed her arms. She tapped her foot and yelled, "Ash!"
Raeven landed on her shoulder and wrapped his wings around her neck.
Ash smiled. "Miss Makenna Delling!" He faced her. "I feel like I just saw ya! How ya doing? Oh, and hello! There you are, Raeven. Hi! Excuse me for a moment, guys, while I check to make sure my sword is okay. That was a rough fall."
Makenna kept her arms crossed while she and Raeven watched Ash.
Without saying a word, he met Makenna's eyes and flung his sword back and forth. However, because his hand moved so fast, his scabbard flew off his sword and crashed into one of the jungle's trees.
Ash peered down at the naked sword, and his blue eyes widened.
His case hit a huge, loose tree branch. The second it did, the branch fell and smashed into the ground.
Ash gasped, as did Makenna and Raeven. All of them whirled around to the fallen branch.
Ash dropped his sword, and guilt crossed his face. "Ooh," he spoke. "Sorry. My bad." He nervously held up his hands. "I'll clean that up. Stay here."
Makenna and Raeven didn't dare approach the scabbard.
Ash passed them and headed toward it instead.
When he wasn't looking, Makenna glanced at Raeven and gestured at the fairy with her hand. "See, Raeven? He's way too clumsy! He'll mess everything up!" She waited for Raeven to answer, but for two minutes, he didn't say anything.
Finally, he said, "You know, maybe this is a bad idea. Watch out, Makenn."
"Thanks!" Makenna angrily snapped. She furiously threw her hands and pulled Raeven off her shoulder. Makenna aimed at a bush and chucked him toward it.
Raeven yelped and smashed headfirst into the bush, but he was lucky to have a soft landing, thanks to the leaves and sand.
Makenna turned away from him and crossed her arms again.
Ash soon finished cleaning the branch he had knocked down and picked up his sword case. He then returned to where he stood when he flung it and next scooped up his sword. Ash slipped it into his case and put it on his back.
Ash rubbed his nose and drew his sword again. With it in hand, he approached Makenna and smiled in a carefree way, saying, "I'm ready, Miss Delling!" in a singsong voice.
Makenna grumbled. She dropped her head and shook it. While it was lowered, she counted in a whisper, "One, two, three, four, five…"
Raeven soon pulled himself out of the bush that Makenna threw him in and rested on top of it. His eyes landed on Makenna and Ash, and he smirked. "This ought to be good." Raeven propped up his head.
When Makenna calmed down, she inhaled and made up her mind. She forced a feeble smile and said through clenched teeth, "Hi, Ash."
"Hey, Makenna!" Ash started twirling his sword vertically. "Raeven said Tracey is acting a little strange?"
"Tracey?" Makenna took a deep breath. "Ash, how did you get here? Don't tell me you're a stalker!"
"I'm not," said Ash. "I just happened to be flying by Merlin's Island when Raeven called me. I was heading home to Coutarine Island."
"You live on Coutarine Island?" asked Makenna.
Ash nodded. "I do. So, where is this friend of yours? I'm ready to do some magic!"
"If you're ready, kid," spoke Makenna, her eyes landing on his twirling sword, "then why are you twirling your stupid sword like that? That's dangerous! Are you trying to impress me?"
"I'm not," Ash explained. He caught his sword and gestured at it with his right hand. "This sword happens to be magic."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Makenna sarcastically spoke. She brought her hand to her ear and leaned toward him. "I couldn't understand you because of that ridiculous accent!" She placed her hand on her chin. "Did you say 'magic'?"
Ash chuckled. He brought his own hand to his long, pointy ear and leaned into her, answering, "I did. Here, let me prove it."
"Sure," Makenna unconvincingly said. "And what are you going to do—pull it out of a stone?"
"I wish," Ash replied. "Trust me, Miss Delling. Just watch. This sword will guide me to help Tracey. It always does. It helped you, so there is no reason why it can't do it again."
Makenna sneered and crossed her arms. Yeah, right.
Ash pushed by her and nodded, focusing on his sword. He lifted it over him and allowed the sun's rays to shine on it. As soon as they did, the sword's body, blade and everything, glowed blue. Sparkles surrounded it.
Makenna switched her facial expression from a sneer to a surprised frown. Jealousy pierced her. Makenna hated being wrong.
The sparkles continued to circle the glowing sword, and Makenna watched as it started to change form. It grew longer, and an orb replaced its tip. The sword case vanished from Ash's back, too.
When the sparkles left the sword, and it stopped glowing, Makenna noticed that it had turned into Ash's staff, the staff that saved the woman on the pier. She stood frozen in shock. She couldn't believe this. It was really Ash's staff. How did he do that, though?
He smirked and turned to her. Pointing at the staff, he sang, "Ta daa!"
Makenna scoffed. "Fine!" She waved her hand. "You were right, and I was wrong! Now, are you going to help Tracey or not?"
"Sure," said Ash. "Geez. Take it easy. Where is he?"
Raeven soon approached Makenna from behind, but kept his distance.
Makenna gestured toward the rock, where Tracey amazingly still sat. "He's right there."
Ash peered in that direction and said, "Ah. Excuse me, Miss Delling." He pushed past Makenna and sauntered through the jungle's ferns to Tracey.
More butterflies danced around him, and the ninja tried to catch them.
Beside him, Gina had her foot to her face.
Ash soon stopped before Tracey with Makenna and Raeven. "Ah, so you're Merlin's apprentice," he said. "I've heard so many wonderful things about ya. Now listen, Tracey." Ash flicked Tracey's forehead to get him to look at him, and Tracey did. "I'm going to help ya," Ash added. "My name is Ash, and I'm a Wizard Fairy. I came from Coutarine Island."
Under her breath, Makenna mumbled, "More like the fairy from Clumsyville."
"Shh!" Raeven snapped at her. "Trust me, Makenna, Ash knows what he's doing."
"Sure." Makenna huffed. She closed her eyes and pointed her nose at the sky.
Ash kneeled to Tracey and grasped his arm.
Merlin's young apprentice complained, "I don't need help. I want to follow the butterflies to the ocean."
"Oh man," Ash nervously chuckled, "ya have it bad. Just hold still, Tracey. I'm going to help ya out of this trance. I don't think driftwood is going to cut it." He glanced at Makenna, who had opened her eyes again.
She gestured at Tracey with her hand. "All right, go on. Prove to me that you really do know how to use magic."
"All right, I will." Ash, for once, sounded serious.
He released Tracey's arm and whirled around, pointing his staff at the sky. Suddenly, a bright beam of green magic shot out of it, and it pierced the air under the jungle's treetops.
Makenna yelped and fell backward. She rested her palms behind her, and a petrified Raeven hugged her neck.
Immediately after the light from Ash's staff hit the air, a green cloud of magic formed and made its way toward Tracey.
Gina moved out of its path, and she, Makenna, Raeven, and Ash watched as the cloud started to circle him.
Tracey grinned and stood on his rock. He reached for the cloud, and Makenna gasped.
"Tracey!" she yelled. Getting up, she tried to run to him, but Ash held his staff to her chest.
Makenna glared, and her wet, sweaty hands grabbed it. She attempted to force her way past Ash, but he was too strong.
Together, the two fairies and animals watched as the cloud did its magic.
Tracey touched it with his index finger. As soon as he did, there was a great blast of light.
It was so bright that Makenna, Raeven, and Gina looked away.
Not Ash, though. He merely smiled and lifted his staff again.
A blanket of green threw itself on top of Merlin's apprentice. Next, strings of purple lights danced around him.
Tracey closed his eyes and reached for his head, falling to his knees.
Ash soon sucked the magic away from him, and it flew into his staff's orb. To complete the spell, he waved his hand, and a ball of light appeared in it.
Makenna, Raeven, and Gina could finally look again, and they observed as the Wizard Fairy launched it.
The spell fluttered to Tracey, and he watched in awe as it flew into his chest. He closed his eyes and clutched it. It looked as if Ash's spell was hurting him.
Makenna gasped again. She and Gina shoved past Ash to get to Tracey.
He let her go that time. Ash peeked down at his staff and admired it as it glowed again, metamorphosing into his sword. His scabbard reappeared on his back.
Ash patted down his hair and strolled away from Makenna and Tracey, just in case Makenna called him back.
Raeven flew to Makenna and hovered by her head while she took Tracey's shoulders and asked, "Tracey, are you okay? I can't believe Ash hurt you like that!"
Merlin's apprentice soon opened his eyes and said, "Huh?" studying the jungle. "Makenna, why are we out here? I'm supposed to be training in Merlin's Cave."
Makenna's jaw dropped. "Tracey?" She reached for his cheek and met his golden brown eyes.
Placing his hands on his hips, Tracey asked her, "Can you believe Sensei just left me? I mean, well, I guess I understand if he had to act on an urgent mission. Oh, the joys of being Merlin's apprentice. You get to train all day, every day."
Makenna couldn't help but chuckle. She felt tears in her eyes and rubbed them. Ash did it! Tracey was back!
Gina flew into his face and hugged him, while Makenna grabbed Raeven and embraced him herself. She still didn't have enough guts to hug Tracey.
Ash, who continued to walk away from the spell-lifting reunion, nodded and lifted his left hand. He held up three fingers and started to count backward. "Three, two..." At one, he brought his hand back.
"Ash!" called Makenna.
Ash smiled and clenched his fist.
"Ash!" Makenna added. "Wait!" She pulled Tracey to his feet, and they, along with their avian friends, hurried toward the young Wizard Fairy.
Soon turning, Ash faced them and said, "Yeees? Do you need me?"
"I do," Makenna replied. "I just want to say, well…"
Smirking, Ash crossed his arms and waited.
Makenna and Tracey stopped before him. Makenna moved her lips, but nothing came out. Finally, she said in a low voice, "Thank you. Thank you for helping Tracey. You proved that you really can use magic." Makenna gripped Tracey's arm and pulled him close. "You know, now that I think about it, Tracey and I may need a responsible bodyguard to at least get us started on our journey to the Bermuda Triangle."
Ash nodded and waved his hand. "Go on." He brought his glove to his chin and listened intently.
"So, I guess what I'm trying to ask is…." A lump formed in Makenna's throat. "Could you lead Tracey and me to Coutarine Island? Will you help us, Ash?"
"Well," Ash answered, rubbing his chin, "looking at my schedule, it doesn't look like I have too much going on, so I guess your answer is—"
"Yes!" Makenna interrupted. "Thank you, Ash! Thank you!" Without thinking, she dove for Ash's feet and grabbed his left leg. Makenna hugged it and repeated, "Thank you! Thank you so much! We'll search for the young wizard Selene mentioned together! We'll deliver Merlin's parcel together! This is going to be so much fun!"
Ash tried to shake her off, but Makenna held on too tightly. "Will someone get this young woman off me?" he asked.
"Makenna." Tracey grasped her arm and pulled her up.
She continued to grin, but after a moment of silence, Makenna asked, "So, are we all in this together?"
"We are," Ash replied. "No worries, Makenna and Tracey, I will take ya to the wizard Selene wants ya to visit."
Makenna whooped. "Yes!" She jumped up and down and grabbed Tracey's uniform collar. "Did you hear that, Tracey? We're going to Coutarine Island!"
"We are?" Tracey excitedly asked. Suddenly, he lost his smile. "Wait, we are?"
End of Act I: Return to Merlin's Island!
Current Word Count: 27,770