Next Mage
59.Light-1

~Oliver's POV

We arrived back at the Academy in triumph.

A sliver of the golden sun peeked out from the horizon to greet the morning, rising fast; streaks of oranges and pinks spreading across the once-cold, darkened sky like colorful drops of paint blossoming onto a canvas. The mages who had stayed behind ran to greet us, their expressions turning from anxious to overjoyed as we spread the news.

My mood made a drastic change as soon as we departed from the island; it was as if a weight was lifted off my shoulders; the island seemed to drain every last drop of happiness in you until you grew nervous and weary. The Elders were in awe.

It was like they couldn't believe it, which was understandable; they had only weakened the Ragnarok with their Ultimates, whilst we had slain the beast entirely. The Elders' great nemesis, an evil threat to all of us mages, was now dead. It had been all down to Emma.

Watching as the poor girl was towed on a stretcher and into the hospital wing of the Academy, I walked up to Marilla, who was looking at her best friend anxiously.

Putting a comforting hand on her shoulder, I hugged her tightly.

"Don't worry, she'll be fine," I whispered. "She's alive, remember? That's all that matters."

Marilla stared up at me gratefully, her eyes shining with tears and her face red.

"I know," she replied. "But she... She looks so..." Marilla's voice trailed off as she averted her gaze. I frowned, biting on my lip.

Marilla was right.

Emma looked dreadful, as if she were on the brink of death; her skin was pale and sallow and covered in burns, freckles nearly invisible; her cheeks were sunken, as if she had not eaten anything in days; her lips were dry and cracked, and parts of her thick red curls had been burnt off, leaving behind misshapen tufts that looked like her hair had been cut by a very bad hairdresser indeed.

The parts of skin that covered her skull that were bare were raw and a shocking crimson; blood and pus oozed from the many burns that covered her limbs.

I winced and looked away as Emma disappeared around the corner and into the hospital wing.

"Oliver!"

Arms wrapped themselves around my neck, and I yelped in surprise as I was pulled into a tight hug. I glanced backwards.

"E-Elvira!" I exclaimed, turning around to face her. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Marilla stiffen.

Elvira looked ecstatic.

"You did it!" She gasped. "You really did it, Oliver!" She took my hands and spun me around the hall.

"Y-yes, we did," I replied dizzily, laughing a little. We stopped spinning to catch our breath. Marilla stood awkwardly out of the way, unsure of what to do. And then Elvira did something unexpected.

She ran over to Marilla, and hugged her, too.

Clearly Marilla was surprised as well, because her eyes widened to the size of saucers as she tentatively returned the hug, her expression slightly bewildered.

"Oh, I'm so glad you guys are back," Elvira exclaimed. "I really missed you guys, Oliver, I even missed you, Marilla--"

"Uh, what alien are we talking to?" Marilla questioned, looking as befuddled as I was. "What have you done with the real Elvira?"

Now it was Elvira's turn to look confused.

"What?" She said.

"Well, for starters, you're not calling Oliver darling," Marilla replied suspiciously. "And you're being nice. Well, I suppose you were nice when you gave me this," --she fumbled for something in her pocket and produced a mewling box with the tiniest kitten in it-- "But I thought that was a one-time thing."

Elvira looked flabbergasted.

"Well, why can't I be nice?" She replied. "Oh, and also--" Elvira leaned towards Marilla to whisper something inaudible in her ear. From Marilla's expression, I suspected that it was something happy. "Anyway, never mind that," Elvira changed the subject hastily as Marilla beamed at her, "I heard that the Elders are throwing a feast in honor of our victory!"

She squealed with delight, and Marilla and I looked at each other in awed excitement.

A feast? I thought, as my mouth watered at the sound of the delicious food. In honor of us?

"When's the feast?" I asked.

"Tomorrow," Elvira said. "We'll have to stay here, at the Academy. But then...I don't really know what's going to happen afterwards. I'm not sure if I want to live on Earth, not that it's not a nice place, but I'll really miss my family..." Marilla put an arm around Elvira's shoulder, and, for the first time since I had seen them together in the same room, they looked at each other, not like they were enemies: but like they were friends.

"I understand," Marilla said sympathetically.

The pair began to walk off together, chatting quietly to themselves as they turned and disappeared into the hospital wing, probably to see Emma.

Realizing that I had been left behind, I hurried after them.

"Hey! Wait for me!" I called,

dashy line thingo

Emma was still unconscious.

As I walked into the room where Emma was being healed, I noticed a crowd of healing mages fussing over her, as well as a large bunch of ordinary mages, who were being pushed back by a few of the healing mages. Marilla and Elvira had been let through the wall of mages so they could see their friend.

I gently pushed through the crowd as well, and slowly, mages began to move out of the way for me to pass and I slipped through the mass of bodies with ease.

Emma wasn't moving.

Her hair was back to it's usual full, glossy waves, her burns had vanished and her skin was no longer pale, her freckles bright against her slightly tanned skin. The mages had healed her. And yet she wasn't moving.