Lady Sorceress Magdalene's Revenge
_____A quiet pain sitting in the backdrop of her smoldering anger, Sorceress Magdalene turns to address you as you enter the room. Fire frames her face flickering with the breeze; the lips of a peach are pursed beneath a pair of sapphire cat's eye marbles. She wears a royal blue corset and black dress that flows to the floor covering her supposedly leather boots. Her mysterious qualities, summed up by a fist sized emerald in the swallow of her neck, swirl with a painful white hole of energy.
_____"You stole from me, now see your consequences," she accuses with an almost regretful tinge to her already pained anger. You turn your attention to the four poster bed at the sorceress' feet.
_____On the left lies a young boy, a teenager of about eighteen years. He has the peculiar clock face birthmark of your father on his left wrist. You blink and move to the young woman on his right. Your mother's matchless rusty hair frames her peaceful face. The unmoving pair lay with their hands clasped and their eyes closed. You realize. These are your parents.
_____You awake in your room, sweating with a heart-wrenching fear. The incandescent digits of the plain black clock read 4:26 and you realize you have fallen asleep in your clothes again. Down the hall, in the bathroom, you run a hand through your spiky blonde hair and give yourself a once-over with those evergreen eyes. Getting control of your breath, you walk to the kitchen for a glass of water from the tap. Cool to the touch, the water is calming and helps you collect your melodramatic mind. You laugh nervously at the intense and inventive dream. You pass your parents' room on the way back, and, just to be sure, you take a peek. You throw open the door. They are not there! You rush to their bathroom door and knock insistently. Lacking an answer, you run to the garage door, thinking maybe they went out. The cars are both still here. You get another cup of water all the while incessantly pinching your arm. Even this does not wake you from the horror of what seems to be an inter-dimensional kidnapping. You decide it must be a dream and head to bed.
_____Reaching the door, there is a slight sound of surreptitious movement in your dimly lit room. You spastically hit the light switch to the left of the door. A spindle of a man stands in the far corner of your room facing the door. He looks to be a shadow himself, his black cloak not catching the low light from the ceiling. His gaunt face, bent, hidden in a self made shadow raises to address you. "Are you Cole Wren?" he asks as if he already knows the answer.
_____You stammer, "Y-Yes. Who are you? Where are my parents?!" Demanding an answer with a sudden audacious countenance, you step threateningly towards the shadow. The Shadowed Man walks calmly towards you with his hands held up showing complacence. He stops just a foot away and sits. You study his naturally tan face in suspicion, noticing his rust colored hair and dull blue eyes that seem almost black in the shadow of his eyebrow fangled forehead.
_____With his toothpick legs crossed, and his black beetle shine cloak billowing around him in a half circle, he addresses you, "I am Roland, the estranged husband of Lady Sorceress Magdalene. She has taken your parents to her home dimension and I am here to help you. If she is not stopped, you will be erased from history. Your parents will not exist past their abduction."
_____You sit across from him dropping suddenly with a nervous air, your legs crossed to mirror him trying to show a lack of fear. "So my dream...? She took them from when they were teens. Right?"
_____Studying your face as one would look at an offensive spot, Roland seems unalarmed. "Yes, which means if they are not returned you will never be conceived. I can help you get to her dimension as she doesn't live in this world." After another moment of surveying your face, "I suggest leaving immediately."
_____"Wait. She is a sorceress. How am I supposed to defeat her? I'm not magical."
_____"I suppose I could level the playing ground. I have a few things in my lab that may help you. Okay?" he says waiting for your nod.
_____"But what about their work? Shouldn't I do something to let them know my parents won't be coming to work? And what about my school?" You begin to rise from the floor, to get the phone from your bedside table.
_____Catching your arm with an annoyed huff, "I will return you to the exact point in time that you left. Do not worry about such things. Are you ready to go?"
_____Taking a deep breath and settling back down, "Yes."
_____Your room seems to wobble and fall away. It feels as though your stomach is in your throat and you flail to hold on to something, anything. But before you can fully panic about the lack of a floor beneath you, a room comes flying towards you from a far corner in the blackness. Pointing emphatically, you see that Roland seems unabashed. Squeezing your eyes shut you prepare for impact. Then, there is nothing.
_____"You may open your eyes. There was no danger. I am sorry though. I forget that humans have no experience of inter-dimensional travel." He brings you to your feet and lets go of your arm. With a look of false concern, "Do you feel well?"
_____Bending over you put your hands on your knees, "Just a little dizzy."
_____There are sounds of moving and scraping, and a battered and berate mahogany table leg comes into your view. You straighten up, feeling less nauseated, to see a worn wooden table with a careful arrangement of fantastical objects and weapons. "This stone gives its owner the ability to change shape at will," Roland informs gesturing to a small, milky teardrop opal on a slender, silver chain. Resting his finger atop a hieroglyphic-engraved golden flask, Roland speaks again, "The golden flask is filled with ambrosia, an all-purpose healing liquid, and will never empty. These knife sets are magical in that they will return to your hand at will after being thrown. The knife sets may also be influenced in midair to change direction or stop suddenly. This quartz scimitar can hack through anything mundane and will never chip or dull, as well as this bronze battleaxe. Just in front of you there is a bow that will always make your intended target. And the jewel encrusted quiver to the left of it is never emptying."
_____Walking around the table to your right side, Roland handles a pebble sized, grey crystal ball that had been sitting in a three legged, cast iron ring. "A Zuchorian Crystal Ball," he says, "It gives you the ability to control elements. Particularly ice, water, and fire, but if you work at it the other elements will follow. The black ring to the right is a Morpha. It will project a force field to protect its wearer and can be willed to protect others as well." He picks up a copper bangle with a repeating interlocking circle design, "The wearer of this bangle has the ability to change the composition of anything within reach. Those black shoes," Roland said turning to the last item on the table, "give the ability to fly and to run with the speed of light. Now, pick two. Any more and my wife can convict me of attempted murder, so only two and no more."
_____Overwhelmed with the sudden onslaught of fresh and fantastical information, you hesitate. They all seem to be equal in their practicality and you have no idea what you will be up against. Finally giving up on the logical approach, you decide based on what seems like a good idea. Chosen are the opal that enables the wearer to change shape and the grey pulsating crystal that gives its owner the ability to control the elements. Roland gives you a worried look at your hasty choice, but you are confident that these items are most likely to come naturally to you in their usages.
_____"If you are sure," he says questioningly.
_____"I am sure, Roland... Yes, now what am I to do?"
_____Roland directs you to a door to the left of the table. "This portal will take you to one of the five regions in the West Continent. The only way to get to my wife's castle is to go through the portal within the Flourishing Meadows. There is a portal within each region that lead to different regions at different times. You can use them to get to the Flourishing Meadow. I can control my portal to go to her castle, but I cannot deliver you directly to the castle door or my estranged wife would know of my treachery. I recommend using your time in the regions to master your newfound tools. There are many useful things to learn. Once you find your parents, the portal to this laboratory is in the personal chambers of my wife. Return with your parents so I can heal them of whatever Lady Sorceress Magdalene may have done to them. I wish you good luck, Cole Wren."
_____"Thank you." You say nodding your head as you face the portal. Through it, nothing but blackness is visible. Closing your eyes, you take a step forward.