My head spun, and a migraine started. My vision had patches of black, and I couldn’t make out where I was. Everything sounded so far away. The overwhelming cold was starting to fade away, yet I still wished I had brought a jacket.

  A warm sensation washed over my arms, providing me with the heat I so desperately craved. I blinked a few times, trying to clear my vision. My hearing was starting to return to normal, too.

  “Ella?” Finn’s voice rang through my ears, causing a sharp pain. A hand waved in front of me.

  “What happened?” I asked, having no idea how loud or quiet my voice came out.

  “You burned down the stage and proceeded to freeze over the entire theater, including all of us.” Maverick stepped into my view and crossed his arms.

  I looked around. This didn’t look like a theater. It looked more like a back alley littered with trash—befitting of New York City.

  “This is a back alley,” Finn answered. “It took a while for Maverick to melt the ice encapsulating us, but the ice around you took the longest. We had to transport your crystallized body out before anyone could find us. The rest of the theater should inevitably thaw.”

  Right... I set fire to the theater, and then proceeded to freeze the whole place over...

  Tears fell from my eyes. Had I killed anyone? Oh God, I hoped I hadn't killed anyone...

  Finn frowned at me, crouching down to meet me at eye level. "Zephyr healed as many burns as he was able to, and escorted post of the patrons out. I don't believe anyone died."

  "That's good..." I choked my tears back. I don't know what I would have done if I were responsible for... Well... Best not to think about it... “Um, why are we here? Why not the apartment?” I asked.

  “Are you crazy?” Maverick facepalmed. “Our apartment isn’t safe anymore. They’ll track us there immediately.”

  “So what do we do? Get a new apartment? Leave the city?” I asked, pulling the newfound warmth around me closer. I realized it was Maverick’s jacket. Finn must have taken it from him to give to me.

  “Y-yeah. Maybe we could get a nicer one this time…?” Aidan tried to lighten the mood. I noticed a long scar running from his hand up his arm, and guilt sank into my stomach.

  “Are the five of you out of your goddess-damn minds?!” A familiar voice practically screeched. Rosalie walked up to us at an inhuman speed, her hips somehow managing to sway in the process.

  “We can explain—” Finn was quickly cut off.

  Rosalie slapped Maverick across the face, the latter barely even flinching—only turning his face away upon impact.

  “In what world would you have Ella use her unstable magic in a crowd filled with pathetically weak humans who aren’t even aware of magic?!” Rosalie shouted, her lips quivering as her breathing increased.

  “That wasn’t the plan!” Zephyr sputtered, exasperated. His voice was louder and more frantic than I had ever heard before. “I was supposed to use my magic to create the illusion of Ella using hers."

  “Then why did you?” Rosalie turned to me, her words clenched in her teeth. Her crazy, fierce eyes, her confident stance, and her fists at her side made me fear for my life. She was one of the most powerful beings to ever exist, Sylvis and the leader of the Magus of Historia being the only two I knew who surpassed her. She demanded an answer from me that I couldn’t provide.

  “I don’t know,” I said distantly. All emotion had drained from me at this point. Our plan had failed spectacularly, and it was all my fault.

  I had ruined our only chance of saving Earth—of saving the world I loved.

  “You don’t know?” Rosalie took another step towards me, her black heels clicking against the pavement. “You set fire to the stage, burned your best friend, and encapsulated over a dozen people in barriers of ice, and you don’t…know…how?” She grabbed my throat and lifted me into the air as if I weighed little less than a rag doll.

  I struggled to breathe, yet somehow it felt right. I could’ve killed all of those people. Sylvis was right—I was a ticking time bomb that would destroy the world unless I learned to control my magic. And I was failing miserably at that.

  Rain descended from the sky, drizzles that turned into pouring rain in a matter of seconds, soaking both me and the girl who literally held my life in her hands. It always looked like she was wearing makeup, yet nothing smudged, meaning this was her natural beauty.

  Aidan rammed himself into Rosalie—an action that just made her turn her head towards him, as if he wasn’t even worth the effort.

  “L-let her go!” Aidan shouted, backing up to ram himself into her again. This time, she held out her arm, releasing a blast of wind that sent him backwards. This didn’t deter him—it only strengthened his resolve as he rammed his shoulder into her again. Another blast.

  “Stop,” I tried to scream, but my words came out hoarse.

  He wouldn’t stop. He tried again and again, each attempt more pathetic than the last. On what must have been his eighth attempt, Maverick held him back and must have given him a look to keep him in place.

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  Maverick turned to Rosalie and drew his sword. My eyes widened as my body dropped to the ground—the hand holding me up dropped along with me, its arm still attached as it hit the ground.

  Rosalie stared at us—not so much as a scream, having had her arm sliced off. And then I realized her stare wasn’t on Maverick, but on me. She still wanted my answer.

  Zephyr rushed over, but she quickly cast him aside with another blast of wind.

  Maverick took a defensive step in front of me, his left arm guarding me. Rosalie’s gaze shifted from me to him, and something lit within her eyes that terrified me.

  “Anger!” I blurted out. “I felt anger. But it wasn’t mine.”

  Rosalie’s gaze followed me again, her expression softening ever so slightly, as if my crazy explanation actually meant something to her. “Anything else?” Her voice was expectant.

  “I could smell chrysanthemums right before everything froze over.”

  Her expression completely changed to one of surprise, before becoming more serious again. “Then you succeeded after all. You’re free to return to Meridia. I’ll handle the rest.” She picked up her arm off the ground and vanished.

  “Shall we?” Maverick turned to look at us, one by one. He was unusually calm and almost a bit… relieved?

  “We’re not returning to Meridia!” I shouted. “I’m not abandoning my home! If the Magus of Historia are really as strong as you say they are, Rosalie isn’t going to be able to handle it on her own! She needs us! Earth needs us if it wants a chance to survive!” I clenched my fists as tears poured from my eyes and my hands.

  Maverick sighed, his expression regretful. “I’ll come back and help Rosalie fight. You absolutely cannot stay. That anger you felt earlier? It was likely the work of an empath.”

  I froze. “An empath? Then… Someone from the Magus of Historia was there watching?!” My hands iced over at the fact that we all could’ve nearly died. Again.

  “I’m not sure what their goal was tonight. It could have merely been a test to see if they have control over you, which by now they’ve realized they do. You were worried about being a burden before, but now you’re so much more. You put the rest of our lives in danger. Not just ours, but all of Earth’s. There’s no telling how they could choose to manipulate an Ethereal.”

  My fingers relaxed as my knees sank, leaving me sitting on the ground. I was useless once again. Worse than useless. I was counterproductive to our plan.

  “I don’t want to go…” I said quietly, not daring to speak louder lest my voice cracked. Tears streamed down my cheeks once again. “I know it’s selfish, but I don’t want to leave. I’m an Ethereal—my place is beside you and Rosalie.”

  Maverick crouched down on one knee to be on level with me. “Ethereals aren’t made in a day, Elaina. You still have decades of training ahead of you. Even if you were in control of your magic, you wouldn’t be strong enough to face them.”

  Zephyr cleared his throat, grabbing both of our attention. “I don’t believe you and Rosalie will be enough to hold them back. This is little more than a suicide mission.”

  “Then what do you propose?” Maverick asked, standing back up. “Sylvis can’t leave the manor, and we don’t exactly have more Ethereals lying around.”

  “We’ll stay here and help you fight,” Aidan said confidently, causing all of us to stare at him in shock. He quickly blushed and turned away.

  “I’m with Aidan.” Finn raised his hand voluntarily. “The whole reason we came was to fight by your side to protect Ella’s world. That hasn’t changed.” He turned to smile at me. I couldn’t help but be touched.

  “Knowing that our opponents can manipulate your very mind hasn’t caused you to reconsider?” Maverick asked.

  “And I can read their minds. I’d like to think I’m in better control of my mind than most people.” Finn shrugged.

  “I-I’ll do my best to not let it affect me!” Aidan added.

  “And you?” Maverick turned to Zephyr.

  “Sure, why not. We knew this wouldn’t be easy.” Zephyr smiled.

  “Then… If I can’t come with you…” I clenched my fists at my sides. “I’d like to keep acting as your guide until the time comes to fight.”

  Maverick turned to me, a mischievous smile on his face as he walked up to me and ruffled my hair. “You just want to spend more time in your world, don’t you?”

  “Is that so wrong?” I crossed my arms and looked away.

  “Nah. But at the first sign of trouble, I’m sending you back to Meridia.”

  “Deal.” I nodded. The last thing I wanted was to burn down the Statue of Liberty.

  “S-so, if we can’t return to our apartment, where do we go now…?”

  “Why don’t we go back to the theater?” Finn asked.

  “Are you insane?!” Maverick all but shouted. “We may as well walk into a police station and turn ourselves in!”

  “But we know that was the last place the Magus of Historia was. Why are prolonging the inevitable when we can face them head-on?”

  “There’s no guarantee they’re still there,” Zephyr added.

  “And I just promised Ella she could stay by our side for a little longer.” Maverick facepalmed.

  “Nowhere we go will be safe… A-and we don’t know when they’ll sneak up on us and take over Ella!” Aidan paled.

  “Hey!” I shouted back, crossing my arms.

  “Then maybe we should spend a night in Meridia,” Finn suggested. “Rosalie seems to have an idea of where they are anyway.”

  “Ella?” Maverick turned to look at me.

  “Yeah… That sounds fine…” I tried to hide my disappointment to no avail.

  Maverick nodded and created a portal; a beautiful golden brown circle with gold glitter inside, leading to who knows where. Probably Meridia. I think this was the first time I had seen him create a portal. Usually he just teleported all of us together.

  “W-whoa!” Aidan’s jaw dropped as he admired the portal.

  “Anyone who wants to stay behind is welcome to do so,” Maverick said. He glanced over at me. “If you want to try your luck getting to Oceanside—”

  “Riverside,” I corrected.

  “Riverside, you’re welcome to do so. I’ll buy you some time.” He winked, his smirk ever present.

  “Sylvis would kill you.”

  “I like to live dangerously.”

  He beckoned us into the portal, Zephyr and Aidan following in.

  “He’s joking, you know.” Finn whispered to me.

  “I would hope so.” I sighed.

  “Hey, maybe Sylvis will find a way for you to come with us.” Finn smiled at me, and I could tell he was genuinely trying to cheer me up.

  “Yeah. Maybe.” I didn’t want to get my hopes up. I turned around taking one last glance at my world, though it was nothing like the place I’d once lived. A small drone floated in the distance, too far away to pick us up. Must work for a giant tech company.

  I turned back to the portal and stepped in.

  Goodbye, New York.