The first time was when they had been trying to get into a small, remote cottage, looking for the leader of a branch of the fallen Society. Warren, of course, was the one who found it first.
"Me and Vanessa will flank around left, Tanu, you take care of distractions, Seth, Kendra, you guys slow down or stop any runners—" He slammed into an invisible wall and collapsed before he could finish his sentence.
Vanessa burst out laughing and helped haul him to his feet. Warren shook his head, clearing the dizziness and chuckling at himself, and rested his hand against the barrier.
"Okay. Let's reevaluate that plan," he said. "First we gotta deal with problem number one."
"Let's break it!" Seth barreled forward, did a somersault, and ended up on the other side. He turned back with a terrible, rascally grin.
"Oh my god, your hard head really did it," scoffed Kendra, but she was laughing. She carefully felt her way forward, but encountered nothing.
"Alright, let's keep—" Warren slammed his toe into the wall. "Ow!"
"Easy there." Tanu steadied him. "Keep your head, man."
"I'm good, I'm good." Warren put down his foot and pondered the wall again. "Maybe it's because they're magic?"
"Nah." Vanessa knocked her fist against the wall. "Honestly, it's probably just their age."
"Younger people do have natural immunity," agreed Kendra as she struggled to haul Seth up.
Warren nodded. "Okay. New plan. You two up for the challenge?" He grinned.
"Hell yeah!"
"Sure, I guess."
"Great. Seth, Kendra, you guys flush them out!"
—
The next time, Warren supposed it was a bit of his own fault. Honestly, he should have expected something like this, considering the appearance of who they were dealing with.
The colony was tight knit, with small holes in the rainforest trees serving as homes and bridges spanning across the canopy. The creatures bustling around resembled children in every way—height, hair, right down to the cheerful sparkle in their eyes. They were a hundred yards away when they found it—luckily, this time it was Bracken and not Warren who found the barrier.
"Ow," muttered the unicorn from his place on the ground. "Not fair. First it's the plane—again, I hate planes—and now this."
"Cheer up, you grumpy pony," laughed Kendra, dragging him into a sitting position. "I'm sure we can find a way in."
"My mother sent them a message that we were coming. They should know. This is so mean."
"Hey Kenny, you got anything that might take this barrier down?" asked Seth.
Warren shook his head. "Not a good idea. These creatures are supposedly peaceful. We shouldn't anger them if we don't have to."
"And anyways, I think bringing this thing down would be more your style of magic," Kendra said. She carefully stretched out her hand. "At the very least, maybe I can find a weak point..." She took a few steps forward, clearly unhindered.
"Oh, yes," Seth laughed, and dashed forward. "Age barrier! Nice!"
"Aw man." Warren squished his face against the barrier. "Guys. Guys. I wanna come with you. Take me with you," he whined, snickering a bit.
"Oh, shush." Kendra stuck out her tongue. "You guys can hang out here. Seth and I will go get these guys to let you in."
"Yeah, yeah. Don't have too much fun without me." Warren stuck out his tongue.
When the Sorenson siblings came sprinting back with dozens of red-eyed children on their heels, Warren felt like he was experiencing one of the few perks of being an adult.
—
He just wanted to go up to the attic. Honestly. He needed Seth and Kendra's reports on the latest mission, but for whatever reason, he couldn't get past the halfway point on the stairs.
"Guys!" Warren yelled. He paused, waiting for a response. "Guys? You okay?" He banged his hands against the shimmering wall keeping him back. "Seth! Kendra! What's going on?"
There were several thumps, a touch of conversation, and then Kendra opened the door to the attic. She gave Warren a cheerful grin. "Heyo."
"Heyo. What's this?"
"That," Kendra said, with a very important looking pointing gesture, "is to keep you and everyone else in the house from charging in without knocking."
"Oh, that's not fair!" Warren pressed his forehead against the wall. "I've only done that, like, twice. Maybe three times."
"Maybe a million times!" Seth's voice yelled from the attic. Warren pretended to scoff.
"Please," he gasped dramatically, "I would never." He paused. "Also, how are you and Seth going to get up the stairs."
"It's an age barrier," Kendra said smugly. "Seth and I had to work together to figure it out, but we got it. No more borrowing my rom-com movies without asking!" With a dramatic flourish, Kendra slammed the door to the attic.
Warren huffed. Whatever. Tanu had pretty good rom-coms, and eventually, Kendra would want a proper movie night.