Past The Screen

Chapter 21

The wind flew past me mercilessly and my hands automatically went to my face to push my hair away as I started spitting out purple hair from my mouth. Maybe it was about time I get it cut.

"You okay there Eli?" Evan's amused voice rang out from beside me.

Forcibly pulling my now-apparently-too-long hair back with one hand I used the other to dig into my bag to procure a hair tie. "Just peachy Eva." I remarked with a grin, my fingers latching onto a simple black rubber band and using it to tie my hair up into a ponytail.

"Don't call me that!" Was Evan's indignant reply and I heard Mir huff out a chuckle from his spot on the other side of Evan. At the moment the three of us, me, my auras, Evan, and Mir were huddled under one of the very few trees near the outside of Henesys. It was mostly just lush green plains surrounding us with the occasional shrub here and there.

We were currently taking a break before entering the town. It was Evan's idea and I was almost certain that it wasn't so much that he was tired but that he was trying to mentally prepare himself for his not-so-far-now reunion with his family.

Normally I would just let him take his time but unfortunately for him I was sort of on a time limit. Besides, he had already had a lot of time to prepare himself anyways considering the fact that he had made us take several breaks over our trip from Kerning City to here. (Including a stop in Lith Harbor because oh you haven't been there yet right Eli? Let's go there!)

So with only a slightly guilty conscious I stood up from my spot on the grass and stretched. "Let's go guys?"

"But-" Was Evan's feeble protest which I cut off immediately with a slightly annoyed look.

"Come on Evan don't be a wimp."

He frowned, kicking the grass at his feet with a put-out expression. "I'm not being a wimp. I just…" Evan trailed off, letting out a small sigh as he too stood up.

My face softened. "I know. Don't worry I'm sure everything will turn out fine. They'll understand because they're your family." I paused for a second, looking for something else encouraging to say. "You've gotta hope for the best you know?"

He nodded slowly, looking up at me. "Yeah, you're right." He smiled at me, eyes set and determined if only a tad worried. "Come on let's go then."

With that being said we left the shade of the tree after Evan transformed Mir into his first form and started walking towards the front gate of the town. I could make out two guards standing on each side of the gate and I looked over at Evan to see if he recognized either of them. He didn't.

"Do we need ID to enter?" I asked him curiously, fingers twitching and ready to reach in my bag if needed but Evan shook his head.

"The guards are just there to make sure no monsters make it through the town. And I suppose it's to also keep out suspicious looking people out but we should be fine." He breathed out, posture still stiff and tense. Then he looked over me and I caught a sparkle of humor in his eyes as he gave me an appraising look as his body relaxed slightly. "Probably."

I bumped my shoulder against his and stuck my tongue at him. "Excuse me? Who is the one who has a flying dragon here?" But I couldn't help the smile tugging at me lips.

He shrugged with an easy grin. "In this form Mir's just a slightly overgrown lizard. Nothing weird or suspicious looking about that." He rubbed the top of Mir's head and said dragon made a sound of contentment at that.

"We'll probably just seem like animal lovers or something." Light said thoughtfully from his spot on my head with the rest of my auras.

I raised an eyebrow at him although he couldn't see it. "You think so?"

"It's a definite possibility with you traveling with three birds and Evan with his… Overgrown lizard." Tempest acknowledged and Star made a sound of agreement.

"I'm not an overgrown lizard though." Mir mumbled. "I'm a big and powerful Onyx dragon!"

Evan smiled down at Mir reassuringly and continued stroking his scales. "Of course Mir, we all know that. But right now in this form you're an overgrown lizard because the townspeople might get scared seeing you in your original dragon form."

Mir huffed slightly. "They're all just scaredy cats. It's not like I'd ever hurt them."

"But the townspeople don't know that." I cut in reasonably. "In fact, I bet that the only knowledge of dragons they have are those that live in Leafre and those are monsters."

"That's right… I remember me and master going to Leafre once. We didn't see any of the dragons there though. The chief person said they were too strong for us." Mir reminisced and I blinked before looking up at Evan in question.

He furrowed his brows for a second before he seemed to remember something. "Ah yes, we both went to Leafre once to find out what kind of dragon Mir was. Chief Tatamo restricted us entry from anywhere other than the town and the docking area though because we weren't anywhere near strong enough to take on the monsters around the town."

I nodded. "The monsters near Leafre, especiallythe dragons are extremely powerful. It's completely understandable that he didn't let you two try and fight them-"

The sound of metal hitting stone cut me off and my instincts made me form mana in my hand to summon my staff. From the corner of my eye I could briefly register Evan reacting similar to me, reaching into his jacket for his wand with one hand and supporting Mir with the other and I couldn't help but smile slightly.

Before my staff materialized though I was jarred out of it by a deep voice yelling the name of my best friend.

"Evan!"

My head whipped forward to see one of the town guards running towards us. A quick glance back at the gate showed that the other was still standing there, looking at the three of us with a slightly bewildered expression.

Evan on the other hand I could see had stiffened but his expression showed complete confusion. He obviously didn't know who the person was but apparently they seemed to know him.

We waited a bit anxiously for the town guard to reach us and when he did he ran up to Evan and put his hands on his shoulders, inspecting him deeply.

I couldn't help but frown, my eyes narrowing and hands twitching and ready to intervene at any moment. Evan looked even more uncomfortable now and Mir looked only a second away from biting at the man's arm. Said man however didn't seem to register my unwelcome stare, Evan's lack of comfort, or Mir's sharp teeth.

"You're Evan right?" The man asked, sounding surprised and relieved all at the same time. Evan bit his lip before sending a quick glance at me before nodding slowly. The man seemed to almost melt. His posture slacked and the near death grip he had on Evan's shoulders lessened. My best friend took this chance to move away from him slightly.

"You… Know me?" Evan asked cautiously, confusion easily etched into his features. I continued to watch the exchange in silence, deeming it unnecessary for me to intervene at the moment. My auras like always followed my lead and Mir seemed to do the same too.

The man nodded. "Gustav is a good friend of mines."

And just like that I watched Evan as he inhaled sharply. The town guard didn't miss that and his grin faded away into a stern expression. "Just where have you been boy?" He emphasized the word 'boy' and Evan flinched slightly. "Your family has been worried sick!"

Before Evan could even formulate a response though the man turned to me and I regarded him blankly, expression betraying nothing. He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "And who are you missy?"

I followed his movement and also crossed my arms over my chest, not really caring about the fact that I was disrespecting him at the moment. "I'm Evan's friend." I stated simply before walking over to Evan and grabbing onto his arm.

"Hey, let go of him-" The man's frown deepened and he reached his hand out towards us but pulled it back immediately at Mir's growl. A small smile tugged at my lips and it caused Evan to jar out of his slight funk. He looked down at Mir reproachfully before giving me the same look.

I shrugged and then turned to look at the town's guard who seemed to be looking at us with caution, Mir especially. "Well, we'll be off now to go see Evan's family who's apparently worried sick about him." I sent Evan a pointed look to which he huffed slightly before turning away.

Letting out a sigh we started walking to the town gate with the man following a couple of steps behind us. The other guard standing at the gate was looking even more confused than before. When we reached it I nodded towards him since I didn't know what else to do. To my surprise he nodded back almost in a daze and I struggled to hold back a giggle.

After walking a few steps past the gates I heard the man say to the other town guard, "Did you know that Gustav's son had a girlfriend?"

Evan seemingly choked on his spit which signaled to me that I wasn't the only one who heard it. I watched bemusedly as his face turned red and he shoved at me slightly at seeing my expression.

Then the towns guard answered. "No, but I suppose that answers the question about why he ran away in the first place."

At that point I couldn't help it and using the hand that wasn't holding on to Evan's arm I tried to stifle my giggles. Oh, this was too funny. I honestly never expected a misunderstanding like this. Maybe it was a normal occurrence for couples to run away together here.

"Can we please walk faster?" Evan bemoaned.

I nodded and then said in between giggles, "This town is so much better than how I remembered it being. Aren't you glad we came back to Henesys?"

He glared at me. My giggles turned into laughs.

In my opinion, it really was only reasonable to assume that considering the fact that before even entering the town we met someone that knew Evan, we'd run into someone else that also knew Evan before reaching his house. It was just his luck that it turned out to be someone that not only knew him, but he also knew too.

"Oh no." I heard Evan mumble under his breath before he suddenly yanked me behind… A bulletin board?

My eyes narrowed in slight confusion. "Evan?"

Said boy kept a firm grip on my arm as he pressed his back against the wooden board before sneaking a peek behind it. Whatever he saw though wasn't good apparently because he snapped back behind it almost immediately.

"Sorry Eli it's just… There's someone I know walking over there and…" He trailed off with a grimace.

I raised an eyebrow while ignoring a sudden clench in my stomach, because Evan had friends other than me? Why didn't he ever mention them in his letters? I know I told him about all my other friends in my letters. Shaking my head slightly to rid myself of those thoughts I asked him, "Shouldn't you… I don't know? Say hi?"

"We'll probably see her after we visit my family anyways so there's no sense in meeting her now-"

"Evan! You- You're here!" A high-pitched voice called out in surprise from the other side of Evan. Both mine and Evan's head whipped towards the voice and I stared in surprise at seeing someone vaguely familiar. And it wasn't due to meeting them in person- no; it was from my gaming memories.

Camila, my memories informed me as I took in the petite orange-haired girl with deep blue eyes. She looked to be only a few years older than Evan and was maybe nineteen years old at the latest.

"I almost can't believe it Evan..." Camila trailed off as she looked at Evan almost in awe while completely missing me. Not that I minded though, I was more than happy to let Evan handle this reunion of his by himself. It would be good practice for his actual family after all.

Unfortunately Evan didn't seem to share the same thoughts and he turned to look at me almost helplessly after stuttering out a, yea I'm back home now sorry for leaving.

Camila's eyes followed Evan's and her eyes widened as she finally noticed me. "Ah! You!"

I blinked and offered her what I hoped to be a polite smile. "Yes, me? I'm-"

"Eliza! Eliza… Hertsh right?" The orange-haired girl interrupted excitedly as she adjusted her grip on the wooden basket so that it rested in her elbow in order to clasp her hands together in front of her. "You're Evan's friend, Utah told me about you!" Not even a second after that she let out a small gasp, her eyes widening with some sort of revelation.

A foreboding feeling ran through me and I tried to force a smile through my grimace as I practically mouthed the words that flowed out of her mouth. It was way too obvious - especially after me and Evan's last encounter - what the conclusion that she came to was after all.

"Evan ran away from home to be with you?!"

Ah yes, misunderstandings everywhere and oh why don't look you look at that, there's tomato-faced Evan right on cue.

"No! Of course not Camila! I just happened to meet her and she decided to come with me while I came to visit home!" Evan denied thoroughly and I nodded in agreement, still finding the situation amusing nonetheless.

Unsurprisingly enough though, Camila seemed skeptical of Evan's explanation. "Really Evan? You know, I promise I won't get mad if you did run away to be with her. I mean, you wouldn't believe how many times me and Utah thought about that ourselves so it's no big deal. You're just braver than the rest of us is all."

"W-What? You two were planning to run away together?" Evan gaped and I let out a slightly disbelieving sigh.

Camila waved her hand dismissively. "Oh Evan. It's normal for couples to think about stuff like that. Most don't go through with it though but the idea's almost always there as a last resort I suppose."

I followed the conversation with a mixture of amusement and disbelief. A couple deciding to run away together definitely wasn't normal in my opinion. It had a permanent place in my mind as Cliché Couple Events That Happens in Fiction. Emphasis on the word fiction.

It seemed like the people in this town didn't share the same views as me though. Sad.

"Oh but let's forget about that! Evan, you must come home right now! You have no idea how worried Utah and your parents have been. I mean, sure I was worried too but I always kept faith that you'd come back soon and that Utah was overreacting with his thoughts of kidnapping. No offense Evan but I don't think anyone would want to kidnap you." Camila babbled as she grabbed me by the wrist and Evan by his shoulder as she led us out from behind the bulletin board.

A quick glance at my best friend's expression showed slight relief but at the same time exasperation. It seemed like he was used to Camila's babbling which I supposed was only natural considering the fact that she was his sister-in-law.

I peeked over the other girl's shoulder and frowned at the missing of a ring on her left hand.

Well, she was basically his sister-in-law I suppose then. Utah was probably just too much of a wimp to propose. Or maybe they were too young still?

I sighed and pushed those thoughts out of my mind for the moment. We were going to start entering the fields soon after all if my memory was correct. Sure the Orange Mushrooms and Pigs usually stayed away from the paths. They also wouldn't stand much of a chance against me and Evan but there was still Camila to worry about.

A quick glance at Evan showed that he was on the same wavelength as me and I smiled.

If any monster tried to attack our little trio of humans plus magical creatures thinking we'd be easy prey then they would certainly be in for a rude awakening.

Sadly, (or thankfully I suppose) no monsters attacked us and we soon find ourselves at Evan's house. It didn't look like it had changed at all quite frankly and the three of us now stood waiting by the wooden gate. Waiting for what though, I wasn't sure.

"So… Are we just going to walk through the gate or…?" I trailed off after a couple of seconds of nothing happening.

Camila turned to me with a small smile. "I'm just waiting for Evan. I think he should be the one to go in first since it's his first time returning home in a while."

I nodded in understanding and turned to the boy in question. "Evan?"

"Give me a second okay Eli? It's been like a couple of months since I was last home. And I didn't really tell them I was leaving in the first place…" Evan frowned, biting his lip. His brows were furrowed and I watched as he let out a sigh.

Placing an encouraging hand on his shoulder I said, "Don't worry Evan, everything's going to be fine. I mean, your family will probably be ecstatic to see you after all this time of hearing no word from you." I emphasized the last part with a raised eyebrow.

"I told you I just kind of forgot okay? A lot of things were happening at that time." He shifted his weight slightly across his two feet uncomfortably. "Look, here I'll open the gate now. The door to the house is probably open too at this time of the day so-" He was cut off as the door of the house took that exact moment to open and reveal…

"Utah." Evan breathed out and I took in the new figure inquisitively. Utah had changed quite a bit since my visit a couple of years ago. He was taller for one thing, and his clothes were a lot baggier. His hair was also a bit longer, pulled into a small ponytail that curled slightly.

He had some stubble too, which I frowned at. I never really liked guys with stubble. It seemed that Camila apparently liked that though.

I shook my head slightly and focused on the situation going on in front of me. Which included me standing off to the side like a slightly confused bystander, Camila smiling like there wasn't anything wrong with the world, Evan looking pensive and anxious, and finally Utah who looked the very definition of shock and relief- both of them at the same time in fact.

"-Evan oh goddess is that really you?"

After a small amount of hesitance and a quick adjustment as to the holding on the onyx dragon in his arms Evan slowly raised a hand in greeting while smiling slightly. "It's… Good to see you bro."

A pause.

"Mom! Dad! You'll never believe it! Evan's back!" Utah yelled with a boyish grin while running up to us. He stopped a mere foot away from Evan and I figured that the only thing stopping him from enveloping my best friend in a hug was the creature held in his arms.

"And he brought a… Overgrown lizard?" Utah added a bit quieter, and maybe more than a bit confused.

Mir growled at the same time Evan said indignantly, "Mir's not an overgrown lizard! He's a dragon!"

Utah looked at Evan to Mir and then back to Evan in disbelief. "Really? Oh-kay Evan sure he is." Utah shrugged, seemingly not interested to argue but still not believing what Evan had said. His expression however turned serious a second later. "But seriously Evan, just where have you been? Do you have any idea how worried we've all been?" Utah's voice cracked slightly at the end and I couldn't hide a wince. From the corner of my eyes I saw Evan do the same and seemed to shrink back a little even.

I took that as my cue to step in to the conversation.

"I assure you that Evan has a really good reason for all of this Utah. So if you'd just let us explain-" I started but was cut off by Utah soon enough.

"You! You're that girl!" He pointed at me before looking back at Evan in confusion.

I looked at him blankly. "I'm a girl yes. I'm not sure exactly what you mean by that girl though."

Utah rolled his eyes. "You're Eliza right? Your hair is practically unforgettable. I've still yet to meet anyone who has purple hair of all things. Not to mention the fact that for some reason you wanted to befriend this weirdo brother of mines who went ahead and ran away from home and brought back a lizard- excuse me, a dragon of all things."

He frowned, and I found myself not liking how his eyes narrowed as certain conclusions were made- Wrong ones definitely. I sighed internally and prepared myself to deflect any accusations thrown my way but was caught off guard by the sound of footsteps coming from the house.

There in all of their glory were Evan's parents. Aunt Anna and Uncle Gustav didn't seem to have changed a bit. I noticed a couple more wrinkles on their faces though but that was only natural.

"Evan! Oh you have no idea how relieved I am to see you!" Aunt Anna gushed and- were those tears in her eyes? Oh wow…

"Where have you been boy? You had us all worried sick! You better have had a good explanation for this but even then you're grounded until you're an adult!" Uncle Gustav reprimanded, happy relief seemingly gone or actually maybe just better hidden. I frowned at the last part of what he said though. That wasn't going to work out well with my plans after all…

As if sensing my sudden discomfort, (or maybe he was just looking for help in this situation) Evan turned his gaze towards me. This then caused the other members of his family to follow too.

Aunt Anna brightened up instantly. "Ah! Eliza! You're here on Victoria Island? You should have sent us a letter to tell us about your arrival."

"Eliza? Ah… You're Evan's friend right? What are you doing here?" Uncle Gustav asked almost suspiciously and Aunt Anna whacked her husband on the arm.

"Don't be rude honey!" But then her expression turned to one of slight confusion and curiosity. "But… Why are you here? With Evan in fact." Her eyes widened as she glanced between the two of us. "Don't tell me…"

I laughed a bit nervously. "Aunty Anna, I assure you that whatever you're thinking right now is probably very, very wrong. In fact, if we could just get inside the house I'm sure that both me and Evan could uh, shed some light on the situation."

Evan's parents shared a glance and nodded in sequence at this and Camila took the lead towards the house by pulling her boyfriend along with her. I walked over to Evan and patted his back reassuringly. "Come on Evan it's time to regale your tale of wonderful adventure to your family."

He scowled weakly and I beamed at him. Evan's parents watched the exchange silently but I paid them no mind and proceeded to pull Evan with me towards the house. "Can't exactly put it off anymore anyways. Don't worry I'll be here to help out with explaining too." I reassured and smiled as his expression relaxed slightly.

However while I was the epitome of cheerful and reassuring on the outside, on the inside my mind was whirring as I tried to piece together different facts and reasons. There was no way Uncle Gustav could make good on that threat of Evan being grounded to adulthood.

It's not like the Black Mage was going to wait to be revived. And if Evan was going to be stuck here till adulthood which meant about five years… Well, that wouldn't do quite well for the world now would it?

Evan wasn't the best storyteller. I wasn't exactly one to talk either though. Somehow though, by some miracle we were able to explain the whole situation to Evan's family plus Camila. Whether they believed it or not was debatable though.

"Okay, so wait. You're telling us that Evan is supposed to be the successor of the Maple World Hero Freud and that he can't stay here because he needs to train and become stronger to defeat the Black Mage who will soon be revived?" Utah asked incredulously which seemed to sum up everyone's thoughts sans mine and Evan's.

I nodded simply. "Yup."

Evan frowned. "You don't believe us." He stated glumly and Utah opened his mouth in an obvious retort when Aunt Anna cut him off.

"It's not that sweetie. It's just that it's…" She took in a deep breath. "It's hard to take in."

"It is Aunt Anna but I can tell that Evan's telling the truth." Camila smiled confidently and everyone turned to her in surprise. Utah most of all.

Crossing her legs and placing her hands over her lap Camila continued. "You all know I have a knack for being able to tell when someone is lying and I can tell he isn't." Utah frowned and opened his mouth to speak again but Camila shook her head. "Even without that though I know that Evan has changed. Maybe you all can't notice it because you've spent so much time with him that you have a specific image of him grained into your mind but I don't. It's not just in his looks or in the way he acts that he's changed though, although those are very different too. It's his very presence actually that's really changed."

"My…. Presence?" Evan parroted, obviously confused.

The orange-haired girl nodded. "Maybe it's because of your spirit pact with that ah, dragon you have but you just…" She tilted her head a little to the side. "How do I explain this? Your presence is quite reassuring and very strong, reliable. The kind of feeling I would think I'd get from a hero."

A smile made its way across my features as I listened to the orange-haired girl's explanation. Camila was… Nothing like I expected her to be, she was perhaps even better. She was calm, cheerful, and maybe even a little whimsical. I looked over to Evan and contemplated him for a couple of seconds.

The feeling you would think you'd get from a hero huh? I could see- or well feel that now that I really thought about it. He did give off that feeling of reliability and I knew from experience by fighting next to him that he was indeed very strong.

A quick glance at the rest of Evan's family showed that they still seemed unconvinced, although perhaps now a little more open-minded. No one said anything for a while though. Evan and I didn't have anything else to add to our explanation so the two of us were just waiting for the rest of them to say something. I was in particular waiting for someone to speak so that I could do damage control if necessary.

Surprisingly though it was Evan's dad, Uncle Gustav who broke the silence.

"How long will you be here for son?"

It made my head snap to look at him and take in his expression. It was a mixture of anger and worry but understanding all the same. He knew at the very least that Evan was a part of something way bigger than he could ever imagine. I turned my head to look at Aunt Anna and saw her mimicking the same expression as her husband. It was like they were completely in sync.

Utah on the other hand couldn't seem to get a grasp on the situation properly. He didn't understand it to put it simply. Camila kept him under control however, her hand in his and her lips moving in quiet reassurances.

Evan looked to me in a silent question and I understood. We had planned that if everything went alright with his family and they understood his situation that we'd stay for a day or two before heading towards the airport. He wanted to know if we were still going to follow the plan.

I smiled slightly, but there was a tinge of sadness in there too. It wasn't like I wanted to separate Evan from his family but…

"We could probably stay the night and leave tomorrow in the afternoon." I answered Uncle Gustav's question. He nodded while looking at me curiously and posed another question, to me specifically this time.

"You two plan to travel together don't you? Then please take care of my son," Evan gaped and I snickered. "I'll trust you to keep him safe. It doesn't matter if he's some big-shot hero; he still needs people to watch out for him after all. Also, would you mind telling us just where you're planning on going after this?"

I grinned, my face lighting up at the thought. "We're going to my hometown, Edelstein."

It was a little past noon of the next day and me and Evan stood by the wooden gate of Evan's house. The past night wasn't too interesting, it was filled with a bunch of awkward conversations between Evan and his family plus Camila. I kind of just stood off to the side, not wanting to intrude.

I didn't mind though. This was Evan's moment, his family. I had already done my part by helping to explain and offering support so there was no need for me to interfere anymore.

That changed the next morning though. I somehow got roped into helping Anna prepare breakfast for everyone after waking up at an ungodly hour due to my strict sleeping schedule. After breakfast I then watched as Evan was soon whisked away by his brother and father. Both had apparently deemed that since it was going to be Evan's last day at the farm they were going to get as much work out of him as possible.

It led to some interesting memories.

Evan spent his last morning at his home (for a long while) running around furiously. I snickered at seeing him go back and forth from the chicken coop to the pig stables in his farm clothes from my spot on the roof of the house.

By some sixth sense Evan looked up from herding the chickens to glare at me. I waved gleefully at him.

"Having fun?" I called out to him and I watched as he scowled.

"Why don't you come down here and help out? Even Mir is helping!" Evan gestured towards his dragon partner who was carrying a carton of eggs on his back into a storage room.

I shrugged and said simply. "I don't know what to do."

It was evidently the wrong thing to say though because a sudden gleam entered Evan's eyes and he yelled, "Utah! Eliza says she wants to help too so you can put her to work?!"

Utah appeared in a breeze and he looked away Evan for a couple of seconds before frowning. "Another set of hands would be good but where is she?"

Evan pointed at where I was sitting on the roof.

"What is she doing up there?!" Utah yelled and ran towards the house in a near panic. "How'd you even get up there? Get down, wait no- you'll get hurt. Ugh, where's the ladder?"

I tried to wave my hands in a calming gesture and narrowed my eyes at Evan who was smirking off to the side. "I got up here by magic. You know, teleport?"

Utah relaxed slightly. "Oh yeah, you're some Magician-Mutation like Evan."

I raised an eyebrow. "Magician-Mutation?"

"You know, because you use magic like a Magician but you use it differently somehow?" Utah shrugged and I let the weird nickname go. "But seriously teleport back down. You can do that right?"

"Yeah, I can." I nodded, and then grinned. "But that wouldn't be too fun." And with a single thought to my auras to attach themselves to my head more thoroughly I jumped off.

Sure I was only twelve-years-old but I was a Battle Mage trained by Brighton. I was incredibly fit physically and add in the passive effects of my auras a jump off the roof of a two-floor house wasn't anything too bad.

Evan and Utah didn't know that though and I honestly felt a little bad for giving them a near heart attack. The shocked face of Evan when I landed right next to him on my feet however made up for it slightly.

"You've got to teach me how to do that." He gasped out, looking at me in awe.

Utah however got over his surprise almost impossibly fast. "Later, now you two are going to be put to work. Lots of it." He said as he grabbed the two of us by the back of our shirts and started to drag us away.

Evan sighed. His eyes going back and forth from his house and the open field before us. In that moment as I watched him I wondered just how could he do this. How could he leave behind his family? How could he accept all of a sudden being called the successor of a Hero like Freud? How could he… Do so many things.

It was different in my case. I had spent so much time over the past couple of years preparing myself for this. I knew what was going to happen, at least a vague outline of the events but Evan... He just had stuff dumped onto him without much of a warning. But still, he managed it somehow. He handled all these things coming out at him much better than I know a lot of people would in fact. It was a little inspiring, and it was something I admired him for.

"You okay?" I asked him quietly and he smiled at me.

"Yeah, I am." And then he turned to look one last time at his family and Camila who stood by the house waving. He waved back and I did the same.

I saw Camila grin at us. "Stay safe you two!"

"You too!" We both yelled back and after a couple more goodbyes between Evan's parents and his brother we walking into the open field.

Mir no longer was in his first form and was in his normal big-onyx-dragon mode. My auras were as always nestled in my hair, quiet for the most part as they had taken to being lately but a comfortable presence all the same.

We walked in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes. Evan seemed to be in deep thought and I didn't want to interrupt him.

My auras however didn't seem to share the same sentiment.

"We're going back home now right Eliza?" Star tweeted softly.

I paused for a second, my hand reaching up to pet the three birds in my hair. "Yes we are Star. But we'll be back here too so you better not forget it."

"It's Evan's home, your best friend's home of course we wouldn't forget it." Light said matter-of-factly. Tempest grunted in agreement.

A chuckle caught my attention and I turned to Evan with a question in my eyes.

He shook his head. "Sorry, it's just that your auras don't talk all that much. They haven't been lately actually so I almost forgot they could speak."

I blinked and looked up. "They're not usually quiet though. But they've been pretty quiet for most of our stay here in Victoria Island compared to how they are at home. Any of you feel like telling me why?"

There was a pause and I waited patiently for an answer.

"We may or may not have been in constant contact with Brighton this entire time." Tempest admitted sheepishly.

My expression blanked. "What?"

Evan frowned. "Who?"

"Eliza's master hehe…" Star tweeted nervously.

Light flapped his wings slightly. "We weren't telling him everything that was happening. It's just… He wanted an open connection between us and him so that if anything did go wrong he'd be able to contact you and track your location without the communicator"

"He did this… When he transformed you guys? And if he could do that in the first place what was the point in giving me a communicator?" I asked as I felt a vein in my forehead twitch slightly.

"Brighton was just worried about you!" Star squeaked as I reached my hands into my hair. I tsked as my fingers came up empty and I looked upwards at my three auras flying around.

Tempest made a soothing noise. "We've only really been telling him the bare minimum. But the constant link between us and his auras is quite draining. That's why we haven't been talking much."

"Since we're heading back home now though we let Brighton know and he cut the connection between us. We're free!" Light chirped happily as he flew in a circle.

Evan came into step beside me and crossed his arms and gave me a look. "Mind explaining a bit Eli?"

I scratched the back of my head. "It'll be clearer once we get to Edelstein I assure you."

"Uh huh." Evan looked at me pointedly and I shrugged.

"Well, seeing as how we have a lot to travel until the airport so I suppose I can tell you a bit. You see my auras are actually…"

And so I began explaining to Evan my past with the Resistance (nothing too specific because it was still technically a secret organization) and I regaled some interesting stories involved with my training.

A couple of days of traveling passed and after I ran out of stories Evan offered some of his own until we finally made it to Ellinia and we easily made our way to the docking area. (I was a bit surprised at not seeing James but I easily pushed that thought aside, it's not like I wanted to see him after all. I did lie to him) There waiting for us was none other than Belle who gave us all a cheerful salute.

"Eliza! Good to see you, and you guys too Star, Tempest, Light." Belle said as she approached us. Evan looked at me cautiously and I gave him a reassuring smile.

Seeing that Belle turned her attention to my best friend. "And you must be Evan!"

Evan nodded slightly and Mir peered up at her from his spot in Evan's arms. (We put him in his first form so as to not draw too much attention to ourselves.) "You are?" He asked with a hesitant smile.

Belle grinned. "The name's Belle. I suppose I'm like a sort of mentor figure to Eliza and I'm here as an escort I guess. Just to make sure you guys stay safe."

"I see…" But from his expression I could tell that Evan didn't really understand. I sighed and patted his shoulder in reassurance.

"Come on Evan, let's go. Aren't you excited to finally see my hometown?" I smiled, trying to relieve his nerves.

To my relief he relaxed and snorted. "Of course I am." He made a gesture with his arm. "Lead the way."

"Gladly." I cheered then proceeded to link hands with him and started to pull him towards where Belle was walking, backwards in fact and smiling at us almost fondly.

"Hope you're ready for a big welcome Eliza. Everyone's missed you quite a bit."

My smile softened. "I missed them too." But I squeezed Evan's hand and beamed at him. "I'm happy you're coming with me though, Evan."

"Best friends stick together." He said easily with a smile before adding, "And traveling to get stronger alone isn't very fun after all."

And with that being said we continued to make our way to the boat that would take me back home. Back to Edelstein.

Ahaha... Hi.

Yeah it's been like forever I know, sorry for the late update.

Like last time I won't make any promises for the next one but it'll hopefully be soon?

As for this chapter... I kind of like it. Sorry if any of you who wanted more interaction between Evan's family though but that wouldn't work out very well. The plot's gotta keep going and I have a lot more planned for both Eliza and Evan.

Next Time on Past the Screen: Edelstein

[Stats]

Started Writing: 1/17/15 (I started the chapter really late sorry sorry)

Finished Writing: 2/1/15 (My goal for next chapter is by Valentine's Day but don't quote me on it)