Author Note:
Hey guys. I'm so sorry about how long this took, but here it is. The ending of MAGE. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and favorite this story, I love all of you. I hope that you like the ending and that it doesn't disappoint anyone. Thank you all for reading! :)
Chapter 23: The End
Pearl POV
While I was glad we found Platina – ecstatic actually – our rescue attempt had gone about as badly as it could have. Instead of freeing Platina, we ended up captured ourselves. "What do we do now?" I complained, pacing the room already feeling claustrophobic. I hate small spaces.
"The door's locked," Dia said, stating the obvious.
I was about to give him a scathing retort when the door opened letting in a group of guards. One of them was holding a device that I recognized as being the same thing Midelle had that detected mages. The guard pointed at me, Dia and Platina while saying, "Him, him and her." The other guards separated us from our friends and led us out.
"Where are you taking them?" White cried. The only response she received was a rough shove that sent her sprawling into Bianca. The door slammed shut behind us blocking out White's cries.
"Where are we going?" I asked. I didn't get an answer, but at least I didn't get shoved. The guards led us down several different hallways and stopped outside of a door. The guards didn't enter, they just pushed us in and closed the door behind us. The room was large, about the size of our gym (which brings back the good memories of when all I was afraid of was magic bolts thrown by my teachers) but shaped like an oval instead of a rectangle. In the center of the room, there was a glowing circle. There were twelve sigils drawn around the edge of the circle which seemed familiar to me, but my attention was diverted before I could examine them further. There was a man standing in the center of the circle and he exuded a dark aura.
"Greetings children," the man said and I bit back my retort about us not being kids. He didn't look like he'd appreciate back-talk, and while I normally don't care, this man seemed evil to the core. And he actually frightened me. "My name is Cyrus," the man continued. "Leader of Team Galactic. And soon ruler of the world."
"Ruler of the world?" I said skeptically, my earlier vow of silence forgotten. "How are you going to take over the world?"
"I'm so glad you asked, because you and your friends are going to be instrumental in my rise to power. You see this rune?" He gestured at the circle. "This is an ancient sigil of power. If I sacrifice one of each type of mage in this circle, I will gain the power of each mage sacrificed. Then I will be able to bend anything and anyone to my will and use them to achieve world domination. He then cackled for what felt like an hour but was probably less than a minute.
"You – You're going to sacrifice us?" I said panicking.
"It is a noble sacrifice. I'll bring the world together, bring peace!"
"By taking people's free will," Dia said.
"That is not real freedom," Platina added.
"I don't need your approval, just your lives. Come into the circle," Cyrus said.
"Um. No," I refused.
Then I felt something in my mind, like fingers grabbing onto my mind and twisting. I found myself walking forwards despite my efforts to do the opposite. A quick sideways glance showed Dia and Platina having similar problems, though Platina was fighting him more successfully, undoubtedly due to her being a psychic mage herself.
Despite my best efforts, I soon found myself standing on one of the sigils, the symbol for air, I realized. A circle of light lit up around my feet, then shot into the ceiling, surrounding me in a cylinder of light. My mind was suddenly freed and I instantly tried to get through the cylinder. But it was no use, the light was completely unaffected by my fists. My attempts to use air to unbalance Cyrus or blow Dia and Platina away from their sigils were also unsuccessful as it was trapped with me in the cylinder and Dia and Platina were soon both surrounded by their own cages. Platina stood atop the symbol for psychic and Dia upon the symbol of ground. I looked at Dia and Platina and saw them mirroring the horror I felt. Then I felt a small spark of determination. I'm not dying. Not for this man. And he couldn't sacrifice us until he had the other mages he needed, so that would give me some time to find a way out.
White POV
So…this looks bad. But maybe there's a bright side somewhere. Sure I'm stuck here, but I'm with Bianca! Pearl, Platina and Dia were taken, but at least they're together! Probably…actually I have no idea what happened to them. Midelle got dragged away after them, but I don't know her well anyway so it could be worse. Right? No, this isn't working. I sunk down and put my head between my knees. This is bad. And there's nothing I can do. I don't have any powers. I'm not even particularly smart. All I can do is run a talent agency, which is completely useless. Bubu deserves better than me. Wait – Bubu! My head shot up, surprising Bianca who had been looking at me with concern.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Bubu!" I shouted.
"What?" she replied confused.
I sent out Bubu and answered, "Bianca, meet Bubu."
Bianca gasped and said, "A Tepig? A real one? How is that possible?"
"Honestly, I have no idea," I replied. "Pokémon just started appearing all of a sudden. But I think Bubu can help us escape. The doors are protected against magic –"
"But not against Pokémon attacks," Bianca finished for me. I nodded.
"Bubu! Get us out of here." Bubu nodded and launched herself at the door wreathed in flames.
The door made a wince-inducing creaking sound before being thrown off its hinges and crashing into the wall opposite it.
"Yes!" I exclaimed. "Let's get out of here!" And so Bianca, Bubu and I set out to rescue our fellow prisoners.
Like, 2 feet to the left and about 5 minutes earlier
Yellow POV
No one had come up with a plan to get us out yet, so we had resorted to sitting in silence. At one point Blue tried to get us to play truth or dare, but backed down after Sapph said she would dare Blue to get punched by Crys. I wouldn't have wanted to answer any of Blue's questions (and no way would I pick dare), but honestly it would have been a bit nicer than sitting here in worried silence.
The door suddenly swung open, nearly braining Gold who was sitting the closest to it. A whole platoon of guards came in brandishing weapons. I shrunk back, trying to blend in with the wall (a foolish endeavor since the wall was completely white and I'm…not).
"You're all coming with us. Except for you two," the front guard said. The two he was referring to seemed to be Sapph and Green. The rest of us were roughly dragged through the door.
"Where are you taking them?" Green demanded, trying to push past the guards to follow us.
"Ruby!" Sapph yelled as we were dragged away, but the two were restrained and trapped in the room behind us. The guards quickly dragged us away from the room and I thought I heard a crash, but we were too far away for me to be sure.
The guards threw us into a large room which was already occupied by a super creepy looking guy, Platina, Dia and Pearl. The latter three appeared to be held in prisons made of light. I had never seen anything like it.
"What's going on?" Red asked.
"This psycho wants to take over the world!" Pearl exclaimed, his hands bashing against the light surrounding him. My gaze drifted to the floor and I took in the symbols, then it drifted to my friends and pieces started putting themselves together in my mind. The symbols corresponded to the magic symbols and there were twelve of us in here. Each of us a different type of mage. Twelve of us, twelve symbols.
"Kindly take your places on the symbols," the creepy guy said. "Otherwise I'll have to force you."
"I'd like to see you try!" Gold taunted.
"Yeah!" Crys yelled, in rare agreement with Gold.
"Very well," the man said. The two then started jerking unnaturally forward.
"What's happening?" Crys asked, sounding strained.
"He is a psychic mage," Platina answered. "He can impose his will upon your mind, forcing you to do his bidding."
I exchanged looks with the others. "The more people he has to control, the more difficult it is for him right?" Lyra started.
"So if we all resist," Blue continued.
"Maybe we can beat him," Red finished. We all exchanged quick nods, then began running in different directions. I felt the man's touch in my mind, it felt slimy and unnatural and suddenly my body was not under my control anymore. I fought, but it didn't matter, I simply couldn't move the way I wanted to.
"It was a valiant attempt," the man said. "But I'm more powerful than you can possibly imagine." Despite our best efforts, we all ended up trapped in the light above our appropriate symbols.
"My plans have finally come to fruition."
"What plans?" Blue asked. "You're a super villain! You are villain-bound to tell all of us your evil plan!"
"He already told us," Dia said.
"What are the chances it's something good?" Lyra wondered.
"I'd say zero," Silver snapped.
"Yeah. It's bad," Pearl agreed. "He's going to –"
"Quiet!" the creep roared. "It's my plan and I get to explain it!"
"Who are you anyway?" Red asked.
"Yeah! He hasn't even told us his name! How rude," Blue agreed.
"He obviously has not been taught manners," Platina added.
"Cyrus!" the man roared. "My name is Cyrus, now shut up and let me talk!"
"Rude," Blue muttered.
"My plan," Cyrus started but before he could go on the door crashed down.
A few minutes earlier back in the cell
Green POV
I banged my fists against the door. "Let me out!" I yelled.
Sapph joined in the yelling and I'm sure would have helped pound on the door, but there wasn't enough room for both of us. The door suddenly got quite hot and I realized something was wrong. "Look out!" I yelled as I tacked Sapph to the ground away from the door. Just in time too, the door came flying backwards through the space Sapph and I had just been.
"Oops, sorry about that," a familiar voice apologized.
"White?" Sapph said.
"Hi gu – What are you two doing?" White demanded. I realized I was still on top of Sapph and that this was incredibly awkward.
Sapph squeaked a bit and pushed me off. "It's not what it looks like!" she defended.
"You and Green?" White said. "I always thought the arguments with Ruby were flirting! And Green! I always hoped you and Blue would end up together!"
"I am dating Ruby!" Sapph yelled back.
"I don't like Blue," I muttered, though it was starting to sound unconvincing even to me.
"If you're dating Ruby what was that?" White demanded.
"You blasted the door in," I replied. "If I hadn't pushed her down she's be squished under that," I gestured to the wreckage of the door which had created a sizable dent in the wall.
White laughed sheepishly and her Tepig imitated it (though it sounded like "Te te te te" which was decidedly odd sounding).
"Again, sorry about that. Oh! This is my friend Bianca," White said gesturing to a blonde girl who looked worse for wear. Grime covered her and her hair looked like it hadn't seen a hair brush for the better part of a year.
"Hiya! I'm Sapphire," Sapph said.
"Green," I said simply.
"Nice to meet you," Bianca replied.
"Where're Dia and Pearl?" I asked.
"They were taken," White replied. "I don't know where."
"They took everyone here too!" Sapph said.
"We need to find them!" White exclaimed. I sent out my Charmander who, along with White's Tepig, proceeded to bust down every door we came across until we found. The doors all led to empty rooms that were like the room we had been trapped in. I don't know why they had so many empty rooms, but I didn't question it. Running into guards would have been a problem. Eventually we came to a door that was much larger than the others.
"This looks promising," White said hopefully.
"Charmander," I said and Charmander blasted the door down not needing more direction. I led the way into the room where we found all our friends. The room was a huge oval, and while devoid of furniture much like the rest of the base, had a huge drawing on the floor and twelve lights shined up from the floor surrounding our friends.
"White!" Black shouted excitedly, waving at her so vigorously he bounced against the light he was standing in. I briefly wondered how it was possible for light to be a physical manifestation but put the thought to the side. There were more important things.
"Black! Is everyone okay?" White asked worriedly.
"We're fine," Blue replied leaning against her light column calmly.
"NO YOU'RE NOT!" a man I previously hadn't noticed roared. He didn't stand out nearly as much as the others since he was in the dark.
"Who's he?" I asked.
"He's Cyrus, leader of Team Galacic," Lyra explained.
"He wants to sacrifice us to become some super mage or something," Pearl added.
"Really?" Blue said. "That's his plan?"
"S-sacrifice?" Yellow stammered.
"Don't worry Yellow," Red said encouragingly. "We're getting out of this."
"NO YOU ARE NOT!" Cyrus yelled.
"Yeah, everything's going to be fine," Blue added, completely ignoring the irate madman.
"STOP IGNORING ME!" This shout finally drew attention, as at it was accompanied by the sudden intensity of brightness of all the light cages. This silenced the room. "Thank you. My plan, which has taken me years to put into effect, is finally about to come true. All I have to do is read this sacred ritual," Cyrus explained, holding a scroll with yellowed fragile looking pages.
"Bubu, get it," White muttered to her Tepig. The fire pig leapt towards the man and spat a fireball at him, which he skillfully dodged, however the flames caught the corner of his scroll and soon the whole thing had been reduced to ashes.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Cyrus roared.
"You really should have read that while we were ignoring you," Blue pointed out helpfully.
"None of you are going to make it out of here," he said menacingly.
"I think we made him mad," Lyra stage whispered.
"Thanks for stating the obvious," Silver muttered.
"Hey Greenie, can you get us out of these?" Gold asked.
"Maybe if you never call me that again," I snapped back.
"But Blue calls you that all the time," Gold whined.
"Have you forgotten my might?" Cyrus asked. "My mind is more powerful than any of your puny ones."
"Bubu, see if you can destroy those light prison things," White said to her Tepig. The fire Pokémon began breathing flames at the circle around Gold. The flames were dispersed around the edges and the prison was left unaffected. Charmander and Bianca tried hitting one together, but the prison was similarly not effected.
"Try destroying the sigils," I suggested to our imprisoned friends. Blue looked at the symbol she was standing on and hit it with a blast of water. The sigil dissolved and was washed away, the light with it.
"I'M FREE!" Blue squealed while Cyrus let out another roar of rage. The others quickly began freeing themselves, though some had more trouble than others and Pearl was reduced to attacking the sigil with his hands when his air magic was completely ineffective. Platina had a similar problem but managed to smudge the drawing with her shoe. Yellow had overcome her own problem by sending out Kabuto who proceeded to wash the mark away.
I felt something in my mind trying to exert control over me, Cyrus, I assumed. Judging by the looks on the others' faces they felt the same touch I did, and at Red's shouted, "Fight it!" I redoubled my efforts to resist. It was the strangest fight I'd ever been in as it was silent and without action. After several minutes to intense mental struggle, Cyrus collapsed to his knees, panting and I was suddenly alone in my mind again.
"Fine, I can't take all of you, but I can take one of you!" Cyrus roared, or well tried to roar, it came out as more of an exhausted gasp. No one moved and for a moment I thought he'd completely exhausted himself, but then White started walking towards him with jerky, unnatural looking steps.
"Help," She pleaded.
Platina closed her eyes and went into a trance like state, one of her arms raised towards White. However, whatever Platina was trying to do, was rendered unnecessary when Crys punched Cyrus and sent him sprawling to the ground, completely unconscious.
"I hate mind tricks," Crys said disgustedly.
Dia immediately pointed out that Platina had mental powers but Platina waved him off. And is it just me or do they look too friendly? Thinking about them of course reminded me of Blue and how much I don't want to talk about it. But as long as we're not alone it will be easy to avoid.
"So, what do we do now?" White wondered, absently shaking out her limbs as if ensuring that they were truly under her control again.
"Tie him up?" Yellow suggested.
"We need to make sure he doesn't try to control us again," Crys pointed out. "He's insanely powerful, the only reason we beat him was because he'd already exerted himself and there were a lot of us."
"Is there any sort of magic damper we could use on him?" Lyra wondered.
"There are several," Black (aka the walking encyclopedia) replied. "We don't have access to any of them here though."
"Well that's useful," Silver muttered.
"We burned up his scroll so we ruined his plan so doesn't even need us anymore, right?" Sapphire said.
"I feel like that was too easy," Red said in a surprising show of common sense.
"Yeah, I was feeling the same thing," Crys agreed. "I was hoping I was the only one."
A moment of silence passed, and then there was a blinding bright light and a roar in my head and everything went black.
Still Green POV
I woke and sat up immediately which did my throbbing head no favors. I quickly realized the reason for the pain, I, and all the others, had fallen where we stood and I must have hit my head on the ground none to gently. Silver was also awake, but the others still seemed out of it. I tried to ascertain how much time had passed, but there was no way to tell what time it was, but I got the feeling that I hadn't been out for long. Soon the others were all waking as well, some more gracefully than others (Ruby started screaming about the dust on his clothes and Sapphire had to knock him out again. He was calmer when he woke the second time).
"What happened?" Yellow asked and I realized the question was directed towards Kabuto who, like the other Pokémon had been unaffected by the bizarre sound. Kabuto said its name a few times and then Yellow translated for us. "He says that we all passed out but it's only been a few minutes. He's not sure why we fell over."
"That would be my doing," said a voice that came from above us. The voice was unlike anything I ever heard before. It was high and smooth, yet somehow also low and rough and completely impossible to describe. The voice was so strange it actually hurt to listen to. When I looked at the owner I found a strange monster which was white with a purple tail. I assumed it to be a Pokémon and was soon proved right when Gold and Red both jumped up and pointed at it yelling "Mewtwo!"
"Mew…two?" White repeated. "What is that?"
"No, it's Mewtwo," Red corrected.
"…Yeah. And what is that?"
"It's a legendary Pokemon."
"It has immense psychic power," Gold added.
"Like Platina?" Dia wondered.
"Probably more," I said, thinking about the psychic attack the creature had already subjected us to.
"I'm more powerful than anything you've ever encountered," Mewtwo stated. It wasn't until it said this that I realized part of what was so disturbing about the voice. The words weren't being spoken aloud, they were being placed directly into my mind. Which was not helping my headache in the slightest.
"What do you want with us?" I asked it.
"Nothing," it replied. "You have actually done me a great favor."
"We have?" Crys said, sounding as bewildered as I felt (though I would never show it – it would ruin my image).
"That man, Cyrus. He would have stolen your power and have become more powerful than even I am. You have stopped him, for that I thank you. What would you have in return?"
"What, like as a thank you present?" Sapph asked.
"Precisely."
"We don't need anything, he was a problem for us too," Crys said while Gold said, "Money! Lots and lots of money!" Crys hit him and told Mewtwo to ignore him.
"I cannot let your actions go unrewarded," the Pokemon said, apparently taking Crys's advice.
"Well, maybe you could get the council here so they can imprison Cyrus and his henchmen," Red suggested.
"And find us a faster way back to school," Blue added. "I'm not walking back. I've had enough walking to last a lifetime."
"I can accomplish those tasks for you," Mewtwo replied and it disappeared in a flash of light.
"Uh…What just happened?" Sapph asked.
"I think it used Teleport," Gold replied.
"Oh."
After a few more moments had passed and the only sounds were Cyrus's unconscious snores Blue wondered, "Is he coming back?"
As the last word left her mouth there was a larger flash and Mewtwo reappeared with every council member as well as Emerald and Wally.
"Emerald?" Ruby and Sapphire exclaimed.
"And me," Wally reminded.
"What're you doin' here?" Sapph asked.
"We followed you guys," Emerald explained. "I can't believe you left us without an explanation or anything!"
"We were supposed to tell you?" Ruby wondered.
"Yes!" Emerald yelled. Wally simply shrugged and said, "I'm just glad you're alright."
While this conversation was going on the council members were splitting up to search the base for other criminals and Lance was tying up Cyrus.
"Mewtwo told us what happened on the way. We're sorry you children got pulled into all this," Lance said apologetically. "Mewtwo offered to bring you all back to school which he'll do now. We'll see you there later to get your statements about all that occurred here."
"There was a girl here – " Crys started.
"Yes, Midelle, we'll find her."
"I guess it's time to go then," Red said. He looked at Mewtwo, who nodded and then there was the bright flash of light again. And we were back at school. Back at MAGE.
MAGE
Crys POV
"It feels like a lifetime since we were last here," Lyra said as she bounced around, looking at all the buildings.
"It has been a while," I agreed.
"So, what now?" Yellow wondered. "Do we just…go back to school?"
"CORRECT!" A loud drill-sergeant like voice yelled. I flinched and covered my ears and the others reacted similarly (except for Green who made a visible effort to not be bothered).
"Lt. Surge!" Yellow squeaked.
"We're glad you are all alright," said the much calmer voice of Nurse Joy.
"But you all have detention!" Surge yelled. "For the rest of your miserable teenage lives!"
"Actually only for a few months," Joy corrected. "And you will have to make up all the work you missed."
There was an audible groan from Gold and Sapph at this. "I don't want to work!" Sapph sobbed, getting on her knees in a begging pose before Nurse Joy and Lt. Surge.
"You're getting your clothes all dirty," Ruby scolded as he pulled his girlfriend into a standing position.
"We can talk more after you have had time to rest," Nurse Joy said, though Lt. Surge clearly disagreed. "Your dorm is how you left it."
We nodded and started to leave but Nurse Joy said, "White and Bianca, wait here." Black looked like he wanted to protest, but White motioned for him to go with the rest of us so he did (though reluctantly).
White POV
I nervously awaited their words. They knew now that I had lied – that I wasn't a mage. I didn't want them to send me back, I had friends here, and I had nothing in the non-magical world. Unfortunately they spoke with Bianca first and left me in suspense for even longer.
"Bianca, you are now enrolled here," Nurse Joy said. "This is Professor Lenora," Joy said gesturing to the purple haired professor who was walking towards us. "She will show you to your dorm. Bianca nodded and went to follow Lenora though she sent me an uncertain glance. I tried to give her an encouraging smile, but it probably came out as more of a grimace.
"You!" Surge yelled after Bianca was gone (though his voice was so loud she could probably hear it). "Liar!"
"Surge!" Joy scolded. "Though it is true, you did lie to us. That leaves us with a few options. You could leave now and return to normal schooling." I shook my head against my will. But the thought of that, without all my new friends, with not even Bianca there. It was unthinkable. "Another option is you can continue to go here and study the theory of magic. Instead of learning about how to use magic we will teach you about the history of magic and why people are able to use it."
"Yes!" I exclaimed before she had even finished speaking. "I want to stay here! Please."
"Very well. I will make the arrangements. Someone will send you an updated schedule soon," Joy said.
"Get back to your dorm midget!" Surge yelled in what I assumed was a dismissal. I took it and nearly sprinted back to my dorm afraid they would change their minds and send me away anyway. When I got back to the dorm the others were all waiting anxiously, even the ones who didn't actually live in our dorm. This meant that it was incredibly crowded.
Black bounded forward when I showed up and blurted, "Are they letting you stay?"
I nodded, too overcome to talk.
There was an instant jubilant cry in the room. After a bit more celebration we started breaking off into groups and Silver, Lyra, Dia, Pearl and Platina went back to their own dorm (though someone had suggest they sleep on the floor, but Platina refused to sleep "on a couch like a commoner."
"I'm so glad they're letting you stay," Black said.
"Me too," I replied. "I thought for sure they were going to send me away. But they said that I could stay and study magical theory." We grinned at each other like idiots for a while until I realized we had been staring at each other for too long and I coughed and said, "I think I'm going to bed." Then ran off. Smooth White. Really smooth.
Blue POV
So, we were back home and White was staying, which I was happy about of course. But there was something else I needed to do. And that was finding a way to get Mr. "Emotions-are-for-lesser-beings" Green to admit that he likes me. And he will.
The first part of my amazing plan (which I hadn't finished or formalized in any way) was to find Green and get him alone. Which turned out to be very difficult. Every time I headed towards him he slipped away, but no one's sneakier than a thief, and I'm the best thief the world has ever seen. And so I snuck into his room and waited. When he finally showed up I slammed the door and leaned on it. "No escape," I chortled.
Green whirled around, clearly started though he tried to hide it. "What are you doing here?" he demanded. "Get out of my room!"
I pretended to think about it, then grinned and said, "Nope!"
Green glared and muttered, "Pesky woman."
I graciously ignored that and said, "So Green. Now that we're back at school, and other than some detentions that I'm going to sneak out of, we're back to having peace and quiet. Don't you think we should talk about -"
"No!" he cut off.
"You don't know what I was going to say," I accused.
"I can guess."
"Just admit it!" You like me."
"No. I think you're annoying and nosy," he said, though he sounded like he was trying to convince himself of that.
I grinned wolfishly at him. "You like me!" I said in a singsong voice. "Just admit it already!"
"I – " he started but then stopped and the fight seemed to drain out of him. Then he muttered something indistinguishable.
"What was that?"
"Fine. I like you." He said this while staring at his feet and looking like he wanted to kill something. It was the best confession I could ever imagine hearing (even if I did have to force it out of him).
"I knew it!" I then tackled him in a hug. "We can be together forever and get married and go on double dates with Red and Yellow and mmph?" I was cut off by something on my mouth. Specifically Green's mouth on my mouth. I grinned into the kiss and returned it. Now that I had gotten him to admit his feelings there was no way I was ever letting him go.
1 Month Later - MAGE
Yellow POV
It had been a bit difficult and a lot surreal going back to school after the adventure we had been through. But it was also really relaxing. No death threats, no weird robot things, and way less walking. Things were mostly unchanged from before, with the exception of the Pokémon. After we met Mewtwo, Pokémon started showing up everywhere. There were long debates and research about why the Pokémon suddenly appeared, but I never paid much attention. They were here and they were going to stay, that's all that mattered to me.
Blue and Green continued to snipe at each other, though they were a lot more good-hearted than before since they were dating now. Silver insisted that there was nothing between him and Lyra, but when some other guy got close to her he always looked like he wanted to murder them. Lyra didn't seem bothered so I didn't pry, Blue however, was not as polite. She constantly asked if they were dating or not but Lyra would always just smirk at her. It drove Blue crazy.
Another couple (or not couple really) that drove Blue up the wall were Black and White. They clearly liked each other (even I could see that, and I really don't notice that stuff much), but they hadn't gotten together yet. I think they were just waiting to get a bit older, which I thought made sense, but Blue thought it was agonizing and she spent a lot of her time trying to force them to get together. Luckily Green was around to stop her more ridiculous plans (one of which involved goading Lt. Surge into putting them into detention together – I'm unspeakably happy he stopped that one).
As for me, I had never been happier. Red had asked me on a date a week after we got back. I was so shocked I just stared at him and Blue ended up accepting for me (that was really embarrassing). But the date went really well (despite Blue's obvious spying and her "help") and I had never been happier.
Crystal's Room
Crys POV
"So Crys, will you go out with me?" Gold asked. Again. Ever since we got back to MAGE he'd been asking me every day. This joke was getting seriously old. (But me not liking it does not in any way imply that I have feelings for the idiot because I totally don't because he doesn't for me so it would be pointless anyway and – right. Rambling).
"No," I replied simply. Pretending to be focusing on my homework.
"Why not?" he asked, adopting an annoying whiny tone.
Finally fed up. Seriously, why couldn't he take a hint, I slammed my hands down on my desk and yelled, "Quit joking about it!"
"Who says I'm joking?"
"You do!"
"I never said I was joking."
"And I'm supposed to believe that you are actually interested in me," I said, my tone dripping with sarcasm.
"Yes. Because I am." And for once Gold's tone didn't sound jokey and he actually sounded serious. A brief glimmer of hope filled me, What if he was telling the truth? But – no. There was no way. He was so…Gold. And I was just the 'Super Serious Gal.' (And besides I don't like him anyway so who cares if he's serious or not?).
I didn't bother to respond to his statement, just turned away from him and began working on my homework again. Gold apparently didn't like this response. His hand appeared in my field of vision and snatched the homework from my desk and tossed it to the side.
"Hey!" I snapped. I pulled my fist back to his him, but Gold grabbed my hand before I could swing.
"Just listen to me for a minute," Gold said, not letting go of my fist. "I was never joking, I really would like to be your boyfriend. Before you tell me no," he said forestalling my denial. "Let me take you on one date and you can answer me then."
No. "Fine." What? Why did that come out of my mouth?
"Come on!" Gold exclaimed, pulling me behind him by the fist he'd never released.
"We're going on a date right now?"
"No time like the present!"
Gold dragged me behind him through the dorm (much to the bemusement of Red and Yellow who were watching TV in the common room). We went outside and headed into the shopping area of MAGE. He came to a halt in front of one of the more upscale restaurants in MAGE and stared at the door.
"They don't open for another three hours," he said finally.
"That place is open," I replied pointing at a small café across the street.
"I was supposed to take you to a nice restaurant," Gold muttered. "This isn't going to plan…"
"You had a plan?" I asked skeptically.
"Huh? Did I say that out loud? Right, café. Let's go." Gold pulled me towards the café and then finally released my hand so that I could go inside.
The date only got more ridiculous from there and was basically, a disaster. But an enjoyable one. Besides, if I want to be with Gold, I have to be able to handle a little chaos.
The next time he asked me out, I said yes.
Author's Note:
There is an epilogue that takes place 5 years later that I will publish in a few days.