Reality Check

by lani-haluki

Before Owen can escape PTP, Nobody separates Bethany into two halves. The only problem is, all Bethany's memories of book-jumping in the past years are gone. And Owen, still inside PTP, has no idea. Three years later, strange events unfold as Bethany starts reading PTP, where the main character knows her name, and a new student arrives at her school, claiming he's fictional.

67. Crystal Thieves

Ready For More (by Sea Girls)

"In the blink of an eye it just all slips away. 'Cause I heard you moved on and I'm in the same place . . ."

---

If possible, the carnival looked even more vibrant in the daytime.

From the music, the colors, the scenery— it all seemed to stand out more, as if the place itself had awakened. Although Owen's phone had horrible reception in the fictional world, and there really was no way to tell the time in Magisteria, he could tell they'd woken up early. It was the type of early that meant the sun had just barely risen, usually layered with expectations of school and hitting snooze on his alarm clock four or five times— until his mom threw the covers off of him, cruelly forcing him to get ready for his least favorite place in the world.

Ironically, this probably was his most favorite place in the world (well, one of them) and yet, the last thing he wanted to do was get up before the sun had even risen. Yet he had anyway, because Kiel insisted that for some awful reason, the carnival opened at sunrise. Whoever decided that was definitely receiving a few complaints from Owen, if he ever met the person in charge of this place. Probably the Magister. He shuddered. Yeah, maybe telling the Magister that his planet's carnival opened too early . . . probably wouldn't go over well.

Shortly after the sun had risen, Owen and his friends slipped out of their cots. Through bedraggled eyes, he managed to look over himself, making a lazy attempt to flatten out his hair and clothes. Somehow, no one had questioned his out-of-place clothes, which were very much not suitable for blending in. He couldn't help but be a little jealous that Bethany had gotten a disguise but not him, and here, she seemed to fit in perfectly.

Last night, after seeing the crystal ball live and in person, Kiel had taken them to the only clothing stands they could find, hoping to get both Owen and Moira capes of their own — at least to blend in until tomorrow. Moira's outfit was less of a problem, as she at least blended in a little better than Owen, who stood out like a beacon in his nonfictional shirt and light-colored jeans. Not enough to be accused of being Quanterium, luckily, but enough to get a few odd looks as Owen walked by.

Every time, he felt a little embarrassed. He only wanted that kind of attention if he looked cool, not if he was seen as a potential threat! If only he hadn't tripped into that stupid puddle. Then maybe he could've gotten a cape, too. And not just for the blending-in part. He had to admit that there'd always be a part of him that just wanted to walk around in a cape for fun. Even if this wasn't for fun, what other chance would he get to wear one? Sure, he'd worn some for Halloween, but those had been store-bought, dispensable capes. Obviously not comparable to the real thing.

In the end, the most they'd found were some scarves, jewelry, and hats, though surprisingly, no capes. It was completely by luck that they had found a woman giving out ponchos. Owen would've thought they'd need to trade something for it, but everything in the carnival was apparently free. He couldn't help but feel disappointment that it wasn't a cape, but it didn't really matter. Not being very tall, the poncho was so long that it nearly reached Owen's ankles.

It's one size fits all! the lady had promised.

Apparently not everyone, Owen thought as he pulled the poncho over his head, covering the logo splayed along the front of his shirt, which read The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical! He fought to pull his arms through the sleeves, which seemed far too heavy than wool had any right to be. He sighed, then for the finishing touch, pulled the hood up over his head. The poncho was way too big for him. Maybe by one size fits all, it meant one size fits all adults.

The entrance of the tent had already been pulled open, allowing a fresh breeze to drift into the room. His friends, having finished gathering all their stuff, were already moving to the open flap in the tent. As Owen hurried to follow, he caught up with Bethany, who was stepping outside at the same time. While she looked just as tired as the rest of them, there was something else to her expression, almost like a hint of sadness.

When they'd returned from the show last night, Bethany had already been asleep. He swore he saw the remains of salty tears on her cheeks, but must've been imagining things. Maybe she'd been having a nightmare, like the ones Owen used to have often, filled with the horrors of Pick The Plot. Thankfully, they'd finally stopped sometime within the past few days. Still, judging from how little he knew about what'd happened to Bethany last night, it wasn't impossible that the cause of it was something different.

. . . Assuming he wasn't just making things up, pretending to see patterns when there weren't any there to begin with.

"Hey," he spoke up, realizing just then how dry his mouth was, as his voice came out hoarse. "What happened last night?"

Bethany looked at him sideways, and he was sure that her shoulders had tensed up. "What? Oh, uh, sorry I just left out of nowhere. I just wanted to take a walk and go to sleep early." For some reason, her eyes drifted to Kiel, and her face fell slightly before quickly settling back on Owen. She halfheartedly smiled. "Not everyone cares about stupid magic shows, y'know."

Owen half-believed her. He'd seen the look on Kiel's face when he'd rejoined them on the bleachers, an unmistakeable expression of regret. He'd left to check if Bethany was okay after she'd run, without warning, out of the tent. Owen had been close to following her himself, as checking on his best friend was ten times more important than staying to watch a show— no matter how cool it seemed. But when Owen had asked about it, Kiel had shrugged, saying, "She's okay, she just seems like she needs some time to be alone."

Well, he'd heard that before.

Knowing he probably shouldn't push it, Owen accepted her answer for now. "Well, you shouldn't have left so early. It was awesome, until the magic just started messing up."

"Guess I made the right choice by leaving early, then," she commented, with less enthusiasm than she might've usually given. Not knowing what else to say, Owen nodded his agreement. He flashed her another concerned look— one she didn't see as she met their friends outside.

He couldn't put his finger on it, but something about her seemed different, like she was disheartened or something. Whatever was going on with her, he wished she'd come right out and say it. Maybe sometime soon, she'd tell him the full truth behind whatever had happened last night. Because something had, he just wasn't sure what. For as long as they'd been best friends, and for as much as Owen knew about her, reading Bethany's mind could be downright impossible sometimes. But whatever it was that was bothering her, it could wait until later.

The carnival lay just up ahead, and in place of what normally might be excitement, a rock wedged itself in Owen's stomach. Considering they were about to get answers from the crystal ball now, he couldn't stop himself from feeling nervous. The first crystal ball had been a fake, as the fortune teller told them the magic was too wild, too unpredictable, giving people answers they didn't want to hear. Was it possible it'd tell them something they didn't want to hear, something that didn't fix the worlds at all?

Realizing he'd stopped breathing, Owen forced himself to take a deep breath, then let it out. The crystal ball only told the truth. So if there was a way to cause all of this, there had to be a way to reverse it, too. It'd just probably be dangerous, but what in his life hadn't been dangerous recently? Not that he wanted it to be. Although he'd gotten used to a life filled with danger at every turn, he'd much rather go back to hanging out with his friends, working at the library, and being bored out of his mind as he did math homework.

Still, despite everything, it was kind of cool to be at the carnival. Kind of? No, more than cool. And if the worlds weren't so messed up right now, Owen might've had a hard time containing his excitement.

Although it'd just opened, he would've expected the carnival to be empty at a time like this, since Owen still had some trouble keeping his eyes open. But as they wandered up the dirt road and met the line of trees that led into the carnival's back entrance, it was the complete opposite. Already, the place was growing packed, with vendors setting up their booths for the day. Some even rolled covered wagons past Owen, showcasing all kinds of exotic items for sale. They called out to the four of them as they passed, trying to capture their attention.

Owen found that to keep up with everything — including his friends — his pace had to match that of the carnival-goers around him, fast-paced and eager. And who could blame them? There was so much to see, with everything within site being captivating, tempting Owen to go and check out everything, just because he was here, and he could. There was only about a mile distance between them and the fortune teller's tent, but getting there felt like it'd be an eternity, with so many things calling out to him here.

Both literally and metaphorically.

"You, young man!" a vendor shouted to Owen, who stood behind a stand filled with strange, colorful bottles, which resembled potions. "I'll give you ten years of happiness! Or would you like ten years of sadness, if that's what you prefer?"

"Um, no thanks!" Owen called out to them, after exchanging a look with Kiel. The former boy magician had shaken his head, as if to say not worth it. But Owen had to admit, ten years of happiness didn't sound too bad at a time like this. It didn't sound too bad at any time, if he was being honest.

"Hey, kids!" another shouted. "Would you be interested in a compass that always points you in the right direction? Maybe some magic dust that makes you fly, or—"

This time, it was Bethany who shook her head. "No thanks, we're good!"

As they walked, Owen peered closer at the stand, his eyes lighting up. "Okay, but that compass sounds really—"

She pointed a finger at him. "Don't even think about it, Owen."

He couldn't help but laugh a little. "I wasn't! I was just going to say it sounded . . ." He trailed off at the look on her face, his shoulders deflating. "Okay. Fine, we don't need it. We could later, but yeah. I'm good not having it. Totally good."

"Sorry, it's just . . . probably better if we don't stop for anything," Bethany told him, giving him an apologetic look. "Getting to the fortune teller's tent is our first priority."

"Bethany's right," Kiel said, and for some reason, the other girl's shoulders tensed up at his words. "This place is pretty awesome, but it's easy to get lost here and lose track of time. Probably would be best if we can get there as soon as possible, in case there's a line."

Owen frowned. "A line? Already? But it's so early!"

He shrugged, giving Owen a smile. "Well, what do you expect? This place never sleeps."

Although he was tempted to at least stop in front of a stand, to see up close what someone was selling, he knew better. So he forced himself to ignore the vendors' offers, instead training his eyes ahead of them. The closer they got to the fortune teller's tent, the more his hands began to sweat. For the rest of the way, he didn't look at his friends, not wanting them to see him so nervous. It'd been his idea to see the crystal ball after all, so if this didn't work, the only person left to blame was Owen.

Just for good measure, he crossed his fingers, hoping it'd ensure somehow that this was a solid plan, that it wouldn't be Owen's fault all over again. If his friends doubted it, they didn't say anything. In fact, no one said much of anything at all, except for the occasional comment from Kiel or Moira. Bethany, though, had gone silent the whole way, not speaking until they finally reached the fortune teller's tent. That was when he realized the area around it was empty, and a wooden sign which had once said "open" now said "closed".

Wait. Closed?

Owen swallowed hard. That wasn't a good sign. Apparently his friends thought so too, because Bethany quickly turned to them, shock registering across her face. "How is it closed? Where could she even be?"

"It just says closed," Owen said, forcing hopefulness into his voice. "She . . . could be on her way over now? She probably still needs to set her tent up for the day."

"Everyone else seems to be set up!" Bethany hissed. "Seems a little suspicious her tent isn't open, while everyone else's is."

"What, you think she did this on purpose?" Kiel asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Maybe," their redheaded friend said. Weirdly, she didn't look at Kiel. Didn't even glance at him. "It just seems a little weird it's closed, when she told us we could come here first thing in the morning."

"You're just being paranoid," Owen told her, but what he didn't admit was that he sort of agreed with her.

It was a little weird that the fortune teller wasn't even here, especially when the whole carnival was already packed. He definitely wasn't an expert or anything, but wasn't it good for businesses to open before the crowds arrived? And even though it was still fairly early in the morning, the fortune teller had promised they could come as soon as the morning came around. Now, it was the morning, the carnival had just opened, and she wasn't even here.

Bethany rolled her eyes reflexively. "What? When have I ever been paranoid?"

He couldn't believe she'd just asked that. "Uh, when that Murray Chase guy parked his car in front of your house every night, and you thought he was spying on you. That seems like paranoid to me!"

"Yeah, and I had a good reason to think that! I thought he might know my secret and was planning to use it against me! And he was wearing a hat to hide his face. Who even wears a hat anymore?"

Owen snorted. "Yeah, 'cause the hat made him suspicious. You get my point though, right? It's probably not closed this early on purpose."

"So after this, then what?" Moira asked. "We leave right after to get the gold, or . . ."

It took Owen a moment to realize what she meant. He caught all three of them staring at him, expectant looks on their faces, and felt heat slowly flood his cheeks. "Oh, uh, yes! Yeah, we're totally doing that." He coughed, struggling with his words. "But that's . . . we can't . . . I mean, we can't pay you yet. Not until we go in there first, I mean."

Perfect. Nailed it.

Moira narrowed her eyes, and it slowly sunk in that she must've not bought his lie. Uh-oh. "You said you hired me for protection, which I've given, but now it seems like you're just waiting to get your fortunes told." She sighed. "I rescued you from the pirates—"

"Pirates?" Bethany repeated.

"—and got you to your destination," she went on, like she hadn't heard Bethany. "I protected you all the way here, so, you know, I'm kind of expecting my money." She raised both eyebrows. "You are gonna pay me, right?"

Out of Moira's line of vision, he saw Kiel wearing a loose smile. "Yeah, you are paying her, right, Owen?"

Owen shot him a look that said really?, but the former boy magician looked too amused to care. Looking back at Moira, he nodded vigorously, still feeling the remnants of embarrassment. "Of course! And in case anything . . . bad happens in there, your job isn't over. You can still protect us! Anything could happen — there's a world of possibilities out there!"

"But hopefully, none of that happens," Bethany cut in, giving Owen a dirty look. "Let's not ask for something bad to happen."

At this, Moira stared at them for a moment before she broke out laughing. All at once, her suspicious demeanor vanished, like it'd never been there to begin with. "You people are so weird. You want me to defend you in . . . there?" She pointed back at the fortune teller's tent, acting like the whole concept was ridiculous. Which to someone else, Owen realized it would be. "Mostly when I'm protecting someone, it's from real danger, like mobs or law enforcement!"

Kiel nodded enthusiastically in agreement. "Oh yeah, I'm so with you on that!" He winked. "I never trust the police."

Moira beamed at him. "Wow, I didn't think it was possible, but I'm starting to like you more and more!"

"Thanks!" He grinned. "I was a thief myself, once, when I lived on the streets a few years ago. It's been a while, but I've definitely still got my skills."

"Really, MK?" She giggled, before her eyes widened. "Maybe you can teach me some new tricks! I've been . . ." Owen couldn't tell if he'd imagined it or not, but a cloud passed momentarily over her face. Her voice grew quieter, if just a bit. "A little out of practice."

Out of practice? Owen frowned, confusion rushing through him. Knowing Moira, she was someone who participated in illegal acts all the time, mainly ones that caused everyone in her town to feel threatened by her. And she'd been the best at stealing, not to mention anything related to crime, as her natural talents were just that good. When someone was that gifted, they couldn't just become "out of practice". Not even if Moira's dad grounded her again — which he must have — because Moira always automatically just went back to crime.

Wait. Wait, if Nobody had rewritten everyone, giving majority of the fictional people worse lives than how they'd started, could he have rewritten Moira, too? Not her whole character, obviously, because she still seemed like her same old self. The same person who wanted to find her mom and often got on the wrong foot with the police force, so that hadn't changed.

But what if something else had? If she really was out of practice, maybe it was because Nobody had rewritten her somehow. Only, he couldn't fully figure out what. It could've been something that related to her abilities, or maybe even her father. Or maybe she'd just been grounded again, and hadn't had a chance to break laws left and right. But even grounding hadn't worked for her, as he remembered, because she always found a way around it. So . . . it must've been something to do with the rewritten worlds, but what?

He opened his mouth, trying to think of a way to ask her, but Bethany beat him to it.

"Can we please get back to the important thing here?" Bethany interrupted, looking a little uncomfortable. Was it because of Moira hanging around, when she hadn't wanted her to? "It might not seem like we need protecting, but we might if I . . . if things don't go well." She cringed. "We just can't tell you all the details."

Moira stared at her, letting her words sink in. "What would I be protecting you from, anyway? Your fortunes?"

At this, she laughed harder, oblivious to the fact that none of them were laughing with her. He wondered if she knew the truth, about what they might really be about to face, if she would still be laughing. Maybe she would. Asking a crystal ball some questions didn't even seem that dangerous, but that didn't mean they shouldn't be prepared, just in case something got messed up along the way. Or a lot of somethings.

His heart pounded faster in his chest, and not for the first time that morning, a wave of fear passed over him. Not knowing what to expect sure helped lower his confidence!

Still, Owen forced a smile. "Something like that."

In reality, he didn't have a clue of what would happen when the crystal ball gave them answers. While he'd thought maybe the solution to fixing the worlds could be dangerous, he'd never considered he'd be in danger while near the crystal ball. Of course, he'd only said that to keep Moira around, but what if it was true? What if they really would need protection? But then again, it was just a crystal ball! A magical one, sure, but they couldn't be in any actual danger while talking to it. That'd be ridiculous!

. . . Right?

Just as Owen started to doubt his own thought process, something up ahead caught his eye. A person was speed-walking directly towards the section they were in. Flamboyant robes covered their body, and a long hood draped over their face, making it impossible for him to see the person's face underneath. As they drew close, he expected them to keep walking past them. Instead, they breezed past them, turning unexpectedly to face the fortune teller's tent. And without giving them even a glance, they pushed at the curtain and ducked inside.

Owen gasped, as did Bethany and Kiel. But before any of them could say anything, he noticed something else. The sign in front of the tent — which had once said "closed" — faded away, leaving a single word in its place: open. He blinked, not fully believing what he'd just seen. Wait, what had just happened? Had someone just . . . walked into the tent while it was still closed? And then magically altered the sign so it said "open"? And who was that?

"Uh, what just happened?" Kiel asked, voicing Owen's thoughts.

Bethany frowned. "I don't know. Could that be the same lady from last night?"

"Maybe," Owen whispered, leaning towards them. "She looked just as mysterious."

This seemed enough of a confirmation for Kiel. He perked up. "Let's go, then! It must be her!"

"Wait, um, maybe we should—"

Grinning at Kiel, Moira cut Owen off. "Lead the way, my handsome koala!"

In his own impulsive nature, Kiel started forward without waiting to see if they were following. Really? They didn't even know for sure that the person who'd just entered the tent was Madam Isadora. Owen opened his mouth to protest, but Bethany and Moira quickly followed, leaving him behind. He sighed, shaking his head before hurrying after them. He found Kiel standing in front of the tent's entrance, brushing aside one part of the curtain to see inside. Bethany and Moira were already peering in beside him, leaving Owen no room to see what was going on.

"Hey, um, guys? What's going on?" Owen whispered. He leaned this way and then, even stood on his toes— but it was to no avail. No matter what, he couldn't get a good look at what was happening. Why were they just looking in, not going inside?

Not even bothering to turn around or give him a direct answer, Bethany shushed him. For a moment, he just stared at her in annoyance, wishing someone would keep him in the loop. What were they all looking at? Moira tilted the slightest bit to the right, so Owen seized the moment to edge as close as he could. He found that if he tilted his head one way, he could just barely see the inside of the tent around Moira's head. Then his eyes landed on the person in the room, and he finally realized why his friends had been so distracted.

The person stood in the center of the room, her back facing them. Her arms were raised in the air as she mumbled something too quiet for Owen to hear, and a colorful something flickered around the room, a small flash that appeared, lighting up the space for a second, only to vanish altogether. It must've not been what the person intended, because she sighed, stopping her mumbling. Then after a few seconds, she started it again, and the bright flashes reappeared. Some of the objects in the room started to shake . . .

Only to stop. But the words the woman was mumbling hadn't stopped, which only meant one thing: she'd been trying to do magic, and it wasn't working. Not well, anyway. The mumbling faded out, and the woman lowered her hands with another heavy sigh. Owen couldn't see her face, but he could practically feel her disappointment from here. He knit his brows. Whatever spell she'd been casting, why hadn't it followed through? Had she meant for that to happen, or was it because—

"Magic," Kiel whispered, turning back at them. "She's trying to do magic. It's getting worse, though—"

"I know you're there. I can hear you," Madam Isadora said without turning around, and all of them froze. Then she did turn around, raising her hands to pull back the hood that draped over her face. "You may come in."

Oops.

They shuffled inside, all except for Moira, who Bethany asked again if she could wait. Fortunately, the other girl didn't seem too hurt by it, as she assumed all they'd be doing was getting their fortunes told. Despite that, she promised to wait at the door, and if she heard or saw anything that put them in danger, she'd fulfill her promise to protect them. It was all Owen could do to hope there was some kind of danger, just so Moira wouldn't run off on her own to get the gold. Though if it was up to him, he'd rather not deal with any of that.

As they walked inside, Kiel waved. "Hello again! We're here to see the crystal ball."

Madam Isadora nodded, her eyes distant. "Ah, I see you came as soon as the carnival opened. Lovely day out, isn't it?"

"Yeah, very lovely!"

"Well?" Bethany said. Despite her irritation, Owen noticed that her hands were shaking. As if realizing the same thing, she hastily crossed her arms over her chest. "Can it give us an answer, now?"

"I sense your impatience. Yes, it is time for your answer. Come sit." She waved them over to a cluster of pillows on the floor, which had already been laid out in front of the crystal ball, sitting on a wooden stool. She nodded at Kiel. "You were right about what you said earlier. I was trying to do magic, but magic . . . it has a mind of its own, now. It won't listen. Not to anyone." Gesturing to the crystal ball, she added, "The crystal ball, here, may be the only magical property of mine that works."

Owen lowered himself onto one of the pillows, sitting cross-legged on it. His friends did the same, gathering on either side of him. He found himself staring at the crystal ball in front of him, which was blank for now. The only thing he could see was his own slightly distorted reflection, staring right back at him with a look of poorly-disguised fear. Did he really look that scared? Or maybe he just thought he did, with the way he'd been feeling all morning.

Because according to the fortune teller, it might not even give them an answer they wanted to hear.

Come on, think optimistic, a voice said in Owen's head, one that sounded weirdly like a mix of Kara and Kiel. Save the worrying for later, when your plan actually does fail!

If, Owen corrected, wincing. If it fails.

Even the imagined version of his friends were telling him his plan would most likely fail. Not that either of his friends would ever say that, he hastened to remind himself. It was just his worries telling him that, and that didn't mean it'd actually happen.

"Are you ready for the answer?" Madam Isadora asked the three of them, and they nodded. "You must heed my warning, though— do not argue with it. Whatever it tells you, it is the truth, and the truth cannot be changed."

Owen didn't realize how dry his mouth had become until he tried to form a sentence. "Good . . . good to know."

Her eyes narrowed. "You understand this, then?"

"Oh, completely!" Kiel said confidently from beside him, something Owen wished he had more of right now. "We'll keep that in mind."

Seemingly satisfied she'd gotten through to them, Madam Isadora mumbled a few words, waving around the crystal ball. Instantly, the inside started to swirl, shifting from their own reflections to an entirely different image. He half-expected it to show a person or even a memory, something that was related to Nobody. Instead, as the smoke swirled and formed, it took shape of a very familiar-looking place: his mother's library.

Owen almost fell off the pillow in surprise, and despite being too busy staring at the image, he somehow steadied himself. It was showing his library? But why? What did that have to do with saving the fictional world? Caught up in his own thoughts, he didn't realize the room had gotten darker, the bright sunshine completely blocked out from outside. He didn't even notice the Madam Isadora had walked away to give them privacy, or that Bethany and Kiel were just as transfixed by the crystal ball as he was, none of them finding it within themselves to look away.

He watched as the image shifted again, and suddenly it showed the inside of the library. The place was packed— at least, as packed as the library usually got, which was mostly Friday nights. Seeing the library now, he felt a wave of homesickness sweep over him. It'd been a long time since he'd seen it like this. Of course, he had been there a few times over the past week, but the library had always been empty or damaged in some way, and he just missed working there.

Maybe not even the working part, but just being there. Working at the library, getting to see what books people were borrowing — even getting yelled at by his mom to focus on homework — it all was something he'd probably taken for granted, so used to it over the years that he hadn't known he'd been missing it until it was gone. When he was having a rough day, it was the one place that could usually cheer him up. The one place Owen had never felt like an outsider in.

And so, despite it being shown from the inside of a crystal ball, the sight eased some of the tension from Owen's shoulders. As if being projected from the ceiling, the image showed the entire floor below, making everyone seem small in comparison. The scene zoomed in, and Owen realized it now showed the front half of the library, giving a view of the front doors and checkout area next to it. Owen took it all in, missing That was when he noticed someone working behind the checkout counter— wait, that was him.

He gasped. Upon further examination, he saw that it definitely was him, but a couple of years younger. Beyond it just being embarrassing to watch himself through a crystal ball's lens, why was it showing them . . . himself? It was supposed to show the solution— or multiple solutions— to their very big problem, and all it was showing was a younger version of Owen working his shift. Well, there was less working involved. More daydreaming, as Owen was staring ahead with his chin in his hands, his eyes unfocused. But what did this have to do with anything?

"Your question was how to rewrite the worlds to their original state," a voice said, which sounded almost inhuman as it emerged from everywhere around them. "You are the answer, Owen Conners."

"Me?" Owen whispered, not sure if he was just imagining things at this point. He exchanged a confused look with his friends. What was that supposed to mean? That he could rewrite things, somehow? But if that was the case, wouldn't he have already figured that out? A small part of him was delighted at the idea of him being the answer, like some kind of chosen one. But the other, much larger part of him, only felt fear.

"Watch."

The image shifted again, and now it showed Owen and Bethany standing in his bedroom. Something about it struck him as familiar, but then again, he'd hung out with Bethany plenty of times in his room. It wasn't exactly uncommon. Bethany seemed to be telling him something, her face clouded over with nervousness. Owen, though, seemed to have trouble holding back a grin. That, too, wasn't something too unusual to Owen. Whatever this was, it had to be a memory. But it didn't help that Owen didn't know which memory.

Finished with whatever they'd been talking about (he couldn't hear anything they were saying), Bethany took Owen's hand, then stepped down on something. A burst of light emerged at her feet, rushing up towards the ceiling. He realized, just then, that they were entering a book. But it was impossible to tell which one, with the cover facing the ground. As Bethany's head disappeared, Owen moved to do the same, looking like he was shaking from excitement. But before he vanished within the pages, he reached for a metal baseball bat that leaned against the door, one that he used to play with for Little League.

. . . Uh-oh.

And then, Owen knew exactly what they were watching. This wasn't just any memory, it was the first time he and Bethany had jumped into Kiel Gnomenfoot and the Source of Magic! Little did Owen know, he was about to make one of the worst mistakes of his life, causing a powerful magician to be unleashed onto the real world. And getting himself stuck in that same book in the process, which he'd never have gotten out of, if not for Bethany. But why was the crystal ball showing them this? To make fun of Owen's past mistakes? Like he didn't do enough of that already.

But instead of showing the events that happened next, the scene thankfully faded out, leaving Owen to stare at nothing but smoke. He preferred that over watching himself make mistake after mistake, anyway. The voice within the crystal ball started talking again. "The only way to stop this future is to travel back in time, to the moment this all began. The first moment you changed a story."

"That would be here," Bethany said, almost sounding excited. "When Owen knocked out Dr. Verity to save the Magister. It all started there."

Owen glanced at her. "Technically, didn't it start when I saw you jump out of a book for the first time?"

"That happened in this other world you speak of," the crystal ball spoke, turning their attention back to it. "The world of reality. Going back in time would likely not work in your home world, as it's connection to magic is completely gone. To change things, the closest event is the one Bethany mentioned."

"Where I knocked out Dr. Verity," Owen supplied quietly, not sure he wanted to relive that memory. As good of an idea it'd seemed at the time, it had messed up absolutely everything later on, all because he'd been too selfish to see through the problems with his plan. If asked to do the same thing now, Owen would never choose to save the Magister again, not even for something as self-centered as looking like a hero.

"Then it is there you must go. That chain of events is what led to everything else, and ultimately, to Nobody separating the worlds."

"But why that event?" Kiel asked. "I'm sure there are many that led to Nobody separating the worlds, right?"

"There are, but this is where it started. Because the story was intended to go differently, changing it is what attracted Nobody's attention. It is what led him to meeting Owen, and therefore, finding out more about Bethany, and how to split her into two halves later on."

Heat flooded Owen's cheeks. "So because of me, everything is messed up with the worlds."

"Preciously," the crystal ball said, which really didn't help his confidence. If anything, it only lowered it. He shrunk a little further to the ground, his face burning. Right. So he really had made the worst mistake by saving the Magister, and because of that, everything else was his fault. Why should he expect anything different? But even as he told himself that, there was something else that dawned on him.

Yes, he was to blame for the Magister finding out about Bethany and escaping from his book. But would that really stop Nobody from going too far, from separating the worlds? From Kara, one thing he'd learned about time was that it shouldn't be taken lightly, because one mistake could ruin the entire future. And if they did this— changing the past— wouldn't it mean they'd never have defeated Nobody? If they'd never met him in the first place, wouldn't he still have the power to rewrite himself?

The more he thought about it, the more this didn't feel . . . completely right to Owen, like there were too many puzzle pieces that didn't fit together. Madam Isadora had said the crystal ball might not give them an answer they liked, and this had to be the cost. Still, the crystal ball couldn't lie. This would fix the worlds, and maybe it'd mean they'd never be rewritten again, but it might also mean Nobody would still be roaming free, finding other children's lives to ruin. But he didn't share this, not yet, not until they had more information.

"But isn't about just stopping what I did, it's about stopping Nobody from rewriting the worlds," Owen said, both trying not to think about that possibility, and trying to focus on their goal here. "Are you sure it's this point that we'd have to change?"

"Yes. The series of events that follow all contributed to Nobody separating the worlds. First by meeting you, Owen, then by meeting Bethany and deciding that he must separate her. Its also true that without you, Bethany may have never been split in half. She would most likely have never thought to jump inside the portal beneath Murray Chase's house, which is inevitably the reason she got split into two halves."

"Uh, Owen isn't to blame for that," Bethany defended. "I made him come, because he's my best friend. It was Nobody's fault I got split in half, not Owen's!"

"Thanks." Owen gave her a grateful smile, though the crystal ball didn't say anything to confirm Bethany was right, which probably meant it thought otherwise. He sighed, letting it go for now. "Okay, I get it. We have to stop me from knocking out Dr. Verity," he said, realizing now just how bitter his voice was sounding. "But won't that lead to all kinds of time paradoxes, since I'm trying to stop myself?"

"Yes," the crystal ball said. "Which is why Kiel Gnomenfoot would be going in your place, to stop your younger self."

Kiel's eyes widened, and he flashed Owen an excited look. "I like that idea."

"Wait, what?" Bethany blurted out. "Why couldn't I go?"

"And run the risk of your younger self seeing you?" The crystal ball seemed to pause, as if considering this. "It'd be too dangerous, and may cause more trouble than it prevents. Since the only person not in the room at the time was Kiel, he is the only one suitable for the job. And I figure he wouldn't have trouble convincing Owen to leave."

Owen imagined what it would've been like if Kiel had convinced him not to hit Dr. Verity with the baseball bat, back when the sight of the boy magician would've left him blissfully happy, willing to do anything he said. It'd taken a while for all of that to wear off, until Owen could start talking to Kiel like a normal person, seeing him as his best friend instead of just an idolized hero. But the crystal ball was right, it wouldn't take Kiel much convincing, if any at all. And since Bethany had wanted to jump out right away originally, there wouldn't be any convincing on her part, either.

He glanced sheepishly at Kiel. "Yeah, I was kind of obsessed with your books back then."

"Kind of?" Bethany repeated, snorting despite the situation. Owen sent her a look, only for shock to resonate through him, because she was smiling. "Okay, whatever, this means we have a chance." A grin spread across her face, something he hadn't seen on her all morning. "We can actually fix this!"

Kiel was grinning, too. "Yeah, we can!"

For some reason, Owen only felt worse. Did they really know for sure this wouldn't stop the worlds from being rewritten in the future, since Nobody would never have been defeated? Of course, there was also the chance that he would no longer be a threat, so there was that. And if the crystal ball was saying it, it had to be true. One thing he'd learned from reading the Kiel Gnomenfoot books was that it could never lie, so even if Nobody was still out there, he at least couldn't damage the worlds or his friends in any way.

But what about everything else? What else would've happened if he hadn't saved the Magister? Would they still know where Bethany's father was, assuming they may not have made that discovery in the first place? Maybe not. Maybe Owen not saving the Magister meant they never would've gone on all these adventures jumping into books together, but that way, everyone would still be safe. Wasn't that a risk worth taking, even if it meant things had to change for it to happen?

Then, Owen furrowed his brow as he realized something, something that seemed to overpower everything else in importance. "Wait, but stopping me from saving the Magister . . . wouldn't that mean since the Magister and Kiel never would've escaped from their books, we never would've become friends with Kiel? And I never would've gotten trapped by Nobody in his prison, or had to replace Kiel for the rest of the story, so . . ." Owen felt the blood drain from his face, too horrified to finish his thought.

"Yes," the crystal ball spoke, as the three teenagers listened in stunned silence. "The story would not have changed, so Nobody would never have gotten the chance to separate the worlds or Bethany. The story would play out the way it was meant to. Both the Magister and you, Kiel Gnomenfoot, would cease to exist."

---

For a moment, the room was utterly silent.

The words played over and over again in Bethany's head. The Magister, and way more importantly, Kiel, would be . . . dead, if they did this? No way. This was supposed to be the solution to fixing things, and this didn't include fixing. No, that was the opposite of fixing. This was supposed to make sense, like all the stars had aligned, and maybe Bethany would have laughed for not realizing it sooner. Being so focused on this preventing the worlds from being rewritten, she hadn't seen how this might play out.

Who cared if this saved the worlds, if it meant Kiel wouldn't even be apart of it? And why did it mean he had to die, anyway? Owen, when he'd been disguised as Kiel, had at least been given a robotic heart from Charm. Okay, that'd only been because it was Owen and not Kiel, and obviously, Jonathan Porterhouse had never written that part into the story.

Besides, Charm never would've thought about giving the real Kiel a robotic heart, since he never let on that sacrificing himself even bothered him. Without Owen messing with the story, and without Bethany asking Mr. Porterhouse to clear up some plotholes, there would've been no way Kiel had lived. And just the thought made her stomach do somersaults, and not the good kind. He had to stay safe. He had to.

Before she even knew she was doing it, Bethany slammed her palms down hard on the table the crystal ball sat on. "Are you kidding me? This is about saving the worlds, and Kiel, he's my—" She gave up, huffing, not ready to call him a 'friend' right now. "No one else is supposed to get hurt!"

Now, of all times, the crystal ball was unhelpfully silent. She glared at it, wishing it would say something. How was this fair? She'd been unsure of the crystal ball for many reasons, but she didn't want to end up being right. When Madam Isadora had mentioned the possibility of the solutions being dangerous, Bethany had expected something else, something that wouldn't mean risking anyone's life. And she was more okay with the Magister getting hurt over Kiel, but it still wasn't fair.

Why had she expected anything different?

"Hey." Kiel tapped her shoulder, breaking through her clouding thoughts. "It's okay. Let's stop yelling at the crystal ball for a moment and discuss this."

How was he so calm? This was about him, and he didn't even seem to care! Bethany took a deep breath, just trying to calm herself down, which from experience she knew was almost impossible. Not looking at anyone, she leaned away, pulling her knees to her chest as she collapsed back on the pillow. "Now is not the best time to tell me what to do."

The former boy magician smiled a little. "Fair enough. I still think we should, though, if this is something we're actually doing."

"What?" Sitting between Kiel and Bethany, Owen turned to him in an instant. He sounded almost angry, to Bethany's surprise, as she knew it took a lot to get him in that state. "No, we can't do this. There are too many issues with this plan!"

"Guys." The calmness in Kiel's voice was starting to fade, some uncertainty breaking through the cracks. "Believe me, I don't like this idea any more than you. Don't get me wrong, I don't trust or like the Magister that much anymore, but— purposely letting him die? It seems wrong!"

Bethany slowly turned to stare at him. "This isn't just about him, this is about you."

It was entirely by chance that they locked eyes, because since last night, Bethany had been careful not to, afraid that if she did, he'd see through . . . everything. She had to prove she could move on, not move backwards. But that felt silly now, almost immature, and the words they'd exchanged seemed lightyears away, not even mattering as much as this did.

Even if they weren't best friends anymore — with his memories gone like this — Bethany had momentarily forgotten all about that. Being as close as they were, she wasn't able to miss the hint of fear in his eyes, buried from years of practice. And in spite of that, she knew he wasn't going to give his safety a second thought.

"Yeah, I know."

Kiel looked away, but Bethany continued to look at him, wishing she could read his mind, just to see if he was thinking about himself, through any of this. Was there any part of him that wanted to be selfish? Even while thinking that, Bethany already knew the answer. Aside from Gwen, he might've been the most selfless person she'd ever met, and that made changing his mind all the more difficult. She couldn't help but wonder, if he'd had a bit of her selfishness and she'd had a bit of his selflessness, they'd be somewhat more balanced.

"So you have to think about yourself, too," she pressed, quieter now. "You can't only keep protecting other people forev—"

"We're doing it," he said firmly, and her heart jolted. "If me dying is the only cost of saving everyone, then I'm okay with it."

"But we're not!" Owen exclaimed, mirroring Bethany's thoughts. "Kiel, we can't let this just happen to you. We're a team!"

Kiel almost smiled. "I know, and I'm glad we were able to become that." He took a deep breath, his hands slowly clenching and unclenching at his sides. "But this is how things were meant to go, if you guys hadn't interfered. It's how my story was meant to go. If that's what we have to do, then . . ."

Bethany swallowed hard. "We're not going to just let you die."

"And I'm not going to let the worlds suffer." He looked between the two of them, probably judging their expressions. He nudged Owen, who was closest to him. "Oh, come on, lighten up! This was supposed to happen once. I avoided it then, but I can't avoid it now. It's just how things were meant to go."

And then, unexpectedly, Bethany heard herself snort. "Don't be stupid. We're not risking your life or anyone else's. I don't care what we have to do, but it can't be that. We're not doing that."

"But we have to," Kiel insisted. "And I'm okay with it! Really. If this is what we need—"

She groaned. "I don't care if you're okay with it."

"Beth—" exasperated Kiel, but she wasn't done. Not even close.

"It's not what we need. It's the exact opposite of that, actually!"

"But what about the rest of the worlds?" he reminded her. "This is for everyone, remember?"

"I don't think doing this would even fix everything," Owen blurted out, causing both of them to turn. He wasn't looking at either of them, though, his eyes on his lap. "Like Kiel dying is obviously a really major issue with this plan, but there's more. I've been thinking — if we do this, even though the worlds wouldn't be rewritten, that also means we never would've defeated Nobody! He'd still be out there, maybe."

Her eyes widened. Was that true? Nobody would still be . . . free? For some reason, it hadn't occurred to her that keeping the worlds from being rewritten — keeping herself from getting split in half — meant they'd be changing the future. Well, technically the present, but it was still the past's future. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized Owen was right. Even if they were able to avoid running into Nobody or changing Kiel's story, he most likely wouldn't be defeated.

"That . . . might be a problem," Kiel said, scratching his head.

Bethany's mind was whirling. And she started to think, this could actually be a good thing. Of course, not the part that this could be the only way to save the universe, and if this was the only way, well, she'd find a way around it. She'd find a way to save Kiel too, no matter what, no matter what had come between them recently. He was obviously very much opposed to that, wanting to sacrifice himself for everyone else, just as he always did.

But if there was any evidence that they should back out of this plan and find a new one, what better proof than Nobody coming back? No matter how much Owen and Bethany told Kiel how they couldn't go through with this plan — not if it meant their mutual best friend dying — he wouldn't listen. Not unless there was a bigger reason why they couldn't go through with it, and that was Nobody. Silently, she thanked Owen for bringing that up.

It might be the solution the crystal ball had given them, but if it ended with Kiel gone and Nobody back, Bethany wanted nothing to do with it. No, there had to be more options. This plan . . . would only exist as a plan B. They'd only do this if the crystal ball had nothing else to tell them, not that Bethany even wanted to think about doing it. And it was funny, because years ago, if you'd asked her to stop Owen from changing a story, she would've in a heartbeat.

But if Bethany had learned one thing about changing stories, it was not to let the villain get away. So she wouldn't. Never again.

She pursed her lips. "No deal, then. If this makes him come back, he could just destroy the worlds all over again."

"I was thinking that too," Owen admitted, spinning to look at her with wide eyes. "But somehow, this would keep the worlds from being destroyed. The crystal ball can't lie. It's like, built not to."

"We don't know that anymore. And even if it didn't lie, I still wouldn't feel good about Nobody being back."

"Well, I would, but only so I could punch him," Kiel mused, seeming to enjoy the thought. "Didn't really get a chance to earlier, unfortunately."

"Technically, when all of this is over, you'd still be able to." A proud smile grew on Owen's face. "He's in prison right now, because of us."

"Right. And he should stay there!" Bethany reminded them. "The crystal ball definitely didn't mention anything about Nobody being free, and either way, he . . . he still needs to pay for everything he did, like kidnapping my dad. And if we do this, this could mean my dad . . ."

Owen stared at her with concern. "Could mean your dad . . . what?"

She didn't want to say what she was really thinking, that somehow, this would lead to her father being missing, and Bethany having no idea where he was. Again.

A pinching sensation filled her palms, and she looked down to see that at some point in the time she'd been talking, her hands had balled into fists, tight enough that her knuckles had started to turn white. Her nails dug into her palms so profusely that they'd started to form indents. Sighing, she slowly released them and stretched her hands out, hoping no one had noticed.

"Uh, doesn't matter," she muttered, trying to brush the uncomfortable thought away. She pushed her knees away from her body, crossing her legs underneath her. "I just don't think we should do this, do you?"

"Nope," he said quietly. "But we can't just not do anything, either." He looked at the crystal ball thoughtfully. "Um, maybe we can ask it if it has any other solutions?"

In spite of the situation, Bethany found a smile slipping onto her face. Maybe they weren't always on the same page, but she was extremely grateful that they were now. "Yeah, let's do that. If it tells us anything else, it'll have to be better." She looked at Kiel hopefully. "So . . . you're in?"

Kiel let out a sigh, then smiled widely at the both of them. "Alright, I'm in. Finding something else would be better for the worlds, and . . . I guess I'm too young to die, anyway." He shrugged. "Don't get me wrong, though, I am definitely going to die in a really cool way. Hopefully while saving the world, while I'm at it!"

But his face looked brighter, like he'd been given the sun, and Bethany felt happiness explode through her. He was in. She knew it'd taken a lot for him to back out of this, and it meant everything that he wasn't going to sacrifice himself, even if it was for a seemingly good reason. She couldn't help but feel proud of him. He was sticking around to find a better path, a path that he and everyone deserved. Even if Nobody maybe coming back had been the thing to convince him, it still felt like he was choosing himself. Himself, and them.

All there was to do now was hope the crystal ball had something else they could do. At that thought, the ceiling suddenly felt a little closer, like it was threatening to press down on her. Bethany's momentary relief at backing out of this plan subsided, with the realization that they might still have to go through with it, depending on what the crystal ball said.

When it came down to it, if they turned out to be wrong and the crystal ball had no other solutions, there wouldn't be any choice. They would have to do this, which would mean stopping Owen from saving the Magister. It would prevent many horrible things, but would equally cause some bad things. It was either that or let the fictional world disappear, which she couldn't let happen. But she wouldn't think about that, not yet. Not unless they had no other option, so they'd just have to figure it out if the time came.

They all turned to look at the crystal ball again, which had been unhelpfully silent throughout their whole discussion. This time, it was Kiel who spoke to it first. He leaned in towards the crystal ball. "There's something else we need to ask you. Are there any other ways to fix the worlds?" He began to pull away, then continued, "Preferably one that doesn't involve releasing Nobody back into our lives."

"Or our friends getting hurt!" Owen added, probably because the last thing Kiel would do was ask for his well-being to be considered. That was something they'd both learned over the years.

The smoke within the crystal ball started to shift again, changing from various colors until it was absolutely white, like a cloud had been bottled up inside. A fluttering excitement bloomed throughout her chest, growing bigger and bigger against her ribs. She knew, after everything they'd just heard, it might be too much to hope for a better answer. But something was happening, Bethany could tell, and if it took any of their requests into consideration, it would be exactly what they needed.

But then, she started to notice something strange. A crackling noise, almost resembling a firecracker on a summer night. At first, it was relatively unnoticeable, so quiet that Bethany figured she was just hearing things. But then it happened again, and again, slowly growing louder. And that wasn't the only thing. In front of them, the crystal ball started to glow, something that definitely hadn't happened last time. Was it trying to show them an image? A really bright image?

"Uh, what is—" Owen started to whisper, but the crystal ball began to speak, and he fell silent, probably wanting to hang onto every word it said.

"There is one more way to do what you seek." For some reason, it sounded more muffled, like the voice was coming from behind the closed door of a separate room. "It involves bringing . . . bringing back—" The crackling grew more intense, enough to make all of them flinch. Bethany couldn't tell if she was imagining things, but suddenly, the air around them felt hotter, like the way air felt before a thunderstorm. And even worse, the crystal ball had started to shake, slowly becoming brighter and brighter. What was happening?

"Um, guys?!" Owen shouted, his expression quickly becoming frantic.

"Maybe we should back up a bit!" Kiel suggested, and Bethany saw the two of them get up. Her eyes still on the crystal ball, she moved to follow, barely able to focus on anything but the crystal ball.

Even with everything else happening, she could still hear it speaking to them, the message fading in and out as if coming from a bad signal. But things like signals and WIFI didn't even exist here, because this was made from magic. It should work. So why wasn't it? What had changed? Bethany squinted her eyes against the brightness, straining to listen. It kept spitting out random words, like their names and Nobody's name and something about possibilities. But it wasn't enough to piece together, not yet. With the message like this, it was almost too garbled to understand. Almost, because Bethany was determined to try.

"What?" a woman's voice drifted out from the doorway, and Bethany barely noticed that it was Madam Isadora, a look of shock painted across her face. "You asked it something else, didn't you?"

"Well, we—" Owen began, but she cut him off.

"No, there's a reason you're only allowed to ask one question. If you ask too much of it right away, something like this happens." She eyed the walls nervously, which had started to sway, as if a strong gust of wind were blowing through them. "Everyone, out! It's too dangerous to be in here!"

Her friends scrambled away, but Bethany's feet stayed routed to the floor, unable to move. In fact, she'd barely heard the fortune teller's warning at all. It was like the rest of the world had been blocked out, and through her tunnel vision, Bethany only saw the crystal ball, which shook harder and harder. But it was still speaking to her — well, still trying to speak, as the words weren't very clear.

She had to stay for the rest of the message. It would tell her all of it eventually. It had to. If she left now, it'd be as if she was abandoning her one chance to save the worlds. And what would her father think if she did that? What would her friends think? Most importantly, what would she think? If she left, her guilt would eat her up alive. She ran so many times in her life, but she wasn't running anymore. Not from this!

"Bethany!" Kiel was suddenly there, shaking her by the shoulders. "Come on! The whole tent's gonna go down!"

The space in front of them had grown even brighter. Bethany continued staring at the crystal ball, eyes wide with horror. She couldn't even look at Kiel, could barely process that he was standing right in front of her, that his hands were on her shoulders. She barely even saw Owen waving wildly at her in the doorway, frantically motioning for her to come over. Or the ceiling shaking violently above their heads. All she could see was the crystal ball, looking like it was ready to break into pieces.

Why was Kiel trying to get her to leave? There was still more they could get from it! They weren't done yet. They weren't even close to done. Just a few more seconds, and she could piece together everything. She just had to get closer. It was so hard to hear, now, like the crystal ball's words were coming from underwater. It was then that the danger of the situation began to catch up with her, and her intense concentration faded, if just a bit. The crystal ball was about to explode, or do something worse, and she wanted to stay? She must be insane.

But she was also determined, and she wasn't leaving until they had answers. Not now, when they were so close!

"No," Bethany managed to whisper, her eyes still glued to the object in front of her. "The — the message isn't over yet—"

Kiel shook her again, a little harder this time. "We need to go! I'm not leaving without you!"

She caught the desperation in his voice, and for the first time, the realization sunk in that the tent was started to cave in on them. And that the crystal ball looked like it might do some serious damage. Blinking rapidly, she finally focused her attention on Kiel, who grabbed her hands and squeezed them tightly, forcing her to look at him. "Bethany, come on!"

Seeing he'd gotten her attention, Kiel started to pull Bethany to the exit, only for her to yank her arm back. "What are you doing?" she shouted. "We can't run away!"

"We're not. But we can't stay in here, so—"

The loudest crackling noise Bethany had ever heard filled the room, and he pulled her out the door before she could protest. Their momentum sent them stumbling onto the grass next to Owen, where Bethany immediately whirled around, desperate to get back in there. But Kiel's fingers were still interlocked tightly with her's, seemingly refusing to let go, not until he was sure Bethany wouldn't go running back into danger. But it didn't matter how dangerous it was. She had to get back in there. What if—

A bright light erupted from the inside of the tent, so bright that it blinded Bethany, forcing her to close her eyes. When it finally died, she looked up to see that the tent had toppled over completely, several crashing noises coming from inside. Bethany winced. Yikes. That didn't sound good. At least nothing had exploded, which was a relief, but still just as surprising. If she stayed in there any longer, who knew what could've happened?

She stared at the collapsed tent and wondered what she'd been thinking. Her friends could've been hurt, all because she'd stuck around inside the tent, and they'd refused to leave without her. And she . . . she hadn't wanted to leave until she was satisfied with the answer it gave. Because no matter the danger, she'd wanted it to tell her something better. And it had started to, but there was no way of finding out what.

Bethany had been going about this the wrong way. Too much doing, not enough thinking.

She just . . . hadn't thought that through enough, that the crystal ball might cause all of that to happen. And she should've! What if it was broken now? She should've been more responsible! She should've been— no. No. She couldn't blame herself for this, not when none of them had known this would happen. But the state of the crystal ball was a heavy concern on her mind, as it was their only piece to saving everyone.

Maybe even without it, she could piece together what it'd been trying to say?

Bethany tried grouping together the message in her mind, using the only legible words it had said. But there wasn't enough to go off of. She bit her lip, wanting to scream in frustration. The only way to get the rest of the message was to ask the crystal ball again, if that was even remotely possible. She hoped it would be, or else they might have to do the first plan after all, and she wasn't ready to admit defeat.

Voices from behind them grabbed her attention, and she glanced over her shoulder to see a large group of Magisterians standing around, a low murmur spreading across them. Madam Isadora waved at them. "Don't worry, my tent will be back up momentarily! Please, all of you, come back later." She looked down at the three gaping kids, anger lining the edges of her eyes. "Much later."

"We're really sorry!" Owen stammered. "We had no idea that would happen!"

She glared at them. "Well, I did warn you before not to argue with it." She pointed a bony finger at her tent. "That is what happens when you overwork the crystal ball. You see? Now it'll take me hours to set everything back up!"

"Sorry," Owen repeated, his face turning red.

"Is the crystal ball going to be okay?" Bethany asked, hearing the worry in her own voice. It was the main thing she cared about, anyway. "We didn't damage it, right?"

Madam Isadora pinched the bridge of her nose, as if disgusted by the question. "It won't be usable for a few hours. But it is also indestructible, so no, you did not damage it. You're very lucky you only caused my tent to collapse."

"If there's anything we can do to make it up to you, just ask," Kiel said, but the fortune teller shot them all another dirty look before walking back towards the tent, grumbling to herself about reckless teenagers. She raised her arms, and the tent started to move by itself, slowly straightening up to a normal position. Judging from all the crashing noises, there'd be a lot more to fix from the inside.

Bethany watched her for a moment longer before turning back to Owen and Kiel. "Um, hey, are you guys okay?"

Owen patted himself down, as if checking to make sure none of his limbs had accidentally fallen off— which seemed kind of amusing as much as it was ridiculous. Relief crossed his face, and he looked back up at Bethany with a weak smile. "I think so?"

Kiel forced a shaky grin— even he seemed a little shaken. "Always. Are you?"

"Yeah, thanks," Bethany muttered, giving her friends a weary smile back. She sighed heavily. "I just really thought we'd get some answers! It could've been fine if we'd just stayed in there a few more seconds."

Owen just stared at her. "And let the whole place explode while we were in there?" He shook his head. "No way!"

She rolled her eyes. "But it didn't explode."

"Uh, it still seemed like it was going to!"

"That doesn't matter. What matters is that there was still something it was trying to say, and we missed it!"

"Hey, on the bright side, maybe the other answer would've been worse," Kiel offered. "Think about it!" He was probably trying to make her feel better, but his words only sent irritation rushing through Bethany.

"That doesn't make any sense," she said, feeling the sudden urge to strangle him for saying that. "How could it be worse? What it said before was probably the worst answer it could've given!"

"You're telling me!" she heard Owen exclaim. "Like we'd ever go with a plan that brings Nobody back. Yeesh."

Kiel shifted from foot to foot, his voice calm. "We don't actually know if the new plan was worse or better," he told Bethany. "That's all I'm saying."

Bethany glared at him. "We don't know because you pulled me away before I had the chance to hear it!" She was actually grateful he'd done that — very grateful — but it was too late to take her words back now.

Something like hurt clouded across his features. "You weren't leaving, so you know I had to do that. Should I have left you there as the whole tent collapsed?"

Her face slowly started to burn. "I don't know, maybe? You're missing the point! We have no time—"

Waving his hands around, Owen stepped in between them. "Hey, whoa, it's okay! We shouldn't argue over this!"

"I'm not the one arguing," Kiel said automatically, while Bethany gritted her teeth, saying nothing. "You're right, we shouldn't." He gave her a long, pointed look, then seemed to realize that she wasn't going to say anything. "It'll be fine! It's going to work out, okay? Let's make this work for us instead of against us."

He was right, but she wasn't about to tell him that.

Kiel glanced at Bethany again, like he was daring her to disagree. She wasn't looking at him, though, suddenly far too interested in kicking a rock underneath her shoe. All she wanted to do was yell some more, but going against her nature, she bit her lip, holding back from starting another argument. It wasn't doing them any good, to argue like this. It wasn't doing her any good. Why did she have to keep starting fights? Why couldn't she just . . . accept things?

They'd gotten some information from the crystal ball, but it was hardly enough. The possibilities were endless. What had it been trying to say? Would it have been safer than the other plan? Better? Now, she might never know. As soon as the crystal ball was good to use again, she would come back, no matter how dangerous her friends thought it was. With or without them, if that's what it took.

Owen clapped his hands. "Okay, we know it's not damaged, so maybe it's not too late to get the rest of the message. And that means we can come back later, like the lady said."

Bethany's eyes snapped back up to him in surprise. He still wanted to go back? Even after what had just happened? Well, of course he did, she reasoned. They still needed answers, but a part of Bethany expected her friends to be against it, in case they were thrown into danger a second time. A wave of emotions came over her, to know that her best friend agreed with her, and more importantly, that she wouldn't have to hear the message alone . . . which she definitely would've, if neither of them wanted to go.

Kiel nodded appreciatively. "Right! And then, it'll tell us everything."

"Y-Yeah, this'll work! And if it doesn't . . . we'll figure that out, too, I guess. I just hope it won't do anything terrifying again." Owen shuddered. "Hey, Moira—" He turned to his left, only to freeze. "Um, Moira?"

Bethany glanced around, and her eyes widened in surprise. With everything that had been going on — through all the chaos — she hadn't realized something: Moira had disappeared. But they didn't see the figure emerging from the other side of the tent, a grin on their face and a crystal ball hidden in their backpack.

---

Too easy! Moira thought as she ran down the path that led to the carnival's exit.

She wasn't sure exactly which way to go, for now, but if all it took was finding a portal that'd lead to her home world, she wasn't too worried. After all, although she'd wanted to be home before her dad noticed she was gone, she probably could risk a few more hours. She was supposed to be at school now, anyway, judging by the time on her watch. But who really cared about that? The only thing Moira could focus on was how well her plan had succeeded.

And because of it, she couldn't stop smiling. She'd never doubted it for a second, of course, but after all of her mistakes robbing that bank yesterday, she'd started to wonder if she'd become worse at thieving. That was something that might've made her father happy, but certainly not Moira, who'd been an expert at this her whole life. It was nice to know that she'd been able to steal something that expensive in such a short amount of time, and it hadn't even required any backup to get around security!

Granted, as far as Moira could tell, there wasn't much security at this place. She'd already tried pickpocketing more than a few people, only to find that no one here actually had wallets, or really anything valuable in their pockets, which was a shame. But this made up for it. Here she was, on her way home with a ball made up of real crystal in her backpack. Surprisingly, despite the damage to the fortune teller's tent, it was entirely unharmed. Moira was glad about that, or else she might never grab her mother's attention with a damaged crystal.

Now that she had this and the gold that Owen had promised her, Moira wasn't sure what to do with all of the money. What should she do first, buy a private jet? A police car of her own, which she could use to mess with people? Or— ooh, a brand new taser? Moira sighed happily at the idea. All of that would be amazing, as long as she found a way to hide it all from her dad, who probably wouldn't be happy to see a million worth in coins splayed across her bedroom.

No, that would just be something she'd have to deal with later. And hey, maybe if that portal was still in her room, she could make it work— just by reaching through it every time she needed money! With that, she'd be set for life. Well, until her father kicked her out of the house, which he'd threatened to do on more than one occasion. Moira had never been sure if he was serious or not, but with his growing reputation of a police officer with a criminal for a daughter, he probably was.

Moira glanced over her shoulder, checking to make sure Owen, Bethany, and Kiel weren't following. Unsurprisingly, they weren't. Last she'd seen of them, they'd been distracted by whatever had happened in the tent, and then she'd heard arguing, which meant they'd be busy for a while before they noticed Moira was gone. She did feel a little bad about leaving without saying goodbye. After all, Owen had been the one who'd brought her here. He'd mostly freaked out the entire time, but he was still nice. So were his friends— especially Kiel, who Moira could tell had the same love for law-breaking as she did.

But with the tent being empty for once, it'd been the only chance Moira could take to get the crystal ball. She had been planning to sneak back out to get it last night, and would've, if not for staying late at the performance. Moira had gotten so caught up in watching it that she'd lost track of time, losing any chances of sneaking out. And then after it'd ended, all Moira had wanted to do was get some sleep, after the crazy day she'd had. Between staying up all night to break into the bank and running around with Owen, Moira was reasonably exhausted.

And of all times to steal a crystal ball, running on three hours of sleep was not one of them. So she took her chance this morning, in complete daylight, and still managed to steal it from under everyone's noses. Now that was talent.

As she passed the gate at the front, Moira reached inside one of the pockets of her backpack, pulling out a tracking device. It was something she'd picked up from her dad's room before she'd left, which she hadn't expected to really need. Until now, that is, because it was her ticket home. Before leaving the cave, she'd placed a tracker on the cave wall, right next to where the portal to her home had been. She'd probably have to deal with that gigantic winged lizard . . . or whatever that was . . . while she was there, but Moira had done her fair share of sneaking around. She wouldn't be caught, not unless she wanted to be.

Moira fidgeted with the buttons on her tracker pad, not stopping until the screen lit up, showing a blinking green dot some distance away. And that distance was . . . huh, ten miles! Not too bad, when Moira had expected something closer to thirty or above. Not that she actually had any idea of where everything was in this world. If she did, she probably wouldn't have even needed to travel with Owen, but it'd helped knowing he was headed to the same destination as her . . . and that he was paying her more gold than she could carry. That helped too.

She glanced down at her tracker pad again, making sure she was going in the right direction before starting her journey. The crystal ball was already starting to weigh her down, and Moira regretted filling her backpack with so many supplies, which had turned out to be unnessesary. She'd barely made it more than a couple of yards away from the carnival before a voice rang out from behind her. "What are you doing with that?"

Moira whirled around. A single person was standing there— an elderly man with a long, white beard that could've definitely used some trimming. Just like everyone else in this world, he wore robes, only his were considerably less tattered. She rose her eyebrows, feeling more surprised than anything else. What was this guy talking about? A thought entered her head, and she quickly brushed it away. There was no way he could've known about the crystal ball!

No one had seen her take it, and if this guy thought she was stealing something, Moira was sure she could outrun him, given how old he looked. Not that she could say she'd ever been chased by an elderly person. Well, there had been that one time, when she'd succeeded in robbing a bakery, and the old woman at the cashier desk tried chasing her out. Not being well-adapted to running, however, she'd barely made it to the front door before Moira had already taken off, having hired a getaway driver beforehand.

Unfortunately, she didn't have one now. In fact, she hadn't seen a single car here, but that was okay. If this guy tried to follow her, Moira was confident she should be able to lose him easily. But, hoping she wouldn't have to deal with any of that, Moira feigned a clueless look. "Doing with what?"

"That ancient artifact in your backpack," the old man said, and Moira felt her heart almost stop. "—is very important to my planet, so anyone is forbidden from taking it, especially someone like you." He peered closer at her. "You don't really belong here, do you?"

Uh-oh. He knew. How did he know? First, she'd been so sure she wasn't being followed, let alone being watched, because Moira would know. And second, how did he know she wasn't from here? Moira was basically an expert at blending in— and she had a disguise! Usually, Moira wouldn't have been too concerned about this old guy calling her out. But after yesterday, after messing up at the bank and being so willing to prove she hadn't gotten worse at being a criminal, actually succeeding in stealing the crystal ball had meant so much.

Moira had traveled to a whole new world to get it, so there was no way her mother wouldn't finally notice her existence. Sure, she had the crystal ball, but it still had been extremely easy to steal. Easier than usual, anyway, and that had started to worry her. Without any security, a kindergartener could've stolen it just as easily. So there was no way to tell if she was back on her game, after all. But this, this proved it.

Someone had followed her, had known what she'd stolen, and Moira hadn't even realized. It was like all her observation skills had just faded away. But why? And since when? Before a couple days ago, it'd seemed that she was just as good as she'd always been, if not better. Moira tried to trace back the timeline, tried to pinpoint the moment her abilities had started going downhill, becoming less and less of the criminal mastermind she'd prided herself to be. And she had no idea why.

It'd seemed to start ever since her dad increased security around the house, but right before that . . . there'd been a weird fog-storm. A giant fog-storm, which once it passed through objects, seemed to dissolve them completely. Before that, life had been more normal than ever. Better, even, because Moira had gone bigger with her law-breaking, being so sure that next time, her mom would finally come to see her. Not that fog had anything to do with the recent changes in her life, because that was ridiculous.

Moira opened her mouth to answer, but that was when she realized— she couldn't. And not because she didn't want to. Because to her horror, her entire body had frozen — her face included. The only thing she was able to move were her eyes, which wasn't much of a help in this situation. Moira found herself beginning to panic. What was happening? And then her gaze fell on the man in front of her, who's hands were glowing with a blue light, the same light that covered her whole body.

Upon being here, she hadn't fully believed that magic was real, because how could she? Even at the performance last night, she wasn't completely convinced. Everything she'd seen could've just been a trick of the light, or strings holding up objects to make them look like they were floating. That sort of thing. Kiel had explained to her that magic — at least on his world — was very much real, and it was then that it fully sunk in for Moira. She tried to move, to shout, but nothing worked. The only thing she could do was stand there, frozen.

Suddenly, the old man in front of her looked a little less incapable of stopping her. Okay, a lot less.

The sound of a zipper being pulled alerted her attention. It was happening somewhere right behind her, though it was impossible to turn around and see the source. And then she felt her backpack growing less heavy, the man's hands now waving towards the sky in an upward motion, as if he were lifting an invisible object. A considerable weight left her back, and Moira felt her stomach drop. Even before seeing it, she already had the worst feeling of what had just happened.

Something round and crystal-like emerged around her line-of-vision, floating away from Moira and into the man's hands. No! First he'd kept her from moving, now this? He couldn't take it! She needed it for her mom, or else she would've come here for nothing. In the back of her head, a voice spoke up, reminding her of the cave full of gold awaiting her on her way home. But it meant nothing, absolutely nothing compared to her mother's attention. She tried to move again, but it was no use. He was stealing her stolen object, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Now holding the crystal ball, the man nodded at her. "Your cooperation is appreciated. You never were meant to have it, anyway. It's better it's in safe hands."

What?

And then, he vanished into thin air, as did the force holding Moira into place. Finally, she was free to move, so she did. She whirled around, running aimlessly around the spot he'd just been. But the magic must've taken him somewhere entirely different, because he was nowhere in sight. This couldn't be happening. Even now, despite it happening mere seconds ago, Moira still couldn't believe it. The crystal ball, her brilliant plan— it was all over. It hadn't even ended in a fun way, like Moira chasing him down. There was nothing to chase.

Moira wanted to kick her feet against the grass in frustration. No one had ever kept Moira from stealing anything before — except maybe her dad — but his guy had overpowered her in seconds. That was rare in itself. Moira had outsmarted entire police forces, mobs, other criminals— and all it'd taken here was a moment of paralysis before everything crumpled. Of course, it wasn't her fault about the paralysis. How could she have known he'd have the ability to do that?

One thing was clear, though. She couldn't go home now. She couldn't go back there empty-handed, without something to lure her mother back. But she couldn't search for this guy, either. Usually, Moira had no issues tracking down people. Even when she'd been on business in areas she didn't know well, it still hadn't been too difficult. But without being able to tell where this man had gone, how was she supposed to get the crystal ball back? She groaned. And to think, just minutes ago she'd been so optimistic, so proud of herself. Ugh.

"Moira?" a familiar voice called out to her. She turned, and surprise rattled through her. It was Owen, and beside him were Bethany and Kiel. Worry was painted across their faces. Between that and the fact that Moira had ditched them, they must've figured out by now that she'd stolen the crystal ball, and had left without saying where she was going. Only, her plans hadn't involved losing it and running into them again. She wasn't really looking forward to explaining, well, the real reason she'd come here.

"Hey, guys!" Moira shouted, and despite everything, was unable to suppress her grin at the sight of them. Even if they happened to be mad at her for leaving, maybe they knew who that guy was, and where he'd taken the crystal ball. Sure, it was a long shot, but if she could get it back, she had to try. No one stole from Moira Gonzalez and succeeded.

"Where did you go?" Bethany asked as they reached her. "We were looking everywhere for you!"

"Just took a walk," Moira lied. "You guys were in there for a while. I wasn't going to stand around forever, you know?" She giggled, but it felt more forced than usual.

For some reason, Bethany glanced at Owen, nudging him. "Ask her."

"Wait, what?" he whispered. "You want me to do it?!"

"Uh, yeah."

"You really think she did it?"

Bethany nodded, waving her arms around. "Probably . . . it makes sense!"

Owen was shaking his head. "We can't just jump to conclusions."

"We have to!"

"I don't want to—"

"Okay!" Kiel interjected, while Moira watched their exchange with growing confusion. "Since these two might be awhile, I'm just going to come right out and say it. We have something to ask you, Moira."

Owen sighed, meeting her eyes. "Yeah. We do. So, we kind of noticed that the crystal ball was gone, and then we noticed you were gone, and now you're all the way out here, which . . . I guess is far to be just taking a walk. Anyway, we were just wondering, did you take it?" His face flushed. Clearly, he wasn't an expert at accusing people. "The crystal ball, I mean! That's what we want to know."

Well, there was no point in hiding it. Not anymore. So Moira said, "Yes . . . and no."

Bethany's eyes widened. "What?"

"What do you mean 'no'?" Kiel asked. "So you took it or you didn't?"

"I did take it," Moira said, not sure why they cared so much. "Except I don't have it anymore, because someone—" Ugh. "Someone stole it from me."

Owen gasped. "Wait, how could they steal from you? You're the criminal super-genius!"

"I know!" Moira flashed him a grin at the praise, but then, the memory of the crystal ball being easily taken away drifted through her mind, and her grin slowly faded. "Well, the only reason he was able to take it from me was because . . . I couldn't move. His hands were like, glowing, which was already weird, and then I was paralyzed until he left."

"A paralyzation spell," Kiel said softly, his eyes widening.

"He?" Bethany repeated, stepping closer to her. "Who took it? Did you see his face?"

"Duh, I'm pretty much an expert at remembering faces," Moira said, scoffing. "Let's see. He was old, first of all. Like, super old. And he had a long, white beard, and was wearing these fancy robes. He wasn't very friendly, either. Very threatening tone of voice." She rolled her eyes. "Not that he threatened me, though, because I'm impossible to threaten!"

At this, some of the color seemed to drain from Kiel's face. "I know exactly who that is. It's the Magister."

For some reason, both Owen and Bethany gasped. "Oh no," Owen whispered, like that was bad news.

For Moira, though, it was good. Better than good. Not that she knew at all who they were referring to, but Kiel already knew who the guy was, without even a picture or more hints to go off of. She had to admit, she was impressed. "Wow, you catch on fast, MK! I guess there aren't many old guys with that description?"

The boy nodded absently. "Oh, there are plenty of old people here, he's just the oldest. And I know it's him, because . . ." He sighed, looking almost disappointed. "No one else would have much luck casting that. Out of anyone on Magisteria, Magi would have to be the most capable of still casting powerful spells like that."

Bethany groaned. "Of course he'd do something like this! He'd do anything to sabotage us."

"He couldn't have known we needed the crystal ball, though," Kiel said, shaking his head in disbelief. "He couldn't have . . ."

Bethany stared at him with concern, opening her mouth as if preparing to say something. Before she got the chance, Moira was already speaking, the realization of what Kiel had said catching up with her. "Wait. You need the crystal ball? For what?"

"I guess we could ask you the same question," Owen pointed out. "Why'd you steal it in the first place?"

They all looked at her. "Ha, good point!" Moira said, until realizing that they weren't going to let it go. She frowned, hearing no excitement in her voice. "I . . . haven't been completely honest with you guys. Actually, the only reason I came here is because I wanted to find the crystal ball."

He blinked. "Wait, what? So I didn't even need to promise you all that gold?!"

She narrowed her eyes. He wasn't thinking of backing out of giving it to her, was he? Of course, she could just get it herself later, but he promised her all of it, in exchange for Moira's protection. If he still wanted her protection, well, taking back his promise would have the opposite effect. She might've lost the crystal ball, but she wasn't about to lose any of her precious gold. Not when it was all sitting there, waiting for her in that cave. And she did not take losing money lightly.

"Hey, it was your choice to hire me!" Moira reminded him.

Owen blushed. "Well, I only did it to get you out of that cave. Not because I actually needed backup. And I never knew we were planning to find the same thing! You never told me you were coming to take the crystal ball!"

She couldn't help but grin. "Yeah, but this way, I still get a cave full of gold. It's a win-win, you know?"

He began to laugh nervously. "Um, about that—"

"So, why did you come all the way here to steal the crystal ball?" Bethany interrupted, crossing her arms. Suspicion was written all over her face. "You never said why."

At that, Moira's smile died. The real reason she'd come here hit her full-force, that all of this had been for her mother. But could she tell them that, or was it better to make up an excuse for why she'd come here. Not wanting to deal with it just yet, she decided not to explain, not yet. Instead, because it was easier than launching straight into it, she'd let something else explain for her.

Reaching into one of her backpack's pockets, she pulled out the parchment she'd found yesterday, which had floated through the portal in her closet. It'd been the spark that inspired her to come here, because without it, she never would've heard about the crystal ball or the carnival. It was part of the why she'd come here, because she'd heard about the crystal ball and decided to steal it, thinking it'd be expensive and significantly important. The detail that it was for her mom was just icing on the cake.

She tossed it to Owen, who — probably not expecting this — fumbled with it, dropping it to the ground. He quickly scooped it back up, staring at the parchment with wide eyes. "This is an ad for the carnival."

"Let me see," Bethany said, and moved in beside him, grabbing one end of the parchment to read it, too. Kiel, already at Owen's side, was watching curiously over his shoulder.

Owen slowly looked back up at Moira, his eyes filled with questions. "How . . . where did you find this?"

"It came with the portal that appeared in my room," Moira said. "Weird, right? Anyway, I saw it, read that a crystal ball was there, and thought I should steal it." She rubbed her eyes. "But that didn't actually work out so well! I just wanted to take it back home with me."

"Why?" Kiel asked, raising an eyebrow. "You probably could've found a crystal ball in your world— at least one that was less far."

Moira laughed. "You would think I'd just do that, wouldn't you! But no, I . . . I thought mixing it up would be better. That maybe if I was able to bring up my game and steal something from another dimension, I could finally just do something big."

"Oh," Bethany whispered, looking like she understood, maybe more than even Owen and Kiel. "Because you thought someone in your life would notice."

Moira just stared at her for a moment, having no idea how she knew, but feeling kind of grateful that she did. She nodded. "Usually when I'm stealing stuff, it's just for fun, you know? I love that kind of thing because it doesn't matter. But this does matter. I've been trying to get my mother's attention all my life, and nothing I do works. The bigger crimes I commit, I figure, the more likely it is that she'll notice."

Owen gave her a pitying look, and his expression ironically reminded Moira of the nickname she'd given him. Now more than ever, he really did look like a sad panda. "So your mom is the real reason you're here," he said quietly. "I'm sure she would notice this. How couldn't she?"

"If I came back with the crystal ball, maybe she would," Moira said, the usual smile gone from her face. "But it's too late, I already messed up majorly on this mission. And failing on this kind of stage not only is embarrassing, but it'll get back to my dad somehow. Even if I am in a different world right now, he'll still find out! More importantly, it'll get back to my mom. She might not want anything to do with me after that."

"Your mom loves you," he said gently. "And it won't get back to her, because . . ." He glanced at his friends. "Because we're gonna steal the crystal ball back. You'll help us, too, I mean. And then we'll help you. When we're done with it, you can take it home with you!"

Bethany paled. "Uh, wouldn't that be kinda dangerous for her to keep?"

"Maybe it wouldn't be, as long as no one asks it too many questions?"

Looking at Moira, Kiel broke out into a grin. "Yeah, that's really the only way to go about this, if you're going to keep it. The crystal ball can tell you the answer to any question . . . I would just recommend waiting a few hours in-between each one, if that's what you're using it for."

Moira shrugged. "I hadn't thought that far ahead. I'd just assumed I'd put it with all my other stolen stuff, or give it to my mom, if she actually ends up noticing what I did." Her eyes met Owen's, and a wide grin tugged at her lips. "Thanks for the offer, Owen. I like that idea way better than just going home empty-handed! I can't just let you steal that thing alone. Who would I be if I didn't?"

Owen blinked in surprise. "Hey, you called me Owen!"

"Eh, I prefer Sad Panda." She pointed at the three of them. "Now, your turn. Why do you need the crystal ball back so badly?"

Almost instantly, they fell silent. She squinted her eyes at them. None of them looked at her, which only made her grow more suspicious. Clearly, they were hiding something. Anyone could've figured that out. What could they need the crystal ball for that was so important, anyway? As far as her general knowledge was about crystal balls — which wasn't much — they predicted the future, often showing up in the fantasy shows her father liked to watch after his late night shifts down at the police station. But her friends couldn't just want it to see their fortunes, could they?

"If you want my help stealing it," Moira continued. "You'll have to tell me at least something." She smirked. "You're clearly gonna need help if you're trying to be inconspicuous."

"Okay," Bethany said, letting out an overly dramatic sigh of resignation. "Okay, fine, we'll tell you."

So they did. For the next few minutes, Moira listened, asking questions as they went along. The three of them took turns speaking, one explaining something while another (usually Bethany or Kiel), cut them off, adding something the other had left out. The story strung itself together, and while Moira was mostly left feeling confused, it also explained . . . a lot. She'd never heard of this Nobody person, or even someone like him, but the pure possibility writing everything wasn't too unbelievable.

It explained that strange fog that'd seemed to come out of nowhere, because afterwards, everything in her life seemed to have gotten worse. And then there were all the portals showing up, leading to other worlds, which cleared up more of the why that was happening. And then there was the part about Moira being a fictional character (a fictional character!), and the reason why Nobody had rewritten things, so nonfictionals wouldn't be in control of the fictional world anymore, whatever that meant.

And really, it didn't bother her. Not as much as Owen and Bethany seemed to think it would. Who cared if she was fictional? If there were books about her, good! People should read about her skills, she was the descendent of Moriarty, the greatest criminal mastermind who'd ever lived. And now Moira was the best criminal mastermind of her generation, so yes, she was thrilled people were able to read about her. Not so thrilled that some faceless guy had probably rewritten her, because no one changed Moira Gonzalez.

"So you want the crystal ball because . . . it'll tell you how to turn everything back to normal?" Moira thought of the problems she'd had lately, how much worse she'd gotten at stealing, and already knew she'd be grateful if all of that was fixed. She scrunched up her nose. "And you think all of these worlds are just gonna stop existing if you don't fix them?"

Kiel patted her on the shoulder. "See, now you're getting it!"

"Yeah, pretty much," Owen said with a wince. "Well, I don't really know what'll happen exactly, but just imagining it freaks me out."

Bethany shuddered a little. "Same here."

"I dunno, things didn't seem too bad back home," Moira said. "I could barely tell things were different!"

Except for the stealing thing, but Moira wasn't about to admit that. How could she, when her whole reputation was built being amazing at it?

"Maybe it wasn't something super noticeable." Owen looked almost in a daze, like he was thinking out-loud. "Like maybe nothing else in your life changed except one thing. Or maybe lots of things changed, but you haven't noticed yet."

"Yeah," Kiel agreed. "For me, something was taken from me that was a big part of my life. Like, the thing that made me Kiel Gnomenfoot. So, my magic. I've lost it a few times before, but I'm still not completely adjusted to not having it."

"Wait, that's it!"

Kiel gave their friend a confused look. "What?"

"Hey, Moira?" Owen looked at Moira suddenly. "You know how you're a criminal, right?"

"A criminal mastermind, for your information!" she corrected, sticking her tongue out at him. Then, she waved him off. "But yes, go on."

"Well I'm just thinking that maybe . . . maybe you've been rewritten as the opposite."

A snort escaped Moira's lips. "What are you saying? That I'm bad at my job all of the sudden?"

He cringed. "Not bad . . . necessary! Just . . . not good."

"That's the same thing," Bethany said, and Owen shot her a look, which she didn't seem to notice.

Owen's words rang through Moira's head loud and clear. And despite assuring herself that it must not be true, a part of her had always known, between all the times her father had caught her before she'd even stolen anything, and the significant trouble Moira had had trying to commit a simple bank robbery, which she normally would've handled with ease. She wanted to deny it, to say she was just as skilled as she'd ever been. But it wouldn't be the truth.

He was right. She had been rewritten like this. Annoyance flooded her veins. So it wasn't because of her own skills at all— it was all because someone had rewritten her to suddenly be bad at thieving. If she'd known that, she might've beaten herself up less! But it still didn't make much of a difference. Rewritten or not, it was still seeming like Moira had grown out of her criminal expertise. And that was even more of a reason her mother would want nothing to do with her.

How could she steal the crystal ball back if she'd already failed the first time? If what Owen said was true, she might fail again and again, something that horrified Moira to no end. She had to get the crystal ball back, yes. Not just to bring it back to her own world, in the hopes her mother would notice. But also so she wouldn't have failed this mission, because if she did a second time, her lifelong dream would be snuffed out in an instant.

"You're right, SP," she said.

Owen's mouth fell open. "I'm . . . what? I am?"

Moira sighed. "Yeah, and I'm only admitting this because I've definitely been rewritten, because otherwise, I would've had zero issues! On my last heist, I tried robbing a bank, which normally is just a fun, after-school activity for me, right? But it went badly. Then just now, some old guy stole something from me!" She furrowed her brows, her expression darkening. "And that would never happen usually."

"We can still get it back," Bethany assured Moira, her shoe tapping anxiously on the fresh, green grass beneath her. "There's still time. We just need to fix this. Trust me, once we get it, everything will go back to normal."

Kiel smiled briefly at the redheaded girl. "It will." He let out a sigh. "I guess there's not much to it, then. It must be the Magister who's taken it. So we'll have to pay my old teacher a visit. Not that this will be easy, if it really is him who did it. He did try to kill us last time."

Bethany made a disgusted face. "And tried to kidnap me like, two days ago. But we beat him once. We can do it again, if we have to."

"Or maybe we'll just be able to convince him to hand the crystal ball over," Kiel said, earning a disbelieving look from all of them. He chuckled. "What? He probably still trusts me, right? We could use that to our advantage!"

"You're right, he loves you!" Owen agreed.

The other boy looked slightly uncomfortable by the idea. Despite that, however, he managed to wink. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

"I'm just saying, he'd probably be the most open to giving it to you. You know, compared to the rest of us, who he hates," Owen quickly went on. Then, he glanced at Moira, if a bit nervously. "Did he say anything else to you? Like, any hints of why he wanted the crystal ball, or what he was doing with it?"

Moira thought back to a few minutes ago, recalling what the old man had said. "He said something about me not belonging here — who knows how he knew that — and oh, also that people are forbidden from taking ancient artifacts."

Bethany threw her hands up, her long ponytail rippling from the sudden movement. "Oh, that doesn't sound threatening at all."

"Right?" She shrugged a bit. "What an odd thing to say! Anyway, that's all. He didn't really explain what he wanted to do with it."

Kiel winced. "Yeah, he's usually pretty good at being vague. But whatever he's using it for, it can't be good."

"No kidding," Bethany muttered, folding her arms across her chest. "So, how are we getting there? It's not like we can just teleport there."

"Oh, I've already figured that part out," Kiel replied, looking proud of himself. "See those cliffs?" He pointed, and they all turned to look at where his finger extended, which ended up being the outskirts of the carnival, where cliffs lined the edges of the land. "This is around the same area the Magister's tower was. If we follow it for a while, we're bound to see it."

"Look at you, you're like a map! I love it," Moira said, and found herself already walking towards the cliffs, trying to ignore the way her muscles were tensing, because this mission was big, bigger than anything she was used to. And if she failed? Moira shoved the thought away, not wanting to think about it yet. Even if stealing hadn't worked out so great recently, her friends were still here to help, which bettered their chances of stealing the crystal ball back.

Plus, it wasn't like she'd lost all her skills. She still had the knowledge and experience from every mission that'd come before, so even if she wasn't as impressive as she used to be, she still knew the perfect tricks for a good heist. She turned back to see her friends staring after her, and motioned for them to follow. "Let's go, my co-caper-comrades! And when this is over, we really need to talk about the rest of my gold."

"What?" Owen exclaimed. "But you're already getting a ton! From a cave that we almost died in! With a dragon!"

"Hey, I know you've been trying to back out of giving it to me," Moira told him, and relished the look of shock that appeared on his face. "So you should know— helping save the world is a very expensive deal." She stared at him for a moment longer before chuckling. "Just kidding, I don't really know the exact amount. I'll have to look up the exchange rate for that later. Now sweet, let's go!"

---

"You better get, you better get, you better get ready for more . . ."

A/N- hahaha hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Even though I really wanted to get this out sooner, this one took about a month to write bc I've been a little busier than usual. Also, I recently finished the ROM series (revenge of magic) which is another amazing series by James Riley, I HIGHLY recommend if you love Story Thieves! thanks again for reading, and would love to hear your theories about what'll happen next chapter!