Chapter 1 - The Everglades

Diego POV

A storm rolled in above Diego Rueda's head, not to his surprise. He was in a terrible mood, and since he had been practicing with his Kanay powers quite a bit lately, it didn't surprise him that more extreme results would start to occur.

"Diego, dear, do you mind tuning down the humidity?" his girlfriend, Maddie Van Pelt, called back to him.

Diego forced a smile. "Sure." The storm dispersed at an alarmingly fast rate. He was carrying Maddie's bags, as usual. It still surprised him she had willingly came with him on his search for more Kanays. Granted, Diego still had to carry Maddie's enchanted bag filled to the brim with miniaturized makeup, clothes, and more clothes. It had been three weeks - almost an entire month-since the duo had left Miami. They had been all of Florida, and were approaching their final destination: the Everglades. Diego was convinced there were Kanays other than himself. The stone with the Kanay spider marking was practically proof. Even though he still didn't know where it had come from, Diego just knew it meant something.

The two walked on a dirt path that a guide had said led to the 'glades. Diego enjoyed walking, but not when he was in a bad mood. "Maddie, do you mind just tele-transporting us to the Everglades?" he panted.

"Hm?" Maddie doubled back. "Oh, but the weather is just so beautiful, don't you think?"

Diego took a deep breath. It had been the coolest day of the summer so far. "Yes, of course, but I'm getting a little tired...

"Oh, of course, sweety!" Maddie laughed. She performed her signature gesture-spinning her index finger in a circle-while saying, "My Proxy's energy is starting to fade, so send us both to the Everglades!" She then pointed at herself and Diego, green magic sparkling off her hand. A second later, they found themselves in the middle of a the Everglades, standing in a puddle of mud.

"Ugh! Gross!" Maddie whined. Diego's sneakers were less suspectable to the mud than Maddie's new ankle boots. She stepped out of the mud, and cleared her throat. "This mud has ruined my shoes, I fear, so replace them with comfy boots, right now and here." She performed her signature gesture, and the brown shoes instantly turned into black hiking boots.

"Maddie!" Diego hissed, upset and angry. "You can't cast a spell in public!"

Maddie just shrugs. "Oh, it's fine," she said. "Besides, it's not like anyone saw me. Who in their right mind would come to such a miserable place?"

Diego stared at her.

"We're the exceptions," she quickly added.

Diego sighed. "I guess you're right," he said. "But no more ma-"

"A place to stay is absent," Maddie said, already starting on another spell, "so conjure up a cozy tent!"

Diego slapped his forehead as a luxurious green tent appeared before them. It was roughly the size of Maddie's bedroom.

"Maddie!"

Maddie looked guilty. "Oh, alright Proxy. I'll stop using magic, for you," she said.

"Thank you," Diego grunted.

Alex POV

A trip to the Everglades wasn't Alex Russo's idea of a "fun summer vacation", as her parents had put it. She packed one small suitcase that had some clothes, snacks, and water. She also took her wand, which was kept in her boot pocket, as always. Even though she was the Family Wizard, her parents still didn't let her use magic whenever she pleased.

"Alex! Hurry up!" came her mother, Theresa's, voice. Alex groaned. Two days of staying in a miserable swamp. How would she survive? Alex grabbed her things and ran downstairs.

The entire Russo family, and Harper Finkle, had gathered in the living room. Since the entire family was leaving, the Sub Station would be closed for a few days, much to Max's displeasure. Apparently, since he was the newly instated Sub Shop owner, he felt a certain need to stick around as long as possible.

"Alright, we're all here," Jerry, the dad, said. Justin would be teleporting them to the Everglades, since the family trusted him more. Alex didn't really care; it wasn't like they could do anything if she actually did cast a spell.

"Transportium Nextorbitorim," Justin said, waving his wand. It was the same spell Alex had used to transport them to Mars, except this time, they would remain on the same planet.

But something was wrong. When Alex had done the spell, they had effortlessly been able to travel. This time, however, it felt like they were in the middle of a hurricane. And even though it only lasted for a few seconds, all six of them were troubled by the experience.

"Well, that was a doozy," Max said.

"Yeah, it sure was," Alex said, giving Justin a side-eye. "Obviously, Justin can't be trus-"

"You're the one who's not allowed to use magic freely, young lady, not your brother," Jerry said plainly. Alex grunted. She was the Family Wizard! She should be allowed to use magic whenever she wished. "And it was probably just a fluke. Magic is unpredictable, after all."

But as the family started to set up their tent, Justin was troubled, too. He had done the spell perfectly, and as he and Alex both knew, rarely was anything coincidental when it came to magic.

Alex, not wanting to help setting up, instead took a walk. The wetland was filled with water,-obviously-animals, and all sorts of greenery. The trees here were thicker than a pole. Alex made sure to keep out of the water as she walked around a bit, careful to keep close to the campsite. If she got loss, magic would be her only option, and no doubt would her parents be furious.

There was no one around... until there was. Alex was traversing an area with a large amount of plant life when she heard voices. Strange. She hadn't seen nor heard anyone before. A boy and a girl stood in the middle of another clearing, not unlike where the Russos' tents were. Spying was wrong, but Alex was bored out of her mind. And so, she kept quiet while eavesdropping on the two.

The girl, she noted, had on a very inappropriate outfit for the Everglades. She wore a bright pink peplum, and jeans that appeared to be bluer than the sky. She had blond hair which rested in light curls around her neck. The boy was wearing much more casual clothing: nothing but a t-shirt and shorts.

"Ugh! Gross!" the girl exclaimed, staring at her muddy shoes, which were now stained a light brown. Alex stifled a snicker. If she didn't want something nice to get ruined, then she should've worn something more appropriate for a wetland. What happened next, however, caught Alex's attention.

"This mud has ruined my shoes, I fear, so replace them with comfy boots, right now and here," the girl said, twirling her fingers in a circle then pointing at herself. Green sparkles hit her, and in an instant, the muddy shoes were replaced with black boots. Alex gasped at this. The girl was a wizard, like her! Why did she use her hands, though? Did she not bring her wand or something?

Alex watched as the boy scolded the girl for using magic. The girl shrugged it off. She then performed another spell to make a tent appear. Alex was impressed. Normal wizards shouldn't have been able to make something so... extravagant appear without a wand. She, of course, could've done it with no problem. The boy and girl went inside after a quick disagreement. At this point, Alex was stuck between going up and greeting them and telling her father. She decided to tell Justin, instead. After all, two wizards greeting another was more common than a wizard and a mortal. Speaking of mortals, was that boy one? Alex kept thinking of that the entire way back to their tent.

"Psst! Justin!" Alex hissed at her brother, careful to keep her voice down.

"Hm?" Justin said, continuing to set up his tent.

"I need to tell you something."

Justin groaned. "I'm not in the mood for one of your snide remarks."

"Of course you're not," Alex muttered. "But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. I was walking around, and I saw two people nearby."

Justin shrugged. "So what? It's summer; they're probably here on vacation. We should greet them!"

Alex slapped her forehead. "Would you just listen?" She took a deep breath. "I saw one of them cast a spell!"

Justin finally looked up. "Really? So they're wizards? That's awesome! We should tell dad-"

"No," Alex said. "I've got a weird feeling about these two; we should talk to them alone."

Justin rolled his eyes. "Fine."

Alex led Justin to the place where the wizard and boy were. She had also pulled Max along, so it would seem less suspicious to her parents. After all, since when did she and Justin like hanging out?

Emma POV

The weather in Miami during this time of year was unbelievably hot and humid. It was because of this that Emma Alonso was thankful for the cool air conditioning of the Seven. Her best friend, Andi Cruz, had surprisingly decided to not go to Guardians' school. For now. Apparently Andi had decided it was best to stay with Emma, after everything that had gone down.

The Seven wasn't the same without Diego's familiar smile. His sister, Gigi, never paid much attention to customers' orders, as she was always on her phone. Katie and Sophie, the other two Panthers(the first was Maddie), were very much needed to keep the place going. Hopefully, Diego would return soon.

"So," Andi said, pulling Emma out of her thoughts.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"I was thinking. It's been almost a month, and I don't think the Diego duplicate is going to cut it for much longer," Andi said. Emma had made a copy of Diego-not with the cloning spell, but another spell she had found in the Hexoren-but the copy wasn't exactly like the real Diego. And as powerful as Emma was, being the Chosen One and all, even her spells couldn't last forever.

"So what are you saying?" Emma asked, trying to ignore Gigi's excited chattering about a relationship breakup between two classmates.

"I'm saying," Andi continued, "why don't we go visit Diego and Maddie? We could check up on how they're doing. If they're not great, we could tell them to come back to Miami, at least for a while. We could get rid of the copy, finally have some time away from Gigi, and just regroup everyone, y'know?"

Emma shrugged. "I guess we could do that," she said slowly. "Just one problem. Even if we know where Diego and Maddie are, I can't tele-transport!" Even after a month of training with Jax Novoa, her boyfriend, Emma still kept coming back to the pool. It was like they were magnets, bound to attract each other.

"Then we'll get Jax to take us," Andi said, clapping her hands. "So, what about it?"

Emma smiled. "Alright, we can go visit."

Andi pulled out her phone. "I'll text Diego and see where they are. You tell Jax." The sound of fingers lightly hitting the screens of their phones was engulfed by the music in the background, and Gigi.

"Got it," Andi said triumphantly. "They're in the... the Everglades?"

Emma started. "The Everglades?" she repeated. Memories of Daniel, her ex-boyfriend, filled her mind. She had sent Daniel back to his alternate life in the Everglades, along with Mia. Now, she had a chance to see him again.

"The Everglades, huh?" Jax said, startling the girls. "They sure have covered a lot of ground."

"Yeah, being able to tele-transport is pretty helpful," Emma said, a bit frustrated. "Anyway. Can you send us there?"

Jax smiled. "Send? I'm coming with you! It'll be a break away from home. Jessie's not at home, so Dad's attention is all on me."

Andi snickered. "Yeah, not missing that little brat."

Someone's POV

Iridium High was locked for the summer, but that didn't stop a cloaked figure from entering the school through an emergency exit. The figure knew the school like the back of their hand. They swiftly made their way to the principal's office.

The current principal had redecorated so much that you could never have told it once belonged to an evil Chosen One. The figure was here for the artifacts that the previous principal had hidden.

They cast a spell, and one of the walls in the room slid open. Inside was an extremely dusty room. No one had been here for years. Old books filled with spells and dangerous and powerful artifacts lay here and there. The figure, however, was here for the oldest book here. Every forbidden spell and enchantment was hidden here. There were many spells to pick from, but the figure ignored most. They flipped to a certain page, and scanned the spell on it. Smiling sinisterly, they picked the book up, and left the lair. Behind them, the door slid shut, concealing the room from view once again.