Hello, welcome to Chap. 9 of It's Magic?: Discovering New Abilities. Thanks to those that reviewed, and I also have one more thing to say before I start the chapter: HAPPY HALLOWEEN! So, enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 9+

Zack, Cody, and Alex find themselves separated, and alone. Each had only their newfound power to aid them. Confused, lost, and terribly lonely, each maneuvered through the dark forest, hoping to find some sign of life, or shelter, and then somehow be able to contact the others.

POV: ZACK

I wandered aimlessly through the dark among the trees. I thought I might have heard a faint cry or two, but wrote it off as my imagination, desperate for company. I started to try out his new powers of fire, seeing as I was bored and had nothing else to do.

Now, then, how do I work this thing? Let's see now, FIRE!

I thought with all my might, but no result. Hmm…Let's see, maybe I need to actually say it.

"FIRE!" A great burst of flame shot from my hand. Startled, I fell back and watched as it lit up a patch of moss growing on a rock.

Well, at least I know how to work it now. Might as well see what else I can do. Hmm…what would be awesome? Oh, I got it!

"FLAME WHIP!" A vine appeared in my hands, with one notable difference. It was on fire. Startled, I dropped it, and touched it gingerly. I felt no pain whatsoever. I then examined it to see how it looked. It was just an ordinary plant, with flame trails going down it like ripples in a pond. Sweet! I picked the flaming vine up, and whipped it around once or twice. Now I had a problem.

Okay, how the hell do I make this thing go away?

Then, I found out something else as well. As soon as I thought the words go away, the vine vanished like it was never there to begin with. Then, armed with a stick that had it's tip lit on fire to help penetrate some of this thick inky darkness, I continued onward, hoping, praying to find some form of civilization in this barren world that was most definitely not Earth. What had Hineshu called it again? Something like Andsybro. Oh well, whatever this thing was called, I traveled onward. Suddenly I hear a scream that could only be my brother's. Normally, I wouldn't have thought anything of it, but we were on another world. Anything could happen. I rushed toward the source of the scream, a little lake somewhere to my right.

POV: CODY

I traveled through the black mist of the night on Ansibrue, when I accidently tripped over a root, gouging my wrist into a root that just happened to be sticking up from the ground, and that happened to have a really sharp point. Shouting out something unmentionable, I wondered how the hell I was supposed to heal this. I heard a glistening stream nearby and figured I could at least wash it out there. Making my way slowly over to the stream so as to not hurt myself anymore, I placed one foot in front of the other, treading carefully. Then I fell down a bank of some sort, right into the water. Real smooth, I thought to myself. When I finally got out, I let my hands soak in the cool, clean water. At least, I hoped it was clean, I couldn't see crap. I suddenly noticed a little tiny light that seemed to originate from the place of my injury. It got brighter and brighter, and grew into a blindingly white light so that I couldn't see crap, except for the difference in that the background was white instead of black. When it was over, I could see reasonably well, and examined my cut. It wasn't there. It appeared that the cut had never happened, and that perhaps I was dreaming all of that. But, then I remembered the searing pain that had cut through my arm and spread like wildfire, and knew that it hurt too much to be fake. Figuring that this was my new power that Hineshu had mentioned, I continued onward, hoping to find some method of civilization, and wondering as well what else I could do, as Hineshu had said that each power has tons of potential. Sighing, I looked up, and screamed.

POV: ALEX

I wandered through the mist of darkness, the cold, searing wind blowing in my face, angry with Hineshu, angry with him for separating us, angry that he didn't reveal more. I began to wonder where all of this wind was coming from, and stopped being so angry for a second. The wind ceased, suddenly, too suddenly.

Flashback

Hineshu: You, Alex, have the power of wind, and defense….

But, remember that each power you may receive has tons of potential, which you have to figure out for yourselves.

End Flashback

Perhaps I had to summon this power by calling to it with the depths of my mind. With my entire mind I began to think: WIND! I did little else, barely even drawing breath. I felt a soft wind on my face; hardly enough to even give me a chill. I wondered how this was going to defend anything when suddenly the wind speed increased, going faster and faster, and it swooped me up, so that I was able to fly! I kept going higher and higher and higher, up, up above the wet, chilling cold droplets that made up Ansibrue's clouds. The wind lessened, and I began to fall as I thought to myself: I want to go down. Then I lowered myself safely onto the ground. Mastering that technique took some work, and suddenly I hear a piercing scream cut through the air. I begin to run toward the sound, if only because I recognize the voice, and the person it belonged to.

Cody.

At the lake

POV: CODY

I saw a monster, with two eyes set close together in comparison with the size of the body, and two shoulder mounted "legs" with deadly scythes of white, pure bone. It had a skeleton like bony tail, and looked like it had already been killed, which was the worst of it. It was the most horrible looking creature I had ever seen, and I watched a lot of horror movies at that. It was just about to tear its lethal claws into me, and rip me to shreds when I saw a vine strike the creature, and it howled in pain. I looked closer to see what was covering the vine like whip, and it seemed to be covered in fire, but it did not burn up. The creature and person battled for a little while, when another person swooped down from above, nailing the creature right in the back of its bony head with an apparently sharp and sturdy stick, just below the skull plate, under which the fleshy brain was placed. After the creature was dead, the person who had swooped down from the sky carrying a stick spoke.

End of Chapter 9+

Ohh… another cliffy…YAY! I love writing cliffhangers! Are the people really Zack and Alex, or some new characters? You just don't know, do you…? Please review!

-ARK