On a Friday night near the port of New Mushroomton, a large crowd with cameras and microphones runs through the streets, only gradually increasing in size with fans and even more reporters as they chase down their subjects.
The subjects in question have been running for nearly 10 minutes, turning every corner to try and stump the crowd. They happen to be the Lightfoot brothers - the two brothers who fought off the deadly Curse Dragon made of debris from the high school, and one of them happens to be the last known wizard in the realms. After that climactic night, it's been hard for them to escape the clutches of the paparazzi.
This night is the worst it's ever been, as they thought they were in a safe area, but it just so happens that the press was patiently waiting for them to arrive.
Barley grabs his little wizard brother's arm and they rush down an alley together as fast as they can, escaping from the ravenous crowd behind them. They turn the corner and lean on the brick wall, panting and wiping sweat off their foreheads.
"Did...did we lose them yet?" Ian pants.
"I don't hear them coming down..." Barley says, still holding his brother.
"...We should use my magic. We have to do something." the younger Lightfoot says, fumbling in his pockets for the splinter that makes up his staff.
"But we- Ian, we can't just let them see-" "Barley, this is a matter of privacy and keeping our Friday night easy." "This is a matter of protecting you!"
Ian extends the splinter into his staff using a growth spell. "Us. It's a matter of protecting us."
The younger elf recites "Visage Invisio!", and then the two elves disappear right as the crowds begin making their way through the alley. The brothers stay where they are as the paparazzi speeds right past them, turning down different corners.
"We lost them," Barley whispers, as he and his brother are still invisible. They wait a while, and then Ian deactivates the spell, rendering him and Barley visible once again.
"See? Magic worked well for us." Ian says.
"Nice quick thinking there, little bro." "Thanks. I've been studying the book more, in case we needed more spells for times like these."
Ian shrinks the splinter again and puts it back in the pocket of his flannel. "So...where are we off to now?" he asks.
"...I don't know. But we can't head back to the streets just yet," Barley says. He turns another corner in the alleyway. Ian follows behind him.
"Do you even know where you're going?" Ian asks. "To be honest, no," Barley says, facing Ian as he keeps walking. "But I do know we're going far away from wherever those crazies are heading to."
"Well, if we end up at a dead-end in the clutches of a shady dealer, I'm blaming you." "But who brought up the idea of getting Dairy Lord tonight?"
Ian groans. "...Me."
Barley chuckles as he looks away from Ian.
"Hey, the best location is in this area! The one by our house doesn't make the Wizzards to where they have a perfect consistency!" "Only you would notice that, Iandore."
They walk down a few more alleyways until they're finally near the old pier, with the calm ocean in front of them. Barley looks around for any more reporters and makes sure he and Ian are in the clear before walking down the concrete stairs and onto the wooden dock.
They walk down more wooden stairs onto a lower dock under the taller one to make sure that they're as isolated as possible.
Barley then sits down at the edge of the dock, dangling his legs over the water and looking at the two moons shining over the surface of the ocean. Ian sits down next to him.
"Wow...it's so quiet out here," Ian says. "Yeah," Barley says. "My gut was telling me where to go, and it took us to the best place."
"Heh, yeah. I mean...over here, it's the quietest it's been for a while, y'know?" the younger elf says. "Everything for us for the past few weeks has been...just chaos. Everything is so...loud and overwhelming these days. It's not even quiet at home anymore."
"That's expected when you pluck a Phoenix Gem from the historic fountain they're tearing down and send out a curse to destroy the school and create a dragon," the older elf says. "And when a wizard brings magic back by slaying it masterfully and making a grand sacrifice."
Ian smiles at his brother's comment. "And you know what? It was all worth it. We nearly died like, more times than I can count, we had to put the school back together, we were grounded for two weeks, no one at school will stop talking to me...but none of that stuff takes away from going on that quest and realizing you were like a dad to me. I'd taken you for granted and at that moment I realized that you were the best thing in my life. And you are the best thing in my life. And you always will be the best thing in my life."
"Aw, Ian..." Barley says, holding back tears. "You're the best thing in my life."
The two brothers wrap each other in a hug, leaning their heads on their shoulders.
After a few minutes, they separate and look back at the distant ocean.
"I wonder if our lives will ever be back to normal," Ian ponders.
"Well, they'd have to be at some point," Barley says. "Eventually the paparazzi will get tired of us. Unless we do something else crazy, then they'll be in our faces again."
"But...I'm the last wizard. Or the last known one," Ian says. "They're going to want to know everything about me. They'll be obsessing over me for as long as I live."
"Will they really? If more wizards come out of the woodwork, you won't be the only one anymore. You're actively working to bring magic back to the world!"
"That's the problem. Everyone who isn't already into magic is probably scared of it." "What do you mean by that? You have tons of fans!" "Yeah, but there's probably also tons of people who are paranoid and waiting to shoot me down," Ian says, fidgeting with a wood chip.
"You worry too much, brother," the older Lightfoot says, extending his arm over Ian's shoulders and pulling him close. "I know in my heart that things will only get better from here onward."
Ian sits down his wood chip and looks into his older brother's eyes.
"Trust me," Barley adds.
The younger Lightfoot smiles again.
"Thanks, Bar," he says.
"Anything for my brother..."
The brothers lean on each other as they continue to take in their quiet view until Barley adds another comment.
"...AKA, the only guy under 30 I know who adds fruit in his ice cream."
"I am this close to pushing you in this water," Ian says smugly. "And I'll make sure you go in with me," Barley adds.
"You wouldn't."
After the elves share a laugh, they freeze once they hear an ominous cracking noise from under them.
Just before they could question the noise or stand up, the wood plank they had been sitting on snaps in half, and the brothers are sent falling into the bay.
The elves are hit with the cool seawater, which thankfully wasn't rough tonight. They look towards the surface and swim upward.
They surface with gasps and coughs, treading water as they turn back to see the broken plank floating behind them.
"...Touché," the younger Lightfoot says.
"As stated in Quests of Yore, 'a wise wizard must watch his wise words, for they may not always be...wise.'"
"Shut up," Ian says as he playfully splashes his brother. Barley sends a bigger splash towards Ian, then Ian sinks underwater to grab a mouthful of water and spit it towards Barley's face.
"Agh! I've underestimated the lengths to which you would go!" the older elf says.
"Yuck, seawater," Ian grunts as he gags and coughs from the bitter taste.
"You know, there is a reason we don't drink it," Barley says with a chuckle. "Which is why I sprayed it in your face," Ian says back.
"But you still had to have it in your mouth, right? You know what else could be in the water..."
"Don't make me think about it!" the wizard yells. The older elf laughs while floating on his back.
Barley then grabs his little brother and flings him over his shoulder. "Y'know, I'll just swim you back myself."
"Agh- Barley, let me down! Barley!" Ian laughs as he's flung up.
Barley then tosses Ian off his shoulder and Ian lands back in the water with a splash.
"You won't get away with that," the younger elf says as soon as he surfaces. He swims back to Barley, then grabs him around his chest. Immediately he regrets this, as Barley dwarfs him in strength and size. Ian could fling him over his shoulders if he wanted to, but in the water - deep water such as this - his face sinks under as he struggles to bring him up.
"Wow, you're doing kinda good," Barley says. Ian takes a deep breath as he's now submerged, struggling to keep himself afloat while playfully wrestling his older brother. Eventually, Ian loses his rush of strength and drops his brother, who was still on top of him. They both sink until they successfully separate from each other, and make their way back towards the surface.
Ian swims to the surface faster, as he's lost more breath. He gasps upon surfacing and wipes the water out of his face before opening his eyes again. He looks around and catches his breath, waiting for his brother to come up.
However, a few seconds pass.
"...Barley?" Ian yells.
"Barley?"
Ian swims around, looking to see if Barley had surfaced anywhere else. Barley is the best swimmer in the family, there's no way that could've stumped him...
"Barley..." Ian calls once again, now starting to panic. He gathers the deepest breath he could conjure, then dives under the water.
As fast as he possibly can, he swims to the area where he and Barley were sinking. He keeps swimming deeper and deeper, hoping to find something in the murky water.
What seems to be a black blob slowly appears, and Ian would only become more horrified when he sees just what the shape is revealed to be.
A masked figure - who seems to be of equal strength to Barley - has Barley in a chokehold. The older Lightfoot is still conscious, but he's obviously lost a lot of breath. He's fighting back as best as he can.
"BARLEY!" Ian yells through bubbly breaths.
Just as Ian begins to intervene, another masked figure grabs him by the collar of his flannel. They hold Ian tightly and cover his nose and mouth.
With what little breath he has left, Barley successfully escapes from the figure's grip and punches them in the nose. He then swims to the other figure wraps his arm around their neck, causing them to begin losing their breath and drop Ian. Barley punches them in the face as well, then swims to the surface with his brother.
The elves gasp and cough heavily as they finally reach the surface. They immediately begin swimming across the bay to another dock before the figures could find them.
They pull themselves onto a wooden platform and begin running up the wooden stairs onto the topmost dock, heading back towards the street as they dash away from the old pier.
But unfortunately, this wouldn't be the end of it.
As they reach a dense area between two buildings - a boat rental and an abandoned business - they were stopped by two more masked figures.
They turned around to escape - but the same figures who tried to drown them were behind them, water dripping off them.
The brothers were ready this time. Ian grabbed his splinter and extended it again. Barley has his sword drawn.
"...What do you want from us?" Ian bravely confronts, gripping his staff tightly. None of the four individuals replied.
Barley pulls Ian close to him by instinct. "You're gonna have to get past me before you get him."
The four figures stay silent and still. The brothers stay in their stances and get ready to strike at them, when something from above falls onto both of them, knocking them onto the ground.
Yet another figure has jumped from the roof of one of the buildings and plowed onto both of them, taking their staff and sword and throwing them in opposite directions, with a masked figure catching one of them on both sides. They then grab the brothers by their necks and set them up, both of them biting and grabbing at the figure's gloved hands.
"Let us...go!" Ian struggles to say.
Not even Barley could escape this. They were simply too strong.
The four other figures run towards the brothers, and help pin them on the ground. Two of them take a syringe, and a substance is injected into both of the elves.
As much as the Lightfoots resist and plead to be freed, there was no escaping this one. As soon as they were injected, everything started to blur away and before they knew it, they were unconscious...