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Chapter 6: Alex Intervenes

"I don't have all the money yet Justin."

"What money?"

"You know what money. The money I owe you."

Justin looked at Alex quizzically. "What money would that be? Are playing a game with me?"

"What game would that be? Pretend I owe my annoying brother money?"

"I don't have time for these games, Alex." He walked away.

"Hey Justin, what's going on? You haven't been hunting monsters lately or working on your plan."

"What plan?"

"You know, you're plan to rescue Juliet."

"From what?"

"From what? The Mummy? You're the one playing the games now, aren't you?"

"There's no game to play. Juliet broke up with me. That's all. It hurts, but there it is. I should have known it wouldn't last. Anyway, I'm moving on."

This time when he walked away, Alex just stared at him. Her hand kept pointing in his direction, and she kept trying to say something, anything. No words would come, which was an unusual occurrence for her.

Justin was playing a game with her, she knew that. That had to be it. There was no other explanation.

Why was she worried? He just told her she didn't owe her money. Cool. She turned around to go to her room.

And stopped. Something was wrong. This isn't how Justin acts when things fall apart with a girl.

Granted, things didn't go right with Justin and girls very often.

Doesn't matter, she told herself, he doesn't care about the money or monsters or anything. So, it's fine.

Her feed didn't believe her though, because they wouldn't move forward at all. She was stuck there, having to think about what was happening.

Justin put everything out of his mind. It's like he totally forgot about Juliet. That's impossible. He would never forger Juliet. Ever.

How is this my problem?

The question formed in her mind, and then it went away.

"Dad." she called out. She went in search of her father.

"Dad, something's wrong with Justin."

"What's wrong?" her father asked.

"He's forgotten all about Juliet."

Her father looked at her quizzically. "and?"

"What do you mean 'and'? Does that sound like Justin?"

"Why do you care?"

"Because..." she didn't know why this was important to her. But it was. Maybe she had gotten used to Justin being together with Juliet. Maybe she liked Juliet. It didn't matter, something wasn't right.

"Because this isn't normal. Something happened. Someone case a spell on him."

"Oh? Is that someone you?"

"Me? How can you say that! When would I ever..." she couldn't finish the sentence. "Yeah, I would totally do that. But I didn't Dad. A few days ago, Justin was all gun-ho about finding and rescuing Juliet. He had one of his detailed plans. And now, he thinks she broke up with him. Something is wrong."

"Well, it's not how I would want him to move on."

"That's it?"

"Alex, what Justin does now about Juliet is up to him. Sometimes people tell themselves things so they can keep on living. Justin may have re-invented what happened. I'm sure he feels guilty about the Mummy taking Juliet. We have to let him work through it."

"But this isn't normal Dad. Someone must have put a spell on him."

"Like who?"

"I don't know!"

"What kind of a spell? A memory spell? A charm? A geas?'

"What's a geas?'

"Well, if you studied more you would know."

"Dad!"

"What do you want me to do, Alex?"

"Tell me how to fix it?"

"No."

"But Dad?"

"Right now, I'm not convinced it's anything else but Justin moving on. You think he's under a spell? Convince me. Prove it to me. Study and show me what kind of a spell it could be."

Alex found herself down in the magic room, studying.

It felt unnatural. It felt strange. It felt oddly exhilarating. Oh God, she was turning into Justin.

She had to find an answer to this quickly. Then, she had the answer. It was so simple, she just had to undo the spell. She went to the middle of the room and said, Nexus Plexus release Justin from his spell and make everything turn out well"

Nothing happened.

She tried it again, this time it almost felt like some thing was pushing against her.

She tried it one more time with all the intensity and oomph she could muster.

When she had said the last word and flicked her wand, everything was black.

"Wake up kiddo," a voice said.

Alex opened her eyes and sat up. She didn't remember falling asleep. It took a moment for her eyes to focus. She saw a short balding man standing in front of her. He was wearing a white button shirt, brown pants and a matching jacket. It made him look almost like a teacher. He reached his hand to her. She held on to it, and he helped her up.

"What's gong on?" she asked.

"Turn around."

"Why?"

"Just, turn around. It'll make things go faster."

Alex turned around and saw her body laying on the floor.

"What happened?" She turned around to face the short man, who are you and how am I here and there?"

"You're just a great wizard."

"Really?" She didn't heard praise like that often, so it was nice to hear it.

The man smiled and laughed. "You're kidding, right? You're unconscious right now. You cast a spell you are far from ready to perform, so you're going to be unconscious for a while. That works though, cuz that means we can talk. Call me Archer."

"Archer? Archer what?"

"Just Archer. Like Prince or Seal. Or even Zorro. Or Cupid. In any case, it doesn't really matter what my name is. What matters is that you asked for help, and here I am."

"When did I ask for help?"

"When you cast the spell. Don't over think it kid. You want answers? I've got 'em. C'mon, follow me. Unless you want to just watch yourself be unconscious, but then you can't help Justin. Or Juliet. Then the UnderDark wins." Archer turned around and walked up the stairs.

Alex hesitated. She looked at her unconscious body. Then she followed him up the stairs, but when she went through the door, she wasn't in her house. She was in a desert.

"Where are we?"

"That's not important. Not really."

"So what is important?"

"You were right. Something happened to Justin. It isn't a spell though, at least not the way you mean. Someone has blocked out parts of his memory."

"Which parts?"

"The parts about Juliet and monster hunting."

"Who did that?"

"Well, the specific individual who did it is called Lethe. He's a minion of the UnderDark. That's who wanted it done."

"The UnderDark? Who's that?"

"A very bad dude. He is an monster overlord."

"Monster overlord? Are you making this up?'

"No. Now, if you were a good student, you would know there used be lots of monster overlords, and the wizards fought them constantly."

"Wait a minute, they're all gone know. The wizard's council defeated them long a go. I may not be the greatest student in the world, but I know that."

"Except you're wrong. The Wizard's Council thinks they're all gone, but they're not. The OverDark arranged for them to think he and the rest are gone. But he and the others are very much alive and kicking."

"Why would he care anything about Justin?"

"Because one, Justin is the most effective monster hunter to come along in the last hundred years and two, the OverDark hates love. And lovers."

"So, this is all to stop Justin and Juliet from being together."

"And without Juliet on his mind, Justin doesn't want to hunt monsters anymore. The OverDark wins."

"So restore his memory."

"Can't do it. He has to choose to do it."

"How can he choose that if he doesn't know he forgot."

"That's good question. I could help, but someone has to ask me."

"I'm asking."

"Are you sure? I mean, you realize if Justin goes the way he is, odds are he could end up wining the Wizard's Test in your family. Are you willing to risk that for these two? Better be sure."

She thought for a minute. "I'd rather lose and have Justin be happy than win knowing what he's lost."

"But he won't know it."

"I will."

Archer smiled. "Good for you sweepea. Time to wake up." He tapped her forehead, and she woke up in the basement, with a headache