It had been hours since they set sail for Waffle Island. She could see why Pascal found beauty in the sea. There were some great sights. It seemed as though there was something new everywhere, and there were sea creatures abound. They spent the time looking around, playing with Finn, using Finn to check on the Harvest Goddess in case the Plague came back while they were gone, and seeing the world that had once been uncharted territory to them. Wizard had fears of this new unknown that made him nervous, but Molly's excitement calmed him down. It was about 6:00 PM when she started asking some questions to him.
"So what's stopping us from transporting over there, Wizard?"
"A lack of knowledge… Neither of us know what the island really looks like."
"Can't you look at it with your visions?"
"Not without ever being there and not without my crystal ball… I need a gauge of the magic there… from the sound of things, I don't think there's much… it's why I can see Castanet so vividly… I've lived there all my life…"
Hearing what the Goddess had told her about how old Wizard was when he fought the first Plague with them really made his statement that he lived there all his life much more impactful. If he was 100 when he fought it 200 years ago, she thought, imagine what he's lived through since. She said before the Plague came, it was an authoritative land, but what was it like? Did he have friends? Were his loved ones good people? Was he ever married? How many loved one's funerals has he been to? Will he live to watch me die too? Is he reading my mind, listening to these thoughts as I make them, she thought. Outside of her mind, Wizard was trying his best not to read her mind for the sake of her privacy, but found it much harder to when she is the only other person around, but found relief when he was distracted with something.
"Hey! Up here!"
They looked up and found Witch Princess riding on her broom nonchalantly. "This is your solution, Wizard? Magical metallurgy? If you ask me, you should have invested in a broom," she yelled from above, "I'll give you credit for your speed though! You're going as fast as I can!" Wizard grinned and yelled, "Thanks! I'll be sure to make improvements!"
"Hey, by the way, Molly, yeah, he can read your thoughts!" Wizard wore a face of pure shock from her admitting that. "What? We both can! I'm used to it! Back when I was kid, ladies kept their thoughts in all the time! He's trying to be respectful by trying to block you out, but I could care less! Your thought process is fascinating!"
Molly placed her hands to her mouth in embarrassment, and Wizard yelled, "Did you agree to come just to embarrass me?!"
"You'd think so, but no! Now, come on! The sun is setting, we're not getting there today, and not even you can keep it up forever! I think I see a small island we can settle down in, so let's go!" She picked up speed and started for the island, and Wizard picked up speed on his boat made of magic.
He was not very well practiced in alchemy as he did not strive for gold, which is usually what is taught to witches and wizards who want to enter the field, but he has studied chemistry and understood magical metallurgy enough to transmute the quartz, mica, feldspar and silicon dioxide in the sand into metals that could make a solid alloy that was lightweight and ready for the forces of the sea. He did not expect that he would have trouble anchoring his newly made boat as the materials that he was able to pull out of the dirt on the island would have made the anchor too heavy and stressful for the boat and it would sink.
"Having troubles with your magic boat? I told you long ago you should have learned to fly a broom", Witch Princess teased as she stood on the island while the other two were stuck in their boat. "At the very least, let me give you a better idea." She made a post out of some wood near the trees. "We can't mess with the nature of this place too much. We don't know what could happen to this place because of magical interference", lectured Wizard. "You're the one trying to make an anchor out of the dirt." He sighed and returned the dirt to the island. He moved his arms in clockwise and counter-clockwise movements and created two rings. He threw one to the post Witch Princess made, and put another in a small hole where the rope for the anchor was placed. "Tighten", he ordered the rope, and the large ring that was once too big fit perfectly around the post. With a flick of his wrist, it extended a part of itself to him and ordered the other ring to tighten again to the hole in the boat. "Connect", he ordered the rope and so it did, creating a chain. Witch Princess lifted some of the rock and sand from the rocky shore to create a walkway. "Quit fooling around and get up here!"
Wizard allowed Molly to go first, holding her hand to guide her off the boat. "Oh my, chivalrous, aren't we?" she said mockingly. "We should set up camp now." Wizard suggested, clearly annoyed. "Well, while you were playing around with metallurgy, I found the perfect campsite, if you'll follow me." He followed her, then noticed something was missing. "Where's Molly?"
"Head's up!"
An apple fell from the sky and Wizard paused its descent. It floated in the air unassuming. Molly was atop the tree, and shouted, "Cool! Keep doing that. There's some food on these tree that we're going to need for the night."
"Smart idea!" yelled Wizard.
"Dumb Principal Exceptions. I wish we could just make our own food." Witch Princess complained. Well, I'm going to the campsite. Transport with our link once you two are done scavenging." She walked away before Molly suggested, "You know, if you could use your magic to bring back some fish, it would help." She turned and looked at her incredulously. "Are you nuts? Hunting is beneath me."
Wizard told her, "You need to give your fair share. We're in this together. Especially now… now that you don't have a home to go back to. Not even…a forest." Witch princess scowled at him, and walked away, fuming. "That was a little harsh, Wizard."
"She needed to hear it. Believe me."
They found fruits and berries to bring back, and Wizard retrieved firewood from a fallen tree. He held her and transported to where Witch Princess was located, and were shocked to find fish in a bag. "Are you happy? Huh?"
"We are, believe it or not." Wizard responded. "Thank you."
"Whatever," she said, "just for what you said earlier, I'm telling Molly embarrassing stories about you."
"As long as we get a fire going first, so we can eat" said Molly, grinning. Wizard grabbed his temples, shaking his head, and set down the firewood.
Witch Princess lifted some parts of the ground so they could have places to sit, and Wizard started a purple fire. They grilled fish and prepared food with the fruit they picked. After they finished, Molly began listening to Witch Princess tell stories about Wizard. "So one time, there was a girl in the village he liked, but he wasn't quite sure how to approach her. He tried to imagine a situation when he was a few feet away from her, but accidentally made it real, and the situation ended with them kissing romantically, but he ended up kissing the real girl instead, so the girls beat him away from her and guided her away. The poor thing was crying of embarrassment." Wizard was sweating and his heart was beating. "Oh, there's another time when he didn't know how to control his magic, and he was angry at his aunt and made her face covered with hives, but had no idea why it happened. He cursed the reason why it happened, so his face was covered in them too. Let me show you what it looked like." In an instant, a fog was made, and a very young Wizard's face appeared, covered with hives. That's what he looked like back then, Molly thought. "What did he look like before?" Molly asked. She pulled up another image of him smiling. He had black hair and a very young face, and wore old timey clothes. "Wow" exclaimed Molly. "Witches and wizards age pretty well, don't we? Well, anyway, once he realized he was the reason, we spent weeks getting them off of him, and that was the moment I really got to know him since before that, I was 6 years older than him, so I didn't talk to him much. Him being a wizard helped with that" she finished.
"How well it worked out, too" he said sarcastically. "Oh, lighten up. We're here now, aren't we?" she reminded him. "After 50 years… you forbade me to speak with you."
"A small tiff. Anyway, I'm bushed." She transfigured her seat into a tent with a bed in it, and walked in. "Goodnight!" she called. "I suppose that means we should get some sleep too," Molly said, "it is getting dark; can you help set up my tent?" He too transfigured their seats and created two tents for the two of them, both with beds in them. Molly was about to walk in before noticing that Wizard was not going to bed. "Aren't you going to sleep now? We have a long day ahead." Wizard answered, "I will, but I want to… check some things out first. Goodnight, Molly. I'll… see you in the morning." Molly wished him a good night as well and walked into her tent. He put out the fire, and walked out of the campsite, ready to transport to the campsite when he needed.
He walked to the shore, entered his boat and lied down. He wanted to stare at the stars at it was the perfect time. It looked close to 10 PM to him, so it was the perfect time of night to him. The moon was starting its climb to the top and the stars were coming into view. He gazed at Orion's belt, and Venus was shining brightly. It was a moment like this where he wished he had his telescope, but it was far too big to bring. He started thinking about space, and about life on it. I wish I could just fly through space and see it all, but the stars won't let me, he thought, and then Molly wouldn't let me either, or really, I couldn't let myself leave Molly. Would she miss me? Would she even think about me? I think I would think about her. I'd miss her too much. I'd wish I could bring her with me. It'd be great. The two of us going through space, exploring the universe together, where time would be merely a concept. I could just hold on to her and we could escape humanity forever… but I don't know if she'd want that. She likes Earth a lot. She'd probably be miserable, cold and only having me in space. Who would only want me? I couldn't blame her. I probably wouldn't want to be lonely. It's not like the stars are letting me anyway. I guess I can settle with my telescope, as I have. But I don't want to sit alone in that lab. I'd want someone to be there, particularly Molly. She wouldn't want to leave her farm though… maybe I could live there, if she loved me. If she swore her love, then I could have company and my research… but does she even love me?
His thoughts were interrupted by a thunderous sound. He sat up sharply, looking around. He wasn't sure what to do if it was the plague. He retreated to the island, preparing a beam of magic in case it wanted to come for revenge. He looked up, trying to find it before hearing something far worse…
"WILL YOU STOP THINKING ABOUT MOLLY AND THE UNIVERSE AND GO TO SLEEP?!" Witch Princess shrieked. "I can't sleep with your dumb thoughts going in my mind! You want Molly, you tell her your feelings, but that's not going to happen, and until it does, stop THINKING ABOUT HER!"
"You should learn to block people's thoughts. It'll help you sleep better at night"
"Look, I don't care if you stare at your dumb stars all night. Just stop thinking so loud. Ugh…"
She walked away annoyed. He knew she was right; the only way he could truly know is to tell her his feelings and see if she shares them, but he can't now. Not with the task at hand. He looked up to the stars, sighed, and teleported back to his tent.