Chapter 9: A Melted Heart?

High above the Southern Mountains, Alex was pacing back and forth with worry. She had hit Malina with her powers. What was she supposed to do? She regretted doing it, and wished she could just take it back.

"Get it together," she told herself, trying to remember the strategies her parents had taught all those years. "Conceal it. Control it. Don't feel, don't feel." As her worry increased, she began to feel the heat circulating. Looking around, Alex found a trail of fire coming from under her…and it was slithering up the wall! "Ugh! Don't feel!" she whispered sharply. "Don't feel, don't feel, DON'T FEEL!"

Suddenly, the red crystal lining of the palace began to twist and morph into different shapes. They suddenly began to turn into sharp, burning spikes. The heat began to rise as her worry was growing.

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Moments later, at the fall of dusk, the stars began to appear before the magenta-colored skies. Young led his friends through a maze of intertwining rocks, boulders, vines, and rivers as they traveled farther into the jungles. Malina hoped Young's friends would help her, and hopefully, they did not mind them stopping by so late. "Look, Chabela!" Rascal said. "The sky's awake!"

Young saw that Malina was sweating. "Are you hot?" he asked. "A little," Malina said. She grabbed a large palm frond and fanned herself with it. "So, these love experts…they're your friends, right?" Malina asked. "Yea, they're friends," Young said. "Well, they're more like family, actually. You see, they just kind of took us in, and that was it." "Nice," Malina said. "And they're experts on everything, actually," Young said as he and the others made their way to the jungles.

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"Well, we made it," Young said, leading them to a hollow part of the jungles, where trees and boulders circled around the center. "Meet my family," Young said as he walked to the center. "Hey, guys!" "They're…trees," Malina said awkwardly. "He's crazy!" Rascal whispered. They watched as Young began to talk to the tree and bent down to pet the rocks. "Here, I'll distract them while you run," Rascal whispered to Malina. "Hi there!" he said loudly to a rock. "So nice to meet you! I understand you're a love expert!" Rascal turned to Malina. "Listen, I love you, so I suggest you run!" He kept "pretending" to pet the rock.

"Right. Well, I'm gonna go, so thanks for your help. I'm going to leave. Now. Right now," Malina said, starting to back away. Suddenly, the trees and rocks began to roll, twist, and form into different shapes, until they transformed into full size human beings! One of those mystics, which was Cipher, exclaimed, "Young's home!" The other mystics behind her cheered and hugged Young.

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"Hi guys! How's everything?" Young asked. Yan, a flower mystic, told him, "I grew my own flower gardens!" Chang, a gem mystic, said, "I created a fire crystal." And Yuri, a bamboo mystic, had said, "I carved a bamboo blade." "Wow, those are all good things," Young said. "And listen, where's Tintin?" "Oh, he's in his study, taking a nap!" Yan told him.

Suddenly, everyone's attention turned to Malina. "And he's brought a girl!" Cipher exclaimed. Soon, Malina found herself being carried forward by the mystics in eager pleasure. They seemed pretty excited to finally see a girl for the first time in over many years.

"Come here, let me look at ya!" Cipher said, examining Malina. "Ooh, look at this! Bright eyes, working nose, strong teeth! Oh yes, she'll do nicely for our Young!" Malina finally caught on. They actually believed that she was Young's girlfriend, and that he broguth her here to meet them! "What?" Malina asked. "Wait, n-no, I mean, uh, he and I aren't exactly…you know…" "Well, what she means is, that's not why I brought her here in the first place," Young said. "'Cause, you see, we need to…" "Oh, I know what you need!" Chang exclaimed.

"Wait a minute, I…" Malina persisted, but Cipher cut her off there. "What's the issue, dear?" she asked. "Why are you holding back from such a man?" Soon, the mystics began to tell Malina a little bit about Young's shortcomings. According to them, he was a bit of a fixer-upper, but with a little faith, things will turn out fine.

Malina was a little confused about how to perceive this. But Young whispered, "Just play along, and if you do what they say, you're fine."

The, the mystics all began to sing and dance about love being a powerful force that brings all of us together. Some people make bad choices, but they learn to live with it. But the excitement was too infectious, and the mystics were still rooting for Malina being Young's love, so Young tried to break the ice. "Enough!" he exclaimed. "She's engaged to someone else, okay?!" The mystics looked at him funny, and huddled together in a circle. "So she's a bit of a fixer upper," Yuri said. "That seems complicated," Chang offered. "And by the way, I see no ring!" Yan laughed.

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Malina actually found herself enjoying this occasion, and she and Young were already swept right into the celebration. She loved the dancing, and she even let the mystics decorate her hair a bit. Soon, she and Young were moved down to a lower part of the ground, where they stood by the stick mystic, Professor Calculus, who held a book before them.

"Do you, Malina, take Young to be your mystically wedded…" he began to recite. "Wait a minute, what?" Malina asked. "You're getting married," Professor Calculus said.

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Suddenly, a mighty shiver had shaken Malina and made her collapse. "Oh, someone's got cold feet!" Cipher whispered. "Nervous jitters, it must be," Yuri whispered. "Oh no," Young said. "Something's wrong with Malina. She's already burning hot."

"He's right. Something is indeed wrong," a voice said. Suddenly, Tintin had pushed his way through the crowd. Now, one might have considered him a bit too old for now, but Tintin was still youthful for his age, despite that he had a few wrinkles underneath his eyelids, and a gray streak was visible on his quiff. "I sense a disturbance in strange magic here," he said.

"Tintin!" Young said. "Here, let me look at her," Tintin said as Young had Malina step closer to him. Tintin took Malina's hands, and lifted a lock of her hair to find that two more sections of hair had turned black. "Oh no, this…this is worse than I thought," Tintin muttered. "What is it?" Malina asked.

"Malina," Tintin said, "your life is in grave danger." A hush fell over the crowd. Malina and Young leaned in closer to hear what Tintin had to say. "Malina," Tintin continued, "there is fire in your heart, put there by your sister. If not removed, to solid red crystal will freeze. Forever." "What? No!" Malina exclaimed.

"Can't you fix it, Tintin?" Young asked. "I'm afraid I can't," Tintin said, shaking his head. "If it were on her head, it would be much easier. But…only an act of true love will restore a melted heart." "An act of true love?" Malina asked. "You mean like a true love's kiss, perhaps?" Yan asked eagerly.

It suddenly hit Young. "We've got to get you back to Ian," he said, getting an idea. "Ian?" Malina asked. "Right, Ian." Young carried her back to Chabela. Meanwhile, Cipher could only shake her head. "Ugh, now we'll never get him married, Chang," she muttered. "Maybe someday, Cipher," Chang said. "Maybe someday."

"Come on, Rascal!" Young called. "I'm coming!" Rascal said, hopping onto Chabela's backside. "Let's go kiss Ian! Now who's this Ian?"

Soon, Young and the others had ridden off into the jungles, returning back to the kingdom of San Theodoros. After they were gone, the sun began to rise. And one by one, the mystics all began to transform back into their natural forms.