Chapter Forty One

Rite of Passage

MELODY

Melody was still finding it hard to believe that the events that had unfolded in the morning and afternoon had actually taken place. A part of her secretly wondered if she had been going crazy from falling through that black hole. Alas, the others confirmed that the same thing had been happening to them too, which made this entire experience all the more peculiar.

She'd always known magic had existed, but this was something else entirely. Maui's magic was gone, and she had also found time in private to test her golden necklace to see if she could still transform into a mermaid. Alas, she found that she could not. Maybe magic really didn't exist on this world. As if falling through a black hole into an alternate world wasn't enough, she had also learnt that they had been catapulted in the future and that there were countless other versions of themselves somewhere out there in existence.

The concept of the multiverse as explained by Hiro Hamada, the young inventor, had been a rather compelling and intriguing one…but also incredibly hard to stomach. And that was another thing. That boy was an inventor of some sort? At his age? She shook her head. Why was she finding that bit so hard to believe? She'd been out on adventures at the age of twelve, so why shouldn't Hiro do the same - albeit a different and more futuristic way?

With all this swimming around in her head, there was still one thought that stayed in the centre of her mind, anchoring everything else. That she was worried for her kingdom and wanted to be out of this world as soon as possible so she could return to her world to stop the Empress. But to do that, she first needed to wait for Hiro to complete a device that would allow them to travel between worlds. And that, he had cautioned, might take a while.

Melody had never really thought of herself as impatient, but it was beginning to manifest itself. She had politely asked if she could get some air at the nearest cafe or coffeeshop, and Hiro had pointed her in the direction of his aunt's restaurant. She had gladly taken up the suggestion.

Unfortunately, Maui had insisted on accompanying her, since this was a whole new world and there were probably futuristic dangers lurking at every street corner. Despite the protests that it was highly unlikely that anything would happen to her, Maui had stubbornly asked to tag along, if not to keep her company, then to take in the sights of this futuristic city.

She had relented of course. She figured that as long as she had some time to herself to think and get her head on straight with a plan as to what to do once she returned to Denmark, then it would be alright. Anna, on the other hand, had opted to stay and watch the process…and mope about.

The first night had been rather unbearable for Melody, mostly due to the waiting and the fact that despite her best efforts, she was too distracted to come up with a good plan as to what she could do once she returned to Denmark. It was obvious enough to her that the Insurgency and the Warriors had fallen apart to some extent.

The three of them were here in San Fransokyo, and well, Elsa and the others had been captured by the Empire. And who knew how long Tracy would take to recover from her magical exhaustion?

The next day of waiting wasn't exactly much better. This time, she had managed to slip Maui's presence and had hidden out in another cafe down the street. There seemed to be an abundance of these coffeeshops, restaurants and cafés in the future, all with beautiful neon, blinking lights that were supposed to attract customers and patrons to their humble or extravagant establishments.

Not that it had really mattered to Melody. She just wanted somewhere to process her thoughts, though they had proven unfruitful. Now well into the evening, Melody sat at a table with the pasta she had ordered already cold, staring hard at a notebook with one of those futuristic ballpoint pens in her hand. She had gotten one from Hiro's workshop, and this modern writing tool which didn't require a feather or a tray of ink seemed so much more convenient.

If looks could kill or burn, her notebook would have already gone up in flames. She leaned back and shut it, breathing out a long sigh. This isn't working. She was too unfocused, something that was a new experience to her.

She saw a shadow looming over her shoulder, being cast onto the wooden table by a light source behind her, and she whirled round.

"Do you know how long it took me to find you?" Maui grinned obnoxiously and sat down opposite her. "I miss having my powers."

"What are you doing here?" she said crossly.

"I think you've had plenty of time to brood over the past two days." Maui said. "Don't think I didn't notice."

"Your point is?"

"My point is, it's time we did something about it." Maui said. "This isn't like you, Melody. I've never seen you so off-focused before in all the time I've known you. What's going on?"

"What's going on?" she echoed angrily. "I don't know if you've noticed, but my kingdom is under occupation, and I failed to stop the Empress because of my rashness. I rushed into a battle without thinking, and look where that landed us?"

"I'm sensing some repressed anger."

"Of course I'm angry!" Melody hissed. Was he being intentionally obtuse? "Because of my mistake, we're now stuck in an alternate world, and every moment we're here, we lose our chance to win back my kingdom. To save my people. And my parents."

Maui sighed. "See, was it that hard?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You just needed to let it out. In the words of our resident Snow Queen, 'let it go'." Maui said. "Tell me you don't feel better after that little outburst?"

Melody paused. He was right. "A little."

"You're welcome." He grinned. "Look, in all seriousness. None of us are perfect all the time. Even as a demigod, I've made my fair share of mistakes. Remember when I was going through that tough phase back when we were fighting the League? I made a huge mistake and almost killed Chancellor Tobias. But you helped me to see that everyone makes mistakes sometimes.

"And now you need to realise that yourself." Maui went on. "No one's perfect. We all jump the gun or make a wrong decision. What matters is how we pick ourselves up after that. You helped me see that too, remember?"

Surprisingly, he was making a lot of sense. She sighed. "I know. It's just harder when I actually have to put my own advice into practice. I've never been so emotionally involved in a mission before. It's clouding my judgement."

"And no one blames you for it." Maui pointed out. "Haven't you noticed? Every one of us has made that mistake before. Me, Tracy, Elsa, Moana back then, and now even Anna. And you. You're just the latest in a long line of humans. It's a rite of passage in the Warriors. It just took you way longer to get here." He smiled at her. "It's supposed to be normal."

Melody stopped to think about what he had said, and realised that it was true. She sighed. "I hate to admit it, but you're right."

"Of course I am." He said. "You can't be a thousand year old demigod and not pick up a bit of wisdom along the way."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, but I still have to figure out a plan as to what we're going to do when we find our way back to our world. The Empire is still a threat, last I checked."

"We will." Maui agreed. "But together this time."

"Alright."

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

"What?"

Maui motioned at the plate of untouched pasta sitting before her. "Finish your dinner first and then we can go find Anna."

"No, I'm done," Melody wrinkled her nose a little in disgust. The thought of downing cold pasta made her immediately lose her appetite, not that she had one to begin with. "Let's go find Anna."