Next Mage
41.The Disasters Begin (Part Two)

~Marilla's POV

The earthquake ceased.

I glanced at Oliver briefly, who was looking like he just had a huge revelation of what the meaning of life was, and pushed myself out from underneath the bed. Dust bunnies ticked my nose and I sneezed.

"M-Marilla..." Oliver said, with a shocked expression on his face. I turned to look at him, then at my mess of a room, and sighed.

"I know. Now I have to clean this all up. Wait... Oh no!" I reached down to pick up a piece of the lopsided but glittery rainbow pencil jar I had made in second grade. "My pencil jar!" I said helplessly, picking up more of the sparkly remnants. A few pens and pencils were lying on the ground next to the debris. "Great. Now it looks like a unicorn just barfed up everywhere..." I muttered.

"No... I didn't mean the mess..." Oliver said as he set my ocean-blue lava lamp onto my desk, where Emma and Elvira were clambering out from beneath the white wooden surface. I gasped.

"You saved my lava lamp! Thank you!" I pulled Oliver into a swift hug. Emma and I had bought matching lava lamps, a red one for her and a blue one for me. Oliver shook his head once more.

"I meant...the photo." I followed Oliver's blue gaze towards the two photographs I held.

"Yeah?" I said quizzically.

"Marilla and I made the frame ourselves," Emma giggled shakily, inhaling sharply as if to catch her breath. Elvira looked at the sorry (and glittery) excuse for a photo frame and snorted.

"I can see that," she said sarcastically. Emma shot her a glare and harrumphed. In the photo, Emma and I were in first grade. We were wearing furry coats way too big for our bodies: it was taken at Christmastime, and it was snowing. We had our arms around each other, grinning our faces off like crazed children on a sugar rush. Emma was laughing so hard it looked like her big beanie was about to tip off her head.

But Oliver wasn't staring at the photo of Emma and I.

He was looking directly at the photo of my family. Well, that was my family, I thought bitterly. Until the Ragnarok and that Adrian guy showed up and ruined everything. For a split second, I thought I saw a surprisingly sympathetic look flash across Elvira's face. Right. She can read my mind.

"Yeah? Wh-what about the photo?" I held up the photo of my family into the beam of sunlight that shone through the cracked glass of my window. Little three-year-old me was clutching my father's hair and grinning the widest grin you could ever make, with not a care in the world, as happy as could be. A pinprick of jealousy pierced my heart.

It was a time when I still had my family. A time when I was truly happy. I glanced at Oliver once more.

"Your dad..." He muttered in shock. "He..."

"Yeah? He what?" I gazed at the photo once more, staring at my father's face.

Little wrinkles crinkled at the corner of his shining amber eyes as he smiled. I smiled too, not like the joyous smile that was beautifully painted across his face, but a sad, solemn smile. "Your father," Oliver finally spat out. Emma, Elvira and I looked at him expectantly. Oliver took a breath.

"Your father is Infernus' brother.

dashy line thingo and also tell me in the comments if you randomly guessed that or something similar lol XD also wow this is a long dashy line thingo okay lets get on with the story i'm sorry ~Oliver's POV

I watched as Marilla, Elvira and Emma's expressions change from inquiring and curious to stunned and astonished.

Elvira slapped her forehead in realization, Marilla crouched to the ground, holding her head, and Emma simply stood in silent shock.

"That's it!" Elvira exclaimed, smacking her face once again. "He looked so familiar; the resemblance was uncanny! He even has the same eyes..."

"D-didn't he become--you know...one of them?" I asked Elvira tentatively. Elvira's sharp green eyes glared at me accusingly. She raised her hand towards her neck and made a chopping gesture. She spelled it out clearly: Do. You. Want. To. D-I-E.

Are you kidding me? She thought furiously into my head. Do you have any EQ? (A/N: EQ: Emotional Quotient, or Emotional Intelligence. Basically how sensitive you are towards other people's emotions and knowing the difference between right and wrong when communicating with people.)

I grinned sheepishly at her, not sure of what else to do, and immediately turned my gaze away from her. I looked to Marilla instead, hoping Elvira didn't kill me later.

Marilla's usually warm brown gaze was cold.

"One of th-th-them?" She stuttered. I ran a hand through my hair in frustration.

"L-look, I think this is coming onto you a bit fast right now. Why don't we go and check on the rest of the house? Your mother and Adrian are--"

"I don't care about that--that Adrian!" Marilla blurted suddenly. Everyone stopped and stared at her, mouths agape. Marilla stared fiercely at the ground, refusing to make eye contact with any of us. "I just want to know who my father--my real father is."

I glanced at Elvira and she nodded reluctantly.

"We've told you the story of the Battle at Ragnarok Island, haven't we?" Marilla nodded quietly. "Well, the truth is we haven't told you the whole story. The backstory. We've told you the truth--but not the whole truth," I took a deep breath. "Let me start from the beginning..."

~Narrator

Tiny, rough pebbles crunched under the Ragnarok's claws.

The cool mountain air danced and whirled through the night sky. The Ragnarok grinned wickedly, stalking further and further up the mountainside.

It had reached it's destination.

Mount Kilimanjaro.

The majestic mountain was actually a dormant volcano, or rather, a collection of dormant volcanoes. Mount Kilimanjaro had three volcanic cones: Shira, Mawenzi and Kibo, the youngest and tallest.

That's where I'm headed, the Ragnarok thought triumphantly. The Ragnarok climbed, farther and farther up the mountain, until the hard rocks under its claws turned to feather-soft but freezing snow. Above, the sky rumbled with the sound of giant boulders crashing together.

Below, the tiny patchwork of cliffs and hills seemed insignificant.

Grinning in triumph, the Ragnarok turned to face its destination: Mt Kibo Summit. The Ragnarok dashed across the giant flat surface, then stopped and gazed downwards. The giant, gaping maw of the dormant volcano welcomed the Ragnarok gleefully.

Looks like this volcano isn't going to be so dormant after all.