That’s alright with me! :D Maybe #3 then?
Send me a ship and a number and I will write a kiss…
The two rush out of the portal as fast their legs can carry them. They nearly collapse once they’re safely in the hallway, Harper needing to stop and catch her breath. Ivor leaned against the stone walls of the Portal Network, doing the same.
“That…was too close,” Harper said in between gasps for air. “I haven’t had to run that fast since…PAMA…”
Ivor let out a huff, placing an empty potion bottle back into his inventory, “We barely made it. I still can’t believe she had guards around the portal. Jesse never blocked off the portal like that before…”
Harper stood up, “Yeah, well, Jesse also never locked down Beacontown before. Or flew around. Or laughed like a maniac. Or—”
“Something is wrong with her,” Ivor said aloud. “She isn’t acting like herself.”
“That’s an understatement,” Harper muttered under her breath. She then said, “What happened? When we left, Jesse was perfectly fine. But now—I mean, you saw all that lava she was tossing around, right? When did she get obsessed with lava?”
Ivor shook his head, “I don’t know for sure. But I have a theory. She was wearing that gauntlet. The one she said she took from that Admin fellow.”
“Admin,” Harper said slowly. “That sounds familiar. I know I’ve heard of it before…”
“Whatever happened, I think that gauntlet is connected,” Ivor declared, moving away from the wall and looking back at their home portal.
Harper met his gaze, immediately knowing his next move.
“You’re thinking of jumping back through that portal,” Harper said, “you can’t do that. We made it out by sheer luck, and you want to go back?”
Ivor looked away, “I can’t stand by, Harper. Jesse is my friend. And I intend to find out what’s caused her to act this way.”
“With those powers, she probably already knows we’re gone. We take one step back there, and she’ll throw us in prison.” Harper glanced down, a sadness in her eyes, “It won’t even matter that we were friends. I mean, I didn’t see Petra or Lukas or Radar anywhere. You don’t think she…”
“No,” Ivor rose his voice, “Jesse wouldn’t go that far. She wouldn’t.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Do you? Because I thought I did! And I come back to that nightmare!” Harper anxiously gripped her own shoulders, “It’s PAMA all over again. She got too much power, and it went to her head. Pretty soon, she’ll probably just brainwash them all when she realizes—”
Ivor rushed over to Harper, placing his hands on her shoulders.
“Breathe, Harper. Breathe.”
She did. She took a long inhale, feeling the pent up emotions boil, then exhaled. A calm came over her, pushing down and subduing those emotions for a bit longer.
“I’m okay,” Harper sighed. “I’m okay.”
“Harper, that’s why I need to go back,” Ivor said. “I need to stop her before she does something she regrets for the rest of her life. I have to snap Jesse out of it so she won’t—,”
He paused. He took a breath of his own before finishing.
“So she won’t do what I did.”
Harper went quiet. She wanted to say something more. Anything. Anything to stop him from leaving.
But he was a stubborn, strange man. She knew there was no other way.
“What can I do to help?” Harper said, meeting his eyes with a renewed determination.
Ivor smiled for a moment before saying, “For now, I need you to stay here in the Portal Network. If Jesse gets any ideas of trying to spread her reign to other worlds, you need to stop her. The moment you see her or any of those golems step out of the portal, you need to destroy it. Then you go get help from Otto, Emily, anyone you can find and tell them what’s happening.”
“I can do that. But what about you?”
“I’m going to play along,” Ivor explained, stepping towards the portal. “If I pretend I’m on her side, then I may be able to get close enough to find out what’s really going on.”
Harper rose an eyebrow, “You really think that will work?”
He turned back and grinned at her, “How could one resist having a ninja on their side?”
He posed dramatically. Harper rolled her eyes. She knew she shouldn’t have let him stay when they ran into that supposed “Master Shadows” back during their trip.
“You still look ridiculous,” She said, folding her arms.
“You’re just jealous that you’re not a ninja,” Ivor retorted in a prideful tone.
Harper let out a groan, but it was soon followed by a laugh. Even in the worst of times, he still knew how to make her smile.
Slowly, Harper walked to him. She wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly.
“You be careful, okay? I wouldn’t want to lose my favorite travel partner.”
“Same to you,” Ivor replied softly. He then pulled back, looking at her straight in the eyes.
Carefully, he shifted forward and kissed her quickly on the lips. Harper barely had the time to react as he soon pulled away and dove back into the orange lights of the portal. She was left in the hallway, a warm face and racing thoughts.
But there was no time. If she had to destroy the portal, then she would need the best equipment. Quickly, Harper started off for the Crown Mesa Portal.
Get the equipment. Watch the portal. Get the equipment. Watch the portal. She repeated those words over and over.
It was the best distraction from thinking about whether or not she would ever see him again.