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Fifer and Thisbe pushed the button in the tube and their surroundings immediately changed.
The jungle floor turned to hardwood. The trees all around turned to neat walls, the blooming flowers and vines turning to eccentric, familiar artwork. The not-so-secret hallway spread out in front of them, lit by the dim evening glow coming through the window.
Tears started flowing from Thisbe’s eyes as Fifer pulled her out of the tube, the shock of the afternoon’s events hitting her like a blow. Her sister remained resolute, but her hand trembled on Thisbe’s sleeve.
From the open door of his office, the head mage Alexander Stowe spotted them. He jumped to his feet and strode out to meet them in the kitchenette.
“Where have you two been?!” he yelled, before noticing the tears running down Thisbe’s cheeks and the scratches on Fifer’s arms. His eyes softened and he moved to pull Thisbe into a hug. As she cried into his shoulder, shaky arms holding him tightly, he pulled Fifer into the embrace, too.
“What happened?” he asked, for there was no doubt in his mind that something had happened.
“We went into the jungle,” Fifer explained. “Panther...”
“I hit her,” Thisbe mumbled into Alex’s brightly colored robe, now soaked through with tears. She sniffled. “She broke.”
Fifer jumped, then shook her head and quickly raised her hands. “Only into two pieces! Just two! Aaron can fix that, right?”
Alex had been quiet as they explained, but now he drew away, frustrated once more with his younger sisters. It seemed to be his only state of being, these days. “Of course,” he grumbled. “You didn’t show up on the Day of Remembrance because you were busy causing trouble. Again. I don’t know what I expected.”
“We didn’t mean to!” Thisbe cried. “We only wanted to go on an adventure, like you used to! But then the scorpion...” She hiccuped. “And she jumped out in front of me! Then Fifer fell...and I tried to help her up, and then, and then—”
“And what about today’s memorial? You missed it entirely! We were all waiting for you! You have a part in today’s history, too!”
“How many times have we been at that stupid memorial? Maybe we don’t want to be that part of the story, Alex!” Fifer yelled back. “Maybe we’re sick of hearing about things that we don’t even remember doing. Maybe we’re sick of everyone having to relive this story every year! Maybe we want our own stories, that are happy and triumphant, where no one dies!”
“But people will die, Fifer! You can’t live life without death! And look at you two; you just went and destroyed Panther within, what, how many hours of leaving?”
“She’s only in two pieces...” Thisbe mumbled with a sniffle. She wiped her face on her sleeve. She felt tiny when she did that, like a little kid throwing a tantrum, even though she was fifteen now and just about the same height as Alex. She tried to stand up a little straighter and look a little more dignified, but it was hard with the way her older brother glared at her.
Alex took a deep breath and smoothed his hair back, shoving a bunch of curls behind his ear. “Fine. Fine.” He walked back into his office and behind his desk. “Aaron can go fix her.” He idly pushed a pile of papers into a more proper stack. “I’ll...go talk to him. Later.” He turned to look at his sisters. “But for now, you two are banned from the jungle. In fact, I want you in the mansion for the rest of the evening.”
The twins exploded.
“Why are you banning us? We’ve been in there plenty of times before, and it was always fine!”
“Everyone else can go in there! What gives, Alex? Man, you’re so stuck-up—”
“Enough!” he roared. The twins stopped in their tracks and sheepishly stepped back.
“You two are done with the jungle, and that is final,” he continued. “I’m supposed to be protecting you. If you’re going to endanger yourselves, then of course I’m not going to let you in there!” He closed his eyes, wiping his right hand over his face. “I should’ve put the scroll feature back up...or at least put the creatures to sleep, like Ol’ Tater...” He sat down, his voice falling into an exhausted mumble. “It’s been my job to look after you for your entire lives. It wasn’t my choice, but I’ve tried my best. I love you two, really, I do. But I’m not going to let you go out and get yourselves hurt in my own magical land! You know about the dangers of the jungle, and you know that only Aaron is allowed near the jungle animals, because they’re not to be trusted. You’re knowingly endangering yourselves—”
“Maybe we wouldn’t be endangering ourselves if you taught us magic,” Fifer snapped.
There was a deadly silence as the two glared at each other, a thousand unsaid words and moments racing through each one’s mind. Interrupting Alex was never a good decision. Interrupting Alex when he was this upset was even worse.
And yet, Fifer was persistent, as she tended to be. “We’re almost sixteen years old now, Alex.” He let out a heavy sigh as Fifer took a step forward and picked up a small rock off his desk. It was roughly painted, with a small bird on it. She ran her finger over it, remembering the day that she and Thisbe had painted them when they were four years old. She looked back up and met Alex’s gaze. “We should’ve gotten our component vests two years ago. Seth did. But you won’t let us. Why—”
“You know why. It’s dangerous, Fifer! You’ll endanger yourselves, and your trainers, and everyone else in this nation that I have worked so hard to keep safe. I’ve tried to train your magical abilities, but you’re just...too out of control. Who knows what would happen if you tried to use our magic? What if something went wrong?”
“But what if it didn’t?” Fifer retorted. She placed the rock back on his desk—wondering briefly if, somehow, taking it back had broken the Seek spell it was made for, and whether the next time Alex tried to use it to track her down, it would fail—and crossed her arms.
“Aaron has natural magic, too,” Thisbe pointed out. “You let him use components.”
“Aaron’s magic is nothing like yours,” Alex growled. “Don’t compare yourself to him.” He shook his head again. “My decision is final, girls. I don’t understand why you can’t just be content with your artistic studies. There’s so much to learn and do here. I would’ve killed for this when I was younger! Heck, I didn’t even get my own component vest until almost a year after I got here, after the entire rest of my class did! I entertained myself with art. You two can, too.”
Thisbe and Fifer shot each other a questioning glance. Didn’t he create a 3-D door and try to bring Aaron to Artimé during that first year?
Now it was Thisbe’s turn to step forward, a practiced dance between the younger set of Stowe twins. “I love theatre, and she loves singing, but...there’s only so many days you can do the same thing here before you start wanting to go somewhere new. There’s only so much art you can make before you start wanting to do something more, you know?”
Alex gave her a deadly stare. “No, I don’t know how much art you can make before you get bored.” He gestured to his left arm, which hung limply at his side. “Unfortunately. But I can prevent something like this from happening to you. I made the difficult decisions so you didn’t have to. I put myself in danger so you two could have a better life than I did. Please don’t throw that away just because you’re bored.” He closed one of the books on his desk and placed it in the high stack next to him. “Go get patched up in the hospital wing, please. I’ll see you two for dinner in an hour, if you’re up for it. I’m sure everyone else will be glad to see that you’re okay. We were all worried.”
Fifer fiddled with her bracelet, and Thisbe gave a quiet nod. “Okay, Alex,” they muttered in unison, then turned and walked out of his office and down the hallway.