**Land of Wishes — The Wish, The Illusion, and The Escape**
The air in the Land of Wishes was thick and heavy, like breathing in a sweet, slow-moving dream. Every step Rossie, Ethan, and Lila took felt both real and unreal, their boots sinking slightly into a ground made of compacted twilight.
All around them, strange flowers with petals of soft, glowing light pulsed gently, casting shifting patterns of blue and silver onto their tired faces.
After what felt like an eternity of walking through this magical, mind-bending landscape, they finally saw it.
Before them lay a perfectly still, crystalline pool. It didn't reflect the sky but seemed to hold a universe of its own within its depths, like liquid moonlight captured in a basin of polished stone.
Floating at its very center, spinning in a slow, hypnotic rhythm, was the duplicate of the Gulbar relic. An ethereal glow radiated from it, a soft, humming light that seemed to call out to the moonflower bracelet on Rossie's wrist, making it hum with a gentle warmth in response.
The sheer power emanating from the relic was a physical presence, a pressure in the air that made their hearts beat faster.
Rossie took a deep breath.
Ethan moved to her side, his gaze fixed on the spinning artifact. His usual confidence was tempered with a deep seriousness.
"The stories all said the same thing. The wish has to be perfect, a single thought from all of us. If there's any doubt, any hesitation, the land will twist it into a nightmare."
Lila clenched her hands into tight fists, her knuckles white. She thought of her family, of Haul Academy, of the world they had left behind.
"He's right," she said, her voice shaking slightly but firm with resolve.
"Our wish has to be for everyone. To protect our world and the people we love.
We can't be selfish here. Not for a second."
They moved to the edge of the pool, their reflections looking back at them from the starry water.
Without a word, they joined hands. Ethan took Rossie's left hand, and Lila took her right.
The warmth from Rossie's moonflower bracelet instantly flowed from her into them, a current of calm, steady energy that connected their minds and spirits. It pushed away their fear, leaving only a shared, powerful purpose.
Rossie looked from her friends' determined faces to the glowing relic. Her voice, when she spoke, was no longer a whisper. It was clear and strong, ringing with absolute certainty across the silent landscape.
"With one will and one purpose," she declared, her voice rising with power, "we wish to duplicate the Gulbar relic's power! We wish that a perfect, convincing copy be created and sent back with us, to protect our home and our world!"
As if in a single breath, Ethan and Lila repeated the final words with her: "To protect our home and our world!"
The moment the wish was spoken, the relic erupted. A blinding wave of pure golden light surged from the pool, washing over them in a warm, brilliant flood. It felt like standing in the heart of a sun, a power so immense and pure it sang in their bones.
The light wrapped around them, a cocoon of magic and hope.
But just as quickly as it came, the beautiful light began to flicker and die. The warmth vanished, replaced by a sudden, biting cold.
The golden glow twisted, darkening into shades of sickly violet and shadowy grey. The air grew heavy again, but this time with a feeling of dread.
From the mists that swirled before them, a figure began to take shape. It was tall and imposing, and as it stepped forward, they recognized the face of their friend, Michael.
But it wasn't him. His body was stiff, a puppet controlled by a dark force, and his eyes burned with a malevolent, violet fire.
This was Michael, but possessed by the horrifying energy of Mistura. The beautiful landscape around them melted away, replaced by a haunting nightmare of twisted trees and grasping shadows, blocking their only path to the exit portal.
Michael's voice was a low, menacing echo that seemed to come from everywhere at once.
"You think you can just take what you want and leave?" he hissed, a cruel smile twisting his lips.
"This land has a price. The Eyes of Mistura see into your deepest fears, your weakest thoughts. Your wills are fragile things, and they will bend to me."
He locked his glowing violet gaze on Rossie, trying to bore into her mind. A wave of psychic energy, cold and sharp, lashed out from his eyes, designed to paralyze her with fear and dominate her will.
Ethan and Lila gasped, stumbling back as they felt the edge of that power wash over them, a wave of dizziness and confusion.
But it didn't work on Rossie. The moonflower bracelet on her wrist flared with a brilliant, silver-white light, creating a protective shield around her mind. The Mistura's power hit the shield and harmlessly dissolved, like water splashing against stone.
Rossie's fear turned instantly to fury.
"Not today, Michael," she snapped, her voice sharp and defiant.
"Your control doesn't reach me."
Before the illusion could react, she moved. Fueled by the raw, focused energy of the moonlight captured in her bracelet, she launched herself forward.
She was a blur of motion, executing four perfect, blazing front flips in the air, one after the other, closing the distance in a heartbeat. She twisted in the air on the final flip, putting all of her strength and determination into a single, powerful blow.
Her foot connected with Michael's chest with a sickening thud. The impact sent a shockwave through the illusion. The possessed figure of Michael staggered backward, a look of shock on his face, before crashing violently into the illusionary ground.
For a second, his form flickered between Michael and a swirling purple shadow. Then, with a final, ghostly howl of frustration and pain, he dissolved completely, vanishing into a wisp of foul-smelling mist.
As the Mistura's presence faded, the nightmare landscape crumbled with it. The twisted trees and shadows melted away like smoke. In their place, standing radiant and inviting, was a glowing portal—a swirling vortex of light that promised a safe return to the physical world. The exit was clear.
Without hesitating, they linked hands again and stepped through the portal together.
Return - The Weight of Uncertainty
The transition was jarring. The familiar silence of the night, broken only by the chirping of crickets, wrapped around them. It was over.
In their hands, they cradled the perfect duplicate of the Gulbar relic. It was surprisingly heavy, and pulsed with a steady, reassuring warmth, like a small, living heart. Rossie clutched it to her chest, her own heart pounding with a mix of triumph and relief.
"We did it," she breathed, her voice soft and trembling with emotion. "The replicated Gulbar… now we can give this to Angela"
Lila sat up slowly, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. She hugged her knees, shivering despite the relic's warmth.
"We did," she agreed, her voice weary.
"But the Land's illusions… they took so much. I can't stop seeing Michael's eyes… so evil...that thing, the Mistura, inside him."
Ethan, however, was scanning the darkness around them, his face grim. When he finally spoke, his voice was heavy with a new, dreadful weight.
"There's worse news," he said quietly. "My uncle isn't here. He's gone."
A deep, chilling hush fell over the three of them. The victory of securing the relic suddenly felt hollow, overshadowed by a new and terrible fear.
Rossie looked from the precious relic in her hands to the empty space where their teacher should have been.
Her exhaustion was forgotten, replaced by a quiet, fierce determination.
"His absence can't be a coincidence. Did he tried entering the land of wishes? or maybe someone took him… we have to find him."
Ethan nodded, his eyes hardening.
"We can't lose anyone else. Not to this darkness."
They exchanged a firm, unspoken promise. The joy of their success was now tempered by the looming threat of sacrifice and the crushing weight of uncertainty.
As the night deepened around them, the faint, silver glow of the moonflower bracelet on Rossie's wrist cast a small circle of light on their determined faces....a tiny beacon of hope, and a silent promise of the battles that were still to come.