The Magical Islands Of Da

8. A Grim Awakening

The boy was holding onto part of the rope still connected to the hot air balloon, his grip tightened while he was losing control of his balance, "Cole please, it's not gonna work! If this balloon goes higher up, it will be too high for you to drop safely. I alone can't drop down from this height. So if I can't land safely, then you won't be able to either. You're too important to die, people are counting on you to make it to the mighty, for the fate of the islands! Please just let go of the rope." Yuna pleaded to him.

"Just because people are counting on me, doesn't mean I'm better than them. And yes, I'm not denying what you said! But I don't care that it's true, it's wrong! Look ehm...I'm not gonna let go, I refuse to. What happened to your messaging that WE will find a way, no matter what the situation was? I wouldn't be able to do this without you. If I let go, you won't be able to get your dignity from the mighty! And that to me is just as important as this vest I'm wearing! So please, jump out and I'll catch you!" Cole responded riveted as he felt a stream of tears pouring down his cheeks.

 His hands were getting frail as he looked up to Yuna, the crochet doll looked down at the boy with a sunken heart and a loss of spirit within themselves. She bleakly smirked down to Cole, "You were the best friend I could ever have had Cole, I'm gonna miss you...don't keep being a worried walking catfish." Yuna said deflated.

"Don't you say that Yuna, there has to be a way! There's always a way!" Cole responded immediately; the wind had knocked his glasses off. Even if he couldn't see well, he still held onto the rope. His weary lungs brought him down however, he fell face first into the rough dirt. 

He could hold no longer, hearing the echoes of a frightened Yuna. Cole reached to the sky for the rope, but was instead met with the air. He frantically reached out to find his glasses, he luckily was able to get them back easily. 

He looked up at the sky to see Yuna one last time, she was already in the clouds out of view. Cole just sat on the ground not saying a word, the sky and clouds were grey and gloomy. Everything started to get hazy, like the nightmare couldn't get any worse.

"Cole, Cole wake up. Cole, please wake up!" Elijah's voice could slowly be heard, it was in a muffled tone as Cole slowly opened his eyes. He was looking up at Elijah, who looked beat. There were palm trees around Elijah, "Elijah, wh- where are we? Why are there palm trees around us?" Cole asked.

"We're in the Sand Zone, I followed the marvelous map. We're not in the heart of it yet, just to let you know." Elijah responded lightly, Cole sat up and nodded to Elijah. He slowly got off the ground and dusted himself off, there was sand all over him. The boy checked his satchel, the marvelous map was in it as well as everything else. Elijah started to walk down a sand path they were on, Cole looked over at him confused.

"Why weren't you there helping me with the rope? I understand that you fell to the ground due to the wind, and I hope you didn't get hurt badly. But you didn't come back to help with the rope, w- why is that? What took you so long? How did you even get us out of Briella's Balloon World?" Cole asked.

"Woah, calm down Cole. Why did it take so long? It's because I soooo wanted Yuna to get that outcome, cause that makes sense. No it's because I went to get tape, to patch the rope back together. So, I'm sorry that it took me a long time to get back, and I'm sorry about what happened to Yuna, she obviously didn't deserve that and should have gotten a better outcome. Hadeon had the currency on him, I gave the currency to the pillars at the circus and they let us pass. I was able to drag you out, we're lucky we didn't get zapped for some reason. But that's besides the point, stop questioning me like I didn't try or didn't care, because I did! Just remember that YOU were the one to create the escape plan; maybe you didn't realize that just until now, but maybe you should start realizing these things before questioning your friends! You know maybe that would be a great idea you should follow." Elijah responded; the boy didn't peep out anything while listening to the entertainer.