The Magic Factory

As the plane soared through the sky, Oliver felt overcome with exhaustion. His friends were talking happily and enthusiastically, going over the events in Germany, but Oliver was too tired to even focus on their voices. He was too tired to even hear their congratulatory words and their affirmations that he’d saved the world.

His eyelids felt so heavy. He tried to fight it, but they started to flutter closed. He couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer. All he could do was flop down in the back of the cabin, spent, overcome with exhaustion, and let blackness envelop him. He fell into a deep, deep sleep.

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

Two familiar faces looked down at Oliver.

“I think he’s conscious,” the man said.

“You’re right,” the woman replied, kindly. “Oliver, can you hear us?”

Oliver sat bolt upright, looking from one face to the other. They were the man and woman of his visions. He wasn’t in the airplane anymore, but in some dark, empty space like the abyss of Professor Amethyst’s dimension. All that existed in the vast blackness were the three of them.

“Where am I?” Oliver asked. “Where are my friends? Where’s the headmaster’s airplane?” His voice sounded strange, blunted, as though the sound waves were traveling differently than normal.

“You’re somewhere between asleep and awake,” the man said. “You’re still in the plane. Your friends are still with you.”

Oliver felt relieved.

“Why are you here?” he asked.

“We came to congratulate you,” the woman said. “For saving mankind.”

Oliver recalled the vision he’d had where the man and woman had told him he had a task to save mankind. For some reason, these two strangers cared deeply about his success. But he had no idea why. They’d never given him satisfactory answers, had never explained themselves.

“Who are you?” he asked. “My guardian angels or something? Why are you always watching me? Why do you keep appearing in my dreams?”

The man and woman exchanged a glance.

“I think you know who we are,” the woman said softly.

“I do?” Oliver asked.

The man nodded. His smile was so kind. “Yes. You do. You just need to accept it.”

Oliver’s throat felt thick. His hand went to his blond hair. Its color matched the woman’s perfectly. And his eyes were the same brown as the man’s, completely unlike his family’s matching blue eyes. Nothing had ever felt right in his life. His family had never felt like his own. Could it really be that the Blues weren’t his parents? That Chris was not his brother? Would he sound crazy to suggest that these people were his parents?

His voice wavered as he spoke, hitching with hope. “Are you my parents?”

Immediately, the couple burst into grins. They took hold of one another’s hands.

“That’s right,” the woman confirmed. “We’re your mom and dad.”

Mom. Dad. He repeated the words in his head as if they were some new, alien concepts.

“But I don’t understand,” he said. “I have a mom and dad. How can you be my parents?”

The man’s expression faltered, then dropped. He looked sadly at the woman, then back to Oliver.

“We lost you,” he said, his voice strained. “It’s very complicated.”

Oliver’s mind began reeling. It was too much to comprehend. But a sense of understanding overcame him, like all the pieces were fitting into place. Of course he wasn’t a Blue. He didn’t even look like them. They shared no similarities or interests. He’d always been the black sheep of the family and this would explain why.

These people, the man and woman of his visions, were his real parents. His mom and dad. Saying it in his head didn’t feel strange, he realized. It felt right.

Just then, the image of his real parents started to fade.

“Where are you going?” Oliver asked.

“You’re waking up,” his mom said, gently.

“But where are you?” Oliver asked, exasperated. “Why do I only see you when I’m dreaming? Where can I find you in the real world?”

“There’s no time to explain,” his dad replied. “But you will see us again. Soon.”

“And one day we’ll be reunited,” his mom added. “Properly. We’ll be together.”

The two figures were little more than shadows now.

“Don’t leave me!” Oliver cried.

“We never leave you,” his dad said. Oliver couldn’t even make out his features anymore. “Remember that. We’re always with you.”

Then, just like the sound of the whispering wind, Oliver heard his parents’ parting words.

“We love you.”

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX

Oliver felt a gentle shaking on his shoulders. His eyelids fluttered open. He was looking straight into Esther’s emerald eyes.

Oliver lingered for a moment, gazing at her pleasant features. Then the grogginess in his head started to fade and he remembered where he was; Professor Amethyst’s airplane. He sat bolt upright.

Unlike with the sleep pod, Oliver could tell that hours had passed. His body was stiff. His neck cricked painfully as he looked about him at the interior of Professor Amethyst’s strange airplane.

The engines were little more than a gentle background hum. There was no telltale signs of jostling.

“We’ve landed,” Esther told him, smiling sweetly.

“Landed?” he asked. His voice came out as a croak. “Where?”

“Home.”

“Home? You mean…”

Esther nodded kindly. “The School for Seers.”

Oliver fell back, stunned. He’d thought he would never be allowed back in this place, that he’d never set foot inside the school again. He was so relieved. Dazed with happiness.