THE HOUSE BUILT BY MAGIC Story by: Lorenzo Pisig 1 It was “America’s new beginning”, newscasters #quoted. “It was the worst thing America has experienced throughout its hundreds of years history” businessmen say. “Worst nightmare ever” civilians would say. Violence and chaos everywhere, as America is struggling to protect its good reputation as a first-world country. The stock market had reached an all-time low as businesses were failing. People everywhere shocked at what had once been a great country. Everything was bad. Nothing was good. Poverty rising, wealth decreasing, people immigrating. People rushing to leave and have a better #life somewhere in the world. This was the scene in America the last few weeks. It was a bright, but blue day in the quiet home of the Kingston family in America. The five of them were forgetting the economical turmoil in their country and having their usual afternoon. Darwin and Darius were having their daily basketball game. Mr. and Mrs. Kingston were watching their favorite show in television. However, Debi, the family’s only girl, was not doing her regular activities during the afternoon. She wasn’t even worried about their country’s financial situation. Instead of doing stuff like reading and surfing the web, she was researching since she can’t wait to go to Sydney. “Sydney, but why? Must be one of those places where they say is nice. I’d rather stay in America! I don’t care if the economy is bad, I don’t even know what the economy is?” This was the usual statement of Debi whenever the country of Australia or the chaos in America is discussed. “Wow, kangaroos and koalas are cool, can’t wait to see them! Hey, look what this! Look at that! Australia is cool!” After two months of research, this was now the official statement of Debi. 2 Now America’s economy crisis was very bad at the moment that most, if not all of the residents of America had to leave and transfer to another country where the economy was okay. When they learned about the economy crisis, they were really shocked. It was very serious, that even the three Kingston siblings were worried. But after many boring family meetings where explanations were made about the current situation, the family gave their suggestions on where they live, Debi’s family agreed to live in Sydney, Australia. There were other livable places there are, including premier cities like Beijing, Tokyo, London, and Paris. Another reason that made their decision easier is when they found out that their close friends, the Williams family also decided to go to Sydney. They have known the Williams and their three children, David, Chris, and Isabel for a very long time. They first met at Debi’s preschool family day when David, Chris, and Debi were classmates. Knowing the Williams family were joining and living with them, Debi became very excited. She also knew that David, a fellow story writer and avid reader would be a great everyday companion. She and David were really close because they had common interests, because of their tiny age gap. She also had common interests with his sister, Isabel. Every day they would chat and tell each other their experiences that day. Chris is also her everyday playmate whenever they play the hit game Adventure Rush. They would always team up and defeat the demon elephants that steal treasure. Since the two families are avid adventurers, this was their favorite game. Because of her many experiences with the Williams siblings, she knew that living with them will be really fun. Now every day for 3 weeks, they would hold a going-away party at their home. Each day was assigned to a certain group of friends of a certain member of the family. This matter was also discussed in another family meeting. In day 16 of their 21 day goodbye, Debi met with her friends, who were not going that far, in Vancouver. After a fun afternoon of video games, food, karaoke, and even idea sharing and brainstorming for a story, Debi said her final goodbye to her seven close friends. They all promised that communication will be used to stay in touch with each other. 3 Day 19-21 were packing days. Debi used her trusty pink luggage to fit all of her clothes and other things. She used the big walls of her outgoing room as a giant checklist so she would not forget anything. She had used scotch tape as lines to represent the boxes, and markers to check them. Of course she would never forget her story writing materials, which included her Mac, some sample books, a USB for storage, and pocket Wi-Fi for research. She would also never forget here Adventurer’s Kit, which contained a magnifying glass, a camera, and a pocket translator, a gift from David. After this, she went to her High School to say goodbye to her teachers and classmates. She would also get her things from her locker. After this she would proceed home for final preparations. While the others were packing, Mrs. Kingston was finding a perfect airline to bring them to their new home. As Day 21 came close, everyone was getting more ready to say goodbye to their old #life in America. The flight was booked, things packed, house bought, they were ready to go. 4 Exactly as her alarm clocked had rung on the 28th of May at 5:22 AM, Debi had been awaken by her excitement. She checked her phone, three minutes before the alarm of her phone had rung. Seven new messages, all from her friends. She ignored the messages, since she was excited about their trip. She thought was early, but at the sight of her whole family ready, she collected her stuff and proceeded to the taxi they had ordered to bring them to the airport. Since the airport was an hour away from the old Williams home, now their secondary home, Debi took the time to check the messages from her friends. They were all farewell messages from her friends and her best friend Annie. Annie and her brothers were off to San Salvador in El Salvador. All her other friends were off to nearby Guatemala City in Guatemala. Debi, on the other hand were off to somewhere far, in Sydney. After reading and replying to all the messages, she slept through the rest of the trip. left America and went to Sydney. The ride took a very long time. Debi, an amateur author used up the time to continue on making her latest story. After a few more hours, they finally arrived in Australia. They also decided to live in one big house. Before proceeding to the large home in the heart of Sydney, they decided to take a few strolls around the large city. They saw all the sights in Sydney like the famous Sydney Opera House. They also had a ride on Sydney’s double deck bus. They also strolled through the shore of Sydney's famous Bondi Beach. They also tried climbing up the Sydney Harbor Bridge. "Sydney Harbor! Like in Finding Nemo!" Debi exclaimed. "Yes, that is correct. This place was spotted in the movie Finding Nemo. Another fun fact is this bridge was opens a long time ago, in 1932." David added. They also tried Sydney's special cuisines like their mouth-watering steaks, the sweet TimTam chocolate bars, and even tried some fish and chips by the beautiful beach. Eventually, after a long and tiring tour of the city, they continued to their new home. When they arrived there, they looked at the bedrooms and all the other rooms there. Subsequently, after their tour of their home, Debi, her brothers Darwin and Darius, David and his siblings Chris and Isabel decided to play in the basement. Upon arriving at the basement, they saw a lot of regular things In a basement, old stuff, laundry, and a playroom. But one thing among all stood out the most. A strong ray of light pointed at a dusty book at the middle of the room made them wonder about the contents of it. They curiously approached the peculiar book. When they got to the book, David, the person most reliable among them when it came to mysteries, was chosen among all of them to open the book. But, Debi, who was slightly older than David, insisted she opened the book. In the new consensus, Debi would open the book. Luckily, as she opened the book, different from what they expected, there were no traps hidden in the book. Instead of traps, hieroglyphs surprised them. They popped out like a hologram, and they were lucky because David brought his mini-translator, which was always in his pocket or shirt. It said, “The Book of Hope. Hidden in the Magic House of Sydney. Step in the book NOW!” Firstly, they were confused with the message of the book. How can one step and enter in a book the size of a foot? Secondly, judging by the tiny width of the book, they decided it was too thin for them to fit. Thirdly, it’s a book, how can any person put their foot inside a book and expect it to go through? These three bases were the meat of their debate for a few minutes. Finally, after an intelligent discussion, they decided that: 1) A book of magic is trustable right? 2) If it didn’t work, then nothing bad would happen. They eventually decided to take a gamble and attempted to enter the book. No one wanted to go first, but David, the senior adventurer, mustered up the courage to follow the instructions. He took a long piece of rope to signal and track his location. He went first and by the signal of a rope pull, it was known that his attempt was successful. Debi threw the rope back from the book and found it frozen, “Must be freezing out there wherever David is at.” Debi commented. Eventually, all of them went in the book. They were about to share their insights and arguments about how the book let them it, but their landing on cool and snowy place made their mouths water. They tried to communicate and share their thoughts, but the sheer cold left them standing in the middle of a strange place for a few minutes, or hours as David insisted. The ice finally thawed and they started blaming each other for they didn’t know how to get back to Sydney. They searched everywhere for a door or an exit, but they failed. Chris was searching in a large forest until he stumbled upon a treeless place and saw a large sign that read: “Welcome to the Majestic Land of the Southern Sea, Eutopia!” The big sign was posted on top of a golden arch carved with different creatures they did not seem to recognize. He called upon his companions and the rushed to the spot. They were in awe as they saw the largeness of the sign. They were amazed at the intricate carving style of the carver because they carved creatures looked so nice. And on the center of the arch there was a bright light, a very inviting one, and it looked like it was luring in the group to enter their “majestic” kingdom. “…………..” David didn’t even say a word. “Guys! It must be a trap! We better get out of here back to Sydney!” But before they could answer, they entered the kingdom. Inside the kingdom, they saw peculiar creatures that seemed to be morphed versions of different animals found on Earth. A turtle with wings, a dog with horns, a cat with two heads, among others were the kinds of animals that were spotted at the mysterious place. They liked the animals and Debi even attempted to approach them. But before she could lay a finger on an animal, David stopped her for the animals may be carrying a virus that could hurt them. They looked saddened in the midst of wondrous objects because they did not know what to do. They started blaming each other. Darwin argued. “It was all Da” Darius was about to blame David until an elf disturbed them. A seemingly friendly elf introduced himself. The elf was as tall as David’s waist, had green skin, and had a squeaky voice Debi loved so much. “Hello? Are you new here? I’m Elfen, the Elf Tribe leader of Eutopia. And you are?”. David introduced him to all his siblings and his long time friends. They greeted themselves and Elfen told him to meet his friend, The Guardian, or fondly called T.J. at his house near the “Orb of Destiny” which was located near the river bank east of Eutopia. His reason for this is for them to know further about the mysterious land. After that, Elfen toured them around Eutopia and showed them the different sights you can see there. David noticed that Eutopia wasn’t really a peaceful place. The reason is because of all the random fires and the strict half-man half-horse soldiers. These half-man half-horses were called Elfen heard the statement and agreed with him. Elfen said: “Guys, Eutopia really isn’t peaceful. It is controlled by an evil and dark person whom people call The Necromancer.” David then replied: “But Elfen, how do we beat The Necromancer so we can restore the freedom of this quiet and beautiful place?” David had large pity on the land because it was a very nice and peaceful place. Elfen said that you need the help of his friend, T.J. and find all the five “Puries” scattered all over Eutopia. The Puries were magical liquids that were secretly made by a secret lab specially designed to destroy the Necromancer. They were also designed to do a lot of important things. They heard a strong zoom. They saw that Chris was running around all over the place. “What are you guys waiting for, let’s find the Puries!!” They agreed with Chris and they proceeded to T.J.’s house. They were looking so far, feeling lost and hopeless until Elfen gave them the directions to his residence in the Orb of Destiny. They understood the directions given by Elfen and found their way to the Orb of Destiny, the place that T.J. was believed to live in. Seeing the home, they felt weird. “He really wasn’t joking about naming his home. It literally is and orb!” David noticed. “But if that is the orb, where is the destiny?” Chris asked. “The destiny part may just be waiting for us inside that orb.” Debi answered as they rang the house’s doorbell. “Hello there! What are you here for?” T.J. said. They felt surprised as they thought of T.J. as a big and scary guy because of his nickname “The Guardian”. Instead they were looking at a person with a average weight and a below average height. He was pretty short against their expectations. “Hello, you must be T.J., am I correct?” David asked as T.J. let them inside his weird round home. “So, are you here for some tea?” T.J. asked. “I really have some fancy and tasty tea here.” T.J. added. ‘No, stop pretending T.J.! We really want to save your peaceful town, so can we have some information about this mysterious Necromancer guy? And also Puries, where cant we get those liquids?’ David asked him as T.J. served him his special tea. “All I can say about the Necromancer is he is very unpredictable and very mysterious. Always be careful because we never know when he is attacking and what he is attacking with. What I can say about Puries are that they are very small and really hard to find. For a head start, I will give you two Pury bottles. They can be used for anything. Magic carpets for transportation, food and water supplies and weapons are some of those. But beware for large quantities are needed for these activities. Spend them wisely so you will have enough supply to beat the Necromancer. For help, I will give you this Pury holder. It can tell you how much you have left, how much you need, and a bunch of other stuff.” T.J. helped. “Thank you for those information and all the head starts you gave us. We have to go now for we don’t have time to waste.” Darwin said. “Goodbye everyone! Wait, take this EutopiaMobile. It can call anyone in Eutopia. I shall register me and Elfen’s number if you need help. I’m depending on you people! Do it for Eutopia!” T.J. cheerfully said. They all smiled as they waved back to him, approaching the start of their adventure. Opposite to the City, the road to the Necromancer’s was like a desert. Hot, plain, and just a long and winding road in the middle for people to pass. There were also length meters to tell you how far you’ve gone and how long you to travel before arriving at Darkness Cave, the place where they say the Necromancer lives. As they were walking their 500th meter, luck struck the tired adventurers once again as they arrived at a Eutopia General Store where they saw the same mysterious hieroglyphs they saw earlier at the basement of their home. David used his translator once more and it read, Puries and other Eutopian delicacies available here! They went inside hurriedly and found out that there were heaps of maps that said showed the hiding place of all twenty-three Puries hidden all around Eutopia. “Do we need all twenty-two?” Chris asked. “No, we only need five, but if we want to use the important things it can do, we might as well find more than five.” Debi replied. They left the store and approached a large rock and three crosses. The first cross was black and was marked “D”. The second cross was purple and was marked “E” The third cross, however was colored blue and was marked with the letter “P”. They conferred with each other to decide which cross they should dig at. “Are you sure that this is the Pury place?” Darius hesitantly asked. “Yes, it says a few steps from Gen Merch.” Chris answered. They all agreed that the third cross would be the place of the Pury because of the letter “P”. To make sure that they were correct with their prediction, they used some Pury magic from one bottle to decode what the crosses say to us. They found out they were correct when the Pury holder decoded “D” as Death, “E” as Explosion, and “P” as Pury. Without any more doubt, they dug on the cross that was marked “P”. After a long time of digging, they eventually found the two Puries buried under the cross. “Wow, are we lucky again? Two puries this time?” David noticed.” They continued, still feeling lucky. They walked and walked, but before continuing, had a lunch break at Eutopia’s popular fast food chain. They ate Eutopia’s specialty soldier soup and a authentic Eutopian dish, fried dogcat. After a really filling lunch, they continued on as they closed in on the second Pury spot. “What trap should await us there?” Chris asked. “We may have that luck again though.” David said. They were surprised as they arrived the supposed site of the third or fourth Pury. The cold breeze of the wind and the sudden snow freezed too much that movement was limited. They crawled until the spot of the Pury. Instead of ground, they saw a frozen lake. They also saw a sign that seemed deceiving. It said “Pury under! Do the skating challenge with the word Pury!” “Ah, skating challenge, we do these at school!” Chris said. “You have to write the word assigned to you on the ice by skating. I can do it!” He added. They put their trust on Chris as they handed him with the skating shoes and guided him to the frozen lake. “Remember, if you fail, we can go to the next site, there are twenty-two sites anyway.” Debi exclaimed. Chris put on the skating shoes, and began skating! “Ok, Chris, first up, letter P!” David coached. He slowly navigated himself to complete the first letter, P. He curved slowly as he began making the second letter, U. He looped, looped again, and made it past! “You’re doing great Chris! Two more letters! Go, go, go!” Debi shouted. He approached the space to write the letter R. He skated up, then right, then down, then up, then down once more, and he completed it! “Thanks for the inspiration guys! One more letter! Concentrate, Chris!” He said to himself. He approached the space provided for the letter Y. He got to the space, skated down, went up, and looped. He had finished. For his finishing touch, he drew a circle around it and ended it with his signature. “Yes! Oh yeah!” Chris said as he saw another blinding light rising from the bottom of the then-frozen lake. They were surprised once more as they saw two Puries come out instead of the usual one Pury. They must be really lucky for this adventure. “That gives us 5.5 ounces of Puries. We need 4 ounces of Puries to get it done against the Necromancer.” Said the Pury holder’s auto voice. Before they left going back to the Main Eutopia City, Three pieces of paper where flying in the air like it wanted the friends to read it. David picked up the paper and read it. “Western Eutopia Book Contest. Submit your books in the period of May 2 and May 8 at the West Eutopia City Hall. Prizes are: Champion: Three bottles of Pury. Second: 300,000 euto. Third: One bottle of Pury. Debi immediately requested them to make her join. “Lucky me! I have my story right now! Can we enter? It will get us more Puries!” Debi added. “Let’s go!” Chris said. Everyone agreed and decided to call T.J. to ask for directions. ‘Hello?”David asked. “Yes, David! Can you hear me” T.J. answered. “Yes, I can. Do you know where West Eutopia City Hall is? We are joining a contest.” “Oh, yes. Great idea. I heard they give out three Puries for winners, am I right?” ‘Yes.” “So you go right at the—Wait, where are you now, anyway?” “We are near Kilometer no 16, 55 to Necromancer.” “Oh, okay. See the two big boulders?” “Yes, we do.” “Ok so take the right path, and you will arrive at an intersection. Keep on going straight until you see the sign that says “Welcome to Western Eutopia!” Then you turn left, then straight around 1 kilometer, and there you are.” “Thanks, T.J.! We’ll call you back when we get lost.” “Okay then, bye, good luck!” “Thanks, bye!” They followed his directions and went right. “Really big boulders. Where do you think they came from?” Darwin asked. “According to my book, they came from the Great Eruption of 1958. See that volcano there in the far right? Yes, that is the Eutopia-West Volcano. It erupted back in 1958. It spit out thousands of gigantic boulders. These are just two of the many boulders.” Chris intelligently said. “Well, enough of the trivia, we have to do some travelling.” David said. “Ok, we’re here at the intersection, we go left, right?” “Haha, left-right. Well, according to T.J. , we go straight all the way. They continued and saw the 17 kilometer sign. After a few more minutes of walking forward, they reached the sign. The words “Welcome to Western Eutopia” engraved in a large gold block really made them admire. “Wow, wow. They’re that rich?’ Debi said. Another thing that added to its grandeur was the two waterfalls beside thee golden sign.They rapidly went to the first cross-mark they saw on the map, a place that as marked as “De Pury Stup Number Wun” They started digging and saw three bottles that were marked B, X and P. They decoded B as Bye. X as Death and P as Pury! They instantly got the P bottle and left the place. While running, Darwin, the group’s assigned Pury keeper put the bottle on his little Pury holder he got at the residence a while ago. The holder’s automatic tone said that the Pury is an authentic one. They rested a while when they found out that they were already one-fifth of the mission. They magically found the four remaining Puries beneath a little rock they were sitting on. “Wow, that was simple.” David assumed. They used a little Pury magic to form an aircraft that flew them back to Eutopia, ready to face the wicked Necromancer. The long and exhausting stroll to the residence of the Necromancer, Warlock Cave had numerous challenges. First, they went to a huge and terrifying forest called the “Forest of the Friendly Talking Chimpanzees” where they battled a troublesome group of chimps. They tried to use a drop of the Puries, and it worked! They realized that they were pets of the bad warlock. After that, they faced a warlock that seemed friendly. They stood still, but then the warlock cast a lot of magic spells to Darwin which caused him to faint. Darius instantly went to his brother to try to cure him, but the warlock made him faint as well. Debi called her mom to warn her, but she was busy talking to her step-brother, whom she never heard of. His name was Johnny. Johnny Brick. Good thing Debi doesn’t know. You’ll know why soon. Another call from David’s mom came. She said that she just gave birth to twins, whom she named Mario and Marie. She told him to have fun and good luck and then dropped the phone. They rested for a while, and then got ready for their next challenge. A voice then whispered a warning to David’s ears, something he didn’t understand. The only thing he heard was “Warn, next and mance.” He ignored the whisper and told his friends to continue to the next room. After a few steps, they saw a sign that David translated as: Darkness Cave: Farthest Point: Up Ahead: Home of the Necromancer…” “Ok… let’s have a pury check, Darwin!” Darwin, already conscious after him fainting checked the “Pury Stats” that were written neatly at the side of the holder. They were very small, since they were designed for “purymals”, a kind of animal made to keep Puries. He activated the automatic voice and it told them that it is eighty-six percent full and they will most probably use seventy-five percent against the Necromancer. It says in the “Pury Handbook”, another helpful thing they got from the shop, that if you want to make a flying vehicle, you will need fifteen percent Puries. Knowing this, they knew that they had to use an alternative weapon to beat the Necromancer if they wanted to go home easily, or else they will walk for a few days to get home, which is very tiring to do. Now, they were walking very nervously since they knew that the most evil and worst person in Eutopia was the next person they were going to battle. They made themselves feel brave and they thought of good things so that they wouldn’t be really pressured about their next challenge. They entered the cave, and a hooded black figure appeared. When he saw them, he shrieked loudly. David and the rest got scared, but they didn’t want to quit yet. First, they put fifteen percent Puries to a bottle that labels “Carpet Fuel” they locked it so they would have enough Puries for a ride home. The Necromancer did its first move. It was a very bright flash. They were stunned and were not able to see for a while. As a follow-up move, the Necromancer did the move the other warlock did as he made Darwin faint again. Unlike the previous time, all his powers would be given to the Necromancer. The Necromancer’s screech meant that his power had been boosted due to Darwin’s fainting. The P.S. Gun or the Pury Shot Gun, a gun that they got from the shop was loaded with fifteen percent Puries. David and Debi got two guns and started attacking him. A strong shot by David caused the Necromancer to lose a huge amount of power and energy. Debi then tried to finish him off with a three percent pury shot and made him fall. The moment he fell, he started disintegrating for while but he stopped. After that Chris kicked him and he didn’t move. After that, all of them started kicking the Necromancer for fun because of the trouble he brought to them. They were about to leave, but they had a big problem. Darwin was still lying on the floor because of the Necromancer’s strong attack. Since they had a few more Puries since the fight against the Necromancer, they thought of them as “magic water”. They tried to use them to Darwin, but it failed to work. They just called an ambulance that brought Darwin to the hospital. They finally beat the Necromancer, saved the “majestic land” called Eutopia, and that was all that matters.