Chapter 11: DTCA leading them astray

Julia had a dream that someone whispered to her to find the truth of the DTCA.

Soon, Julia turned the pages of her guidebook to see if there was a spell that allowed her to see what the DTCA actually is. However, there was no spell to gain insight. It was the middle of the day and the guidebook was resting on her lap as she sat on the wooden bench. Julia looked at the sky but her vision was obscured by the branches of a tree that had almost no leaves, and the bark was peeling off.

“Hi, what brings you here?” said Cole

“Oh hello, sit down,” said Julia

Cole sat down and turned to face Julia.

“I miss you,” he said

Julia turned her head to face Cole.

“But I’m right here,” said Julia

“Yeah… so what are you doing? Studying?”

He smiled and patted her head. He was wearing a shirt with sweater vest and corduroy trousers. Julia was wearing a long-sleeved black sweater with white stripes on the sleeves.

She said, “I’m trying to find out about the DTCA.”

Cole’s tone changed as he said, “What? Why? That’s dangerous.”

Julia began to tremble as Cole’s eyes grew watery. She never expected him to behave in this manner. He turned away and looked at the ground.

“I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to frighten you.”

He ran his fingers through his hair.

“It’s okay, Cole.”

He looked at her again, with a frown and low eyebrows. Julia faked a smile.

“You’re right, you need to know,” said Cole

Cole rose and offered her his hand. Julia got up with his help. She stuffed the guidebook into the satchel.

Cole said, “Come with me, I’ll show you the DTCA. Hold my hand, and prepare your wand with your other hand. We will do a restricted spell.”

Julia gasped. She didn’t want to have a bad track record.

“Relax, you’re acting like it’s a prohibited spell.”

Julia took her wand out of the satchel that she was carrying. She held Cole’s hand using her free hand. He whispered a few words that she couldn’t comprehend.

There was music in the air that sounded like chimes. A ring of purple light appeared on the ground, circling them. The ring formed into a column of light, and Julia had to shut her eyes. She didn’t know what to do and when she opened her eyes, there was a dark room, with a door open just a little bit. Cole ran across the door while holding Julia’s hand. She almost tripped over the steps leading to the door, which she just noticed now.

There lay a world with a dark sky, and thousands of white lights within bubbles. In the centre, there was a tree the size of a small mountain whose leaves kept falling and transforming into the bubbles of light. Julia looked up, and the tree never seemed to end, it surpassed the clouds. They were standing at the edge of the ground, and the tree was planted within a valley. If anyone were to fall, there would be no chance of survival. Every time Julia tried to find the base of the tree, she shuddered.

She reached her hand out and touched a bubble of light. She saw her reflection on it. The bubble burst and a ball of hot light almost scorched her skin, so she dropped it.

“Don’t worry, it’s harmless,” said Cole

“I doubt that,” said Julia

She almost burned her hand, and it made her trust decrease.

All of a sudden, a black circle appeared on the ground, followed by an inner red circle.

“Let’s get out of here,” said Cole

He ran away from the circle. However, Julia couldn’t step out of the circle fast enough. There was the sound of drums coming from afar. Julia couldn’t move. She watched as Cole cast a spell.

“Neutral transfer!” said Cole

The circles shattered.

“Quick, get out of here! I’ll come back soon,” said Cole

The broken pieces of the circles formed around Cole.

“I’m not going without you,” said Julia

Cole froze. A series of grey, white, black and red shadow-like people came forward from the tree and dragged Julia and stationary Cole.

Julia thought she must do something. They got a strong grip on her arms. They were about to take her wand away. It was the time to construct a spell.

“Goodbye to the shadows that bind me, send them off to the tree.”

The shadows got erased, and they let her go. She was falling, and she thought it would be the end of her.

“Broom of my spirit!” said Julia

She hung onto her broom with one arm and somehow navigated out.

“Cole? Unbind Cole from the shadow realm…”

And all of a sudden, her wand stopped having light within it. The magic sparks vanished. Julia landed on the ground.

“Oh, no! How did I lose my magic?” she thought

She turned to face the tree. Cole was tied to the tree, and his eyes were closed, and he was breathing. Then, a huge crowd of shadows was coming towards her. Julia knew that if she stayed there without magic, she would be killed by the stampede. She had no choice but to run out of the world and try to leave through the door. She ran out and the door slammed itself shut and a lock appeared out of nowhere, and locked the door.

She promised she would come back to try and save him. A purple light circled her again, and the light engulfed her until she opened her eyes, and appeared in the university world again. She kept fidgeting and walking back and forth with her arms behind her back.

“Hi Julia, what’s up?” said Sunny

“Sunny, something’s wrong! Cole is captured in the DTCA world,” said Julia

Sunny covered her mouth and gasped.

“We should let the authorities know about this. And tell Silvio,” said Sunny

Julia nodded. She hid her face while shedding a tear.

“Aww Julia, don’t cry. Everything will be fine,” said Sunny

Upon hearing this, Julia began to cry louder. Sunny gave her a hug and said she must let the authorities know. She left but she gave Julia a tissue before leaving. Julia hoped that nothing bad will happen to him.

She dialed Silvio’s number and called. She told him the whole situation while struggling to hold back her tears. Silvio said that they’ll figure something out, and that there was no need to cry. Julia let out a deep sigh, and felt a knot in her throat.

The next day, she couldn’t wake up while the alarm sounded. She got up in a half-asleep state and fell asleep in class.