Mika's P.O.V

Over the course of the day, several people had been saying they'd been seeing and hearing things questioning Shelby, questioning the FAE. However, they still managed to keep in mind what Elise had said on our trek back to base.

As I sat alone in one of the guest bedrooms, my mind wandered back to the reason Elise and I came in the first place.

Ethan.

I felt alone without him. I hated not hearing his laugh, seeing his smile, sharing memories with him. I hated being apart from him.

I needed another shoulder to lean on, the shoulder of the only real friend I knew I had here.

I found Elise in her guest room with a box of Capri-Suns and her signature ukulele. "Where did those Capri-Suns come from?" I asked, sitting on the bed.

Elise spun on the swivel chair she sat on. "I said I wanted Capri-Suns so Scott gave them to me," Elise shrugged. She grabbed her backpack from beside her and pulled it onto the desk. "Besides," she continued, unzipping the bag. "Who doesn't just take a box of the best drink on Earth with them on every adventure they go on?"

The biggest box of Capri-Sun pouches I'd ever seen was pulled from Elise's bag. I was surprised she managed to lift it; it was the size of the chair she sat on. Even more so, I was questioning how the heck the thing fit in her bag, and how she managed to get here with it literally sitting on her shoulders.

"How the..." I began, but I trailed off.

"C A P R I - S U N S ," Elise said, grabbing a pouch of the juice and sipping it.

"Why did you even ask if you had... well, had that ?"

"Because I wanted more."

"That's not enough for you?!" 

"No." Elise pulled a photo album from her bag. "This is full of pictures of Paul Blart."

"Mall Cop? Why?"

"Because the shrine didn't wanna come." She lugged out a huge card-board cutout. "Harry Styles is here too." She then proceeded to tip the bag upside-down, and loads of JoJo Bows came pouring out. "And these too."

I sat in utter shock. "What the heck?!" I exclaimed. "You got all of that in the bag?!"

"Yeah. I would've brought Sunshine but Eden didn't let me."

"What, you were going to put your DOG in the BAG?"

"No, I'm not a monster." Elise grabbed her signature ukulele and strummed it once. "I am a bag of trash though."

"No, you aren't." I sighed. "Look, Elise, I'm really desperate to find Ethan, and so far all we've done is discover we have magic."

Elise made ehe-contact with me. "You act like the fact that we have magical powers is nothing."

"Well when your boyfriend willingly makes his way into an evil association looking for power and his ex-girlfriend and you seek help from a bunch of teens who try to save the world, it's a bit little isn't it?"

"Nah, still not."

"I just really wanna find Ethan. We have magic, why don't we go?"

"That's a bad idea. We don't know how to use our powers and these guys know more about the EAPE than us."

"I know that, but—"

"Mika, this won't happen over night. They have an army of evil people. We just have a group of random immortal kids. If we wanna get Ethan back safely, we've gotta be careful and prepared." Elise stood. "Why don't we discuss this matter with everyone else?"

"Why did you sound so sophisticated then?"

"Dunno. Anyway um let's go uwu."

Elise and I approached the FAE members. "So... umm..." I mumbled.

"What's wrong?" Oli asked.

"Well, it's just that... Ethan's been gone for a while and I really miss him and I get that these hallucinations and Elise and I having powers is a big thing but we've done nothing about what Elise and I actually set out to do. And I know that there's a lot going on. But..."

"Mika..." Meghan frowned, coming and placing a hand on my shoulder. "The EAPE is a dangerous place. We need to be prepared."

I sighed. "You see, I've also been hearing voices. B-but not like everyone else. They're voices I don't know. They said that the EAPE has some dangerous plans. A-and... and a new leader..."

"Is it Ethan?" Shelby asked.

"How'd you guess?"

"Oh my God. Guys, we can't wait any longer. Ethan is one of the Purest Souls I know."

Oli chuckled. "Purest Soul," he whispered. No one paid any attention.

"Jack and I have both been in that position."

Jack nodded. "And it is HELL to come out of if you've been there for long enough. Mika, have you been told how long he's been there?"

I felt a cold touch on my shoulder. A soft breeze as an invisible head leaned into my ear, telling me with a soothing voice, "He has been Leader for approximately two months... only taking over from Shelby a few days after her departure." The small voice was shaky and paused after quite a few of the words.

I felt a chill run down my spine. But not from what I now knew to be a spirit. It was fear. "Two months... he took over from Shelby a few days after she left," I recited to the group. 

"That's it, let's go!" Shelby exclaimed. "The longer we wait, the more Ethan is going through torture."

"And a Soft Boi like him doesn't deserve such pain."

"Finally, something I agree with you on. Don't worry about packing, we'll figure things out on the way. Let's go."