BEN BRIAR

I said, "Valery."

"Ben. Jennifer. Molly. What are you doing down here?"

"What are you doing down here?" I asked him.

"Ben, don't start this," Jennifer berated. "You said you would do your best to make amends."

"Yeah, sorry Jen. We're going home."

"How exactly is jumping into a volcano a chance at -"

"Hey asshole, can you turn me back into an adult?" Molly asked.

"Yeah sure," Valery said. He then realised taking off the helmet would be letting water invade his suit. He forgot that I had the solution to that. I didn't need to use my hands to compel the water anymore.

A bowl of clearance swirled around his head. He nodded to me in appreciation before opening his helmet for a split second and letting a bubble drift in Molly's direction. I followed the bubble with my separation of water until it enveloped her.

Then the ultimate pearl received my attention again as we watched Molly morph into an adult, the Iko suit changing sizes to keep up. When the transformation was done, Molly jumped up in joy.

"Oh how I've missed this lovable body!"

"By the way, Molly, how did my bubble powers wear off? I mean, when we were at that pharmacy, you were speaking again. With the voice of an adult and you were most certainly not loyal to me - you had saved Earl from the bubble."

"I don't know," Molly admitted. "I guess I connected Earl as my son, and it kinda just wore off. The power of family is stronger than you think." I missed my father as well, but it was no use crying about the past. I need only cry for the future.

"Also - also, if Ben and Jen were found in the only iceberg in the world, where did you come from?"

"Oh, I defrosted from an ice cube, floating in the water. I'm guessing this is how Earl and Val got here as well. And I'm guessing no one ever gave a second glance at an ice cube."

I turned back to Valery's half-asked question.

"You know how we had to be frozen to get to this world?"

"Yeah."

"I was wondering how to get back - and it hit me. Heat will bring us back. The most extreme heat found in this world is this volcano."

"But, how do you know for sure you won't just burn up?"

"I don't. It's a shot in the dark. I might not have these powers when I get to the other side. It's rough, I know. But we don't belong here. Even Jennifer's gaining some newfound abilities."

At this, Jennifer switches the current of the water to push Valery further away from us. I put my hand on her shoulder as a sign to stop.

"So I guess this is goodbye, Valery Koningsbrugge," I said.

"I'm sorry about your father. Maybe he was a good man."

"Don't worry about it. He might have had nothing in his soul after being stuck here for so long. I'm sorry about your doppelganger."

"I didn't know him too well."

"You wouldn't have wanted to. He was as greedy as a pig."

"Oh. Wait, what is a pig?" I chuckled at his otherworldly knowledge and left our goodbye on that note. The girls waved at him as we turned to the volcano. Magma lay at the bottom and we jumped in at the same time.

                                                                    ...

As my flesh beneath the suit cooked, I searched the river of orange-red for the girls. I saw the outline of their bodies writhing in the lava, but there was another figure that had jumped in with us. And I realised that I should have told him the definition of a pig. Or at least roast pork for that would have given him an understanding of what heat was.

The radiance of the burning molten rock led way to this entrancing vision. And it was of my condo by the beach, keeping in mind that I was to return to its moderate temperature sooner rather than later.