"Justin," a strong commanding voice called out from the darkness. "Justin, get up. You must be strong."

Justin didn't want to leave the darkness. It felt warm.

"Sometimes it's easier to let go and fade into the darkness, I know. But you were meant to live in the light, even when it's hard. Open your eyes."

Justin opened their eyes. Yellow eyes peered down at them from a blue face. A blue hand appeared.

"Take my hand, Justin."

Justin reached out and grabbed the blue hand which pulled them to their feet. Kali stood proudly before them clutching the Jade dagger. She pointed behind Justin to where Simon lay on the ground, still a beast. Every couple of seconds he twitched as yellow light pulsed through him. At Simon's side sat Nitara, tears in her eyes.

"Justin, he's dying," she said.

"Take your brother and Nitara away from here," said Kali. "Don't look back. I will deal with him." She gestured with her chin to the side.

Naldo sat on the ground beneath the low branches of the eucalyptus, his hands clutching his shoulder dripping with blood. His pale face gazed into a distant memory.

"Gregor, I am sorry," he whispered.

"What are you going to do?" asked Justin.

Kali smiled, her yellow predatory eyes locking on her prey.

Justin quickly turned away and ran to Nitara and their brother.

"Can you fly me and Simon?" they asked.

Through her tears, Nitara nodded. She reached a hand out to Justin and they took it. She placed her other hand on Simon's back. Simon did not open his eyes as they slowly rose in the air. His body continued to twitch as light flashed throughout his body.

Justin stared intently at their brother, willing him to hold on, to fight just a little longer.

They rose barely above the trees before Nitara flew towards the castle. Sweat beaded on her brow, and her face strained as if she carried something extremely heavy.

The storm dissipated completely. To their left, the Pacific Ocean stretched out to the horizon as a mighty kingdom strong and seemingly impenetrable.

"That is how we first came to our forest," the young pirate said to his captain. "On a pirate ship from across the ocean. Do you remember? And an evil wizard still lived here in the forest? I defeated that wizard for you and now I am the wizard of the forest. I want to share it with you."

Simon's head jerked violently, yellow light flashing across his forehead. Still, his eyes did not open.

"Justin, look!" exclaimed Nitara, pointing to the ground.

Below them, hundreds of people raced down the hundreds of roads in the neighborhood. They swarmed the streets like ants. Some tried to open doors into the houses, some fought one another, while others searched, tracking for something they hadn't found yet. A few raced up Star Boulevard, making their way up to the castle.

"Hurry," urged Justin. "Get to the castle."

Nitara nodded, knitting her eyebrows tight together. They picked up speed but then Simon sank in the air. He sank slowly at first but the farther he fell from Nitara the faster he went.

"No!" Justin shouted. Clutching Nitara's hand, they yanked her into a dive.

"Justin, stop!" yelled Nitara. "I won't be able to stop us. I am drained!"

They continued to dive. Justin watched in horror as Simon slammed into the bamboo of the maze and rolled across the ground. Nitara attempted to fly up in the opposite direction Justin wanted to go. She pulled so hard on their arm it felt as if she would pull it from its socket.

She did slow their descent slightly, but as Justin hit the first bamboo sticks, Nitara lost her grip on their hand and tumbled head over feet. Bamboo exploded around them, cutting into their face and arms. Justin slammed into something solid stopping their forward movement. Their ears rang and they felt dizzy.

Suddenly, a jolt of electricity coursed through their back causing them to roll away from the solid mass.

Turning, Justin realized it was Simon. Their breath caught as they took in the unnatural position their brother lay in. He lay on his stomach with his back two legs splayed out at ninety-degree angles. His head twisted up to the sky, his jaw hanging loosely open. His right front paw hung in the air, twitching as yellow light shot through it.

Justin crawled back to their brother.

"S..s.. Simon," they whispered. They reached one hand out and touched his twitching paw. Electricity snapped at their fingers but they held on. "I am here."

"Justin," said Nitara from behind him, "we have to go. The trackers are almost here."

Justin shook their head. "I am not leaving my brother."

A hand grabbed Justin's shoulder but it quickly pulled away as yellow light shot through them.

"Justin!" Nitara begged. "You must let go. The electricity is hurting you! I can't fly you away."

"You didn't get shocked when you flew him before."

"I...I don't know, maybe my magic protected me, but I am drained. Let go. I think I can still fly both of us up to the castle. Please! Help!" She shouted out. "Help us please!"

Erla, Li Jing, Eleu, and Niraj peered down at them from the hole in the Great Hall.

"We don't know how to get down," said Eleu. "We can't find a way out!"

"Hello," said a deep unfamiliar voice.

Nitara gasped, her eyes darting past Justin and Simon.

"I am here," Justin whispered again.

"Justin let go," said Nitara in a firm but frightened voice.

Justin twitched from the electricity that coursed through their entire body. They thought they could smell the slight tinge of burnt flesh. Luckily they felt no real pain. That had vanished pretty quickly. But they realized they could no longer let go even if they wanted to. Through gritted teeth, they forced out a few words.

"I can't. I have looked so long. I won't lose him."

"He wouldn't have wanted this."

"Don't fight and it won't be painful," said the unfamiliar voice, and Justin heard the click of something being loaded.

"Nitara!" screamed Niraj. "Fly away!"

As if his words gave her a final burst of energy, Nitara shot into the air. Justin watched as she flew away from them to the little safety the castle had to offer.

There was a soft chuckle above Justin. "This is too easy."

They couldn't look up at the tracker. They were too far gone. Their vision faded at the edges. Deep within them, something stirred. Something that if released would take Justin under and they knew at that moment there was no resurfacing again. It was this that broke what little was left of their heart. Simon was never coming back. A deep rumble shook within. It wanted to burst free and burn the tracker with the fire in their gut. They wanted to soar away from here and never return. Justin smiled at the beautiful beast they saw in the darkness. Unlike Simon's beast who was a rage of a storm, there's burned with fire and wanted to fly faster than even Nitara could.

But then, a shining light pierced through the darkness blinding Justin. Their beast growled and retreated from the light. It dove so deep that Justin could no longer feel its presence. Something yanked them back to the surface. They gasped for air, taking in deep gulps of it. Their vision returned and the first thing they saw was a figure standing over them.

The figure had its hand on Simon and they flashed with sparks of electricity. Justin realized they no longer felt the jolts of electricity coursing through their own body.

The figure materialized into Bastian. He still wore the red Captain Hook jacket, making him appear large and fearsome.

"I have found a gold mine," said the gruff strange voice. "How many of there are you?"

"You have found a field mine," said Bastian. He squeezed his right hand into a fist and it crackled with electricity.

Justin painfully pulled himself to his feet. Beyond Bastian and Simon stood a large man with long white hair braided down his back. He wore ripped blue jeans and only a leather vest. Underneath the vest tattoos covered his tan leathery skin. The man held a leather lasso that shimmered with red rubies embedded in the leather.

The man spun the lasso in the air, making the air around him glow red and spin upwards like a tornado. A maniacal grin spread across the man's face.

Bastian unclenched his hand and a bolt of electricity shot from his chest, hitting the man's hand that held the lasso. The man cursed, dropping the lasso. The red wind disappeared.

"I think I will just kill you," snarled the man.

Another jolt of lightning shot from Carlos' chest and this time it hit the man in the stomach, knocking him onto his back. His eyes closed and he did not move.

Bastian glanced at Justin. "Glad I wanted to run away now?"

Justin smiled but it vanished quickly as they looked down to find their brother had disappeared. Black fog swirled up the side of the castle wall and through the hole into the Great Hall.

"Simon!" Justin shouted.

"You killed Johnny!" a high-pitched voice yelled out. An older heavyset woman stood over the man's body. She bent down and picked up the lasso. Bastian clenched his fist.

"Go," he said, "find a way to protect the castle."

"Thank you," said Justin, and they turned and raced after the black fog.

When they reached the castle wall, they looked up and shouted, "Nitara!"

Immediately, Nitara dove out of the hole above. Justin reached his hand out. She grabbed it and yanked them into the air. They flew quickly through the hole into the Great Hall which was empty of people or beasts.

"Where is everyone?"

"They followed Simon into the theater," replied Nitara and she flew them onwards through the exploded wooden doors and into the Globe Theater.

The scene that greeted Justin would be seared in their memory forever.

In the center of the stage under a single spotlight lay Simon... No, not my brother, Justin thought, only a magical creature.

Niraj, Itai, Erla, Li Jing, Eleu, Niccolo, and Legolas holding Thunderbolt stood in front of the first row of seats looking up at the creature. They all had slumped shoulders and somber faces as if they were honoring the dead.

Nitara brought Justin down in the aisle ten rows back from the stage. Justin thought the creature looked peaceful as if it were only sleeping. Walking closer, they realized that its sides still expanded and contracted. At the first row, Nitara stopped and joined her brother but Justin continued to the stage. As they stepped up to it, black fog seeped from the creature's open mouth, winding its way up to the crystal heart. One crystal vein broke free from the others and met the fog in mid-air. Once the vein touched the fog it was like a vacuum sucking it out of the air. The fog traveled through the vein to the heart.

Justin pulled themselves onto the stage and approached the creature. One large yellow eye opened and watched Justin as they knelt down beside it. The creature did not flinch or move as Justin reached out and grabbed its paw.

"I am here," Justin whispered.

They looked back up at the heart. The crystal veins re-knitted themselves back together in the spots that were still charred and broken. More veins filled with black fog and reached out in all directions, winding themselves through the catwalk, disappearing in small holes in the theater walls. Some even wound their way down to the stage, disappearing in holes on the side of the stage.

More and more of the fog left the creature until Justin noticed that the creature's snout was slowly evaporating, joining the trail of fog up to the crystal. Justin squeezed the creature's paw tighter.

"I am here," Justin managed to whisper through his tears and running nose.

But then they broke down and put their forehead to the creature's paw. "Please. Please don't go. I need my brother. Please! Please, Simon, I am not brave without you. I can't do this!"

The paw squeezed his hand back. Justin froze.

"You are the bravest wizard I have ever seen. No longer a little pirate I see."

That voice. It made Justin feel as if they were a little pirate back in the pine forest. They looked at their hand, another very familiar hand held theirs.

They choked on their words and ended up in a coughing fit. Another hand patted their back.

"It's okay."

Justin lifted their head and looked their brother in the eyes. Those wide, soft yet intense brown eyes. The eyes that Justin always thought contained the world. Together, eyes still locked on one another and hands still clasped, they rose to their feet. Justin was surprised to realize that they were now a foot taller than their brother.

"Simon," they said.

"Justin," said Simon, grinning.

He squeezed Justin's hand again. "I promised you we would have an adventure together. India! Wasn't it amazing?"

Justin smiled and nodded. He looked down and realized that Simon's feet were still massive wolf paws and they were still slowly dissolving into fog.

They frowned. "Simon, what happened?"

"I don't think there is time for the whole story but when I discovered my magic I was afraid. I ran to the forest and stumbled upon the castle and Naldo. He made me feel safe and helped me learn my abilities. He convinced me to be his apprentice and stay. He told me there were evil people in the world and if I tried to contact mom and dad those people would hurt them, would hurt you. So I didn't come home. But I wrote you that letter telling you I was alive."

"We never got that letter," said Justin. "I found it in the castle. We never stopped looking for you."

Simon sighed. "I am so sorry. I wondered because I had hoped for a reply but it never came. I assumed that you had all moved on."

Justin shook his head. "Never."

"With my magic, I can draw things and make them come alive. With my love for the world, Naldo realized I might be able to make portals to other wizards. With the help of the castle's magic, I created the neighborhood outside the castle. But we found that we couldn't open any of the doors. With each new house that we couldn't open, Naldo became increasingly upset. He would yell that the magic in the castle was drying up. That wizards were needed to protect him from the magicians. I think now he was hiding from someone powerful. But at the time I thought we needed to protect the children from magicians. Which was true. Naldo convinced me to give some of my magic to the castle to open doors to the houses. He rigged the crystal to me as he did with the Jack-in-the-box. He said it would force the doors open. He attached a crystal vein to my arm and it immediately began to suck my magic out. It was painful. It felt like when a Band-Aid is pulled quickly from your skin but all over your body, over and over again. It was awful. I could feel my entire life force being sucked away and I could feel myself retreating deeper and deeper within. As I did, I began to hear the deep rumblings of the creature. When I finally let go completely, the creature stepped out to protect me. One last resort. I felt myself become the creature, bones elongating, muscles thickening, and teeth sharpening. I was so angry that I wielded lightning to strike the castle. It caused part of the heart to explode and I ran. I was all emotion, all anger, all pain, and all sadness. I can remember it all but I had no control. There was nothing left of me, Simon was completely gone. Until I saw you in that tree. I recognized you. I didn't know who you were but I knew you were important. I didn't want to scare you and the moment I thought that, I became invisible. I followed you through the door into India. When I looked out that window into that strange new world, I knew this was my chance to escape, to be free of the castle and that awful man. I was going to leave but then I saw that boy was in danger. I had to help and..."

Simon stopped talking midsentence, taking in a deep breath. His breathing sounded hoarse and strained.

Justin squeezed Simon's hand, relishing the feel of his brother's real skin against their own.

"It's okay," said Justin. "I know the rest of the story. You have to be exhausted after everything."

Simon nodded. "I could sleep forever."

"Mom and dad, they are going to be so happy. When they see their son return home, I know they will be filled with joy."

Justin pulled on Simon's arm and stepped to the front of the stage. "Let's go now. I bet Nitara will take us."

But Simon did not move. Justin turned to look at him. His eyes glistened and Justin noticed that his entire body glowed with golden light. At the top of Simon's head, the light streamed up and into the crystal vein.

"Wait," said Justin, "when you said there wasn't time for the whole story, you meant..."

They trailed off and Simon nodded, tears streaking down his cheeks.

"I would give anything to have more adventures with you Justin. To grow together. But I can't. I am so tired. I give you a gift instead. As long as you are within the borders of this land and the pine forest, you will be safe. I will protect you."

The tips of Simon's brown curly hair disintegrated into yellow light.

Justin rushed forward and grabbed onto Simon, trying to keep him there. "But you can't go, I need you. You don't even know who I am now."

Simon laughed. "Then tell me."

Justin's heart fluttered and they paused. Who were they? Could they say it out loud? They looked out past the stage at the watching faces, many wet with tears. Could they say it to them? They looked back at their brother. His forehead was beginning to fade. "I... I don't know completely."

Simon laughed again. "You're twelve, you shouldn't know completely."

"I am a wizard. I can open doors to faraway places. I love dressing up. I design costumes. When I dress up in beautiful clothing I feel... I feel more whole, closer to myself, but I am not a woman." They paused, taking in a deep breath. "I am not a man either. I am Justin and I am a wizard."

A frown crossed Simon's face and Justin's heartbeat sped up. They worried they said too much. Given too much of themselves away. They waited for the disgust and disappointment and adverted their eyes.

"You are going to become someone magnificent and I'm going to miss it," his brother whispered.

Justin looked back up at their brother. Simon reached out, placing both his hands on Justin's cheeks.

"Thank you so much for sharing who you are with me. I am honored."

Simon leaned forward and kissed Justin on the forehead.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you," said Justin.

As if given permission to let go, the rest of Simon's body dissolved into golden light. The last part of him to fade was his face and he smiled at Justin as he was pulled upward and into the crystal vein.

Justin fell to their knees. They wanted to curl up into a ball and cry, but then a loud boom outside shook the castle.

Justin shot to their feet. "Simon?"

"It came from outside," said Niraj, running up the aisle. Everyone followed, including Justin who jumped from the stage.

Itai raced up to Justin. Grabbing their hand, he pulled them to the hole in the wall. He pointed to the neighborhood. "Look! Look!"

Justin followed Itai's hand. Black fog streaked down one of the streets. In front of the fog ran four adults.

Shouts echoed up to the castle. They came from Star Boulevard where eight trackers were being trailed by black fog. Justin squinted. They thought they could just make out the outline of a creature with a long snout and sharp fangs in the fog. For the first time in a long time, Justin relaxed.

"It's my brother," they said. "It's Simon. He is protecting us."