“Child…” A soft voice stirred Micro from his sleep. He opened his eyes, and saw that not much time had passed. The sky he could see out the window was still a bright grey, and the sound of rain had grown heavier. He took a deep breath of the cool air, and then realized he needed to relieve himself.

  “Why do humans leak so frequently…?” he grumbled as he sleepily walked out of the shrine and did his business by a tree. “Terrible design…”

  After concluding his business by the tree, he felt ready to sleep a little bit more, and he returned to his place in front of the stone cat. It didn’t take him long to drift back into a peaceful slumber.

  “Child of man… What is it you desire…?”

  This time he awoke completely, sitting up with a grunt and looking around. The others were still fast asleep, but he felt another presence. His eyes darted all around the room, until two little yellow lights caught his eyes. The strange looking stone cat in front of him seemed to be shimmering, releasing a faint aura, and its eyes were glowing like tiny headlights.

  “What is your wish…?” the eerie voice continued, seeming to originate from the cat.

  “My wish?” he asked, keeping his voice down so as not to disturb his friends.

  “Your deepest desire…” the voice whispered.

  “If possible,” Micro whispered back. “I want to return to my world…”

  “You wha—Ah, I see…” It sounded like the voice stuttered for a moment, but it continued. “A noble quest… Which requires sacrifice… Much sacrifice…”

  “I’ll give anything to get back to my driver, and my old body…” Micro pleaded quietly.

  “Much sacrifice… Well alright then…” The voice from the cat grew heavier and its eyes glowed. “I will tell you the way… But you must part with the treasure you hold most dear…”

  “Treasure?” he asked.

  “Yes… you must let go of the material world to achieve your dreams…” the voice replied.

  “Umm, what do you mean by treasure?” he asked again.

  “What have you got?”

  “Oh.” Micro nodded, and he rummaged through his pockets. “I have some gold things… and some Core Cards.”

  “Oh, really?” The voice responded. “That’ll do.”

  “Okay,” Micro agreed, pulling out a handful of gold rings and coins that had once belonged to his clothing’s previous owner. He placed them gently on the small table, then added his Core Cards, being careful not to take out the two Core Cards which Blue had won from the dungeon on the table next to them.

  “Oh, nice. Yes, put everything on the table.” the voice quickened. It was beginning to sound anxious, but Micro was too excited to care. “Yes, right there. Now, I’ll tell you how to find what you seek…”

  “Yes, please!” Micro nodded happily.

  “Leave this old building and follow the setting sun for three days,” the voice explained quickly. “Then, pray to the tallest tree you can find for one week.”

  “Is that all?” Micro asked, barely able to contain his excitement. “That almost sounds too easy!”

  “Yes, that should give me enough time.” The statue’s eyes glowed brighter. “Now, hurry. Timing is everything!”

  “Thank you!” Micro bowed deeply. “Goodbye!”

  Leaving his gold and cards on the table, he quickly walked to the door. He glanced over his shoulder to take one last look at his new friends with a bittersweet smile, and he started walking. He felt like his awkward feet were moving by themselves, and the rainy morning felt as warm as a summer day. Halfway down the hill, however, he stumbled over a rock, landing face first on the crude path, his rusty armour sending out a terrible, rusty sound that echoed through the trees and the rain.

  “What the—” Blue stumbled out of his pocket once again. “Where are we? Huh? Where did the gold go? And the cards!”

  She hopped all over Micro in search of the items, but was unable to find them. Micro stood up and wiped the mud from his face.

  “I can’t wait to be on a real road again,” he replied. “I gave the cards and gold to the statue inside, and it told me how to get home! I just have to walk—”

  “You’re stupid even by human standards.” Blue shook her head.

  “Well, probably,” Micro replied. “But I’ll be a truck again soon anyways!”

  “I’m guessing the statue had glowing red eyes?”

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  “Yellow, actually.”

  “Oh for crying out loud…” she grumbled. Before she could go on, however, a loud crash could be heard from inside the shrine, followed by the frantic shouts of several cultivators.

  “There it is!”

  “Get it!”

  “It stole my headband!”

  “Where is it?!”

  “Something bit me!”

  “I can’t see!”

  Bright flashes of light accompanied a host of unpleasant sounds that shook the entire hill.

  “I wonder what they wished for…” Micro mumbled, still wearing a wide smile beneath the mud on his face.

  Yellow lights flew all around the shrine, sometimes visible through the windows. Wondering if Kel might be having some trouble, he decided to go back up the hill, running in the tall grass next to the path this time. He entered the shrine to find it in a state of utter chaos. The cultivators were running around the room, some with swords drawn, chasing after a little yellow light that zipped around the like sunlight bouncing off a swinging keychain. Micro waved, but even the cool headed Kel was scrambling over his comrade to try and catch the little light in his hand, only to fail and come crashing down on his backside.

  “This is just… You owe me, boy.” Blue frowned, then she clapped her tiny hands once.

  “Ow!” Micro, along with every cultivator scrambling about the shrine, suddenly cried out in pain and cupped their ears. Blue’s clap had sent an aura filled shockwave through the building that caused the entire shrine to sway. As dust settled on the immobilized group, a small voice whimpered.

  “Eek!”

  Micro shook his head, still feeling slightly dizzy, and saw that in the centre of the room, frozen in the air above the cultivators, there was a small yellow creature. Though it surprised Micro, he was confident he could identify it.

  “A pixie?” Micro blinked a few times and waited for the ringing in his ears to cease. “But it’s not blue.”

  “Of course it isn’t. There’s only one Blue in town, or they wouldn’t call me Blue, would they?” Blue punched Micro in the cheek from her place on his shoulder, causing him to smile at the ticklish sensation and scratch the side of his face. “Imagine how confusing it would get if I called every idiot an idiot! Oh, wait—”

  “Traitor!” the yellow pixie screamed, its body still suspended in the air as if frozen in time. Though it was frozen with its head turned away from Blue, it seemed to know what had happened to it. “Witch! Toad! Slime!”

  “Sorry, kid.” Blue rolled her eyes as the other pixie hurled insults at her. “I have my reasons. Come along now.”

  “Wait, that voice…” The yellow pixie’s voice trailed off, and Blue came into its line of sight. “Oh…”

  Blue waved her hand and the pixie began to move slowly through the air toward her.

  “You feeling bossy now?” it quipped at Blue. “Your timing stinks!”

  “Whatever, kid,” Blue said with a small shrug, still pulling the unhappy yellow creature toward her.

  “Are you here with your fairy friends—” the pixie said with a voice full of bitter sarcasm, but its small voice was interrupted.

  CRACK

  The yellow pixie was suddenly flung to the ground by an invisible force, landing in an awkward pile on the ground. The other cultivators could only watch the scene in complete confusion as Blue jumped off of Micro’s shoulder with her hand extended. A fierce, blue aura began pouring out of her. She walked toward the squirming pixie with heavy steps, her eyes glassy and her mouth shut.

  “I’m—I’m sorry…!” the pixie shouted. “I didn’t—”

  Blue picked the pixie up by its long ear with one hand and brought its face near to hers.

  “You done?” She asked with a smirk.

  The pixie only whimpered in reply.

  “You understand what fun is?” Blue asked with a harsher tone.

  “Yes, your maje—” Its reply was interrupted when Blue yanked its ear violently, bringing it closer still. “Yes, Blue.”

  “Act your age,” Blue said, releasing the yellow pixie’s ear.

  “Stupid…” the yellow pixie mumbled as its eyes grew heavy. “I get it…”

  “I’ll deal with you later,” Blue said as she looked around the room at the cultivators, one of whom was missing a headband. Before any of them could find a word to say, she suddenly reached her hand out and drove it straight into the pixie’s chest. Micro was shocked at first, but noticed it hadn’t actually been injured. It was as if she had reached into its pocket, though it looked painful at first. “There we go.”

  “That’s a cool trick—” Micro began, but he was shocked when Blue’s hand reappeared with something in it.

  “Here,” Blue said as she pulled a green headband, much bigger than either pixie, out of the yellow pixie’s pocket and threw it to Sung, who picked it up with a look of horror on his face. “Your business with this brat is concluded.”

  Blue then dragged the yellow pixie over to Micro.

  “Put this runt in your other pocket,” she ordered him. “We’ll deal with him later…”

  “Okay,” Micro replied. He knew by the look on her face that she wasn’t finished talking, but she abruptly finished speaking and stumbled forward into his boot. Her fiery temper suddenly dissipated, along with her oppressive aura.

  “Later…” she mumbled, then abruptly fainted on his foot.

  Micro picked up the yellow pixie, who had also since fainted, in one hand, and Blue in the other. He returned Blue to the pocket she normally resided in, and he put the yellow one in his breast pocket. Confirming that they were secure, he let out a long sigh and noticed six pairs of eyes staring at him like he was a monster.

  “Did he just put two pixies… In his pockets?” Den asked, pointing his shaking finger at Micro.

  “Boy, do you know what those things can do?” Kas asked him with a tiny voice.

  “They’ll steal everything, even your soul…” Sung mumbled in fear.

  “They’ll take your house next…” Kas added. “And leave you lost in the woods…!”

  “Nora already did that…” Micro shrugged, but he was surprised to see the profound silence that fell upon the panicking cultivators.

  “What in the world is happening?” Kel asked the room with wide eyes.

  Micro was still recovering from the disappointment of learning his trip home was a trick of some kind, but the thought of returning home had filled him with enough energy to continue his journey at once. As he wiped the remainder of the mud from his face, he addressed the cultivators.

  “Sometimes you can’t choose your passengers,” Micro said with a content smile. “But the destination remains the same.”