*Oh, crap!*, Scott managed to not say it out loud. *What just happened?* Scott knew that the big dragon was supposed to lose Sepal, something that had already been found. But, why had the wizards left so quickly and where had Sepal gone? Also, why was he now standing instead of floating.
"Dad, where's my dragon?" Tober's question hung in the air, a small, plaintive sound against the backdrop of the receding, enormous dragon cloud.
Scott looked down at Tober, lost as to what to say. He say a smudge of some gunk on his pants leg.
*It was the same stuff he had poured on Sepal. Wait, had the wizards poured on themselves and brushed his paintleg with it? Why? They had gone to such length for him to find them and now they were gone. Gone or lost? Like the Sepal whom Tober had found in the back yard and they flight Scott had found through floer magic. All of it had been found and was now lost.*
"Buddy, they're all gone," Scott said, his voice heavy. "Those weird people and Sepal." *and my floating*
He watched the colossal dragon circle away, his mind racing to process the events. He breathed deeply, trying to regain his composure. *It made sense, logically. Mel would figure it out soon enough. She's sharp, but Tober's distress would slow her down. The spell, to lose what had been found, had worked. They and the giant dragon had all lost Sepal. They had protected Sepal from the giant dragob and lost her Sepal in the process.*
"Scott," Mel's voice was sharp, cutting through his thoughts. "We did this. The spell. We lost what we found! Sepal, the and the wizards.
She looked at him as she said this then noticed his feet on the ground depressing the grass.
"...and you lost the ability to float!"
"Dad, we lost Sepal!" Tober wailed, his small voice filled with despair.
Scott pulled a folded sheet of cardboard from his pockey, the original flower-part recipe. He looked at it, then at the empty space where the dragon had been. They'd found Sepal and the wizards, but he had bought the flower parts and recipes. The book, he was sure it was still in the house, was the key. He spun, disoriented. They'd lost Sepal, but was she really gone? Had the wizards taken her after they'd been "lost"? Would she leave Tober?
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"Honey," he asked Mel, his voice gentle, "do you think she's still here?"
"Mom, where's Sepal? Did she turn invisible?" Tober's question, though childish, held a desperate hope.
Scott began searching, his eyes scanning for clues. *Was this their chance? If they failed to find Sepal, would they return to the normal world, a world without dragons or magic? How do you find a lost dragon?*
"Honey," Mel's voice was urgent, "do you know how to find Sepal? Scott! Talk to me!"
"Dad, you do know how to find my dragon?" Tober's gaze was fixed on his father, a silent plea in his brown eyes.
Their frantic searching ceased, their gazes converging on Scott. He felt their intense scrutiny but remained focused on the dining room window and the edge of their refrigerator, his mind racing.
He turned to Mel and Tober, who was now nestled securely in his mother's embrace.
Scott reached out, rubbing Tober's back, his other arm encircling Mel. "I'm sorry, sport. I think she's gone."
Tober's head shot up from his mother's shoulder. "What do you mean? Sepal's here someplace. We gotta find her!"
Scott took a step back, raising his hands defensively. "We'll look, of course, but they're all gone." He spun, indicating the emptiness around them.
"Dad, you can find her. You still have the magic book." Tober's words held a glimmer of hope, a stubborn refusal to accept defeat.
Scott nodded. "I think so. I'll go check." He left Mel and Tober, their hugs a silent testament to their shared loss, and went inside.
*Going through the motions would give Tober time to adjust to Sepal's absence. There were hundreds, maybe thousands, of concoctions to find and translate. If promising, he'd have to collect the ingredients and experiment. It would be months, maybe a year, of effort. Tober could observe while he settled back into a normal life. A life without dragons, big or small.*
The book was on the basement couch. Things would have normalized faster if it wasn't, but this bought time. When he returned, Tober was quietly crying, comforted by Mel.
"The book was still there. Maybe there's something I can do," Scott offered, trying to sound optimistic.
Mel's eyes, still damp, narrowed. "Maybe?" Her voice was sharp. "What aren't you telling us?"
"What?" Scott feigned innocence, his heart pounding.
"Scott!" Mel's tone brooked no further evasion.
"Well... I don't know how to find the dragon... but we already have something that will cause her to come to us." He admitted, the words a reluctant confession.