"Zann! Is that really you?"
Zann turned. A teenage girl he'd never seen before was rushing toward him, grinning widely.
"Uh-oh," Perda whispered. "It's another fan!"
"Perda!" the girl exclaimed. She noticed Zann's pet dragon sniffing at a beetle nearby.
"And Zing! Oh wow—it's an honor to meet you all!"
The girl rubbed her hands together. Flowers rained down on the street all around them.
"They're beautiful," Perda said politely, catching one of the blossoms. "Thank you."
The girl beamed. "No, thank you! You guys saved Magica!"
A few passing pedestrians stopped to see what was going on.
"Look, son," a man told a little boy. "It's Zann and Perda. They're heroes!"
Zann forced a smile as the little boy stared up at him.
It had been less than two days since the grand ceremony celebrating Morb's defeat.
But Zann and his friends were already getting used to attracting attention everywhere they went.
Still, Zann felt a little uncomfortable whenever someone called him a hero.
"We just did what we had to do," he mumbled.
Several people chuckled or clapped their hands to create puffs of colorful magic energy or pretty sparkles.
Zann wondered what his fans would think if they knew he sometimes still thought about Morb's offer.
Zann knew he'd done the right thing by refusing the offer—if he hadn't, Morb would now control Magica.
But Zann still couldn't help wondering . . . Did Morb really know where Zann's parents were?
By now a small crowd had gathered around Zann and Perda.
Thinking about Morb's offer had reminded Zann of today's errand.
"Excuse us," he said. "We have to get going."
"Of course, of course." An older woman beamed at him.
"I'm sure heroes like you have lots of important things to do."
Zann smiled weakly and then hurried off. Perda and Zing followed.
"Slow down!" Perda complained as they raced around a corner.
"Otherwise I'll have to use an Acceleration spell to keep up!"
"Sorry." Zann slowed his pace slightly. "But there's no time to waste.
Who knows how much longer we'll get to stay in First City?"
Perda made a face at the mention of leaving.
"We're lucky the king and queen asked Boz and Gliss' parents to stay for a few days.
Otherwise we'd already be back to our regular lives in boring old Swamp Bottom."
"Yeah." Zann was a little surprised by Perda's words.
Before their adventures had started, Perda seemed content to live in Swamp Bottom.
Zann was the one who had always complained about how boring the town was.
They passed a wall on which someone had scribbled "Voids are Magicians too!" in large letters.
Perda glanced at the graffiti. "Looks like the Void Rights group has been here," she commented.
"At least their messages are polite. Some of the ones from the new anti-Red groups are pretty rude."
Zann nodded, but he wasn't really listening. They'd just reached the university.
"My parents' old lab is this way," he told Perda.
A young woman looked up when they entered the building.
A nameplate on her desk said "Elbi."
"Oh! It's two of the young heroes!" she exclaimed.
Zing spurted out a small blast of flame.
Elbi yanked a potted melody plant out of the way just in time to keep it from getting singed.
"And the dragon." Elbi narrowed her eyes at Zing and frowned.
"Hi," Zann said. "My parents used to run this lab.
Their names are Nax and Asta. Did you know them?"
"Sorry, no." Elbi shrugged. "I've heard of them, of course, but I only started working here two years ago."
"Oh. Well, is Olpa around?"
"No. Olpa and the other senior researchers are all at some big meeting at the palace.
I'm not sure when they'll be back. Should I tell Olpa you were here?"
Zann was disappointed. "Are you sure there's nobody here who knew my parents?"
Elbi looked sympathetic. "Sorry. But listen, I have an idea.
Would you like to see their storage shelf?" She stood up.
"When your parents disappeared, someone put their things there for safekeeping."
"That would be great!" Zann felt a surge of hope.
Could there be clues to his parents' whereabouts on that shelf?
Elbi led the way through the lab.
Being back there after so long felt strange to Zann.
Many things looked the same, but others looked very different. Only a few people were in the main room.
A couple of university students were reading near the bookshelves.
A Void was cleaning a nibbler's cage.
A young researcher was studying a bubbling beaker and scribbling notes.
"Wow, this place is cool!" Perda whispered to Zann, looking around with wide eyes.
"It must be amazing to work here!"
"Yeah, I guess," said Zann, distracted.
He followed Elbi as she opened a closet door.
"It's the middle shelf in the back," Elbi said, rubbing her fingers together to create a light.
As soon as Zann saw the shelf, he was flooded with memories.
There was his mother's favorite hair clip. His father's lab coat.
Even a dragon-shaped paperweight that Zann had given his parents as a gift.
"What's this?" Perda picked up a large metal sculpture.
It was so blackened by fire that the edges were crumbling away.
"I don't know," Zann said. "I've never seen it before."
"It looks kind of like Teplo's pet sniffer goose, doesn't it?" Perda said.
Before Zann could answer, there was an enormous explosion from somewhere in the city.
The building shook, causing some books to fall from the bookshelf. Everyone shouted in surprise.
Zann froze, immediately thinking of Morb and the evil Void's final words: Magica hasn't seen the last of me!