Story Thieves by James Riley

made sense, since it was magic. Wait, did he know magic now too? He tried to think of a spell, but nothing sprang to mind. Apparently, his mind hadn’t been disguised into Kiel’s. Which wouldn’t have made sense anyway. Oh well, there was always the spell book.
    â€œCharm is just about here,” Nobody said, walking back toward the wall that they’d emerged from. He gestured, murmuring some spell-sounding words. The entire tower glowed, then magically changed to look a bit more disheveled, as if someone had gone on a rampage through it. “Dr. Verity would have torn apart this tower if you hadn’t interfered. Now, you as Kiel have arrived too late to save the Magister, so I’d suggest mourning when Charm arrives. She has the first six keys on her ship, but you’ll need to locate the Seventh Key before Dr. Verity’s armies of Science Soldiers destroy Magisteria. Finally, you’ll need to face down Dr. Verity to stop him once and for all by unlocking the Source of Magic.”
    â€œWait!” Owen shouted, shoving his wands back into their sheathes. “Dr. Verity was stuck in that same place I was, that blank place past the wall! What about him?”
    Nobody gave him a look. “I already brought him back wherehe was meant to go and wiped his memory of everything past the ending of the last book. The story must go on, even if that means setting villains free.” He turned to leave. “I can’t be present when the story starts. Charm is just about here, and that’s where this last book begins. Remember, you came back to find the Magister missing, and presumed dead. That’s all you know. The rest you’ll find out as the book continues along. Don’t mess this up, Kiel Gnomenfoot!”
    â€œI won’t!” Owen said. “I can’t believe this. This is the greatest moment of my life!”
    Nobody smiled. “Good luck, boy. You’ll be fine. How hard can it be to play the hero you always wanted to be, after all?”
    And with that, he disappeared into the same nothingness that Owen had just been trapped in.
    â€œI’m Kiel Gnomenfoot!” he said to nobody now. “Me! Kiel Gnomenfoot!”
    Alphonse, Kiel’s winged cat, looked up with an unbelieving expression, then began to aggressively lick his paw as his wings curled in around him.
    â€œNo one asked you,” Owen told the cat.
    Footsteps outside the destroyed door to the study broughthim back to his senses. Owen glanced around, then suddenly realized what he was supposed to be doing. He’d read these books a thousand times. If Kiel Gnomenfoot had just found out that the Magister had potentially died, or at the very least was missing, he’d be completely crushed . . . but trying to hide it as much as he could.
    Owen considered that for a moment, then fell to his knees, dropping his head into his hands. Only, instead of grieving, he was hiding a wide grin. This was so exciting! Kind of like acting, only this was playing a part in a story, instead of in a play or movie.
    â€œKiel?” said a girl’s voice.
    Don’t get excited. Just because this is one of the coolest things you’ve ever been a part of.
    Owen slowly lifted his head and glanced over his shoulder at the girl behind him wearing an all-black spacesuit, her right robotic arm and left robotic leg uncovered. Two ray guns were strapped to either side of her waist, and her human eye looked at him with pity. Her robotic eye, however, just looked at him like a robotic eye.
    â€œWe were too late, weren’t we?” said Charm, daughter of thenow-deceased president of Quanterium, science genius, and half-robot best friend of Kiel Gnomenfoot. She looked around awkwardly. “I’m, uh, sorry .”
    Right, Charm hated showing any kind of emotion ever since the loss of her parents! She never knew how to be nice to Kiel, and usually just yelled at him instead. Feelings made