Word (Writer's Club)

After a little further discussion, King Vine led the teens out to his courtyard to give them further instruction.

The courtyard was round and entirely made of white stone with tall white pillars surrounding it; vines and Botanican lilies grew around the pillars like ivy. It was in this circle that King Vine led the humans to stand, each one of them arms length apart. As for Kohl, he stood beside his father in silence, curious to see where this was going.

"Uh..." Alex looked around with confusion. "I thought there was more urgency to this mission. Why are we standing in a courtyard?"

Curtis would have nudged Alex if he was close enough, "Al, I'm sure King Vine has a reason."

King Vine chuckled at Alex's childish impatience, "I will be giving gifts to each one of you before I send you to the Kingdom Below. "

Alex's eyes lit up with excitement, "Gifts?? Like the ones Kohl and Kale have?"

"That's right." King Vine stood before the four of them with Kohl at his side. "Each of the abilities I give you will be special and unique to the mission I'm sending you on. It may take time getting used to them, but I want you all to promise me you will not use these for the wrong purposes. I am trusting you to use these abilities for good."

The four humans promptly swore an oath to only use whatever powers the King gave them for good, and in response, King Vine held his hands out to them.

Multicolored orbs of light appeared above each one of them, each glowing a different color. The orbs were in a sequence of green, blue, pink, and red over Alex, Curtis, Lana, and Penny's heads. The lights descended on the teenagers and absorbed into their chests in a very anticlimactic manner.

Each one of them looked around to see if anything had happened to them because none of them felt any different. If anything, they felt a brief sensation of warmth, and that was it.

Lana looked at King Vine, feeling confused about what the orb display was about, "What was that?"

"Those were your gifts." King Vine explained with joy. "Would you like to know what each of them are or would you like to find out for yourself?" It seemed that King Vine loved to teach and give, just like any good father would– watching them reactions even brought him joy.

"Uh, yeah!" Alex exclaimed, seeming rather anxious to know what he was given.

The King continued on grinning. "Alex, I've given you the gift of enhanced speed. I want you to use it to protect your friends and the most vulnerable, but be careful– you need to have self-control."

Alex's jaw hit the ground, "Seriously??? Speed? Out of all of the abilities, you chose speed?"

Curtis and Lana exchanged worried glances like they were also asking the same question with their facss. With an ability like speed, they knew the ability would make it harder for them to babysit some of Alex's more reckless tendencies. They wondered what King Vine was doing by giving Alex a gift like that.

"Seriously." King Vine answered Alex's question with an amused chuckle.

Alex proceeded to run around the courtyard at a high speed before ending back where he started."I'll do my best, King Vine!" He cheered with newfound enthusiasm for the journey ahead.

Curtis blinked at Alex in astonishment and then directed his attention back to the King expectantly. "What is my gift, your majesty?"

"You, Curtis," King Vine gestured to one of the pillars, "Try picking up one of those."

"You mean to say... I can...??" Curtis asked with nervous humility in his voice. "Like, really lift it?"

Instead of answering, King Vine once again hinted to the pillars with his eyes, his arms still gesturing to it like he was confident that Curtis could move them.

When Curtis hesitated, Lana walked over and gently pushed Curtis toward the large structures. "What are you waiting for! Go try it, I want to see!" She was surprisingly bossy, but Curtis could tell that she was only excited for him to use his ability and wanted to give him a confidence boost.

In response to Lana's encouragement, Curtis timidly walked over to the pillar like he was going in front of a class at school for a presentation. He gazed up at the massive structure before him and glanced back at King Vine like he was still unsure.

King Vine nodded to him.

With that, Curtis wrapped his arms around the pillar and attempted to lift it. Shockingly, the pillar lifted off the ground as if it were just a couple pounds, and Curtis staggered not because it was too heavy but because it was too easy! He steadied himself with a bewildered look on his face.

Lana cheered and clapped her hands like she was Curtis' cheerleader. "Wow!"

Alex joined in as well, "Look at you, Curt!"

As for Penny, she politely clapped with them.

Curtis sheepishly set the pillar down and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly in response to the praise. He was smiling but was also bashful as he returned to his spot in the courtyard.

"Curtis, I've given you this gift because you desire to protect those around you– that's a true leader." King Vine beamed. "A leader serves, he doesn't command people around for his own benefit. I know you will use your gift this way since you've been doing it long before you came here."

"Yes, Sir. I will do my best." Curtis answered bashfully.

King Vine turned his gaze to Lana, who was so excited for her childhood friend to receive his gift that she forgot she was given one as well. "Now, Lana, do you know what gift I've given you?" He asked.

Lana's smile softened. "Oh yeah... No, I don't know what gift you've given me... Honestly, I don't feel any different."

"I've given you the gift of healing, dear Lana, to match your words of encouragement you give so readily to others." King Vine said. "Over and over again, your words broke through to my son's hard heart and showed him the lies he was believing. Now, you will be able to heal wounds as well as hearts."

Lana gasped softly with her eyes slightly tearing up. "Thank you for the honor, King Vine." She politely curtsied.

Finally, King Vine looked to Penny, who had been standing there very anxiously like she was uncomfortable. Since it was her first time there, Penny was a little more timid than usual, worried that she might mess up a good first impression.

Sensing this, King Vine approached her and knelt down to her height. "Is something worrying you?"

"Mr. King Vine... I'm... I'm afraid of what you might have given me." Penny said, appearing slightly intimidated despite King Vine's openly gentle demeanor. "What if I mess something up?"

King Vine gently rested his strong hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes, "Don't afraid, Penny. This gift of precognition is to protect you and your friends on your journey."

"'Precognition'?" Alex asked, having never heard that word before. "What's that?"

The King glanced at Alex, "She will be able to see into the future but only a few seconds when danger is approaching."

"'Only a few seconds?'" Alex scrunched his face in confusion.

"It's more helpful than you would think." King Vine looked back at Penny, "I know you've got a leader inside you as well, Penelope. Don't be afraid to warn your friends of danger even when you don't understand what's going on."

"I'll try my best, Sir." Penny replied, sounding unsure of herself. In the human world, she was confident of her abilities, but now that she was somewhere she had never been before, Penny was out of her element. "I think... I think I can do it."

King Vine smiled reassuringly at Penny and stood up as he removed his hand from her shoulder. He walked back to the center and faced them once more. "Are you all ready to go?"

"One more thing, King Vine..." Lana interjected, "Won't they find us weird to look at? We aren't exactly... Green or purple like all of you." She pointed at her arm as a reference for skin tone.

"Very well. When I transport you there, you will look like the people of this world. Is there anything else?" King Vine asked, sensing there was one more question to be answered.

Penny chuckled nervously, "Sir, I need to be home by 4:30pm, and I know you said you'd get me home on time, but... Will I be able to go when it's time?"

King Vine nodded to confirm he would keep his promise, "When the time is drawing near, I can transport you home." He looked at the four before him and grinned, "I know you'll do well, but remember this: I am with all of you just like I am with Kale. Now, off you–"

"WAAAAAIT!" Alex suddenly screamed with a terrifying realization that caused everyone to stand frozen like they were paralyzed. He ran at King Vine with his phone in hand above his head. The King stared at him with shock.

"Please, hold onto this!" Alex slapped the phone into King Vine's hands and explained, "Penny's father is calling soon to check in on us, and I promised you would talk to him!"

King Vine blinked a couple of times and looked down at the phone, which looked much smaller in his large hands, and looked back at Alex with a soft laugh. "Alright, Alex. I'll talk to him."

Alex breathed a sigh of relief and joined his friends once more, Penny now staring at him with wide eyes.

"We almost forgot." Penny muttered in horror.

King Vine chuckled. "I'll see you all very soon." He said as he teleported all of the humans to the exact places he needed them to be in the Land Below.