Chapter 2

The morning felt different after Emma visited Elysium. Emma moved through her routine with a sense of wonder, her mind buzzing with the vibrant memories of her creations coming to life.

She dressed quickly, grabbed a hurried breakfast, and headed out the door, her thoughts still on the magical world she had discovered.

At school, everything seemed normal.

The chatter of her classmates, the drone of teachers ' voices, the banging of lockers.

All of it was just annoying to her, she just wanted to go home and hide.

She couldn't wait to return to Elysium.

"Earth to Emma!" Lila's voice broke through her daydream.

Emma blinked, realizing she had been staring at Blankly at her open locker.

"Sorry, what?" Emma asked, shaking her head to clear the fog of her thoughts.

"I was asking if you finished the history assignment," Lila said, her brow furrowed in concern.

"You've been acting weird today." 

Emma forced a smile." Just didn't sleep well last night. And no, I haven't finished it yet."

Lila looked skeptical but let it go.

"Okay, but you know you can talk to me, right? If something's bothering you?" Lila said softly.

"Yeah, I know. Thanks, Lila," Emma replied, genuinely appreciating her friend's concern.

"I'll see you later, yeah?" Emma said while walking away before Lila could say anything.

All she wanted was to go home and be alone.

But she still has classes.

"Maybe if I leave now, Mom and Dad won't know right?" Emma asked herself before shaking her head.

"Just two more classes Emma, nothing serious," she said to herself.

But it was serious, way too serious.

Letting out a breath, she walked towards her next class.

"Staying won't kill me, I'll just leave when I'm done," Emma said to herself.

By the time the final bell rang, she was practically running out of the school building.

She barely acknowledged her parents when she got home, muttering a quick greeting before retreating to her bed, pulling out her sketchbook, and began drawing with renewed ideas.

Hours passed like minutes as she immersed herself In her artwork.

She sketched new characters, and new landscapes, all the while imagining what it would be like to interact with them in Elysium.

As the evening wrote on, her eyelids grew heavy, but she resisted sleep wanting to create just a little more before her next visit.

But during her drawings, she heard a knock on her door.

"Emma, can we talk?" Her mother's voice was soft but insistent.

Emma sighed, setting down her pencil.

"Yeah, Mom. What's up?" I asked softly 

"Emma, we're really concerned about you. Your teachers say you're not paying attention in class and your grades are suffering. What's going on?" 

Emma struggled to find the words.

How could she explain Elysium? How could she make her mother understand that she had found something far more meaningful than school?

"It's just... School feels so pointless," she said finally.

Her mother sighed, sitting down next to her 

"I understand that you might not like school, but your education is important.we just want what's best for you." She said,

Emma nodded, but her mind was already drifting back to her drawings, to Elysium.

"Okay, I'll try harder," she said, not entirely sure she meant it.

Her mother gave her a long, searching look before standing up.

"Alright. But remember, you can always talk to us."

As soon as her mother left, Emma turned towards her sketchbook.

She finished the phoenix and added it to the skies of Elysium, imagining how it would look soaring among the clouds.

She knew she had to find a way to balance her real life with her dream world, but for now, Elysium was all that mattered.

That night, she fell asleep with her sketchbook clutched to her chest, eager to return to her magical realm.

But as she drifted off, a thought nagged at the back of her mind: how long could she keep this up?

Before the real world demands h

er full attention?

And what would happen if she couldn't find her way back to Elysium?