A team

Curtis's hope was that by the time that they reached Caligo, the mist had to have cleared a little, and if not, they would journey on.

"Curtis, I have a question" said Annie as Curtis turned looked at her.

"Go on" he said.

"How long do you think we will be on Mount Caligo for?" asked Annie.

"Are you referring to how long it would take for us to reach the mountain top, or for us to return?" asked Curtis.

"Both" replied Annie as Maddie and Matt both had the same question on their mind, just how long would this journey take, it possibly will not take them a week, they knew that, and they hadn't even seen his mountain at all before, all they did was get up, and follow Curtis with his hopeful but uncertain plan.

"For us to reach the mountain top, it would take three months, that is an estimate" said Curtis plainly.

"Three months!!??" asked Maddie as she almost shouted out loud, and Annie could not blame here, three months?? That was too much, three months was three months, that was 90 days, 90 days that they would be away from everyone.

"Yes Three months" said Curtis.

"Curtis you can't be serious… are you sure?" asked Mat as three months was something too much, it was too much time for them to go away.

"By my calculations, three months is the most realistic time for us to reach the top of the Mountain" said Curtis.

"The journey to the top of the mountain is very treacherous, and you never know what to expect" said Curtis.

"So if you say it will take us three months to get up there, then to come back down, logically, it would take us another three months right?" asked Maddie.

"Yes, logically" replied Curtis.

"Sweet, relief, Curtis, don't you think that you should have told us this earlier?" asked Maddie as she sighed.

"We will be up there for 6 months??? 6 months?? Gosh Curtis" said Maddie as she was just tired, 6 months was no joke for them to be up there, to find some fabled eternal waters, that may or may not be able to restore Annie's powers, to Maddie this was just too much of a risk, but they were already on their way, and Annie was very desperate, so there was nothing that she could say right now, she did not want to make Annie loose hope.

"Curtis Maddie is right, I don't think we can be up there for 6 months" said Matt as he shook his head.

"I have to agree with them Curtis, you should have told us from the start, 6 months… that's half of the year… Curtis I don't really like the idea of being up a mountain for 6 months" said Annie.

"*Sigh* Look Annie, I am sorry that I did not tell you, but would you agree to go if you knew that we would be up there for 6 months?" asked Curtis as he looked at Annie and she shook her head.

"I know that I was wrong for not telling you, but I have my reasons, I always do" said Curtis as Annie went quiet, she did trust Curtis, she did, but sometimes, he was too much, too secretive, she wanted to know what was going on in his mind, but she could not.

"I know you have your reasons Curtis, but at least try to carry us along… I mean we are a team… aren't we?" asked Annie as she looked at Curtis as he did not reply at all.

Were they a team?? He doubted that, he was the one who took care of everything, but he could not say that.

"You don't think that we are a team don't you?" asked Annie as Maddie and Matt remained quiet, they decided that it would be better for them to stay out of this, this was between Curtis and Annie.

"It's going to be a long ride Annie, I suggest that you get some rest" said Curtis as he avoided her question, he did not want to make her upset, especially when she was in this state.

"Fine Curtis fine, if you want to be like that, fine" said Annie as she looked out the window, she hated it when Curtis got like this, he wanted to carry everything on his own, when they could help him.

"Annie don't…." said Curtis as he sighed but Annie ignored him, now he knew that It was going to be a long ride to mount Caligo, he did not like it when Annie was upset with him, but he had his reasons.

"Annie… are you alright?" asked Maddie as she held Annie's hand as Annie didn't say anything, she just wanted to be alone right now, she didn't want to talk to anyone.

"I think it's bet that we leave her alone for now" said Matt as he mind linked Maddie.

"I think you are right" said Maddie as she sighed.

"Curtis is being unfair to her and to us" said Maddie.

"We already know how he is Maddie, but for now, Annie really isn't in the best frame of mind to be upset, it's not good for her, so it would be better for her to calm down first" said Matt.

"But he does know that he is being unfair right?" asked Maddie as she was really triggered at this point.

"I know Maddie, but don't make it worse, just leave him be" said Matt.

"Fine Matt, I will leave him alone, just for now" said Maddie as she knew Matt did not want her to cause an even bigger problem.

"Thank you" said Matt as he smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, I am going to try to sleep, I am tired of seeing Curtis' mean face" said Maddie.

"Alright, you do that" said Matt as he smiled and he looked out the Carriage window, he was observing the way that they were passing through, it was very quiet, Matt could see no one in sight, and he could hear no one else except for them, which meant that they were not being followed.

Matt was going to keep watch, he wasn't going to sleep, not at all, not that he needed to, but the way Curtis was behaving told him that things were going not as they seemed, and well he could not ask Curtis about them now, he would just do it later.

…

"Hey Maddie, wake up" said Matt as his voice resounded in Maddie's head as she squinted her eyes and she opened them with a frown on her face.

"What?" asked Maddie as she looked at Matt.

"We are here" said Matt as Maddie quickly looked out the window as she saw nothing but a thick mist everywhere.

"Umm Curtis, the mist" said Maddie as she turned to look at Curtis.

"It will clear up soon" said Curtis as he narrowed his eyes as he looked outside, this was one of the mountain's protective measure, using mist to hide itself, but it would clear up soon, once the sun shone, all the mist would disappear.

The Carriage came to a stop as they all turned to look at Curtis, they all had the same question on their minds "Should they go out?"

"Yes, we can go out" said Curtis as he knew what they were all thinking.

"If you say so" said Maddie.

"Matt, go out first" said Maddie as she turned to look at Matt, he was half vampire, he would be fine.

"Fine" said Matt as he shook his head, it was times like these that made him doubt if Maddie was truly his friend.

Matt got up as he opened the Carriage door, and he stepped out like he was not scared at all, even though he was a little bit scared.

"Are you alright??" asked Maddie.

"Yes Maddie, I am still alive" said Matt as he scoffed as he knew that was what Maddie meant.

"Alright then" said Maddie as she stood up and she got out of the Carriage as Annie followed after her and Curtis came down as well as the Carriage closed the door itself and it began to drive away as they lost sight of it in the mist.

"Where is it going?" asked Annie in curiosity.

"It will return to wherever Stella has set for it to go" said Curtis.

"This mist is way too much" said Maddie as she coughed.

"Give it a few seconds" said Curtis as in that same moment, the sun began to shine, and the mist began to disappear, like magic.

"Now, that's cool" said Maddie as Annie and Matt looked around.

"Hi guys!!" came the cheerful, male voice, of someone that Annie, Maddie, Matt and Curtis least expected to see at this point in time.

"Oh no… oh no, no no, no no" said Maddie as she shook her head and she turned to look at the person who had called out to them hoping that she was just hearing things.