Annie was deep in her own thoughts, she wondered what Curtis was up to by letting Ollie come along just like that with no argument at all.
She knew Curtis well, and she also knew that he would never do anything to jeopardize or interrupt his plans, which was why, she could not help but wonder if he knew that Ollie would be coming along.
It was not like she did not like Ollie, no she knew that he was a nice guy, but for him to suddenly be allowed to come along, it was just suspicious, very suspicious.
"What do you think about Prince Oliver coming along?" asked Matt as he mind linked Annie and Maddie.
"Horrible, terrible, dare I go on?" asked Maddie as she replied almost instantly.
"I mean I don't know… I find this all weird" said Annie as both she and Matt ignored Maddie, they already knew what her stance was with Ollie.
"Weird how?" asked Matt as he wanted to make sure that Annie was on the same page as he was, because he also found this weird.
"I mean, since when does Curtis accept someone knew aboard all of a sudden without overthinking it at all?" asked Annie.
"And also, it seems like Curtis was expecting this" said Annie
"I have to agree with you there Annie" said Matt as he also had the exact same thoughts, he didn't know Curtis well enough, but he knew him to such ana extent that he was sure that he always took every single outcome into consideration, which meant that he already knew that Ollie would come along with them, and he allowed it.
"You both are right, I mean, that guy, that annoying guy, is here, and Curtis just let him come in, as if he's one of us" said Maddie as she scoffed and Annie and Matt both thought that Maddie was overreacting a bit, she just disliked Ollie and that was all.
"Do you have any idea what Curtis' plan is Annie?" asked Matt.
"I am the wrong person to ask right now, I have no idea, I am just as clueless as you both" said Annie as she forced a smile, usually she would ask Curtis what his plans were, and he would tell her without hiding anything at all.
But since she had lost her powers, everything had changed, she was left in the dark about everything and anything, and it made her feel bad.
"Ugh, someone please help me, I am so annoyed right now, the mere presence of this annoying Prince is killing me" said Maddie as she groaned.
"How am I supposed to spend close to six months on a mountain with him?? Save me" said Maddie.
"Oh Maddie, relax, things could be worse" said Matt as he turned to look at Maddie who was walking behind him as Ollie was looking around in awe.
"No Matt, this is the worst that worse can be" said Maddie as Matt just sighed and he shook his head, they had much more problems than this to focus on.
"Hey, wait a minute" said Maddie.
"What?" asked Matt and Annie at the same time.
"Haven't we been walking for a while now?" asked Maddie as she finally realized that they had been walking for way too long.
"We should have reached the mountain by now" said Maddie.
"You are right Maddie" said Matt as he also realized that they had been walking for a long while now.
"But Curtis has not stopped walking, he is still leading the way" said Annie as she looked ahead and she saw Curtis as he had his back turned towards all of them.
"You know what, I am starting to believe that maybe Curtis led us all out here just to kill us and dump out bodies where no one will find us" said Maddie.
"What a vivid imagination you have Maddie" said Matt as that was all he could say, the way Maddie thought sometimes just baffled him.
"You can say that now, but if he turns and his eyes suddenly become red, let me just say for the record that I told you so" said Maddie as Matt just shook his head.
"Oh Maddie, just stop" said Annie as she laughed and in that same moment Curtis stopped walking as he turned around, as if he could hear what they had been saying about him.
"There is Caligo" said Curtis as he just looked at them and Annie, Maddie and Matt looked confused, they saw nothing ahead but an open road.
"What do you mean Curtis, there is nothing he…" said Maddie as it was as if her eyes opened and an invisible veil covering her eyes removed as the terrain around them changed from the clear, bare ground as suddenly a mountain appeared in front of them.
"Wow…" said Maddie as she was rendered absolutely speechless, no words could explain the beautiful scenery in front of her right now, even Annie and Matt were left in surprise, as well as Ollie, he had seen some very beautiful places, but this… well this was something else entirely.
There was a vast green valley with a stream flowing, but apart from that, all that caught their attention was the beautiful, green, lush, mighty Mountain, that stood there in all its glory as the Mountain moved towards the horizon.
"Wow indeed" said Matt as he wondered how they could not have noticed this before, it was like just a minute ago, they were only in a barren, fruitless area.
"But how?" asked Annie as she was confused and she turned to look at Curtis.
"Mirage spell" replied Curtis as he looked at Annie.
"The Mountain hides itself away from prying eyes, it hides it's beauty, majesty and yet simplicity" said Curtis.
"I knew it hehe" said Ollie as he smiled and everyone turned to look at him.
"I knew that Caligo was hard to find, but who would have thought that the mountain's mist not only killed people but also created a mirage effect, just wow" said Ollie as he smiled, he just looked like he was simply in awe.
"But that still does not explain how the terrain changed" said Maddie as she looked a Curtis.
"We were on flat ground just a while ago, and now we seem to be on a little hill for us to be able to see the mountain from this range" said Maddie.
"The Mirage spell does more than make an illusion" replied Curtis as he looked down, it looked slippery, which meant that it would be a long way down, Curtis' plan was to at least get to the base of Caligo before nightfall, and by the look of the sun, it was only afternoon, which meant that they had five to six hours to get to where he had planned for them to.
"The Mountain Is beautiful" said Annie as she looked back at the mountain.
"It is as beautiful as it is dangerous" said Ollie as he smiled.
"But you have to admit that it truly is magnificent" said Maddie.
"I need this as my wallpaper" said Maddie as she brought out her phone from her pocket and she took a quick picture.
"Maddie, you actually brought your phone with you??" asked Matt in shock.
"Of course, now we have this moment captured in time forever" said Maddie as she laughed and she put her phone back in her back pocket.
"Oh Maddie" said Annie as she laughed and she shook her head, what could they do? Maddie was well Maddie.
"You are in luck Maddie, the view is not always this clear, only sometimes the mist does disappear, and you truly get to see Caligo in all its beauty" said Curtis.
"Hehe" said Maddie as she giggled, this was the only good thing that had happened on this trip.
"Anyway, enough of this, we need to get to the base of the mountain by nightfall" said Curtis.
"Curtis, do you think that will be possible?" asked Ollie.
"I mean, it may look like it's close from this up high, but it's actually very far" said Ollie as Maddie, Annie ad Matt turned to look at him.
"You do have a point, but regardless, we cannot stay up here forever" said Curtis.
"We need to get down first" said Curtis.
"Well okay then" said Ollie as he smiled.
"Curtis, that looks like a steep way down" said Maddie as she looked down.
"Levitating spell" said Ollie as he smiled.
"Oh yeah right, for a moment I forgot that we are witches, thank you for the kind reminder" said Maddie as she smiled sarcastically at Ollie.
"You are welcome Maddie" said Ollie as he smiled and Maddie scoffed at him.
"Someone will have to help Annie get down first" said Curtis as he looked at Annie.
"I'll do it" said Ollie as he did not waste any second at all before Matt could even offer to help.
"Alright then" said Curtis as he really had no time right now to waste, they had to move fast.