As Xerxes expected, nothing happened. He was starting to get impatient when his foot accidentally slipped, scaring the living hell out of him. He reached for the moon for support—and he was actually able to touch it. He stabilized himself on the ladder before noticing where he had placed his hand.
I instinctively reached for it because it resembled a wall, but to think I can touch it… wow.
Mesmerized, Xerxes was almost blinded when he looked up at the moon. It seemed brighter than before. He tried to keep his eyes open as he felt the rocky surface of the moon. If he could describe it, it felt like he was touching the ground of the mountain beneath him. Suddenly, the moonlight flashed a sightless white color, and at the same time, his hand resting on the moon was electrocuted with a magnanimous amount of 15 mA.
He quickly retreated his arm, gripping the ladder to keep himself from falling. His body shuddered multiple times, and his black eyes had white flashes reflected in them. For the longest time, he couldn't see.
"Get down already. What are you even doing?" A familiar voice rang in his ears from below his feet. He out-of-focusly peered down. It was a hazy image of a black baseball cap. Then he saw that the ladder had returned to its original size, and the ground was only a few steps away from him. He mustered the strength to climb down, barely holding his weight, until his feet touched the dry land.
"Are you okay? You don't look so good," Nova said. Xerxes was originally pale, but now he looked the same as the moon in the sky. His eyeballs were shifting consistently. He took a shaky step away from the ladder as he spoke.
"I somehow touched the moon and got shocked from it. Other than that, I forgot the right lines, and Lucas had the paper with him, so I couldn't come and get it," Xerxes explained, holding his vibrating head with his right hand, missing a few details.
"We saw the ladder suddenly shoot up. We tried to call out to you, but you had already climbed a bit. I was scared of dropping the ladder, but it wasn't heavy or anything," Nova explained, recounting their point of view.
"So, what happened? Did you do it? Can we move forward with the storyline now?" Lucas asked, his tone impatient. He wasn't willing to wait around for Xerxes to regain his senses. "Hold the ladder. I'll go up and say it right this time."
Xerxes was having an out-of-body experience, but he still obediently held the rail of the ladder. After all, it was his fault he couldn't complete the task. He had no complaints.
Lucas climbed the ladder, but it was shaking so much that he thought it would fall over any second. The problem, however, was that the ladder stayed its original size; it wasn't extending itself anymore. Lucas could only give up and climb back down.
"Whatever you did must have worked, then," Lucas said casually, descending the mountain.
"What about the ladder?" Nova asked, shouting from a distance.
"Leave that garbage," Lucas responded.
***
Lucas was the first to enter through the front door of the house. Everyone had already fallen asleep, except Savannah. She was patiently waiting for Lucas's safe return. When she saw him walk inside, she ran over to hug him.
"Thank god you're alright, Lucas!" Savannah squeezed Lucas with a lot of strength.
Nova was the next and last person to cross the threshold, carrying an unconscious Xerxes on his back, wearing his dark green suit coat. Xerxes wasn't fully passed out; he was in and out of consciousness. He could see his surroundings now, though not fully clearly. He saw Lucas and Savannah hugging each other and, without knowing why, he broke into a small smile.
"Where do you think you're going?" Lucas's arm blocked Nova from entering the bedroom next to the living room.
"He's heavier than he looks. I can't carry him anymore," Nova groaned, shifting Xerxes's weight back and forth. He tried to get past Lucas's arm, but unsuccessfully.
"Go to the other bedroom," Lucas simply replied before dragging Savannah into the bedroom with him and slamming the door in Nova's face.
Nova had never wanted to curse someone more than he did right now. His blood was boiling from anger and overexertion. Kai and Bailey were both sleeping on the couches, with the extra sheets covering their bodies up to their torsos. With no other place for Xerxes to sleep, Nova resisted the urge to throw him on the table in the middle of the living room as he walked over to the stairs.
"I can... walk," Xerxes said weakly.
"Save it for later," Nova replied. He could tell just from Xerxes's voice how bad his condition was. Even though Nova had donated his coat to Xerxes, his back was still cold due to Xerxes's body temperature being ice-cold. Not even a dead body would be this cold, Nova thought.
Xerxes fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Nova wanted to take his coat back because, without it, his suit looked incomplete. Feeling a bit generous, he tucked Xerxes into the bed and left the bedroom in just his white smoke dress shirt. After carrying Xerxes all the way down the mountain, he was really thirsty. He drank three glasses of water, and with that came the last thing Nova had planned to do—or maybe never intended to do.
He had to use the restroom. Like, seriously. He didn't want to go outside to do his business; Mary could be watching his every move. For all he knew, she might take him to the sky. He knew using the restroom was safe, though, as tested by the others.
Nova opened the door under the stairs, which squeaked loudly in the silence of the night. He reluctantly stepped inside, only to instantly gain thirteen new wrinkles on his fair beautiful face.