I grinned as a plan formed in my mind.

  It is tradition to prank younger family members when you meet them on other worlds.

  One of my family members was here…

  I don’t believe in coincidences, but pranks come first… I laughed under my breath.

  ************************************

  Where are they? I muttered.

  It took six weeks to track them here. Six!

  Maybe I shouldn’t run away from home this often, I thought, but refused immediately.

  Even if I’m lost, it is fun!

  Exciting new things every day as I explore them…

  Wonders of modern magic as I draw it to the limits.

  And most importantly, meeting all kinds of new people!

  I was interrupted by that train of thoughts as I came to clearing…

  Gray-skinned creatures were here…

  But there was one who looked too big to be one of them…

  I hesitantly called out…

  “Grandpa?”

  ***********************************

  I dispel my illusion, annoyed from having my tricks exposed immediately.

  “Perceptive brat aren’t you?” I grinned as I approached my granddaughter.

  “You are still calling me a brat? I’m almost 30!” yelled my granddaughter Elizabeth seriously.

  “In my mind you are still children.” I muttered under my breath as I sat down under a tree.

  “What brings you here Grandpa?” Elizabeth asked, looking curious as she sat down not far from here.

  “What a coincidence, I was going to ask you the same question…” I countered as I used another Sleep spell on the creatures.

  They grew still again…

  “Well, you know me.” replied Elizabeth, looking embarrassed.

  “Yes I know, you ran from home again. You know your mother gets worried, right?” I asked as she got thoughtful.

  “I know, but I don’t want to stay home every day,” replied Elizabeth, sounding a little sad.

  “Yeah I understand, it's not like we were expecting you to cut off your wings,” I continued.

  “Don’t worry, your mother understands it even if she doesn’t show,” I said as she was about to talk.

  “Just talk to her sometimes when you get home, will you? I may not be around here much longer...” I finished as she got up from the stump.

  “I will…” replied Elizabeth, looking thoughtfully.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  I got up from the tree and ruffled her hair, drawing laughs from both of us…

  *************************************

  “Now that family talk is finished, why were you tailing these creatures?” I asked after 5 minutes of silence.

  “Because I cannot leave here…” replied Elizabeth ominously…

  “What do you mean by here?” I asked, raising an eyebrow…

  “Universe” said Elizabeth, looking downcast.

  Of course, I immediately tried to breach the boundary between this space and my home.

  I failed but it was within my calculations.

  This is a mundane world after all. There isn’t enough supernatural energy…

  “So, the reason you were looking for these creatures is to use them as batteries?” I asked.

  “What? No! How can you say that!?” denied Elizabeth immediately.

  “Then using them as bait to draw other bigger supernatural creatures?” I asked understandably.

  “No!” denied Elizabeth as she yelled.

  “How about sacrificing them to local deities in order to obtain information we need?” I asked challengingly.

  “No!!” shouted Elizabeth.

  “Then what?” I frowned and asked tiredly, considering my other options.

  “I was just looking to talk to them…” replied Elizabeth as she sighed.

  “Talk about what?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “First of all, what are they?” she replied, looking thoughtful.

  “So you don’t know it either…” I said and approached one of the creatures.

  “What are you doing?” asked Elizabeth, looking curious.

  “Talking.” I replied as shadows came to life…

  The area grew darker until I commanded the shadows to grab the creature.

  And slammed into a tree, hoping to wake them up.

  As it was about to scream, I removed its mouth altogether.

  And merged into the tree until only its head was visible.

  “What are you doing?” asked Elizabeth, looking confused.

  “It was about to scream.” I replied simply…

  “Then your only solution was removing its mouth? When, a simple silence spell could have worked?” countered Elizabeth, sounding miffed.

  “You know what? Good point….” I replied and brought its mouth back.

  Of course, that little bugger immediately screamed…

  But we didn’t hear it, thanks to Silence spell.

  Ah, I love magic…