Chapter forty-seven—The Peacemaker at her walk
I felt my body hit the ground in a hard tumble. I grunted, surprised by the texture. It was dirt and softer than the gravel and brick of Marleybone. Was it possible to port into another world, and if so, where was I?
I opened my eyes, but my head was too heavy to lift. I didn’t realize how exhausted and tired I was; it hit me like a cannon. My heart was pounding for some reason, as if it was fighting to give me back energy.
Everything was in a blue haze; I was in the center of a village of wood and straw, and it looked as though it was growing slowly to dawn. The sky was a grayish blue, and mist formed everywhere, so you couldn’t see something coming if you even tried to look. It looked vacant.
It looked as though it would look on Earth, in the locations of China or Japan
“Mary- how’d you get through the wall Malistaire cast against porting?” Nikki rushed up to me out of the mist, followed by Sophia and Abby. Bell, nor the beast, was with them. “We tried porting back, but it wouldn’t let us.”
I felt as though my whole body had been dosed in ice water, and it was draining all of my energy to get my body heated. I felt my stomach rumble ferociously, and I couldn’t even sit up. “My amulet helped me with my powers… But I haven’t practiced at all, so it drained all the energy in me. Where is Danielle?”
“We hung on to the beast as much as we could.” Sophia spoke as dismal as the scene around us. “But somehow it dropped us off here… At least we know that the beast and Danielle are in this area. We don’t know where, but they’re close.”
They slumped in next to me. They weren’t as exhausted, considering that they didn’t use up all their energy, but they still looked dead tired. We sat there for a while, wondering what to do. We couldn’t just wander around in some foreign area… What if something jumped out at us from the fog, and tried to kill us?
It was a while until something in the haze changed. A small, fuzzy light appeared, and seem to be coming towards us. Pointing it out, we squinted. It was so hard to see; I could barely keep my eyes open- to lift my head was to take all the energy I had left. Maybe it was worse because I don’t remember the last time I last slept… Besides being knocked out by Caspian.
The closer it got, the more alarmed and interested I became. I was so tired, I felt as though it was a dream. Was it bad to not know if I was either sleeping or awake?
I think Sophia and Nikki stood up, weapons raised, at the upcoming person with the lantern. Abby, however, was just as exhausted, and stayed on the ground with me.
I must have passed out for a few seconds, because the person with the lantern was standing before us, and Nikki and Sophia’s weapons were sheathed. I squinted, trying to make out the details in the foggy haze. Everything was hard to make sense with at the moment.
It was a woman... Her hair was long and fell past her shoulders. She had on a cloak, and her voice was soft and kind. “It’s dangerous to be out here. Why are you here?”
“It’s a long story.” Nikki replied with truth. “We just need a place to stay.”
I felt eyes on me, and smelled honey and vanilla when the woman knelt towards me, studying me. I turned my heavy head, and the woman pursed her lips sadly at the sight of my sick, paling face. “Whats your name, honey?”
I took a deep, shuddering breath. “My name is Mary Ravengem.”
The woman’s eyes widened slightly, and her mouth moved apart in an “o” form. At first, I thought she’d leave, but she spoke the words of generosity. “Come, I have a cottage just near here.”
I felt myself be lifted up, but the world turned into darkness: I passed out.
I awoke slowly, realizing that my head wasn’t heavy anymore, and I felt lightweight and peaceful. My stomach grumbled loudly, and I opened my eyes, squinting at the light flooding from an open window.
I could hear dishes being moved, and somebody moving around. I turned my head, and saw a woman with long reddish, auburn hair. Her skin glowed and matched her dark red lips. When she looked up, she smiled and her honey colored eyes lit up, showing slight wrinkles and signs of aging. She looked as though she was in her thirties or forties. “I was wondering when you’d wake.”
I sat up, taking in the scene around me. I was in a small room, made out of bricks and wood, and lit up by a skylight window. The floor was made of straw, and there was a small fireplace with a cauldron simmering. “Where am I? Who are you?”
The woman poured a kind of soup or food into a bowl from the cauldron, and brought it over to me, steaming and hot. It looked like a kind of meat and vegetable stew. I took it, ignoring the fact that it could be poisonous, and inhaled it with my mouth watering. I couldn’t remember the last time I ate something that smelled so good. The woman stood beside my straw bed as I ate, pondering. “My name is Fiona Dawn, and I am a Peacemaker of the Mooshu society.”
“Whats a Peacemaker?” I asked as I took a bite of the soup, the hot liquid burning my throat and sending chills through my body in warmth and pleasure. “Is this place called Mooshu?”
“A Peacemaker is a medicine woman or a medicine man. We are true spiritualists.” I heard a hint of pride in Fiona’s voice. “I was born in Marleybone, but moved to Mooshu when I was young. It’s always been a beautiful world and I fell in love with it.”
“What is it, exactly?” I asked.
“It’s a world of peace, clarity, wisdom, and greatness.” Fiona sighed, and took my empty bowl to a small sink near the fireplace. “Well, it used to be. A lot of problems have been occurring lately.”
“Like what?”
Fiona smiled, wiping off her hands with a dish towel. “I believe your sister’s have been waiting for your awakening.”
“I-“I protested at the change of subject, but Fiona was already out of the room. In a flash, my sister’s poured in, squealing and chattering. I felt myself be hugged a dozen times, with lots of “I thought you’d never wake!” and “You slept forever!”
Fiona walked back into the room, smiling at the sight. “I knew they would be happy to see you.”
I laughed, comforted by the love of my sisters. “Has anybody heard anything from Marleybone?”
“No,” Nikki replied. “For all they know, we just disappeared.”
“Speaking of disappeared.” Abby smirked, but she had curiosity in her bright green eyes. “What happened when we left you alone with Malistaire?”
Fiona glanced around awkwardly and she put a basket of bread and herbs down on a small wooden table. “I’ll just leave…”
“No, Fiona.” I objected, smiling kindly. “It’s alright… You already know who I am.”
“I…” Fiona almost seemed speechless, but she blinked and corrected herself. “I know. I just figured it would be a bit private for you.”
“It is.” I agreed. “But you took us in and trusted us… You trusted me. Therefore, I owe you, and I will trust you.”
Fiona sat down on an old wooden chair, and put her hands in her lap quietly. “I have very strong instincts, and when I first saw you…” She looked up at us, and we made eye contact. “You are so young… What, seventeen or eighteen of age? How could you be evil, and yet, so weak and innocent at the same time? When I looked into your eyes, I only saw Sylvia Drake. Of course, I never met the woman, but I’ve never heard anybody with more good things that she had done.”
I nodded. “I’ve been told that before… But nobody actually told me what she really did.”
Fiona raised her eyebrow. “No?”
“Wait,” Abby interrupted. “I still don’t know what happened with Mary and Malistaire.”
“All that happened,” I spoke curtly, slight agitated. “Was that Malistaire saved my life from an avalanche of rubble. Evidently, he wants us alive, for some weird reason. It seems that he sent the fairytale curse on us to kill us, but then he changed his mind. That might be the reason Malistaire wanted Bell
“Why would he want us alive? Isn’t it his mission for our death?” Sophia asked.
“Yes, but he obviously needs us for something. Hopefully, not some sacrifice; isn’t that what all the bad guys need?”
“Mary, I need to tell you something.” Nikki seemed kind of nervous, so I raised my eyebrow, not wanting to change the subject. “It’s rather… Important. For everybody, especially you.”
“What is it about?” I asked, aware of the chill rushing up my back.
“It’s about your mother.” She replied in a slight monotone voice.
“How do you know anything about my mother that I don’t know?”
“I know.” Nikki perked up. I stared at her, as if the words “I know” would sum it up. I wondered why she never told me that she knew things about my mother. “I’m good at remembering, after all.”
“Hardy har har.” Sophia laughed sarcastically. Of course, Fiona didn’t get the joke, but it was still a smile to the face. I did not laugh, not even sarcastically; I felt something timid in the air.
“Tell me?” I asked hopefully.
“Alright.” Nikki pushed a strand of golden red hair behind her ear, positioning herself for a story. “Sylvia Drake did the basic things, such as charity funding, teaching, helping the homeless that turned up on her doorstep. However, she did something that nobody in the Spiral ever did before.” Nikki leaned in, smiling.
“What did she do?” Abby asked, frowning slightly. She did not like secrets.
“She saved a human’s life.” Nikki crossed her arms, studying our reactions.
“She what?!” I gasped, frowning. “No wizard or witch has been to Earth since the Salem
Nikki shook her head. “My father was an archeologist in Krokotopia, but we lived in Marleybone most of my life. He was associated with the Higher Order, which is like the government of the Spiral.”
“I didn’t know the Spiral had a government.” Sophia cocked her head suspiciously. “Why didn’t you tell us this before? In fact, how do you even know these things?”
“The Higher Order is a very secret society; they want people to think that they have lots of free will. I know these things because, well…” Nikki tapped her head knowingly and I understood the message. “Plus, I liked to spy on my father.”
“What does this have to do with saving humans?” I asked, trying to process the new information.
“Because,” Nikki spoke fiercely, as if trying to get as much information out as possible, but having trouble with it. “The Higher Order has been sending out wizards to Earth for centuries. I didn’t even know this until my father was sent there on my sixteenth birthday, right when I was enrolled into Ravenwood, around the same time as Mary. However, we did not see each other, because I lived in a dorm. Later, I moved to Krokotopia to study there; which was before the murder of Mary’s family.”
“Why are they sending witches and wizards to Earth?” Abby asked, finally speaking up. She had a grave, serious look that made a chill go down my spine.
“To study, and see if the humans have any clue of what the Spiral is.” Nikki confirmed. “The Higher Order, however, could not interfere with the humans. My father told me this when I had asked him when I was very young; he replied that it was dangerous to associate with the mundane community.”
“I have no idea how you kept this in your head all along.” I grumbled, irritated.
“The subject never came up to be necessary.” Nikki shrugged. “It was a secret between my father and I, and I wanted to keep it as much as you wanted to keep the Seraphina-Alleyen secret, Mary. Anyways, Sylvia and Malistaire were probably associated with the Higher Order, which may be the reason on how they met. I know for sure that Sylvia was in the Higher Order, because she saved a human. She couldn’t have gotten close to a human without being in the Spiral’s government.”
“So, if people know that Sylvia saved a human, wouldn’t that release information on the Higher Order?” I asked, suspicious. I crossed my arms, annoyed that Nikki knew more about my mother than I did.
“The press claimed that it was a freak accident, and that Sylvia had risked her life on somehow porting to a platform somewhere in space, close enough to save a human’s life because it was so close to Earth. They never really told anybody how Sylvia actually did it, because that would release too much information of the Higher Order, just like you suspected.”
“But that theory is ridiculous!” Abby exclaimed in shock. “It’s idiotic for anybody to actually believe that.”
I noticed that Fiona was sitting quietly, her hands in her lap. “Most people believed it because they didn’t have to know the details to know that Sylvia was a good woman. It’s just surprising that there’s actually a government that nobody knows about… Except a politician archeologist’s daughter.”
Nikki smiled, then it faltered and a sorrow gleamed in her eyes. She looked out the window, as though she was memorized by the swirling dust in the slight breeze, glowing from the golden sunlight. “My father never arrived back from Earth. Some say he was lost. Some say he’s still working. I suppose I will never know, considering that I can’t go back home, now. It’s too dangerous.”
I scooted myself next to Nikki, and put my arm around her gently. She rested her head on my shoulder, and I rubbed her arm empathetically. I knew how it felt to lose a parent. “I’m sorry, Nikki. We shouldn’t have made you go through with telling us that.”
Nikki shook her head. “I know he’s still out there. He has to be. He’s one of the last immortals.”
I gasped, realizing something. However, before I could speak, Fiona had looked up in wonder. “Immortals..?”
“Oh, I suppose we forgot to tell you.” Sophia smirked, and before I could tell Fiona properly and calmly, Sophia blurted it out. “We are Angels.”
Fiona’s mouth went from slightly ajar to a full gape. “It’s not possible.”
I raised my eyebrows, glaring at Sophia silently. “It would have been nicer to say it more calmly and sincerely, but it’s true, we are Angels. Of course, we can easily prove it.”
Abby was staring at me, slightly confused. “I thought you didn’t like telling the secret, Mary.”
I swallowed, barely believing that I was going to say this. “I have figured that my mom has made a few mistakes and… I think it would be safer with more people on our side that know the secret. Of course, only the close people we trust.” I glanced at Fiona. “Such as people who know who I am, and still help, despite the danger.”
“H-how are all of you A-angels?” Fiona stammered wildly. For a neat woman, she suddenly seemed disorderly.
“Our ancestors were immortal, which gave us a better chance at catching the attention of the Fates.” Nikki explained, considering she knew the knowledge best. “When Malistaire began trying to rein, it threw off the balance of good and evil. Therefore, the Fates chose us to defeat Malistaire and control the elements of chaos and order.”
“This brings me to a question that I thought of a few seconds ago.” I spoke slowly. “Somehow, I never noticed, as I have been ignorant and unresponsive.”
“You’re not ignorant.” Sophia smiled, but she had a worried look in her eyes. I wonder if she knew what I was about to ask.
“I am.” I denied her protests. “How could I not notice that since our ancestors are immortal, and if that’s where we get our main immortality from, then how are they not alive?”
“Because…” Nikki looked as though she was about to answer, but she frowned. We were all stuck on this one. “I actually don’t know… My father is missing and my mother died when I was born, because she sacrificed herself to save me. I was born… Premature. Even as an immortal, when you’re so young, it could be deadly at that time.”
“I had wiped away my parent’s memories when I had left them.” Sophia spoke up quietly, sadly. “They don’t remember me, or that they were even immortal. Soon, they will wither away. At least its better, considering that they’re protected…”
I felt like I was going to choke up. I now realized that I wasn’t the only one with a tragic childhood. We all had similar pasts; we were all orphans. The orphan sisters by golden blood, but not by relation.
“My parents are serving Malistaire, at the moment.” Abby added, bitterly. “They are not immortal, but they are good as dead.”
“I believe the immortal line goes all the way back to our grandparents.” Nikki spoke, deep in thought. “I was never told of a living pair of great-grandparents.”
“Me neither.” I replied. “Only grandma and grandpa Gem.”
“Same here.” Sophia frowned in realization. Abby sat in an armed chair, quiet. We all knew she had great-grandparents; her line of heritage weren’t immortal. We still had to figure that mystery out on how she became half of who she is… I wondered if it was only her parents that were evil in her family, or if it was even farther back.
Fiona stood up calmly, and it surprised me, after all, not many people can act so calm after they figure out the truth of the S.A… I saw her hands shaking as she asked us kindly. “Would anybody want some tea?”
“No,” I smoothed out the new clothes I had been dressed in- I truthfully didn’t want to know how I was dressed unconsciously, and I didn’t want to know who did it. “I think we should go outside and study the new area.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Mary?” Sophia asked me quietly enough so Fiona couldn’t hear. “We’re fugitives, remember?”
“As far as they know,” I repeated from earlier. “We just disappeared.” I sat up, and walked to the door. My hand on the knob, I turned my head. “Want to come with?”
“You honestly think that we would let you go alone?” Nikki replied, slightly frustrated. “Come on, girls.”
I saw Fiona nod. “Just be careful… If you stay out all day, make sure that you are here by night. It’s very dangerous at that time.”
I raised my eyebrow. “How so?”
Fiona’s eyes narrowed. “It’s when the darkness and evil awakes.”
I cocked my head, wondering if Fiona was slightly crazed. “Alright…”
I wondered if there was more to Mooshu than I thought…
I left the room with Nikki, Sophia, and Abby trailing behind me. Fiona departed to the kitchen and I touched the doorknob to the outside world with a firm grip. Taking a deep breath, I realized that this could be a whole new world of different tongues, religions, and things to see. It was a lot to take in- and then there was the stress of somebody figuring out we were fugitives. I opened the door, and sunlight burst through.
There was no more fog; the sky was a bright, brilliant blue, without a single wisp of cloud. I stepped out, exhilarated by the wonderful feeling of soft, dirt ground. No more brick. I had rather gotten used to wearing high heels, however.
Looking around, I was astonished to see the beautiful landscape around me. Unlike the first night we had come, there was no fog or darkness. It was an artwork of colors and different scents and things to see. Dark against the baby blue sky, there were grey mountains with white tops. They looked far away, and seemed to surround this incredibly large village. There were pathways of light brown dirt, grey tile, or lushes green grass that was perfectly trim. Wooden or brick cottages lined up around the area, and along the large dirt path, it seemed to lead to a Market.
There were also so many things to smell. I caught scents of baking goods, garden herbs and vegetables being cooked, and sweet smells that were similar to the scents that candles can make. Some how, this place didn’t exactly seem familiar- but it seemed that there was something here that related to me. Something that made me feel like it wasn’t me who was here, but someone like me. Is that strange?
Of course it is… I laughed mentally to myself.
Sophia gasped, and I turned my head. I felt my mouth drop in shock. Sophia was the first one to speak, however. “What is my teacher doing here?”
“I don’t know,” I exclaimed. “She should be in Ravenwood- Ms. Wu!”
Sophia and I ran forward at the cow-woman. I felt something odd when I was running towards my old Life teacher; I remembered the cow having black hair and white skin… The Moolinda Wu I saw now had a darker tint to her skin.
Sophia must be Life, I thought. She had stated: What is my teacher doing here? It seemed strange that her main school would be Life, when she was a huntress at heart.
She placed her hand on the cow’s shoulder, and the cow turned towards us calmly, but with a weird face on. I felt myself frown, wondering how this could get weirder. In Marleybone, it was dogs and cats… Now cows?
I need a world with human looks. The cow in front of us was not Professor Wu.
Sophia gaped, but recovered herself quickly. “I’m sorry; we have the wrong per-“ She stopped herself. “Cow.”
The cow’s big brown eyes glanced at Sophia to me, and back to Sophia. It nodded, turned, and walked away. I turned to Sophia, wanting to scream ‘Oh my gosh’ like I would have done with my little dead sister. “What was that about?”
Sophia opened her mouth, but was interrupted by a young, quiet voice. “The world of Mooshu has lots of cows, goats, horses and pigs that are like wizard and witches, but they are animals.”
I turned to see a young girl; probably about fifteen or sixteen- a few years younger than I. She was a pretty little thing; caramel colored skin, and honey colored hair that looked thin and wavy enough to be like baby hair. It was so long that it fell past her shoulders and on both sides of her chest; the honey color made the grayish green of her eyes stand out, right above a small, but slightly hooked nose. In her hands, she held a basket full of different kind of flowers- one I recognized as lavender. I cleared my throat, gently. “Who are you?”
“My name is Natalia Moon.” She replied. I wondered if her voice was permanently so calm and quiet. “Fiona Dawn had told me she had visitors.”
“How do you know Fiona Dawn?” Nikki came up behind Sophia and I, making me jump. I heard Abby stand by Nikki’s side.
I hoped Natalia didn’t feel like she was being cornered; she looked like a fragile, babyish teenager. However, she looked perfectly fine. “I’m her apprentice… I’m taking these herbs to her because she needs to make medicine for a patient.”
I heard Abby make a strange, excited noise out of her throat. “Fiona Dawn makes medicine?”
“Potions and such, yes.” Natalia frowned. “Why do you ask?”
“I’m an excellent potion maker,” Abby explained. “But I want to get better… Would you think that Fiona would want to teach me?”
Natalia wore a blank face. “I don’t know. Come with me to her cottage while I bring the herbs, and you can ask her.”
Natalia began to walk towards the cottage, where Sophia and I had just run away from to find a not-so-much Professor Wu. Abby grinned mischievously, shrugging at us as she turned and began to run. She shouted as she ran: “Sorry, guys!”
“I feel so loved,” I assumed sarcastically. “To have been ditched for somebody that Abby barely knew, whereas she has known me since my first days of school.”
“Who knows,” Nikki laughed, trying to cheer me up. “Her excellence of healing and potion making can come in handy during the war. We will need lots of healers.”
I heard Sophia clear her throat. “Hello? I’m Life!”
“Right,” I replied jokingly. “You’re in the school of Life
“I can’t choose who I am, fool!”
We laughed, walking along the dirt path, towards the Market. “Abby will be missing out on fun, while she is making potions with Fiona and Natalia.”
Nikki sighed. “I’m serious about the war, you know.”
I stared at the ground while we walked. It was silence, and I knew we were all thinking the same thing. We didn’t know when Malistaire would attack Wizard City
He’s waiting for something. A secret weapon? Minions?
The problem is, we can’t gather up an army of normal wizards and witches without finding where the remaining S.A. are, considering that they are our most powerful allies. I pray that there weren’t more S.A.
I lifted my head to the sky, embracing the warmth of the sun. There is so much ahead of us, I thought. I could only hope that we are one step in front of Malistaire, and not the other way around. People also don’t realize that reality isn’t all nice and happy anymore, as it used to be. When I was young, and my family was still very much alive, things were good. Sure, we were poor, but we had family to keep us together. We were tough, and yet we were still happy. I wasn’t old enough to realize that every moment of my life, I was in complete danger. What would the people of Wizard City
I shuddered. The war was going to be brutal; if there was no exact battlefield, and the fighting was everywhere in Wizard City
Even for the children and the weak. The undead were as merciless as their Lord.
“We will not improvise.” I decided carefully, glancing at my sisters. “We will plan things out. We will find our sisters, and when the war comes, we will not only do whats right, but we will protect the weak and young.”
“It’s so much to do,” Sophia whimpered. “What if we can’t do it?”
“We can.” I protested. “It’s our destiny.”
“I-“ Sophia started, but Nikki shushed us. She pointed at the villagers in the Market, and we dropped the discussion for secretive reasons.
And, of course, that the villagers were goats, cows, and pigs wearing robes and using walking sticks for support.
It was like Marleybone, I tried to comfort myself. It’s totally normal to see animals walking and talking about… Everyday stuff, you know? I grimaced, but all thought went away, and was replaced with excitement as I walked through the Market.
“My dears!” A goat jumped in front of us, and I bit my lip in order to not cry out from slight fear. I hated goats. They were ugly little creatures, with sharp horns and beady eyes. It stood up like a human, and wore yellow and red robes. In its hoofed hands, it held a tray of… Buttery biscuits with garlic sprinkled upon it. “Try it- it’s a new recipe! If you like it, buy it!”
“Oh?” Sophia picked one up, and sniffed it. She shrugged, and stuffed it into her mouth. I laughed at her indecency of eating. Her eyes twinkled as she responded to my laughing: “I’m just checking if it’s poisonous.”
“Of course you are.” Nikki chuckled. We both took a biscuit, and munched on it as we walked through along shops. It tasted sweet and buttery, but the garlic made it strong. It was delicious.
Nobody would have guessed that we were sisters. Of course, if we had the same hair color, we would look like triplets. However, our hairs were vividly different. Red, black, and blonde…
There were other merchants giving us free food to try: I tasted honey candy, seasoned fish, an earthly food called sushi, and reptile meat. Also, we tried a hot chili pepper soup that made Sophia turn as red as Nikki’s hair. We had to sit down for fifteen minutes while Sophia practically held her head underwater in a small pond near a large, maroon summer tree.
Later on, I pointed out a map shop. It was around three o’ clock when we left, carrying out tons of maps of Mooshu, and a couple of Wizard City
Of course, I ended up in a bookshop while Sophia and Nikki were in a store of weaponry. In the end, Nikki and Sophia had to come and get me before dark. While walking to Fiona’s cottage, I kept babbling about the art of spear throwing, manga, and sushi. Somehow, I never figured out that I was being extremely boring. I didn’t have to, because I was having so much fun.
When we arrived before dark, Fiona had made a large dinner. It was roasted chicken with apple slices and pumpkin juice. While Nikki, Sophia, and I chewed our meal, Abby and Natalia were talking, unnoticing their food growing cold. Fiona was slowly eating her dinner, but seemed more content on correcting Abby about cutting rat tail’s too thin for an acne potion.
“Abigail, darling- if the slices are too thick, the boiling will tire-”
“It could possibly take longer to make, but it doesn’t have any affect-“
“Wouldn’t it be serious, though, because it’s a main ingredient-?”
I chuckled, and turned my head to Nikki, who was eating on my right. “I’ll never think of putting cleansing stuff on my face the same again.”
“I ain’t putting no rat crap on my face.” Nikki whispered, smiling mischievously.
“I’m officially disturbed.” I joked back, barely having the ability to chew my food without giggling. I made sure that Fiona, Abby, and Natalia could not hear me. “Rat tail’s juices all over our faces.”
Nikki hid her face in a napkin and I saw her shoulders shaking slightly with laughter. I bit my knuckles to not burst, and I saw Sophia grinning quietly as well.
“Abigail, the blood within the rat’s tail can stop toothaches, as well-“ Fiona was interrupted by the burst of laughter between Nikki, Sophia, and I. Natalia, Abby, and Fiona stared at us as we laughed, sharing our inside joke. They didn’t even think it was weird that they were talking about rat juices on our faces and teeth during dinner?
“Whats so funny?” Fiona asked, frowning.
“You honestly don’t think that rat juice sounds funny to you?” I asked, smirking.
“Mary, Fiona uses rat juice in everything she cooks.” Abby smirked while I coughed into my napkin, wondering if I was choking with disgust or laughter. I wasn’t sure if Abby was joking or not, until she spoke the next words. “Especially rat pee!”
Sophia clumsily fell out of her chair in laughter and the whole room was full of chaotic voices and laughing. Nikki went down with her, and I even joined the fall. Pretty soon, everybody but Fiona were on the floor, giggling. The funny thing was, however, Fiona was sitting on a chair with her legs crossed, staring at us like: ‘I ain’t gonna’ be no fool and fall outta my chair like some psychotic weirdo.’
She didn’t say it, but she was thinking it.
It was that night that I had realized something: through all of the pain and suffering and busy work that we have been going through… I hadn’t had one, true night of fun since I was sixteen, during the campfire that my mother threw at Unicorn Way Park
For some reason, the thought of Richard made a ping of sorrow go through me. It was just a reminder of my old life, when everything was so different.
I smiled, trying to think of something funny to get the sad thoughts away. On that night, I saw Richard shirtless!
For a mere, regrettable second, I kind of wished I could see Caspian shirtless.
Oh man, I’m becoming boy crazy. I think I’ve spent too much time around girls; I laughed to myself.
I wondered how Caspian was, after all. The last thing he ever said to me was memorizing… And rather scary: I think I might love you.
Those words had been going through my head like a broken record player. I think I might love you… I think I might love you… I think I might love you…
Caspian really was a cocky bastard, but he was also incredibly hot. He was stubborn, hard-headed and incredibly selfless… I don’t understand something, however. Why had he been so mean to me on the night I had met him? Abby had stated straight after that, words that confused me from the start: ‘What did you do? You must have not done something he wanted you to do, because he always gets what he wants. He was my parent’s favorite.’
Well, I think that’s what her words were. It was so long ago, I could only vaguely remember.
What kills me is that I don’t really even know how I feel. There were times when I felt drawn to Caspian, in ways that I never felt drawn to anybody before. Even Richard. Compared to Caspian, Richard was just a little girl crush.
Am I saying that I might actually… Love Caspian?
Is it love when I want to run my hands through his chocolate hair, or gaze into his eyes for hours? I barely know anything about him, really. Is it just his looks that I want? Could I really be this conceded? I didn’t want to be that kind of person.
I shook my head, and I excused myself from the dinner table, leaving the laughing friends behind. I walked into the bedroom I had slept in, unconsciously, still thinking of Caspian.
I lay in bed, trying to escape the world of Caspian Nightstone. I could only remember the way he saved my life, twice, once with a knife to his back. I could vividly remember his face inches from mine, the dagger deep in his back, his sky blue eyes flecked with gold staring intensely into mine with immense pain. He did that for me.
It was a comfort, really, to feel loved. It was also a curse, considering the consequences of the prophecy. The barrier between me and any man I would love.
I remember when Caspian had found my letter from my mother, and when he had said he wanted to protect me. There was something there, something not exactly mundane about him. I felt… Intense and breathtaking.
I realized that I miss him. I believe I fell asleep after that, but it felt as though I was only half asleep… Like those nights where you feel like you were awake all night, but you really slept.
His broad shoulders framed his upper body as he stood his ground, his arms crossed and a blank look to his handsome face. Strands of dark, chocolate-like hair hung over his gorgeous eyes that seemed to stare right into my soul.
“No…” I spoke, and my voice sounded unlike of my own. “Don’t do this.”
Caspian’s eyes pleaded. “I can’t stop myself from loving you, Mary.”
I shook my head. “No… You don’t know me…”
I was suddenly alone, in the dark. I couldn’t see. I wished for Caspian to be there, to hold me and protect me. He wasn’t there.
I heard Abby’s voice, ringing and echoing in the darkness.
“Mary… Mary… You love him, Mary… Open your eyes..!”
I awoke, and the dawn sun broke through slightly in the cracks of the windows. The room was dimly lit, besides a dying, flickering candle left on the window sill. I was alone.
I sat back down in my straw bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking of the last words I ever spoke to Caspian Nightstone.
I think I love you, Mary.
What should I do?
No…
What have I done?
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