"You're doing it wrong,"
A crisp, cool breeze weaved its way around the trees of the forest. Kit sat in the dirt, using his finger to doodle large, loopy circles in the powdery ground, and Nita frowned at him from the rock she sat on.
"It's not supposed to look like that," she told him simply. He rolled his eyes, and muttered,
"Would you like to come over here then and do it yourself?" Nita shrugged and sighed to herself. Kit also let out a soft groan. All she did was criticize him! He bent over and continued to work.
"Kit, that's wrong," Nita told him again, getting exasperated with his defiance. He frowned at her, thinking to himself, 'Why doesn't she just come over and help if she doesn't like the way I'm doing it,' he quickly tried to hide it, but it was too late. Nita had heard it. She let out a soft sigh, and rolled her eyes.
"Fine," she muttered, and began to doodle her own designs, but it was Kit's turn to groan.
"That's even worse than mine," he scolded. Nita gave him a reproving look, and went back to sit on her rock, turning her eyes towards the clear blue sky. Kit just kept working, and Nita shook her head.
She looked up at the tops of the leafy trees high above her. The wind carried the trees' voices to her and she listened as they whispered to each other about how annoying it was to have their leaves pushed out of the way so that Kit could draw in the dirt.
"The trees are a bit upset. They want you to stop," Nita informed him.
"Yeah? Well that rock your big fat butt's on isn't too happy, either," Kit instantly regretted his comment as Nita stood up and folded her arms.
"Well, I guess you can do this spell without my big fat butt in your way now," and she strode off in a huff. Kit watched open mouthed, as Nita stomped out of the clearing in the forest. Kit hung his head low. Ever since they had gotten back into their usual routine again, this was how it had been. They were great friends, but all they had done lately was bicker. And Kit couldn't help but think that half of it was his fault. Lately, his big mouth had been getting the better of him, and he knew Nita was going through a hard time now, with her mother just getting out of the hospital and all.
Kit sighed, and finished the spell with a wizard's knot. He read it aloud, and was frozen stiff as they spell began to work. The wind picked up in his ears and his lips could only continue mouthing the words of the speech.
"Da'h istum'a kilso termont'tele kilswitho to' ict." He continued rapidly and his words sped up until he was almost out of breath. He somehow felt like he should have waited for Nita to perform the spell, but was angry with her and hurt at the way she'd been treating him lately. Finally, the spell was over, and Kit looked around at the garbage littering the ground. It vanished, and he smiled, but couldn't help feeling that the smile was not out of accomplishment, since Nita had done most of the work, but at the fact that there was no longer a nagging voice in his ear, 'Kit, you're doing it wrong,' or 'Kit, the trees are mad at you.'
Kit opened his personal claudication and pulled out his long, metal rod of a wand. He did the beam-me-up spell and with a pop, was soon standing outside of his own house, debating on weather he should go inside or apologize to Nita. After a long hesitation, he stepped through the front door, and Poncho leapt on him, licking his drawn face.
Nita found herself in front of her house, frowning slightly from her past argument. Kit and Nita's arguing was becoming more frequent lately, and Nita wished it would stop. She felt as though if it continued, their partnership would totally fall apart, not to mention their friendship, and she mourned at the thought of having to work all by herself.
Dairine looked up from the book she was reading, Parallel Universes Beyond Our Comprehension. Nita strode right past her, but Dairine's gaze followed her until she got to the end of the hallway.
"Weren't you working with Kit?" she stuck her nose in Nita's business yet again.
"Yes, but we're done, so just go back to your book," Nita spat at her. Dairine gave her a look that said someone's-snotty-today, and then she thought, 'I know you guys are in another fight. I'm not stupid; you just did this,' Nita turned up her nose at her.
"Well, whatever's going on between Kit and I, is none of your business," Nita retorted, and dropped herself on her lumpy bed. She laid there, and wondered what was going to happen to Kit and her. That was when her thoughts went wandering into uncovered territory. She thought of where the Lone Power was now. His world had come to pieces, and he was hiding out somewhere unknown. Nita grabbed her manual, and flipped through the pages, hoping for something to jump out at her. Sadly, nothing did.
'Maybe I should go apologize. I was acting dumb,' Kit thought. He was also hoping that their friendship would not come to pieces, but knew that it already had. He wished there was someway to fix it. Sighing, he turned over on his bed, and decided to beam himself up to Nita's house.
There was a loud POP and Kit appeared in Nita's backyard. He rapped loudly on the door, and Mrs. Callahan opened the door. She smiled, and greeted him warmly. Kit looked at her mournfully. He couldn't see the happy woman he used to see in her. All he could see was a dying mother. She gave him that look that said, I-don't-want-to-be-treated-like-that, and Kit apologized. He trudged up the stairs until he came to Nita's room, and he knocked on the closed door. There was no answer. He knocked louder, and Nita opened the door, turning back to her manual, as though absorbed in the book.
"Nita, I'm sorry I was a jerk back there. It's just I-" Kit noticed Nita wasn't paying him any attention. He curiously went up to see what she was so hooked on, and she snapped the book shut.
"What?" she asked him, as though she had simply not heard, rather than not listened.
"I was going to apologize before you got your eyes glued to that page," Kit explained. "What are you reading, anyway?" Nita looked down at the manual, and decided to tell him. She opened to the page, and pointed to it, beginning to explain.
"It's about the Lone One. It says he's not changing anymore, and that he's getting- well, worse. He's supposedly trying to create something worse than death- worse than entropy. And then, look-" she turned the page, and pointed to Kit's name. "It says you're on assignment, but not me. Are you doing something alone?" she asked him. Kit shook his head as he read his name in the book.
"I don't know why it says that. Maybe it got messed up," Kit suggested.
"Kit, don't be so naïve. The manual doesn't get messed up. Not even by powerful dark forces," Nita swallowed. This was confirming what she had been dreading all along.
"So are you trying to tell me that this means we have to work alone now?" Kit asked slowly. Nita shrugged her shoulders.
"I honestly don't know what it's telling us, but I bet that's pretty close," her voice dropped and her heart bottomed out. True, she hadn't been getting along with Kit, and maybe she didn't want to spend the rest of her life with him, but now he would probably go find a better partner. She tried very hard for him not to hear what she was thinking, and figured he hadn't heard from the silence.
"Well, what do we do now?" Kit asked.
"We wait for you to go on assignment. Then you go, and I- I just stay behind," Nita slumped down on her bed, and stared at the ceiling. She didn't want to be left out.
Kit snapped open his claudication quickly and pulled out what looked like a dulled light bulb that had burnt out. He handed it to her.
"It's the glede- the dragon eye, or what's left of it anyway. I kept it. You know, a souvenir. You can have it," Kit stood up. "I should probably go. See ya later," Nita looked at the glede and wondered if Kit had heard what she had thought after all.
"So, what are you doing for your assignment?" Nita asked Kit as they worked on the next spell. Kit shrugged.
"Maybe it was a fluke," Kit tried to convince Nita more than himself. Nita rolled her eyes.
"No, it wasn't. It couldn't have been," Nita argued.
"Yes, it could," Kit retorted.
"Those things don't happen for no reason! You have to go alone weather you like it or not." Nita complained.
"Fine! I'd rather do it alone than with someone who would just nag me the whole time!" Kit let his temper get the better of him.
"Fine! Go do it alone! In fact, why don't you just do everything alone from now on! Forget me!" Nita blew up at him. Kit was taken aback. He didn't want to do everything without Nita. But she was acting like she didn't care.
"Fine," Kit muttered, giving her a long cold stare before he strode away. Nita sighed, and turned to go as well.
Nita opened her manual. She was searching for the section on the Lone Power and his rise, but couldn't find it. 'Maybe it went away,' Nita thought to herself. 'Maybe the Lone One is not powerful anymore.'
"Or maybe," a cold, drawling voice said behind her. "I just wanted to get rid of the add before I put my plan to action." Nita's eyes bugged out of her head and she turned around to face a tall, handsome man cloaked in darkness leering at her. She stood up quickly and backed away, fumbling to yank open her claudication for something to help her. She missed, and the Lone Power moved in on her.
"MOM! DAD!" Nita screamed. The Lone One's laughter filled the room.
"They can't hear you. I put up a sound block. You can't get out, either. I've finally got you right where I want you," the Lone One sneered at her. Finally, Nita yanked open her claudication, and felt for her wand, but only pulled out the glede before tumbling into complete darkness as a spell formed around her. She let out an earsplitting scream that came out as a muffled moan that no one could hear. It felt like she was spiraling down for hours before she hit a hard rock bottom and a searing pain shot up her elbow and she was riddled with pain. She let her eyes adjust to the dismal darkness that engulfed her. There were rock walls on all sides of her. It was like she was in a cave with no opening.
"Help!" She called out until her voice was hoarse. "Somebody!" She tried to do a spell, or even open her claudication, but it was like a magic-free zone. Finally, she slumped down against the sharp, stone wall, soft tears spilling down her cheeks. She knew she'd never make it out of here alive.
'And to think, he last thing I said to Kit was that I wanted him to leave me alone,' she furiously thought. Leaning her head against the jagged wall disconnecting her to the outside world, she knew there was nothing to do but wait.
A crisp, cool breeze weaved its way around the trees of the forest. Kit sat in the dirt, using his finger to doodle large, loopy circles in the powdery ground, and Nita frowned at him from the rock she sat on.
"It's not supposed to look like that," she told him simply. He rolled his eyes, and muttered,
"Would you like to come over here then and do it yourself?" Nita shrugged and sighed to herself. Kit also let out a soft groan. All she did was criticize him! He bent over and continued to work.
"Kit, that's wrong," Nita told him again, getting exasperated with his defiance. He frowned at her, thinking to himself, 'Why doesn't she just come over and help if she doesn't like the way I'm doing it,' he quickly tried to hide it, but it was too late. Nita had heard it. She let out a soft sigh, and rolled her eyes.
"Fine," she muttered, and began to doodle her own designs, but it was Kit's turn to groan.
"That's even worse than mine," he scolded. Nita gave him a reproving look, and went back to sit on her rock, turning her eyes towards the clear blue sky. Kit just kept working, and Nita shook her head.
She looked up at the tops of the leafy trees high above her. The wind carried the trees' voices to her and she listened as they whispered to each other about how annoying it was to have their leaves pushed out of the way so that Kit could draw in the dirt.
"The trees are a bit upset. They want you to stop," Nita informed him.
"Yeah? Well that rock your big fat butt's on isn't too happy, either," Kit instantly regretted his comment as Nita stood up and folded her arms.
"Well, I guess you can do this spell without my big fat butt in your way now," and she strode off in a huff. Kit watched open mouthed, as Nita stomped out of the clearing in the forest. Kit hung his head low. Ever since they had gotten back into their usual routine again, this was how it had been. They were great friends, but all they had done lately was bicker. And Kit couldn't help but think that half of it was his fault. Lately, his big mouth had been getting the better of him, and he knew Nita was going through a hard time now, with her mother just getting out of the hospital and all.
Kit sighed, and finished the spell with a wizard's knot. He read it aloud, and was frozen stiff as they spell began to work. The wind picked up in his ears and his lips could only continue mouthing the words of the speech.
"Da'h istum'a kilso termont'tele kilswitho to' ict." He continued rapidly and his words sped up until he was almost out of breath. He somehow felt like he should have waited for Nita to perform the spell, but was angry with her and hurt at the way she'd been treating him lately. Finally, the spell was over, and Kit looked around at the garbage littering the ground. It vanished, and he smiled, but couldn't help feeling that the smile was not out of accomplishment, since Nita had done most of the work, but at the fact that there was no longer a nagging voice in his ear, 'Kit, you're doing it wrong,' or 'Kit, the trees are mad at you.'
Kit opened his personal claudication and pulled out his long, metal rod of a wand. He did the beam-me-up spell and with a pop, was soon standing outside of his own house, debating on weather he should go inside or apologize to Nita. After a long hesitation, he stepped through the front door, and Poncho leapt on him, licking his drawn face.
Nita found herself in front of her house, frowning slightly from her past argument. Kit and Nita's arguing was becoming more frequent lately, and Nita wished it would stop. She felt as though if it continued, their partnership would totally fall apart, not to mention their friendship, and she mourned at the thought of having to work all by herself.
Dairine looked up from the book she was reading, Parallel Universes Beyond Our Comprehension. Nita strode right past her, but Dairine's gaze followed her until she got to the end of the hallway.
"Weren't you working with Kit?" she stuck her nose in Nita's business yet again.
"Yes, but we're done, so just go back to your book," Nita spat at her. Dairine gave her a look that said someone's-snotty-today, and then she thought, 'I know you guys are in another fight. I'm not stupid; you just did this,' Nita turned up her nose at her.
"Well, whatever's going on between Kit and I, is none of your business," Nita retorted, and dropped herself on her lumpy bed. She laid there, and wondered what was going to happen to Kit and her. That was when her thoughts went wandering into uncovered territory. She thought of where the Lone Power was now. His world had come to pieces, and he was hiding out somewhere unknown. Nita grabbed her manual, and flipped through the pages, hoping for something to jump out at her. Sadly, nothing did.
'Maybe I should go apologize. I was acting dumb,' Kit thought. He was also hoping that their friendship would not come to pieces, but knew that it already had. He wished there was someway to fix it. Sighing, he turned over on his bed, and decided to beam himself up to Nita's house.
There was a loud POP and Kit appeared in Nita's backyard. He rapped loudly on the door, and Mrs. Callahan opened the door. She smiled, and greeted him warmly. Kit looked at her mournfully. He couldn't see the happy woman he used to see in her. All he could see was a dying mother. She gave him that look that said, I-don't-want-to-be-treated-like-that, and Kit apologized. He trudged up the stairs until he came to Nita's room, and he knocked on the closed door. There was no answer. He knocked louder, and Nita opened the door, turning back to her manual, as though absorbed in the book.
"Nita, I'm sorry I was a jerk back there. It's just I-" Kit noticed Nita wasn't paying him any attention. He curiously went up to see what she was so hooked on, and she snapped the book shut.
"What?" she asked him, as though she had simply not heard, rather than not listened.
"I was going to apologize before you got your eyes glued to that page," Kit explained. "What are you reading, anyway?" Nita looked down at the manual, and decided to tell him. She opened to the page, and pointed to it, beginning to explain.
"It's about the Lone One. It says he's not changing anymore, and that he's getting- well, worse. He's supposedly trying to create something worse than death- worse than entropy. And then, look-" she turned the page, and pointed to Kit's name. "It says you're on assignment, but not me. Are you doing something alone?" she asked him. Kit shook his head as he read his name in the book.
"I don't know why it says that. Maybe it got messed up," Kit suggested.
"Kit, don't be so naïve. The manual doesn't get messed up. Not even by powerful dark forces," Nita swallowed. This was confirming what she had been dreading all along.
"So are you trying to tell me that this means we have to work alone now?" Kit asked slowly. Nita shrugged her shoulders.
"I honestly don't know what it's telling us, but I bet that's pretty close," her voice dropped and her heart bottomed out. True, she hadn't been getting along with Kit, and maybe she didn't want to spend the rest of her life with him, but now he would probably go find a better partner. She tried very hard for him not to hear what she was thinking, and figured he hadn't heard from the silence.
"Well, what do we do now?" Kit asked.
"We wait for you to go on assignment. Then you go, and I- I just stay behind," Nita slumped down on her bed, and stared at the ceiling. She didn't want to be left out.
Kit snapped open his claudication quickly and pulled out what looked like a dulled light bulb that had burnt out. He handed it to her.
"It's the glede- the dragon eye, or what's left of it anyway. I kept it. You know, a souvenir. You can have it," Kit stood up. "I should probably go. See ya later," Nita looked at the glede and wondered if Kit had heard what she had thought after all.
"So, what are you doing for your assignment?" Nita asked Kit as they worked on the next spell. Kit shrugged.
"Maybe it was a fluke," Kit tried to convince Nita more than himself. Nita rolled her eyes.
"No, it wasn't. It couldn't have been," Nita argued.
"Yes, it could," Kit retorted.
"Those things don't happen for no reason! You have to go alone weather you like it or not." Nita complained.
"Fine! I'd rather do it alone than with someone who would just nag me the whole time!" Kit let his temper get the better of him.
"Fine! Go do it alone! In fact, why don't you just do everything alone from now on! Forget me!" Nita blew up at him. Kit was taken aback. He didn't want to do everything without Nita. But she was acting like she didn't care.
"Fine," Kit muttered, giving her a long cold stare before he strode away. Nita sighed, and turned to go as well.
Nita opened her manual. She was searching for the section on the Lone Power and his rise, but couldn't find it. 'Maybe it went away,' Nita thought to herself. 'Maybe the Lone One is not powerful anymore.'
"Or maybe," a cold, drawling voice said behind her. "I just wanted to get rid of the add before I put my plan to action." Nita's eyes bugged out of her head and she turned around to face a tall, handsome man cloaked in darkness leering at her. She stood up quickly and backed away, fumbling to yank open her claudication for something to help her. She missed, and the Lone Power moved in on her.
"MOM! DAD!" Nita screamed. The Lone One's laughter filled the room.
"They can't hear you. I put up a sound block. You can't get out, either. I've finally got you right where I want you," the Lone One sneered at her. Finally, Nita yanked open her claudication, and felt for her wand, but only pulled out the glede before tumbling into complete darkness as a spell formed around her. She let out an earsplitting scream that came out as a muffled moan that no one could hear. It felt like she was spiraling down for hours before she hit a hard rock bottom and a searing pain shot up her elbow and she was riddled with pain. She let her eyes adjust to the dismal darkness that engulfed her. There were rock walls on all sides of her. It was like she was in a cave with no opening.
"Help!" She called out until her voice was hoarse. "Somebody!" She tried to do a spell, or even open her claudication, but it was like a magic-free zone. Finally, she slumped down against the sharp, stone wall, soft tears spilling down her cheeks. She knew she'd never make it out of here alive.
'And to think, he last thing I said to Kit was that I wanted him to leave me alone,' she furiously thought. Leaning her head against the jagged wall disconnecting her to the outside world, she knew there was nothing to do but wait.