Chapter two:
Katie managed to walk to the first row of seats and fall on them. Her heart was pounding and sweat ran down her forehead. After hours of scrubbing the marble floor with an anti-acid-extract-whatever she was finally done with the Arena. The evening was probably approaching, because the lighting was turned on. Katie then heard the clacking of hooves, that was echoing trough the quiet place. She slightly raised her heavy head and saw the duelmaster coming down the stone stairs. He stopped right next to the chair Katie was lying on. She had to lower her foot to see Diego's unicorn face. He looked at the mop to his hooves and then gazed at the clean duel arena.
'' You don't give up easily, do you?'' he asked with a grin. Katie's head fell back to the seat.
'' What do you think?'' she copied Diego's earlier said words. He laughed and took a free seat next to Katie, crossing his arms to the stone bearing in front. The girl sat up straight in her's, just to be polite.
'' Why do you always have to give the Headmaster a headache?'' Katie's smile faded. She made a ring fall out of her sleeve. It was made of bronze, covered in tiny ember chunks, with a golden, four-sided star. Diego frowned at it...it seemed familiar...
'' So I wouldn't be sad,'' Katie said, shifting the ring around her fingers.'' The professor found me with this ring tied to my neck. Looking at it makes me remember that I'm alone here, with only Eric and Mary to support me. And when I think about it...it feels like...''
'' Like it's growing weight in your chest,'' said the duelmaster in a hushed voice. Katie had no idea how he knew that. There was an uncomfortable silence. It was strange to her that he knew what she felt. Maybe he lives with something similar? Katie was relieved when Diego sighed.
'' You know, it has been some time since I saw the Arena this clean,'' he leaned back. Katie looked at it for herself. It did look better...the view made her put back the bad memories aside. The lighting were making the marble floor gleam, so it was like she's looking at a rainbow.
'' Ever tried to duel?''
'' No. No, never,'' Katie answered bitterly. For a second, she didn't know why the duelmaster asked that, but then something popped up in her mind,'' Wait...'' she looked up at Diego. He had a tilted smile and looked at her softly.
'' Want to try?'' he finally said. Katie's eyes widened. She jumped up with her wand ready.
'' Of course!'' Diego laughed at her excitement. He took out his sharp foil and waved it. Immediately a wooden clockwork dummy appeared in the middle of the arena. Katie walked up to him, and suddenly a dueling circle formed on the ground. It showed how much '' health'' she had and the triangular in the dark swirling vortex said who's turn is it. Of course it was hers!
Unfortunately, Katie didn't know the first things of dueling. She did learn spells in class, but she never got to use them...which was a bummer.
Diego threw her a spare spelldeck and began explaining:
'' It is simple. Take out a few cards and chose which you want to cast,'' Katie took out four cards: Bloodbat, Firecat, Frostbeetle and some kind of shield. She picked a Frostbeetle and drew an Ice symbol with her wand. The chosen card dissolved and the middle of the duel circle was turned to ice. The beetle showed up and charged for the dummy. Tunk! It's head spun from the attack.
'' Ha ha ha,'' laughed Katie.
'' Wonderful, NightBloom,'' cheered Diego. As the dummy passed Katie casted the shield. It spins around her doing nothing. The dummy passed once more, the girl summoned a Bloodbat and it's health kept draining, though Diego looked worried. Katie was hoping the dummy will pass again, but it drew a fire symbol and in the middle of the ring flamed a crest. It exploded and a Sunbird flew up, shrieking. As the bird attacked Katie, she gasped and covered herself with her red cape ( not much for defense). The surprise was that she felt only a soft kick.
Katie blinked and looked at her health. About 100 was gone, but that was not much!
'' Shield and resistance. Very clever,'' said Diego. He waved his foil and the dummy sank back into the ground. Katie was a little disappointed, but handed the spelldeck to the duelmaster. Diego stared at it for a moment, the shook his head. '' Keep it,'' he said.
Katie's jaw dropped. '' No... I can't...''
'' You deserve it. Besides, I can see you like breaking rules. This will be a tiny secret.''
A.N: I know, I know...I haven't posted in like forever, and this is short, but I'll try and make everything continue ;)