AN: Yay! I updated! Chapter three is here for your enjoyment! Sorry it took so long, but it's been hectic around here. I'll try and update faster next time. Anyways, I'll let you read now.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Young Wizard Series. If I did, I would be rich and I so obviously am not.
Chapter Three: Hide and Seek
As the events of the other day passed through her mind, Tatiana shuddered. How could something like that have happened? What had compelled her to take a bite of that apple? She knew she should have checked it first, yet she had taken a bite anyways. Nita had explained to her what it meant, so Tatiana knew well what would eventually happen, unless she could find a way to foil his plans. As it stood right now, she didn't know what to do, but she had to figure something out if she wanted to escape what was going to happen. Shaking her head in dismay, she pushed herself up off the sand and looked out to the water. Needing some place quiet and solitary to think, Tatiana had gone to one of the secluded beaches. However, storm clouds could be seen in the distance out over the ocean and they were heading this way. There was no use staying here just to worry about what could happen. Throwing her transit circle onto the sand, she stepped into it and spoke the words to activate the spell. A few seconds later she was emerging from the small cluster of trees in Nita's back yard. She jogged up to the back door and knocked.
"Go ahead and come on in!" Someone yelled from inside. Tatiana pushed open the door and slipped inside. "We're in the living room." Now that she was inside, Tatiana could identify the voice and being Dairine's. Following the sound of people talking quietly, Tatiana made her way to the living room only to be brought up short by what she saw. There were books every where, open on the floor and on the coffee table.
"Hello, what's all this for?" She asked. Tom and Carl looked up from the books they were studying so intently.
"We're trying to help you find a way to cancel the effects of eating that apple." Carl explained. As he mentioned what she'd done, a fresh wave of guilt washed over her.
"I'm so sorry," She said. "All I do is cause trouble for you guys. You know you don't have to do this."
"We want to do this." Nita said. "And you don't cause us trouble. The Lone Power does. If it wasn't for him, we'd all be happily enjoying a nice day right now."
"Actually, it's going to rain." Tatiana informed them. "I was just down at the beech and I saw a storm approaching."
"Hmm, that's odd. The weather man didn't predict a storm for today." Kit said as he flipped through the pages of a particularly thick book. Tatiana carefully walked into the living room, avoiding stepping on anyone or anything.
"You know how unpredictable weather is." Roshaun commented. He too was pouring over the contents of a book. "Hey, Dairine, why don't you see what Spot has to say about the weather. He is accurate about that sort of thing, isn't he?" Roshaun asked.
"Of course he is." Dairine snapped. As always, she was testy when it came to questioning Spot's abilities. She closed her eyes for a few moments and Spot appeared out of nowhere. Without hesitation, Dairine flipped open his cover and started typing away. It was a while before she spoke.
"You know," She said, "I think Kit was on to something. The radar isn't showing anything resembling a storm for miles in this area. There's a storm down in Avalon, New Jersey, and there's cloud cover all over the place, but no storms in this area." Nita put her book down and went to go see for herself.
"She's right, there're no storms in the area." Nita commented. "Are you sure you saw a storm approaching?" She asked, turning to Tatiana.
"I'm certain. I could even show you." Tatiana said.
"Perhaps you should." Tom said. Everyone gratefully put their books down and stretched. After taking a few minutes to compose themselves and put the books into neat stacks, they all got to work setting up the transit circle. Tatiana had to give them the coordinates, but they pretty much handled it on their own. Right as they were about to get into place and close the circle, Tatiana thought of something.
"We should have a sub-routine ready to go, just in case there's danger." She said. "And everyone should activate their shields."
"I've got Spot setting up the sub-routine." Dairine said. With that taken care of everyone stepped into their appropriate places and spoke the necessary words to activate the spell. When they arrived at the beech, Tatiana looked around before glancing out to the ocean to show them the storm.
"Look, there it is." She said, pointing at the storm clouds. They were much closer now.
"Wow, that doesn't look good." Roshaun said. The others nodded in agreement.
"So what do you think is causing it?" Nita asked.
"I don't know. It could be another trick of the Lone One's to distract us." Tom said.
"What do you think we should do about it?" Kit questioned. "It doesn't seem like a good idea to let that thing stay."
"We really don't have any other choice." Dairine said sitting down on the sand. "I had Spot change the view of the radar to show a view of any type of weather magic or anything even remotely related. Right now it's showing all sorts of atmosphere related spells currently running, but this storm system here still isn't showing up. Without knowing the cause and without knowing what it is, we have no way of getting rid of it." She explained. Everyone else plopped down on the sand as well, all wondering what would happen if they let the storm continue getting closer.
"So what do we do?" Nita asked.
"Well, if you surrender Tatiana, I can call of the storm." A cold voice said from behind them. They all scrambled up, pushing Tatiana to the back of the group. The Lone One sauntered slowly closer.
"Demitri," Tatiana whispered. It was only one of his many names, but it was the one that she knew him by.
"Ah, you remember." He said with a dark smile. "So, what do you say to my offer?" He asked.
"We would never strike a deal with youand out of all the time we've faced you, you should know that by now." Dairine said before anyone could get a word in.
"A deal? You think I am trying to strike a deal? Oh, that's priceless." He said laughing. "I think even you should know that I'm not stupid enough to try that with two Seniors standing there. Not that they could outmatch me. No, I'm just trying to give you an option other than death. It doesn't matter to me because one way or another, I will get Tatiana." Silence met his words.
"Dairine, is that sub-routine ready?" Roshaun whispered quietly. Dairine nodded slightly, making it look like she was just bowing her head as if in defeat.
"If you want Tatiana, you're gonna have to try harder than that." Roshaun said. Demitri laughed.
"And what makes you think that?" He asked, still laughing.
"Now Dairine," Tom said calmly. Dairine whispered a word in the speech. It was just one word, but it was the word that was needed to complete the spell. For a brief second they saw Demitri's expression darken in anger. Then they were gone.
They appeared in a barren landscape of sorts. The bleak hills and plains that spread before them did not look welcoming. The seven of them stood on top of a hill next to a tree bare of leaves. A harsh wind swept across the landscape, raking through the branches of the tree and rattling them loudly. Everyone huddled close for a few moments while they checked for anything suspicious. As soon as they ensured that they were safe for the moment, they relaxed.
"Okay, we don't have much time, so we're gonna have to make plans fast." Dairine said as she typed away at spot.
"What are we going to do?" Tatiana asked. She hated to feel so helpless.
"How about we play hide and seek?" Nita suggested. This confused Tatiana even more, but before she could ask Nita explained. "We can hop from planet to planet, or even universe to universe until we come up with a better plan. We all know that the Lone One can follow our trail so we can't stay in one place." She explained.
"Isn't that the truth." Kit said. "We certainly had to do that more than once on all of our little jaunts. It even worked during Dairine's Ordeal."
"It worked during ours, too, Kit. Except we didn't hop from planet to planet. It was more like hide and seek within two worlds." Nita commented.
"Well, it seems like you kids have everything under control." Tom said with approval. "That works well for us, because with what just happened I would imagine that Earth isn't going to fare so well until this whole thing is over."
"Yeah, it would probably be a good idea for us to head back. We need to inform the other wizards of Earth on what's going on." Carl said. "If you guys can hang around for a bit, we can send a little backup."
"I think we can spare the time." Dairine said. "But make it fast, because we don't have that long." Carl nodded his understanding.
"Then you guys go well. We hope to see you home again." Tom said. With that he and Carl disappeared, leaving the five of them alone. There was a moment of silence.
"So," Kit said slowly. "Who do you think they're gonna sent as backup?" He asked. No one knew what to expect, though. Tom and Carl could send someone they were familiar with, or the two Seniors could send someone they have never met before.
"I'm kind of hoping for someone we know, hopefully someone with power. We're going to need a lot of power to get us through this one." Roshaun said. The others nodded in agreement. Tatiana, who was standing a little apart from the group, just watched as they all settled down to wait. Dairine had done a cloaking spell before running the sub-routine spell. Everyone knew it wouldn't completely stop their enemy, but it would slow him down considerably. Tatiana sighed and sat down on the ground. She hated running. What she wanted more than anything was to turn around and face the Lone One like she would have in the good old days. Demitri, she thought to herself. Why would you do something like this? This wasn't the person I knew. Even as she was thinking this, she knew that it wasn't her thinking it. Yet at the same time... it was.
AN: So how did you like it? Please, I need reviews! I'll die if I don't have them!... Okay, so maybe I won't die. Do you guys even read the AN's? Oh well, if you do please review!