now undergoing editing, endlessstars had spotted a problem, i think that i should fix, i noticed too but didn't dwell too much on. Thanks! Also reviews are appreciated
Bartimaeus
I had to give it to Kitty, she really knows how to express her emotions. That is well and fine but I would have liked it better had chosen to actually talk to the culprit of this mess instead of hammering what she thought of this into my brain. Speaking of which, the little idiot seems to be waking up.
Nathaniel pushed himself up into a sitting position and glanced around muddledly.
"Owww…" he groaned.
I decided I should give him a fair warning before he gets run over by Kitty.
"Say…Natty boy," I said quite calmly.
He blinked, glanced at me, his brow furrowed in confusion.
Typical magician, always slow to comprehend the situation. I should speed up the process, Kitty was currently keeping her word but I could sense the air beside me vibrating in anger.
"Being the paranoid magician you are, I know you kept a spare pair of house keys around here somewhere…"
Kitty stood up.
Ah, here it comes; I knew it wouldn't last long.
"Nathaniel, would you care to explain where the hell have you been before I beat the crap out of you or should I do that and ask questions later?!"
Nathaniel froze stock still, poor thing, he hesitated one second too long.
Kitty promptly stepped forward and slapped him.
The magician gave an undignified yelp.*
Kitty scowled, "Don't be such a sissy, you deserve worse. I came this close to strangling you on sight but I thought it would be better if I did that away from Cinnamon or else she might think I was attacking you and demand the pearl back. You have a lot of explaining to do."
Great, so instead she yelled and screamed at me like crazy. Though it might have been my fault but never would I admit that. Glad to know how much she cared.*
"Nathaniel," I murmured, "Go get the keys already."
"I know." He muttered, then got up and stumbled off in a dazed manner.
I looked at Kitty thoughtfully, "You seem to be feeling better, I gotta try that one. Be careful though, I think you scarred that kid for life."
She gave a snort, "Impossible, he was already scarred for life. By you."
"Ha ha." Inwardly, I felt quite smug.
I, Bartimaeus of Urk, has finally proven how great I truly am. How nice to be appreciated.
I watched Nathaniel come back with a pair of keys; one was a gold color and the other silver.
He climbed up the stairs and inserted the first one into the keyhole and muttered something. Then inserted the other into the bottom keyhole and turned. There was a clicking sound. He pushed and the door swung inward. I followed him in, it had been a while, the air had that stale quality that comes from being cooped up too long. Same as us, we get weaker as time passes, hmm whose fault was that I wonder. Nathaniel wrinkled his nose and coughed. Kitty closed the door behind us and locked it. I was still pondering why Nathaniel's aura appeared irregular and didn't notice when he stopped. I almost bumped into him.*
"Kitty…" His voice came out a bit high.
I could hear his mind racing, trying to think of solutions to problems I didn't know existed. Then he realized I was probably listening in and slammed the door in my face. Quite rudely too, think of it like a mind block spell, but only virtually. Already cracks were showing. Can't keep me out for long.
"Kitty," Nathaniel tried again*, "Um, the guest room is on the 2nd floor, bathrooms are located…"
Here I tuned out. I understood him blearily enough to know he was nervous and had started babbling. Humans, prone to things called feelings, morals blah blah blah…all very sweet and innocent.
"Yes, but I would like to know what happened." The girl said.
I leaned in closer, by this time; I had been standing to the side for quite a while. Not that I was very keen on the magic lecture that was sure to follow but I needed to know.
"So," Nathaniel began, "I will be brief and succinct, when the staff broke, the spirits residing in it were dismissed, thus when they traveled back to the Other place they created a vortex that temporarily sucked things in, much like with Ramuthra, so I was caught up in the whirlpool and sucked into the other place while the energy shockwaves destroyed the Glass palace. I was unconscious by that time so I didn't know what happened next but presumably the Other place saved my life and healed me or something because the next thing I knew I was being summoned and then I woke up . And yeah. I could tell you all the details once I do a bit of research on the topic in my library, such as if there are any other recorded cases of such an event." He finished and looked at Kitty nervously.
"Uh-huh, all I heard was blah blah magical magician nonsense." Kitty stated bluntly.
Nathaniel opened his mouth to protest but thought better of it.
"So in other words?" She prompted.
"I am a hybrid now." He said quietly.
Kitty blinked in shock, I could see her putting the pieces together.
"Ok, and?" She said.
Ahh, I love this, the expression on Nat's face.
"But…you are not scared? Or disgusted? Or angry? Don't you hate me?" He asked incredulously.
"Um, no, I think that is just you." I interjected.
The magician shot me a bewildered look. It was the way he was raised no doubt, they are all taught the same things, demons are bad, disgusting, the same trash they feed the commoners. The whole hybrid thing didn't help much. Probally even being with us was going against his very nature, didn't seem to bother Kitty though.
Kitty gave a little laugh, making Nathaniel jump slightly.
"Like I care, seriously, do you really think it makes any difference? Angry yes but I'm here for a reason. I became friends with you and Bartimaeus didn't I? "
Great, now she is bringing that up.
"Yah, but…"
"But nothing, I don't care what you are. You are still you, and acting like it too." Kitty snickered and walked off.
I glanced at the magician, who was standing dumbfounded with his mouth hanging open.
"What was the last part supposed to mean?" Nathaniel questioned.
"I think she let you off easy." I muttered.
"Are you kidding me? I have barely been in her presence for an hour and I have a bruise on my head the size of Prague and she slapped me!"
"Listen to yourself, you sound like a whiny three year old."
"Will you stop? I have stuff to do. I need to research the history of hybrids and what the pearl does." He turned and stomped off, leaving me behind.
*Can't say I didn't enjoy that, sure I have heard about it, but this was the first time I had seen it in person. Made me feel much better, that did. You have no idea how many times I had wanted to do that.
*Not sure how that was different from shouting at Nathaniel but hey, you never know what goes on inside a human's brain…Actually, I do but I will not dwell on that. Ugh.
*almost, 5000 years of experience prevented me
* I applaud him for his effort, really
