A/N: Hey there! Sorry for the long wait, but I've been so busy! I was on a prolonged field trip to Italy with my class, I turned 18 and I passed the theoretical test for my driver's licence haha :D ANyways, this chapter is a bit confusing, but bear with me! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Children of the Lamp.
A small hunch
The anxiety slowly filled Philippa and she found it harder to breathe. She didn't show it, but maintained her perfectly calm façade when in truth all she wanted was to run over and hug Dybbuk. She glanced at her twin, who looked more than ready to rip Rudyard to shreds. Rudyard, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy the commotion his appearance had caused. Philippa looked back at Dybbuk and felt her chest tighten.
'Calm down. He's not the Dybbuk you knew.' She assured herself and tried to regain control over her breathing. She wouldn't admit it, but just seeing him, made her heart race.
"How about we get the party started?" The ifrit suggested and whispered his focus word. A split-second later, everyone threw themselves on the ground at the sound of a huge explosion. Rudyard howled with laughter and ran off into the jungle. John recovered first and immediately chased after him. Nimrod saw this and scrambled to his feet.
"Groanin, don't leave Philippa!" He yelled over his shoulder and followed his nephew. He had never seen John react so strongly and it worried him. The butler complied immediately and took the side of the red haired djinn.
"You look well Mr. Groanin." Dybbuk commented offhandedly. Said butler merely grunted in response. He didn't hold a grudge against the younger boy, but if he posed a threat towards Philippa, Groanin sure as hell wouldn't back down. Dybbuk seemed unaffected by the lack of response from the other party, and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
"I feel like you want to ask me something?" He looked at Philippa with calm eyes.
"Why are you here, Dybbuk?" Philippa asked him without hesitation.
"Oh, you know, I figured I'd drop by and say hello." He shrugged and took out his hands from his pocket. He took a step closer and Groanin charged at him. Dybbuk sighed and stepped forward with a strong punch. So strong, it knocked out the butler. "Groanin!" Philippa gasped.
"Now we can talk peacefully." Dybbuk smiled.
"We don't have anything to talk about." She sneered.
"Suit yourself then." He turned towards the jungle, in the direction his half-brother had gone in, and noticed a flash of blue far away.
"So you dove, huh?" The dark-haired teen muttered to himself. Philippa eyed him suspiciously and took her fighting stance. She wanted to show him that she regarded him as an enemy and that their bond from before no longer existed.
"You've changed." He observed quietly.
"Oh, really now?" Philippa asked sarcastically, "as far as I'm concerned, you are the one who's changed."
"Maybe so." He smiled again. His smile was getting on Philippa's nerves.
"What do you want, Dybbuk?" She tried again, "why did you come here?" Tears threatened to fall from her eyes and for a second, Philippa thought, she saw a glint of worry on his features, but she dismissed the thought immediately. There was no way, someone as cold-hearted as Dybbuk would give a damn about her.
"A second chance, you could say." He looked her straight in the eye and stepped closer.
"What do you mean?" Philippa raised a brow, still in her fighting stance.
"That's for you to find out." He said coolly and charged forward. He caught Philippa by surprise and aimed a low kick at her ankles. Luckily, she jumped out of the way and kicked him hard in the side. Dybbuk winced and turned around.
"Ow…" He said and rubbed his ribs gently. Philippa didn't move and waited for his next move. She felt incredibly calm and observed her opponent quietly. Dybbuk sighed and locked eyes with Philippa.
"I don't want to hurt you, Philippa." He told her calmly with honesty in his eyes. She felt a stab in her chest when he said her name. She had missed the way he called her name so much, but she had to stay strong, she couldn't reveal her emotions at such a crucial time.
"Too bad you are my enemy, then." She muttered. "Yeah." Dybbuk agreed and attacked again.
Philippa matched him in power, blow by blow, and silently thanked her mother for making her take up martial arts. She was nowhere near John's level, but she knew how to put up a fight. Dybbuk seemed impressed and whistled at one of her punches that would have broken his nose, had he not been fast enough to evade it.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Groanin move a bit. He was running out of time and knew he had to end the fight. He looked into Philippa's eyes again. He had missed the fierce look in them.
He grabbed her arm when she tried to punch him, and was just about to knock her out, when she unleashed a flare of green. The flames danced around her and made it impossible to get close. He had to do something. Fast. With no other choice left, he breathed in and in a flash, he had stopped her flames, grabbed her arms with one hand and swung the other around her back, embracing her.
Philippa was stunned. She couldn't move out of his embrace, partly because her hands were bound, but also because her body froze. He breathed deeply taking in the scent of her and sighed. The difference in their heights gave Dybbuk an advantage in restricting her movements, and he used that to the fullest.
"I'm sorry, Phil." He whispered into her ear and pecked her cheek, before knocking her out. Philippa's body went limp in his arms, and he picked her up in his arms. He carried her over to the semi-conscious Groanin, and gently placed her next to him. His eyes lingered on her face for another second, before leaving them and heading towards the rendezvous. He was truly sorry, they had to part like that, but he had his orders.
The ifrit seemed to be a master at playing hide-and-seek, and it drove John nuts. Every time he felt close to catching up with Rudyard, the ifrit seemed to move smoothly out of the way. John growled and continued yelling his focus word and blowing up the ground around them. He quickly grew tired of chasing Rudyard, so he switched tactics and trapped him. John secretly sent a bit of his blue fire into the ground and spread it out to form a ring. Rudyard failed to notice John's ceased movement and ran straight into the heart of the ring. At once it flared up and rocketed to the sky, making the ifrit stop dead in his tracks. John appeared behind Rudyard and made a little hand motion to decrease the flames surrounding the ifrit.
"Why did you come here?" John demanded. Nimrod was nowhere in sight, but John had no trouble interrogating Rudyard by himself.
"Oh, you're so mean Johnny!" Rudyard taunted, reminding John way too much of his alter-ego. He shook his head and carried on.
"How did Dybbuk get you out of the jade-sarcophagus?" Rudyard started laughing at this.
"Sweet, little Dybbuk coming to our rescue. Let's just say, he got some help." The ifrit winked.
"From who?" John was getting more and more impatient.
"Doesn't matter. He's served his purpose, and so have I." Rudyard said his focus word just as Nimrod grabbed John's arm and hauled him backwards. "Nimrod!" John called out in surprise. The spot he had been occupying moments ago was now replaced by a nasty, sizzling crater.
"Light my lamp, the boy's acquired a powerful technique." Nimrod sounded impressed and exasperated at the same time. Rudyard had used John's distraction to get out of the flaming ring and let out a howl of delight as he started running deeper into the forest.
"You go left, I go right." Nimrod said and started running. John followed suit and resumed the chase of the ifrit. Rudyard had vanished completely, but John noticed a big hole in some of the bushes leading into an open space. He carefully approached it and silently entered the small clearing. He hadn't expected to find Rudyard nor had he anticipated an ambush, so when he felt Rudyard plant his feet on John's back, he crashed to the ground with wide eyes.
It took a few seconds to pull himself together and get to his feet. John dusted off his clothes and gave Rudyard a harsh glare.
"Easy there, tiger." The ifrit snickered. John snapped and charged head first into his enemy.
"ABECEDARIAN!" John yelled and suddenly his fist was coated with blue flames. He hit Rudyard's shoulder and sent the ifrit flying. He landed with a loud thump and hissed in pain.
"Damn you!" He cursed and got up. John didn't spare him a second and kicked him hard in the gut followed by a punh to the face. Rudyard growled and kneed John in the stomach, but that didn't seem to affect the younger djinn at all. He didn't utter a sound, but kicked away Rudyard's feet away and sat on top of him, rendering his arms useless. The ifrit was immobilized and could do nothing to defend himself against the barrage of punches, John threw at him. He was blinded with rage, and didn't notice Rudyard whispering something.
"Gah!" John was somehow flung away by some strong force and landed hard on his back.
"Don't get cocky." The ifrit spat and got up.
"Same goes for you." Rudyard whipped around and saw Nimrod standing behind him. "QWERTYUIOP." A steel cage appeared and trapped the ifrit, who clicked his tongue in annoyance. He didn't like being trapped and definitely not twice a day. Nimrod glanced at John, making sure he was okay and stepped closer to the cage, whose bars were made from a mixture of steel and copper.
"What is your goal?" Nimrod began.
"Not telling~" Rudyard sang, openly mocking Nimrod. Meanwhile, John had gotten to his feet and taken a few deep breaths before heading towards the cage himself.
"Very well, then." Nimrod snapped his fingers and Rudyard was zapped by a jolt of electricity. Not enough to kill him, but surely enough to make him hiss in pain. John stood next to Nimrod and observed the harsh interrogation.
'Nimrod's got style,' he thought, 'but torturing Rudyard? Hadn't seen that one coming…' John shuddered slightly, admiring and partially fearing his uncle. He seemed so different than the man in the red suit, who had visited him in his dream during the extraction of his wisdom teeth.
An idea came to John, and he turned it around a few times before deciding to try it out. He peeked at Nimrod and Rudyard, before whispering his focus word and turning his attention back to the captured ifrit.
"Damn it! I wouldn't have gone to Sienna, if I had known, I'd be electrocuted!" Rudyard groaned loudly. Either Nimrod had roasted his brains, or he was just plain stupid and thought out aloud.
"Sienna, huh? Did you happen to visit Florence as well?" Nimrod questioned. Judging from Rudyard's baffled expression, Nimrod had hit bull's-eye. The ifrit finally snapped out of it and used a colorful vocabulary of swearing. His swearing ceased abruptly and he turned his head south.
"I would love to stay and chat, but it's time for me to go. Buh-bye." He waved and snapped his fingers. The ground in front of John and Nimrod exploded and they were blown backwards. Once they got to their feet, the cage had been blown to bits and Rudyard was long gone.
"Damn it…" John muttered as he removed the specks of dust on his black t-shirt and kaki-shorts.
"He's gotten stronger, it seems." Nimrod began, "Anyhow, we should get back to Philippa and Groanin. Come on."
"Yeah…" John mumbled and followed his uncle.
When they reached their camp-site and saw both Philippa and Groanin lying unconscious, it wasn't very hard to imagine the outcome of the battle.
"Phil!" John rushed to his sister's side and tried shaking her awake. Her eyes fluttered and she groaned.
"Ouch…" Her eyes focused on John and she let out a rasping sound. "Groanin…"
"QWERTYUIOP." Nimrod swiftly made a clinic and two stretchers to carry his niece and butler inside.
Philippa woke and looked around, only to find herself in a hospital gown of some sort. She had no idea where she was, or why she was there. A sharp pain shot through her forehead and her vision blurred. She grabbed her head and tried taking deep breaths, and after a while, the pain disappeared. Now that she could think somewhat clearly, Philippa looked around her room. She was covered in bruises from her fight with Dybbuk, and she winced when she touched a sore spot. Secretly, she was a little happy, she could put up with him, but her chest tightened at the thought of him leaving again, and she sighed long and hard.
"How are you feeling?" Nimrod sat in a chair beside her bed. He had been so quiet, Philippa hadn't even noticed him. He looked exhausted and had probably been asleep before Phil came to.
"My head is spinning and my body hurts." She replied dryly.
"There are some pain-killers over there, make sure to take them." Her uncle sighed and pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket. Philippa reached over and swallowed two of the pills, gulping them down with the glass of water beside them.
"Where's John?" The younger djinn asked and stretched her legs.
"With Groanin. He seems to have a mild concussion, but it's nothing too serious." Nimrod replied absently.
"I see…" Philippa went quiet as she started gathering her thoughts. "Hey, Nimrod? How's Groanin able to be on the island? I mean, he is a mundane after all…" Her uncle looked a little surprised at her sudden interest, but answered anyway.
"Before we reached the island, I coated him in Neshamah. Kind of like a spacesuit. It's around him, but it doesn't hurt him in any way. It is merely a way of allowing him to set foot in this sacred place." The brown-haired djinn answered and smoothed out his crumpled tie. "I would love to know how those two came here." He muttered inaudibly.
"I take it you want to know, if I found out something from Dybbuk?" The redhead asked nonchalantly. Nimrod nodded and gestured for her to continue. Philippa fiddled with the corner of her blanket and bit her lower lip, before slowly answering.
"Well, he didn't really say anything about why he was here, but it felt as though he was waiting for something." She licked her dry lips and continued, "He was able to knock out Groanin like it was nothing." Philippa intentionally let out the rest of the interaction between them. She felt it was something only for her to know.
"I see. Rudyard too, was able to break free of one of my cages." Nimrod muttered. A thought suddenly formed in Philippa's head and she looked over at Nimrod.
"Hey Nimrod, is there a way to use our flames for offence?" She asked.
"What do you mean?" Her uncle straightened up in his seat.
"During my fight with Dybbuk, I was able to summon my flame and surround myself with it, but…" She stopped briefly, "he somehow nullified it. Is that even possible?" She slumped down on the bed. Talking took a lot of energy, energy that she didn't have.
"I'm not so sure, but I know someone who might be able to help us. I have a hunch we will be seeing them again very soon." Nimrod told her. Philippa was now lying back on her pillow, sleep slowly creeping up and embracing her. The last thing she saw was John who entered the room, offering her a small smile.
I feel like this chapter was kinda dry, but don't worry! A lot of the plot will be revealed nect time :D Thanks for reading! (=w=)/
