Authors Note: I'm not even going to comment on the fact that I got three reviews . . .
Chapter -:Eleven:-
I've Got My Eye On You
"Explain to me again why you were late," Iggy demanded, still laughing from the first telling.
I rolled my eyes. "Alright, once again, I had to take a minor detour to the boys restroom. Me appearing 'magically' vacated every last soul in the place, so I had no witnesses when I charmed the mirrors. Now, it's a highly known fact that every day, after Potions, Malfoy takes a trip to the bathroom, not to take care of business, but to stare lovingly at himself in the mirror. Being the vain twit that he is, without an ounce of brains, he will have gazed into the glass, and seen a very twisted, undesirable version of himself there."
Iggy cracked up all over again, and Nudge continued rolling across the ground laughing.
"It was the perfect prank!" I exclaimed. "You could have heard his scream from Arizona."
"I think I did see him in the infirmary, sobbing about his deformed features," Blaze admitted, suddenly appearing in the doorway with a broad grin across his face. "Madame Pomfrey probably had to stun him to make him shut up."
"What were you doing in the castle?" I asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.
"I was picking up some more burn medicine," he replied, plopping down on the couch beside me.
"Are we training today?" I inquired, glancing at the clock.
"Oh crap!" Iggy exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "What time is it!"
"Uh, about six thirty . . . why?"
"I gotta go! I was supposed to meet Echo fifteen minutes ago. Catch you guys later!" he shouted before sprinting out of the house, his jacket slung over his shoulder haphazardly.
"What about you?" I directed my question to Nudge, who was sprawled across the carpet, lying on her stomach.
"I don't know where Winnie is," she admitted with a shrug. "I haven't seen her since last night, and she was just rambling about another one of her underwater adventures. It gets kind of old sometimes, really. There's only so many times you can listen to her talk about dolphin rescues. Anyway, I've been looking for her since we go off school, but couldn't find her anywhere."
"Did you check the lake?" Blaze suggested.
"Yeah, but I didn't see her."
"She could be hidden away with the mermaids, though I couldn't imagine why she'd want to hang out with them. Maybe you should go ask," I interjected.
"Oh! That's a good idea. I didn't even think of that. I guess I'll see you guys later then!" she called over her shoulder, skipping down the steps and out of sight.
Blaze turned to me. "Where's Fang?"
"Off somewhere with Arianna," I muttered bitterly.
"You shouldn't worry about her, Max."
"And why not? I can't be the only one who see's the way she looks at him," I insisted, throwing my hands up in the air in frustration.
"Fang loves you," Blaze insisted. "Arianna's not stupid. She knows that. She also knows not to get in the way, especially since he's her pupil."
"You didn't have a problem with it," I retorted vindictively.
"Well yeah," he said awkwardly, "but for the most part I had been joking. At least in the beginning. After the imprint fiasco though, all of it was real."
"Not now, though," I insisted, though I'm sure it came out more like a question.
"Not now," he agreed firmly.
We sat in silence then, just staring off into space. The house, which was usually full of life, was oddly silent. I realized I didn't spend a lot of time in it when it was so empty. I was usually with the flock, but even then it wasn't complete. Not without Angel and Gazzy running around . . .
Blaze seemed to sense my thoughts, or rather the sudden sadness I was feeling, because he hopped up quickly. "We better get a move on."
"Oh . . . yeah, sure."
- }{ -
"What am I learning today, Yoda?" I inquired.
My feet were slightly sinking in the sand, making it hard to move as quickly as I'm used to. But after the incident that left half the stands in the Quidditch pitch charred and blackened, we had to find a new training arena. Now, there was water close by in case of an . . . accident.
"To tell the truth, young Jedi, there's not much else I can teach you," Blaze admitted, standing a few feet across from me.
"You mean training's almost over?"
"Sort of," he said uncertainly. "There are still a lot of things you need to perfect."
"But other than that . . .?"
"Well, yeah, I guess you could say training's almost over."
"How long?" I demanded.
"A few weeks maybe . . ."
"Weeks!" I cried incredulously. I think my jaw might have dropped a little, too.
"You'll have to go through two more ceremonies, and then you'll be done . . . and perfectly able to rescue Angel and the Gasman."
The latter seemed like a welcome prospect . . . but now that I was thinking about it, I wasn't really sure if I was ready yet. I mean, this was Arawn we were talking about. He was a god! There was no way to defeat him permanently, only stifle his rage. A lot of people had done it before us . . . but it was still kind of (and if you tell anyone I said this I will kill you) . . . scary.
"I-" I began.
"You're more than capable, Max," Blaze insisted, staring at me with a blatant intensity. "I would know."
"But how?" I mumbled morosely.
"Because you're much stronger than me, and I'm supposed to be the best. I'm supposed to know everything about all this . . . but somehow you've managed to beat me. You're beyond what anyone could have ever expected. You went to the maximum . . . and then you exceeded it. You are ready, no matter what your insecurities may say."
"And the others?"
"You wouldn't be you without them. As long as you lead, they'll follow. They're your backbone. They're the reason you can do what you do. They'd be foolish not to see how much you care."
"You're right . . . I guess I just couldn't ever put it into words," I admitted.
"You'll be fine as long as you're together."
"But that's the thing!" I insisted. "They've all gone before. At least once, they've all left voluntarily, except Angel . . . but she's not even here!"
"And they've all realized their mistakes," Blaze conceded.
"But what if they do it again? What if one day they decide I've gone 'round the bend and they up and leave!"
"They won't," he said firmly. "You have to trust them. These kinds of thoughts will only break you, and for the sake of humanity, you have to stay intact."
He was right. That didn't make it any less harder to accept though . . .
- }{ -
Blaze and I chatted amiably as we walked back to the house. The training session after our little discussion was pretty average. I just practiced all the usual things. It was about as normal as it got around here, which counted towards a lot in my book.
The lights were blazing, which meant at least someone was home. Out of the corner of my eye, though, I saw a trail of dark hair and a flash of gray. Where was Arianna headed to at such a late hour?
"Uh, Blaze? I'll meet you at the house," I muttered quickly.
"What? Where are you going?" he demanded.
"I . . . I forgot something," I lied, shooing him away.
He gave me a peculiar look, but continued on his way. I waited until the door had shut safely behind him before I sprinted lightly the way Arianna had disappeared. If I was guessing right, she was headed to the Forbidden Forest.
I caught up quickly, seeing as Arianna was moving rather sluggishly, too busy glancing left and right to be swift. She must have heard me, because she whipped her head around. I ducked under a large bush, holding my breath. Peering through the foliage, I saw her resume her walking. After a moment I stepped out of my hiding place, albeit more carefully.
She was acting way too suspicious for me to just give it all away.
Up ahead I saw the towering trees. The blackness that was settling around as night commenced seemed to increase tenfold as I took my first steps into the damp woods. A strange sense settled like a blanket over me. I crept swiftly and silently then, dodging fallen logs and branches as I went. Arianna seemed to be following no particular path. She just forged on straight ahead, as if she knew exactly where she was going, which meant she had been there before.
After about ten minutes of mindless wandering, she seemed to reach her destination. I didn't notice anything different about the scenery. It was all the same to me; bland plants and gray trees. Nothing stirred the night air. It was like all the horrors you heard about in the stories were false.
She slung a bag I hadn't seen strapped to her back over her shoulder, dropping it to the ground. She reached for a pouch hidden in the folds of her skirts. She took something out that was too small for me to see, before proceeding to clear a spot away amongst the dead leaves and brambles. When she seemed satisfied with the patch of ground she had exposed, she leaned down and started making a circle. The item in her hand must have been chalk, because when she finished there was a perfect white line surrounding her.
Without leaving her little sphere she grabbed the bag she had nonchalantly tossed, bringing out a candle each time she reached in; four in all. I had to squint in the dark, thanking the gods for once that I had raptor vision, to see the rest. First she placed the blue candle on one side, my internal compass rose telling me east. She continued in a clockwise direction, carefully placing the white candle in the north, the red west, and the green south.
Out of seemingly nowhere she lit a match, starting the process all over again. As she lit each candle, she added a few murmured words, which I couldn't hear even with my enhanced ears.
Once she was done with that she positioned herself in the very middle of her circle, her back to me. She threw her arms up in the air, and I vaguely heard the slightest whisper, but I couldn't discern her words.
It was like she was performing some scary ritual, casting a circle and all. I knew that was considered witchcraft, but it wasn't something you ever saw at Hogwarts, which made me think that this was much darker than previously thought. If she was trying to cast some wicked voodoo magic, I was seriously gonna crap my pants.
She threw herself to the ground, crouched in a position like she was praying. She was only there a few moments before I heard a sharp crack. Her shoulders tensed and she look wildly around. I didn't dare move from where I was hiding behind a tree. I looked down sharply to see if I had stepped on something, but then realized that the sound had come from in front of us.
A few seconds later the noise picked up again as whatever had interrupted Arianna's groveling got closer. As time progressed I heard a snippet of laughter, and then a bit of conversation. I was relieved to hear that it was Iggy and Echo, done with their training session, on their way back to the house.
Arianna didn't seem to like it as much. She swooped around angrily, gathering her things with a toss of her hands. She stuffed it all into the bag, glaring once more in the direction Iggy and Echo were coming from.
When she turned towards me I flattened myself against the tree trunk, praying she didn't find me. I didn't have to worry though, because not a moment later she was sprinting past me, as quiet as the air. She didn't once look back.
I closed my eyes, leaning my head back. My breathing was haggard, and for the first time I noticed how fast my heart was thumping around in my chest. Whatever I had just witnessed . . . it hadn't been meant for my eyes, nor anyone else's.
Something weird was going on with Arianna. I had always known that. I hadn't ever fully trusted her, and as time wore on, I had grown to dislike her even more. This recent act had topped the list though. I was going to find out why exactly she liked to take these secret trips. She had a hidden agenda, that much was clear.
With that last thought I set out for home, the raucous laughter of Iggy and Echo a comforting backdrop, letting me know that in this crazy world, at least there was some normalcy.
"I wouldn't say that just yet."
It was the ghost boy, back yet again.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Look behind you," he urged, and I did as he said.
When I glanced over my shoulder I saw that Arianna had forgotten to clear away her chalk circle. It wasn't like her to leave such great evidence behind, especially with Iggy and Echo on their way towards it. But just as I thought that, it began to glow with a soft light. I blinked once, and when I looked again, it had disappeared completely . . . almost as if it had sunk straight into the earth.
I shook my head back and forth a few times, rubbing my eyes. I shuddered before turning away again. I just wanted to go home and go to bed. I had had enough odd occurrences for one night.
"This is far from the end, Maximum.," the little boys wise words drifted lazily towards me, whispered like the wind.
Authors Note: Although my asking is most certainly a lost cause, review?
