Chapter 43

Apart

Lzzy drunk a sip of tea, hoping it would calm her down a bit. They were still sitting under the gazebo with the professor and his protegees, to whom they had just told how they got involved in Valtor's web. She had said about two words, not trusting her mental stability, and preferred letting Josh, Joe e Brandon speak while her and Arejay, sitting by her side, held hands to reassure each other.

They had to tell them. They named that bloody book and Icy, sooner or later they would have understood. Moreover, Donnie was Stormy's brother, thing that made them rather curious too. He seemed to have a personality very different from that of the witch of storms, more introverted and calmer.

When Brandon explained why the Bonding between Lzzy and Icy had to stay a secret to Roccaluce, Xavier spoke directly to Lzzy, staring at her with his sharp eyes.

- I'm in terrible relationship with that herd of mossbacks. You don't have to worry with me miss, indeed, if you ever need asylum, come to me! -

- I hope we never need that, but thanks. - she replied, trying to smile.

A catastrophic failure.

- How come you are in such bad relationship with the Council, if I may ask? - asked Nex.

- Because they're a bunch of obstructionist aristocrats the age of a fossil. -

- Professor! - exclaimed together Andrea and Donnie.

- I am far too gentle, lads. -

Andrea looked up to the sky.

- The prof affirms that the wise men of the Council are anachronistic in their way to handle the most different questions. From the magic tournaments between the schools, full of useless ceremonies, to the handling of trials and the adaptation of laws, to the divulgation of discoveries in the magic field. - she explained, - Actually, they are extremely slow from a bureaucratic point of view, so much so that the schools self-manage most of the time. -

Brandon nodded, with the air of who knew that far too well.

- For example, it has been almost three years since Tir'Nan'Og is ruled from the fairies again and the Council hasn't yet allowed them to look for new pupils on Earth, which is simply absurd: there must be hundreds of girls and women like Lzzy, here, who will find themselves with magical powers without anyone explaining them how to use them, and it's extremely dangerous. Not only that, regarding the control of other magic communities the fairies have their hands tied and they can't intervene. -

- To Roccaluce problems are solved with meditation. - Donnie intervened, - When in reality, someone else solves problems while they meditate and when they look out on the real world again things have changed, and they start all over again. -

- That sounds really bad. - Joe remarked.

- Thank goodness they have limited powers on politics, or this planet would have never known electricity. - mumbled the professor.

There were a few moments of silence.

- Professor, - said Lzzy, - is it normal that they aren't back yet? -

- They must be contracting with the owner of the flute. There's no reason to worry, they're probably on the way home already. -

§§

Of course, he couldn't have been more wrong.

Once they finally reached the mountains, Darcy had hidden the shuttle with a spell so that the Rocs wouldn't see it, and they had split in two groups again: this time Darcy, Sky, Yami, Cassandra, Takeshi, Vanir and, naturally, Roxy and the victims of the curse would stay on the shuttle. Instead, the others were to go inside the galleries, take the seal and come back to the shuttle as soon as possible. Easier said than done, since the Rocs didn't see the shuttle, but saw really well the group that, coming out of thin air, headed towards their hideout. Consequently, they set up a trap for them: they sent a small team against them, to keep them busy just long enough to understand that there were both fairies and witches in the group, and then retreated. Aware they didn't have the element of surprise anymore, Selim and the others went on nonetheless and didn't encounter other obstacles, even at the entrance of the cave. Although they were suspicious, they continued, suddenly finding themselves breathing a soporific gas, not being able to do anything but fall down unconscious.

When Stormy reopened her eyes, she didn't understand where she was at first. She only saw an irregular wall scarcely illuminated from a candle somewhere behind her and Walter lying down not far from her. She hurried to sit up, causing a dizziness that fogged her sight for a few moments, then she looked around and saw that Selim, Misha, Francesca and Flora were also awake. Flora was trying to wake up Tecna, while Misha and Selim tried to cure a cut on Francesca's temple, probably caused by falling.

- What happened? - asked Stormy while the fog in her brain began to thin out.

- They put us to sleep and thrown in a cell. - Misha answered without moving his eyes from his work.

- We had to listen to you and go back. - said Francesca, grimacing with pain when the Specialist pressed too hard on the wound.

- Have you tried to pry the door? - asked again the witch of storms, examining the thick wooden door complete with a small loophole in the highest part, closed from the outside.

In response Selim took a handful of dirt and threw it at the door. Apparently it didn't touch anything, but they heard a sizzle and felt a smell of burned dirt that weren't too reassuring. "Great" thought Stormy, stumbling to Flora.

- How is she? -

- Fine. - replied the fairy, - She should wake up soon. -

- As soon as they wake up, we try to teleport outside, assuming and not conceding that there's no confinement spell. - Stormy stopped when Selim let out a mocking grunt. - What? - she asked, irritated.

It was the most logic thing to do.

- There's something worse than a confinement spell. - replied Selim pointing at the ceiling.

Set along the perimeter of the cell there were a dozen small pink stones that seemed to shine of their own light. Seeing that Stormy was confused, Flora explained:

- They're Shaab stones. I don't need to tell you the effect they have on magic. -

Stormy cursed through her teeth. That stone cancelled the powers of any magical creature, negative and positive magic equally: that was the ace in the hole of the Rocs. They were without powers.

- Well, if anything they'll come looking for us soon. - she mumbled.

- We told them to wait three hours and not even one hour went by. - replied Misha.

But Stormy knew what she was saying.

- I sent the feather to warn them. I made time to cast the spell before I fainted. - she said in fact.

Flora looked at her in surprise.

- I noticed you didn't have it anymore, but I thought the Rocs took it. - she said.

- I hope not, or we're really screwed. -

§§

Protected from the night, the feather had arrived at the shuttle, sneaking into the air conduct and getting to the inside of the aircraft. Now it was beating against the glass towards the direction it came from, but it had to wait before they could follow it: Darcy, and Sky, in fact, were having trouble in convincing Vanir that they had to spilt up again.

- That's out of question, they caught the others already. -

- I can make everyone invisible, besides someone has to stay here and keep the engine warm. - replied the witch.

- Come on, Vanir! Darcy will cover for us when we get in, and once we find the others and take the seal we can teleport here. - Cassandra persisted.

- How do you know they won't catch you as well? -

- We won't let them catch us off guard. -

- Bloom is right, we won't... wait, what? -

Cassandra turned to the dragon, who bent over her head.

- I'm coming with you. Icy too. Don't waste time protesting, we have no intention to listen. -

Darcy dismissed the question at once, although Icy worried her, and Sky accepted it after a moment of reflection: a dragon and a fox could have been useful. Cassandra turned to the other girls.

- What about you? -

- Me and Stella would be of no help. - Ioanna said sharply, while Giunia pretended she hadn't been asked.

Before Cassandra could ask her for an explanation, Vanir made up his mind.

- Fine. Me, the three of them and Yami stay here, you guys go. Be careful. -

Darcy took the feather, which kept quivering towards the glass trying to break free, and headed for the shuttle's door, opened by Vanir. When it closed behind them, Darcy said in a hiss:

- Now I'll make everyone invisible but remember that if you make a pebble move, it will still be heard so those who can should fly. If we meet guards, and I hope it happens, leave them to me. -

Without giving them the time to say anything she cast her spell and let the feather go, and it instantly flied on the barren landscape. Bloom tried to lift off the ground but, considering the thud her wings provoked, she gave up on the attempt. Cassandra and Roxy, instead, transformed quickly and took off, with a not very discrete jingling.

They weren't too far from the cave, the journey took ten minutes, filled for Icy and Darcy by a quiet discussion. "Why?" asked indeed the witch of darkness. There was no need to be more specific. "Because we have no time" "Be serious" "Because I can't help Lzzy, but I can help Stormy" "This is a decent answer. And sentimental" "Listen who's talking! You're so emotionally unstable that you can't even hide from me what happened with Walter, and you're the one who started the conversation!" Icy didn't think you could blush telepathically, but the sting of panic and embarrassment and annoyance that came from Darcy's mind gave her that exact impression. If she was human, she would have laughed. Darcy stayed quiet for a few minutes, then said: "Do you want to know what happened to Lzzy?" "This is the worst moment to tell me. No thanks, I'd like to stay alive and go check personally" "As you wish. Everyone, stop".

In front of them, half asleep, there were two guards. They wore similar clothes, with flared white trousers and coats brown and green respectively. Coordinated scarves covered their heads and faces, but the scimitars hanging at their belts were what caught the attention, shining sinister under the moonlight.

Everyone stopped but Darcy, who caught the feather to prevent it to continue without them and then got close to the guard with the brown coat. It had been a long time since the last time she had hypnotized a person. The unfortunate person shivered violently when Darcy took control of his mind.

- What's that? - asked his companion, revealing a low voice.

"You're cold" Darcy thought. Like in all deserts, in fact, the difference in temperature between day and night was incredible.

- I'm cold. - automatically repeated the guard.

- Go inside and take a blanket then. -

Darcy took the chance. "Are there spells that prevent intruders from entering?" she asked, receiving an apathetic no as an answer. "Good. Go in and take your blanket" and she signaled to the others to follow her quietly.

The principle for which nobody saw them but they could see each other, although faded like a drawing left too long under the sun, was unknown to Cassandra, but it really wasn't the moment to wonder how it worked.

Once they were inside, they followed the guard to a recess were there was a bunch of woolen blankets. Darcy took advantage of it by rummaging in his brain and finding all the information they needed, then she let him go back outside without breaking the spell. It was better that he didn't ask when and why he took that blanket.

"The prisons are this way" she told the others, pointing at a tunnel on their right "while the room where they keep the loot and thus the seal is at the bottom of the large gallery behind us. I'd suggest we split again" "What?!" exclaimed Takeshi, turning pale. "The cells are filled with Shaab stones, me, Roxy and Cassandra are useless there. We take the seal and you free the others, we'll meet again here" "It's a good plan" agreed Sky, raising the perplexed looks of Icy and Bloom. Darcy gave them the last instructions: "There's just one guard in the prison, and you have to open the loophole on the door before opening it: it deactivates a laser barrier".

Darcy freed the feather and Takeshi, Sky, Bloom and Icy slipped into the gallery on the right following it, while the two fairies and Darcy took the bigger gallery.

Darcy led them through an intricated track that went more and more down, until after a sharp curve the tunnel went upwards. There were several secondary tunnels that led to dorms and storages of weapons and some sleeping camels, or others that emitted a watery gurgle, but they ignored those. They arrived to a widening overseen by three guards, more intent to play dice than guarding, so the three of them thought they'd just fly over them. But Darcy's victim didn't know all the safety measures of the treasure hall, so it was a bad surprise see Darcy's spell wear off making them visible again.

The man guarding the prison was definitely taken by surprise when two guys, a dragon and a fox suddenly appeared in front of him. He tried to take the scimitar but Bloom was faster: she jumped on him and put him on the ground, standing on him, a paw pressed on his arm, the other on his chest and the snout threateningly curled in a snarl close to his nose. The poor guy let out a choked sob. He didn't even think of crying for help: that dragon seemed able to open his throat with a bite, and those eyes so humanly expressive terrified him.

- Quiet. - growled Bloom.

The man hurried to nod.

Icy, who followed the feather fearing that it would have disappeared who knows where, stopped five doors away: the feather looked for a crack to slip into to go back to Stormy.

Sky and Takeshi took the bundle of keys the guard had on the belt and reached her. Remembering Darcy's instructions, Takeshi opened the loophole while Sky looked for the right key. When he found it he and Takeshi opened together the iron bolt, trying to make as little noise as possible. The feather flew in, getting into Stormy's hair like a pin.

- You came quickly! - said Walter, who had just woken up along with Tecna.

- Happy to see you again dude. Come out, quick. - replied Takeshi.

He wasn't handling stress too well, and he couldn't be blamed: he had been tossed around the Magic Dimension all day!

- How did you get here unseen? Oh! - whispered Flora, letting out an exclamation of surprise when she saw Bloom with the claws still on their warden.

- Darcy casted an invisibility spell and it wore off shortly before getting to your cell, and I don't like it at all. - Icy said softly.

The guard found the courage to stutter something.

- S-s-she must be in the tre-treasure r-room. It ca-ca-cancels that kind of s-sp-spells. -

Icy cursed through her teeth while Bloom pressed harder on the man's chest.

- Your friend at the entrance. Why didn't he tell us? -

- He d-doesn't know it. Only p-powerless people like me and th-the treasure guards know it. -

Bloom looked up at the others, not easing the pressure.

- What do we do? We can't get out of here without being seen. -

- Let's wait some more. If Darcy is in trouble, she'll call us. - said Stormy.

- What will you d-do to me? -

- We'll leave you in a cell. - answered Selim, like he was talking about the weather.

The man's whiny squeals surprised everyone.

- No! Please, take me with you! They'll cut my tongue because I didn't call for help, I don't want them to cut my tongue! -

They glanced at each other. Nobody trusted him, but he was so terrified that he surely wasn't lying. Icy felt compassion for him. He probably didn't even want to be there, he entered the thieves' group to save himself and happened to be of guard that night.

- Why should we believe you? - whispered threateningly Misha, squeezing his yellow eyes.

The question caused the Roc to panic.

- I'm not calling for help, I'm not shouting... I'd go away on my own if I could. But they chase you, you know, they catch you and tie you to a pole and Zaira sends you her snakes and they bite you and you die in two days. If you don't want to take me with you, at least kill me quickly! -

Another quick glancing at each other.

- I'm not leaving him here. - Stormy said.

- Me neither. - Icy said, - He reminds me of me in Avram. -

She had pushed Bloom close to the bud of the Tree of Life and hit it on purpose, knowing what that implied. She had dared to look for another way. And Belladonna had punished her by taking control over her body. She shivered and felt the fur rising to the memory.

Stormy nodded. They knew what it was like to not have a choice.

The three guards, a woman and two men, had magical powers and had started a battle with the intruders. One of the men tried to go call for help actually, but Darcy's shadow tentacles blocked his way. The witch left Roxy and Cassandra covering for her while she looked for the seal, a demanding task with all that loot.

While Roxy took on the men, Cassandra faced the woman, probably a witch. After shielding from a comet, the woman threw at her a black box taken from her dress, to then attack her with a yellow beam. Cassandra attacked back, intercepting the yellow beam with a silver one, but the box got to her. It divided in a bunch of black feathers similar to soot and Cassandra felt her powers fade.

- No! - she screamed, giving new force to the ray before it disappeared.

She managed to hit the witch so hard that she fainted, but she felt like she was completely out of energies. What was happening? She was still flying but she didn't feel her wings beating anymore. And what were those long black sleeves that left her arms uncovered? Cassandra almost fainted. She landed heavily, shaking. She had consumed almost all her energies in that attack. She stood knelt, sustaining herself with her arms. Black trousers… she was sure she had been wearing jeans all day… Shaking, she created a mirrored image of herself. She looked up and saw a witch with black and silver clothes, brown hair loose on her shoulders and brown eyes surrounded by a stylized black moon. The witch resembled her a lot, but it couldn't be her. She was a fairy. Right?