PHM: HEYLA!!! I know…I know…it's been awhile since I updated. But, we had finals, and then I went on vacation for a couple of days and got a new computer. –Dances- So, I'm updating now…obviously…
Nomara: 'S 'bout time since you started writing again. We're dying in here!
-3 muses nod-
PHM: Glad you guys are even there! I thought all the other writing killed you…-sad sage nod- Well, I DO NOT own any of Mrs. Lackey's characters or other stuff, but I own Mina, Neo, Pellia, and some other people. So don't steal them!
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/Blah, blah\ -memory
Blah, blah – thought
:Blah, blah: -MindSpeech between Mina and Pellia or vice-versa
Chapter 6: Entwined Minds
"No….Father please….NO! Cira! Stop him…" Mina whispered into her bed, her slender body twitching and convulsing under her. She whimpered, her back lifting off the bed sheets as the noise she made stopped in her throat. She whimpered some more, her body lying still on the bed under her. She didn't move. Her hand clutched around her throat, as though she had pulled at a hand that no longer rested there. Red marks from her nails remained on her skin. Her eyes were closed tight, allowing none of the horrible memories to escape into reality.
"Mina…." A voice whispered to the sleeping girl, caressing her worries away. Mina shot up like the voice poked her with a hot stick. Her eyes were blurred from their first opening. She felt around for anything and found a hand. She gripped it, tightening her hand around it as though afraid to loose it. Mina couldn't see, it was too dark outside for there was no moon out tonight.
"Please…don't leave me…." Mina whispered to the voice, curling next to the body. A hand stroked at her sweat-enclosed hair, a soft cooing noise coming from above her.
Mina couldn't remember where she was, who this person was that she sat curled with, and she almost couldn't remember her own name. She wouldn't be surprised if she spoke in some other language!
"It's ok…I'll always be here. Don't worry, Mina. Don't worry." The voice whispered into Mina's ear, brining her body closer to its own. The voice sounded so familiar, as though she had heard it recently. Hair tickled her face, whisks of silver in front of her dark eyes. It felt so soft and so comforting; Mina could fall asleep in the arms that held her.
Mina had been dreaming of falling asleep in someone's arms recently. It seemed, though try as she might, the Mina could not rid herself of thinking about her charming, romantic, kind, loving, caring, Mentor at the Collegium: Neo. He seemed to appear at any given moment around her classes, telling her where she was to go next, what her duties were for the day…anything! Yet, Mina would smile and nod as he walked away, only wishing to be held in his arms, not try to hide her feelings for him. She wanted to be with him…but there was no way that Neo could like her. No way. So, she thrust the thoughts into the back of her mind and did the only thing that she could do at the moment, she fell asleep into her "voices" arms.
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Daylight broke once more through the curtains of Mina's room. The soft rays of light hit her square in the eyes, meaning it was about 8:00 in the morning. Mina picked this room exactly for the position it was located in. Being Holderkin, she felt wrong waking up at a late hour and thus, having a room on the bottom floor to the east, she would have to be awake by at least eight. Mina moved, her neck feeling a bit cramped, and felt something beside her. It could be an animal, for many of them visited her in the night, but she did not welcome any last night. Mina's hand gently touched what was beside her. She felt the soft curves of a back and the whisks of hair against her palm. She opened her dark sapphire eyes and looked upon…
Neo.
The soft hair she had felt was Neo's long silver tresses, and the back she had felt had been his. Oh! No! Oh, I slept with him!! Mina began to back up, her hand touching her dry mouth. She backed up so much that she fell off the bed. She hit the wooden floor with a hard thump that shook the bed. Neo stirred awake. As Mina looked on though she noticed that he had clothes on. All of them! His feet were the only part of his body not covered up. Yet, as a smile touched the corners of her lips as her mentor looked at her, she noticed that she didn't have a shirt on. It had been hot that night and she did not want to be washing her sheets every night from the sweat her sheets collected. Quickly, she grabbed the sheets that had fallen with her and pulled them around her lithe frame. Her blonde hair curled around her, framing her body in a circle against the floor.
Neo did not stir.
Silently as she could, Mina got herself picked up, trying to remember if she had gotten drunk or something to end up with her MENTOR standing guard over her. Shaking her head in confusion, Mina headed towards the bathing room.
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After a nice long soak in an extremely hot, steaming bath, Mina returned to her rooms. Neo sat up groggily as she entered her room to change into her Trainee Grays. His hair fell out in odd places, yet looked oddly…perfect. A smile crept across her features before Mina had time to hide it. Her mentor smiled back at her. His soft blue yes, almost gray with the light from the sun and sleep still gnawing at his mind. He cocked his head to the side, this smile still decorating his delicate features. Slowly, he rose, stretching out his tight muscles and came to stand before Mina. The girl blushed, her features turning a bright crimson, as she realized she had been staring at him. His clothes looked rumpled as Mina watched his hands smooth over them unconsciously.
"Mina…are you alright now?" His voice was soft, cutting through Mina's thoughts. He seemed so concerned about her and for once she wanted to fall into his arms once more and cry. She knew he would help her. His eyes grew deep, dark, and thoughtful as he looked at her.
Tears began to well in her eyes as she tried to answer. "I---I'm fine. I don't understand what happened…last night. But…what happened?" She looked up at him, the tears blurring her vision until only his face could be clearly made out. She forced herself to remain calm as he came over and slowly wrapped his strong arms around her. He smelt nice, she noticed as she clung to him, tears falling onto his shirt. He felt like a soft flower and smelt like Neo. She couldn't explain what he smelt like exactly, but he smelt like he always did. Almost like flowers, but with the musty scent of horses and arms practice. It tingled at Mina's senses as he stroked her hair.
"You had a nightmare I think. I could hear you screaming." His eyes became unfocused as he remembered hearing the ghoulish screams that pierced the calm night just a couple hours before. "You were shaking and screaming. You were covered in sweat and thrashing everywhere. I grabbed you and tried to shake you out of it. I decided to protect you then." Forever, his mind told him. Something had changed last night within him as he watched his Pupil thrash in his arms, her slender body shaking in moans and sobs as he held her. He could imagine it perfectly. Her hair stuck to her head, clutching at it as though afraid to let go. Her blue eyes were veiled in white and the blue iris had disappeared. His Companion, Alinika, twisted uncomfortably in his mind, telling him that Pellia could not reach her Chosen. He felt Mina wrap around him, her eyes still unfocused and her body shaking with cold though it was nearly ninety degrees inside the room. The curtains billowed back and forth with the open window, letting the screams of birds and other animals pierce the night in a demonic harmony. He shook his head, returning to the present.
Mina stood under him, her slender arms wrapped around his waist, she sobbed once more. Tears poured down her face that she couldn't stop. She remembered her dream, she remembered her Father, her Brothers, everything she hated…oh, and it had still hurt. She could feel the scar that ran along her back, a striking white mark that would never disappear. Sadly, Mina looked up at her Mentor.
"Thank you, Neo. I can't begin to thank you…I—" She stopped there, looking down at her bare feet against the cold, gray stone of the Collegium. She had been on the verge of saying 'I Love you' to her mentor. She blushed once more, the red traveling into her ears. Neo laughed as he drew her to look up at him.
"I will always be here to protect you, Mina. I will always be here for you. I…I love you, Mina. I can't say why, but I can't stop thinking about you wherever I go. I can't stop it." His hand felt soft against her chin as Mina watched his face lower towards hers. His soft, crimson lips brushed against hers, their lips meeting in an embrace that both had waited so long for. Yet, soon it was over and Mina stood staring up at her Mentor with a shocked expression, the tears flowing down her face now tears of joy rather then anguish.
Neo's hands came to brush them away, gently swiping away a newly fallen tear. "Do not cry, my love. I will always be right beside you…forever…"
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PHM: Finally done!!! I thought it was OK, personally. A bit weird and not as long as I'd like it. Bt –shrug-
Nomara: She just wants you to review!!!
PHM: -nods and blushes- Please and Thankies!!!
