A/N: Thanks to Elmtree for the idea on this one.
Note on previous chapter: Sorry if I didn't make it clear enough, but Julia is NOT upset when she meets Luke. She is just so concentrated she barely notices things around her. She has some planning to do you know.
I was about to curse myself silently and realized that she could see my reflection in the window as well. Face, Rinaldo, keep the face! I turned to face her with apologetic smile.
"Only one card, Julia. How can it not be?" I shrugged. She studied me carefully. My face didn't betray me. My keyring did.
"Where did you get this stone?"
I probably should have asked "What stone?", but she caught me off-guard here, and I automatically glanced at the piece of tragolith. When I looked back at her, her hand was in the air, lips whispering the spell. I ducked, and some sparks started dancing on the window glass above me. Then the lights went out, and the kitchen got plunged in darkness. I summoned the Pattern, and saw what I was afraid to see. In its magnificient imperfectness, the Broken Pattern was glowing in front of her.
Her lips started moving again. I always have some spells hanging THIS time of year, and I quickly picked the most harmless one. I finished casting it before she did, and her hands started shaking uncontrollably, and soon the jitters started spreading all over her. Her sign disappeared, she barely had enough concentration to keep standing.
"You'd better sit down, unless you want to end up on the floor," I advised, pouring myself another cup of coffee. I kept my sign around, though. Just in case. She followed my advice, still shaking.
"Come on, it wasn't that strong at all," I said, sitting myself and taking a sip. "What was that all about anyway?"
By the time I finished my coffee, she had stopped shaking. Almost.
"You're h-here to kill me, r-right?"
"Actually, I'm here to see an old friend of mine," I pointed out. "I wonder if I've confused the address. Why are you afraid of me?"
"You're Merle's f-friend. And I'm working for his enemy."
"Did Melman give you this trump?" I asked. Nod.
"Merle has never told me why you two broke up," I said after a long pause, "but I never thought it was that ugly."
"No!" she snapped, standing up rapidly. "I didn't know! I don't want him to get killed! Never wanted!"
"Calm down," I said softly, forcing her back into the chair. She started shaking again, but for a different reason. "Tell me how it all started. How did they find you?"
"They didn't find me," she sobbed. "I found them. I've been looking for them so hard it had to happen sooner or later."
"Why?"
"Merle. He took me for a walk one day. To the place that didn't... that wasn't..."
"Shadowwalk," I nodded.
"And the morning after, he was denying everything. Said it was all a dream. I couldn't just go on with that! Can you understand this?"
"Yes. Of course, I can," I said soothingly. Merle. You are a fool. But who am I to talk, having broken up with my girlfriend because of that little stupid thing called conscience. I lowered myself back into the chair.
"Your Pattern isn't broken," Julia said quietly. "You are... not human, too."
"Depends on how you define human."
"Who are you guys anyway," she asked, not listening to me. "Sorcerers? Aliens? Mutants? Products of my sick imagination?"
"Don't put me in the same league with Merle. He doesn't even know who I am."
"Doesn't know? Why?"
"I have my reasons. That doesn't matter right now. All that matters is that I AM his friend, and I want to protect him. Tell me the rest of your story."
"Melman told me he could give me the power I wanted," she started, wiping her tears. "And he did. There was that person, Master. Always hooded, strange voice. He took me into his castle for the last stage of my training."
"Have this Master ever mentioned why he needed you?"
"No."
"Then how did you know that your Master wants Merle dead?"
"Master has let me know that I was there because of Merle. Later, I returned to the castle and snooped around. Stupid thing to do, I know. But this mysterious Master got me so... intrigued. I thought that nothing bad could come out of this, even if I got caught. I didn't find any evidences - even on Master's gender. But I found an unfinished spell there. Something about ritual sacrifice of Son of Chaos."
"And you figured it would be Merle?"
"He was the only one I could think about. Wait..." she paused. "Maybe Master is after you?"
"Master is after Merle. I know that."
"How?"
"I have already stopped several assasination attempts. Tomorrow is the next one, by the way."
"How do you know THAT?"
"Long story. Look, you want to help Merle or not? Then lets talk about something useful. Like what were you planning to do with that trump?"
"Just watch Melman. I'll see if his is up to something."
"And if he is?"
"Well, I think I'm good enough to..."
"Crap. He is the one who trained you. You are no match for him, I'm sure."
"You have a better idea?"
"Shhh. Let me think."
Maybe it's time to take Melman out? But that would spook my mother, and he is just a pawn anyway. All I need to do is to reassure Julia. To keep her from doing something stupid.
"Look. I have a plan. Merle will be safe. Trust me."
"What plan? Tell me."
She was still sobbing, but sounded demanding nevertheless. Hell, why not?
"I want to... imprison him. I have made some special trumps. All I need to do is to slip them to Merle somehow and make sure he goes through any of them."
She sat in silence for several minutes, then said something I had least expected.
"Give them to me."
The lightning flashed, painting the surroundings with the colours of Tir-Na Nog'th for one moment, changing her crying face into the mask of insidious grin. I blinked, and everything returned to normal. Just me and the horrified girl across the table. Horrified, but definitely not a coward.
"I'll make sure he gets them."
"Julia, are you sure it's..."
"Come on, it's too dark in here."
She flipped the switch in the living room. Lights turned on just fine. Quickly, she took a pen and a piece of paper, scribbled something on it, put it into the envelope, sealed it.
"Give me the trumps, and give this to Merle. I'll take care of the rest."
"All right," I said, giving her the parcel. "Don't do anything stupid."
She walked me to the door, opened it, and asked suddenly, "So, it was all lie?"
"What exactly?" I asked, crossing the threshold and turning to face her.
"All of it. Your life."
There was no accusation in her voice. Just curiosity.
"More like a mask."
"Mask... mask..." Julia repeated, as if this word had her hypnotised, then snapped out of it.
"Thanks for stopping by, Luke. It was nice to see you again."
I stood before the closed door for a while, thinking of what she had told me. Was she completely sincere with me? Could the entire story of hers be made up on spot? Crap. Recent encounter with Dalt had made me paranoid. No a bad thing, actually, but Julia... She was just a Shadow girl who had got into quite a trouble. Poor girl. Saved me a lot of time, though. If she succeeds, I won't have to babysit Merle for the entire day. I was tempted to read the letter, but then figured that I'd be able to read it all on Merle's face tomorrow.
I got all wet by the time I got to my car. But the real storm was only about to begin.
Note on previous chapter: Sorry if I didn't make it clear enough, but Julia is NOT upset when she meets Luke. She is just so concentrated she barely notices things around her. She has some planning to do you know.
I was about to curse myself silently and realized that she could see my reflection in the window as well. Face, Rinaldo, keep the face! I turned to face her with apologetic smile.
"Only one card, Julia. How can it not be?" I shrugged. She studied me carefully. My face didn't betray me. My keyring did.
"Where did you get this stone?"
I probably should have asked "What stone?", but she caught me off-guard here, and I automatically glanced at the piece of tragolith. When I looked back at her, her hand was in the air, lips whispering the spell. I ducked, and some sparks started dancing on the window glass above me. Then the lights went out, and the kitchen got plunged in darkness. I summoned the Pattern, and saw what I was afraid to see. In its magnificient imperfectness, the Broken Pattern was glowing in front of her.
Her lips started moving again. I always have some spells hanging THIS time of year, and I quickly picked the most harmless one. I finished casting it before she did, and her hands started shaking uncontrollably, and soon the jitters started spreading all over her. Her sign disappeared, she barely had enough concentration to keep standing.
"You'd better sit down, unless you want to end up on the floor," I advised, pouring myself another cup of coffee. I kept my sign around, though. Just in case. She followed my advice, still shaking.
"Come on, it wasn't that strong at all," I said, sitting myself and taking a sip. "What was that all about anyway?"
By the time I finished my coffee, she had stopped shaking. Almost.
"You're h-here to kill me, r-right?"
"Actually, I'm here to see an old friend of mine," I pointed out. "I wonder if I've confused the address. Why are you afraid of me?"
"You're Merle's f-friend. And I'm working for his enemy."
"Did Melman give you this trump?" I asked. Nod.
"Merle has never told me why you two broke up," I said after a long pause, "but I never thought it was that ugly."
"No!" she snapped, standing up rapidly. "I didn't know! I don't want him to get killed! Never wanted!"
"Calm down," I said softly, forcing her back into the chair. She started shaking again, but for a different reason. "Tell me how it all started. How did they find you?"
"They didn't find me," she sobbed. "I found them. I've been looking for them so hard it had to happen sooner or later."
"Why?"
"Merle. He took me for a walk one day. To the place that didn't... that wasn't..."
"Shadowwalk," I nodded.
"And the morning after, he was denying everything. Said it was all a dream. I couldn't just go on with that! Can you understand this?"
"Yes. Of course, I can," I said soothingly. Merle. You are a fool. But who am I to talk, having broken up with my girlfriend because of that little stupid thing called conscience. I lowered myself back into the chair.
"Your Pattern isn't broken," Julia said quietly. "You are... not human, too."
"Depends on how you define human."
"Who are you guys anyway," she asked, not listening to me. "Sorcerers? Aliens? Mutants? Products of my sick imagination?"
"Don't put me in the same league with Merle. He doesn't even know who I am."
"Doesn't know? Why?"
"I have my reasons. That doesn't matter right now. All that matters is that I AM his friend, and I want to protect him. Tell me the rest of your story."
"Melman told me he could give me the power I wanted," she started, wiping her tears. "And he did. There was that person, Master. Always hooded, strange voice. He took me into his castle for the last stage of my training."
"Have this Master ever mentioned why he needed you?"
"No."
"Then how did you know that your Master wants Merle dead?"
"Master has let me know that I was there because of Merle. Later, I returned to the castle and snooped around. Stupid thing to do, I know. But this mysterious Master got me so... intrigued. I thought that nothing bad could come out of this, even if I got caught. I didn't find any evidences - even on Master's gender. But I found an unfinished spell there. Something about ritual sacrifice of Son of Chaos."
"And you figured it would be Merle?"
"He was the only one I could think about. Wait..." she paused. "Maybe Master is after you?"
"Master is after Merle. I know that."
"How?"
"I have already stopped several assasination attempts. Tomorrow is the next one, by the way."
"How do you know THAT?"
"Long story. Look, you want to help Merle or not? Then lets talk about something useful. Like what were you planning to do with that trump?"
"Just watch Melman. I'll see if his is up to something."
"And if he is?"
"Well, I think I'm good enough to..."
"Crap. He is the one who trained you. You are no match for him, I'm sure."
"You have a better idea?"
"Shhh. Let me think."
Maybe it's time to take Melman out? But that would spook my mother, and he is just a pawn anyway. All I need to do is to reassure Julia. To keep her from doing something stupid.
"Look. I have a plan. Merle will be safe. Trust me."
"What plan? Tell me."
She was still sobbing, but sounded demanding nevertheless. Hell, why not?
"I want to... imprison him. I have made some special trumps. All I need to do is to slip them to Merle somehow and make sure he goes through any of them."
She sat in silence for several minutes, then said something I had least expected.
"Give them to me."
The lightning flashed, painting the surroundings with the colours of Tir-Na Nog'th for one moment, changing her crying face into the mask of insidious grin. I blinked, and everything returned to normal. Just me and the horrified girl across the table. Horrified, but definitely not a coward.
"I'll make sure he gets them."
"Julia, are you sure it's..."
"Come on, it's too dark in here."
She flipped the switch in the living room. Lights turned on just fine. Quickly, she took a pen and a piece of paper, scribbled something on it, put it into the envelope, sealed it.
"Give me the trumps, and give this to Merle. I'll take care of the rest."
"All right," I said, giving her the parcel. "Don't do anything stupid."
She walked me to the door, opened it, and asked suddenly, "So, it was all lie?"
"What exactly?" I asked, crossing the threshold and turning to face her.
"All of it. Your life."
There was no accusation in her voice. Just curiosity.
"More like a mask."
"Mask... mask..." Julia repeated, as if this word had her hypnotised, then snapped out of it.
"Thanks for stopping by, Luke. It was nice to see you again."
I stood before the closed door for a while, thinking of what she had told me. Was she completely sincere with me? Could the entire story of hers be made up on spot? Crap. Recent encounter with Dalt had made me paranoid. No a bad thing, actually, but Julia... She was just a Shadow girl who had got into quite a trouble. Poor girl. Saved me a lot of time, though. If she succeeds, I won't have to babysit Merle for the entire day. I was tempted to read the letter, but then figured that I'd be able to read it all on Merle's face tomorrow.
I got all wet by the time I got to my car. But the real storm was only about to begin.