Authors Notes: I write fanfictions for others to enjoy. Sure, I like to
write, and I enjoy reading what people have to say about my fanfics. That
isn't the main reason behind my fanfictions though. I have found that
there are a few people who consistently enjoy my fanfic, and review it. In
honor for those who enjoy reading what I write, I've decided to dedicate
chapters to them. They are fulfilling my purpose as a fanfic writer. This
chapter is dedicated to Catleya. Rocketto Neko, Lynda-chan, Isis, and Red
Ninja shall also get chapters dedicated in their honor. I'm not sure in
what order though. I hope you enjoy the chapter Catleya.
Warnings: The same as always. Oh! I finally got a beta-reader. The beta- reader is my mom. She is almost always on hand, she likes to edit, plus she gives me excellent advice. She edited the majority of this chapter, (yay) but she didn't get to edit the last little bit I added on near the end. So, it's not her fault for the spelling/grammar mistakes at the end.
"" Conversation
'' Thoughts
// // Passages from books, letters, etc
{} Flashback mode
Cleao and Majic briskly stride down the dirt road that led out of the North end of Totokanta. Mariebella had made sure that Cleao had food, money, her favorite dagger, a map, a compass, and spare clothing securely packed away for her trip. Leki walked a few feet in front of them, sniffing at one thing, and then racing off to the side to explore an interesting new sound. Cleao stared at the rocky ground as she tried to sort out her feelings.
'I can't believe I didn't notice Mariebella's illness sooner. I knew that mother had been seriously ill for a long time, but why hadn't I known about Mariebella?' Hands clenching the still unwrapped sword tightly Cleao failed to realize that she, Majic, and Leki were approaching the first split in the road. Blinking in surprise she realized that Majic had been calling her name.
"Cleao! Cleao! What is the matter Cleao? You usually aren't this quiet." Gazing at her with concern Majic wondered what he could possibly say, or do, to help cheer Cleao up. 'Cleao is bossy, tomboyish and rude at times, but she is a good friend. Not to mention she is now my sister. I'm worried about her behavior.'
"Sorry. I guess I'm just worried about Mariebella, Majic. I can't stop thinking about it." Avoiding Majic's gaze Cleao turned and looked at the split in the road. On the right side was the road that lead trough the forest of the Deep Dragons. She had never traveled down the left road. 'I can't believe I'm doing this. I have no clue where the Rings are, or if they even exist, plus winter is approaching.'
"Don't worry over it too much, Cleao. I mean, how could you have possibly known that Mariebella was sick?" Majic's sincere concern broke through Cleao's haze of doubt, worry, and insecurity.
"What do you mean by that Majic?" Eyes filled with puzzlement Cleao wondered what Majic meant.
"Think about it Cleao. You were rarely home for the past few years," pausing slightly Majic tried to think of the best thing to say. "When you were a young child Cleao, you were almost always outside playing." Holding up one finger for every point he made Majic continued. "After you got old enough to start acting like a lady Cleao, Mrs. Everlasting sent you to boarding school. Keep in mind Cleao, you weren't home for very long after boarding school. How could you have known that Mariebella was sick, if you weren't home for very long to notice in the first place?" Placing his left hand on Cleao's shoulder Majic looked at his sister deep in her eyes, trying to have her understand what he meant. Pale green meet pale blue and a silent understanding were finally reached.
"I guess you're right Majic." Nodding once to herself, Cleao suddenly smiled at Majic. 'Majic is right about one thing. Besides, Mariebella is counting on us.' "Well, let's not stand around here doing nothing Majic!" Grabbing him by his arm Cleao started to drag him down the left path. Barking excitedly Leki leapt up onto Cleao's shoulder, overjoyed that something had finally gotten her out of her brooding spell.
"H-hey Cleao! Slow down!" Sighing in relief Majic grinned brightly, glad that one hurtle had been over come. 'Cleao needs her head clear if we're going to pull this off. Master where are you? We need you to help us. Cleao needs you.' Picking up his step so he could keep up with Cleao's frantic march, Majic suddenly remembered something he had been dying to ask Cleao.
"Cleao why am I the one carrying the bags again," whined Majic as the heavy shoulder straps from the backpack dug into his shoulder blade.
"Because you're the youngest Majic," Cleao quickly replied, grinning ear from ear. Although the weight of what she had to do weighed heavily upon her, the excitement of traveling again coursed rapidly through her veins.
"Cleao-!"
"Say, what are you youngsters doing? Traveling on foot like that just before the winter season is dangerous! You could get caught in a sudden winter storm and freeze to death." An annoyed older man yelled down at the two children who were walking in front of his wagon. 'You'd think young ones these days would have more common sense then that! Why, the boy can't be more than 15 and the girl 18!' "Well, I for one won't be responsible for the death of two young ones. Get in back of the wagon," Pointing one finger roughly in the direction of the back of the wagon he glared at the shocked look on their faces. "I'll give you two a ride to Dunkley. You can get a good nights lodging there."
"Thank you, sir!" piped up the young girl, who had started dragging the boy behind in her rush to get in the wagon. The boy just nodded his head in thanks, before getting pulled around behind the wagon.
"C-cleao!" Was all the young man could say before getting yanked into the wagon.
--------Several hours later that day-------------------
Wrapping her warm winter cloak tighter around her body, Cleao shivered from the cold autumn air. Glad for the cloak's warmth Cleao closely examined the quality for the first time. It was a thick wool that been dyed a royal blue. A silver wolf with forest green stones for eyes clasped the cloak together at her throat. Lining the edges of the cloak, as well as the hood, was a high-grade rabbit fur. Rubbing the white fur gently with one hand Cleao absently looked over at Majic. 'Poor Majic doesn't do well in the cold. Good thing Mariebella had given him a cloak as well.' Leki was curled up in Cleao's lap, sleeping soundly.
Majic's cloak looked almost exactly like Cleao's except that his was forest green lined with black rabbit fur. Majic and Cleao had traveled along the winding road for several days without much luck. However when Cleao and Majic had traveled through the town of Two Rock they discovered something important. Just outside Dunkley were the legendary Ruins of Pyr. Supposedly inside of the ruins of Pyr was a vast library filled with knowledge of the Heavenly Ones. Rumor had it that a terrible beast that could use magic guarded the ruins. He didn't want to dwell on that thought when something else came to mind.
"Cleao, you still miss him don't you?" Majic's soft voice interrupted Cleao's musings. Majic had watched Cleao grow more emotionally attached to his Master when they had traveled together. It came as a surprise to him, when after Orphen had saved Azalie and Childman that they hadn't continued to travel together. 'I know Master was attracted to Cleao. He might not have developed deeper feelings for her yet, but he did care for her a lot. I never did find out why Cleao left so suddenly after the incident.'
"What? Are you crazy Majic? Why would I miss that selfish.." Cheeks flushing a dark shade of red, Cleao whipped her head around to glare at Majic. Closing her eyes tightly as she saw Majic's curious face, Cleao stopped ranting in mid-sentence. 'I don't have the right to talk about Orphen that way. He made his feelings clear for me the last time I saw him. It does me no good to talk about him like that.' Wiping away the moisture that was forming in her eyes, Cleao remembered those fateful events after the Bloody August had been transformed back into Azalie.
{Terror rushed through Cleao, trumpeting loudly in her head as she watched Orphen faint. As his limp body fell onto the snow, Cleao realized that she had never told Orphen she loved him. Racing forward trying to reach Orphen's sides Cleao missed the faintly amused look on Azalie's face.
Majic had reached Orphen's side first, and while pulling Orphen up into his lap Majic searched for a pulse. "Master! Master!" Relief flooded his young features as he felt the faint pulse that he searched so hard to find. "He's still alive! Cleao, he's still alive!" Cradling his Master's head in his lap he looked for help among the few people remaining. Azalie was shivering from the shock, hugging herself tightly with an odd expression on her face. Stephanie and Cleao were racing towards him.
Feeling light headed, Cleao fell down to her knees next to Majic. Staring at Orphen's torn clothing, she covered the numerous wounds on his body, Cleao felt panic was rising up within her. "Orphen please don't die! You can't die on me Orphen! I love you! I love you damn it!" With each passing sentence her voice got fainter and fainter, the energy draining out of her. Tears dropped from her eyes like gemstones, freezing in the cold winter air. Brushing one hand against his pale face, pushing aside his bangs Cleao waited to see if her words had any effect. Nothing happened; his face remained still.
"Cleao! Majic! Get out of the way!" Stephanie yelled.
--------Later that day-----------
"How is he Stephanie? Will Master be ok," Majic asked quietly, his eyes staring at Stephanie. "He doesn't look too good." Stephanie, Majic, Cleao and Azalie stood anxiously over three beds in an out of the way section of the Tower dormitories. Sleeping peacefully in bed were Orphen, Hartia, and Lai. Out of all three Hartia had suffered from the worst wounds.
"Orphen's fine Majic. All he needs right now is plenty of time to sleep. Primarily his wounds are from his fight with Childman. In a couple of days Orphen will be back to normal." Stepping away from the sleeping sorcerers Stephanie softly turned around. Trying to avoid making loud noises she started to leave the room. "Cleao would you please watch over them? I need to talk to Azalie and Majic."
Pulling up a chair next to Orphen's bed Cleao watched her friends leave the room. Sighing softly with relief Cleao looked over the sleeping sorcerer. 'Oh Orphen.' Placing her head in her hands, with her elbows resting on her knees Cleao watched Orphen sleep. Near by Hartia slept restlessly, breaking the silence with the occasional moan. Lai was silent while he slept.
Cleao kept watch over Orphen for hours, never once leaving his side. Hartia had fallen into a deep sleep at last finding solace. Lai continued to sleep silently, giving no sign of his troubled dreams. A soft moan escaped Orphen's lips drawing her attention to what he was muttering. 'Orphen what are you dreaming about?' Rolling over on to his side Orphen started to mummer incoherently, his voice sounded younger as if he was a young child again. 'Orphen..I wish there were something I could do to help.' Reaching over Cleao gently wiped the sweat from his face. Tenderly running her hand down his face Cleao smiled. Eyes widening with surprise at what she was doing, Cleao jerked her hand back as if it had been burned. Orphen started to whimper, his voice steadily getting louder.
"N-no..don't go Azalie! Wait for me! I love you Azalie..don't go! Azalie!" Bolting upright at the sound of Azalie's name Cleao stared in horrified shock at Orphen. Tears filled her wide eyes, before brimming over the edge and falling. 'I can't take it anymore!' Stepping back slowly Cleao covered her mouth with her right hand to prevent her sobs from being heard. Rushing out of the room with tears filling her eyes, Cleao didn't notice that Lai had woken up. He watched her go with an unreadable look on his face.
"Cleao what's the matter? Is something wrong with Master? Cleao? Cleao wait!" Dashing franticly out the door and past the startled Majic she raced down the hallway. Not caring where she went at all Cleao just wanted to get far away from Orphen.
Before she had gotten far a hand snapped out to grab her arm. Spinning around in surprise, Cleao turned to face who grabbed her.
"Cleao, calm down. Running away does you no good. Why don't you tell me about it," Stephanie asked concerned. 'This has something to do with Orphen I know it.'
Shaking her head from side to side Cleao continued to cry. 'I can't do this anymore.' Dropping to her knees Cleao covered her face with hands. Her eyes were red from tears, and she couldn't seem to stop crying. 'Why? Why does it hurt this much?'
"There you are Cleao! Why did you run off like that? You nearly gave me a heart attack," Majic demanded as he ran towards Stephanie and Cleao. When he saw Cleao crying on the floor he paused, baffled as to why she would was crying. "Cleao, what is wrong?"
"N-nothing. I just want to go home." Struggling to control her tears Cleao glanced around at her surroundings. 'I don't belong here. I can't read the runes of the Heavenly Ones, or the common written language used here. Orphen doesn't need me. I was just a burden to him. I should leave.'
Kneeling down so she could look Cleao in the eyes Stephanie decided to help Cleao take her mind off of the problem. "I have a better idea Cleao. I'm getting married to Tim next month, would you like to be my maid of honor?"
"T-thank you Stephanie." Wiping away the tears with the back of her hand Cleao stood up. 'I need to move on. If I have learned anything at all from this adventure, it's that dwelling on the problem will do you no good. You have to take action. It doesn't dull the pain of my broken heart though.'
"Ah man! I'm going to miss your wedding Stephanie," said Majic dejectedly. He had grown to admire Stephanie greatly.
"Don't worry about it Majic. You need to study hard! You've been accepted into the Tower of Fang later than most students have. You'll need to work hard to catch up." Standing back up Stephanie smiled warmly at Majic. She would miss him, but she knew how important it was to him to finally have made it into the Tower.
"Let's go Steph. I want to leave as soon as possible." 'I want to be gone before Orphen wakes up.'}
"Cleao? Cleao!" Majic waved his right hand in front of Cleao's vacant face. 'She gets like this every single time I mention anything about Master.' Putting his hands up in an I-give-up position, Majic looked at directly at Cleao. "Cleao you love him."
"Yes I do Majic. But it doesn't matter." Looking out the back of the wagon Cleao sighed sadly.
Authors Notes: Hope you liked it Catleya. Dun dun dun! In the next chapter Orphen, Cleao, Leki, and Majic are all in the same place. Plus, Lai makes an important appearance.
Warnings: The same as always. Oh! I finally got a beta-reader. The beta- reader is my mom. She is almost always on hand, she likes to edit, plus she gives me excellent advice. She edited the majority of this chapter, (yay) but she didn't get to edit the last little bit I added on near the end. So, it's not her fault for the spelling/grammar mistakes at the end.
"" Conversation
'' Thoughts
// // Passages from books, letters, etc
{} Flashback mode
Cleao and Majic briskly stride down the dirt road that led out of the North end of Totokanta. Mariebella had made sure that Cleao had food, money, her favorite dagger, a map, a compass, and spare clothing securely packed away for her trip. Leki walked a few feet in front of them, sniffing at one thing, and then racing off to the side to explore an interesting new sound. Cleao stared at the rocky ground as she tried to sort out her feelings.
'I can't believe I didn't notice Mariebella's illness sooner. I knew that mother had been seriously ill for a long time, but why hadn't I known about Mariebella?' Hands clenching the still unwrapped sword tightly Cleao failed to realize that she, Majic, and Leki were approaching the first split in the road. Blinking in surprise she realized that Majic had been calling her name.
"Cleao! Cleao! What is the matter Cleao? You usually aren't this quiet." Gazing at her with concern Majic wondered what he could possibly say, or do, to help cheer Cleao up. 'Cleao is bossy, tomboyish and rude at times, but she is a good friend. Not to mention she is now my sister. I'm worried about her behavior.'
"Sorry. I guess I'm just worried about Mariebella, Majic. I can't stop thinking about it." Avoiding Majic's gaze Cleao turned and looked at the split in the road. On the right side was the road that lead trough the forest of the Deep Dragons. She had never traveled down the left road. 'I can't believe I'm doing this. I have no clue where the Rings are, or if they even exist, plus winter is approaching.'
"Don't worry over it too much, Cleao. I mean, how could you have possibly known that Mariebella was sick?" Majic's sincere concern broke through Cleao's haze of doubt, worry, and insecurity.
"What do you mean by that Majic?" Eyes filled with puzzlement Cleao wondered what Majic meant.
"Think about it Cleao. You were rarely home for the past few years," pausing slightly Majic tried to think of the best thing to say. "When you were a young child Cleao, you were almost always outside playing." Holding up one finger for every point he made Majic continued. "After you got old enough to start acting like a lady Cleao, Mrs. Everlasting sent you to boarding school. Keep in mind Cleao, you weren't home for very long after boarding school. How could you have known that Mariebella was sick, if you weren't home for very long to notice in the first place?" Placing his left hand on Cleao's shoulder Majic looked at his sister deep in her eyes, trying to have her understand what he meant. Pale green meet pale blue and a silent understanding were finally reached.
"I guess you're right Majic." Nodding once to herself, Cleao suddenly smiled at Majic. 'Majic is right about one thing. Besides, Mariebella is counting on us.' "Well, let's not stand around here doing nothing Majic!" Grabbing him by his arm Cleao started to drag him down the left path. Barking excitedly Leki leapt up onto Cleao's shoulder, overjoyed that something had finally gotten her out of her brooding spell.
"H-hey Cleao! Slow down!" Sighing in relief Majic grinned brightly, glad that one hurtle had been over come. 'Cleao needs her head clear if we're going to pull this off. Master where are you? We need you to help us. Cleao needs you.' Picking up his step so he could keep up with Cleao's frantic march, Majic suddenly remembered something he had been dying to ask Cleao.
"Cleao why am I the one carrying the bags again," whined Majic as the heavy shoulder straps from the backpack dug into his shoulder blade.
"Because you're the youngest Majic," Cleao quickly replied, grinning ear from ear. Although the weight of what she had to do weighed heavily upon her, the excitement of traveling again coursed rapidly through her veins.
"Cleao-!"
"Say, what are you youngsters doing? Traveling on foot like that just before the winter season is dangerous! You could get caught in a sudden winter storm and freeze to death." An annoyed older man yelled down at the two children who were walking in front of his wagon. 'You'd think young ones these days would have more common sense then that! Why, the boy can't be more than 15 and the girl 18!' "Well, I for one won't be responsible for the death of two young ones. Get in back of the wagon," Pointing one finger roughly in the direction of the back of the wagon he glared at the shocked look on their faces. "I'll give you two a ride to Dunkley. You can get a good nights lodging there."
"Thank you, sir!" piped up the young girl, who had started dragging the boy behind in her rush to get in the wagon. The boy just nodded his head in thanks, before getting pulled around behind the wagon.
"C-cleao!" Was all the young man could say before getting yanked into the wagon.
--------Several hours later that day-------------------
Wrapping her warm winter cloak tighter around her body, Cleao shivered from the cold autumn air. Glad for the cloak's warmth Cleao closely examined the quality for the first time. It was a thick wool that been dyed a royal blue. A silver wolf with forest green stones for eyes clasped the cloak together at her throat. Lining the edges of the cloak, as well as the hood, was a high-grade rabbit fur. Rubbing the white fur gently with one hand Cleao absently looked over at Majic. 'Poor Majic doesn't do well in the cold. Good thing Mariebella had given him a cloak as well.' Leki was curled up in Cleao's lap, sleeping soundly.
Majic's cloak looked almost exactly like Cleao's except that his was forest green lined with black rabbit fur. Majic and Cleao had traveled along the winding road for several days without much luck. However when Cleao and Majic had traveled through the town of Two Rock they discovered something important. Just outside Dunkley were the legendary Ruins of Pyr. Supposedly inside of the ruins of Pyr was a vast library filled with knowledge of the Heavenly Ones. Rumor had it that a terrible beast that could use magic guarded the ruins. He didn't want to dwell on that thought when something else came to mind.
"Cleao, you still miss him don't you?" Majic's soft voice interrupted Cleao's musings. Majic had watched Cleao grow more emotionally attached to his Master when they had traveled together. It came as a surprise to him, when after Orphen had saved Azalie and Childman that they hadn't continued to travel together. 'I know Master was attracted to Cleao. He might not have developed deeper feelings for her yet, but he did care for her a lot. I never did find out why Cleao left so suddenly after the incident.'
"What? Are you crazy Majic? Why would I miss that selfish.." Cheeks flushing a dark shade of red, Cleao whipped her head around to glare at Majic. Closing her eyes tightly as she saw Majic's curious face, Cleao stopped ranting in mid-sentence. 'I don't have the right to talk about Orphen that way. He made his feelings clear for me the last time I saw him. It does me no good to talk about him like that.' Wiping away the moisture that was forming in her eyes, Cleao remembered those fateful events after the Bloody August had been transformed back into Azalie.
{Terror rushed through Cleao, trumpeting loudly in her head as she watched Orphen faint. As his limp body fell onto the snow, Cleao realized that she had never told Orphen she loved him. Racing forward trying to reach Orphen's sides Cleao missed the faintly amused look on Azalie's face.
Majic had reached Orphen's side first, and while pulling Orphen up into his lap Majic searched for a pulse. "Master! Master!" Relief flooded his young features as he felt the faint pulse that he searched so hard to find. "He's still alive! Cleao, he's still alive!" Cradling his Master's head in his lap he looked for help among the few people remaining. Azalie was shivering from the shock, hugging herself tightly with an odd expression on her face. Stephanie and Cleao were racing towards him.
Feeling light headed, Cleao fell down to her knees next to Majic. Staring at Orphen's torn clothing, she covered the numerous wounds on his body, Cleao felt panic was rising up within her. "Orphen please don't die! You can't die on me Orphen! I love you! I love you damn it!" With each passing sentence her voice got fainter and fainter, the energy draining out of her. Tears dropped from her eyes like gemstones, freezing in the cold winter air. Brushing one hand against his pale face, pushing aside his bangs Cleao waited to see if her words had any effect. Nothing happened; his face remained still.
"Cleao! Majic! Get out of the way!" Stephanie yelled.
--------Later that day-----------
"How is he Stephanie? Will Master be ok," Majic asked quietly, his eyes staring at Stephanie. "He doesn't look too good." Stephanie, Majic, Cleao and Azalie stood anxiously over three beds in an out of the way section of the Tower dormitories. Sleeping peacefully in bed were Orphen, Hartia, and Lai. Out of all three Hartia had suffered from the worst wounds.
"Orphen's fine Majic. All he needs right now is plenty of time to sleep. Primarily his wounds are from his fight with Childman. In a couple of days Orphen will be back to normal." Stepping away from the sleeping sorcerers Stephanie softly turned around. Trying to avoid making loud noises she started to leave the room. "Cleao would you please watch over them? I need to talk to Azalie and Majic."
Pulling up a chair next to Orphen's bed Cleao watched her friends leave the room. Sighing softly with relief Cleao looked over the sleeping sorcerer. 'Oh Orphen.' Placing her head in her hands, with her elbows resting on her knees Cleao watched Orphen sleep. Near by Hartia slept restlessly, breaking the silence with the occasional moan. Lai was silent while he slept.
Cleao kept watch over Orphen for hours, never once leaving his side. Hartia had fallen into a deep sleep at last finding solace. Lai continued to sleep silently, giving no sign of his troubled dreams. A soft moan escaped Orphen's lips drawing her attention to what he was muttering. 'Orphen what are you dreaming about?' Rolling over on to his side Orphen started to mummer incoherently, his voice sounded younger as if he was a young child again. 'Orphen..I wish there were something I could do to help.' Reaching over Cleao gently wiped the sweat from his face. Tenderly running her hand down his face Cleao smiled. Eyes widening with surprise at what she was doing, Cleao jerked her hand back as if it had been burned. Orphen started to whimper, his voice steadily getting louder.
"N-no..don't go Azalie! Wait for me! I love you Azalie..don't go! Azalie!" Bolting upright at the sound of Azalie's name Cleao stared in horrified shock at Orphen. Tears filled her wide eyes, before brimming over the edge and falling. 'I can't take it anymore!' Stepping back slowly Cleao covered her mouth with her right hand to prevent her sobs from being heard. Rushing out of the room with tears filling her eyes, Cleao didn't notice that Lai had woken up. He watched her go with an unreadable look on his face.
"Cleao what's the matter? Is something wrong with Master? Cleao? Cleao wait!" Dashing franticly out the door and past the startled Majic she raced down the hallway. Not caring where she went at all Cleao just wanted to get far away from Orphen.
Before she had gotten far a hand snapped out to grab her arm. Spinning around in surprise, Cleao turned to face who grabbed her.
"Cleao, calm down. Running away does you no good. Why don't you tell me about it," Stephanie asked concerned. 'This has something to do with Orphen I know it.'
Shaking her head from side to side Cleao continued to cry. 'I can't do this anymore.' Dropping to her knees Cleao covered her face with hands. Her eyes were red from tears, and she couldn't seem to stop crying. 'Why? Why does it hurt this much?'
"There you are Cleao! Why did you run off like that? You nearly gave me a heart attack," Majic demanded as he ran towards Stephanie and Cleao. When he saw Cleao crying on the floor he paused, baffled as to why she would was crying. "Cleao, what is wrong?"
"N-nothing. I just want to go home." Struggling to control her tears Cleao glanced around at her surroundings. 'I don't belong here. I can't read the runes of the Heavenly Ones, or the common written language used here. Orphen doesn't need me. I was just a burden to him. I should leave.'
Kneeling down so she could look Cleao in the eyes Stephanie decided to help Cleao take her mind off of the problem. "I have a better idea Cleao. I'm getting married to Tim next month, would you like to be my maid of honor?"
"T-thank you Stephanie." Wiping away the tears with the back of her hand Cleao stood up. 'I need to move on. If I have learned anything at all from this adventure, it's that dwelling on the problem will do you no good. You have to take action. It doesn't dull the pain of my broken heart though.'
"Ah man! I'm going to miss your wedding Stephanie," said Majic dejectedly. He had grown to admire Stephanie greatly.
"Don't worry about it Majic. You need to study hard! You've been accepted into the Tower of Fang later than most students have. You'll need to work hard to catch up." Standing back up Stephanie smiled warmly at Majic. She would miss him, but she knew how important it was to him to finally have made it into the Tower.
"Let's go Steph. I want to leave as soon as possible." 'I want to be gone before Orphen wakes up.'}
"Cleao? Cleao!" Majic waved his right hand in front of Cleao's vacant face. 'She gets like this every single time I mention anything about Master.' Putting his hands up in an I-give-up position, Majic looked at directly at Cleao. "Cleao you love him."
"Yes I do Majic. But it doesn't matter." Looking out the back of the wagon Cleao sighed sadly.
Authors Notes: Hope you liked it Catleya. Dun dun dun! In the next chapter Orphen, Cleao, Leki, and Majic are all in the same place. Plus, Lai makes an important appearance.