Hum… I didn't think I'd come back to this so soon. I guess I got hooked on Stroud's world

This chapter is right before 37th chapter of the third book, which I'm not sure if will even exist in this fanfic.

Kitty

Kitty didn't dare move a muscle.

The air itself was in suspense - a predator, claws and teeth sharp and ready to pursue its prey, creating an illusionary sense of peace; an ambiguous, restless magical energy swirling around the epicenter of the explosion. It seemed to be waiting for something to happen, for another sound to interrupt that unnerving serenity, for another light to furiously bulb up and blow whatever was left of the surrounding area of the palace, or any sign that either one of the flanks was still standing.

Kitty waited for any of those options to happen.

They didn't.

It was quiet. Too quiet.

Just a moment before, a flash of a blinding white light had turned the Glass Palace to mere ruins and thrown her violently backwards, the Amulet of Samarkand hitting her right on the face, leaving her head spinning and feeling incredibly sick. Due to her previous doings (consisting of going to the Other Place, and running from one side to another to help exterminate the hybrids), she wouldn't say she was in the best of shapes. So, that, plus this last occurrence were not helping her concentrate in anything of relevance. But still, her tenacity in knowing if Nathaniel and Bartimaeus were fine seemed to be sufficient, at least for now - she didn't know how long could she remain from fainting from exhaustion.

Briefly taking in her surroundings, she saw people being led by some of the magicians that were previously with her to one of the improvised hospitals. They gazed in awe at the scene in front of them for a few seconds, and then continued with whatever they were doing.

Kitty felt extremelly frustrated. Didn't anyone have the guts to just go there to check if there was anybody there?

Inwardly cursing, she forced herself up. She would fall, had not been Mandrake's assistant, Ms. Piper, there at the right moment. Muttering a hushed "thank you", she once more glanced at the remains of the Glass Palace.

They had promised. Nathaniel had promised they would see each other again, after they defeated Nouda. They had, and that was pretty obvious, so where were them?

Feeling her heart tighten, she fought the tears that were already peeping in the corners of her eyes; after all, she was not supposed to cry - he was just an arrogant, deceiving magician, whom had made too many promises while he was a politician. She should have known better than to believe in the promises of the one who had put her in all this mess. But that was Mandrake, this is Nathaniel, a voice echoed in her brain. A voice that was annoyingly too close to Bartimaeus' when they were both in the Other Place.

Kitty felt a light squeeze on her left forearm, and twisted her head to see Ms. Piper staring somewhat worriedly down at her. Snapping back to reality, Kitty asked if she had said something.

"Yes. I was asking if you were feeling okay," Ms. Piper repeated.

"Oh. I am," Kitty replied nonchalantly, returning her attention to the palace.

Piper cleared her throat. "Ms. Jones… Well… I don't intend to intrude or anything of the like, but I don't think anyone would have survived such explosion…" she trailed off.

Kitty didn't immediately answer. She understood what Piper meant with the emphasized word, and silently agreed that she was right. Although there was something that still lingered her there, something that she couldn't ignore.

"He promised. Nat- John never broke a promise to me," she breathed out. Because her voice was in a mere whisper tone and so husky, Piper had to bend forward to hear what she had said.

"I understand," Piper said with a slight nod of her head. "So, can you stand still, Ms. Jones?"

"No. But I can sit."

"Very well. Then, I must go to help those in need." She helped Kitty sit down near the same tree Nathaniel had been leaning onto for what seemed moments ago, and then let go of her. "I'm sending an imp every now and then to check on you, if that is okay."

"Thank you," Kitty said. "But I think it would be more appropriate to send it to the Glass Palace. Or whatever's left of it."

Piper nodded, and finally left Kitty on her own.

A few hours later, the area around Kitty was cleared from commoners and magicians. The fire was already extinguished and spirits had been sent after the four remaining hybrids that had managed to escape in the middle of that disorder. They weren't considered dangerous - in comparison to Nouda, they were mere imps; but no one felt like taking a chance on luck, especially after the previous events, and so the necessary spirits had been mobilized to go search and destroy those.

Kitty sat in the same spot all alone, under a clear, bright sky, an orange blanket wrapped around her, and a cup of hot chocolate in her right hand, both courtesy of Piper. Although the sky was cloudless, it was starting to get colder and colder by the minute. She guessed it was because dawn was approaching.

Piper had been there twice. The first time she had brought the blanket and said that no one had been found in the Glass Palace's ruins or in the garden. The second time she had brought the hot chocolate and politely asked Kitty if she wouldn't accompany her back. Kitty had declined.

She felt very tired, not only physically, but mentally too. Good thing was her hair already showed some signs of getting better, and she could feel the wrinkles were less prominent. Not that it mattered that much to her. Not now.

Kitty allowed herself to close her eyes, with an inward promise that it would only be for a minute, just so she could rest a bit from everything. Previous events passed before her shut eyes in a flashing speed, and she let herself remember how Nathaniel had both put her in this whole mess, and also saved her from it, just like he had promised before; and Bartimaeus, who seemed to be much gentler and at peace in the Other Place, who promised to help because of her sacrifice. She chuckled lightly. Bartimaeus would die swearing he hadn't done it because of Nathaniel too. That thought made her heart pound, and so she brought the cup to her lips, taking a sip of the melted drink, and leaning against the tree once more.

Her mind began to smoothly shut down, everything going completely black, no more images, portraits, or memories dancing before her. It was quiet, peaceful, and she felt herself gently dozing off into a light slumber…

… when a ruffle in the bushes coming from her right startled her out of her stupor.

With her heart hardly hammering against her ribs, Kitty shakily got up to her feet, using the tree as a crutch, and holding onto the hot chocolate cup as if it was her weapon and the blanket as if it was her lifeguard. She froze in place when she saw who it was.

A hybrid. Probably one of those who had ran away.

She didn't recognize the man in front of her, but the three tails coming out of his back didn't go unoticed. He was tall, a bit overweight, probably on his late fifties (she could tell that by his short, grizzled hair and botched beard). The right cheek of the man's face was missing, replaced by a blood-red tissue similar to human's flesh, and there was what resembled a horn coming out. The glint in his demonic black eyes told her he had seen her, and as if that wasn't enough, so did his smirk.

"Well, well, a human," he mocked, in a deep grave voice that reverberated on his lungs, taking a step forward. "What a nice feast it will be."

Kitty glared at the hybrid, not moving, and considered her options. Running certainly wasn't one - she could barely take a step without collapsing on the grass. So, there had to be another way out. She had to improvise something before Piper came to check on her again, then she could take care of it, she hoped...

"Now, now, lady, don't fret. I'll make it quick." It smirked mischievously.

Kitty looked down and spotted something on his shoes - flames. That wasn't a good sign. The hybrid standing in front of her was probably an afrit. She had read about them, of course, so she silently hoped that the part of them being stupid was also truth. That was probably her way out of it.

"Say, sir, I suppose you're an afrit," she finally spoke up, attempting to sound as polite as possible.

"Yes, it is right, human. How did you know?"

"You must be incredibly powerful," Kitty faked admiration, choosing to not answer the question. "I heard the magician whose body and mind are now yours was great indeed."

He had bit the bait. She knew that because after muttering those false words the afrit had puffed and his chest had visibly grown. Great. Now all she had to do was keep that up for a while. She hadn't forgotten her magic resilience, nor the amulet still hanging around her neck, but she didn't know how that would help had the demon tried to eat her alive.

"So, as I was-"

"I could assist you, sir," Kitty continued. "I'm sure you are too great to be called randomly by an unexperienced magician, so I assume this world is a bit new to you, sir. I could be of help on that matter."

The hybrid stopped for a while, narrowing his eyes in a speculative way. When he spoke, his orbs glued to Kitty's, studying her, trying to decipher if she was being honest. "Tell me, are you a magician?" The last word was spit out with venom.

"I am not," she stated firmly. She wasn't… but she had summoned Bartimaeus once… and she had also gone to the Other Place… so what did it make her? No, not a magician.

"Liar," he hissed coldly, his eyes glinting darkly. Kitty felt a cold shiver run up her spine. "You must be a magician to possess that object over there." The hybrid pointed to her chest, where the Amulet of Samarkand lifelessly hung, steadily gleaming, a demonic yet protective aura emanating from it. "The same goes for your knowledge. No commoner would know, just by looking, that I am an afrit. A great one, indeed, as you mentioned, so it should be an honour for you to be part of my essence."

No, thanks, was Kitty's instant thought.

The hybrid stepped forward, the distance between them shortening threateningly by the second. Kitty gulped, suddenly finding herself in a very time-to-panic situation. What now? How could she escape the claws and teeth of a much stronger being, even taking her own resilience in account? She silently hoped the spirit would use a magical attack first - that would give her the element of surprise. Nonetheless, hadn't it seen the amulet? If she was correct, it was very well known, so it had probably identified it already.

Great, just my luck! She inwardly grumbled.

Subtly searching in her pockets, the only things she found were an elemental sphere and a silver disk. Would that suffice? Probably not… Even if she threw the elemental sphere towards its face, it would probably only temporarily delay the hybrid, because then she would be pursued by her scent, and she would lead it to one of the improvised hospitals, where all those innocent people were. That if the afrit didn't diffuse it first, like it had happened with Honorius some years ago.

What could she do?

When her brain started racing to find an answer again, a lot of things happened too fast for Kitty to register any details.

The hybrid advanced on her. Kitty clenched her hand around the elemental sphere. They locked eyes for what seemed to be forever. It hopped. Quick, elliptical reddish lights coming from her right violently striked the hybrid standing a few feet from her, causing its body to ghastly shake and completely vanish from sight. The amulet in her chest absorbed the rest of the energy.

Kitty's mouth was agape and her eyes were opened wide, fixed in the spot where her eminent death had been just seconds ago. Then her head snapped to her right, in time to see him, his eyes in a scary, murderous glare, right hand reaching front, a trace of magical energy still hovering around it, and body slightly bent forward, rigid, ready to battle.

"Nathaniel…" she whispered, bewilderment linked to her voice. Half of her was stunned to say the least, and also in a vague denial - but who could blame her after what had happened, right before her eyes, in the Glass Palace? The other half was almost swooning from relief, and she now wanted nothing more than to throw herself backwards and let out a reprieved sigh.

His eyes had grown softer when he heard her call him by his birth name, and so did his body relax a bit. "Are you alright?" he asked rather anxiously, his hoarse voice overflowing with concern. Though softened, his eyes were still alert, glued to her, searching for any sign that she wasn't okay, worriedly waiting for her answer.

Kitty didn't trust her voice right now - it was probably lost in some hollow space of her throat, wherever that ought to be, recovering from the shock it had been to see him cast such a powerful Spasm. Her stomach was contracted, pressed against her diaphragm as if it feared for its safety, due to the amounts of hormones that had been released into her blood in mere seconds. For a few moments, she thought she would be sick.

Whilst her head twisted from the velocity of the prior events, she came to the conclusion that Bartimaeus had to still be inside Nathaniel's body, because there was no other way for him to be standing with his wounded flank, much less cast such spell.

Knowing that she still hadn't answered him, and because she also acknowledged the fact that she couldn't speak just now, Kitty nodded her head. That was as much as she could do for now.

"Am I glad!" Nathaniel blurted out with a relieved sigh, the next moment falling on his knees and running a hand over his raven hair distressfully. His body noticeably trembled when he took in a good amount of air into his lungs, and when he exhaled, his breath came irregular. Supporting his weight with one hand, the other rushed to his flank, his body visibly wincing at the touch.

That made Kitty snap out of her reverie, and momentarily overcoming her fatigue, she rushed to his side, also falling on her knees, and enveloping him with her orange blanket. Now she could see the sweat on his forehead, mixed with some blood cascading on the left side of his features.

The magician produced some indignant sound, then muttering a "you should be wearing it, not me", that earned him a glare from the girl.

"Don't listen to this brat," Bartimaeus' voice came out of Nathaniel's mouth, who then forcefully closed it, annoyed with the spirit's nerve. It opened again. "He's been whining like a baby since we left the hospital to come to you. Piper told us you were under this tree, and because there are still hybrids out here, Natty-boy couldn't just rest still until he saved his lo-moof."

With his face bright scarlet, the mentioned magician had clamped his balancing hand to his mouth, in a desperate attempt to hush the djinni. But not without a fight, because the talkative spirit was hissing muffled protests, whilst Nathaniel did his best to maintain his mouth as closed as possible. His eyes wore an expression of pure terror and unbelief, and for Kitty, the fact that they were arguing at a time like this was a bit frustrating.

Albeit that, the whole drama they had gone through for the last hours and the horrors they had seen and experienced, now she found the scene displayed in front of her too entertaining, and so she laughed. It started with a quiet giggle, until it developed into a very resonant laugher, one that made her sides and cheeks hurt and her eyes water. The expression of confusion plastered on the boy's face only fueled her, of course.

They stayed like that for a while - Kitty laughing and Nathaniel staring at her blankly, until the girl did something much unexpected and out of character, for reasons that only she knew. Kitty wrapped her arms around the young magician's neck, leaning her head near his ear and whispering "thank you both".

Besides Nathaniel's face turning two darker shades of red, it only served for him to hold her back, a peaceful smile on his lips.

Now, even Bartimaeus didn't have the heart to interrupt, after all, a djinni knows when to be quiet.

And that's it! :)

Ah, yes! I forgot to mention that the title for this fanfic came to me when I was searching for one, and suddenly my playlist randomly chose Aladdin's song, "Friend Like Me" to play. Well, I was completely creeped out, but it turned out to be just perfect!

Thank you for reading! Feel free to drop a review to let me know what you think, what you like and what I should improve! ;)

C'sMelody