Hey guys!
Sorry there was a delay in this chapter, I work retail in the Toy Department and this close to Christmas it is a nightmare. So I've been dead and that of course effects my typing and schedule. But I finally managed to get this out today.
I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter! I had a lot of fun working on it...and we'll finally get to see some action. *Winks*
Now on to the story! Thank you all so much for your reviews/favorites/follows! They really make my day and I love hearing you guy's input, and just knowing this story is being enjoyed! 83
Disclaimer: Nope still don't own anything from Wizardess Heart, I do however own Zephyr and would really appriciate you asking before you use him! Thankies!
Chapter Three: A Gentle Wind of Change
The bright sunlight streaming in through the window was the first thing to great Ari the next morning. Blurry eyed she blinked a few times to allow her strained eyes to adjust to the piercing light, even this early she could already feel the throbbing of a headache starting.
She had stayed up most of the night before since that horrid premonition dream had decided to reek havoc on her mind. She had finally managed to drift into some sort of half asleep state during the early morning hours though that had seemed to do little good.
She could already feel the puffiness surrounding her eyes from the tears she'd shed, and she was sure that the rest of her probably looked just as bad or worse.
She sighed a little in serious debate on weather or not to pull a sick day and remain in bed. After a few seconds of debate she quickly pushed that idea away, she knew Klaus would never forgive her if she did it would mean a blow to both their grades.
"Ari, are you awake? You're going to be late if you don't get up no..." Amelia started to say as she walked across the room to stand beside the bed. Her eyes widening when Ari rolled over to face her slightly from over the top of the blankets.
"Oh my gosh! Are you alright? Have you been crying? What happened?" Amelia asked her voice instantly taking on concern as she started at her best friend.
Ari sighed a little as she slowly sat up, putting a hand to her forehead as she felt a wave of dizziness come over her at the movement.
"I'm fine Amelia...just had a bit of a rough night." She said giving her a weak smile.
"Are you sure? You look horrible..." Amelia asked as she gently sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her.
(I feel horrible too...) She thought with a bit of a mental snort before she forced a reassuring smile to come across her face.
"Y-Yeah, I just had a bad dream that's all." She said quietly looking down at the blanket that still covered her lap.
"Anything you want to talk about? You know I'm happy to listen..." Amelia said tilting her head a little.
"Thanks, I'm fine really it was just a silly dream, that's all I promise." She said after a moments debate.
Klaus had made her promise to keep her premonitions and time travel abilities a secret for now until she had a better handle on them.
(Sorry Amelia...) She thought quietly feeling horrid that she couldn't tell her more.
Amelia only gave her a look that told her she knew she'd been lied to, but the other girl didn't push the matter. She didn't like it but she knew that trying to force her to tell her wouldn't help anything at this point.
"Alright, well don't think on it to much that always seems to make my nightmares feel worse after I wake up." Amelia said flashing her a soft smile as she made to get up to let Ari get up and get ready for class.
"Thanks..." Ari stated halfheartedly as she began to get up and prepare for the rest of the day.
(How I wish I could stop thinking about it...) She thought in a bitter tone as she finished getting ready for the day.
She was right with the assessment of looking as bad as she felt, her eyes were puffy and swollen and her head thundered loudly behind her ears as she and Amelia made their way down to breakfast
Ari sighed a little as she made her way across campus to class, the warm sunshine seemed to at least fractionally help her mood a little bit.
She was trying to take Amelia's advice and not over think the dream she'd had the night before but try as she might that's exactly where her mind continued to wander.
In some ways she grateful that her normal routine had been interrupted for the day, she really wasn't for sure how she could have faced Klaus this morning.
Half of her desperately wanted to see him, cling to him, tell him all about this horrid vision she'd had and let him tell her it was alright. Soothe away all her fears, caress her hair and make her forget all about it.
But at the same time how could she ever tell him about it? She knew he'd always told her to be honest with him. That lovers didn't hide things away from each other, but in this case how could she?
(What can I say to him? That I had a premonition of us break...) She shook her head hard feeling the tears well up, she still couldn't even bring herself to say the words.
"Ari?" A voice called to her causing her to freeze, her heart squeezed a little in her chest at the sound of the voice. She swallowed hard before turning to face it's owner.
"Oh, Elias. It's you..." She said in relief at seeing the younger of the Goldstein brothers standing behind her his voice had sounded so much like Klaus's it had given her a start.
He huffed a little as he crossed his arms and glared down at her, she knew he hated it when someone mistook him for his brother.
"Sorry to disappoint you..." He muttered his arms still crossed.
"No, no...I didn't mean it like that..." She said shaking her head back and forth waving her hands a little in defense. Instantly wishing she hadn't since the motion made her dizzy.
As if finally taking in her appearance Elias's features relaxed and his violet gaze took on a look of concern.
"Are you alright? I called out to you several times and you didn't answer, and now seeing you goodness you look a mess..." Elias stated looking her over as if in thought.
(Neither he nor Klaus know the meaning of tact...) She thought to herself as she mentally hung her head.
"I'm fine...just didn't sleep very well last night." She said forcing a bright smile to come across her face as she looked at him.
"Well if that's the case then I would suggest revising your sleep schedule, though if it were a dream that kept you up then I would suggest..." He stated starting in on one of his lectures on how she could improve her sleep schedule.
Ari only nodded her head as she listened to him rattle on as they walked to their classroom. She could feel the headache she'd been trying to avoid getting worse by the second.
"Though the easiest way to resolve the issue is to probably stop the what do you call it? Girl talk?" He mussed to himself as he glanced down at her.
She only raised an eyebrow at him glad to somewhat see he was back to his normal self compared to yesterday.
"Y-yeah...that's just what I need to do." She stated just agreeing to go with it to afraid to get him started on another topic. She quietly glanced around the room noticing that as normal Luca was no where to be seen and Yukiya was seated in his normal spot.
She let out a little bit of a sigh as she bid farewell to Elias and went to take her normal seat. She felt the tiredness once again seeping into her bones. She really hoped today's lessons would some what go in her favor after yesterday she really didn't need another failure to add to her growing list.
Just at that moment the bell chimed, and to her relief it was Professor Mekulova that entered the room. She felt her spirits rise just the slightest bit at seeing him.
The rest of the day went off with out much of a hitch, classes continued right on. And compared to how some days had gone things had been relatively quite in comparison. Ari was thankful to not have had any major accidents in the rest of her classes.
Her mood had seemed to have at least marginally improved by the time lunch came around, it seemed that having something else to focus on had really helped her to some what put the dream she'd had at the back of her mind.
She was even more surprised when Elias and Yukiya had offered to have lunch with her, having noticed her off behavior before class they had decided to make sure she really was better.
That had improved her mood substantially having her friends care about her made her heart swell happily. Luca even ended up joining them on the way to their spot and she had enjoyed the company greatly.
Though by the time lunch was over she was starting to feel a little disheartened. Despite her earlier trepidation at running into Klaus the longer the day went on she really did miss him.
She knew she probably sounded clingy not being able to go half the day with out him, but she really did notice his absence the longer the time went on.
She had really hoped his Familiar would come at some point during the break and tell her he'd be finished at least somewhat earlier then expected.
But as she and the others gathered up their things to start heading back to the school for afternoon classes she realized that wasn't going to happen. She let out a bit of a sigh at the thought but quickly pushed down her feelings.
She had just gotten into better spirits she didn't want to sink back into her mood from earlier so soon.
Afternoon classes went by slowly for Ari, despite her best attempts some of her thoughts from earlier had seeped back into her brain. And by the time the last bell had rung she felt a deep exhaustion settling into her bones.
She yawned and and stretched as she blinked back the sleep she felt clouding her mind. She sighed a little at realizing she still needed to go practice like she'd promised Klaus the day before.
She humphed a little at the thought truly wondering if she could bluff her way through telling him she'd done it. She grumbled mentally to herself knowing that would never work, and she would just end up causing herself another lecture and double the practice when he found out.
She sighed a little as she slowly drug herself out of her chair and began gathering her things.
"Ari?" She heard a familiar voice call to her, she glanced up to find Elias standing near her desk looking at her.
"Hey Elias..." She said as she finished gathering her things up her wand in hand as she turned to face him.
"Are you going to go practice?" He asked nodding his head towards her wand.
She smiled and nodded her head a little.
"Yeah...even when he's not around, Klaus still gives me homework." She said with a soft smile as she glanced at her wand.
"Sounds like him, always the teacher." Elias stated shaking his head a little bit at his brother assigning his girlfriend homework in his absence.
"What are you going to be doing? If it's something you need help with I'll be free once I get done doing some research in the library..." He said a flash of concern crossing his violet eyes as he looked at her.
Elias knew her track record for messing up spells and he knew letting her trying out things on her own would end up badly. He also knew what Klaus would do to him if she got hurt when he knew what she was up to.
"Oh...I'm just going to practice a few of the light spells Klaus and I reviewed yesterday. And then some of the things from class. I think I should be able to handle it..." She said flashing him a bright reassuring smile.
She knew Elias was only looking out for her, or that Klaus had probably told him to do so. But at the same time she also wanted to at least attempt to do something on her own with out messing up.
How else would she ever learn? That and she also didn't want to trouble Elias when he obviously had other things he needed to focus on.
"Are you sure? I mean you're not exactly the most reliably sound wizardess when it comes to spells..." Elias said tilting his head slightly as he looked down at her.
"That isn't very nice.." She grumbled as she shot him a glare.
"It's true though, do I need to remind you of yesterday?" He asked crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.
(Thank you for reminding me of that...) She grumbled to herself as she hung her head a little.
"N-no. But seriously I'll be fine...the spells are very simple, and I'm sure I've got a pretty good grasp on them." She said trying to sound reassuring.
"That's what worries me..." Elias grumbled with a sigh as looked torn between pushing the matter more or just letting her go.
(So mean!) She thought as she noticed his moment of hesitation.
"Go on, really I'll be fine. I promise." She said flashing him another one of her famous bright smiles.
Elias gave her one last look before sighing deeply and dropping his arms.
"Alright, alright...but if you have any trouble just come find me, alright?" He said giving her another worried glance.
"Sure! Thank you Elias." She said happily her face lighting up again as a true smile spread across her face.
Elias only huffed a little as he turned away from her heading towards the door, he understood now why she could convince his brother to do almost anything.
Ari beamed a little as she followed him out of the classroom and then headed to the courtyard behind the school.
She hated to admit it but she was a little excited now about this practice session. Something inside of her wanted to succeed more then ever now. Mostly so she could prove that she was at least slightly competent in her own abilities.
Once outside and to the field she sat her things down and took a deep breath. Her magenta eyes sparkling a little in the afternoon sunlight.
(Alright...I guess now is as good at time as any to start. Let's warm up a little bit first...) She thought as she walked to the middle of the field where she and Klaus normally practiced.
Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes and held her wand at the ready before reciting a spell she knew by heart.
"Rise, O winds of fury, and unleash a vortex. Turbo Ventos!" She said the spell as her eyes flashed open grinning when the small vortex of wind formed at the end of her wand.
Her brows furrowed as she tried to keep the small vortex formed, making sure to concentrate and put her energy into keeping it's shape.
After several minutes of keeping the small whirlwind going she finally stopped allowing it to dissipate into the air.
She grinned to herself as she put down her arms.
(See, piece of cake!) She thought happily to herself, though she felt a small pang in her heart at not having Klaus there to see her accomplishment no matter how small. She slowly shook her head a little as she pushed down that thought.
(No...focus. I don't need to be distracted. I promised Elias I could do this with out messing up.) She thought as she nodded her head in determination.
She stood for a moment trying to remember the spells she and Klaus had been reviewing the day before. They were all simple beginner spells on controlling light to form a torch of sorts to see by.
According to what he'd taught her they would eventually build on them to where she could use them for barriers and even to summon lightening.
Thinking for just a few more seconds to make sure she had the incantation correct in her mind she slowly raised her wand back into position.
"O enchanted light, bring me sight into the night! Become a torch to light my path! Visus Fax!"
She recited the spell bringing her wand down in a sweeping motion, a small ball of glowing orange light spreading out from the tip. She grinned a little bit as she watched it grow to eventually light up the area around.
(I did it! I really did it on my own!) She thought excitedly as she watched the soft warm light spread from the tip of her wand.
Of course however her joy was short lived, it was clear after just a few seconds something wasn't quite right with the spell.
A small spark suddenly sizzled off from the ball of light at the end of her wand causing her eyes to widen slightly.
(I-I don't remember it doing that yesterday when we practiced...) She thought suddenly feeling nervous knowing this was normally how things went before they went terribly wrong.
She quickly tried to stop the flow of her magic to the ball to end the spell. But it seemed like that only caused the ball of light to grow more, in turn causing more sparks to start flying from it.
"Oh no.." She mumbled to herself quickly realizing she didn't know what to do to stop the haywire spell.
The ball of light had now doubled in size and was beginning to sizzle and spark uncontrollably. Ari had to shield her eyes with her other arm in order to see the light was becoming so bright.
(What...what should I do?!) She thought starting to feel herself panic, she glanced side to side in hopes of someone that could help her. But of course she was in the field alone. She suddenly cursed herself for not allowing Elias to help her.
At that very moment her attention was drawn back to the rapidly growing energy ball at the end of her wand. It had seemed to have grown to the size of a large watermelon and was now floating and sparking haphazardly at the tip of the wand.
She had the moment of fear that it was suddenly going to explode right there in her face.
She was just debating on if she should throw her wand and hope for the best when a large spark suddenly shot off from the ball.
Narrowly missing her arm by centimeters, the sudden flash caused her to cry out and stumble backwards from the shock and sting of the spark.
As she stumbled her hand went up causing her wand and the ball to go with it, as if in slow motion the ball was released from her wand shooting straight up into the air above her head.
She let out a small cry as she staggered suddenly feeling a horrible shooting pain in her right ankle as her foot twisted in a hole in the ground. She winced as she came to land heavily on the ground on her side.
She only had a few seconds to register the pain and the shock of what just happened before her eyes snapped back up to where the energy ball had flown.
She could still see the bright light from it as it rose in the sky. Then with a blinding flash it did what she was afraid it was going to do a few moments before she could only watch helplessly as it imploded into a dazzling array of hot sparks much like a firework that began to rain back down to earth towards her.
Ari let out a frightened cry at realizing that there was no way for her to get out of the way of the hot embers that where falling towards her. She quickly hid her face in her arms closing her eyes as she waited for the pain that was to come.
"Aqua!" Was the only thing Ari heard through the pounding in her ears.
She blinked several times when she felt no pain, she slowly raised her head up to see a barrier of water surrounding herself and whomever had cast the spell. The sizzle of the sparks as they rained down harmlessly on the barrier the only other thing she could hear.
She stared wide eyed at the barrier for a few more seconds before realizing the person who had cast the spell was standing before her. She slowly raised her eyes up from her position on the ground.
She could tell by the uniform that the figure was male, his long cloak moved gently in breeze caused by the barrier. With his back to her all she could make out was the distinctive silver pony tail that swayed gently from the back of his head.
She had the brief wondering of who this person was, and how more lucky she was to have him come by right at that moment. But it was quickly cut off by the sudden dropping of the barrier that fell to the ground with a loud splash.
The figure straightened slightly and then turned to face her. She was taken slightly aback by his face, she'd almost expected an older gentleman to be standing before her from his pale smokey hair color.
But she was surprised to find herself under the gaze of a young man around her own age, his apple green eyes seemed to pierce her with their intensity. His features where angular and slight, framed by long silky bangs that fell lightly across the left side of his face.
He wore the typical student uniform though his neck tie was undone and hung loosely from his neck, revealing the beautiful gold and green beaded necklace that sparkled in the sunlight.
She felt a slight blush come across her cheeks looking at him, he was handsome.
"Hey...what do you think you were doing?" Asked the mysterious man in a voice that sounded anything less than thrilled at her.
Ari blinked by his sudden question, scrambling to find her voice.
"I-I was practicing..." She managed to squeak out withering slightly under his stern gaze.
"Practicing?! With a spell like that? What on earth were you thinking? You're lucky I happened by or you'd be in big trouble!" He snapped glowering down at her his electrifying gaze piercing her with its intensity.
"It was an accident...I didn't mean for it to go wrong like that!" She defended back suddenly reminded of being reprimanded by Klaus for her mistakes. Though it seemed far harsher coming from a stranger.
The man only continued to glare down at her seeming to take in her words before he let out a sigh and crossed his arms.
"Well accident or not, you shouldn't be practicing out here alone if you don't know how to control spells properly." He criticized her with a huff as he shook his head in exasperation.
Ari sighed a little suddenly reminded that it was her own fault for working her way into this situation. If she hadn't been so insistent on doing things on her own.
As if sensing that he'd gone to far the man let out an exasperated sigh, though his gaze softened as he looked at her.
"Well...I guess there was no real harm done. Sorry to have yelled at you like that, but you really should be more careful." He stated as he walked over to her and knelt down to where she was still setting on the ground.
Ari continued to look away from him not wanting to meet his gaze.
"Zephyr..." He finally stated after a few seconds of awkward silence.
Ari blinked at him finally looking up at him in confusion.
"W-What?" She asked quietly not for sure what he was meaning.
"My name is Zephyr, Zephyr Leyhelm. I figured we already got the whole awkward first meeting thing behind us...so I thought introductions were the next step." He stated flashing her a charming smile with a tilt of his head.
Ari could only roll her eyes a little at him, though his sudden friendly demeanor caused her to relax a little.
"A-Ari Foxx..." She finally answered realizing he must be the new student Amelia had mentioned the night before.
"Ari, huh? Well it's a pleasure." He stated chuckling a little it.
"Same, I guess I should say thank you for saving me..." She said giving him an appreciative smile as he flashed her a grin.
"No problem. Don't think getting to save a pretty damsel in distress was in the orientation but I'll take it." He stated giving her a wink which caused her to blush.
She couldn't help but feel an odd sensation at being around this odd young man, she was so thankful that Klaus wasn't around to hear him. She could only imagine how he would take it, innocent as it was considering she'd just met him.
"Well anyways, I think we've both had enough excitement for the day. Sure you want to be getting back to the dorm as well after all that...I'd be happy to walk you back if you'd like." Zephyr stated motioning with his head as he gave an embarrassed cough.
"And yes, that may have been a hint. They didn't tell me how big this school was when I decided to go roaming around...and now I'm hopelessly lost on finding my way back to the boy's dorm." He stated glancing away from her a look of embarrassment crossing his face as he got to his feet extending his hand to help her up.
Ari couldn't help but finally let out a small laugh at his words. She could understand she had been the same way on her first day. Her gaze softened with that memory since that was how she'd first met Klaus.
"Alright...just let me get up." She said as she hesitatingly took his hand and started to get to her feet, she was only half way there when she suddenly let out a loud yelp of pain as she put her weight on her right foot.
Zephyr's eyes widened in panic at her sudden cry as she crumpled back to the ground.
"W-what? Are you alright?" He asked she could clearly see the panic written on his face as he looked down at her.
"My ankle..." She managed to say wincing as she motioned with her head to the appendage.
Zephyr swallowed hard before gently examining her ankle wincing a little as he noticed the already forming bruise and the swelling.
"I-I can't tell if it's a sprain or if it's broken..." He admitted quietly glancing around the area quickly as if looking for help.
Ari was surprised by his sudden change in demeanor, it seemed like his cool attitude was replaced now that it seemed she was hurt.
"J-just cast a pain relief spell on me till we get back to the dorm. I'm sure someone there will be able to help further." She said trying to sound reassuring, even though she was finding it hard to keep from crying at the pain that was radiating up her leg.
Her words seemed to cause Zephyr's anxiety to grow even more, he looked at her with wide eyes as if she'd asked him to face down a dragon. He slowly shook his head at her suggestion, biting this lip as if in debate on what to do.
Ari suddenly let out a surprised yelp as she felt herself being lifted up. Her magenta eyes widened as she suddenly found Zephyr hoisting her bridal style into his arms.
"Eeep! This is not what I meant..." She managed to stutter out feeling herself blush as she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck to support herself.
"S-sorry. Ummm...which way is the dorm?" He asked awkwardly avoiding looking down at her and trying not to jostle her injured leg.
"That way..." She answered quietly feeling just as awkward over the entire situation.
Zephyr nodded his head as he started briskly walking in the direction she directed him in. The two traveled in silence.
Neither really sure what to say about the current situation. Finally after several minutes of Zephyr's fast paced walking they could make out the looming figures of the dorms ahead of them.
(Thank goodness...) Ari thought to herself as they neared the building, she was embarrassed over the whole ordeal enough. Let alone if anyone saw her in this predicament.
They had just entered the gates of the girl's dorm when a sudden familiar voice made Zephyr pause mid step and Ari freeze in his arms.
"Just what the hell is going on here?!" Klaus asked from where he'd been standing near the gate, his purple gaze boring into them both.
Oh boy...what a way to end the chapter! Guess we'll see how this all pans out in the next chapter. Yes I know I am evil for ending it there...mwahahaha. XD
Anyways! I really do hope you guys enjoy this chapter, I had a lot of fun with it...and I really do love the way Zephyr is coming out. We'll find out more about Mr. Leyhelm in coming chapters.
Hope you all read, review and enjoy!
Thankies so much! 83