Chapter 21

'The linc,' Kaiba indicated towards the small bottles on Tristan's table, 'I think that's what we need to combine the ground lavender and bramble thorns together.'

For a few long moments Tristan found himself just staring at the bottles. On day one it had been decided they would convert all the books into brail so Kaiba could do all the reading and he could do all the mixing, that way his memory problems wouldn't become too much of an issue. Except for at a time like this when he wasn't entirely sure what any of the bottles said, because he wasn't entirely sure he knew how to read them.

'According to our manifest list, it's a red liquid in a clear bottle with a green lid.'

'Thanks,' he half smiled at Kaiba, before reaching for the bottle.

That was the other thing which they'd done to make this whole thing more manageable. The manifest list worked as Kaiba's eyes so they could both get on with as little fuss as possible. But it didn't make the situation feel any less weird than it already was, because ever since they'd started down the spell and potions route, Tristan couldn't help but feel like some witch or wizard conspiring to do something he really shouldn't. But as he himself had pointed out to Kaiba before they started, the more they could do without having to rely on their own power, the more likely they could make it out with everyone vaguely intact. They were all much too reliant on their powers and that was something heavily affected when his memory problems were in full swing. It wasn't so much he couldn't use them, it was more he couldn't remember how.

'Jay…' the sound of Kaiba's voice brought his attention towards his lover.

'What was that?' Tristan glanced towards him.

'Everything in this book was converted to brail, remember?' A strange smile twitched at his lips. 'There's something scribbled along the margin here which was also converted. The way it reads… it sounds like Jay's work.'

Tristan made his way towards him and stared down at the page for a moment. The series of bumps and dots made even less sense to him than actual words would have; although he couldn't at that moment be sure whether or not that was because he couldn't read it or if he'd just forgotten how.

'You don't think…' Kaiba interrupted his train of thoughts.

'Don't think what?' Tristan stared at him.

'That this was what he used when he…'

'I thought everyone agreed his exact spell was lost when he ascended.'

'That was only because everyone gave up looking for it.'

Tristan's gaze went back towards the page, but it remained just as meaningless as before.

'Here,' Kaiba took hold of his hand and forced his fingers along the page, 'try actually reading it.'

Tristan ran his fingers carefully along the page and was surprised by just how much of it made sense to him. For some reason his fingertips were still able to do what his eyes could not.

'Well?' Kaiba once again interrupted his thoughts. 'What do you think?'

'It doesn't seem right somehow.'

'That's what I was thinking, but maybe that was why it worked. Or, rather, why it wasn't found.'

'But why have we found it now?' Tristan frowned. 'Why now, after all this time?'

'I don't know,' Kaiba sighed, 'maybe it's some kind of sign.'

'Sign from who?'

'From Jay. Maybe he's coming back.'

'How?'

'We're in a new order, remember?'

'Yeah, I remember.'

'Well maybe Jay has his own place within it,' Kaiba shrugged, 'not that finding the spell makes any difference to us now.'

'Can't we make some kind of cure for them out of it,' Tristan frowned, 'then we could get them all back.'

'Curing CiCi and Damon would change who they are.'

'I wasn't talking about CiCi and Damon.'

'It's too late for my brother Tristan.'

'Couldn't we at least try to use this for something?'

'We'll see,' he gave another heavy sigh.

Tristan made his way back to his own table, but found himself continuing to watch Kaiba. There was something really odd about the way he'd been acting all day; strangely dull and yet at the same time… Memories of the night before carefully floated their way into his head. For a few long moments he wasn't sure if, let alone how he should tackle it without embarrassing Kaiba. But at the same time he knew it wasn't something he could just ignore.

'They're allowed to be your babies, you know,' Tristan's voice made Kaiba start.

'What?'

'CiCi, Damon and Tay; they're allowed to be your babies.'

For a few moments Kaiba's mouth twitched thoughtfully. Then he lowered his gaze.

'We need to get this done Tristan,' his voice was low, 'we can worry about everything else later.'

'Here,' CiCi handed her brother the woodlouse she'd managed to capture, 'I want to see if you can turn this into a butterfly.'

'It's not a worm,' Damon shot her a doubtful look.

'I know. But this is the best I can do.'

Nodding thoughtfully, Damon stared at the louse for a few moments. He then clapped his hands together, brought them in towards himself, before flinging them away. In amazement CiCi watched as his hands opened and a beautiful blue winged butterfly, as transparent as coloured light, emerged. Speechless wasn't the word for what she was feeling; it was so much more than that. Just one look at the butterfly and she could see all the reasons as to why her brother didn't want his power to be a bad one. How could something bad be so beautiful?

Not like her power. All her power was good for was hurting people. As she continued to watch the butterfly, it landed on her brother's chest. Then, with a strange kind of slowness, it melted into him.

'Wow,' she breathed.

'See,' he seemed pleased with himself, 'not eating it.'

'Yes, I think I see exactly what happened there.'

'No nasty power. Not like yours.'

'I know Hateling,' her face filled with an uncertain smile, 'and I know I said I wouldn't hurt you anymore, but I have to see if this works; okay?'

'CiCi no,' Damon backed away from her, 'you said…'

'I know what I said, but this is the only way I can test it out.'

Carefully she took hold of his arm. He tried to squirm away from her, but unfortunately for him she was more than used to that.

'Ow CiCi it hurts,' he continued to squirm until she'd released her grip on him in order to admire the burn mark her hands had left.

'I'm sorry Hateling, but I had to see if it worked before I tried this,' she closed her eyes and attempted to Jump out of their prison.

The Jump didn't work, but then she didn't really expect it too. The room was Jump proof but not magic proof and she only needed one of her powers in order to mount an escape from this place. She stared down at her hands as a plan began to formulate in her mind. She and her brother would be home by dinnertime; because there was just no way they were spending another night here.