Disclaimer-I do not own the Bartimaeus Sequence, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, or any related works by their respective creators. I do own my OCs, and the plot of this story - so please, no copying.

Please read, review, and enjoy!

Chapter Six

Everything had become eerily quiet in the room, and the young girl reluctantly admitted to herself that fact terrified her. She was not one to give into fear. At the age of only ten, she was sure of this fact. It was something she had come to realize what seemed like so long ago when she first ventured into the library that would become a second home to her.

Seeing the pentacle before her hurt. It made her heart ache for times that were forever locked in the past, and for the reassuring and comforting presence of her teacher. Even as the spirit chose a guise, the sadness remained.

The spirit chose a human guise. Which was unsurprising; she had been instructed to draw the pentacle in dimensions that would force the spirit to do exactly that.

Two miniature balls of fire stared into her very soul, ready to bore a hole through her at a moment's notice. Wild and unkempt hair the color of the darkest night went down the waist of the man. His teeth were shockingly sharp, each coming to a tiny point.

"Who dares to summon me?"

The glass in the closed door shook from the sheer volume of the spirit's deep and masculine voice. A shiver raced up and down her spine as she looked up at him. She was a brave girl, but he was a terrifying being.

"I do," she quietly replied. A gentle breeze replaced the relentless winds that had begun when he appeared; this was her chance. The courage she had felt during his lesson returned in full force. She was prepared for this encounter and could achieve her goal.

But then he spoke.

The voice was quieter than before, but it still was as cold as ice. "You are a child." Oddly enough, the voice had gained a curious tone. He didn't sound suspicious or angry. He sounded as if he was trying to conceal how her presence completely confused him.

"I'm ten," she corrected him. It was early on in their relationship. This was a fundamental fact that she needed to get across as soon as possible. She was ten years old, and that meant she was prepared for whatever awaited her.

The eyes of fire scanned the room. "Where is your master?"

She bit her lip, but the tears she had been struggling to hold back still fell. The spirit offered her no solace. It was understandable. They had never met before. Why was he supposed to care about her grief?

"What is your charge?"

She wiped her tears away with her sleeve, though she doubted they would stop anytime soon. The frequent crying was something she had still to get used to. "I charge you to let me become your friend."

A laugh reached her ears. Cold and hollow, it was the laugh of someone who had given up on the world long ago. "You amuse me greatly, human. Friendship is a foolish notion, especially between humans and spirits."

This wasn't right! He was supposed to agree like Chris had said he would, and then they would go on lots of adventures together. He wasn't supposed to make her feel as if everything she had worked so hard to achieve was for nothing!

"Friendship is real!" she protested. Another laugh left the spirit as she tried to convince him otherwise. "My teacher, Chris Dixon, showed me that! We were friends, and he was friends with other spirits!"

Her exclamation momentarily silenced the spirit. "How did your master die, then? Was he killed by one of his friends?"

"He died in his sleep. He was old; Daddy says that's not unusual."

The spirit was unable to prevent the disbelief from seeping into his voice. It was written clear as day across his face; her explanation surprised him. "You are a magician but you know your father? That should go against your rules."

"I'm not the average magician," she replied. "And that's why I'm going to become your friend, Geist of Germany!"

He crossed his arms. He obviously didn't believe that was a possibility, but she was going to show him wrong. "If you were truly going to become my friend, you would tell me your name." The spirit paused. "But you would not dare because then you would lose the majority of the leverage you have over me-"
"My name is Riley Bell," she cut him off. Shock flickered across his face, quickly followed by disbelief and suspicion. "Yes, that's my birth name. I would have told you it ages ago if you didn't keep interrupting me!"

He gaped at her. The dangerous and frightening being was gone; it had been replaced by a rather confused spirit. "You-You told me your name."
She nodded. "Friends give each other their names," the young magician informed him, though she didn't share the traits of most magicians. "I'm going to become your friend, Geist!"

He didn't offer a response.

A/N Hello, wonderful Souls~ Do I find pleasure in confusing spirits? Naturally! I'm sorry for the lack of updates. I haven't had much inspiration to write this fanfiction, and life's gotten busy. But now we're finally getting somewhere! =D

Here's the accounts, as always:

Quotev: SoulErrorArwitch

DeviantArt: SoulErrorArwitch

Tumblr: soulerrorarwitch, ask-telos-of-minecraftia, ask-geist-of-germany, ask-aph-minecraftia, ask-the-recurve-fangirl

See that last one? That one is for May. You should drop by and check both her and Geist's out! I have a fun thing happening on his blog, so you definitely want to see what that is.

Also, I have a message from my Tumblr that I thought should be shared with all of my readers. ^_^

Seeing that my dashboard is being filled with Fullmetal Alchemist posts because you're not supposed to forget October 3 (it's a FMA thing), I've decided that it is time to remind all of the Bartimates/Summoners/Bartimaens/whatever you awesome fans call yourselves that our fandom day is quickly approaching.

That day, fellow Bart-lovers, is October 30th.

Our fandom day is relatively new; I chose it and other fans agreed on it only just back in June. The original reason for it to be on that day was because Bartimaeus (according to the official timeline on Jonathan Stroud's website) was first summoned in 3010 B.C and because it's the day before Halloween. Bartimaeus and Halloween just seem to go hand in hand. Other people added their thoughts on the date. The Glass Palace was destroyed a month later (according to some internet searching) and the events of Ptolemy's Gate might take place in October.

So write some fics and share them with the internet. Draw and upload fanart of your favorite characters. Have a special event on your ask blog. Search the Bartimaeus tag and reblog posts there. Convert your friends to the fandom.

All in all, show the world your love of Bartimaeus of Uruk
Rekhyt of Alexandria
Necho of Jerusalem
Sakhr al-Jinni of Al-Arish
N'gorso the Mighty
Wakonda of the Algonquin
Serpent of Silver Plumes
Wolf-Jawed Guardian
Nectanebo
Asmodeus

and all of his entertaining escapades and tales of glory (and the occasional failure, but don't tell him I said that).

Have a great day/night! See you in Chapter 7~