¤ Heady Business

‘He’s alright, just tired out from all the excitement and the healing.’ Kriel the fairy announced cheerfully. ‘Make sure he takes these potions, and he’ll recover really soon.’

‘Thanks.’ Silver followed the fairy to the shop’s counter and paid for the potions, wondering idly why the potions came in such strange colours and why the Potions shop was in such a mess. It looked like a fight had just occurred in there. Gathering up the white and orange bottles, she returned to the cot where Jaysen laid. After setting down the bottles on the bedside dresser, she dragged over a wooden-backed chair and took a seat.

Jaysen had not regained consciousness, even after Silver manhandled him up the stairs of the Potions shop, and into the infirmary that it had inside. She hoped Jaysen would not blame her for the few bruises that he had inevitably gotten.

I mean, I really didn’t see that doorframe coming… She stared miserably at the patch of blue-black at the side of his head.

Jaysen stirred gently, as he began to wake up. Silver hurried to help him sit up. Jaysen shook his head, feeling the room rock a little. Ooh, my head. Although there was no pain where he remembered the Lucida struck him, there was a strange throbbing pain at his temple, and a bone-deep tiredness. Looking dazedly at Silver, Jaysen croaked, ‘I must have died and gone to heaven.’

‘Don’t tell me, you just saw an angel.’ Silver said, making a wry face.

‘Darn, you had to ruin that.’ Jaysen laughed weakly, then winced as his head got punished by a particularly vicious throb. ‘

‘I doubt that will discourage you the slightest bit.’ Silver poured out a dose of the cheerfully orange potion into a cup, and handed it to Jaysen. He gulped it down, making a face. ‘I wonder if Edel the alchemist tastes her own concoctions. ‘

‘If she does, it obviously hasn’t killed her yet. It probably wouldn’t kill you too. Pity.’ Silver took back the cup, and poured in a dose of a pale white potion.

Jaysen peered at her, a strange light in his eyes. ‘Ah, if the lady wishes my death, she could just kiss me. I’ll die of happiness.’

‘That would just totally defeat my purpose of dragging your pathetic corpse all the way back from the Gardens of Darkness.’

‘I am rebuked.’ Jaysen raised the cup and announced melodramatically. ‘My dismal scene I must act alone. Come, vial! Lady Silver, this do I drink to thee.’

Silver’s hand twitched with the urge to smack him on the head, then remembered that she had punished his head enough. ‘Um. How’s your head?’ Besides, she thought, trying to rid herself of the nagging guilt. No point spilling the potion. I paid good mesos for that.

‘Your very presence purges the air of all pestilence!’ Jaysen waved the empty cup. At Silver’s glare, he rested his head again on the pillow and thought seriously. ‘It was hurting, but not so much now.’

He rubbed his head, looking at her with his startling blue eyes. ‘Funny though, I don’t remember the Lucida hitting me on the head…’

Silver flushed, and pulled her backpack onto her lap, rummaging busily through the bag to find something that was not there. ‘It must have. Doesn’t make a difference though, your brain still seems to be dysfunctional.’

‘You’re lucky I am mortally wounded now, dear damsel, and can’t pound you bits with my overwhelming wit and intellect.’ Jaysen tossed to one side, throwing an arm over his eyes. ‘No seriously, I’m fried.’ His words started to slur with weariness.

‘Okay. I’ll wake you when Ida comes back.’ Silver murmured quietly, shifting slightly in her seat to take the cup back from Jaysen. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw something flash as it slipped out from a compartment in her backpack.

Quickly, she caught it before it clattered to the floor; it turned out to be the gold ring that Hedwig had thrown to her during their confrontation this morning.

Grinning savagely now, she slipped the ring onto her finger. Imbecile, pah! I just want to see the look on her Ladyship’s face when we bring back that necklace to her. Silver started to imagine the scene, the three of them sweeping triumphantly into the room, throwing the garnet necklace at her feet and forcing the fairy to give up the journal.

What does she have to do with Aurora, though? Silver thought drowsily, the warmth of the room and the exhaustion from the hunt catching up with her. I don’t suppose Aurora once offended her or something… must be so bad that Hedwig still wants to stop her story from being told…

¤ Seeing

She felt bindings loosen again, this time unravelling a tiny bit faster than the first time. A tug at her caught her attention, it called her; she sensed it came from the same comforting presence as before. Brushing aside the velvety darkness around her, she extended a tendril to this soul again, running it along the ridged scars on its surface. This time, she felt a whole tumult of emotions radiating from this soul, the sourness of anger jumbled up with the exhilaration of victory and the heavy blandness of worry.

She could recognise these emotions, she realised. She drew nearer to the presence, attracted to this heady blend of sensations. She knew this, because she felt something very nearly similar to this mix, in Before.

(Where was Before? She knew it was somewhere far from here, but nothing more.)

Her tendril touched the presence, eager to taste more of this jumble of emotions. Suddenly, with a dizzying pull, she felt herself slammed into a connection, sucked unresistingly into the soul to be engulfed in the chaos.

Then, she found she had eyes, and she opened them to glaring sunlight…

Silver stared. The sprawling dusty scene before her was unfamiliar, yet she thought she had seen this before. She was standing in an arena ringed off by rope, the sun glaring to her eyes. There were many spectators surrounding the arena, cheering loudly.

Turning around, she saw a raised platform, on which three people sat: Two of them were fairies, the third a plump, balding man. Behind the platform hung a huge banner, with what Silver recognised as the fairy Royalty’s emblem.

Wait a minute, this IS familiar. Spinning around to face the other way, Silver searched the arena. To her left, a short girl with dark blue hair was striding away from the arena’s centre, a Cutlus and Battle Shield in her hands. Her dark blue eyes were hardened, and blazing with triumph. Silver saw the resemblance with Salmer’s sketch that Hella had given her.

‘Aurora?’ Silver whispered, but found that she could not follow her. Her feet seemed to be glued to the floor.

How could I speak her name? The spell ought to have prevented that. Silver shook her head in confusion, then turned to survey her surroundings again. While she was plainly standing right before the platform, no one seemed to have noticed her. I must be dreaming…

A movement at the corner of her eye made her look to the right of the platform. A fairy lady with deep purple hair was making a strange gesture with her right hand, her lips moving. With a shock, Silver recognised that this was Hedwig. So, this was Aurora’s Selections match!

Hedwig made a sharp jerking motion to one side with her hand, a malicious glint in her amethyst eyes. Suddenly, there was a whistling in the air. A Dankke sailed past Silver’s face, missing her by the width of a hair. Stumbling backwards, Silver almost fell to the ground in surprise. Had Hedwig discovered her presence?

But the axe continued to fly, spinning at top speed towards the departing Aurora. Silver tried to shout a warning, then remembered that Aurora would not be harmed.

She looked to observe Hedwig, a half-formed suspicion in her mind. Sure enough, for a split second, when the axe crashed against Aurora’s magical shield, Hedwig’s impassive mask cracked to reveal an ugly snarl of thwarted rage. The next moment, her face was smooth as ever, as she put on a façade of surprise.

Silver spun to look at Lo’s face; it was full of shock and surprise as he stared down at his empty hands, as if confirming that his axe was no longer there.

It was Hedwig that wanted Aurora dead, not Lo! Silver realised, feeling thunder-struck. She struggled to move, but her feet remained resolutely rooted to the floor.

Abruptly, she felt as if she was suffocating, thick dust clogging the air that she breathed. Something pinned her hands to her side, and numbness spread to her entire body. In her frantic struggle, she felt something tear away from her, leaving a mysterious gaping emptiness.

Silver fought harder against this strange immobilisation, irrational panic blanking out all thought in her mind.

‘Silver! Silver, wake up!‘

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Next chapter: link

Links to previous chapters:
link link link link link link link link link link link link link link link

What is it with complaints about Long Blogs? Does it show a trend of decreasing attention spans? Shock! Lament! Tis a bad day for the world.

In case you were wondering why the Pots shop was in a mess, there was a fight that happened in there, briefly alluded to in .. erm.. one of the chapters. link It is most probably due to some heroic hero fighting for the honour of his lady love in an typical romantic MMOtale. :X (I ought to give up on vague hints and allusions in my stories. I suck at them.)

Apologies for the crappiness. And the Shakespeare. Oatmeal cookies, anyone?