《Through Their Eyes》 Tormented Blessing ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ = Perspective changing to our world. ||||||||||||||||||| = Perspective changing away from our world. ................................ = End of chapter ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Today was her birthday, she was turning eight today. The late January snow meant school was out until the first day of February here in Watertown, New York. Even as much as it normally snowed, it was uncommon to close school for two days in a row. The local Army base, Ft. Drum, had declared the roads black, meaning even the soldiers weren''t allowed to use them. Risa sat down at her Piano and began playing Bach''s Fugue in G Minor. (LINK) she would be playing it on the church''s Pipe organ if the roads opened up by Sunday. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| "Get your bloody sword up Jeremiah!" a man bellowed over a group of youths. "Just because today is your birthday, doesn''t mean you can slack off! One lap around the village perimeter for each year of your birth!" He shouted at one of the boys who held a sword that was obviously not meant for him. He wore rough clothes, literally made from the sacks his family had gotten the potatoes in their garden from. Jeremiah began humming along with the music he heard in his head, and took off to complete his designated eight laps. every once in a while the music would stop and stumble, other times it would complete, and start again, and sometimes, a certain part would repeat, sounding like it belonged there, but something told him it didn''t. His mother had told him he had been born in another village, and he was six months old when he came to Fellgrove, but all the local children treated him as though he had been born here. Fellgrove wasn''t too far from the capitol Gemini, so it got a lot of traders, and cargo transports through. The music was reaching its peak in his head when the warning bells rang out. Another raid from the Flaming Skulls Clan, a local Bandit group disguised as mercenaries. He rounded the corner toward the main gate, the mood of the music shifted to match his own, it was still the same notes that had been playing, but he could tell something was different with it. He slid to a stop as the Gate Timber was dropped, to lock the gate closed for the remainder of the day, it was a large piece of wood, and it took twelve guards on the ropes to lift it out of its holders, so once it was lowered, it was never raised until the changing of the guard at sunrise. every time he looked at it, he felt as though he could see a better way to do it, but never voiced his opinion. Just as the timber was about to slam into place, the gates were hit, and the timber bounced away from the gates far enough to miss the locks, and fell all the way to the ground. This was bad. The feel of the music changed again, it sounded almost fearful. ''Please quit reminding me how I feel!'' Jeremiah thought to himself, and it seemed to go back to the adrenaline filled form it had a few moments before. The second heavy thud resounded from the gate, as it was pushed inward, and the Bandits made their way into the village. The first person through was a muscular woman, her scream reminded Jeremiah of the stories he had heard about the Marsh Banshees to the south. She raised her two handed axe while running at him, then brought it over her head and down directly at him, without loosing stride. The music stopped, and something warm snaked down the inside of his legs. And then the headache started. his vision flickered between the scene in front of him, and a black and white wooden box. there were super realistic paintings on the wall behind the wooden box, but he didn''t recognize anyone in them. A piece of paper was held upright by it, in the vision. The headache intensified, and he screamed in agony, he heard a second scream tangled with his, a girls'' scream, matching his, but obviously different. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Risa''s mother ran into the piano room when she heard her daughter scream. When the door opened, Risa was holding her head, clearly in pain, but held her eyes wide open, looking at a picture of her and her best friend Rachel that had been taken last year at their vacation home in Woodland Lakes, just outside of Sullivan, Missouri. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. When Anne tried to move her daughter, Risa, through her pain, consciously swatted her mother''s hands away. she would let her mother hold her, but not try to move her, so Anne let her sit on the piano bench and cry, and cry out, but in her other hand was the house phone, she was calling Watertown Emergency Services, hoping that the ambulance would be able to get to her home. After an hour of the agonizing screams, Risa finally stopped, and passed out. twenty minutes later, the ambulance was finally able to get to their home just off Water Street. Anne felt her daughter''s forehead, and although Risa was sweating, she was cold to the touch. one of the neighbors, having heard the screams, and checked on the family, had been shoveling the snow in front of the door, so if the ambulance could get in, it would be easier for them to help the neighbor girl. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Jeremiah had no idea what had happened. When his vision stopped looking at the picture of two girls in strange clothes, and vibrant colors, he was welcomed with a view of a frozen axe head a scant inch from the top of his head. An ice-stalagmite held it in place. The woman who had held it before was frozen and in various pieces scattered around the gate. the gate itself was cracking, as though it was quickly thawing from a deep freeze, and a solid wall of ice filled the hole between the gate doors. When he saw it, he knew he had done it, but didn''t remember how. He looked around him, and around each town person, there was a perfect circle where the ground looked like the normal summer day it was, but outside of each three foot circle, were the frozen carcasses of the bandits who had made it into the village, most of which were shattering in the overbearing summer heat. The metal head of the Axe in front of him broke in two, and he passed out. As Jeramiah hit the ground, a contingent of Aremanthas'' King''s Guard surrounded the boy. A black haired girl stepped off the metal contraption she used for transportation, and stepped over to him. She touched his forehead, and her whole body shook with anticipation. "Bring me this boy''s Parents, and anyone who has trained him." her velvety, eleven year old, voice rang out. several of the guards started moving around the village, after a ten minute wait, a woman, and two men were brought before her, and all three immediately kneeled. Only the woman among the three was surprised at seeing the front gate, a frozen mass. "What is it you wish of us, Princess Silene?" said the man who had been yelling at Jeremiah, a few hours before. "I wish to keep this boy; and as my father has said before, I must ask permission, so I am doing so." she said. The woman spoke first. her eyes still on the mass of red ice directly at the base of the gate. "you casted this spell, just to save my son, and ask for him?" she asked confused. "Lady," she spoke respectfully to the woman, "Your son cast this spell, and saved your village, and myself. I, my guards, and most of your townsfolk in this gate-square owe him a life-debt. One I will uphold, and take upon myself all of the debts here, as long as I may take him with me, and train him. I fear this spell was his awakening." she replied. The man who had not spoken remained silent and still, and the woman spoke again. "Allow me to ask my husband his opinion." and the princess nodded. The woman lifted the man''s chin to look into her eyes, and began to use her hands to sign to him what had just been discussed. His eyes were glistening with pride as his wife relayed the events. He signed yes, and bobbed his head up and down quickly, several times as he took his wife into his arms. "You may, Princess." She said through tears. "Please take care, today is his birthday." ................................................................................................................................................ I hope you liked this. Waking up ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Risa awoke in a strange bed, the room smelling of bleach, and other harsh cleaning chemicals. As she opened her eyes, she realized she was in the hospital. she didn''t remember being moved from her house, only the excruciating pain, the vision of ice forming around her, everything freezing; and most frighteningly, the woman with the axe. A nurse edged through the curtain with his back to Risa. He edged around her bed, and picked up a blood pressure cuff, he turned around and noticed she was awake. "Doctor Averghast! She is awake!" he shouted without loosing the motions of his job. A slightly older man pulled the curtain back, walked around the nurse, and began looking into her eyes, and then into her throat." "Do you know what day it is?" he asked her, she nodded and was about to answer when her throat caught, it was sore, and barely a whisper came out. The doctor handed her a dry erase board and a marker, and she wrote: January 29th. and showed it to the doctor. "Disassociated motor skills. Ben, get her in for a CT scan, we need to make sure this isn''t permanent," the doctor said looking at the board. Risa looked at him puzzled and then looked back at the board. when she saw nothing wrong, she erased the date and drew a question mark. "Risa, its February 2nd, Groundhogs day. you have been unconscious for four days, we don''t know why, and can''t find a medical reason for it." he explained. "May I have a pencil and a piece of paper to draw on?" she asked in a hoarse whisper. The doctor nodded, and a few minutes later, the nurse came back with it, left her bedside, closed the curtain again, and she started drawing the last thing she remembered seeing: the frozen woman''s face, as the ice shrouding her cracked apart, the men and women coming through the gate, and the thick wall of ice forming behind them as they ran toward her. She was drawing the last villager when her mom pulled the curtain back slightly. "Well good afternoon, sleepyhead!" her mom joked, trying to lighten her own mood. "What are you drawing?" ''The last thing I remember'' she wrote on the board. "Honey, what does this say?" her mom asked. She looked at the board again, as she had done with the doctor, and saw nothing wrong with it, but repeated it with her hoarse voice anyway. A questioning look from her mother told her that something was wrong with her writing, but she couldn''t see anything wrong with it. Anne took the picture she had drawn, and Risa saw a quizzical look grow on her mom''s face, as she studied the almost completed drawing |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| "There is still no change in his condition, Princess Silene won''t be pleased if we can''t revive him. There is still rampant manna flowing through him, we need to get him awake so we can teach him how to control it." A man said, on the edge of Jeramiah''s hearing. "Lets try the Void Crystal, see if it can syphon off the excess escaping from his body? that might calm his internal systems down enough to wake him." another man said, clearer this time. "I can hear you." he decided to say. Two men ran to his bed, one on each side. One, an elderly man, easily into his twilight years, but still full of life; the second one, obviously hasn''t even broken the half a century mark yet, by his estimates. Of course he could only judge age based on those from Fellgrove, so he knew he could be off by quite a bit. "Well, go tell the princess that her charge is awake." the elder of the two said, "and once you have done that, go tell her father as well!" he shouted after the younger one as he was leaving the room. "Well, do you remember what happened, young man?" "Music, soothing music, and then pain." he answered. "Music? What kind of music? Do you think you could hum some of it?" he asked, and Jeramiah shook his head no. He looked around the room and saw something he thought would work: the Pipe organ''s keyboard. He went to move and realized he was tied to the bed. "Sorry about that lad, we didn''t know when you would awake, and it would be bad if you decided to wander around without an escort." The man said as he undid the restraints. Jeramiah sat down at the console, and felt the keys, he felt as though he knew exactly where to put his hands and fingers, even though he had never done it before. he tapped the first key, and knew it was out of tune, so he found the pipe that it went to, and readjusted its tuning slide on the small organ. after a few minutes, the single rank of pipes were tuned with the sounds he remembered from his run, and he sat back down. He started playing the music he remembered, and felt as though he had played this music thousands upon thousands of times. and when he was done, he flipped the switch on the side to stop the flow of manna through the bellows fan. He stood, and turned around, then immediately kneeled, as the Princess was standing in front of him, with the King and Queen directly behind her. "Please stand, Jeramiah," Princess Silene said. "It is I, who should be kneeled to you, I owe you a debt, I doubt I will ever be able to repay." "Even if you say that princess, His and Her Majesties are directly behind you, and have not given their consent." he said. "Rise, young Jeramiah. Welcome to your new home." The Queen said to him "Rise, and never kneel to us in private again. I hate the formalities in the throne room, I''ll be damned if I put up with them out of it." the King stated. At this, Jeramiah stood, but kept his head slumped. "Where did you learn to play the Organ?" the king asked. "I didn''t, Your highness, today was my first time seeing one, but I knew that It would work to allow this man to hear the music I heard during the attack." "You heard music, that music, during the attack?" the princess asked, he simply nodded. "It felt like it was coming from somewhere else, but inside me at the same time. I don''t know how to explain it." he told them. "Honey, we may learn more as we teach him to control his gift. Perhaps its how his magic works." the queen said. None of our healing crystals could calm his manna streams while we were attempting to revive him. We were discussing whether or not we should attempt to use void crystals when he awoke." The elder man stated, the Princess paled. "Please, tell me that there are no void crystals in the castle yet." "None yet, had we decided to go forward, we would have moved him to the keep instead of bringing such dangerous crystals into the castle. His manna currents still haven''t calmed down, and Greggor and myself were deliberating on the cause of that as well." he stated. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. "Alec, what would be the most common reason for the manna currents to not calm down, after such time has passed?" His Majesty asked. "Sire, there are no records of someone''s manna continuing to stay wild past twenty four hours of an awakening, even if the one they are bonded to awoke at the same time. it has been four days, he finally came out of his slumber, but the manna is still wild around him. That said, the only cause known for it to even last twenty four hours is if the mages in question have extraordinary manna pools, and awake simultaneously. " Alec responded. "Bonded?" Jeramiah heard the word, and was curious. he knew the common knowledge about magic: a traumatic event caused the awakening of the gift, one with the gift had to seek out another to aid in controlling it, and that of the ten elements, a mage would be partial to five of them, and have one of those as an affinity, and there was usually one element the mage could not use. "I''m sorry, Jeramiah," Alec started, "It''s something that all mages know, but none of us discuss. All mages are bonded to another, their complement. if you find your bonded, all of your spells will be easier to cast, and your weaknesses are their strengths. For instance, your first spell was ''Frozen Wastes'' so when we are able to test you for your alignments, you will most likely have the water school as your affinity, and be weak against fire, and may not even be able to use it. However, the person you are bonded to, should have fire as their affinity, and be weak against water. So the two of you together would be able to block almost every spell cast in your direction. Most mages never find their bonded, so its never really discussed, but there is enough evidence to show that the bonded one will awaken as well, if they haven''t done so already." Alec finished. Silene pulled a small murky grey orb out of a hidden pocket on her bodice. "Jeramiah, would you touch this for me? Its to see if you are my bonded one." "I will," he said to her, as he touched the small stone that was the same size as the fingernail on his pinky. It glowed a soft blue, then turned a pale, almost clear, pink, when he did. The princess slumped slightly, showing her dissatisfaction, and put the stone back in the pocket. "Will I get one of those as well?" he asked "You have to make it." Greggor answered as he walked back into the room, carrying an armload of clothes on wooden hangars. "its made from your own essence, so that your essence can recognize your bonded one. Blue means that everything matches for the bonded one, but its not the right person. Purple means they are a few similarities, but again, wrong person. Red means nothing in common with your bonded one, Pink means your bonded one is on a different plane of existence at the moment, silver means that you have met them, and finally black means they are deceased, or yet to be born, otherwise its clear." he laid the clothes down on the bed Jeramiah was tied to earlier. "Once you find your manna pool, usually people say they can feel it on top of their stomach when they start looking for it, then simply will a portion of that into your hand, and then will it to condense as fast as it can." He did as he was told, and sure enough, at the base of his ribcage, he could sense his manna pool, so he decided to try it. He wasn''t sure how much to use, so he pulled the smallest amount he could, and willed it to form in his hand. Then forced it to constrict as fast as it could. When he thought the process was complete, he opened his hand, and there were two stones instead of one like he thought. both were about the size of his thumbnail, one was white, the other was a bright pink. "Two bonded? and the size isn''t too shabby. but one of them is not on this plane; and the other you have met already, that will make that one harder to find. Keep an eye on the pink one, and we will see if that one ever comes here." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "She said this was the last thing she remembered?" The doctor asked Anne, while looking at Risa''s Drawing. "I''m sure your daughter just has an active imagination, besides, she still has trouble writing, I recognize these characters as ones she wrote on the dry erase board earlier. I''m assuming its the month ''January'' being as it looks like its on a calendar, and I asked her the date earlier, and that set of symbols is what she wrote." "Well she seems to be speaking at least now." "Yeah, we had her gargle salt water about an hour ago, and its been easier for her to talk since." The nurse that had found her awake was helping her back to her bed. she still appeared weak, even though all the medical tests, including the CT scan, came back completely normal, aside from slightly elevated brain activity, but nothing outside the ordinary for an eight year old girl. "Uh oh." she whispered just as she set her hand on the bed, and the nurse behind her caught her as her body crumbled, however she was still awake and alert. "can I get something to eat?" she said, and the nurse looked toward the doctor, he walked over to her. "Can you say that again, Risa?" the doctor asked "Can I get something to eat? I''m starving." she said, and the doctor looked from her to her mother. "What is it you want dear?" Anne asked. "Chocolate." "She is just hungry." Anne told the doctor. "True, her collapse might have something to do with the fact that we haven''t given her anything to eat, since she woke up, and she didn''t eat for the four days she was out." She grabbed the dry erase board and wrote on it. "I really, really, really, would like something chocolate." and showed it to her mom. "Well, at least your writing has gone back to normal." Anne said. ................................................................................................................................................ A/N : for anyone who is confused about the scenes in this chapter with Risa: to her what she is writing is english, and she sees it as such, however she is writing in the method of Jeremiah''s world, which is slightly different. in the last scene, when she collapses, the same thing happens to her language, and the written form goes back to normal. Suspension ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was Valentine''s Day, and instead of being at school and giving out cards to her classmates, she was here at the therapist''s office. Her writing and speaking had finally gotten back to normal, at least as much as people could understand her now. She felt different when she started practicing on her piano, almost like butterflies in her stomach, but she knew she wasn''t nervous, she couldn''t explain it. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| His magic was being officially tested today, the Arch mage Alec said his manna currents had finally calmed down enough to be able to at least see something, but the results still might change. He was dressed in one of the outfits Greggor had given to him on the day he woke up, the clothes his mother had made for him were thrown out. He approached the sphere in the center of the room, Princess Silene, and her parents were observing from a balcony at what was considered a safe distance away. "Simply place your palm on the polished sapphire stone in front of you." Alec announced. The gemstone in front of him was slightly larger than his head, and was polished smooth, into a ball. he touched the stone, and the colors representing each of the ten branches of magic expanded out to fill the room, and then each one formed cords. Five of them twisted and went through his body from behind him, before reentering the sphere, the remaining five coalesced around the white stone in his pocket. he pulled it out and the remaining cords passed through the stone, but did not come out. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She felt like she was going to throw up. The twin vision had started again, but this time she was in a room staring at a blue orb that several colored ropes were coming out of. she could tell the ropes weren''t actually there. The vision looked down, and she could see five strands going through the person standing there, and five going through the stone in his hand. Something told her that should not be happening, but she didn''t know why. as the colors passed through the stone, her stomach began to rumble more and more. Through her dizziness of seeing the room around her, and another, she managed to stumble through the waiting room to the bathroom, and threw up. "Please stop." she whispered. "Please stop, it hurts." she said. "Stop it!" she shouted. Anne came into the room to check on her daughter at the shouts, and saw her dry-heaving over the stool. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ''please stop'' Jeramiah heard a girls voice whisper, "Please stop. It Hurts." he heard the same voice say, but he couldn''t figure out where it came from, and looked toward Alec, who had obviously heard it as well. "Stop it!" the unknown girl''s voice resounded through the room as the stand holding the sapphire broke, and broke contact with Jeramiah''s hand. Everyone in the room had heard it. at the breaking of the contact, Jeramiah''s vision doubled, he saw the room, and saw another, much smaller room. a feeling of appreciation washed over him, as he watched a red-headed woman with cropped hair, help up the person in front of her. it felt like him, but he knew it wasn''t. "Are you okay?" he felt the other body nod, and then heard the same girl''s voice again. "I am now. whatever that was, stopped." she said weakly. he felt like calling out, but decided against it, he didn''t want to seem a loon in front of the important people around him. He tried to keep ahold of the feeling he had when he heard the girl speak, but quickly lost it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anne and Risa left the Therapist''s office, and went back toward the school. it would be lunch time before they got back, so Anne stopped at ''The Golden unicorn'' restaurant on the way back into town and treated Risa to their famous pancakes. she could tell her little one was uneasy about something, probably what had happened in the bathroom, but didn''t want to talk to her about things like this. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. They ate mostly in silence, and then continued their trek back toward the Elementary school. Math was directly after lunch, so Risa quietly went in, opened her book, and followed along in the lesson. History followed that, and then recess. it felt like a nice day out, she was glad her therapist''s appointment was early in the day, so she could enjoy being outside like she was now. "Hey look! Its the crazy girl of water street!" one of her classmates shouted toward her as she sat on the swing. Adam, the class bully, had overheard the teacher talking to her mom about taking her to see the doctor, and somehow he seemed to know where everyone in the class lived, even if he had never been near their houses. Adam strutted across the open area of the playground toward her, she did her best to try and ignore him. "See any more visions?" he asked her. "So what are they, dead people?" he mocked. she simply stared at him, not knowing where he had heard about them. she tuned him out but continued to stare at him. After a few minutes, she thought he was going to walk away, so she looked away from him and started to swing again. That''s when he hit her. She woke up in the nurse''s office. The teacher''s aide was standing there, and she looked as though she was the one who had carried her here. she was aware enough to sit up, then the aide asked her to follow her. They went to the Principal''s office, and she was walked straight past the secretary and into his office behind the desk. "Risa, have a seat." Principal Reins told her. "As you know, this school has a zero tolerance policy on bullying, and since this situation would only turn out as a he-said/she-said situation, I have no choice but to suspend both you and Adam for ten days. I''ve already called your mom, and she is on her way. If a teacher had overheard the conversation only one of you would be getting punished, but since we can''t figure it out, both of you will have to be away from school for a few days." "But...." she started, and was quickly stopped by the principal. "No buts, young lady. go home, cool off, and leave the problems at home. you can come back to class in two weeks." he finished, and then opened the door to his office. "Sit in one of those chairs until your mom gets here, and then you may go with her." |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Anger welled up inside him. He knew it wasn''t his, he had no reason to be angry at the moment, he couldn''t figure out where it came from. Then he thought about the girl from the room, and his vision shifted to a boy, with a mocking look in his eyes. He had seen that look before, someone trying to assert dominance, whether or not they really were better. his other vision went black, and he felt a pain in the side of his forehead, it made him slightly dizzy, but he continued walking with Alec, being more attentive to the instructions he was getting from the Arch mage. ................................................................................................................................................ A/N: before anyone complains about how I did her suspension: an event similar to this happened at my high-school, during lunchtime. however in the case at my school, the bully admitted what he had done, but the zero tolerance policy in place at the time (it still is in place), stated that all parties involved, regardless of fault, were to be suspended on the first incident, and expelled on the second. The policy went into effect the Monday after Columbine, and is still in effect today, and bullies still use it to get ''good kids'' suspended. surprisingly enough, nobody has ever been expelled by using this policy at that school, so the students play the system. Thirteen Five years have passed since the fateful late January day that Risa and Jeramiah''s souls were bound to one another. and we now sit on the precipice of their thirteenth year. Risa has been in and out of psychiatrists, as well as various other medical facilities, as there have been times where her language, or writing, has reverted to Jeramiah''s language. She has continued to practice her piano, and has also learned how to play the violin, as well as the clarinet. She tried out for La Crosse in the fall, however because of her doctor''s appointments, she was cut from the team the week before the first game. Jeramiah has spent the last five years learning magic, alongside Princess Silene, who is three years his senior, from Archmage Alec. With water, earth, darkness, void, and corruption as his schools, knowing that whomever he is bonded with will be able to use, Fire, Air, Light, Creation, and Nature. his two stones have yet to change colors, as he was told they would if anything ever changed. he often pulled the pink stone from its hidden pocket on his belt and looked at it. Princess Silene, over the same amount of time, has become more introverted, and more focused on her studies, which she shares with Jeramiah. she still feels as though she owes the young man a debt because of the events of his awakening, and rarely goes anywhere without him. Since her sixteenth birthday, almost two months ago, she has been planning a surprise for his birthday, in addition to the normal present she gives him, a formal invite to his parents to come to the castle and see him. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Silene sat in her study, writing out what she wanted done to the item in the box, who to take it to, what she wanted done to it, and when it needed to be returned. She knew the work would only take minutes, but left special instructions that it was not to be brought back until after the festivities of Jeramiah''s party had started. She handed the twenty two inch long, four inch thick, and wide, box to one of the ladies-in-waiting that had been assigned to her, and she carried out the duties the princess wrote in the letter. Silene walked out of her bedchambers, and toward the rooms her father had given the boy, five years ago tomorrow. she was anxious to see what contraption he was working on now. the system he had devised for the Fellgrove gate, he called it ''compound pulleys'' made it to where only a single person was needed to reopen the gate once it was closed. the system was now in place in all of the walled villages and towns in the kingdom, and here in Gemini, the things he designed were much more abundant. She had no idea where he garnered the inspiration for the contraptions, but all of them seemed to work really well, and made life in the capitol much easier. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rachel had not been far from her friend since her eighth birthday, only La Crosse in the fall, separated the two since then. Rachel had been around her long enough to know how to interpret what she was saying when her language skills were impaired. Tomorrow would be Risa''s thirteenth birthday, Rachel, with Anne''s permission, had gotten Risa a new case for her violin, one with hard sides, and enough space for a second one if she ever got another one. Rachel sat at her desk, and opened the top drawer, and pulled out a pad of paper Risa drew on every time she was at her house, and flipped through the pictures. she noticed that in none of the pictures, were any signs in English, they were all in the strange language she wrote in, when she was having trouble. she flipped through the pad, and found a map of a castle, about midway through it. Each area was labeled as to what it was, and had a few pieces of furniture drawn from the top-down view. She took out her phone, and started taking pictures of her drawings, and entered them into her computer, and slowly built a rendering of the castle using the pictures. About lunchtime, her mom came into the room, and looked at the screen. "What are you working on? a history project for school?" she asked. "No, mom. these are pictures that Risa has drawn in the book I keep for her here. I noticed that even the map uses the strange language she writes in sometimes. so I figured I would take the pictures and try and give perspective to what she drew, just to see if the space would even work." Rachel turned her head to face her mother, "Mom, I don''t think there is anything wrong with her, I think she is legitimately seeing this, everything lines up too perfectly, and the ones that were drawn on her good days, still use the weird language she taught me." Her mom patted her head and smiled at her daughter, "You girls have always had an active imagination, I love you both. I just wish there were more we could do for her, maybe I should find a boyfriend for her mom?" she laughed at herself as she left the room. "Please don''t! what kind of guy would put up with Anne and Risa?" Rachel shouted at her mom''s back as she went back to work, taking bites of the bowl of cheesy rice her mom had brought into her for lunch. With most of the pictures aligned and in the computer, she felt like she could navigate the space a lot better, and the jumble of pictures made a lot more sense to her as an actual space. she then wondered why it had taken her five years to think to organize Risa''s drawings. Rachel then noticed something in one of the drawings, a girl. she had a dignified bearing, and a dress that looked like it had walked out of the Victorian era. the whole picture was black and white, except the use of blue in the girl''s Iris'' the girl was peeking in through a door, and if it weren''t for the blue in her eyes, Rachel would have never noticed the girl standing in the cracked doorway. at the bottom of the drawing, was a word in their private language, she could read it, but didn''t know how it was pronounced, and it was also the only picture that she felt had a name: ''Silene'' she quickly went through the sketch-pad again and found the picture, carefully removed it from the glue-type binding, and filled out one of the artist cards her art teacher had given her. she filled out Risa''s information, as well as the date she had drawn it, and then gave it the name at the bottom, then put it in her art folder, so she could give Risa''s picture to the art teacher the next day at school. in another picture she found that Risa had drawn music sheets, and she used her computer to recreate them, and did something similar to them as well. The annual Watertown Arts Festival took place on the last day of winter, so she planned on giving the piece to the school''s music teacher. she saved the project to a thumb-drive, and pulled it out of the computer, and then started on her homework, finishing the last little bit just before dinner. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Jeramiah awoke, today he would be thirteen. he had just finished the small scale prototype of an elevator. As an aspiring mage, he didn''t need it, but he knew there would be a need for it in villages where magic users weren''t. in his small scale version, he had figured out a way to use engraved pieces of wood, the cheapest material he could think of, to act as a way to find the cart''s position on the rails, and allow it to stop automatically where it was needed. The current model worked with five floors, and he was quite pleased with it, but knew it had limitations. he left it alone, and walked over to the wardrobe in his room, pulled out the outfit that he thought looked the simplest, even though it still had a baby-blue rope sewn onto the shoulder seems, and laid in a loop on the outside of his shoulders. Once dressed, he left his room, and walked toward the formal dining hall, as the maid assigned to his room had told him to do, as he woke up. He entered the room, and was greeted by the King and Queen, their personal retainers, then the Princess, three of her four ladies-in-waiting, and then her personal retainers as well. once the formal birthday greetings were out of the way, the King''s Crier unfurled a scroll, and announced his parents, as well as his four year old sister. They were still living in Fellgrove, but were in a far better position than what they had been while he was living with them. he had found out that as part of the arrangement the King and Princess had, she was to send forty silver pieces a month to his parents, and put an additional ten into a safe in the treasury room. The fifty Silver was to be considered Jeramiah''s wages for guarding her, as was his official reason for being in the castle, even though all of the staff believed she was more like a guard to him. Any staff member assigned to his rooms went through all the proper channels, but the final decision to hire a person for his rooms, went through her. Not even the chamber-maid was spared from a personal interrogation from the Princess when she was hired. His parents gave him the first gift of his birthday, a box of stationary. writing paper, envelopes, a wax seal, as well as four sticks of sealing wax. the seal was a round piece of bronze, affixed into the form of a ring, the symbol on the front was an axe head with a small gap in the center, and a snowflake etched on the side of the axe head. a symbol representing the first use of his gift, the broken, and frozen Axe that almost took his life. He smiled at the bitter-sweet memory. it was the turn of King Emeth Alva and Queen Tikva Alva. They stepped forward together, and handed Jeramiah a book, he opened it, and saw that it was a manual of spell''s chants and forms. the few at the beginning he recognized as forms Alec had been putting him through. Silene stepped forward and curtsied to him, and then began speaking. "I must apologize, I sent one of the ladies-in-waiting to fetch my gift for you, but she has yet to return. You shall receive it, from her own hand, as soon as it arrives." she then stepped back into line with her mother and father. he then walked down the line as each of the castle''s staff presented him with small gifts, none would be considered extravagant, but he liked it better that way. he received the last gift in the line, from the chamber-maid from his rooms, and Silene''s last lady-in-waiting entered the hall. he felt the timing was too perfect to be coincidence, especially knowing how Silene''s mind worked. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. he walked up to her, and waited for the princess, as was proper decorum, and the princess instructed the girl to present the gift. she curtsied, then placed the polished wooden box in both hands, and opened the lid, revealing a smooth and polished wooden wand, a turned silver handle, and a yellow gemstone affixed to the base of the wand. he recognized it immediately as a manna-well. he took it out of the wooden box, to show that he accepted it, as well as show everyone in the room, placed it back into the box, closed the lid, and gave a curt bow to the girl still holding the box. Silene instructed her to take the wand to the armory for safe storage. as the girl turned, Jeramiah noticed the etching on the small end of the box, it was the same emblem now on the signet ring his parents had just given him. He decided to act like he hadn''t noticed it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I didn''t know you could write music like this, Rachel." Mrs. Cailey, the music teacher, stated. "I didn''t write this, I saw it drawn in one of Risa''s pictures, and couldn''t make heads or tails of where the pages should be, so I copied all I could find of it, and wrote it out. I figured you could figure out the composer, or at least the order of the pages." she said. "You said that Risa drew this piece in one of her drawings? may I see it?" At the music teacher''s request, Rachel brought out the thumb-drive and plugged it into her computer, and brought up the image of the drawing. "My, My, I knew she was a gifted musician, but I didn''t think she was a gifted artist in other areas as well." Mrs. Cailey said. "I have an idea, lets see if I can get her to play the missing notes. I''ll see if I can find the composer during my prep-hour. Thanks for bringing me this." "No Problem, Mrs. Cailey. Risa hasn''t had much good news in a while, I want to give her some good news for the first time in five years." Rachel confided. "I understand. I think I know how to handle it. I''ll make it a musical exercise to all the students. I''ll remove the markings off these pages, and see if she recognizes it." "Thanks! I have to go see the Art teacher next, I want to put one of her drawings in the school''s art exhibit." "Does she know about it?" "Nope! See you in class!" Rachel said as she left the room, heading toward the Art Room. nobody was in there, this is what she was hoping for. she walked over to the drawing submission rack, and placed Risa''s Drawing ''Silene'' on the rack, and walked out. Risa walked into her third period class, Orchestra, with Mrs. Cailey, and sat her stuff down, and grabbed her violin off of the storage shelf where she kept it during the school day. the bell rang for class to start as she applied rosin to the bow. "Alright class, instruments on their stands, or cases, respectively. Get out a pencil, and pull your desks up." Mrs. Cailey told the class as she walked in carrying freshly copied packets. "Today, I want to see if you all can arrange a piece of music, without having heard it before. ive also removed portions of the sheet music, I want you all to fill in what you think goes there." she started passing out the packets to each student. "you all have twenty minutes to do this, and we will use the second half of the class to learn the page I have placed on top, and the only complete page in the packet, what you don''t get done in class will be homework." When Risa received the packet, she instinctively reordered the pages, and filled in all of the gaps in the remaining four pages, without looking at it much. she then raised her hand, and Mrs. Cailey called on her. "I don''t think this was a fair assignment, Mrs. Cailey." Risa told her over the clacking of pencils drawing in music notes, the looks on her classmates faces said they agreed, but for different reasons. "And why is that, Risa? not everyone is a composer?" she asked. "No, Mrs. Cailey, I feel as though I should be exempt from this particular piece, as I have heard it, the stipulation of the assignment was to arrange a piece we haven''t heard." at this statement, the entire class stopped moving, and confusion was evident in their eyes. "Do you think you could play it?" She asked Risa. the response was Risa picking up the violin, and playing it through without looking at the notes. (here is the song I thought of while writing this part) The rhythm of the song was fairly upbeat, and the rest of the class seemed to get into the music while she played, but no others picked up their instruments. once she was done, she slowly lowered her bow, and violin, the feel of the music still coursing through her, she opened her eyes, and in the corner of her vision she saw the emblem of a broken axe head with a snowflake over it, embossed on a small wooden case, being held by a lady with her back turned to her. Her blond hair was held up by silver spiral pins, and part of it was let loose to fall in tight ringlets. the girl wore a violet veil over her head. She knew what she saw wasn''t really seeing it, so she did as her therapists have told her over the years: she calmly put up her instrument on its shelf, and sat down with her back in the corner of the room. all the teachers had been told to allow her to do this, as it was part of her therapy from something that happened when she was younger, but none of the teachers ever asked what it was. The rest of the day, went without an episode, and she rode the school bus home. she walked through the door, her mom wished her a happy birthday, and kissed her on the cheek. "I had another episode at school today. I need to go to my room for a little bit." she told her mom. "Alright sweetheart. take the time you need, its a couple of hours before people get here anyway." "Alright, I think I am gonna draw what I saw, can I use your colored pencils this time? the colors were more vibrant than normal." "Sure sweetheart, go ahead." Two hours later, Rachel and her mom, Amethyst, arrived for her birthday, as well as the neighbor boy, Mordecai, who had a crush on Risa, and learned to play the Clarinet just to have something in common with her. Rachel when straight to Risa''s room when she arrived, knowing what had happened at school today, she knew her friend would be drawing. Risa was putting the final touches on the emblem on the case when Rachel entered the room. Risa picked up the drawing, held it arms length away from her, and then set it down, and added some shading at the girl''s waist in the picture, accentuating the horizontal pleats in the back of the dress the girl was wearing. "That''s a beautiful dress. is it the same girl that was in the last picture you put a person in?" "No, it''s not Silene. its one of her attendants. That''s what the purple veil signifies, that she serves the princess. A name didn''t come with it, just feelings, and this symbol." "May I have this drawing? I want to put it in the school''s competition." Rachel asked, hoping to get this one too. "Sure, use any of them you want, its not like anyone but us will make heads or tails of them." "If that''s the case, can I take pictures of all the ones in here for an art project I am working on?" Rachel asked her friend. "Go ahead, they''ll just rot in here." Risa replied, as she left the room to go see the other guests, she could already hear Mordecai''s voice talking to her mom in the living room. Rachel hung back, took out her phone, and started taking pictures, and naming each photo with the date the pictures were drawn, she then forwarded all of them to her computer. Risa entered the living room, and greeted Amethyst, Darryl Rachel''s dad, Mordecai, and his dad, Jesse. She looked into the kitchen, where her mom was putting the finishing touches on her birthday cake. Anne carried the chocolate cake into the living room, while singing ''happy birthday'' to her daughter, and the rest of the guests followed suit, with Rachel coming into the room in the middle of the song. They all took a piece of cake, and relaxed for a few minutes, joking with one another, and teasing the new teenager in their midst. Risa started opening the presents, and noticed that Mordecai set his behind Rachel''s to open his last. From Jesse, she got a new Rosen for her violin, a nice quality one with gold flecks. From Darryl, she got cork wax for her clarinet, Amethyst gave her a pair of Sapphire earrings, her Mom gave her a set of strings for her violin, as well as an extra E string, one she knew gave the sound she preferred. she then opened Rachel''s gift, and gave her friend a hug for the pearl white violin case. she picked up the last gift and smiled at Mordecai. She knew he had been shoveling sidewalks since first snow to be able to get her the gift she now held in her hands. she opened it gingerly, and nearly dropped the box when she realized it was still sealed. She gingerly opened the box, and slid out the Cecilio wooden electric violin. she quickly tuned the attached strings, and used her normal bow, instead of the one it came with to try the feel of it. she set it down in the case, and stood up and gave the boy a hug. The whole group went outside a few minutes later and made s''mores in the fire pit outside. they were all still wearing their big coats, even with the fire, the temperature was still a freezing negative fifteen degrees Fahrenheit. (-26 C) "Alright everyone, its a school night, and ten o''clock. its time to call it quits for the night." Anne finally announced. "Ms. Daijon, can I stay the night? It is her birthday, and she had a rough day at school." Rachel asked. Anne looked to Rachel''s parents and they both nodded. "Alright, Ray, you may stay, but you girls WILL get some sleep tonight." "Yes, Mom." the girls replied together as they filed back inside the house. ................................................................................................................................................ A/N: this one was a bit longer than I originally planned it to be, but the dialog makes it appear longer than it is. still needed for character development. Next chapter: Magic crosses the bond. Vivid View ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "hey Ray, we are leaving for Woodland Lakes on Saturday, and your summer practices for La Crosse don''t start until after Independence Day; think your mom will let you come with us again this summer?" Risa asked Rachel as they left class the last day of the spring semester. "I don''t see why not, but I will have to ask. Are you taking the turbo-prop again this year?" she asked. "No, Mom said we are taking the Mooney, so you have about as much space as a golf caddy. Mom said the flight will be about eight hours because we will have to land in Ohio to take on more fuel." "The plane she flew last year took less time." "Yes, but the plane last year cost three times as much in fuel to do it. besides, the Mooney will be fun, and I will have to ride in the back seat, so the co-pilot seat will be empty, she might let you control it for a little while if you come." Risa added with a grin as the girls got on the bus to go home. "Why do you have to ride in the back seat? none of your episodes have ever resulted in anything physical, and aside from the first one, you haven''t passed out again." Rachel asked. "It''s because I might bump the controls mid flight, or grab something. just because they have only been sounds, feelings, visions, or sensations the past five years doesn''t mean a bad one can''t come again." she looked down at the seat she was about to sit in, and plopped down next to the window so Rachel could sit next to her, "I wish I knew what caused them, and why I feel like they are normal." she finished. "I know what you mean. but hey, we did gain something out of all of this." Rachel grinned. "And what is that?" "Well ever since school let out, neither of us has said a word in English, and nobody has a clue what we are talking about." Rachel answered. Risa hadn''t even noticed the change. "Great! Another episode speaking the Gemini language and I don''t even realize it." "Well, you switch between them easily, it took me a second to realize what you said at first." |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Jeramiah held up the pink stone to his face, its familiar hue beckoning to him. His vision shifted for the first time in a while, to the place where he always witnessed amazing things. He heard the familiar girl talking, she was speaking to a friend of hers, he had seen her before, but had never seen the face belonging to the familiar voice. They were talking about flying somewhere. he had never seen either of them use magic before, so he wondered how they were going to do it. "How do you plan on flying without magic?" he asked aloud. a feeling of fear washed over him. he knew it wasn''t his feeling, but the girl''s. "Who said that?" he heard her say. He stood from his chair and his eyes stared off into the distance, he was completely focused on what he saw through her eyes now. He had never tried to contact her this way, and was surprised it accidentally worked. "You heard me?" he said tentatively. he heard the other girl through his ears. "Who is who?" Rachel said. "I just heard someone ask how I was going to fly without magic, and then they asked if I had heard them." The girl said to her friend. "You''ve never had someone talking to you during your episodes before." the friend said. "I''m going to try something, please don''t be frightened. grab ahold of your friend''s forearm, and don''t let her go." Jeramiah said. "Voice, if you are going to try something, at least wait until I get home. I don''t want something to happen while we are on the bus. whatever you want to try can wait until then." the girl replied. "I''m sorry, My name is Jeramiah. I don''t mean to frighten you. I''ll try to hold the connection open. can I ask your name?" he said trying to calm him down. "My name is Risa, and this is my best friend Rachel." Risa looked outside. "Ray, we are the next stop. Whatever happens, make sure I get to my bedroom okay?" "Are you that afraid of me?" Jeramiah asked. "I don''t know you, where you are at, who you are, or anything about you, yet you are talking to me, and I don''t know how you have contacted me." Risa told him. Jeramiah turned, and looked at the door that had just been opened by Silene''s lady-in-waiting that held the wand at his birthday; she and the princess opened the room. "Oh, god. that''s Silene." he heard her say. "How do you know Silene?" he asked, and both the girls in front of him stopped and looked at him strangely. "I only know her from my drawings, visions I get sometimes, my therapists told me to draw them, to keep a record." she said as Rachel was dragging her off the bus, and toward her house. "Drawings? is there a way I can see them?" he said, again, the girls in front of him hadn''t said anything, and Silene was surprised she still hadn''t been properly greeted, Jeramiah had never neglected a formal greeting in the past. "I apologize for my rude behavior, Princess, and Rebecca, something has happened, and I must attend to it." "Who are you talking to, Jeramiah?" Rebecca asked. "Her name is Risa, and her friend is Rachel." he answered. he felt Risa being laid down on her bed, and Rachel laid beside her. "Alright, whatever you are going to try, make it quick." Risa said, his vision looked toward Rachel, and saw a resolute look on her face, whatever her friend went through, she would do the same if able. he felt around for the bond to this person, his manna sense quickly found it, and it went straight into the white stone in his pocket. "Princess, may I see your essence stone?" he asked her. when she pulled it out, he noticed hers was clear, but had an extremely faint pink hue. when it touched his hand, it shifted to the deep vibrant pink his other stone was. He opened the void and corruption channels of his magic, letting it flow through the two essence stones, in his hand, then he let the void slide on the inside of the corruption, and tied the two together. he imagined a rope grabbing the people the stones were attached to, and pulling them to him, but leaving them a way back to wherever they were as well. The spell was using a lot of his Manna, and the magical guards in the castle had already arrived at his room after feeling the amount of magic being used. He set both of the pink stones, as well as his white one, down on the bed, and pulled with everything he had, and he felt Risa''s body shift through dimensions, and then he saw her on his bed, laying on top of the stones; her friend Rachel had followed her through, along with a boy who looked scared, and had a strange black and silver horn held to his mouth. "Risa, this looks just like your drawings." Rachel said, she then turned and saw the boy. "Mordecai! how did you get here?" she said in her own language, but Jeramiah understood it. "What is the name of that language? he asked her. "Its English, its the language we speak at home. He doesn''t understand yours, I only learned it because of my friend here." Rachel said as Risa was looking around the room. her eyes rested on the princess. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. "Rachel, follow my lead." Risa said and walked over to the Princess, and gave a curtsey. "I apologize Princess Silene, I am unaware of the majority of etiquette rules when approaching you; I beg your forgiveness for entering your home without permission." she said. "And I believe your name is Rebecca. I have seen you before, but today was the first time I heard your name." "Jeramiah, who are these girls, and who is that boy?" Silene asked. he picked up the three stones on the bed, and the smaller one was now white, and the other two were glowing silver, as they had just made contact with the bonded. Jerimiah took her stone, and touched it to Mordecai''s forehead and it glowed silver. "Rachel, I''m going to be sick." Risa said. "Where is your toilet?" She asked Jeramiah. "We don''t have those, I don''t know how they work to bring them here. we use chamber pots. this way." Jeramiah opened the door, and Risa went into the small room, and vomited into the pot. Rachel noticed that Rebecca had left the room, and then came back with a girl who was obviously a maid. When Risa was steady enough to stand, Rachel looked toward Jeramiah, who was the person who obviously brought them here. "She needs something to eat, now. preferably something sweet, fruit if you have any, There are things that will work better, but she never taught me the words for them." she looked toward Mordecai, realizing he still didn''t have a clue as to what was going on, and the Princess was studying him intently. "What was that stone you touched him with?" "Oh, its an Essence stone, its how mages find their bonded ones, most of us never meet the one our soul bonds to, so they are more like talismans, and the Princess'' just reacted to your friend over there." Jeramiah explained. so Rachel spoke to him in English while directing Risa back to the bed they appeared on. "Mordecai, this girl is bonded to you, and you to her. the best way to explain it, is that she is your soulmate, so quick gawking at her, you will have plenty of time to do that later." "Rachel, I left a way for you to get back to your world, so you can come and go as you please. if what she needs isn''t here, you can take her back." "Hey, Dipshit, we can''t use magic, remember? now, I know where the kitchen is, I am going to go get her something to eat, can one of your guards come with me? I''m sure you wouldn''t want me unescorted in this place." she said to the six guards who haven''t left the room. "How do you know where the kitchen is?" Rebecca asked her. Rachel simply pointed to Risa. "That girl has been drawing this place for the last five years, little snippets here and there. I''ve memorized them all, and put them together. I probably know this building better than your guards do after studying all her drawings. There are only two rooms I haven''t seen the inside of, but I know where they are at as well: the treasury, and a room labeled as ''Emeth and Tikva'' on the map she drew. she called this place Alva Castle; now I must get her something to eat if she is to stay awake." "I will come with you, I want to see if you know my home as well as you say, for never stepping foot in it." Silene said to her. Rachel simply nodded, and walked out the door, and turned left toward the stairwell that led to the first floor, where the kitchen was located. two guards followed her. "You are wearing strange garments." Silene finally said to her. "Where I am from, you are the one wearing something strange, Silene." Rachel said, "I''m sorry, Princess, I am so used to thinking you are only in a drawing. but now I see why you were drawn with only your eyes in color. the blue she used in her drawing doesn''t do your eyes any justice." she finished quickly, as she opened the kitchen door, and then the pantry. she looked around and didn''t see what she needed, but found some butter, and a sack of potatoes, and a sharp knife. "Do you know where the salt is kept?" "What is salt?" she asked. "That''s a no. Who is the cook? You and the attendant girl we left back there, are the only people I have ever seen in Risa''s drawings." Silene looked over and saw two of the cooks standing in the corner, seeming very nervous. "Where is Greggor?" she asked. "He may not be the head cook, but he is the one responsible for all the requisitions the castle staff asks for." One of the guards left, and came back a few moment''s later with the man, just starting to show the first vestiges of grey hair. "Ah, Greggor, my guest here would like to know if we have any salt, and where it''s kept." she said. Greggor walked over to the spice rack, and picked up a glass bottle of thick pieces of salt. "We rarely use it, mostly just for curing hams." "Thank you sir." Rachel responded. "You two, in the corner, one of you bring me a meat tenderizer." they looked at each other like they had no idea what she was asking, even though she was using their language. "A Hammer, any thing to hit these salt rocks with." she glanced around and saw a mortar and pestle. "This will work." and she ground the salt into a semi-fine powder, and dusted a buttered pan with them, then sliced the potatoes to make french fries. one of the cooks showed her how to operate the stove, and began getting interested in what she was doing. when they were done, she put them in a covered plate, and almost ran back to the room where she appeared. Risa was almost unconscious at this point. "NO! Risa Stay awake!" she shouted in English. at the sound of Rachel''s voice, Mordecai went to Risa and started smacking her face lightly to keep her awake. "Come on, girl, you need to eat something. here I made some fries." Rachel again spoke in English. "What is going on?" Rebecca asked Jeramiah. "I think Risa has a weak constitution. and when she threw up earlier, it made her considerably worse than normal." About this time, Archmage Alec entered the room in a panic. "What is going on in here? and who are you three, wait, nobody move." Alec walked to the bed, and touched Risa, then did the same to Mordecai, then touched Rachel, while looking to Rachel, he began to speak. "You three all have the gift, but its only awake in the one on the bed." he turned to face Silene and Rebecca. "Where did you find them?" the two girls looked at Jeremiah, who gave a nervous giggle. to the man. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anne had just gotten home, she knew the girls would already be home from school, they were probably in Risa''s room talking about their summer plans. Last year she had borrowed the King Air from the local flight club, but she had purchased a Mooney on her own, and wanted to take it on the flight instead. She saw the girl''s school bags on the floor next to the door, and Risa''s bedroom door was cracked slightly opened. it was quiet, she figured the girls had taken a nap after their last day of school, and decided to do the same. ................................................................................................................................................ Meeting Edra |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| "What did you do?" Alec asked, seeming both agitated, and proud at the same time. "Well, I don''t really know. I used void and corruption on the essence stones, and it brought these three here. Princess Silene''s Essence stone reacted to the boy, his name is Mordecai. and both of my stones are now silver as well." he answered. "You used magic called ''Void'' and ''Corruption'' to do that?" Rachel asked. She looked over at the princess and her attendant and saw her feeling of shock mirrored on their faces. she looked at Risa, who was still struggling to stay awake, and only saw her drowsiness. "Well, I did leave a way for you three to go back." he said while scratching his head. "And how exactly did you manage that?" Alec asked. Jeremiah explained what he had done, which magic channels he had used, and how he had tied them together in order to bring them here. he finished explaining, as King Alva came in. Risa, recognizing him, set the rest of her fries down, and kneeled to him, her knee hitting the floor with a thud, as she was still fairly weak. "Who are these people, and what are they wearing?" he said, as he watched the blond haired girl kneel to him next to the red-head already doing so. The boy seemed completely lost. "Your Highness, I apologize for what may seem to be rude behavior in advance, the place we come from does not have a King, and we haven''t been instructed how to act around one." Risa stated. "Risa, why haven''t you ever drawn the king? he seems a bit more important than Silene, don''t you think?" Rachel whispered through gritted teeth at her friend. Rebecca, having heard the comment, looked back at Risa. "Emeth, these two girls are the bonded of Jeramiah, the boy with the strange horn in his hands is the bonded of Princess Silene." Alec responded. "Oh. you two, stand up." he said to them, "I don''t like people bowing to me. if you two are here with Jeramiah, then you are allowed anywhere he is." he said to the girls. he looked to Mordecai. "The same goes for you young man." he said, but noticed that he didn''t respond, until Risa turned around and spoke to him in a strange language. "Young lady, I pride myself on knowing the languages of my neighboring countries, and I don''t recognize that one." he said to her, but Rachel responded. "Sir, we speak your language, but we never taught Mordecai. Our first language is English, where we are from its one of the main trade languages." "Oh? Maybe I will have you teach me." "That won''t be necessary, Your Highness," Risa started. "You won''t need it unless you decide to change dimensions, I doubt a similar language exists in this world." at her words the king looked from the trio, to his daughter, then to Alec, who was pushing Jeramiah closer to him, and shielding himself with the youth, and then back to the Trio. "If you traveled from another dimension, then how are the three of you linked to Jeramiah, and my daughter?" "May I show you something that will explain everything?" Risa asked, the king nodded. "Rachel, give me your phone." her friend handed her the phone, and found the oldest picture she had drawn, the woman in ice, and showed it to the king. "I drew this five years ago." she said, and showed the princess, who recognized the scene, it was the Fellgrove gate. "I started drawing this four days after I had seen it, I had been unconscious for that time, after an excruciatingly painful headache." "You play music, don''t you?" the princess asked, and Risa nodded. "Do you remember the music you were playing then?" she asked, with Risa saying that she did. "Come with me, everyone." The group followed the princess out of the room, with Rebecca pushing Mordecai in front of her, and into the throne room, where an organ had been built three years prior. "Can you play it on this?" the princess asked, motioning to the twin fifty-five key manuals of the organ. "This is close to what that piece was written for, its just missing the foot board." she said. "I can get really close to what it really sounds like, as long as the bellows can hold out." she looked toward King Emeth, and nodded to him, as he had already told her to not bow, "With your permission." He nodded, and she sat at the organ, and played the tune she had rehearsed over and over again, and knew by heart. As she played, she noticed there were tiny lights starting to appear in the room, and they seemed to dance. she giggled at the thought, and began putting more energy into it. when the music finished, she felt reinvigorated, like she hadn''t felt in years, she stood and turned around and was face to face with a woman who did not seem happy. this was a face she had never seen before. Her eyes matched those of Rebecca behind her, Alec seemed to be fidgeting, and the princess was trying to ignore the woman standing in the room. Stolen novel; please report. "Who are you?" the woman asked. "I am Clarissa Daijon, but everyone calls me Risa." she said. the woman blinked and took a step back from her. "That is a very powerful name young woman, do you know it''s meaning?" Risa shook her head that she did not. "Emeth, do not let this one out of your sight." she said. "I do not have control over her, and yes, I know the meaning of that name, Edra." he replied. "Mother, what does her name mean?" Rebecca asked. "Clear, gift of hope from god." she said. "Child, I can feel that you do not know how to use the gift inside of you, so allow me to impart some of my knowledge to you, for that beautiful song." Edra finished. she took Risa''s head into her hands, and touched their foreheads together. Risa felt that what Edra was doing was to help her, somehow she knew how to use a feeling to get back home, and then to this room again, whenever she wanted, and how to bring people or things along with her. as well as various other spells, and even the one that was being used on her at this moment, how to pass knowledge to someone else. Edra pulled away from her, and did the same to Rachel, and Mordecai. "Now, you three best be getting home. Do not return here for the remainder of this week. if I read your gifts properly, you will not be left alone for a while, once you get home. You two will be going on a trip. figure out how to take the boy with you, and teach him this language, he is going to need it." once she said her peace, she closed her eyes, and seemed to explode into thousands of little balls of light. "Edra, My sister, has always had a bit of flair for the dramatic, but she is also the most powerful mage we have in the kingdom. Alec here, is her husband, and comes in a close second. Since she said you need to get home, I''m guessing she showed you how to do it, and you need to fairly quickly. We will se you again soon." King Emeth said. Risa grabbed the other two members of the trio, and used her Creation and Nature channels to take them back home. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The trio appeared back in Risa''s bedroom, and she noticed her door was wide open, she thought that Rachel had closed it before Jeramiah had pulled them away. She heard talking from the living room, when Mordecai spoke up. "Ah crap! I left my Clarinet!" he said, and walked out of Risa''s room, where he knew he wasn''t allowed, and stood outside the door. "Well we can''t go back, and that Edra woman, said we had to figure out a way to get you to come with us." Rachel said. "That''s easy, but Mom is probably home by now. lets go see who she has in the living room." Risa said as she walked by Mordecai. When they walked into the living room, Rachel, and Mordecai''s parents were there. "Where have you three been?" Anne asked. "Gemini." Rachel answered honestly, she never lied to her parent''s before, but it was obvious they thought she was lying now. "Hey, mom. can Kai come with us this year?" Risa asked, ignoring the mood of the room. "Come where?" his dad asked. "I have a summer home in Missouri, and we always spend a few weeks there. We were planning on leaving Saturday, but with these three not wanting to tell us where they went, I don''t know if I want to now." "As long as you have a separate room for him, we don''t mind." his mom said, while giving her husband a mischievous grin. The parent''s seemed to drop the whole thing about the trio missing, as they figured with Rachel''s answer they weren''t going to tell their parents anyway. Anne would later just say that she figured they had gone somewhere to celebrate the end of the school year, and her daughter was coming into her own, if something was wrong, she would say. Mordecai''s parents thought that he was trying to woo Risa, and so would try to spend as much time with her as possible. Rachel''s parent''s had thought that their daughter had lied to them for the first time, openly, and didn''t care to hide it. so although they had a long talk with her at home, they dropped it for the moment. ................................................................................................................................................ A/N: When I named Risa''s family, I just thought the name sounded cool, but when I looked up if Raijon had a meaning, I decided to use it in this chapter, as it fits her character so well. so, although I will use it, it was originally unintentional. Edra, however was named purposefully: its Hebrew, meaning ''Powerful one'' Other name meanings: Emeth: Faithful and True Tikva: Hope Silene: Dignified Rachel: Ewe, or Innocent Lamb Rebecca: Servant of God Alva: bright, Light, Exalted Disturbance |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Silene awoke late in the night, to a sound she had only ever heard in the villages she visited, alarm bells ringing. Her ladies in waiting ran in to the room, each wearing dark clothing, and prepared to fight, as though they had been warned that this could happen. "My Lady, You need to get dressed, Now. Put these on." a black haired girl said to her, as she held out a matching outfit. She grabbed the clothes, and put them on, three of the four girls making sure it was correct, then the five ran out the door, dragging her along with them. "Celeste, what is going on?" Silene finally asked. The girl who handed her the clothes she was now wearing answered. "The capitol is being attacked. Your ladies were told not to tell you, but to make sure we were ready for it. King Alva was quite clear in his instructions." Celeste answered swiftly, as they descended through the castle. "You aren''t going to be comfortable with this, My Lady." Rebecca started, "but, Mother, and Uncle agreed only on one thing: that your only hope for survival are the three people you met a fortnight ago. We are to help Jedidiah contact Risa, and send you to her world." Silene stopped moving. her father had told her Ladies-In-Waiting to hide something from her, and then to send her to another world, all without telling her. "Rebecca, how long have you girls been hiding this from me?" she asked. one of the other girls answered. "My Lady, Since the day of my recruitment." another one of the girls said. her hair was short, reminiscent of the farm village upbringing she had, the staff had only trimmed her hair to keep it healthy, but it still hadn''t touched her shoulders in the three years she had been with the princess. "LeAnn, you all have been preparing for something like this for three years?" "No, My Lady, we have been preparing for this since the day of our recruitment, it was only confirmed that we would be required to do our work when LeAnn came to us, and the final plans were set in motion when we met your bonded." Celeste answered. "We might be being trained to accompany you publicly at formal occasions, but when we aren''t with you, or sleeping, we are being trained to keep you safe, and learning the secrets of the castle, and the keep, so that if they are needed, we can get you out." An eerie green light filled the window next to the girls, and the princess was pushed down as the glass shattered outward as a void crystal imploded. A dull thud resounded in the air, when the princess looked up from the floor, a hole spanning the five windows closest to her was present, and the stone began creaking. It was times like this she wished she had the Manna capacity Jeremiah had. she didn''t have the strength of magic to do what she knew needed to happen to keep the ceiling from caving in. The girls got their wits back, and picked her up and drug her deeper into the lower parts of the castle. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Risa, are you awake?" Jerimiah called to her. she sat up in bed, Rachel right next to her, he sounded like he was in a panic. "What do you want this late at night?" she answered in his language. "You need to get the princess out of here, there is no time to explain, I can''t send her to you. I don''t know why but I can''t." he said desperately. "Is she in the room with you?" Risa asked him, her calm voice seemed to be calming him down as well. "No, but she will be in a moment." "Alright, I''ll be there as soon as I''m Decent." she said to him, and got up, put on a pair of shorts, and an extra long shirt over top of the tank-top she normally slept in. she slipped her feet into Rachel''s slippers, and looked for the feeling she was taught to find, and went to Jeremiah''s room. Stolen novel; please report. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| "Risa, thank you for being so quick." Jeremiah said to her, within seconds Risa understood the gravity of the situation. she looked out his window, at a city in flames. a green flash at eye level made an entire section of the castle wall disappear, without a sound, only a crash of timbers and stone followed the eerie flash of color. She was so engrossed in her thoughts as she watched the wall collapse that she failed to notice the princess and her Ladies-in-Waiting enter the room. "Lady Risa, we need you to get her out of here." Celeste said a third time, but it was the first one that Risa had heard. she turned around at her voice, and grabbed all the girls in a hug, felt that familiar feeling, and was back in the living room at the vacation home, with five more guests. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Are they safe?" Jeremiah asked "Yes, but I need sleep now, that was exhausting." Risa answered. "Now, how am I going to explain you five to Mom?" Risa said out loud to no one in particular. she turned around to climb back in bed and was face to face with her mother, who looked like she had just seen a ghost. "Go back to bed, Mom." she said, not realizing her mom had just seen her appear out of thin air, and brought five other girls along with her, or that she had just said it in the wrong language. Risa was almost back to her bed when her mom screamed out, waking up Mordecai, and Rachel. the two came out of their rooms, saw who was in the living room, and went back to bed, as though it was normal. "Follow me." she said to them, and they followed her into her bedroom. she took her slippers off, and sat on the bed. "Find a spot and crash." she said in English, and they all looked at her strangely, and Rachel picked up her head and told them to find a spot to sleep for a few hours, and that when they woke up, they would be busy. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| "Did it work? Is my daughter safe?" the King was begging Jeremiah for information. "She is safe, Sire. if anything happens, she is alive at least." he answered back to him. and the king seemed satisfied with that answer. "So why didn''t you want her to know this was going on?" "I wanted her to keep her innocence as long as possible. but now, I can''t keep this from her." "So you send her to another world, another dimension?" Jeremiah asked, infuriated with the king, barely holding his temper. "She will know about the war in the morning. I kept this from her long enough." Emeth answered. another green light illuminated the windows and removed a portion of Jeremiah''s wall from existence. another green light enveloped the king. "Jeremiah, tell my daughter I love her." The green light disappeared, taking the king with it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Celeste was the first one awake in the morning, she felt like making breakfast, but when she stepped out of the bedroom, she realized how different her world really was from this one, and instead, went back into the bedroom and sat back down, waiting for the others to wake.