The next morning, I walked into the gathering hall. It's where all the Grisha ate most of their meals. I sat down next to Alina at the Etherealki table. Across from us sat Marie and Nadia. A couple minutes after the food arrived, Naveah sat down beside me.
"Hey." I greeted her with a smile.
"Hi. This seat isn't taken, right?" She asked
"Nope. All yours." I replied.
"Great!" Naveah smiled.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Nothing much, just the usual. Summoning some flames every now and then. What about you?"
"Just the usual teleporting stuff." I shrugged.
"Really?" Naveah raised her eyebrows. "Because Genya came to my room last night asking If I knew where you were?"
"She did?" I asked, stunned.
"Yup. So... Where were you?"
"Just out. On a walk." I lied.
"You sure?" She pushed.
"Yup." I said, popping the 'p' sound.
"You are really bad at lying, you know?" Naveah sighed. "Come on! You know you can tell me!"
"Fine. I teleported somewhere."
"Where?" Naveah asked, causing me to sigh.
"To.. visit a friend."
"Oh," Naveah started. "A friend."
"Why'd you say it like that?" I asked.
"Because I highly doubt that it was just a friend." She explained
"Why does everyone think that?" I laughed.
"What's their name?"
"Are you serious?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.
"Yes! What's their name?" Naveah asked again.
I sighed. "Mal. But he is just a friend! So stop!"
"Mal," She repeated. "He sounds handsome. Is he handsome?" I didn't answer. "Yeah, he's handsome."
"What did I just say?" I asked her in disbelief. "He is just a friend!" I repeated.
"Fine! If he is just a friend, then is there someone else?" Naveah asked.
"No." I simply answered.
She sighed. "So why did you go see him then?"
"Because he was hurt last time I saw him and I wanted to check if he was okay."
"So you do care for him?" She smirked.
"Oh my gosh! Let it go, Naveah, or I swear I will teleport us both into the Fold and leave you there for the Volcra." I whispered the last part, jokingly of course. I turned towards Alina.
"Well when will this strapping lad be coming?" I heard Nadia ask.
"Soon. I've invited him." Alina replied.
"Who?" I asked.
"A 'friend' of Alina's. " Marie told me, chuckling a bit. "Mal."
"Why did you put air quotes around friend?" Alina asked her.
"Because I can tell you fancy him. You are just saying he is a friend because you don't want to admit you like him." Marie explained.
"I don't fancy him." Alina gave a nervous laugh.
"Fine. Just make sure to have him announced when he arrives so we can be there with you." Nadia smiled at Alina. I turned back towards Naveah, a small smile on my face. She on the other hand looked disappointed, her mouth hung gape.
"Why are you smiling!" She asked, almost disappointed in me.
"Why are you upset?" I laughed.
"Because! Alina likes Mal! And so do you!" She whisper-yelled.
"First off, Alina liking Mal is what I'm happy about!" I clarified. "And second, I don't like Mal like that! We are friends! How many times do I have to say it!"
"You can say it as many times as you want, but I won't believe it." Naveah protested.
"Ok. Do whatever you want. But I have to go tell him! He likes her too!" I smiled, getting up from my seat. I heard Naveah grunt from behind me as I began to walk back to my room.
Once I returned to my room, I began to think about Mal. Concentrating on him. If you ever decide to teleport back to us... Bring a coat. I remembered what Mal said. I walked over to my closet, checking for a coat in there. A found a simple brown coat with a furry hood and decided to take it. I put it on before concentrating again.
Sooner or later, I felt a familiar cool chill, signaling I had teleported. I opened my eyes to the familiar tent from yesterday night.
"Mal!" I called out. Seconds later he appeared out of the tent.
"Hey, Madison!" Mal smiled. "I see you brought a coat this time." He smiled and sat down.
"And some news!" I cheered.
"Good, I'm assuming?"
"Yes. Very good." I nodded, going to sit down beside him. "Okay, so I can tell you are into Alina because Dubrov threw you under the bus last night," I started with a laugh. "So I was talking to her and some friends this morning, and from what I can tell, I'm pretty sure she likes you too!"
"R-really?" Mal asked me, his face un-readable.
"Yeah.. I think. I just can't tell if that's a good 'really' or a bad one?" I told him. I was confused.
"It's.. um-"
"I feel like I did something wrong." I laughed nervously.
"Do you- Do you hear that?" Mal suddenly asked me.
"Hear what?"
"That ringing noise?"
"Uh... no."
"Dubrov, Mikhael! Get up. We need to get moving." Mal suddenly demanded.
"Is something wrong?" I asked.
"No. We just need to track this Stag. This might sound crazy, but every time I hear this ringing, I feel like I'm getting closer to it. The Stag. Finding it." He explained. "You should probably go."
"Oh. Um, okay. Good luck." I gave him a small smile before teleporting back to my room in the palace.
YOU ARE READING
New Beginnings (ON HOLD)
Action(crossover story) It's been a year since Ultron's attack on Sokovia. Ever since then, something has been different about Madison Stark. Maybe it's all of a sudden fame but, she's always had some fame because her brother is pretty well known. But now...
