Chaos & Order: Dawn of Chaos

Chapter 3 - Edited

Lugging Penelope up the stairs to the shopping district, Athelia dropped her onto the floor as they reached the top of the stairs. Gasping for air, she knelt over and breathed deeply as she tried to catch her breath. Having carried Penelope from the great oak tree, across a bridge and up the stairs to the shopping district, she felt her body ache from exhaustion. Knowing she couldn't carry her sister any further, she took a deep breath and tried to ready herself. "Here we go."

"Help!" Athelia screamed at the top of her lungs, making herself sound as scared and panicked as possible. "I have found Penelope. Help!"

As people started rushing out of their houses, a pair of guards ran over with torches blazing with fire. Seeing Penelope, many people covered their mouths as they gasped, and Athelia soon heard people start whispering as they looked at her. Making her eyes wide and worried, she kept her head low as a guard picked up Penelope.

"We will get you home, come with us." The other guard spoke, putting their hand gently on Athelia's back as they guided her through the crowd.

As they approached her house, the guard who was walking with Athelia hurried ahead and began pounding on the door. Throwing the door open, Winston's eyes were dark and heavy, but as he saw Penelope in the guards' arms, he quickly moved out the way of the door. While the guard placed Penelope down on a bench in the dining room, Luisa rushed in and quickly lit the fire as she saw what was happening.

Feeling her legs ache and her eyes get heavy, Athelia creeped inside and slumped into a chair by the fire. As the warm flames flickered in front of her, she felt herself start drifting off to sleep while the guards talked to her parents. Knowing Penelope was home and unharmed, she felt a rush of relief, but questions starting sparking in her mind as she remembered Odelius.

"Athelia!" Someone shouted.

Jumping out of thought, she peeked round from the chair and noticed everyone looking at her. Standing up, she felt her legs shake slightly.

"We understand this has been a long night for you, but we need to ask you some questions to clear things up." The taller guard who had carried Penelope explained, before jumping straight to asking questions. "Why were you out so late?"

"I could not sleep." She answered quietly, looking down as she felt everyone's eyes burn into her. "I went out for a walk to clear my mind."

"That is very dangerous with all the people going missing lately." The shorter guard scolded, and she felt her insides knot together.

"Where did you find your sister?" The taller guard asked. "Did you see anyone else?"

"I found her by the great oak tree." She explained, swallowing a lump in her throat. "She was stumbling around, but then she passed out. I did not see anyone else there."

"You carried her from the tree to the shopping district?" The shorter guard asked in disbelief. "You must be stronger than you look!"

Once the guards left, Athelia followed her parent's upstairs in silence. As Winston set Penelope into her bed, Athelia waited till they left to get into her night clothes and collapse onto her bed. Pulling the warm blankets over her, she barely felt Wisp curl up next to her before falling into a deep sleep.

***

A few days later, Athelia stood by her cauldron in the attic. Grabbing items from the shelf, she had mostly memorised the recipe for healing potions, so she threw ingredients into the cauldron without much thought. As she threw in a handful of lavender, she suddenly noticed Odelius peering over her shoulder. Jumping with fright, she almost fell into the cauldron but quickly steadied herself.