Here's the next chapter! :D Please vote and comment! I understand that this chapter might be a little sad but I hope you like it all the same. :) I'm still dedicating the chapters to my loyal readers so please identify yourselves to me by voting and commenting. :) Picture of Troy and Dahlia on the side. :)
Chapter 34
After promising to collect some defensive potions from Jared, Luna went to her barrack and began digging about for her gear. She hadn’t used her mortal gear in about six months. Her backpack was black and covered in a thin layer of dust. She had gotten it back in Paradise, Ohio. It had belonged to a bouncer at the pub whom Dahlia had charmed into giving them money and bags.
Smiling to herself at the memory, Luna began to shove clothes into the bag; a spare pair of jeans and three shirts. She added undergarments and socks to the pile in her bag. Luna found her silver parka under the bunk bed. Apart from that, all her clothes had been made by Mitchell who had a gift to enchant fabric. He could mould it into whatever form he please. It would only work on cloth or thread, but magicians had learned not to annoy him the hard way.
Luna was alone in the barrack although she shared it with some other girls: Dahlia, Sapphire, Yasmine and Marina. Kayla had used to share it with them, but she had recently gotten her own room. Sapphire often slept up in the hospital wing and Yasmine and Marina often had patrol duty which they had gone to now.
Despite the absence of her friends, Luna enjoyed the peace and quiet, which was something that very rarely happened if she didn’t seek it out. It was pleasantly quiet, like it should be because it was nearly one o’clock in the morning.
“Knock, knock,” a voice said, just when Luna knew it would speak.
Luna glanced up, seeing exactly whom she had expected to see. Jared framed the doorway, fiddling with his ever-present pouch and holding something behind his back. It amused her to see him, a twenty-something-year-old man, intimidated by a seven-year-old girl.
“Hi,” Luna said. “Come in.”
Jared entered rather tentatively, almost as if he didn’t trust her invitation. He leaned awkwardly against a bed post; he didn’t dare to sit down.
“I don’t bite,” Luna said, amused.
Jared’s face reddened. His skin was normally very pale for he didn’t go outside a lot; he spent most of his time in his laboratory. His eyes were so dark a blue they were almost black and his hair was short and black.
“Well, uh, here,” he said, pulling out a few dozen vials from his pouch and laying them down on the bed. “You should replenish your stock of potions. I suggest that you line them in your jacket or something. These potions are mostly defensive; you should have no problems with them.”
Luna nodded, scooping up the vials and beginning to slide them into the lining of her silver parka at strategic places where she could easily access them and not crush them if she fell.
“Thanks,” she said.
“Because you learned how to differentiate my potions, I haven’t labelled them,” Jared continued. “It’s dangerous to put tabs on them or something.”
“I know,” Luna agreed.
“And... I have something else for you. It’s, ah, a birthday present,” Jared teased.
“Jared!” Luna exclaimed, well aware that he was teasing her for fun.
“Sorry,” Jared said with a grin. “I couldn’t resist. I made it, with Mitchell’s and Tamarak’s help.”
“What is it?” Luna asked, although she could already tell.
Jared rolled his eyes. “As if you don’t already know!” he said, laughing. “We made a cloak that can camouflage the wearer. It isn’t perfect for it isn’t true invisibility, but it will give a good cover, at least at a distance.”
Luna smiled. “I was being polite,” she retorted. “And you’re giving it to me?”
Jared nodded. “All the others have help and, if Raven takes Tamarak’s form, both quest groups will have invisibility. You need all the help you can get.”
“Yes, you’re right, Jared,” Luna said, softly. “How did you make it?”
“I looked at Tamarak’s blood samples,” Jared replied. “All our powers are in our DNA. I extracted the powers from the samples and figured out how to create a potion for camouflaging.”
“But Tamarak turns invisible!” Luna said.
“Yeah,” Jared agreed. “My potion enables the person to turn invisible, but when I apply it to cloth, it becomes less strong. I don’t know why. Mitchell made the cloak that can hold the power of my potion. It took a while, let me tell you!”
Luna smiled. “Thanks,” she said gratefully.
“One other thing,” Jared said, handing her the cloak. “It’s reversible. The silver side works as camouflage. The other side, the black one, preserves your body heat. I don’t know whether I’ll be able to make another one soon so look after it well. It’ll be invaluable.”
“Thank you,” Luna repeated, knowing full well the enormity of the gift that he had given her.
Jared nodded. “I’ll leave you to your packing then,” he said and exited the room silently.
Luna turned the cloak over in her hands. It was, in fact, silver and almost transparent on one side. Even though she knew that the other side was black, she could see through the material, almost as if the camouflage was working. The other side was black, seeming to suck all the light in the room into it; it did indeed look like it was for warmth.
Gratitude welled up in her chest as she swung the cloak, with the silver side out, over her shoulders. Glancing down, she smiled as she realized that she could not see herself; she was indeed invisible. But not quite; she noticed her vague outline still visible.
Pulling the cloak off again, she dropped it onto her bed and continued to slide the vials of potions into the holders inside her silver jacket. All these defences would aid her to get to San Francisco; they were help that Luna desperately needed.
Dahlia slipped outside onto the balcony which was opposite the Fountain of Purity that the Magicians of Water used most of the time for their magic or scrying. She hadn’t gone back to the barracks to pack for she knew that Luna would be there.
Not yet.
She wanted time to think.
It was true that Dahlia had feelings for Troy. Mixed, confused feelings that certainly went beyond friendship. And yesterday, when he had kissed her, it had felt so right and so perfect. Now, she wasn’t so sure whether it had been right.
Just because it had felt right, didn’t make it right for them to kiss. After six months of torturous contemplation, Kayla’s words had finally hit home. Much as Dahlia hated to admit it, the necromancer was right about relationships. Neither Troy nor she had told the others but they all had guessed.
It was too obvious. Even their minor flirtations and teasing remarks had caused worry among their friends; worry that they would not be able to do what they had to do. If her friends could guess the answer, then Varmer definitely could, especially with all his magic.
“Hey,” Troy said softly, coming up behind her, his shoes crunching the snow that had fallen on the balcony.
Dahlia gave a start as she heard his voice behind her. She smiled slightly, just twitching the corners of her mouth and turned to look at him. He laid his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close.
“Hi,” she said, nerves making her voice shake.
“Are you cold?” Troy asked. “I can make it warmer...”
Dahlia swallowed, shaking her head. Unable to speak, she buried her face into Troy’s chest, enjoying the embrace. Ever since that summer, Troy had grown about a head taller than her. She liked his stature for it made her feel protected.
“What’s wrong?” Troy asked, tightening his arms around her.
“Listen, Troy,” Dahlia whispered, almost hoping that he could hear her. “We can’t be involved... anymore. We can’t... can’t be together anymore."
Troy froze and then pushed Dahlia away. She flinched, gripping her arms from the sudden release and the cold, probing the hurt in his eyes. The look was almost enough to break her, but she stood by her decision.
“Why?” he asked, trying to hide the obvious pain in his voice.
“I... I...” Dahlia stammered. “It’s... it’s too dangerous, Troy. Kayla is right; Varmer probably knows by now. All our flirtations already made them guess; now they know the truth.”
“So you’re dumping me?” Troy asked incredulously, staring at her in the eye.
“It’s for your safety too,” Dahlia whispered. “If our magician friends have guessed about our relationship, Varmer could too.”
“I’d rather risk my safety and have you,” Troy said, reaching for her hand.
She snatched it away, shaking her head slowly. She knew that his touch would make her forget her resolve and she was determined to win this time.
“But would you risk my safety?” Dahlia asked, forcing herself to say the words that she knew would break his facade. “If you really and truly care for me, you wouldn’t do this, Troy. You would let me have this one thing that will save your life.”
Troy stared down at Dahlia. Bluish fire lit her eyes and Troy recognized the fire as determination. Not only determination, but also pain. He spotted the telltale tears that had started in the corners of her eyes. He was forcing this out of her, forcing her to say the things that she didn’t want to.
“You’re right,” Troy said hollowly. “I’ll do it. For you.”
Dahlia looked down, steeling her resolve. Troy looked away, grasping the railing with both hands, welcoming the cold snow on his palms. It helped him focus through the heartbreak.
“Here,” Dahlia whispered, taking his hand and placing something within it.
Troy turned as she closed his fingers down on the object before pulling her hand back. He opened his fingers to see the bracelet, the precious gift that he had given her.
“It’s yours,” she whispered, a lone tear falling down her cheek.
Troy shook his head and placed the bracelet back around her wrist, slowly doing up the clasp. He released his grip from her hand.
“It was a gift,” he whispered. “I don’t want it back.”
Troy took hold of her shoulders and pulled her towards him. He felt her shiver beneath his touch but he placed the kiss on her forehead before slowly pushing her away.
“Goodbye.”