A/N: SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE. I'M SO BUSY WITH COLLEGE AND STUFF. ENJOY THIS CHAPTER. AND BY THE WAY, I HAVEN'T PROOF READ. I CAN'T BE BOTHERED TO. ITS ALMOST 2AM. I'M GOING TO SLEEP. LOVE YOU FANNYS! (Lol! Fanny! *snicker*) LET ME REMIND YOU THAT I WILL BE GONE FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS.
Knight of Converse
Chapter twelve
This was beyond ridiculous.
“Hi, my name is Ariel, I’m sixteen, and I have an anger problem.” A red-haired mousy girl squeaked. Her face was red and she gave a little wave, and then sat back down in her seat within the ‘circle of peace’. The urge to shoot myself was really unhealthily strong.
“Hi Ariel, welcome aboard.” The rest of the group sung in unison. The woman who was in charge was called Janet, and had a big black afro and a constant smile on her face. I wanted to rip her eyes out and see her scream. Just for a change of emotion. The rest of the five people in our circle smiled warmly at Ariel, welcoming her with all the grace in the world. These people actually had problems.
I didn’t.
“My name is Eric. I’m seventeen, and I uh, have an Anger problem… apparently.” A brown haired boy muttered quickly as he stood up and sat down all in one go.
“Hi, Eric, welcome aboard.”
All eyes were suddenly on me, the newest arrival. I grudgingly crossed my arms and sunk back into my chair. The smiling faces were beginning to make me nauseous. I discreetly managed to turn my head back and spot Duran desperately trying to stifle his laughter. I narrowed my eyes as a wave of rage and mortification overcame me. This was incredibly embarrassing. Duran just had to tag along because my mother thought it would be ‘good’ for me to get used to admitting my problem in front of people that I knew. Despite the fact that I had never admitted that I had a problem because I didn’t have a freaking problem to begin with!
“It’s okay to be shy,” Janet smiled warmly at me.
“I’m not shy!” I snapped at her, throwing her a glare. She continued to smile, which just frustrated me even more. I wonder how much she’d be smiling if I shoved my fist down her throat!
“Mhm, well, the floor’s all yours. Introduce yourself.”
“There’s no point since I’m not coming back.”
“Oh, but you are honey.”
“No I’m not!”
“And why wouldn’t you?” She gave me an unabashed look.
I scoffed. “Why do you think?”
She smiled again. “If you won’t co-operate with us, and in our circle of peace, I’ll have to call your mother to help you. Do you need help, honey?”
My eye twitched as I roughly stood up. “My name is Sol, I’m seventeen, and I’m actually being physically and torturously forced to unnecessarily attend these ridiculous Anger management classes when I don’t actually need them because I don’t actually have a problem!” I yelled at the group.
“You kind of seem overly tense…” Ariel said quietly. “I think maybe you do have—”
“I think maybe you should not finish that sentence.” I hissed at her.
“I think you have a problem…” A boy named Juno imputed, raising his hand slightly.
“I think your opinion is as insignificant as your existence.” I retorted, making him blush furiously red in with the blow of my insult.
“You definitely have a problem. Why are you being so mean? Why are you so angry?” Ariel asked me somberly.
“You definitely have a problem with keeping your mouth shut. How about I do it for you?!”
“Don’t talk to her like that!” A quiet girl called Korea yelled at me. I laughed. Her voice reminded me of those weird high screams that Michael Jackson made. I gave her the finger.
“Those rude hand gestures aren’t allowed in the circle of peace!” Eric yelled.
“Circle of peace my ass!”
“You really are a piece of work, you know that?” He sneered, getting angry. I sat back and examined my nails.
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
“You’re a snot nosed pretentious idiot!” Ariel growled at me. Everyone seemed to be getting angry. Wasn’t this class supposed to be therapeutic? It didn’t even do what it was supposed to.
“You need to shut up.”
Her hands began to shake, and she began to do the breathing exercises that we were all taught for our induction.
“That’s right bitch, you do that breathing thing.” I turned to Janet and saw her watching us with an amused smile. Was she supposed to do nothing?!
“Are you gonna let her just ruin everything?!” Juno exclaimed and glared at me whilst rubbing Ariel’s back. “You’re a bitch.” He growled. I rolled my eyes.
“It’s healthy to let out all the inner anger. That’s why I haven’t interjected. So please, let it all out.” Janet responded nicely.
“I am not letting anything out!”
“But you are.”
“I don’t have inner anger to be let out! This is not an exercise!”
“But it is.”
“Are you always so annoyingly calm?!”
“Are you always so angry?”
“Ugh!” I threw my hands up into the air in frustration. “You’re incorrigible!”
“Am I?” She smiled.
“Yes.” I growled through gritted teeth.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes!”
“Are you not?”
“No!” I shouted.
“Are you sure?”
“We’re allowed to let anything we’re feeling out, right?”
“Yes, certainly. In fact, it’s advised.”
“Then I really want…toslammychairacrossyourface!”
“And why is that?” She continued, calmly.
“Because, I’m frustrated with you and you’re annoying me.”
“Why am I annoying you?”
“Because you keep smiling.”
“Now,” She smiled. “Is that an adequate reason to be so angry?”
That threw me back. Slowly, I sheepishly reached my hand behind my neck and scratched. “I suppose not…”
“You suppose?”
“It made more sense in my head…”
She stood up. “Thank you, thank you very much Sol.” She said warmly. “You see,” she began to the group. “A lot of the time, pent up anger does just that. It only makes sense in our heads. So next time you feel really mad, just tell yourselves the reason why, out loud. See if it makes sense; see if it can be resolved. You’ll find that most of the time, it will just make us laugh, and realize how silly it is.”
Eric slowly raised his hand. “I… I hit someone because they insulted Llamas. And I really like Llamas.” He gave a small laugh and I found myself laughing hysterically.
“Llamas? Really? Llamas?!” I choked out, and the group laughed louder.
“That’s why I’m here…”
Juno raised his hand, and then looked down at his big round stomach. “A guy in school asked me if I was pregnant like in the movie Juno…”
I was the only one that burst out laughing.
“Sorry…” I snickered.
“Well, he said I could get pregnant ‘cause I had no penis. So I told him that his mother sucked it so hard that it was now lodged in her throat. And that’s why she constantly sounds like she’s about to give birth through her mouth…”
I was crying tears of laughter and everyone burst out laughing. I honestly almost couldn’t breathe. Eric smacked Juno on the back in a friendly way and gave him a thumb up.
Ariel raised her hand. “My boyfriend told me my ass looked bigger than usual one time… so I… well, I got my brother’s baseball bat and smashed his car windscreen and headlights to smithereens.”
No one laughed.
“Well… that escalated quickly…” I said into the silence as everyone stared at her with weird looks. I think she was one of the people here that were genuinely insane.
“I’m afraid we’re out of time.” Janet said with a big smile on her face. “I’m so happy we could share so much today.”
“I was serious when I said I wasn’t coming back.”
“Uh-huh. Until next time.”
I shook my head and stood up, knocking my chair over for good measure as I walked to a sniggering Duran.
“Don’t.” I ordered, before he could make any comments and roughly walked out towards my car. I had a feeling Duran was going to never let me live this down.
*
“Sol, I could hear your tyres from all the way in here!” Mom shouted from the living room.
“Then wear ear plugs!”
“I’m guessing your support group went well.” She said as I walked into the living room.
“It was absolutely splendid Mrs Ambrosius.” Duran interjected, and then burst into roars of melodic laughter.
“Will you shut up!”
“Sol!” Mom reprimanded. “Don’t be rude.”
“He’s been taking the mick out of me since the support group ended! I told you it would be a terrible idea to bring him because now he won’t stop laughing at me!”
“But it was hilarious!” Duran laughed, looking as beautiful as he always did. He turned to look at Mom who grinned as though Duran’s laugh was contagious. “Mrs Ambrosius,” he started.
“I have to insist that you call me Ida, darling.”
“Ida,” he grinned. “There was a boy who might I say was indeed in much need of therapy. He was obsessed with Llamas, so offended and in need of defending its honour as if it were a fair maiden!”
Mom snort-laughed. “No way!”
“Yes. A bunch of oddball children in addition with Sol and you get a whole load of chaos!”
“Sol, what did you do?”
“Nothing!” I exclaimed at her and turned to Duran. “Shut your face!”
“Are you going to make me like you threatened the crazy girl?”
“You threatened someone?!”
“She was totally insane mom!”
“Absolutely,” Duran agreed, and a sour look took on his face. “I once courted a lady that I had the unfortunate fate in discovering she was just as mad.”
A puzzled look crossed mums face. “Courted?”
“Dated.” Duran and I said in unison.
Mum laughed. “How crazy you say now?”
“If I were to accidently cast my gaze upon anything—perhaps even animal—with the anatomy of a female she would threaten my life. Good God, women are terrifying.”
“You haven’t seen mom at her worst…”
“I’m not so bad.”
“Uh-huh.”
Dad suddenly made his appearance, strolling into the room after a long day of work. He walked over and kissed mom on the cheek, nodded at Duran and turned to give me a nasty look.
“Don’t I get any sign of appreciation for my existence?”
“Those tyre marks are insane. How again did you get your license?”
“I slept with the examiner….kidding, kidding!”
“I honestly hope you get caught speeding and lose your license.”
“And I honestly hope that you get kidnapped, shipped to Bangladesh and sold for a camel and a half kilo of papayas. We can all dream.”
I ran out of the room before dad could respond, gesturing at Duran to follow suit. Clambering up the stairs, I told Duran to give me a moment to freshen up and shower before he could come into my room. After my usual routine consisting of removing my make-up, showering and brushing my teeth. I changed into sweatpants and an old cropped t-shirt, leaving my wild curly beast of hair roam free and spill down to my shoulders. I shook my hair out and sighed as I stretched my body, relieving the tension from my back and arms. I suddenly felt a distinct gaze roll over my stomach and chest, and up to my head. I opened and eye and saw Duran staring at my intently, watching my every move as if I was the only person in the world.
“You shouldn’t stare like that, it’s creepy.”
He walked in, dressed down into a t-shirt and sweatpants and closed the door. He turned around again, blue eyes ablaze and gave me an intense crooked smile. “You shouldn’t dress…”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
He continued to stare at my face and hair, taking in all of me as though he hadn’t seen me before. It was probably due to the fact that I had no make-up on and rarely let my hair down. Ugh, I probably looked a mess as well. But I didn’t care, it was my room, and I was allowed to look like crap it I wanted to.
“I get that I have no make-up on and I get that I kind of look like crap but please refrain from staring at me like I’ve grown another head.” I called out as I walked over to my dresser and opened my draw, taking out the small magical black book.
“You do not look like crap.” Duran spoke from close behind me, making me jump and scream. What was wrong with him!
“Dude! Back up! That’s so creepy!”
He stared down at me. “You look…mesmerizing.” He muttered. His blue eyes seemed to have gotten darker with the evening sky.
“Thanks,” I said softly, looking away.
His hand came up and slowly, as if under a spell made its way towards my hair. “May I?” He asked quietly.
“You want to touch…my hair…”
“Yes.”
“Uhm… okay…”
He wrapped a strand around his finger, and sighed heavily. Almost as if he couldn’t control his own hand, he moved forwards and wound his fingers into my heavy mane, massaging my head of hair, and breathing it in. It felt so soothing.
“Your hair is unlike anything I’ve ever felt.”
“Thanks?” I said as he stepped back and walked away from me.
“I like the way it smells, and I like the way you smell.”
“You’re really… weird.”
He turned away from my direction, and looked as though he was trying to control himself, not knowing what to say, I sat down on my plush carpeted floor, and looked at the book.
“So, you know quite a bit about this magic stuff.”
He turned around, eyes now a very bright aqua blue. “Bits and pieces. I am no wizard, so what I know is very limited… something from an unlikely observation.”
“Oh-kay, well…”
Duran sat down opposite me, and started down at the book. “Open it.”
“I don’t understand the writing.”
“You might now. When you first read it, it was before you knew you were a witch.”
“That’s like saying you can understand French miraculously after finding out that you’re from France.”
“Just open it.”
“Fine… fine, but don’t say I never told you so…” I opened it and saw the words glowing gold across the pages. The looked like they were moving, as if Merlin himself was writing it, and as if they had a mind of their own. I gasped in wonder. I could understand the writing. The words seemed to be transforming themselves into English, a language that I understood. This book was far beyond my comprehension.
“Oh my God!”
“What do you see?!” Duran exclaimed, picking up on my excitement.
“Can’t you see it?! Look, the words! They wave like the sea! They’re in English! Look! It’s so beautiful!”
“I see nothing but black and white mumbo jumbo.”
“Really?”
He smirked at me. “What was the phrase you used? Ah, yes, I told you so.”
“Whatever.”
“Okay, well, find something that can help me!”
“Woah, woah, woah, hold up hold up! I haven’t even cast a spell before!”
“You cast the spell that brought me here!”
A burst of annoyance panged in my chest. Annoyance and trepidation. But what was I afraid of? Doing the spell? Duran leaving? Why would I be scared of that?
“That was by accident!”
His eyes blazed. “Then do something dammit! Do something useful!”
“Don’t you think that’s what I’m trying to do?!”
“Yes!” He yelled and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “Yes.” He repeated with more calm. “I’m sorry.”
I sighed. “I know, I know. I know how bad you wanna go back.” The last part came out a bit too sourly. I grimaced.
I flicked through the book, trying to understand the complicated words, and instructions and guides. It was almost as if it were Merlin’s diary. The book was more like a grimoire of spells he had done and created. There was no way I would be able to create a spell for sure. I had to find something to imitate, something easy. But everything looked way too complicated.
"So, apparently, I can't just snap my fingers, chant bibbidi-bobbidi-boo and make anything I want happen. The excitement has suddenly dissipated."
"How can you expect magic to be so simple? That's foolish. What exactly did you imagine a novice like yourself could do?"
"I don't know. Change the colour of my eyes. Make my teddy bear talk. Turn myself into The Little Mermaid and swim around Atlantis singing Under The Sea with my pet lobster Sebastian, you know, the casual."
"How very casual indeed." Duran drawled dryly.
“‘The sound that quakes fear…’” I repeated, looking down at the words to chant. For this I only really had to concentrate hard. I was definitely going to try it first.
Duran looked a little uneasy. “That could mean anything…”
“It can’t be too bad. It’s not that complicated to do.”
“Sometimes the smallest things are the most dangerous.”
“Yeah, yeah. Please be quiet, and whatever you do, don’t touch me.”
I closed my eyes. I could hear the brisling of the wind against branches. Distantly hear the sound of cars driving past. But it was quiet. I felt a sense of peace within me. Just absorbed by this quiet. I remembered the incantation. The words sung in my head. I didn’t know how, but they seemed to seep into my very being. I began to feel rage, slowly creeping from my mind like melting ice, cold as ice, slicking down into my core. My heart began to accelerate, my fingers and skin began to buzz, and my chest began to blaze. Just then, the words tumbled out of my mouth with the natural proficiency of an expert.
“Invoco vos tonitrui. Fulmen in aeri, transfigere terram ab ira intra.”
My eyes snapped open, and the sky began to rumble a loud thunderous sound. It prickled like static, and roared like a lion, suddenly a white hot bolt shot out of the sky, zipping out into the distance, the sky roared again, and it began to rain. The roaring ceased, and it was just steadily raining. I didn’t realize but I had somehow jumped into Duran’s arms. He held me soothingly, and just watched me with wide, astonished eyes.
“Did I just…?”
He nodded. “Aye,” his voice was a whisper.
“That… was awesome!” I yelled and jumped up. The buzzing feeling still flew through my bones, igniting satisfied warmth within me. The magic felt like a drug. It made me feel so alive.
“Sol…” Duran said carefully, watching my pacing form with skeptical eyes.
“Did you see what I just did?! I can’t believe it! It was amazing! God! If only you could feel it!” I continued to ramble and then plopped down in front of the book and looked at another simple spell. Before Duran could stop me, and before I could properly take in and assess the danger that it could cause, I summoned up the power within me, felt it prickling my skin and chanted the words I saw on the page.
“Incendere ignire.” I chanted, and blew at my palm. My breath turned hot, hotter and hotter still, until a spark ignited and a fire blazed out, big and wild exploding into the air, and sparking into tiny sparks. Duran jumped back and yelled, but I didn’t care. It was too fun, and it felt too good.
“Oh my holy Jesus!”
“Soleils no more!” Duran warned. His expression was full of fear and alarm. I shook my head and the adrenaline raced and pumped through me.
I recalled the words of another spell that I had seen and it pumped through me. My body began to respond to it before my mind could properly process. I was going out of control. A buzzing crept up my body from my feet, I felt my hair begin to rise, and the feeling was all too familiar.
“Levibus pinnam confundis gravitatis.” The words rolled off of my tongue automatically. I felt so light, so so light. I looked down, and around me to find that I was levitating five feet into the air.
“Holy shit!” I yelled. It broke the concentration I needed for the spell. Instantly, I dropped. Duran jumped, sailing through the air, and broke my fall again.
“I’m so sorry.” I muttered. My head was buzzing, my body still pumped with the magic and adrenaline.
Duran groaned. “If only fair women always fell from the skies.”
I chucked, placing my hands on his chest to prop myself upwards along with Duran. I stood up, and a wave of nausea hit me like a ton of bricks. I tumbled forwards, and Duran grabbed my hands, and I suddenly felt a burst of power shoot though my mind, connecting mine with Durans. Colours clouded my vision, whipping past like a jet in lighting speed. The corners of the scene in front of me began to glow gold, and looked dreamy. I felt like I had just walked into a dream. I rushed past the luscious field of plush grass and flowers that overlooked the grand stone castle in slow motion. The scene looked so familiar. I felt no sense of having a body, and it felt as though I was looking through glass. I remembered that I had seen this before. But now I recognised where I was.
I was in Camelot.
I shot forwards, racing into the castle grounds. Though everything was moving so fast, I saw how it all looked gloomy and dark. Civilians were shackled, or crouched dirty in dark corners. I saw a man in rags begging another man for what seemed like food. The man spat the water he was drinking in the poor man’s face and turned around laughing.
Except he wasn’t a man… he wasn’t even human. He was a beast. He had razor sharp teeth, and black inhuman cat-like eyes. Just pure black, with no pupil. Just the sight of him felt like he was eating at my soul. Everything else about him seemed human. I zoomed past as if I was now a spirit, and rocketed into a large throne room.
A woman with long red hair sat splayed on the throne with a big long fur coat and no shoes. She was one of the most beautiful creatures that I had ever seen. Her eyes were big and hazel; she had a small nose, strong cheekbones and plump ruby red lips. But her expression was sour, disgusting and scary.
“He’s alive!” She shrilled in a high cold voice at another one of those beasts that was kneeled in front of her. “How is it possible?!” She spat.
“My Lady,” He rumbled in a deep inhuman voice. “He be much resilient than we had suppose-ed.”
“I demand him finished!” She screamed, grabbing the man by his neck and flinging him backwards. She gracefully stood up like a ballerina and walked down the steps of the throne with a brilliant grandeur. She owned the room.
“You see,” she began in a sweet voice. “I am Queen now. And not any man shalt purloin my right from me!”
“Yes, my Lady.”
“Silence.” She warned him coldly. “All proceed-eth as intended. The demons are out, igniting terror unfathomably whence the carcasses of whichever imbecile dares to even ponder revolt counter to me.”
She tossed her hair as she paced. “Death, my friend, is everywhere. And it shall seep-eth into the future hence where that filthy abominable mutt lay, and kill him, and kill them all!”
Her voice escalated into a high, cold and evil laugh. “Laugh!” She ordered the beast, and his voice grunted a slow and deep laugh. She promiscuously strutted towards him kneeled on the ground. He turned his face up and watched her intently, licking his lips at the sight of her. I felt disgusted. His tongue was thin and pink, shooting out like a snake with two slits. She got to him a grabbed his face, with her hand and nails. She dragged a long nail down the side of his face, making him bleed.
“Are you forever faithful to me?” She cooed in a deeper voice.
“Yes,” he rasped, sounding more like a reptile. “Yes, my Queen.”
“As you were faithful to my father Mordred?” She began to straddle him, ripping off her big fur clock, exposing the extremely revealing tight red dress that she wore. It was made of a thin flimsy red material, and you could almost make out that she was naked underneath. Oh, oh ew. Good God, that is so Goddamn skanky!
“Even more,” he raped again.
“My prince,” she gurgled an evil sound, she seemed possessed. She bent down and licked the black ooze of blood that dripped from his cheek.
“Morgasa!” He gasped and groaned. His snake tongue shot out and she licked it with her own. Roughly grabbing his hand and leading it to her crotch.
You have got to be kidding me! I did not want to see this! So damn nasty!
“Do you vow to accomplish your task? Do you vow to send your demons to cause destruction and chaos? She moaned. “Do you vow to kill him and any that stands in your path?”
“I do vow to thee,” he groaned. “With my blood I do seal-eth this vow. I will kill him.” He growled as he grabbed her buttocks through her flimsy dress.
“Whom?!” She shouted.
“Duran Pendragon!”
And abruptly the vision melted in an array of colours, I span in a wild vortex that ripped my spirit from the past and shot it back into my body in the present.
I gasped as my body shot up, and stared into Duran’s panicked eyes.
“If you don’t get back to Camelot, we’re all going to die. They’re coming for us.” I choked.