Alright, alright, I decided not to be mean and keep you guys in suspense any longer. So, I hope that you enjoy this chapter and that it answers some of your questions! :) Well, there's a picture of Luna on the side. :) Enjoy, all my loyal readers! :D
Chapter 25
It didn’t take them long to find a place to stay for the night. Thanks to Luna’s diviner powers, they soon found a cave near a river in the forest.
“Great,” Dahlia said. “Now what do we do with these guys?”
She pointed at Cedric, Hunter, Tamarak, Sapphire and Kayla, all of whom were very drunk and unconscious due to their alcohol intake.
Dahlia glanced at Troy and was very startled when he turned aside, pointedly ignoring her gaze. He still didn’t want to talk to her, especially after seeing her and Cedric kissing. Instead, Troy turned to look at Luna.
“Uh... we could pull them into the cave,” Luna suggested.
Troy studied her face carefully and was surprised that, for once, that he was able to decipher what emotion she was feeling.
Guilt.
But for what, Troy was not sure. She caught his eye, and, flushing slightly, she turned away from him and reached for Sapphire.
Slowly, Troy, Dahlia and Luna pulled Sapphire and Cedric into the cave. Then they tugged Tamarak and Hunter inside as well. Kayla regained consciousness enough to be sick and then stumble weakly into the cave.
“Well... two of us should take watch first,” Dahlia said, awkwardly. “I mean there are so many of us that we would be much safer this way.”
“Okay,” Luna said quickly.
Troy looked at her, surprised. Luna had never shown much tendency for romance, unlike Cedric who had enjoyed teasing himself and Dahlia.
In fact, Luna had found a solution to her guilt. If Troy and Dahlia talked together and made up their quarrel, it could hardly be her fault.
“I’ll take some rest first,” she offered. “Let you two have some quality time together.”
Troy caught the grin on her face as she quickly ducked into the cave. What she left behind was silence. Neither Troy nor Dahlia wanted to talk.
They sat down at the river bank. Both of them drew their weapons and rested them in their laps. They sat in silence.
More than half-and-hour had passed, before either of them decided to talk about anything at all. Finally, Troy broke the ice.
“Thank you for saving my life,” he said, stiffly. “You reversed the tide of the water. Thank you.”
Dahlia smiled. “No problem,” she said. “You’ve saved my life heaps of times too.”
She reached out to squeeze his hand, a friendly gesture they often shared, but Troy moved his hand out of the way. Dahlia stared at him, her feelings obviously hurt.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “You’ve been in a foul mood since... since...”
“The pub,” Troy said, flatly.
“Yeah,” Dahlia said. “What’s wrong?”
Troy turned red but stubbornly refused to answer. Dahlia wracked her brains, trying to think of clue that would explain Troy’s extraordinary behaviour. Troy watched her thinking. He could almost see the gears turning in her head.
Unable to think of a reason, Dahlia turned to look at her best friend. Troy’s heart sank when she shook her head.
“What is it?” she asked.
“You really don’t know?” Troy asked, looking at her in the eye.
Dahlia frowned. She started to shake her head but she stopped in mid-movement. Troy nodded when he saw that she had dawned upon the answer.
“It’s Cedric, isn’t it?” she said quietly. “You saw him kissing me.”
Troy nodded, very much relieved that she knew what was going on. Then he got to his feet and turned to go.
“Wait, Troy!” she gasped, grabbing his arm.
He pivoted on the spot and looked down at her. Her blonde hair fell in a curtain around her face and her blue eyes looked almost black in the darkness.
“I didn’t kiss Cedric!” she said. “He kissed me. And then I slapped him.”
“Whoa, what?” Troy asked. “You slapped him?”
Dahlia nodded. “You didn’t see that?”
Troy shook his head, a smile creeping across his face, no matter how hard he tried to conceal it. She hadn’t wanted Cedric to kiss her. Dahlia had even slapped him.
Dahlia laughed. “I slapped him,” she repeated. “What did you see?”
Troy looked and felt sheepish. “Er... I saw him kissing you and then I turned away,” he admitted.
Dahlia laughed. “You’re an idiot sometimes, Troy Flarehill.”
Troy laughed too. “I guess I am.”
He slid down to sit next to her again. She rested her head on his shoulder and they sat there for a while, keeping an eye out for any trouble.
Finally, Dahlia turned to look at Troy in the eye. Troy flinched back at the intensity of her gaze, but he refused to break the moment.
“You really thought that I wanted Cedric as my boyfriend?” she asked.
Troy nodded, looking sheepish.
Dahlia laughed again. “I barely know him, Troy. I’ve known him for a week. And he’s sixteen years old. Seriously, get a grip.”
Troy shrugged. “Most girls seem to like older guys.”
“Troy, in case you haven’t noticed, I am not most girls,” Dahlia said, grinning.
“Yes, I can see that,” Troy laughed.
Then, as Dahlia looked up at Troy again, he suddenly realized how close they were. Their faces were inches apart. They continued to stare at one another, neither of them breaking the moment.
But Troy didn’t quite dare to lean in and close the gap between them. After all, Dahlia had just told him that she’d slapped Cedric for kissing her.
Instead, he gave Dahlia an awkward smile and leaned away. He didn’t know what her feelings were towards him and he would hate it if she broke off their friendship. That was one thing that he would never be able to live with.
He valued their friendship more than almost everything he had in his life.
Just then, Luna climbed out of the cave, stumbling a little. Her white-blonde hair was a rat’s nest and her silver jacket was tangled.
“I can’t sleep anymore,” she grumbled. “I just had a nightmare. One of you should go to sleep.”
Troy sniggered. “You have nightmares?”
Luna glared at him. “Don’t tell me you never have bad dreams.”
“Er,” Troy began.
“See!” Luna said. “And actually, it was more like a vision, not a nightmare, although with a brain that small, Troy, I wouldn’t be surprised that you didn’t know that.”
“Actually, you can tell the future, so naturally, you wouldn’t be surprised,” Troy retorted.
Luna opened her mouth to retaliate, but Dahlia cut in, shooting them both a steely look that reminded Troy of her father.
“A vision?” Dahlia asked, turning Luna. “You mean a glimpse of the future, right?”
Luna nodded. “Anyway, one of you should go and rest. I’ll take over. Who slept the most last time? Dahlia, wasn’t it you?”
Dahlia nodded, but Troy interrupted.
“You go and sleep, Dahlia,” he said. “Go on,” he urged.
Dahlia opened her mouth to argue, but she soon realized that it would be pointless. Turning, she ducked into the cave.
Troy looked after her as she climbed into the cave. She wore Sapphire’s old clothes, a sleeveless black tank top and blue jeans. Over it, she still wore Troy’s hooded jacket and her blonde hair was pulled back from her face with the same black bandanna which she had gotten from Sapphire and Tamarak back in Paris.
“Troy,” Luna said.
He glanced up at the six-year old magician. She looked so mature, it was scary. Her silver eyes gleamed like the moon in the dim light.
“Just tell her how you feel,” she urged.
Troy sighed. “She just told me she slapped Cedric because he kissed her when he was drunk. And she didn’t really scold him because he was drunk. But if I kissed her when I’m sober, Dahlia might break off our friendship or something.”
Luna snorted. “How about this? I’ll tell you her reaction.”
Troy blinked. He had forgotten that Luna could predict the future. And that was something that didn’t happen often.
“Er...” he began.
“Anyway,” Luna interrupted. “I didn’t say you had to kiss her. All I told you to do was tell her how you feel.”
Troy groaned. “You do realize how stupid this sounds, right? I’m getting advice about relationships from a six-year old!”
Luna burst out laughing. “I’m more mature than you are, any day.”
“Rubbish!” Troy said, rolling his eyes.
“Oh, but I am more mature, Troy,” Luna said, a stern look in her silver eyes.
Troy grinned. Luna reminded him a bit of Helen. They both were ‘mature’ for their age and supposedly sensible. Which, actually, Troy thought they were.
He leaned back. Thinking about Helen always brought back feelings of guilt and pain. He missed his sister a lot. And Dahlia was right that he did want Kayla to bring Helen back fully from the dead.
Their watch was quite uneventful. They just sat there, trying not to nod off and watching for the sun. In about two hours, Dahlia crawled out of her cave.
“Your turn to rest, Troy,” she said, rubbing her blue eyes.
Troy glanced at Luna. She rolled her eyes at him and scowled. Obviously she wasn’t going to give him the answer immediately.
“What?” Luna demanded.
Both Troy and Dahlia looked at her. It was Troy’s turn to roll his eyes. He scrambled to his feet and sheathed his sword.
“Okay, thanks, Dahlia,” he said.
She smiled. “Get your rest, Troy.”
Dahlia slid down next to Luna. Turning, Troy crawled back into the cave. It was small and uncomfortable with the other five unconscious magicians there too.
He lay down and closed his eyes. Of course, sleep only brought more nightmares.