| 'So….' Cass typed closing her E-mail to Saphron. Just then, the doorbell rang. Cassie Sighed, and ran down the stairs to get it. She pulled open the door expecting it to be one of her little sisters admirers, or annoying Girl Scouts selling cookies, YET AGAIN. Instead, she saw a girl about her height with long dark brown hair with purple streaks. Her eyes were a catty green, and she had freckles over the bridge of her nose, accenting her eyes. " Can I help you?" Cass asked nicely. There was something familiar about her, but she couldn't put her finger on it. " Yeah. Does Cassie live here?" " Saph?!?!" Cass shrieked. " OMG is that you?" " Cass? No way". The girl grinned mischievously. " You never said you let your hair grow out." Cassie shrugged. " Come on in. I'm the only one home. Will be for at least a week. Bri's at outdoor school, and mom's on a business trip." " Cool." Cass noticed that Saph carried a backpack, and a small suitcase. " How the hell did you get here?" Saph grinned at her. " Plane. PDX was hell though." " It always is. Well, you can stay in my room with me, or the guest room, I guarantee though, my room will probably suit you better." Saph nodded, and the two headed upstairs to her room. " How can you stand it?" Saph asked later, lounging on the window seat. " What? How cheery it is in here?" Cass gave a noticeable shudder. " I picked the room, but mom got to held with the décor. I picked the bedspread. It's the only one we could agree on. As for the light blue walls, and the clouds on the ceiling, I did it. I needed a little more space, for all that this room is pretty damn big to begin with." " Hell yeah." Saph glanced at the large bay windows, the Queen size bed, and numerous bookcases. Then her gaze drifted towards the desk. " Ahhh. Your computer. Where all your dreams and CLV and numerous other shit is.…" Cass laughed. " Something like that." She turned it on. " want to check your e-mail?" Saph smiled and shook her head. " Did it at the airport. Its nice when you can get the guy sitting next to you to let you use his computer." " How much did you flirt?" Saph looked as innocent as possible. " Me? Flirt? How could you say such a thing?" " Come on, how much?" Saph grinned. " I got his number. He's got a brother who sat on my other side. They're both pretty damn cute for all that people suck." Cass laughed. " Well, I'm checking out ff.n. Then we're going to the library, then coming home, having dinner, and watching Gilmore Girls and Charmed." " Charmed? Cass…" " You're not at home. Just watch it. It won't kill you." Saph held up her hands in defeat, and watched as Cass turned off the computer. " Nothing on Ff.n. Come on. Library closes in an hour. I've got a spellbook to look for." " A spell book? Oooh, I'm intrigued." Cass smiled and grabbed Saph's still raised hands. She yanked her down the stairs, pausing long enough to feed the dog, grab her purse, and lock the door. They walked down the sidewalk, chatting and laughing about this and that. On their way, they passed Jackson's house. Both Jackson and his friend Yusuf were in the driveway shooting hoops. " Oh Boy". Cass muttered. Whistles drew Saph's attention to the boys; she then dragged Cass to stand at the foot of the driveway. " Hey Cassie". Jackson said, nodding to her. She smiled grimly. " So Cassie", Yusuf piped up. " Who's your friend?" Cass rolled her eyes. " Saph, this is Jackson, and this is Yusuf". Saph nodded at the two warily. " So Saph, where're you from?" Jackson inquired seemingly nonchalantly. " Why do you want to know?" She asked. Jackson shrugged. " Curiosity". " I'm from the place that has the team that kicks the Blazers asses every time they play each other." " Oh shit." Cass muttered. " Ooooh. A Laker's Fan. Intriguing." Yusuf teased. " Would you guys stop it? I thought that because you hung out with me, you'd at least have the BRAIN CELLS to know that you don't hit on a LAKER'S FAN!" Cass said, shaking her head. " And to top it off, She's like my best friend!" The two boys ignored her. " So Laker's girl. How much you wanna bet that even though the Laker's kick the Blazers asses, that we can kill you in a fight?" Saph grinned wildly, and looked at Cass, who grimaced slightly, then Shrugged. " Bring it on, baby!" Saph said. " I'll take Yusuf on, if that's okay Cass." " Are you kidding? I've wanted to kick Jackson's ass for years!" She smiled sweetly. " You don't know how much shit you're in boys." The two laughed. " As if". Jackson muttered. " Whatever". Added Yusuf. The two girls took off their shoes, and put them by the mailbox. Then they walked over to their respective victims. They turned to eachother and bowed, making the boys laugh, then, faster than they boys could see, they found themselves looking up at two very pissed girls. " You wanted a piece of me." Cass told Jackson squarely. " Hey, you're the one who'll never live the humiliation down." He got up and deftly wrapped his fingers around her wrist, pulling her arm behind her back at a painful angle. Cassie took a deep breath, and grabbing Jackson's arm with her other hand, flipped him onto his back again. She stopped her blow centimeter form his face. " You've been a friend too long for me to do any permanent damage. Just don't screw with me again, you got it?" " Hell yeah. Now let me up!" In the meantime, Saph and Yusuf had traded 'soft' blows. As Yusuf's blows got harder, she resorted to a series of lunges and retreats she had learned in fencing class, using the small amount of Karate she remembered as her weapon, instead of a sword or stick. It took a little while, but soon enough, Yusuf faltered, and stumbled backwards, cornered between the garage and the house. He gasped for air, and Saph saw her opening. Yusuf's eyes grew wider, and his breathing more spaced apart; Saph's thumb and middle fingered held a slight pressure on his jugular. " Don't. Hit on me. Again. Got it?" Yusuf nodded. " Good. Now, if you don't want to repeat this, or be publicly humiliated, don't trash the Lakers in front of me again. Deal?" She held out her hand. Yusuf took it. Saph turned around, and she and Cass exchanged a high five. Then Cass happened to look at her watch, " Damnit, the library. Come on, we have to hurry." The two hurriedly put on their shoes. " Boys". They said, nodding approval and walking away. " Oh, and boys?" Saph called when they were partially down the street. The two looked over at them curiously. " Call me at Cassie's house if you ever want to go do something. Either of you!" The boys smiled sheepishly, and went back to their game, while Cass dragged Saphron to the library. Once inside, Cassie ran towards the very back, with all the religion books. The books in all the foreign languages. She perused the shelves quickly and accurately. Then she spotted a small brown leather book that looked like an old explorers' journal. " Aha!" She cried, and pulled it out. The words " Viva Fantasia" were imprinted on the cover, burned into the leather. " Cool. So, what's so important about this book?" Saph wanted to know. Cass shook her head, and headed for the door. She showed the book to the librarian, who waved her through." Um, Cass? Don't you have to check that out?" Cass laughed. " Nobody but me checks it out. She said the next time I came to get it, it was mine. So now it is. She peeled off the library bar code, and put it in her pocket. " Thank god you're here. This one'll only work if there're two of us…" She trailed off, lost in her own little world. " Um, Cass? WHAT will only work with two of us?" " The spell, silly". " SPELL? What spell?" Saph was beginning to get scared. " Well, we've always talked about how cool it would be to go to Tortall, and so much stuff has been happening, that I just can't see the point in being here anymore. Now I've researched this spell, and the effects for months, I was going to send you an e-mail asking you to come and visit, but you showed up on my doorstep just as I was about to send, so I deleted it, and…" " Wa-wa-wait a second here. What stuff has been going on?" " Well, You know all about being turned on by the people I thought I could trust , but what you don't know is that they told my at home best friend that I was pretty much in love with him, so now, he'll barely look at me. Its just too much Saph. So I have to get away." She held out her wrists, revealing partially healed red cuts. " Nothing else works. So I figured we could try it." " Why didn't you tell me?" Saph wanted to know as they reached the house. Cass shrugged as she put her key in the lock. " You had a lot more on your mind than I thought was needed. I didn't want to overburden you with my problems. Besides it really hurt." Saph was silent. Scotty, Cassie's Dalmatian, came bounding up to greet them. " Hey baby." Cassie said happily, petting him and rubbing his ears. Just then, the phone rang. " Hello?" Cass answered smiling, the smile almost instantly dropped, and left her face a pale grayish pink. " Oh. Hi". She swallowed hard. " Come over? Like, right now? Well, yeah, ok." She struggled to stay calm. " Yeah sure, bring him. Yeah. See you in a little while. 'Bye." She hung up then turned and just looked at Saph, completely shocked. " Well?" Saph asked, patience running thin. " That was Max. He's coming over, and bringing a friend of his." Cass tried to shake the shock out of her system. " Wade. He's nice. I think you'll like him, but they're coming over, like, now." She suddenly looked very scared. " Saph, what am I going to wear? What am I going to do?!?!" Saph sighed and shook her head. " Come on. Time to LA-ify you." " Huh?" Cass asked as Saph took her by the arm, and plopped her in front of her mirror in her room. " Shhh. Just let me work." Cass clamed up, and obediently let Saph primp and pry at her. She then took out some of her clothes and dressed Cass in a very LA outfit. " That's me?" Cass asked looking in the mirror at her suddenly stylish appearance. " Thanks Saph. I owe ya." " Never mind. Just go cook, would you? I'm starving." Cass nodded, and headed downstairs to fix dinner. Five minutes later, Saph emerged in much the same outfit, only her shirt said ' Queen Bitch' where Cassie's said ' Bitch in Training'. Cass chuckled as she stirred the Chicken noodle soup. She was just setting the table when the doorbell rang. " Saph, can you get that?" She called, wiping her hands on a dishtowel, and checking her appearance one last time. "Sure!" Saph called down to her. Moments later, she heard Max's voice, still with the hint of a British accent, and Wade's northwestern drawl. " Um, hi, is Cassie around?" Max wanted to know. " Yeah. I'm right here." She said before Saph could answer, stepping into the hallway. " Wade, you and Saph look hungry, there's soup on the stove, and the table's set, go ahead and help yourselves." The two wandered into the kitchen leaving Cassie awkwardly alone with Max. " So…". She said quietly. " Let's go outside, ok?" He offered, holding open the door. Cass shrugged and walked through it. She perched apprehensively on the edge of the porch swing. " What do you want Max?" She asked after five long silent minutes. "First you call me after days of ignoring me, wanting to come over to my house, and you get here, and you have nothing to say. Just spit it out. I can't stand this anymore." Max looked startled at her vehement statement. " Well?" She stood up, hands on her hips. He stood, and took her hands in his. She resisted the urge to pull away. "I'm sorry." He whispered. " For all the pain I've put you through. I'm sorry, for not seeing before, when you've practically told me several times. I'm sorry." He sighed. " And most of all, I'm sorry that you won't give me a chance to tell you how I feel." " How you feel?" Now she did pull away, looking at him shocked. " You've only had the past three days to say something. I've been ALONE for the past three days. Literally. The only person I could talk to here was my dog. You have my phone number, my address, my cell number, my e-mail addresses, and numerous other ways you could have communicated with me! I didn't give you a chance?!?" She looked mad and on the verge of tears at the same time. " You and Saph are the only people I thought I could completely trust. To be there when I needed you. Saph was here. Where were you? Answer me that Max. Where were you?" She stormed inside her house, and up to her room, locking the bedroom door behind her. She collapsed into her window seat, silently crying, and looking up the materials she'd need for the spell to work. She gathered them, and packed herself and Saph backpacks with some nessacities. Chocolate. Candy. Coffee. Clothes. Etc., Etc., Etc. And one complete set each of the Tamora Pierce books in hardcover. She scanned the spell and printed two copied, then shoved the book into her sack. Then she set up the place for her spell. She'd need to take the dog too, but she couldn't very well go downstairs and get the dog's stuff with Max and Wade still there. She wiped the mascara streaming down her face away, and walked quickly, and quietly halfway down the stairs. " Look, give her this when she comes out, okay?" Max's voice drifted up the stairs. " I doubt she'll do anything but burn it, but okay." Was Saph's reply. " Nice to meet both of you, but I think it'd be best if you left now." The two boys mumbled agreement, and left. She heard Saph close the door and lock it. " Good. You've come out. Come on, we've got stuff to do. Now, it says on this note by the fridge that your Mom'll be back late tonight, so if we're doing the spell, we aren't taking the dog. Cass held up her hands. " Fine. But we're leaving in an hour, no excuses." She began to make sure everything was in order, she wrote a note to her mom saying that she had gone to the beach for a while, and she would be back within a month at most. Saying that she had money, and that she had taken the bus and left the car here. Saph and thankfully already cleaned up the kitchen, and Cass began to gather up some more stuff she had hidden. Mostly recipes and candy. An hour later, she and Saph sat in her room, surrounded by unlit candles. She made sure one last time that the dog had food, water, and access to just about anywhere, and gave Saph her copy of the spell. " Now, when we do this, we have to be synchronized, say it at the same time." " I know what synchronized means, dearie. Now let me ask you a question, who wrote this?" Cass shrugged." Like I know. Put your pack on and your coat, I don't know where or what season we'll get there in. Oh, and I bought you a gift, but open it once we're there, ok?" Cass said, while putting on her own coat and pack. Saph nodded agreement, and the two began the spell. This world is too much, Much more than I can abide. With all the pain and such, I have nowhere to hide. Take me to the place, That I my heart I hold dear. Take me to Tortall, So I can get away from here. For a moment nothing happened, then, wind began to circulate the room. The wind twirled faster and taster, until it formed a cyclone in the middle of the circle of candles. And the next thing they knew, Cass had a root in her back, and Saph was draped over tree branches. Saph groaned and sat up. " So this is what the Royal Forest looks like." She said sarcastically. " A royal pain in the ass." She popped her back. " literally." "Chill out Saph." Cass commanded, helping her out of the tree. " Let's just get out of here, and to the palace. We have words to share with some people." And with that, the twosome wandered through the forest, following the trail towards the distant hole of light in the dark foliage. ############################## The girls had stopped for a rest a while later, and Saph was seemingly beginning to panic. " So now what?" She wanted to know. She was pacing, her hands still clutching the package Cass had given her before they said the spell. " Well, it would be nice if you'd change." Cass drawled, lounging in the branches of an oak tree. " HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CHANGE?" Saph shouted exasperated. " How about by opening the package I gave, and going behind that big ol' bush over there." She mused, pointing. Sullenly, Saph stomped behind the bush. Cass could hear rustling, then a muffled scream. " Hmm. I think she would have rather had breeches than that gown." Cass muttered grinning. She jumped out of the tree, and meandered over to the bush where Saph stood frozen, the dress on, staring at herself in a hand mirror. " Looks good Saph." Saph turned slowly to glare at Cass." Go put on your dress." She growled. Cass shrugged, and retrieved her own gown from her bag. She slipped it on, and waked over to show Saph. " See? Not that bad." She told her, spinning around and delighting in the way the baby blue skirts flared out. She adjusted the sleeves a little, and looked at Saph in her black and blood red gown of the same style. " Come on. Let's get out of this forest." The two got their stuff, and began walking again towards what they hoped was the palace. After a good fifteen minutes walk, they heard approaching hoofbeats and the shrill barking of a Greyhound. They tried to ignore it, but continued more warily than before. " Hey!" A boy's voice called, " There're people in here!" " Well it's a public forest you idiot." A girl snapped. " Can you just call him off? PLEASE?" A hearty laugh drifted through the trees. The horsemen, or horsewomen were closer than the girls had thought. " Come, Jay." The barking abruptly stopped, and an exasperated 'Thank-you' met their ears. " Wait a sec." Saph mumbled, and pulled Cass into the underbrush. They peered into a clearing where a boy and girl in mage's robes sat by a stream. Nearby, a greyhound terrorized an eagle, sitting regally on one of the horse's saddlehorns. " Ha-Choo!" Saph sneezed, Cass glared. " Dorry. Allerdies." " Hey! What was that?" The girl stood up, glancing around. " I dunno." The boy shrugged. " Why thank you for that helpful piece of information, Patrick." She told him sourly. " I'm going to go check it out." He waved her off." Fine Jae, but hurry back." " Jae?" The two hidden girls whispered in unison. " Well, this explains why she hasn't been around in months." Cass said quietly. Saph nodded absently. " Dome on. Let's ged oudda dis bush." Saph told Cass, while standing up and brushing the pollen off her dress. She shuddered. " Just by luck. A rhododendron. I hade rhododendrons." The two had just stumbled onto the path when the girl found them. " Who are you?" She asked, sizing them up. " Jae? What are you doing here?" Cass asked at the same time. " Why does it matter? Who are you?" " It's be, Saph. And Cass." The stuffy Saph mumbled almost inaudibly. " What? Seriously?" Jae looked shocked. " You almost look like nobles. Only, they usually have horses." Cass shrugged. Jae led them back into the clearing, all of them chattering excitedly. " Girls? GIRLS?" Patrick tried to get their attention. " WHAT?" They yelled. He looked taken aback. " Never mind." The girls shrugged and went back to chattering. After a few hours, they headed towards the Palace, still talking. They were walking up to the palace after stabling Jae's horse, Vie; when Saph got shoved into a huge mud puddle. She stumbled on her way to the ground, and managed to avoid all but a small corner of the muddy water. " Watch where ye're goin, wench!" The small boy yelled. A fire lit behind Saph's eyes, and she struggled to get up and run after the boy to teach him how to back his words. Just as she was about to jet down the path, Jae and Cass grabbed her arms. " Don't. You'll just make it worse if you retaliate. You don't want to get into the politics." Jae told her firmly. " And besides," Cass grinned. " People suck, remember?" Saph nodded grimly, but muttered something about insolent little pigs, and they continued their trek. Once inside the palace, Jae led them to Neal's room inside the Squire's wing. " Neal, open up!" she called impatiently. " Wha-?" He asked groggily. Then, spotting the girls in dresses straightened up. " What's going on Jae?" " I gotta talk to the King, which direction is his office?" " Let me take you." He shut the door, and the girls could hear scraping noises and slamming through the door. " I thought you might." Jae muttered smiling. " Come on." He said, emerging. He looked properly groomed Jae followed him, and they argued about philosophy. Cass and Saph exchanged looks, and followed suit. When they reached a high mahogany door, Saph and Cass nervously smoothed their skirts, Saph trying to hide the mud, Cass trying not to laugh. " Come in." A charming baritone called. Neal pushed open the door. " Your Majesty," he began bowing. " Jae wanted to speak to you, these are her friends, um…" " Saphron and Cassidelia" Jae supplied their penames. Neal nodded, turning pink. " Well, come in, come in." Jon said, a smile lighting his blue eyes. " Have a seat girls." " Aren't we supposed to bow?" Saph whispered to Cass as they seated themselves in chairs by his desk. She shrugged, and bit her lip, so as to conceal her nervous laughter. " So, how did you get here?" Jon inquired, looking from face to face. Neal had left and closed the door, so he wasn't the least bit reserved. " The same way I did, sire." Jae said quietly from the corner. " A spell I believe, as they have rucksacks." Cass nodded confirmation, not trusting herself to words. " Well then." Jon sighed. " What are we to do with you." Though the question was rhetorical, Saph answered it. "We could train as pages." She said, perking up. Thankfully, her allergy symptoms had subsided. Jon shook his head. " I'm not sure if I could swing it. I've had a lot of controversy about…" " Keladry of Mindelan. WE KNOW." Saph supplied. " We know some hand to hand combat," Cass inserted, finding her voice at last. " You could even put us on probation like you did with her. Although, as we're from a different world completely, you'll probably have to have us on probation two or three years." " Well, Jae was a page, still is part-time as a matter of fact. She's been studying at the university. At her rate, she'll be 20 before she becomes a squire." They all chuckled. "You could just become two of the court's ladies, and train with the pages so you know combat, or you could join the Rider's, or perhaps even the King's Own." Jon rattled off other things they could do. Anything but become pages. Cass could feel the anger rising in her. " Court Ladies? Oh Joy. Just what we need. More boys." " That's what it would be if you were Pages." Jon pointed out. " Yeah, but not like this! As Court ladi we're have boys hitting on us, and whatnot all the time. At least as a page you learn how to defend yourself, others, and your country!" She felt rather patriotic, like should be standing in front of an American flag, preaching about joining the armed forces, not in the King of Tortall's study. |
| Never Forget Written by Cassidelia |
 |