Daine gasped silently. Varice?! She scowled. Ugh, don't tell me she was one of his ladies at this time! she thought furiously, That's the last thing I need right now! Varice!
Suddenly, someone shoved Daine aside and whispered to her, "Move! I can't see a thing!"
Daine groaned, and glared daggers at Foreste who was now peeking through the crack in the door. "You, too!" she hissed angrily, "Just what I needed: a Varice AND an annoying, pesky Guardian!"
"EXCUSE me???" Foreste demanded, miffed. "I've come to HELP you, and you treat me like THAT?!"
Daine, who was too preocupied trying to listen to the conversation, ignored her. Foreste, scowling, finally gestured with her hand, and suddenly, there was no more wall, door, or any barrier to seperate the room they were in from the room Arram and Young Varice were in. "WHAT did you DO?!" Daine hissed furiously at Foreste.
Foreste looked down her long nose superiorly at Daine, who was practically steaming. "I simply made the walls invisible to us."
Daine reached out a hand, and felt an invisible barrier. Narrowing her cloudy blue eyes suspiciously, she asked, "Are you sure they can't see us?"
"I'm P-O-S-I-T-I-V-E!!!"
Daine didn't answer; she just concentrated on what Arram and Varice were saying.
~~~
Arram grinned boyishly. "Varice! What brings you here?"
"Oh, I just happened to have some spare time, and decided to... drop by..." Varice purred, and slowly wrapped her arms around his neck.
(Meanwhile, Foreste made a gagging motion.)
Arram suddenly envisioned what it would be like if Daine behaved like this towards him. Amost letting escape a sigh, he held it back just in time to feel a bolt of very strange, and foreign magic coming from the guest wing where Daine and Kit were. He frowned. "Um, Varice? Could you stay here for a minute? I want to go check something."
Varice pouted resignedly. "Oh, fine," she relented. Arram smiled fakely at her, and slipped into the guest room.
~~~
Panicky, Daine shoved a protesting Foreste under the bed, and jumped on top of the bed and grabbed Kit. Inwardly, of course, Daine fumed. By the time Arram entered the room, Daine was sitting on the bed and playing with Kitten, the perfect emblem of innocence.
Arram frowned. "Um, Daine, did something happen here?"
Daine's blue eyes widened, and she silently cursed Foreste, who had forgotten to shield the spell. "Oh! No! Of course not! Nothing happened here, nothing at all!"
Foreste suddenly popped her head out from under the bed and said quite indignantly, "Is this the way you treat a universe guardian?!"
Daine kicked her back under the bed. Suddenly... ///CRASH/// ///BANG/// ///BONK/// then, "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!"
Alarmed, Daine and Arram lifted the covers and peeked under the bed. Foreste, whimpering, rubbed her head. She was half laying down in a pellmell of scrolls, books, and ink bottles. Arram started, and flushed, "Oh! I totally forgot about the spells I put here to have more space for the other stuff!" Suddenly, he remembered Foreste's presence, and frowned, "Where did she come from?"
Daine shot daggers at Foreste, who shrugged innocently, and rubbed her head again. While Daine turned to face Arram, she racked her brains for something that might distract him, just enough to give Foreste time to disappear. Suddenly, inspiration stuck her. Daine hurled herself at Arram, and pressed her mouth to his.
Foreste almost died of suppressed laughter, and began to believe she cracked a rib or something. With a mischievous grin, she disappeared in the same sprinkling of silvery light. She dearly hoped that Falles, Syphor, and Syth were watching this!
Arram was shell shocked. No other word for it. Not that he wasn't enjoying this--far from it, actually. He started to melt into the kiss, coming up for air only when absolutely necessary. Suddenly, there was a sharp gasp behind him. Varice! He had completely forgotten about her!
Daine's eyes widened. Uh oh. This could NOT be good. Knowing the future Varice, a huge increase of decibels would occur--very soon.
~~~
Foreste collapsed in front of her fellow guardians, with tears of mirth in her eyes. "You should have SEEN it!" she exclaimed, "The expression on his face was worth it!!!"
Syphor chuckled good-humoredly. "Of course we saw it. We looked into a seeing mirror glass."
Syth grinned like a Chesire cat. "I apologize for yelling at you this morning. You were right; this is the most entertaining thing that has happened for a VERY long time!"
Falles blinked. "I don't get what's so funny. They just kissed."
The three other guardians immediately stopped laughing to stare at Falles. Falles smiled at them cluelessly and twirled a lock of her brown hair. "So you noticed?! I just lengthened my hair!"
Syth frowned. "You did?"
Falles' face turned stormy. "I've been waiting ALL MORNING for you guys to notice!" She stomped away.
Syth turned to Syphor and Foreste, who were sniggering. "What did I say?"
Foreste gave him a superior look. "Nothing, of course," she said sarcastically. "All you said was that you don't care about her hair!"
Syphor patted an astonished Syth's back. "Cheer up," he said humorously, "All of us males have been through this at least once in our lives!"
Foreste was struck with yet another one of her crazy ideas. "Hey! Syphor, don't you remember what you said about that Salmàlin guy in the meeting?!"
Syphor and Syth brightened up. "You mean about bringing him into the past?"
"Yes! And remember the thing you said about Alanna of Trebond, too?!"
Syphor grinned. "I think I see your intentions, Forry..."
Foreste snapped her fingers triumphantly. "Then Master Salmàlin will be joining Daine. Ten years in his past."
A smile grew on Syth's dark face. "And the Lady Knight will meet them at the age of seventeen."
~~~
Arram massaged his temples, a migraine forming in his head. Daine awkwardly patted him on his back. After Varice had left with screeches, tears, and banging of the doors, there had been an uncomfortable silence between the two.
"So," Arram said abruptly, "Where's that black-haired girl with the funny green eyes?"
Daine laughed nervously. "A black-haired girl with funny green eyes?! What? I never saw a black haired girl with funny green eyes! All that happened was that right when you came in, Kitten accidentally tripped me, and... and we sort of... kissed, then Va-I mean, the lady came in and screamed, then left." Daine had said all of this very fast.
Arram flushed at the mention of the kiss, but frowned when he remembered Varice. Actually, he had not heard more than half of what Varice had said, because he had been too occupied thinking about the fervent liplock. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the very unpleasant feeling of being squashed under something landing on him--or rather, someone.
"HULLO!" A chesnut-haired girl with golden eyes said cheerfully. She happily threw her arms around a choking Arram, and fastened them securely. Daine bristled.
Just at that moment, Foreste and two unknown youths appeared in the room. Foreste took one look in Arram's direction, slapped her hand on her forehead, and groaned. She was absolutely mortified. "FALLES!" she said in a dangerously soft voice, "WHY did you teleport over his HEAD?!"
Falles shot Arram a dovey look, and exclaimed, "But he's just SO adorable! So tall and handsome! I can understand why Weiryn's daughter likes him so much!"
One of the black-haired boys coughed loudly, trying to conceal his laughs. His amused silver flecked blue eyes met the other one's forest green eyes. The blue eyed one cleared his throat, then spoke. "I'm very sorry for the... inconvenience," he said to Arram, who was prying Falles' arms from around his neck. "Falles, I suggest you untie yourself from him."
Falles pouted, and reluctantly obeyed.
The green-eyed boy stepped forward. "Let us introduce ourselves. My name is Syth. These here," he pointed to Syphor, Falles, and Foreste, "are my fellow guardians, Syphor, Falles, and Foreste. You might have read about us in legends; we're the universe guardians. Our duty is to guard the Balance of the world."
Arram, fascinated, caught on immediately. "Yes, I have read about you. But you all are thought to be just an old wives' tale!"
Syphor smiled. "Do we LOOK like an old wives' tale?"
"Noooo..."
Foreste interrupted rudely. "Are you done yet?" Without waiting for an answer, she turned to Syphor and Syth, while grabbing Falles' ear firmly to keep her in place with one hand. "Let's go, now. You've seen them face to face." The two boys nodded regretfully, and disappeared. Falles flirtingly blew a kiss at Arram before she disappeared, which resulted in a death glare from Daine. Finally, Foreste was the only one left. Right as she was about to disappear, too, she turned to Daine thoughtfully and asked, "Daine, do you like surprises?"
Frowning, Daine said, "It depends on what kind of surprise... Why?"
Foreste grinned. "How 'bout a SHOCKING surprise?"
"No, not really."
Foreste's eyes lit up, to Daine's unease, and she disappeared.
Arram sat down hard on a chair. "Wow," he finally said. "This has been... an... interesting day."
Daine groaned. "Intereting is an understatement," she pointed out humorlessly. She suddenly felt very tired. "I think I'm going to go to bed, now," Daine yawned.
"Me too," Arram agreed.
~~~
Meanwhile, far away, behind the clouds...
"You'll need your rest, you two," laughed Foreste. Syphor, Syth, and Falles laughed along with her.
"Yes. Perhaps we should give them a break of a few days, though," Syth mused out loud.
"Are you going soft?" Foreste teased.
"Of course not!" Syth exclaimed indignantly. "I'm just saying that it's a little too much to have so much excitement in a row!"
Syphor's blue eyes gleamed. "Syth is right," he informed Foreste. "Let's just wait a few days."
"All right," Foreste gave in. "But just a week, all right?"
Falles smiled, "Why not a few weeks?"
"NO." Foreste was dead set on one week.
"Fine."
Foreste sighed. "I guess now I'll have to go back in Tortall to get that mage."
Syth stretched. "We'll wait for you at the Domain." The three other guardians vanished with sparkles or differently colored lights.
~~~
In Tortall...
"BY THE GREAT MOTHER GODDESS!!!" Numair exploded, pacing back and forth in the room. Alanna, Jon, and Duke Baird hovered worriedly a good distance away from the fuming mage. "WHERE could she have GONE?!"
Alanna bravely approched Numair, and patted his back. "I'm sure she's fine. We'll find her, don't worry."
That was it. "DON'T WORRY?! HOW CAN I NOT WORRY?! DAINE IS GONE, VANISHED, WITHOUT A TRACE!!! EVEN THE FOCUS DOESN'T HELP!!! EVEN KITTEN IS GONE!!!" Numair stormed out of the room.
Alanna's violet eyes were sad. "Poor man," she said softly to Jon and Duke Baird. "He really is worried about Daine..."
Duke Baird sighed. "I can't say I blame him. But I'm sure Daine is alright. She can take care of herself. Plus, she has Kitten with her."
"Yes, but will we ever see her or Kit again?"Jon's sapphire eyes looked piercingly at Alanna and Duke Baird.
Alanna was quiet for a moment. "I have a feeling that it will be in a long time," she finally said.
Jon shivered. Sometimes Alanna's eyes were just too... knowing. "Let's hope it's just a feeling."
~~~
Numair slumped down on his chair. Mithros, he missed her. Frustrated, he banged a fist on the desk, and yelled aloud, "If only I could be with her, wherever she is!"
"No problem," an unknown voice behind Numair said.
Numair, startled, swung around and saw the very same girl that had disappeared with Daine in Carthak. "You!" he hissed.
Foreste snickered. "Yes me,"she retorted, "I've come back to bring you to your 'dearest loved one'."
Numair narrowed his eyes. "Who are you, and what have you done with her?!"
Foreste shrugged and waved a hand nonchalently. "Ah, put her some years back. And I'm the universe guardian of Air."
"WHAT?!" Numair roared. "YOU TOOK HER INTO THE PAST?!?!?!?!"
Foreste slapped her hands onto her ears and glared at him. "You sure have vocal chords just like her!" she complained. "You both yell so loudly!"
Numair sucked in a long, deep breath, and tried to calm down. "How FAR into the past?"
Foreste scrunched up her delicate nose. "Um... about....... Fourteen or thirteen years into the past... can't quite remember. Anyhows, you were around eighteen at that time."
Now Numair lost complete control of himself and panicked. "NO! THIRTEEN YEARS INTO THE PAST?! BRING HER BACK RIGHT THIS INSTANT!!!"
"WOULD YOU JUST BE QUIET?!" Foreste fumed, "YOU ARE PRACTICALLY SHATTERING MY EARDRUMS!"
This time, it was Numair's turn to clap his hands over his ears. Glaring daggers at the green-eyed girl, he growled, "Can you bring her back?"
"No, I am unable to bring her back," Foreste shot back. "It will just happen. It could be anytime, you know."
Numair sunk to the ground, and whispered, "No... NO!" He grabbed Foreste by the shoulders, and shook her, "Then take me to her!"
Foreste winced. "All right, all right!" Sulkily, she said, "But you might want to pack a little. We'll have to pretend you're a traveling black robe mage. That way no one will ask questions. We'll leave in a week's time." She shimmered and disappeared.
Numair set his mouth determinedly and searched his room for a traveling bag.
**********************
Chapter Four: PRESENT MEETS PAST
~~~ = change of scene
### = flashback
Daine stretched and yawned. "Jeez," she told the tall mage beside her, "We actually managed to get several days of peace... if we don't count those few scuffles with Prince Ozorne."
Arram laid down on the grass beside Daine, a slight frown on his dark face. "I just don't understand why he's so opposed to you," he said finally. "Sure, you don't wear veils or act like Carthaki ladies, but you're Tortallan!"
Daine turned towards him, an unreadable expression on her face. "He doesn't like me, and I don't like him. The feeling's mutual, Arram," she said harshly.
Arram faced her, startled. He had never heard her speak in that tone of voice. Deciding that pushing on that subject was against his better judgement, he kept quiet. Suddenly, a wild gerbil bounded happily into Daine's arms. Laughing, Daine cuddled the little beast, who chittered contentedly at her. Arram abruptly saw (in his magical vision, of course) a slender copper colored vine reach out to the gerbil and attach itself to it. Fascinated, he leaned closer to see it better.
Daine was having a mental conversation with the gerbil, when she noticed that Arram was starting at her intently. She suddenly remembered something Numair had told her five years ago...
###
(A.N. Look, I can't find my copy of Wild Magic, so I can't remember exactly what they said, but I'll put it as similar as I can make it. Sorry!)
"How do you know if I improved?" Daine asked.
Numair smiled. "I can see people's magical auras," he explained, "At the beginning, your aura was a tangle of vines, but, now, they're gradually untangling and organizing themselves."
###
Uh-oh! was Daine's first thought. He can see that I have wild magic! She hurriedly interrupted the conversation, and petted the gerbil nervously.
Arram smiled at Daine. "You never told me you were a mage!" he exclaimed.
"M-m-me?" Daine stuttered. "Oh, nonono! I'm no mage! My ma was one, but I didn't inherit the Gift!"
Arram frowned. "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure," Daine said firmly.
Arram was curious, but knew that he shouldn't push any further. He shrugged, and lay back down on the grass.
Daine sighed inwardly in relief. She settled back down next to him, and started to count the stars. Back home (here she felt a tightening in her chest), she and Numair had made a habit of, before going to bed, going outside to stargaze. If they were lucky, they would see a shooting star. Then they would make a wish. Daine suddenly realized just how much she wanted to go back home. A little tear leaked out the corner of her eye. Suddenly, she saw a shooting star. In her mind, Numair's deep baritone voice sounded, "Make a wish, magelet." She closed her eyes, and murmured, "I wish you were here."
"MAGELET!" A very familiar voice cried out.
Daine bolted up, and collided with none other than... Numair. Crying with joy, she threw her arms around him, while he wrapped his arms around her waist. "NUMAIR!!!"
Arram, who had dozed off, jolted awake to see Daine hugging and kissing a man he had never seen before. A flash of jealousy struck him, and he wished that this man was far, far, far away. Instead, he clenched his fists to his side, and pasted a smile on his face. "Aren't you going to introduce me?" he asked Daine.
"Oh!" Daine had forgotten about Arram. Smiling broadly, she held Numair's hand, and turned to Arram. "This is Numair Salmàlin, my teacher and my fiancé! Numair, this is Arram Draper."
"Pleased to make your aquaintance," Arram said through clenched teeth while shaking Numair's hand. He very suddenly noticed how very much this man ressembled him. The only difference was that Numair had broader shoulders, was taller, and more muscles.
Numair quietly observed his past self with great interest. Maybe he was imagining things, but Arram seemed almost... jealous. I wonder what he's jealous of, he mused inwardly. Outwardly, of course, he shook his past self's hand with a smile.
Arram turned to Daine. "You never told me you were engaged."
Daine looked surprised. "I didn't? That's curious... I could have sworn that I told you..."
"Well, you didn't," he said rather coldly.
Numair bristled. He didn't like Arram's tone to Daine. Suddenly, it struck him: his past self was in love with Daine! The new knowledge caused him to glare openly at Arram, who glared right back. The air seemed to zap with tension. Daine was oblivious to all this as she saw a certain very annoying and meddling green-eyed girl with black hair.
"I see you went on and had a nice little welcome party without me!" Foreste said with a grin, obviously ignoring the apparent tension. She strode briskly up to a bush that seemed to rustle a little too much. She glared at the bush. Soon, everyone heard a sheepish little whistle. The bushes moved, and Kitten hopped out. Numair grinned, and when Kitten happily jumped up in his arms, he petted her fondly. Foreste sighed and glared at Kitten a last time. "You'd best keep your mouth shut," she advised the little dragon sternly, "Or you're going to ruin all my fun!"
Kitten turned pink with irritation and croaked loudly. Then, sulkily, she burrowed further against Numair.
Daine set her chin and turned to Foreste. "Why are you so mean to Kitten?" she demanded. "She never did anything to you!"
Foreste sniffed haughtily. "No, but she doesn't have any manners whatsoever! She should have more respect for a Guardian! Hmph. Dragons!"
Numair squinted at her over his long nose. "You consider yourself so high-and-mighty, don't you?" he commented mildly.
Foreste fumed, and poked her index finger against his tall frame ferociously. It looked rather ridiculous, as he was so much taller than her. "Now, look here, mister!" she yelled. "I won't be taking any more of that attitude from some mage I granted a BOON to!"
Numair flared. "I am no common mage!" he argued back. "Should I remind you that I'm a BLACK ROBE MAGE?! Ha! Call that common!"
Foreste stood on tiptoes, trying to gain some height. "Well, I'll overide that! I'M a UNIVERSE guardian!"
Arram, though, saw a shining opportunity to try to make a fool of this new rival. "I'm a black robe mage, too, and I even bet you haven't studied in Carthak HALF as long as I have!"
Foreste and Numair stopped arguing to stare at Arram funnily. Arram suddenly had the feeling that he had just made a fool of himself intead of this... Numair.
Finally, Foreste broke the silence by saying huffily, "As I see I'm not needed here, I'll be going." She disappeared.
Daine stamped a foot irritably. "I hate it when she does that!" she exclaimed. "I was going to ask her something, then she just leaves!"
Arram glared at Numair, then sighed. "I guess that you'll need lodgings, too... Numair," he spit out the other male's name. Arram rolled his eyes. "Follow me," he added grumpily, while trudging towards the palace.
A.N. Gosh, I'm sorry that this chapter is just so short! ^^; I just don't have time........ *sigh* You'll probably get the next chapter MUCH later.........................