The Mystical Knights: The Sword of Dreams (18 page)

“I didn’t know that you two had science together...”

“We don’t—erm,” Nia grimaced, spastically twitching her lips as she fumbled across her tiny fib.  “But...
but
we have the same teacher.”  She gave her father a grin that she hoped didn’t look as corny as it felt.  “Same curriculum, different class.”  Nia reached for the phone, finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

“Do you need a ride over to her place?”

Why are parents always so insistent?
Nia wondered.  The look on Sam’s face said everything:
Because he knows you’re pulling this out of your ass!

“No,” Nia replied curtly, pinching the phone with her fingers as it continued to ring in her hands. 
Don’t hang up—please don’t hang up! 
“We’re studying over the phone.”

“Studying...over the phone...” If Sam looked skeptical before, he was simply laughing in it now. “I wasn’t aware that was even possible.”

“Oh Dad, get with it!”  Nia didn’t mean to sound so harsh and snippy, but she needed the privacy of her room more than anything and Sam just wasn’t buying.  Time to unleash the moody pubescent fifteen-year-old that slept within.  “This
is
the twenty-first century, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah.  I guess you’re right.”  Sam stood from the table, looking slightly abashed.  He picked up his plate and hers.  “Guess you better take that call before you have to call her back.”

Nia pressed the blinking green button on the phone.  “Thanks Dad.  I’ll watch a movie with you later—you pick!”

Sam, looking a little lighthearted, shuffled into the kitchen and out of sight before calling, “You’ve got an hour on that phone!”

With a quick roll of the eyes, Nia put the phone to her ear and retreated into her bedroom.  “Way to call the house phone, Fi.  I have cell phone for a reason, you know.”

There was some muffled laughter in the background as Fiona’s silky voice danced through the speaker.  “Took you long enough,” she said sarcastically. 

“I’m sorry—my dad decided to play twenty questions.”  Nia sighed, gently toeing her door shut.  She sank onto her bed and pulled her backpack up off of the floor.  “He’s been really suspicious of every move I make lately...pretty soon he’s going to start asking questions when I decide to brush my teeth.”

“When you
decide
?” Fiona sounded outright revolted.  “That’s disgusting, Natali.”

“Shut it, Sullivan,” Nia snapped back, pulling out her Algebra II textbook.  “You know what I meant.”

“Ladies,
ladies
,” came Quinn’s cool and confident voice over the line.  He seemed to be highly amused.  “If you’re going to fight over something, you might as well fight over me!”

“Nonsense, Quinn.”  Fiona’s icy tone suddenly became softer as she addressed her oldest friend.  “I fight monsters from other Realms
.
Sorry.”

“Aww!  But I'm the fun one!  And I can rock you like a hurricane."

"Wind humor. Very cute."

Honestly, why don’t they just date already? 
“Alright,” Nia piped in before their one-ended conversation could become anymore disturbing.  “Let’s reverse back to the reason why you called in please.”

“Ah yes!” Quinn sounded delighted.  “The
elusive
substitute.”  From the sounds of it, he had stuffed a rather large pastry into his mouth.  “Icunwayoo ‘ear dis un.”

“Chew, swallow and repeat, O’Riley,” Fiona pleasantly reminded.

Nia aimlessly shrugged, and launched into her story; she had been dreaming about the Sword of Dreams (“Have you gotten to it yet?”) and how Zephyrlis left a very cold feeling in the pit of her stomach (“Are you sure it wasn’t the strawberry icee you wolfed down at lunch?”).  Nia waited with bated breath as she finished, listening for any sign of dispute on the other end.

“Now—when you say ‘She’s not human,’” Quinn began after a moment, sounding witty, “are you referring to the fact that she might be a zombie?”

“I don't think she is from this Earth," Nia confessed, rubbing her forehead contentedly.  “She just...sucked the energy right out from me."  Nia staggered over her words as she tried to pick the right one.  “She looked human enough, but there is something really weird about her.”

“Did you happen to notice if Zephyrlis was wearing any jewelry?" Quinn asked.  "Stones of onyx or any strange looking gold medallions?”

“I had other things on my mind,” Nia said, disappointed.  “She was
wearing
all black—I do remember that.  Why would it matter anyway?"

“The onyx stones are incredibly important to the Outer Faction," Fiona said.  "It's how the
Greys
and their affiliates keep in contact with one another.  The gold medallions are engraved with special markings, but we haven't been able to decipher the truth behind the markings just yet.”

“What if these trinkets are hidden—like how I wear my amulet under my shirt?”

“These trinkets,” Quinn began, sounding somewhat bitter, “are given only by the highest of the Zeti Reticulans.  They are emblems of pride and honor.  Nothing you'd want to hide from others, human being or otherwise.”

“Now that we know what to look for, let's discuss the Sword of Dreams,” Fiona said loftily, causing Nia to grip the phone tightly.  “I’m very pleased with your progress in reaching the Sword, but I am simply inquiring whether or not you can reach it while your conscious mind was awake.”

“Yeah—wait, what?”  Nia leaned towards the end of her bed nervously, kicking her foot.  “What are you getting at?”

“I've been thinking,” Fiona said, making sure to sound as expressionless as usual, “that you might be able to reach it in your dreams—but it might be too big of an object to bring forward out of a sound sleep.  You might end up hurting yourself.  And we don't want
that.
”

“But—but it’s
called
the Sword of Dreams, isn’t it?” Nia asked hopelessly.  “You would think that it would only come out of a dream, right?”

“You can always dream while you’re awake, you know."  Nia imagined Fiona's silver eyes dancing as she spoke.  There was an unusual playfulness to her voice now.  It was a bit alarming.  "Vision without action is a daydream, Nia.  Your mind can take you to all sorts of places.  It's up to you, what you take back from it."

Chapter 13: Fire and Ash

              The Spring Fever Carnival was just a day away. It was an event that the underclassmen at Willow Creek hosted in order to help the senior class with their class trip after graduation.  Nia thought it was odd, how the underclassmen had to do so much preparation and work for their older peers, but this tradition had been carried out for years. Everyone seemed to enjoy the festivities as the school year began to wind down. As an added bonus, the hours spent working on the carnival were put towards their community service credits in order to graduate.

              Nia stepped into the chorus room with a slight bounce to her step. This is where the students in charge of the carnival games were meeting to put the last minute touches on their booths.  She had gotten paired up with CA as "fortune tellers". Nia had a feeling CA had something to do with this placement, but had no proof.  She had no idea how CA could have guessed; she had always tried to keep her gift to herself, especially after her elementary school years.  Looking around the wide room, CA was nowhere to be found.
Typical,
Nia thought, stepping up onto the tiered floor. The walls were painted sky blue, and were tall, lifting up into a high ceiling. Colorful splashes of pastel purples, blues, pinks and yellows colored the panels between the windows, reminding Nia of a beautiful sunset.  The energy that thrived here was peaceful, calm. 

              She spotted Rowan sitting in the middle of the room, surrounded by seven other chatting students.  He was slouched forward in his chair with a careless elegance; he pushed his brown bangs out of his concentrating eyes with his right hand, and his left held a pen that scrawled across the pages of a notebook.  Rowan looked up as Nia neared him, and smiled briefly. 

              "What were you doing?" Nia plopped into the seat beside him and watched as he snapped his notebook shut and hastily shoved it into his knapsack.  Her stomach twisted nervously, sensing Rowan's anxious energy.  Slowly, she rested her head into his shoulder, carefully watching him.  He didn't look anxious, but his hands were fidgeting and he wouldn't meet her gaze at first.  Nia breathed in deeply; he smelled of citrus and warm spices that reminded her of home.

              "I was just working on some homework..." Rowan flashed her a brilliant grin and his long fingers brushed distractedly through his hair once more.

              Nia's gaze flickered suspiciously to the tattered corner of the notebook that crookedly poked out from his knapsack.  She frowned.  If it was just homework, then why be in such a rush to hide it?  As Nia opened her mouth to speak, Kenzie, Fiona and Quinn marched through the second door on the other side of the room.

              Fiona and Quinn were chatting quietly, their heads bent low and nearly touching.  Nia secretly yearned for a friendship like that.  Even Rowan, whom she felt drawn to in every possibly way, didn't give her the feeling of such camaraderie.  Kenzie, her arms filled with books, tossed her long hair over her shoulder and stared in Nia's direction.  Things had been nothing short of awkward lately between Rowan and Kenzie.  Nia used to feel that Kenzie's icy stares were meant for her too, but she was beginning to realize that those looks of dislike and anger were specifically meant for
Rowan
. 

              Nia pulled away from Rowan, feeling intrusive.  Rowan stiffly folded his arms across his chest, avoiding Kenzie's piercing light blue eyes.  As a distraction, he nodded to Thor who had just entered the room, unaware of the silent war that was waging on between the guardians of earth and water.

             
Keep yourself far from envy
, Nia thought, watching Kenzie take her seat beside Quinn.  CA slinked through the door and was climbing the tiered steps to the top of the room. 
It eateth up and taketh away good actions, like as fire eateth up and burneth wood-

              "All right.  Settle down, settle down."

              Nia breathed in sharply through her nose and dug her nails into her palm.  That happy calm that lingered within the chorus room(despite the silent quarrel)was gone.  Goosebumps prickled across her arms and the little hairs on the nape of her neck stood on end.  That voice. 

              She hesitantly lifted her eyes to meet Zephyrlis, idly shifting her head so that she was hidden behind Rowan's body.  Zephyrlis seemed to be wearing a similar black frock that she had been the day before.  Her hair was pulled back into the same familiar knot at the back of her head.  Nia looked closely at the strange woman, her eyes darting around in search of any stones of onyx or strange gold medallions.  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Quinn straighten up and bump Fiona with his elbow.  He nodded to Zephyrlis, making eye contact with Nia as if to say,
Is this her?
  Nia nodded quickly, trying to ignore her rampant heart beating wildly in her chest. 
Yes, this is her,
Nia thought at him.  Fiona crossed her knees and stroked her chin, gazing at Zephyrlis with narrowed eyes. 
This is Zephyrlis.

             
"Let's settle down." Zephyrlis grabbed the attendance sheet, pursing her wrinkled lips as she read.  "Quiet down for roll call," she murmured absently, even though the class had already gone into an edgy silence.

              Zephyrlis began attendance, calling out names with her honey and poison voice.  As she came to Rowan's name, Nia could feel herself shaking; whether in anger or panic, Nia didn't know.  A cool hand gently brushed against her clenched one, and Nia could feel Rowan staring at her, could feel his thumb caressing the ridge of her palm. 

              Zephyrlis stopped speaking, her beady black eyes gazing down fixatedly at the attendance list before snapping them back towards the very place where Nia sat frozen in her seat.  "Miss Natali," she said smoothly, her lips stretching grotesquely across her yellowing teeth.  "How are you feeling today?"

              Nia swallowed down the large lump that had settled right at the top of her esophagus. "Fine," she replied softly, blinking once.  She swallowed again, feeling heat rise against her cheeks.

              Zephyrlis' sinister grin stretched wider, but it didn't meet her eyes.  She didn't say anything more to Nia, but continued down the list, her eyes flickering towards Thor with barely half a glance.

              "Now that that's out of the way," Zephyrlis said, scribbling her signature at the bottom of the attendance sheet.  "Good afternoon.  My name is Caroline Zephyrlis.  I understand that Mrs. Curtis was supposed to direct you all with your activities for tomorrow night, but she had to leave early.  I have graciously stepped in."

              The room stayed silent.  No one dared to breath; if a pin were to fall out of the sky, it would have easily been found.  Nia's heart was thrumming hard in her chest like a drum.  A few girls to Nia's left began to stand up, looking nervous.

              "Sit down," Zephyrlis said softly, her voice sweet with a pinch of venom.  "I didn't instruct you to stand up."

              "We need to get down to the field," a girl named Liz said.  "We have to start set up.  It-it will be too busy to do tomorrow."

              "What needs to be done can be done here." Zephyrlis' eerie smile crept across her face again.  "Now sit down."

              "No.  It can't." Liz tossed her bag over her shoulder.  "We need to get down to the field.  Mrs. Curtis is our class advisor.  She'd let us head down without her."

             
Click. Click. Click-click.
This unusual noise started out very quiet.  Nia frowned, straining her ears to listen.  There was a high-pitched shrill noise underneath the clicking sound; it made Nia shiver as though someone had raked their nails against the chalkboard.

              "Mrs. Curtis is not here."  The sweet tone in Zephyrlis' voice was gone now.  Only venom, deadly venom remained.  Her eyes glitter with malice.  Her smile gone, Zephyrlis placed her hands on her hips and stared Liz down like a bug that needed to be squashed.  "You will listen to me, or you can forfeit your community service credits and leave."

              The room went up in pandemonium.  There were many groans of, "We're going to get so far behind!" and "We already have so much to do tomorrow!"  Zephyrlis' black and empty eyes swiveled around at each of them, her anger quickly reaching its boiling point.  The clicking noise seemed to match her anger, shrilly growing louder and louder, making Nia want to vomit.  She felt her face pale as her saliva became thick and wet inside her mouth.

             
CLICK. CLICK-CLICK. CLICK-CLICK-CLICK.

              "Shut up!" Zephyrlis spat, her tongue like a spitting dagger.

              They went silent with a hush.  Kenzie quickly sank back into her seat, clutching the edge of her chair with all the strength she could muster while Fiona remained standing, her hands placed at her hips and a deep seated frown on her face.  CA sat in the highest corner of the room, her hand covering her mouth as though she were trying hard not to giggle.  Nia glared at her in disbelief. 
What is her problem?

             
"I will
not
tolerate this type of behavior," Zephyrlis said, articulating each and every syllable as if she were speaking to a bunch of insolent toddlers. "Either you
damn
well listen to me," she chewed on the curse as she clenched her teeth violently, "or you leave this room and forfeit your community service credits."

              The students gradually sat back into their seats; Liz, whispered angrily to Kait and Beth, sank back into her chair with a visible pout etched into her thin face.  Community service credits were hard to come by this time of the year.  Generally, the students had to go out into their towns and find things to do for the public in order to earn them.  The school carnival was basically handing out free community service hours to those who wanted to help.  If you got the community service out of the way now, you weren't scrambling to get it done before senior year.  No one wanted to pass this up.

              Nia sat in unabridged silence, heatedly wringing the sleeves of her shirt between her fingers.  Her ears were still ringing from that awful clicking noise. What was that?  Where had it come from?

              Zephyrlis was mumbling to herself, shuffling through a pile of papers that sat on the piano.  "Miss Natali," she snapped, her eyes rooting Nia to the spot.  "Would you please go get the itinerary?  It's in the office on the desk."

              Heat rushed into Nia's cheeks like a furnace.  Slow and rigid, she pulled her hand from Rowan's grasp and slipped down the levels, inching between Quinn and Kenzie as she went.  She could feel CA's sniggering gaze resting on her back.  Without the slightest glance at Zephyrlis, Nia walked into the small corridor that connected the chorus room and the band room. 

              The door to the office was open; the band instructor's desk was covered with papers-music scores and marching drills.  Mrs. Curtis' desk was neat and immaculate.  Tiny pictures of her beloved students and her family were carefully placed in their frames at the edges of her desk.  A big blue couch sat in the corner, behind her desk.  Nia longed to sit on that couch so she could clear her head, the shrill noise was once again whittling away at her ear drums. She gasped, clutching the sides of her head, and saw Zephyrlis stalking down the corridor.  Gritting her teeth, Nia scrambled to grab the packet of papers on the shelf beside the desk, and spun around just as Zephyrlis snapped the door shut behind her.

             
Click. Click. Click.

              "Ah, you found the itinerary," Zephyrlis muttered under her breath.  Nia stared, trying to focus on the clicking sound.  She knew it was associated with the haggard looking woman in front of her, but how?  She gave Zephyrlis a sour look and inched backwards, bumping into the arm of the couch.

              Zephyrlis stalked forward like a hungry lion.  As she stepped into the dim lamplight, the pallid shade of her skin jumped out bizarrely, stretching across her face like old worn leather. While her hand moved to push a loose strand of her stringy black hair out of her eyes, the sleeve of her shirt slid back and Nia saw it; an onyx bracelet, glinting like quartz in the faint light. The clasp that held the bracelet together was bright gold with tiny sinuous markings carved into the precious metal. 
Black onyx and a medallion.

             
Nia pinched her lips tight.  She did not like that bracelet; it was dangerous, evil.  It had an energy about it that was full of ill intentions; it's once precious metal was now tainted with darkness.

              "I know you snuck out early yesterday," Zephyrlis said quietly, learning towards Nia as she rummaged her hands across the desk absently.  Her soulless black eyes darted charily towards Nia briefly before they glanced back at the desk. She was pretending to look for something.  "I know all about you, Niambe Natali."

             
Click. Click-click-click.

             
Nia squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to focus on that nauseating sound.  She could feel the eyes of her peers through the window from the classroom, could barely hear their muffled thoughts echoing through her mind.  Her heart began to beat fast again as she balled her free hand into a fist, her right hand crinkling the itinerary where she held it.