Knowledge: The Fifth Division Saga: Book 1 (23 page)

              I blinked back angry tears, “Don’t get what, Ash?”

            
 
“Why you are so dangerous to me!”

            
 
“Me?”

            
 
“Yes, every ounce of self control I have mustered falls away as soon as you walk into the room. You make me weak.”

              I tried to scoot closer to him, but he pulled away as soon as I drew near. He shook his head, his eyes hardening, becoming the expression that I knew so well and also dreaded. When he looked at me now, I saw zero emotion, none of the sincerity and gentleness he had displayed the other night. Stone once again.

            
 
“Caring about someone isn’t a weakness, Ash.”

            
 
“I best get back into town,” he said, a robot, and started to walk away, “You should consider following my example, Miss Mirabelle.”

              Soon enough, his stiff figure was just a black dot in the horizon.

*

              I didn’t leave that spot for a long time.

              Once Ash disappeared on the horizon, I glared at the grass below my feet, at the bugs that teemed above the soil. I thought about how nice it would be to have the life of an ant, where the only care in the world was survival. They didn’t have to deal with all the pain and drama that came along with emotions and thought. No, they just lived life. It sounded so simple, so enviable.

              I tilted my head back and stared at the sun, soaking in those amazing rays of light. I thought about my new found Knowledge and decided to try and practice a little. Ash said that having a light Knowledge was impossible, but what did he know anyways? The physical attributes I possessed were also supposed to make it impossible for me to be an Elemental, so perhaps the normal rules didn’t apply to me.

              I raised my hands, palms up and focused on the beaming rays that shone down on me.

*

              Caspian had been waiting for me.

              By the time I returned to the palace, night had long since fallen. I reflected on the powers I had just spent hours discovering when I caught sight of the intimidating shadow looming over my bed. I gave a small squeak and flipped on the lights to reveal Caspian and Iris perched on my bed. Iris looked extremely guilty and wouldn’t meet my eyes while Caspian had metaphorical steam billowing from his nostrils.

              I was dead.

            
 
“Mira, what in the world were you thinking?!”

            
 
“I was thinking that I wanted to know what I am.”

              This only angered him further, his normally calm expression morphing in a mask of solid rage, “Oh, really? Did you happen across anything about me? Did you even consider thinking about the questions I have and that possibly I would want to know some things too?”

            
 
“You already know what you are!”

            
 
“Ugh!” he threw his hands in the air, the blue-green feathers of his Knowledge ruffled angrily, “At first I was just worried. I was worried that you and that idiot would get busted and that they would throw you out of school or something. But then I got to thinking, ‘If Mira was going to do something this dumb, maybe she would come back with stuff about me too.’ But no. All you ever do is think about yourself and your needs.”

              I blinked, “Are you mad at me for breaking the rules or for not checking your file?”

            
 
“BOTH! I would do anything for you and Iris! I can’t be the only responsible one here, not with mom and Bram back in Lincoln City. I can’t always be doing everything Mira!”

            
 
“You know I would die for you and Rissy.”

              His sea blue eyes stared back into mine, a hopelessness drowning in them, “I don’t think I can believe that right now. Not with the way you have been so self absorbed lately. You are always running off on your own. Do you even think about what that means for Iris and I? All you go on about is
your
worries and problems and discovering who
you
are. Trust me, I care, I care a lot. But I have my own stuff too and so does Rissy. Did you know she’s been having night terrors lately? And have you stopped to wonder about what her Knowledge might be? Because from what Ash has told us about physical attributes, it is something we should start thinking about. You aren’t the only one who’s trying to figure things out.”

              My eyes suddenly flooded and I knew I was on the verge of crying. I tried to make eye contact with Iris but she looked up at the ceiling pointedly.

              I drew in a shaky breath, all hope that stemmed from discovering my Knowledge gone. “I’m sorry Cas. I’m sorry Rissy. I really am.”

And I ran out of the room.

*

“Oi!”

Ash groaned and stuffed the pillow over his head. He was laying down on his bed when the door flew open, smacking the wall with a loud
bang
as it made contact. Ash didn’t move, already knowing what to expect.

“You’re a bloody idiot, you are aware of this, right?” Erion exclaimed and jumped onto Ash’s bed.

“Go away.”

“Sure thing. But first…” The pillow ripped from Ash’s hands, exposing his face. Erion glared down at him.

Ash turned onto his side, “If you are going to scream at me can you get it over with? I have an appointment with a nice long nap that I truly can’t miss.”

“Of course.” The feathery softness slammed down onto Ash’s jaw painfully.

“Hey!” And it happened again. And again.

Ash sprang from his bed and gracefully rolled into a crouch at the foot of it. He then proceeded to kick the pillow out of Erion’s hands so that it landed across the room. The two boys faced each other with snarls ready and fists poised. Ash went through all of Erion’s strengths and weaknesses in battle. He had known his best friend since they were both small children and had been fighting him in training since day one. Each knew the other’s strategies better than they knew their own.

He’s stronger but I’m faster. All I have to do is…

“So what did you find?” Erion slumped down to sit on the edge of Ash’s bed.

Ash stood up and rubbed the back of his head in bafflement, “Uh, bipolar much?”

“I’m still pissed at you, because you’re stupid and if you had gotten kicked out of the Legion I would have to find another partner, and you know all the singles left are dimwits. But I also have my curious side and yelling at you has never worked in the past. So, what did you find?”

Ash chuckled softly before sitting down on his bed with Erion next to him. He explained the strange file under the name ‘Durrant’, the run in with his mother, the strange way Mirabelle managed to calm him down, and her Knowledge discovery. He left out the part where he had explained the legend to Mirabelle and ditched her at the bottom of the hill.

“So,” Erion muttered after Ash had finished retelling the day’s events, “you don’t think that there’s a possibility that…”

“I think there is a
huge
possibility.” Ash interrupted, knowing exactly what Erion was referring to.

“How can you find out for sure?”

“We won’t be able to until she develops all of her powers, and that will come with training and time.”

“Lord, help us all.”

*

I ran out of my room as fast as my legs could carry me.

I stumbled down the stairs, sucking in harsh breaths all the way to keep from bursting into hysterics. Apparently I made so much noise, that people on the first floor could hear me because as soon as I made it to the ground, Ash and Erion were peeking their heads out of a door down the hall just off the foyer.

“What’s got you crying?” Erion questioned as I hurried to get away from them. The last thing I wanted was for those two to see me cry, especially Ash, and I neared dangerously close to doing so.

“I’m not crying!”

“Of course not, darling.” Ash appeased as he stepped out of the room and started towards me. His voice light and joking, but his face told his true emotions. Cold as ice. “Erion, can’t you see that her eyes are merely leaking? There is a significant difference.”

“I just need to be alone for a while.”

But as soon as I thought I was out the front door and rid of them, they were flanked at my sides, easily matching pace, “Sorry but we are required to be with you whenever you leave the palace grounds. It’s a Guardian thing.”

“What about when I went shopping with Caspian and Iris?”

Ash grinned, “I may have been lurking behind fruit carts and old people.”

“That’s just wrong.”

He shrugged, “Got to uphold my duties. So what’s wrong?”

“Yes, why are your eyes leaking?” Erion snickered.

I was so annoyed with the both of them, I would happily have punched them straight in the face had I the energy to do so. “Caspian and Iris are furious with me. I needed air.”

“Shall I reason with them?”

“No, thanks though.”

Ash set his warm hand on my shoulder and tugged slightly, urging me to stop. I did. I spun and faced the two of them; Erion with his sky blue eyes and shaggy blond hair and Ash with his black eyes and dark features. They were light and dark, so strikingly contrasting and beautiful.

“Mirabelle,” Ash offered me his most earnest look but after our earlier encounter, I simply could not believe it, “what will make you feel better?”

What would make me feel better? I took my eyes off of them momentarily and gazed up at the lovely Nostosian stars. Here, nights were always cloudless and always beautiful. So much magic and mystery and intrigue awaited wherever you tread. But I was tired, tired of hearing voices and seeing colors everywhere. Tired of not knowing, tired of trying to please others and find warmth that didn’t exist. I realized then what I wanted so desperately that my heart ached just to think about it.

“I want to go home.”

*

“You didn’t have to be so mean.”

Caspian continued to stare unseeingly at the spot where Mira had stood before fleeing the room with her face in her hands. He looked down and saw Iris’s wide lavender eyes gazing up at him. He sighed and brought her onto his lap. She snuggled against him and wrapped her skinny arms around his neck. It wasn’t until he heard her snore that he knew she had fallen asleep.

Caspian carefully carried her downstairs into her bedroom. He gently laid her down across her little bed that was covered with the hand sewn dolls the palace staff and constructed just for her. He stood by her bedside for a second, acknowledging her sweet innocence. It was easy to forget her age since she often acted older. With older siblings, it is normal for the younger to act more mature. But when Iris slept, she appeared to be just like any other ten year old kid.

He closed the door as quietly as he could, trying not to wake her. He took a step back, away from the doorway and bumped into something. Scratch that: some
one
. Caspian whirled around to apologize and instantly wished he could find a hole and hide in it forever.

“You’re kind of a klutz.” Laurel Wilmot noted as she faced Caspian with her arms crossed. Caspian tried not to think about the spaghetti strap shirt and pajama shorts she wore. Or how crazy green her eyes were. Or….

Stop it, Caspian. BIG no.

“My bad.” He mumbled and started to walk down the hall.

“It’s fine. What are you doing in the girl’s wing anyways? Are you a perv or something?”

“What? No! My sister fell asleep upstairs so I brought her  to her room.”

She nodded, “That makes sense. You don’t really seem like the perv type. But you never know, they say it’s always the ones you least expect.”

“Yeah, okay. Night.”

“Are you in a hurry or something?”

He sighed, “No, I guess I’m not.”

“Well, have you seen my brother? He said he had to talk to Ash but I just checked Ash’s room and they weren’t there.”

“Nope. Sorry.”

She nodded again, her eyes still harsh as always but now with a tinge of worry. Caspian lowered his guard a little, “Want me to help you find them? I’m pretty sure Mira ran outside, maybe they went with her? They take their Guardian duties pretty seriously.”

Laurel looked up at Caspian and gave a small smile, “Thanks, I’d appreciate it.” His heart dropped.

“No problem.”

And they walked out into the star filled sky.

*

Ash, Erion and I stood on top of Center Hill, preparing to create a portal.

“This is a terrible idea.” Erion said for the umpteenth time.

“Shut your trap and open the portal, please.” Ash replied pleasantly.

Erion sighed and rolled his eyes but trekked to the middle of the hill and placed the small marble on the ground and quickly scooted back to stand next to us again. Just as it had back in the middle of the woods a few weeks ago, the marble exploded into a huge glowing blue sphere with a surface that shifted and changed like mist. Ash entwined his hand with mine and I nodded, confused by his mixed signals but unwilling to dwell on it then. Without hesitation, the three of us took off at a run and charged through the portal.