"Not if Alice kills him first, or I will!" the milthacti growled. She would never forget the dreams...the dreams where she witnessed her soul fighting against Remus's control. She would never forget the battle that put her in such a weak mental physical state it made her sick to even think of trying to fight off any other intruder now. Her soul was drained and tired, and Mr. Ulthra had said it would take quite a while for her soul to regain regular strength and grow into the hole Remus left in her quilted patches of re-incarnated wizards she was made up of. It was all a really confusing concept she herself couldn't understand, so she didn't even bother to ponder now.
Especially not now since Alice scampered up and jolted her from her thoughts with an breath-taking hug. "Argh! What are you trying to do? Kill me?" Kanni wriggled from Alice's arms and took a deep breath. Alice grinned but then put both hands on her hips.
"Kanni Merrane, where the hell have you been? I barely heard anything from you!" she demanded.
"I see you've colored your hair," Kanni observed, trying to change the subject. Alice rose a brow but her gaze held firm.
"Okay, okay...Fact is, my powers have been acting up lately and I was gone to my grandma's for a long time...I have to say, I'm really glad to be back again where I can get some professional help. Once, while I was cooking I was practicing my powers...I tried to make the water pour itself into the pot and instead it turned into a lizard and chased my mom up the front yard tree. Then I got a lecture from dad about my powers: he says I can't use them anymore out of school perimeter. And by Clarissas's lecture, I guess she really enforces it."
"What?!" Premidas exclaimed. "How the hell are you supposed to get better if you can't practice at home? You know, sometimes figuring out how your powers work on your own will stay with you much longer than anyone trying to teach it to you. And it's not like we have another milthacti around to train you either. Most of them, especially in the olden days, they and Varae's were mercilessly killed because the people feared their uncontrolled power so much."
"Gee, thanks for the lesson, Mr. History." Alice mumbled as she hugged Prem as well. He tousled a strand of her white hair and then touched his own.
"So Alice has finally joined the new fad! White hair is in!" he joked. "By the way, congrats on how you handled Brad! I would have done it a loooooong time ago, and actually have, but you know Clarissa....she treats me like her own son and grounded me for a month!" Premidas shot Kaleb a glance and the boy grinned.
"Yup," he agreed. "It was quite funny."
"Hey, Prem, why don't you ever go home during the summer or on holidays?" Alice suddenly asked. Kaleb stiffened as Premidas's eyes steeled over like ice. He tossed his head to one side. "What makes you think it's any of your business?" he snarled. Alice was too taken aback by his sudden mood to retort anything, and Kanni bit her tongue so not to. Thing is, she had often wondered about the same thing. Quickly changing the subject she went up and hugged Kaleb too.
"Nice to see you again, principal's pet," she smirked.
"You too, smart ass," he shot back with a chuckle. Kanni cocked her brow but didn't say anything. Alice was twirling a strand around a finger.
"Still getting used to my new look," she admitted.
"I liked the firey-haired girl better. She looked a lot more tough," Kanni jested.
"And I liked the little timid milthacti better, that didn't mess with people."
"Timid? Since when was I timid!?"
Alice laughed. "Ah, I'm just joking. Hey, I'm starved! Let's go eat."
"Me too...I haven't eaten since three!"
"Three?" Kaleb echoed.
"Yup. I'll tell y'all on the way." They strode down the slightly clearing halls as Kanni told them of her days and the long cold car ride over here. They each added a bit of their own journey in, but there wasn't really much exciting compared to what was bound to happen here. And even though Kanni sensed it was on all their minds, no one mentioned about what happened here last year. No doubt it would come back to haunt them, and no doubt they'd have to deal with some jack-ass students this year too.
The food court was rather empty. Most kids were about the school, trying to navigate their ways to all the areas. Kanni ordered herself a casadilla and scanned the room while the worker left to go get it for her. Many new little students reminded herself much of herself when she first came here. But she hoped they would find good friends as quickly as she had, that they would be as fortunate.
Then a familiar and dreaded face locked onto her. It was Penny's. So she was coming here too. The girl had short dirty blonde hair and really pale skin, her eyes bright but also steely. A frown was set on her face and she was wearing a reddish robe-looking gown. "Ah. Look who dared to come back. Our little thief. Here to take our powers again and make yourself stronger?" she hissed in a whisper loud enough so her friends and Kanni could hear. Kanni narrowed her eyes.
The ground under Penny suddenly wrenched up like a carpet and fell back perfectly into place. But Penny landed straight on her back, letting out a yowel of pain and anger. Satisfied Kanni turned her attention back to the warm casadilla held out to her, letting the aroma of melted cheese and chicken sink into her nose as she paid. Premidas shot a look to Penny who was yelling complaints and then looked at her. "Looks like you got pretty good control to me," he commented as he ordered a small package of chicken bits.
Kanni's cheeks slightly reddened. "Sometimes it works, most of the time it doesn't. That's how it's always been, Prem. Just I've found out the powers have a tendancy to do what I command more often if I'm mad at the time. Even better when I'm furious."
Premidas leaned on the counter, a sly grin lifting the ride side of his lips.
"So don't make me mad, animagus." Kanni flicked pinched his cheek. "You won't like me when I'm mad."
"Ha, ha, Kanni, ha, ha," Premidas rolled his eyes sarcastically and rubbed his cheek.
Kanni took a big bite of her casadilla when she spotted another face. Brad's again. What? Was he stalking her or something? His eyes weren't on her though. They were fixed on Issac and another one of his friends whom he seemed to be in conversation with. But Issac's eyes, for a fleeting moment, flitted towards Kanni and Alice. Her green violet-flecked eyes caught his and he quickly lowered his gaze, turning his attention back to Brad where they sat at their booth.
Kanni dissmissively shook her head. The little new-years scuttled about, thier books protectively clenched in their arms as if somone would steal them. Pf! As if! As if anyone would want an extra text book! But I was one of those little helpless youngins' just last year, she reminded herself. Yes...just ladt year....And so much can happen in 'just' a year, can't it? She turned her attention back to Alice. Oh, the Verae was different all right. Weren't they all now though? Surely.
But the girl still had the violet eye. A memory that would never leave her--a scar that would never leave her and always remind of of Remus when ever she looked in the mirror. And Remus was also to thank for leaving Kanni's soul so weak and right now so vulnerable. It would take years to build up her power and stability again...All thanks to him.
"Premidas!" Alice's voice broke Kanni's thoughts. Alice was holding Prem up, who seemed to have fallen limp in her arms. He was breathing heavily and sweat trickled down the side of his face. Finally he braced his feet against the floor and pushed up, grabbing the counter and steadied himself, pushing Alice's hands away. "I'm fine," he growled, wiping the sweat away with his sleeve.
"Are you sure?" Kanni whispered and rest a hand on his shoulder. He shrugged it off.
"Yes, I'm sure!" he spat. Alice shot Kanni a confused look which Kanni returned with a shurg. Was there something that went wrong? She scrutzinized Kaleb's face for answers, surely he, Prem's closest friend, would know about this? He looked a bit worried and his hands were balled to fists, but his eyes held nothing. He looked at her and smiled reassuringly, but Kanni wasn't convinced. "Okay, are we all about ready then?" Premidas's cheery voice surprised Kanni, but she then crossed her arms and lightly smiled. Of course. Only he, Premidas, could have just experienced something, make his friends worry, and then minutes later turn around and act as if nothing was wrong. And he was a very good actor at that.
(it's fun to be writing as Kanni and Prem again. u kno, tis weird, but sometimes I catch myself thinking about them *all* as if they were real ppl that i kno. ^^;; mebbe I'm going crazy. ^^)