Re: The Ye Old Shoppe o' Curiosities (An OpenBook Production)

[bookcrazI]

I'm fine, hope you're okay!
I'm not really having drama now... just... Just many little scares and an emotional rollarcoster.. It's just a bit scary..


Lila:*I'm just gonna have her pass out..Oh look.. she passed out.*


Molly:
I sat in my saddle all proud and tall, mustering up as much menace as I could as I stared at the man. It wasn't much but I hoped it did the trick.
Then my menace turned into an open mouthed stare of "WHATTHEHOLYLLAMAQUEENAREYOUTELLINGME?"
I was mildly surprised to say the least, but also rather skeptical. It seemed unlikely but it did sound like Olly in the way of rambles, I frowned.
My head spun around again, I had been using too much magic and it was starting to affect me. I couldn't let anyone know, I was the strong one here. I sucked in some air and made my quivers seem like it was because I was unsteady on the horse, which I had actually started to get used to.
"If you're really Olly... then you'll know the name of the guy that Robin made me date so she could get free desserts and what ended up happening with that." I said evenly.
I glanced around at the soldiers, hoping they didn't know what dating was, I had struggled to find the right thing to ask him. Many of our escapades were quite.... unsuitable for the new guardian of the north, I mean, who would really trust a girl who got stuck in an air vent or who ran around her block in her underwear but ended up bumping into a teacher from school?
Not many people.
And to my defense, it wasn't because of a stupid dare, the dog I was looking after had gotten out and I was chasing it down.. and I had just come out of the shower.
Not really a good memory but few people knew about it.
I grimaced inwardly and moved onto studying the male in front of me. His movements were a little jerky, as if unused to it's body, and the face seemed uncharacteristically panicked, the unwrinkled flesh creating a whole set of lines and dents in his face and it almost looked like it was stretching it into a brand new expression. Other than that, the man looked quite posh, handsome too.
It confused me, how one person could claim to be switched into the body of another, but then again we were talking about magic.
Magic could do pretty much anything.
My talking bra could attest to that.
Another mishap while working for Lilith, a lesson learned in full: always wear an apron when cooking up animation spells.
After confirming this man's identity I'd have to figure out what happened, Jefferey said something about a balance? Perhaps I picked up on that due to the guardian stuff... I grimaced outwardly now, my head starting to pound.
The sooner this stuff could be figured out the better.. the sooner I could get back to Fergie.

[OpenTheDoor]

Thanks, but honestly, at the moment, I've been better...but then again I have been worse. I'm kind of just in one of those places where I can't deal with everything when it's happening at once. Everyone has dramas and expects me to help them when I'm meant to be sorting out my own...and then one of my closest friends has gone off to be in a more popular crowd... And my best friend's ex is stirring up trouble and I'm just... Bleh. I'm just glad that I didn't have work today.
But I hope that you're fine. Your awesome descriptions have calmed down a bit now

Olly: A small shaky breath escaped my lips as my unfamiliar hand ran through the short spikes of hair upon my head. It felt strange. Usually I came across knots and tangles in my maroon mop of curls, but instead I just had the soft straight strands filing neatly between my fingers. It was a nervous habit and, just because then it made me realise that I wasn't in my own body, it only made me more worried. 
But you know, as soon as I said "anything" I was praying to God that it was definitely going to be something which I knew about. It was fortunate that I did certainly know about that little incident. 
Well, I knew more about what happened because of it, the aftermath of it all. She didn't really talk about the guy or why it was but...
I could see why she said that one. To most people it would seem like a funny story but no... It was probably one of her biggest secrets, it forms into, the aftermath of what happened. I didn't really feel comfortable saying it all, though. 
I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes. 
"His name was Drew Pratt, though Robin only used to use his surname. Captain of the chess team. His friend Sam's parents owned the cafe downtown, one that was very well known for it's mud pie. She and Sam made a bet that she could get Drew a date and if she did then she would get free dessert for as long as the two of you were together. Obviously, she managed to get you to go out with him and so she won the bet. In the end... It was about three weeks before you two broke up. It turned out that Sam, because he was fed up of Robin eating away at his family's profits, introduced another girl to him who he had had a crush on for a while so, obviously, the two of you broke up. Robin was upset because she wasn't allowed free cake anymore and... Well, she found out a few weeks later that it was Sam who pushed the two together and beat him up for it,  breaking his nose. She got into a load of trouble for that. I remember our mom going in from work. Nothing was said about it for ages... Turned out that she got kicked out of the volleyball team, drama club and choir. She was advised to seek counselling about it all, having anger management though I swore that only made her worse, make her think as though she was crazy and wasn't just a normal girl. That was probably her first major physical outburst at someone. Hell, she was a good girl and a real angel back then...  You don't get in-between Robin and apple pie, I'll tell you that."
I couldn't help chuckle, though it was probably down to nerves more than the actual attempt of a joke. But despite me laughing it was quite a serious thing for her. There were quite a few consequences from that, not only the drama club but a few other things as well. That anger management therapy, mainly. She was forced to go to them ever since then, and she was fourteen when that happened. Then she started getting worse with the rebellious thing...
And yeah, it all stemmed from that. Worrying to think. But or did change her. Sure, she was broken from the whole missing father thing and everything but... That just seemed to be where she snapped. That was when she locked herself in her bedroom for ages and took a pair of scissors to hack away at her hair. Seriously, it used to be long until then. Ever since she had kept it short... Well, until recently when she started to grow it again. I always thought that it was because she was getting her confidence back but, honestly, who knew?
I gave a sigh as I looked back up to Molly with my own bright amber stare. Surely she had to believe that. Who could have put that much information into that? Sure, a mind reader could but... Well, I was the mind-reader there, wasn't I?
Who knew. I just had to hope and pray.

[bookcrazI]

Yeah- I think the lack of sleep and added stress creates an almost drug like state in me.. I tend to get all flourishy with my words, that's why I am waayy more artistic at night, during the day I'm all like straight forward.. I hope you can get through this stuff unscathed, I don't get 'drama' per say I just get... very long and extended moments of utter...utter 'whathefucks' and it's interesting..


Molly:
I sucked in a bit of air and nodded briskly, trying to force a fake smile onto my lips rather than that downward pull that was rather insistent. Breathe. Tears go away when you breathe.
I made it look like I was scratching my nose so I could wipe my eyes, that was a bit of a sore spot of mine, but I had asked him to relay it and so he did. That was Olly all right.
"Okay.. So.. What I want to know now is why you're not the moppy Olly I know and much sleeker fellow.." I asked, but then again he already had explained it.
I, as the guardian of the north, had to figure out how to solve that. Plus I had to make my way to the king.
My head was starting to clear a little and the newly oxygenated blood in my system had started to replenish my magic stores. I felt a little perkier and ideas were popping into my head, could I send him back into his body? The essence of dark magic that floated around Olly seemed to answer that question with quite an solid no. Could I at least alter his appearance into a semblance of what he was supposed to look like? Maybe?
Lilith did that for Fergie, I could do the same with him, most likely.
A conclusion. I needed a conclusion.
"For.. For the time being you will travel with us and.. I'll see what I can do.. Perhaps.. If you contact your father again and see what he says, in a different location as a meeting between us will only end.. badly.. I need an extra companion anyways, so I don't feel like such a tourist among the magic people..I might be able to get your face back.. it'll only be an illusion spell, but if I link it to an object.. charm it somehow, it'll stay for a bit.. What do you think? Jefferey? Any thoughts on the matter?" I said, trying to not look insecure.
I was strong.
I was powerful.
I was... still a bit dizzy.

[OpenTheDoor]

Oh right, haha. And I should. Things are starting to lighten up a bit but... It's probably going to get a bit worse, somehow. It always does... I'm just fed up of everyone and everything and trying not to lash out at everyone who tries to speak with me lately. But may those periods of 'whatthefucks' not last too long for you then

Olly: I had to blink a couple of times to try and gather myself up a little bit more. My mind was pretty much adamant to reminisce about the past rather than focus on the present. That and I wasn't really enjoying seeing Molly almost crying over that. Yeah, she was my little sister's bestie but she could stay around our house any time when she wanted to. If she needed advice or whatever I would have gladly given it to her. Hell, I could count her as a third little sister at times.
But moppy? What? Didn't she like my relaxed appearance? Most girls went for that. All I was missing was a tattoo and I was ready to go.
Not that I was ever going to get a tattoo. I was the model child and all.
"As I said, he did a body swap spell. He traded his way to getting a load of Dark magic to use. He stormed the manor in the form of mist and broke in. My father was there but he simply threw him against a wall and he was knocked out. The rest of the nobles had fled because of the mist. He put Lila to sleep too so when he nearly knocked me out it was simple to do the spell. I'm in his body and he's in mine pretending to be me. He wants revenge because I beat him in the contest for Lila's hand in marriage. Now what he's going to do... I don't know, but I have a feeling that it might involve my sisters, which obviously is not good."
Yeah, I was having my own troubles but I wasn't going to have him touch Robin or Angie. Sure, I might have looked like a posh snob with incredibly soft skin -- seriously, it was softer than Lila's -- but I wasn't going to let him harm a single hair on either of their heads. If he did... Well, I wasn't going to let him get away with that.
So as I continued to run my hand through my hair, I gave a shallow sigh, looking over to the butler as he was asked his opinion about the matter. He actually seemed to be properly thinking about it, calculating what we could have done in the situation. I almost seemed to completely forget to ask what she meant when she was talking about going on a trek. It was just a good thing that I still had my ability to read minds handy.
"If you were to perform an illusion spell you would have to tie it to a neutral object, something that hadn't been touched by magic before. You saw what happened when you tried to perform a simple healing spell on Robin before, correct? The Dark and Light reacted and drained the energy of the weaker subject, almost killing her. Therefore, you couldn't place the spell directly onto Olly otherwise the same thing would happen. And due to it being a charm and not a direct spell, that means that its weaker. The men at the court of the king are strong magic users. Some may see through the charm. In town, however, it should work. But... I have a small problem with helping Master Olly, let along letting him tag along."
My eyes widened slightly at his words. Yeah, first of all he just said that Robin almost died and then he said that he didn't want her helping me? What else was I meant to do? Idly sit around and wait for me to be thrown into prison, my little sisters fall into Timmy's hands and let him resume place next to my wife?
What about if he got her pregnant? She doesn't know its not me.
Oh God.
"If it comes to know that you're helping a Dark man who has committed crimes, as Guardian of the North its going to do nothing for your reputation. People will question you. War may break out."
My heart raced within my chest as he spoke. Yes, it made sense but... I needed help. I wasn't going to get everything back to normal by myself. It was going to take work. It was going to take time. it was going to take more than just me on my own. But first, I needed people with me. Surely having the Guardian of the North would be ideal, right?
I glanced back up to Molly upon her stead and sighed. I wasn't going to talk any more. I didn't feel comfortable with the rest of the world listening to our story... Maybe I should have done the telepathy thing earlier when I was telling the story of Mr. Pratt and the broken nose but... Well, I was still in a bit of a panic to be honest.
But that didn't mean that I couldn't start to use it then.
I don't have to go with you. I could just stay in your shoppe but... Its up to you. If you wish for me to come along then I gladly will. I'm just worried about what will happen. If I get found then I'm screwed. This Timmy... I doubted that he got his power without mischief. And he got it from either Robin or Angie. But if I stay they could easily find me. I just... I don't know what I'm doing. I'm a bit desperate at the moment.
How else was I meant to feel? Everything had just been taken away from me. I had nothing left. I needed it back. I needed to have everything returned to me that was rightfully mine. I needed my wife. I needed my body. I needed to not be a wanted man.
Was that too much to ask?

Just a little thought... Mr. Timmy is evil, correct? Its in his best interest to cause harm to Olly and everything that he knows and love as well as get his good books in with the elven community... Do you think he would want to return the heir to the elven 'monk' place or do you think that he wouldn't really care about that? I thought that having everyone Robin could depend on being slowly plucked away would be...interesting... Might cause her to train up in her Dark magic more so that she can actually stand being near Molly again, especially before the baby is due.
But of course, I wouldn't do anything without asking your opinion on it first. I wasn't sure if that would be too much happening at once with Molly on her quest as the soon-to-be Guardian of the North and with child, Fergie stuck in Neverland, Olly and Timmy switching bodies, Robin beginning magical training and Johnny revealed as the new 'monk'-man...

[bookcrazI]

I think that that would be a good idea. If we're gonna have a shitstorm let's make it a huge one.

Molly:
I bit my lip and let my frown deepen, Jefferey was right, bringing him with us could pose a whole sort of awful situations. The knights might not even believe us.
Great.
I rubbed my face and snapped a few times, trying to think of a solution. I could still contact him while travelling, I didn't necessarily need him to come with me. An idea, a beautiful thought that warmed my frontal lobe.
Now we were cooking with gas.
"Okay. New plan. You stay in the shop, act as my... shop boy as it were.. but, you'll need a new appearance." I zapped a rock into my hand and muttered a few things, bestowing it a charm.
I tossed it to Olly before the spell would affect me.
"There. Now, I will contact you every once and while via magic mirror and you will act as my eyes in the outside world. I also need you to continue conversing with Robin... try to find Fergie while I'm gone... While on my.. quest thing I'll try to find a way to help you, but, by no means, will you ever let your father into my shop. That I won't allow... okay? Does that seem fair?" I ended, feeling a bit proud of my prognosis.
I was getting better at using people to my advantage while helping them... maybe? Or perhaps the fact that I was celebrating this meant that I was still a young novice trying to fit into her master's large robes.
I could feel the loose fabric of doubt pull me down a bit.

[OpenTheDoor]

Well aren't we great people then? I won't start it going for a couple of their days though... Maybe after Molly and Jeff set off on their journey we could do that skip to when they're getting close to the court, "Olly" starts the next step of his plan and the real Olly just... Well, he could talk to his father about the predicament, maybe.

Olly: Grimacing as she began to rethink her plan, I couldn't help but feel doubtful. Maybe my case was too difficult to solve so quickly and so simply. Maybe it was going to take a lot more time to think of a short-term solution so that I wasn't killed. That butler didn't seem to confident, anyway.
But as she threw the rock, I didn't lift my eyes off of him, a small irritated scowl on my lips. Even so, I just lifted my hand and caught the charmed rock.
Yeah, my reactions were pretty badass.
As soon as I did, however, I felt a small shiver ride down my spine, but it wasn't a tingle from the temperature... It was to do with the reaction from the spell.
"Completely," I nodded to her, noting everything that she said, "and don't worry about me talking to Robin. I'm sure that I can get her to know that its me. And I'll keep him away from the shop. You can count on me.
With a quick wink, I began to chuckle slowly, kidding myself that I was confident about what was happening to me. In reality, I was still in a spin.
Looking down to the back of my hand where I had caught the rock, I raised a brow as a small shiver crawled across my skin. Very slowly it was creeping up my arm, a line of silver. Already my skin was changing tone, turning a lot more tanned than I was used to with my pale complexion. It seemed that for once I was going to have some colour.
"So," I began, taking in a deep breath, "keep in contact with you using the mirror, try and find Fergie, keep you up to date with everything, make sure that the shop runs smoothly... Is that it?"
I made it sound so simple, didn't I?

[bookcrazI]

(Time skip- perhaps? I'm a little bit too.... busy mentally to think of a good enough reply.. sorry... A lot has just hit me in the face... It's a lovely feeling...)

[OpenTheDoor]

No worries. Hope that you get through it okay Do you want me to start us off then this time? I don't mind either way.

So Olly's going to be shopkeeping/laying low
Robin'll be with Johnny trying to find Fergie. Maybe the ball will start to roll with Johnny being snatched up. I think that there needs to be some interaction between Robin and "Olly" first however...
Obviously Molly and Jeffrey'll be seeing the king

[bookcrazI]

Sorry to make you write more.. Lot's of stuff- and thanks for the hope

[OpenTheDoor]

Oh don't worry about it. And not a problem

"Rise and shine Miss Molly. We'll be arriving in the court today."
The butler stood beside the hammock expressionless and completely wide awake, his hands gently grasped onto the cotton fabric. Well, he had been up since the crack of dawn. It was a force of habit. He had done it ever since he was a child and had been unable to crack it despite his age. And besides, she couldn't complain when she woke up in her hammock to the smell of freshly-cooked food.
He stepped back from her waking body and back to the other side of the rather large tent, the one which was pretty well-lit from the risen sun. It was more like a gazebo more than a traditional camping tent. It certainly could have fitted a lot more people than the two of them... Well, three if you wished to count the foetus. Even all of the supplies which Molly thought would be necessary to take seem to only fill a corner of the tent. In all honesty, hardly anything which was bought needed to be used. The knights seemed to have almost everything to hand. It truly was just a waste of Master Fergie's money in his opinion...but then again, it wasn't as if he wasn't rich.
Softly, the butler sighed as he took his seat next to the sizzling cured bacon and picked up his book, one of the many human fantasy books which he had found himself very intrigued with. He enjoyed to see how the humans tended to see the magical world and adapted it for the general public and social media. Yes, only about ten percent of it was accurate but it was intriguing nevertheless.
"I also received a message from Sir William," he spoke, not lifting his eyes from the pages, "He said that you should be prepared for a large gathering when you arrive. A lot of people are going to be there to see the new Guardian of the North. However, the ceremony will not be performed until tomorrow, but that doesn't mean that you're not going to be introduced to the king and enjoy the feast..."

Robin: Oh shit.
My reflection grimaced. It looked like I had been in a bare-knuckle fight with Chuck Norris. There was literally no way that I was going to get away with saying that I fell down the stairs and there was definitely no way that I was going to admit what really caused all of those scratches and bruises. I didn't even want to think about it. I swear that it was igniting my nightmares again. Well, something definitely was. But at least it was only fatigue causing those dark eyes and not a punch.
But what was going to look worse? Wearing a hoodie on a hot day like that or walking around black and blue? I only had a certain amount of foundation to slather on. And what about if someone decided that it was a good idea to randomly throw a bottle of water over me? It happened before many times. Sure, it seemed to be occurring less thanks to Johnny being there but...
Then there was the fact that it was mine and Johnny's monthly anniversary. I just was thankful that it wasn't on a day where I was expected to go to the training. That meant that I wasn't going to be spending all of my time trying not to think about my impending doom, so to speak. Plus, it actually meant that I was going to have to go into school. Cute little texts weren't going to cut it for much longer... And besides, I was fed up with being alone in my bed.
Yeah, I couldn't pretend to be ill for any longer, cosied-up in my room, "doing homework" when actually I was swamped with books which my father was forcing me to read up on. I was in enough trouble as it was at school without having bunking added to the list and my mom was only going to believe me for a certain number of days.
I just gave a sigh, running a hand through my hair, wincing at the pain it caused in the deepest parts of my muscles. It hurt to even stand. And that was after taking a load of painkillers.
I had way too much to deal with without almost being killed three times a week.
"But it's going to get better," I murmured under my breath yet again for the tenth time since I had gotten out of bed.
But I knew that I was just lying to myself. Yeah, sure, the bruising might not be so bad but... Well, I was still going to have to go train, wasn't I? And that wasn't going to stop for a very long time.
So with a deep breath, I turned and snatched up my cardigan, quickly throwing it on before running, well, hobbling down the stairs. And after grabbing my bag and a banana, I began the trek to the bus stop and prayed that I was going to make it on time. Already I was late and the fact that I couldn't run wasn't helping.
So, predictably enough, as I got to the corner of the street, I was met with the unwanted sight of my bus pulling out from the stop. Just what I wanted. To have to walk to school in my state. And it was too late to go home and try to start up Rusty, that's even if he works anymore. It was just best for me to put my head down, grit my teeth and--
"Would you like a lift?"
Turning my head, I slowly smirked, seeing that delightfully welcoming sight of a car and the side of a face which I knew very well. I could have accused him of stalking me. Did it matter, though? No. I was just glad that he was there. It meant that I wasn't going to be falling into school with a face as red as a tomato and a body screaming at me to take it easy for a change.
My brow raised slightly at him, my mood definitely lifted, "What's the occasion?"
And though I gently began to chuckle, he just stared at me, blinking, almost as if he didn't understand my humour. Well, he should have done. It was just like his...
Maybe not.
"What do you mean?" he murmured, too raising a brow, "I just saw you miss your bus as I was driving down. You can't be late to school, can you?"
"I can, I just... Thanks."
There was no point attempting to explain it. Anyway, I was close to being late.
So as I jogged around to the other side and slipped into the car, I gave a genuine sigh of mild happiness. Yes, I was glad that I was getting a lift in but... Well, seeing my brother was never a bad thing, especially with the mood that I was in. I certainly wouldn't have minded missing my first lesson for a good heart-to-heart... Maybe Johnny would have to wait a little longer, bless him.
"So, how's everything going?" I asked, watching the world slid past as we pulled out, crossing my legs on the passenger seat.
"Umm... Fine, thank you," he murmured, eyeing up the road carefully, "Its a bit busy at the moment. There was a bit of...action, at the manor."
Action?
"Like...?"
It was simple to say that I was intrigued. Sure, Olly was a worrier and the whole 'action' thing would most likely be nothing major at all and rather just something which I would have just brushed over. But... Well, he did seem a bit off. It was strange. His mannerisms were weird. He didn't have the radio on let alone blaring, he was obeying the speed limit - it would have probably been quicker walking - and he hadn't touched his hair once.
Maybe it was serious.
"Do you really want to know?"
Well what did he think? I turned in my seat, giving him one of those looks of 'what do you think?'. He actually seemed to be asking it seriously, not even jokingly... He must have forgotten to drink his coffee that morning.
"I'll take that as a yes then," he chuckled lowly, "One of the gentlemen who I was competing against for Lila's hand in marriage attacked the manor."
"What? Really?" I spluttered, almost spraying half of my yoghurt drink over the dashboard.
And he didn't seem too happy about it.
"Yeah...and thanks for that," he muttered, shaking his head, "No, he's gotten very powerful. He must have made a deal to get his hands on some Dark magic. He had enough to be able to turn himself into mist, that trick. I looked it up and--"
"But that's quite advanced magic," I commented, half blurting it, thinking back to the books, "Its probably the top of their repertoire if they can do that. He was probably just showing that, because he can do it at his age, he must be powerful. However with 'dealt magic'... Well, no training is needed if the person they sought it from was a reliable source. Therefore that just shows that he must have been pretty pissed..."
Ha, if only my father had heard that. He would have been proud. But my memory was never terrible, even when half asleep. How else did I manage to not fail my exams? I might have been a rebel but I wasn't one who failed school.
"H-how so?"
My brow raised gently to his tone, the paling skin, the look in his eye. It was almost as if he was worried... Well, more than usual.
"Well..." I began slowly, watching him, "like in all deals, if you want more you have to pay more. I doubt that he has very much left, whether the person he bought it from wanted money, part of them or whatever. But then again--"
"You've learnt a lot, haven't you?" he interrupted with a bit of a nervous laugh.
"I've kind of been forced to. Dad's been getting me training so that I don't accidentally kill anyone if, well, when I get irritated. You know me..." I sighed, running a hand through my hair, half gritting my teeth from the pain, "But on top of that I have half a library to read. But its not like I have a choice over whether I do it or not. Not like homework."
"What do you mean?"
What did he mean by 'what do you mean'? Why was he pressing for questions? Why was he being so...strange?
He was probably concentrating on the road... Yeah, that must have been it. I was just trying to convince myself so that I didn't start exploding things accidentally when nervous... Well, I didn't actually do that but...
"H-he said that if I did as he said then he wouldn't break Johnny and me up," I murmured under my breath, a little reluctant to say it as saying it would only confirm to me that it was indeed true, "But there's a lot of shit around that, as you know. You're the one who made him admit it to be, right? His...situation. I'm just not sure that everything's going to work out. Ever the pessimist, your little sister. Sure, at the moment things are fine but...how long is that going to last for? Its not like we can run forever, y'know? Plus the fact that you're married to Lila doesn't help at all and I--"
I had to force myself to stop speaking. If I kept on going on that, thinking about it too much then I would have started crying. I could feel myself starting to go. I bit into my lip and turned out to see the view, the world rolling past. It didn't seem as though I had longer than a ten seconds in the car anyway and I didn't want to turn up to school like that.
But still, my brain forced my mouth to keep on going.
"I just wish that things were easier. That there was no magic, that Dad didn't come back, that I was the same girl I used to be..."
"I-- Umm-- This is your stop isn't it?"
Immediately he pulled up on the side of the road. Just swung around without word or warning. There were a few honking horns behind us as he went and I swore that that was how I was going to die.
So it took me a couple of seconds to gather myself again.
"...yeah."
Grabbing onto the top of my bag, my eyes narrowed on him. He just seemed to be as casual as anything, as though he didn't just almost kill us. Yeah, I might have been in a bit of a bad mood but I still felt as though my next words were necessary.
"What's wrong with you? You've changed. This is the first time that we've probably talked since you've gotten married and... Well, you're not the same Olly I knew. You've turned into a right arse!" I muttered, glaring down on him, "Thanks for the lift."
And with sarcasm thick in my voice, I reached for the handle to open the door and slipped out. Slamming the door, I watched as he stared back at me, his eyes smouldering slightly. They actually seemed to be smoking... Weird.
And without another word, I turned away and began to walk, my head thrown down to the floor to hide my face, my gritted teeth from the pain that came with moving. If before I was not confident then then I was just bordering from 'very annoyed' going onto 'I need to punch something'.
But then, just as I was about to take another step, a familiar sound echoed through my mind. It sounded a bit like electricity, like the buzz of electric but...it wasn't the same. It was different...slightly.
Then it stopped.
Then...
Snap.
"Ah!"
Face-plant.
Bloody brilliant.
And from the corner of my eye, instead of getting out of the car to dust of his little sister, that little Volvo sped off out of sight leaving me lying on the floor and with a few snuffled laughters erupting around me. It was just fortunate that Chris, the guy who I sat next to in History, came and offered me a hand. And with a small nod of thanks to him, I toddled into school.
Yeah, I definitely needed to punch something then. And though I hadn't noticed it, if I looked into a mirror, you probably could have seen my eyes faintly glowing black. It was still a good thing that I was head down when I was walking then.

[bookcrazI]

Sorry I haven't replied yet.. so much stuff going.. but finally the winter break. <3

Molly:
I groaned as I was pulled out of my lovely dream of being pampered by a whole team of ridiculously handsome men and into the reality of the morning.
The light burned at me and it took a few moments of writhing around until my body accepted that it actually had to get up.
It was hard.
I rubbed my eyes and grimaced, jumping out of my bed as quickly as possible to avoid being pulled back into the friendly warm bed that called my named like a sleepy lover. It was oh so tempting.
No.
I had things to do, I was the Guardian of the North and there wasn't time for blissfully sleeping in peace. No, those days were over.
Oh well. I reached up to the ceiling of the tent and stretched, letting out air as little pops jumped out of my compressed spine. With another breath I dared to look at my reflection.
Hair.
Like something died on my head.
Face.
Something died on my face.
Well, that was a start.
I sniffed around, the smell of breakfast wafting into my morning clogged nose finally. MMM... pancakes and eggs.. and bacon. I love bacon.
Then my stomach decided to start it's career as a crash test dummy, it's destination being the ground in front of me.
I managed a startled 'urp' before releasing and the waterfall of my stomach contents rained down upon the matted down grass floor of our tent.
What a wonderful start to an important day.



Johnny:
I looked up from where I was sitting in class to Robin.
She looked a lot less spunky than usual.
And a lot more stiff.
I stood for her and walked up, my face turning into a frown as I noticed her hood pulled over her head to cover her face. Something wasn't right.
"You okay beautiful?" I asked.
I had a lot more questions but I couldn't risk someone over hearing us.
We hadn't seen each other face to face in a couple of days and I was beginning to go into over protective, clingy boyfriend due to the lack of contact. Not only that... but there was a rather large lack of contact... in other ways and I was.. getting.. lonely.
I grimaced inwardly, I had spent too many days without her.
While she was off studying with her father I was busy studying Neverland and trying to find more about how to get there and how to get Fergie back. The guy was a bit of a prick sometimes but he was still my friend and we had gone through a lot together.
I just had to find him.
While searching I had found interesting things, but I needed to talk to Robin about them. She had been quite busy, and her father wasn't taking things easy on her.
I didn't envy her, but I'd do anything to make her feel better.

[OpenTheDoor]

...

[OpenTheDoor]

Oh no worries. And I've got one more week until I'm off

Jeffrey, having heard the delightful noise of throwing up, finally looked up from his novel, wearing a frown. His eyes gently watched her as Molly was seeing away the final contents of the dinner from the night before.
Not again.
He rose from his seat, making sure to mark his page. Walking over, he put his hand on her back, softly making small circles to help comfort her. With his other hand, he clicked his fingers, a bucket appearing in front of her, already half-filled of what she had just thrown up.
Magic was definitely a useful thing.
And after a few moments and her stomach emptied, he took his hand back and looked back to the cooking food.
"Are you better now?" he asked, "Do you think that you want to eat?"

Robin: I gave a small sigh, slipping through the door, hoping to go undetected by the rest of the class. I would honestly have to say that if I was going to have to face trouble from anyone then I was going to flip. I reaching the end of my tether...and the fact that I had algebra didn't help. But even though I said that, it did mean that Johnny was in my class. That was definitely helping me, the fact that I would see him.
Yeah, I was missing him. Badly. I needed comfort and someone there and I wasn't getting that at home all alone. So when I heard his voice, my mood lifted slightly. Maybe I wouldn't kill anyone that day, then. I would just have him there to stop me.
"I've been better," I murmured, raising my head to look him in the eye, "I'm a bit..."
I didn't know how to explain it easily, at least not without having people overhear that I was a freak with a magical father. Instead, I just gave a small shrug, one that actually pained me to do. I bit into my lip slightly as I gently set them back into their natural and relaxed place.
"I'll talk to you about it later, okay?"
And with an attempt of a smile, the bell rang behind me, Mr. Monroe walked in, slamming the door behind him, eyeing up the class...and frowning when he saw the two of us standing there.
"Sit down, class," he sighed, putting his books down on his desk.
So, with a small frown, I gave him another weak smile and took my seat in the corner.

[bookcrazI]

Molly:
Well, I can assure you, things definitely do not taste as good coming up as they did going down. Not even close.
I wiped my mouth on the back side of my hand and raised my head to respond but the scent of food had me dry heaving.
It was like my body was trying to evict my stomach but it was holding onto my spine screaming back at the rest of me. Long story short, I did not want to eat, and I gasped that to Jefferey moments later.
We had gotten by pretty easily in the past few days, every time I got sick to my stomach we explained it off as a side effect of using magic and a non magic sort of flu thing. It surprisingly worked, considering the knight's total lack of the outside world they took it with serious, concerned expressions and solemn nods. I felt bad lying to people but that's what magic had made me; a liar.
And pregnant, but that could be debated with the fact that it was my own stupidity that did that but that's a topic for a later date.
I brushed out my pajamas and plugged my nose to the food, knowing it would only make things worse and I really didn't need my body to be a more naggy landlord than it already was.
Reminding me once isn't enough, no, it needed to make sure I understood everything that happened to it; " You're sick, here's the plague for a month, by the way, you're sick, have some more horrible symptoms and remember, you're sick".
Oh loveliness.
"Jefferey, regarding the earlier material before my stomach decided to jump ship, am I expected to wear something special? Like a dress? Or make up? Or should I just bring my dazzling personality?" I asked, smiling weakly near the end.
I turned quickly though and began to rummage through my clothing chest with a disapproving look, I really had nothing to wear. Of course I had things to wear... but nothing I liked.. I mean I liked it at one time, but I definitely didn't like it today. Ah, the wonders of femininity and the mind.


Johnny:
I watched her throughout class, a frown set deeply on my face. She never was that docile with me, I almost always got a saucy grin and a pat on the bum as I walked to my seat, or something along those lines. Her father was a brutal man and it made my inner elf twitch, as it metaphorically ripped her father apart in my mind relishing in his cries of pain and savoring the taste of his hot blood as my metaphorical elf tore bits of him off slowly.
I had been getting a bit more primal these last couple days, perhaps it was because the woman I loved was being pushed to her limit and I wasn't there to comfort her or reassure her other than over the phone.
Let me tell you, the phone is a crappy way to let someone know that you're there for them.
Especially if they're all you think about and when you hear their voice you feel a hundred different emotions at once ranging from pure blooded lust to deep despair.
I had to focus though.
I was her ever steady boyfriend, even though I did most of my normal duties- grocery shopping, studying, weapon practicing- in secret due to my lovely little catch.
Plus I had very little money to spend anymore, I couldn't afford to take a normal job for fear of getting caught.
Robin had it worse though, I had to be there for her.
When class ended I pushed my way through the masses to her side, taking all the shoves and bumps that would have otherwise landed on her obviously aching form. I would be her shield through all things.
Outside the classroom I accompanied her to her locker, staying pretty silent but following closely like a loyal dog. When she did stop to open it I stole a soft kiss, I needed a treat now and again.

[OpenTheDoor]

Jeffrey gently nodded to her words, understanding what she meant. He would just have to eat it himself, no matter how much it pained him to do so. It was such a hard life being a butler to a posh idiot with a pregnant girlfriend, it truly was.
But as she began to scramble around for something to wear, he gave a small titter, walking over to the near-burning food and took it off of the heat. He tipped the bacon and the eggs onto a plate and sighed. 
"Well, going by previous experiences, what will happen is that you'll travel to meet the king and, maybe thirty minutes beforehand, will have some time to neaten up however that doesn't mean that you need to put on a dress. That will be for the feast this evening when your presence is announced to the rest of the magical world... For now I would just wear something clean."
And with a shrug, he seized hold of a fork and began to chow down on his breakfast. He never usually ate in the company of others, his employers especially. But it seemed that he was making exceptions now. He didn't have to be there. He was doing it because he was asked and that was that. He didn't want to be there. He said that he would never return and yet...he was returning.
That was surely going to go well.

Robin: Well, algebra was boring and the teacher didn't really give a damn about me blatantly doodling in the back of my book. What was I doodling pictures of? Let's just say that it involved certain people having certain horrible events occur to them.
No wonder why I was failing it.
So as the bell rang to let us all go, I had to give a sigh. No longer was I allowed to just mess around for an hour. Instead I actually had to do work...
And I had sport later.
Oh shit.
But I guess that the fact that Johnny was sticking to my side was alright. Literally as the bell rang he rose from his seat and went to me even before I could stand up. A small and weak smile was worn on my lips as he helped me to my locker, my muscles aching with every step that I took. And that smile only grew as he pressed his lips to mine. My hand dared to raise to the side of his cheek, stroking it slightly despite my body screaming for me to take it easy. As if I was going to listen, though. I needed a bit of that.
"Thanks," I murmured, though I didn't particularly know why I was saying that.
And as I turned back to my locker, I swung it open and quickly swapped the books around which I needed and didn't anymore. It truly was a relief to get rid of everything that I had in there.
"How are you?" I softly murmured, my voice hardly louder than a whisper, "You seem a little bit...off..."
I didn't know how to explain it but he seemed a little...strange, like he was daydreaming about something else rather than remaining in the room. I could have maybe guessed what it was about, the kiss, despite it's gentleness, did have a bit of something behind it. However, I was doubting that my body was up for anything too...strenuous.

[bookcrazI]

Molly:
I stood back with my hands on my hips and sighed; something clean.
I needed something clean. That I liked.
The quest began now, I had little time but the fate of my images rested upon this decision.
Pants.
That was a start, pants were pretty essential.
I grabbed a pair and slipped them on on the other side of the privacy partition that we had fashioned a few days into the trip. I studied my lower half as best as I could in the jeans without using a mirror, a cold panic tickled my heart as my usual small bit of tummy flub seemed a bit more flubby than usual.
I couldn't be showing this early, I mean that didn't happen for another few weeks or months, I wasn't really sure, I knew very little due to the fact I had very little time to process the whole fact that I had a small human growing inside me. I stepped out and stared at Jefferey with wide, doe eyes.
"Do I look pregnant? Tell the truth..." I said through quivering lips, my hands pinching the flub that popped out from the top of my jeans. I struggled to keep calm, the other knights must know and just pretend to buy my lies.
Everyone probably knows.
"Oh god... this is a mess.. I'll be a laughing stock at court... a stupid whore girl.. they'll kick me out and reject me as guardian and.. and.. I fail school and become homeless as I wouldn't be able to support my child.. or I'd have to spell my mother forever and... I'm over reacting... aren't I?" I finished with grimace.
I was going insane.
I was fine, for the most part.


Johnny:
I gave her a smile and gently caressed her cheek.
"I'm fine, more worried about you than anything. That's probably it, don't overwork yourself. I'm trying to find Fergie too, so don't feel like that is all on your shoulders.. I love you." I murmured, trying to be a bit secretive.
We didn't need the whole school finding out about our lovely little issues.
I nuzzled her hand and kissed it's palm, a cheeky grin slowly growing on my face.
The things we could do when this was all over.
It made me a little twitchy just thinking about it.
"Just think about all the fun we can have when this is over...the park is just a preview." I whispered into her ear.
I didn't want to press her into doing anything now, she seemed troubled enough as it was. There was no harm into trying to entice her though.
None at all.
I didn't need her to know what really was troubling her, that would only make things worse.

[OpenTheDoor]

Did he say the right thing?
Good.
He was getting worried about that. Pregnant women were the worst when it came to emotions, weren't they? Treading on eggshells was less precarious than making sure that a woman-with-child was happy and well.
Plus it gave him a few moments to down the rest of his breakfast.
So as she appeared with a frown on her face, the butler was a little more than confused. Yes, she had clean jeans. That was good. But she was standing there with no shirt on, the smallest little bit of chub popping over the top of her pants.
Really? That?
"You don't look pregnant," he clearly stated, shaking his head, "And I don't think that they're going to notice for the next few months at least."
He didn't want to say that it was probably the food. He didn't think that telling a pregnant woman that she was getting tubbier was a good idea. So instead he just skipped around the danger zones and gave her the answer that she wanted to hear.
Well, he didn't think that telling her about the fact that it was doubtful that they were going to push her away due to the fact that she was with child. People didn't crop up often for those positions and Lilith had retired, didn't she? They needed someone to fill in the gap. So yes, she was young and really quite new to magic and so yes she was going to have a baby to look after in nine months time. Hell, there was very little that was going to stop her from not being Guardian of the North.
Well, that's if she accepted the offer or not.

Robin: My eyes tentatively watched him as he spoke, my lips forming a small smirk to what he was saying. Why didn't I see him over those last few days? I was craving a little bit of comfort and I easily got it from him...
Maybe it was because of the fact that if he saw what I was like under my long sleeves then he would go on a rampage. That was why. Though I didn't like my father, I didn't necessarily want him dead... He was still my father despite everything. He was still... I didn't know. It was complicated. I wasn't really in the best position to think.
Well, Johnny was making it a little hard for me to think.
His soft touch of my face and hand, that little sparkle in the corner of his eye, his cold breath sending a small shiver down my spine, his steamy words getting me a little hot under the collar. I was forcing myself to bite into my lip to make sure that I didn't automatically pin him to the locker and throw myself onto him, mostly because that was slightly against school policy.
Yeah, I did feel guilty. I couldn't give him any of that. Not in the state that I was in at least. And he had his own problems too. It wasn't like I was the only one going through a rough patch. I had just found out that he was the heir to be the next Elven 'monk' leader type, that he was on the run and had to sneak around the backwaters for the rest of his life, plus he was looking out for Fergie too when I had been saying that I was too busy to do that. I was only having father issues. I was only moping around.
I was truly a brilliant girlfriend.
Even so, with a small chuckle, I brought my mouth up to his ear, taking my chance at lightly nibbling the lobe, just for a second. I was beginning to think that I was slowly slipping back into my normal self. Yeah, I was still aching but I was getting good at ignore the searing pain of my body.
"Trust me, the first thing that I'm going to do when I'm not battered and bruised is the sequel to that little 'preview'," I whispered back, purposely brushing my lips lightly against his ear, "Shame I have no healing potions, then."
I was definitely getting back to being me again.

[bookcrazI]

Molly:
After a moment's consideration I slipped on a shirt and began to pack for the final leg of our journey. Jefferey was right, I had nothing to worry about for the next couple of months. I was fine.
I just had to see the king, be all courtly and nice and chatty then make my merry way home with the lovely band of knights.
They were all quite stiff and polite though, all of them staying rather formal to me even when I was trying to be friendly. I had asked a few their names but they all went with the same old "It doesn't matter what I am called, Miss Black, as I am of little importance on this quest, you may refer to me as Sir if you feel the need."
I was rather miffed at that.
So I began to make up nicknames for each of them and attempted to break them out of their formalities by being as friendly as possible. Jeffery thought it was a lost cause and rather unladylike and other huffy stuff, but this was my one little thing that I wanted to do.
My own quest.
Silly, I know, but fun.
I peaked my head out of the tent and smiled at the nameless brunette knight that was rather shy, he was my first target. I often saw a sliver of a smile on his face as I attempted my ice breaking antics, and as my late PE teacher always said; "Go for the weak and go for the kill, no mercy, mercy is what makes you lose in the end."
She was such a lovely lady.
I sighed and went back to the business of getting ready to leave.
"Jefferey, I'd like to thank you for sticking by my side through all this... and I will make sure that Fergie gives you a raise and extra vacation time.. he is a rather prude boss..." I muttered, no particular reason in mind other than to fill the silence.
I was probably nervous, that was why my mind was zipping through things faster than a ADD kid on speed. That was it.
What a fun day ahead of us.

Johnny:
With the ringing of the slave bell-I mean school, honest mistake- I escorted my lovely lady to her class and hurried to mine, cursing the fact that it was on the other side of the school.
No matter though, I needed the exercise anyway.
As I jogged I noticed the slight nagging feeling that I was being watched, it was a rather odd feeling and it perked up my other heightened senses in a most annoying way. I spelled myself in the morning to dull them into a human's range so I could at least act a little more normal than how I'd be with the full on elfness. It was tedious but helpful at times.
When I was alarmed the spells vanished, this was one of those times.
I grimaced and continued to class, ignoring the feeling.
If any of my elf brother were here they would have collected me already, so I was most likely over reacting.
Strange though.






Lila:
I wasn't crazy.
They didn't believe me, no matter how loud I screamed.
It wasn't him.
He wasn't liked that, I knew him better than everyone.
The first day I saw nothing wrong, everything strange I could explain as just after shock from the purple smoke accident. I was bed ridden so nothing really seemed out of the ordinary, he visited my bedside and I slept through most of his visits. He didn't talk much, but I assumed that he just was thinking things through, he didn't show much affection but I just guessed that he was too caught up in his own thoughts to show any. It seemed logical at the time.
That was the first day.
The second day, well, that was a bit different.
Thanks to the wonders of magic I was healed, the magic of money helps too, but it didn't really matter, I was better. I had thought to be cuddly, show Olly how much I missed him, but that's when I started to notice things. He flinched at my touch, every little caress or attempt at a kiss or holding hands was shot down with a startled jump and a confused little frown on his face. My mind then took a short dive into despair, thinking that he was scared of me, frightened that I would go all killy murder crazy elf again on him. That left me in my room with comfort food, tissues, chickflicks, and awful romance novels, I seemed to be quite quick with emotions.
I always had, but by the time Olly had come back to our room to go to sleep I had re-convinced myself that everything was fine and I would make it up to him after a nice little chat about feelings. Olly was the type who would actually participate in that, I also knew that he'd be concerned that I had been crying that he'd start one himself.
But her didn't.
When he entered he had a strange look on his face, one that was like a kid just found out a way to sneak out of his house without his parents noticing. A second later he was closing in on me on the bed, I frowned.
He didn't seem the least bit concerned that I had been missing all day or the fact that my eyes were red or even the fact that I was backing away from him.
His lips smashed against mine painfully and I pushed him away, a bit frightened, asking him what he thought he was doing and for him to stop.
The answer he gave was what turned on that little light in my head.
"Shut up, woman."
That wasn't my Olly.
With a strength I didn't know he had, he pinned me down and started to kiss my struggling body. I, with a strength he didn't know I had, kicked him off and into the little writing desk next to the bed, causing a loud crash and an aggravated yell from him.
The desk was in splinters but he seemed unfazed as he stomped his way over to my quivering, nightgown clad frame. I had my fists up, yes, but nothing seemed scarier to me than fighting someone you knew and cared for.
Someone you trusted.
It wasn't soon after another quick scuffle that left him back in the remains of the little desk and me bleeding from the nose on the other side of the room did the guards show up.
I was too dazed from being thrown against a wall to answer and he got to it first, saying that I had changed. That I had attacked him. That there was something wrong with me and some one please help.
I watched the act in horrific fascination, unable to tear my eyes away from this man's perfected mannerisms and stunning act of victim. It left me no time to come up with a counter argument and stabbed in the arm with a sedative.
I don't remember the few days that past with me out of consciousness.
Small memories of waking up to bleeding cuts on my arms and the grinning face of Olly... not mine though.
I got out, one night when they forgot to strap me in, thinking that the drugs they had given me had fully taken affect.
I hadn't been a problem so far, aside from my apparent issue with hurting myself.
Yeah right.
I stumbled out of the infirmary and locked myself into one of the unused guest rooms, barricading the door with a dusty couch and a few chairs before passing out.
I woke to shouts and a rattling door.
Head blurry.
Mouth dry.
A sour taste in my mouth.
I've been here for two days, it's amazing that the door has held up.
They even brought my father by, he seemed so scared.
I covered my ears and cried.
He was there too.
He wasn't my Olly.
Where was he?
Who could help me?

[OpenTheDoor]

Jeffrey raised a brow to her actions, watching her as she ran around the place, almost as if she was a little kid discovering a new playground for the very first time. First she was rummaging through the clothes, then she was outside and then she was standing not too far away from him. She was actually more entertaining than the book.
But to her suggestion, he just chuckled, dismissing the thought as easily as it passed her lips. That he was doubtful about. More pay? More holidays? What was that?
...she needed to know the truth, didn’t she?
“I’m going to tell you of a secret, Miss Molly. Well, when I say a secret, it isn’t really one to most of the people here.”
His tone was a lot sterner than he had meant it to be. It sounded a little irritated through it was completely unintentional. But as he slowly put down his plate and got onto his feet, his hands clenched into balled-up fists, swallowing hard.
She needed to know. She was only going to see it for herself. It was probably best to forewarn her before she saw it all for herself. She needed to hear it.
“I’m not a traditional butler that you know well and love in your human world. As you know, I am a House Elf. We House Elves do not get paid nor do we get holidays. We live under the rules of the house and follow orders. That is our purpose. That is my purpose. We were born and bred to serve. That is all we know, all we live and breathe to do. And if I am completely honest, which it is in my nature to be, Master Fergie is actually a very kind master to have. What you will see in the castle is what the relation between the House Elf and their higher being should be, what it normally is...and what it used to be like for me.”
His body flinched slightly, hating the fact that what he was saying was the complete and utter truth. A couple of ill-set memories in his head were beginning to flare up controllably. A lot of House Elf got flashbacks, especially those who managed to escape from the terrible masters. Jeffrey was no exception.
It was just they were getting worse when he was getting closer to the palace where it all originated from.


"How... Interesting."
A slither of a form peaked out from the shadows behind the lockers, the only thing to be seen the slight glow of a dark stare. It followed the direction of the elf as he ran in front of him, a smile on his lips as he peered down to the parchment in his hand, the wanted papers for the young gentleman who he had just found.
And so easily? Who would have though it?
The face might have been slimmer but there was no doubt about it. His tip-off was correct.
"Looks like I have some news to tell the family.
A smooth chuckle rolled from his lips, one of good practice and undoubtedly somewhat sinister. It was definitely was fitting to the man.
And then, he was gone.


Robin: I pressed my lips as I walked into class, my eyes peering over at the board and then to the rest of the room. Yeah, I hated Wednesdays. History then sport. Yippee.
So just as I turned down the aisle to make way for my seat in the back corner of the room, I gave a sigh, placing my hand gently onto my brow, beginning to think that pretending to be sick was actually creating the symptoms in me, that the headache that was forming into the front of my head was because of that. But...it wasn’t quite the same. I couldn't help but notice something about it. Something felt...off. I didn't know what it was. It was like a...lure. Like something drawing me over to the other side of the school, like a beacon, as strange as it sounded. It was like it was searching for something desperately, like it was searching everywhere for something.
...but then it was gone along with that ache in my brain.
"Strange," I murmured under my breath.
And after shaking the thought out of my head, I took my seat and began to prepare myself for the torture that was history.
Well, that class didn't end up too well. Again there was a test and again I just about scraped by. I basically spent the whole lesson daydreaming about Johnny and that damn sexy body of his...again. History seemed to be repeating itself for me. Always the same old things, not that I was complaining too much. Having time to myself was exactly what I needed. It gave me time to try and figure things out a bit. I needed some of that. I didn’t need to have to deal with the bothers that were school. I had bigger fish to fry.
First, I needed to make sure that I wasn’t going to accidentally kill anyway.
Then we needed to try and find Fergie.
Then I needed to figure a way of keeping Johnny and me together for as long as it was possible.
But the time seemed to fly by as I ended up with about the same amount of solutions at the end of the lesson as I did at the beginning. And as the bell rang, I quickly began to frown.
Sport. Hockey to be exact.
Well, it would have been hockey but I managed to get off of it thanks to a note signed by my mother...but instead I had to sit there and keep score of the match, all whilst having to deal with the stares from the rest of the girls. Yeah, sure, that damn sexy body which I knew well and loved wasn't far off, just on the other side of the field to be exact but...
Let's just say that ever since Molly had gone off, the old antics of me getting picked on were getting worse, in that lesson especially. At least with Molly I had someone else to not give a crap with but I was on my own. I was having to deal with their little comments again. And it wasn't as if I could tell Johnny. What would he do? As much as I loved him I wouldn't think that he would do much. Anyway, he had much bigger things to deal with, as did I. If I gave it a few months I would have been able to magic them into a rat.
Talk about revenge.
But after what felt like hours, the teacher finally let everyone go. I gave a grateful sigh and picked up my bag, ready to head on out of there and to the spot where we had scheduled to meet for lunch before anyone could have a chance of dropping any comments in my way. But that didn’t mean that they weren’t going to be bitching about me later, did it? I was pretty damn sure about it.


Appearing out of the shadows from behind the upturned wardrobe, the familiar figure with the dark frown began to walk towards the bed, his stare cold as it pinned onto the crying woman on the edge of the bed. His silver-topped cane stayed silent as he held it tight in his grip, deciding that if anyone knew that he was in there – including Lila – it would have been a very bad thing. Instead, he strode in front of her, bent his knees to get to her eye level, cleared his throat to grab her attention and put out a hand.
His expression stayed stern and he clearly spoke, though in a hushed voice, “I know that you don’t trust me, but who else can you trust?”
But before she had a chance to react, he snatched her hand and, in a blink of an eye and a sudden drop in the temperature, took her to a whole new location, one of the many parks in the city. He rose to his feet, still watching her as she sat down on the bench, her posture unmoved by the teleportation. He turned on his heels and took a few steps back, a hand ran through his hair, his scowl a little more persistent than usual.
Something was still on his brain. It wasn’t often that he was beaten. That moment had been burnt into his mind, a scar on the normally proud array of memories he had won over the years. But it was done so easily and with magic that he was so well practiced in and magic that...
He knew the trace well, out of everyone he should know, but... How did he get it? It was seemingly impossible.
But then wasn’t the time to think about it. Then he had to deal with other problems, one of those problems being the one sitting on the park bench right behind him. And he had to make sure that she was settled before she kicked up a fuss.
Or changed forms.
“As you know,” he began, “that isn’t my son. That is Timothy, however a much more powerful version of the man you once knew. A much, much more powerful man...”
He turned and frowned, deciding that he needed to focus on what she would want to hear rather than what was troubling him. That was for him to deal with, not for her to worry about...for then, at least. He needed to tell her what she would want to hear. Good news.
“But I do know where Oliver currently is and I can take you to him. He’s in the lower district of town working cover in a shop for now. I have a feeling that he would like to know that you know who he is and who Timmy is pretending to be.”
From his top pocket, he slipped out a card, a business card for the said shop, complete with address and a quick sketch of a diagram of how to get there. It was the least that he could do. Olly would want to know of the news, wouldn’t he? That his wife knew of everything. Yes, it would comfort him in the matter but it seemed that that wasn’t going to be the simple solution to their problems. Well, it was only going to create divisions, wasn’t it?

[bookcrazI]

Molly:
I tilted my head and frowned as he talked, what did he mean he wasn't paid? Fergie told me he was paid.
As his little speech drew to a close my eyes were wide and lower lip quivering, tears threatening to spill over. That was awful! I practically threw myself at him to gather him in a hug where I asked him if he was alright or if there was anything I could do, or why they were treated like that. I was pretty shaken up, what he had told me was along the lines of slavery, truth be told it was slavery.
I was not okay with that.
Without giving him a chance to answer, or react really, I pulled away from my hasty embrace and wiped my eyes.
"How can I help?" I asked.
Sir William's voice broke through the canvas of our little tent and caught my attention.
"Ms. Black, I would suggest you hasten your preparations, I would like to make it to the castle by mid morning." He called.
Even his voice was noble sounding, all prince like and charming and every little girl's dream, he had a big horse too.
I turned my head back to Jefferey and let out a sigh, rummaging around in my thoughts.
"We will converse later at length, also I might make a scene at the castle if not properly watched...so.. be wary.. Magic makes me..rather... emotional.. plus.. other things affect me. Let's be on our way then." I murmured, perking back up for appearance sake.
His information was rather startling, something that had me thinking deeper, what else was I blind to? What else did I not know? It left me with a rather large black cloud of doubt raining down on my positivity parade. In fact it down right murdered my parade leader, or whatever you called those spiffy men with the long sticks.
I busied myself again with packing things away and enchanting them quietly. I had a large amount of research to do in very little time.


Johnny:
I ran a hand through my hair and jogged off to our meeting place, well Robin and mine's, it use to be Robin and Molly's but seeing as she was off on a quest... None of that. I pushed away the sad and forced a bit of a smile on my face, I got to see the girl I loved, that was definitely an upside to this day.
Plus the heebie Jeebies I was getting earlier were gone, though the fact that I had got them troubled me.
Ever since Robin's father had confronted me I had felt the need to be even closer to the shadows than normal. I had moved from my crappy little apartment into a more crappy little apartment into a shadier part of town. luckily I brought what I needed in a simple suitcase, I left the rest with Natalie. I liked to check up on her often, take care of her, and this just gave me another reason to take care of the sweet old thing.
I just didn't want to pull her into this giant mess.
I looked up from my little stroll and sighed as the little lunch table came into view and Robin's little form. The playful side of me made an extra effort to sneak quietly, grabbing her at the last moment to kiss her cheek in surprise. Only problem was that after the kiss I was blasted back and hit the ground hard.
Scaring her really wasn't a good idea.


Lila:
Everything happened in a blur; Olly's father, transportation, words, and a card. I watched him blankly for a moment before things started to fit together in my head.
I reached out, as her was talking and explaining, and placed my shakey, bloody hand ontop of his, the one holding the cane, and offered him a small smile.
"I knew it... I knew it.. I knew it.." My words descended into whispers, a quiet mantra of hope.
I was safe, more or less, his aura still caused mine to shiver and pulse with fight or flight instinct but it also gave me a little bit of calm. I was away from that hell, I was free. I was in a ripped night gown.
I was bleeding.
I was acting like an insane woman.
I released his hand and used it to brush my hair back, flatten out the stained silk of my flimsy dress, and wipe angrily at my tears.
I had to pull myself together.
I tightened my grip around the little card and looked up at Olly's father.
"I thank you for your help but I would like to request if you could get me some decent clothes as I am hardly prepared to walk the streets in this." I requested in a military like tone.
Plain but firm.
I glanced down for extra effect to my words: I had little cuts across my arms and chest, where the v-neck of my night gown showed; bruises on my arms and legs where skin was bare; and the night gown itself, which was a little bit above the knee, was torn and ripped.
Hardly the most appropriate condition to be out walking in.
My head was still a mess, blurred and feral in places and whimpering in others, but I had to act stronger now that this man was here.
He was right, I did not trust him.
He was all I had at the moment though, and I couldn't let my guard down.

[OpenTheDoor]

Big horse? Long sticks? Wonder what's on Molly's mind...

Of course, the elf's eyes widened as she wrapped her arms around him, a slight surge of panic firing through his veins.
He was being hugged.
He was being touched by a human master.
He flinched back as quickly as he could, dusting off the front of his suit. That was something which he wasn't used to, human contact, only when it was necessary like when Mrs. Ferguson was choking and he had to help her. Other than that it wasn't allowed.
So as Sir William popped his head into the tent, the butler tried to pretend as though nothing had just happened, that they were just having a normal conversation...but something in the pit of his stomach was telling him that his attempt of acting normal was failing. He was given that look from him. 
He gave a nod to her words and began to clear up tent ready for everything to be moved. It didn't seem very appropriate to say anything then. Of course, he wasn't going to let her kick up a fuss. She couldn't meddle with hundreds of years of tradition. That just wasn't done.
"Miss Molly... I am not in a position nor will I ever be to tell you what to do, only to give advice. If I were you I would not mention anything to do with me in court, especially when it comes to House Elf rights. Just, when we are there, treat me as simply your butler and not in the friendly manner you grace me with. Please."
And with that, he quickly exited the tent to organise the horses. He needed to get out of there before she had a chance to retort. She needed time to let it sink in.

Robin: It happened all quite quickly. First I was sitting there, all quite happily, expecting my guy to appear from the door in front of me so that I could march him around before he had a chance to sit down off to where I was taking him... But then I ended up throwing him to the floor in a Wonder Woman kind of fashion.
It took me a few seconds to realise everything.
It wasn't a madman. 
It was Johnny.
Oh shit.
"Oh my God!" I squeaked, scrambling out of my chair as quickly as my aching form would allow me to, "I-I'm so sorry! Don't sneak up on me like that...now..."
I never used to be able to do that. That was something I was only taught recently. That's why I had to murmur the last part in realisation that before I probably would have realised that it was him a lot sooner. That was what fatigue was doing to me.
But as I took a hold of his hand and pulled him up, using a little bit of practiced magic to help, I continued to frown, placing a small panicked kiss on his lips. A slight twinge of guilt was caught in my eye as I peered up to him, forgetting the fact that he was a manly elf and not a tiny little baby. He could handle himself.
But before he had a chance to react, I got onto my tiptoes and hovered by lips above his ear, so that only he could hear what I was about to say.
"Come on, I'm taking you somewhere," I whispered, squeezing his hand, "Just follow me."
Well, the traditional way of getting to the place would have taken up our entire lunch break. It was pretty handy that I had a shortcut then.
So, with no more details that than added, I gave him a little self-pleased smile and led him towards the direction of the nearest door. And as we reached it and I opened it, I directioned him through before I shut the door behind the pair of us.
But of course, we weren't in the janitor's cupboard like we were meant to have been.
And as the smell of my home-cooking hit me, I gave a small sigh.
Yeah, I had taken us both to Fergie's apartment. It wasn't as if it was going to be my place and I didn't feel as though Johnny's place had the right ambiance to it and Fergie was missing so...
"It's amazing how many times you can get away with the bathroom excuse," I chuckled, walking over to him, "Now, take a seat if you please. I'll go get our lunch."
My hand motioned towards the dining table in the centre of the room, the one that was set up with cutlery, water and candles. Yeah, it truly was amazing, half of the stuff which I found in the cupboards there. And I was only trying to find the herbs.
And after dropping him a small wink, I ventured into the kitchen and opened up the door to the oven, the smell of lasagne warming all of my senses. Well, I needed to make him something that I could leave in the oven for a while. I just needed to say that I needed the toilet or felt like I was going to throw up at certain points so that I could compile the dish or cook the meat or whatever. No biggie.
And so with a pretty large smile on my face, I carried through the dish and set it on the table, grabbing a serving spoon from the side. 
"So, how much do you want?"

The man gently nodded, clicking his fingers to her request. In a flash, a neat and folded outfit was beside her on the bench. 
"To my knowledge there is a toilet a little down the path if you wish to change in there...or I could take you to another place to change in greater privacy. But these people cannot see us."
It seemed that their surroundings was proof enough. Normally people loved to stare at the odd ones in the park however the man clad head-to-foot in black with a silver-topped cane and the bleeding pajama-wearing woman wasn't getting a second glance. 
So as the man took a few steps backwards, he ran a hand through his hair, looking off and away to the rest of the human world. He frowned to himself as he began to speak again.
"Mrs. Parlour, I think that now would be a good time to explain something to you. Though I am not the most trustworthy or safest man, I am your father-in-law. That means that it is in my greatest interest to make sure that you are well. I might not be the kindest man but I always look out for my children and for their wellbeing. If they are in trouble then I am bound to help them. I came to Oliver's aid earlier when he needed it. If you have any troubles at all then it would be my duty and pleasure to help you."

[bookcrazI]

Molly:
I sat back on my heels, a bit stunned but also confused, wouldn't he want me to help? Was this one of those things you couldn't help?
I frowned, there was never a situation where you couldn't help.
With a rough sigh and a quick reconfiguration of my hair I was finally ready to leave the tent. I exited quickly and spelled it all up into my pocket, almost bored unlike the first time I tried out the spell.
It was all a strange slow motion blur to me as I sat in my thinking place in my head, watching everything from a third person point of view. I smiled numbly to everyone as I got onto my horse, ferociously thinking away in my head. I had to be presentable, I couldn't do any sort of 'Free the house elves' movement, I had to be what I was expected to be.
I pulled out one of the many spell/history books I managed to take with me and began to flip through the pages, my horse being smart enough to just follow the other riders.
I had to behave myself.
I had to learn more.
(not finished)

[bookcrazI]

Johnny:
I stiffly followed her, she leaving me no time to reply, and tried to make it look like I didn't hurt as much as I did. As the feeling of vertigo spun me around as I walked through the door
The shifting places thing didn't sit well with my gut, and it was nice enough to tell me about it. So with my body complaining and the lovely urge to vomit, I entered and was assaulted with the pleasant scent of cheesy lasagna. My stomach couldn't take it though and, in a very manly way did I scurry off to the bathroom to empty my stomach.
It was a few moments later did I realize I was in Fergie's home, which did raise some questions, but they were set aside as the desire to stop puking was on the top of my list.
When I stumbled back to the kitchen, an apologetic smile on my face, did I finally answer her question. "A very small one, please... and large cup of water."


Lila:
I listened to him carefully, he did seem sincere, he did seem to be telling the truth. I could explain the feeling I was getting as a simple fight or flight feeling, instincts alerting me to the dangerous predator that stood before me.
It was my human mind that struggled with what to do, trusting him, as he asked me to do, seemed reasonable.
His reasons were quite.. reasonable.
I let out a quiet sigh and lifted up the stack of clothes that had appeared beside me. I didn't have many options left now, did I?
"I will trust you.... You haven't wronged me in any way to make me not trust you.. So.. I would appreciate if you could take me somewhere more private though, so I can change so I can make my way quickly back to my real husband." I stated, my voice staying rather diplomatically clam throughout.
One skill you learn while becoming a princess is to be rather emotionless at all times, emotions can be taken for weakness at critical times. It's best to keep the battle in your head rather than on your face. Then again, that little bit of advice may have been one of the reasons my thoughts were so loud.

[OpenTheDoor]

The grammar will probably be a bit terrible and I might have mixed up my tenses a few times but...

As Jeffrey had said, it took didn’t take long to reach the grand gates of the palace, even when it was decided that they should ride through a few villages along the way, to make sure that the new Guardian of the North was shown off to the entire kingdom. Well, a new guardian didn’t happen all too often. It certainly was an occasion suitable for celebrations. And in every village they were met with an audience, keen to catch a glimpse of the new celebrity.
Though it wasn’t long before the three words they were all longing to hear were called.
“We have arrived!”
Sir William announced from the back of his horse, his head high as he led the parade towards the opening gates. Jeffrey let out a low whistle at the sight. He was never unsurprised by the sight of the castle walls. Several stories high, adorned with guards and catapults, it truly was a sight right from a fairytale.
And as the parade marched through, they were met with the biggest crowd since their journey began, where every person filled in every space to catch a glimpse of the new Guardian of the North. The knights, however, continued to look on, stern faced to complete their mission of delivering the precious cargo before she got too trampled by the on-lookers. And it wasn’t long before they were dismounting their horses.
“Miss Molly, we have arrived at the castle,” Sir William obviously stated, putting his hand out to help her dismount, “If you wish, you may have some time to gather yourself and your thoughts before you meet the king.”

Robin: I grimaced as the realisation hit me. I forgot that he couldn’t handle the door-travelling like I could, that every time he had thrown up afterwards. My mind was too fixed on having a nice lunch together where we could talk in private for the first time in ages, where the food wasn’t half cold.
So as I gave a sigh and picked up the dish, I motioned for him to follow me to the table. But before he could take his seat, I put down the lasagne and grabbed a hold of his wrist. My apologetic eyes peered up to him, a small flickering frown on my lips. The other hand rose up to his cheek, gently caressing it as my mouth pressed against his neck to nuzzle into him despite my legs screaming in pain to me getting onto my tiptoes.
“I-I’m sorry. I forgot about the sickness thing,” I murmured, giving a small sigh.
I had to say, I probably lingered a little too long there, him not being the only one who missed the contact. I was sure that if I wasn’t injured then we wouldn’t have been having dinner then.
But as I slipped down, poured the drinks and portioned out the lunch, I finally took my seat, glad that I was taking the weight off of my feet once again.

The man nodded, glad to scrape away at least a little bit of the doubt which she had about him. Why would he wish to harm her? If everything reverted back to normality then she would be the mother to his grandchildren, and that was extremely important to him as they would be the heir to his possessions and so on in the long run.
“Of course,” he nodded, gripping the top of his cane with both hands.
And with nothing more than a blink of an eye, the two of them were taken to a new location. It was actually a dress shop a minute’s walk away from the shop, complete with dressing rooms. And despite the fact that it was closed down, it still looked in good condition, still with a few unsold dresses hung up as well. Well, where else did he get the clothes which he had given to Lila from?
“I will wait outside to close the shop up again once you have finished, then I shall leave you be.”
With a polite nod, the man followed his own orders and walked out of the shop, peering around and down the busy high street with a small sigh. It seemed that he had pushed along the first few necessities to get everything back to normal.

[bookcrazI]

That's all right, how are your A-levels? GOOD LUCK MY FRIEND!!!

Molly:
As soon as Sir William mentioned passing through towns I grimaced, we were gonna have a lovely parade then, weren't we. I put on my best debutante smile and winner's wave and executed both of them until I thought my arm was being ripped from my torso with each movement of my hand. I was proud that I had made it to the castle though.
Each town we went through I was met with admiration and smiles, enough to make me rather nervous, the only thing I could do was pretend. Pretend they weren't depending on me, pretend that I wasn't Guardian of the North, pretend that this was just another little contest my mom had signed me up for and that I had won.
I had just been crowned Miss Guardian, now I had to receive my prize from the king and go home and take a long shower and start fresh the next day.
Once we had reached the gates my face had cramped and I was stuck with a half smile and a twitchy eye. It was erased when I saw the castle and a whole array of girlish fantasies came to light. The tall towers were ever so similar to those in Rapunzel and the whole look of the place reminded me of Hogwarts crossed with Riverdale. Suffice to say I stared at the place for a little while.
I looked at Sir William, noticing his mouth moving and quickly tried to rewind my brain, searching for the sounds that fit the curve of his lips. With it gathered it took me an awkward moment to nod quickly and grip his hand, making my way off the horse. I landed on the ground with a louder thump that I would have liked but uninjured, which I considered a win. I glanced back at Jefferey and, after making sure he was close behind, let Sir William lead us inside the castle, from then on we were passed off to a maid who then directed us to the powder room where I began to furiously strip, behind a small curtain, and search for a pretty dress to wear. I settled on the little dress I had made out of Fergie's t-shirt, the thing was pretty, sentimental and, most importantly, magic. With it on I slid to the mirror and began to assault my face with product; concealer, eyeliner, eye shadow, lipstick, blush, the whole shebang. Again I was blessing my mother for pushing me into the pageant world, the skill of the quick change was something I was glad to have at the moment.
In moments I was standing in front of Jefferey with my arms out, giving him the 'howdoIlook?' twirl.
"Well... Am I presentable to see the king?" I asked.

Johnny:
I held onto her, grimacing lightly at her kiss, knowing my mouth was not the best place to be near considering my lunch just left through that door. I enjoyed the contact all the same.
"Don't be sorry, I'll get used to it eventually, that or I'll start packing gravol in my lunch..." I replied, sitting next to her.
I'd do anything for that girl.
I ran a hand through my hair and picked up my fork, beginning to eat, pushing away the lingering nausea that clung to my stomach.
"mmm.. This is.. The best Lasagna I have ever had...."


Lila:
I carried the clean clothes into one of the abandoned dressing rooms which was empty aside from a bit of dust. I slid off my nightgown with still shaking hands and stepped into the dress I was given. I winced as the fabric brushed against the fresh wounds but I was still glad to have something clean on for a change, three days in the same outfit left me pretty grimy feeling. I took a look at my appearance in the warped mirror and sighed, my hair was rather frizzy and the dress did little to cover the cuts and bruises on my legs and arms but it wasn't ripped.
That was nice.
The light burgundy color was really pretty, so that was another upside.
Things weren't that bad.
I had gotten out.
I quickly pulled my hair back and slipped on the little sweater that was given to me with the dress and the little ballet flats, leaving my nightgown in the changing room. I had to see Olly.
I rubbed my face with my hands and left the little shop, feeling better and yet more worried than before.
The business card was clutched tightly in my hand.
"I thank you for all you have done for me... now.. I'll be off to see.. my husband." I said, holding back a few tears.
I gave the man a brisk nod and turned, studying the business card with a desperate intensity, following the path as quick as I could while ignoring the stinging pain that hung about my body.

[OpenTheDoor]

Haven't done them yet, still on Xmas break But things are going alright, I guess. Thanks for asking and for the luck. I really need it -.- How's things for you?

Jeffrey, who had been awkwardly hanging around outside the entity of her changing due to the tutting and telling off that he was given by the maid before he even had a chance to speak, turned his head as Miss Molly emerged from the room, looking rather transformed from the past image that she was. Her hair was less tangled and she looked a lot less pale, and those clothes didn't seem to have a tear or stain in sight. 
"Yes, Miss," he nodded.
And he didn't have to lie about it that time. Yes, before he may have been stretching the truth and it certainly was a relief to say that she wasn't overdoing it either. He had seen it before when people -- women especially -- put too much of an effort in and ended up looking like a clown. There was definitely an art to getting it right.
So as the guards walked over to escort the two visitors to the king's throne, the butler's eyes dares to flicker over to the other side of the hallway, swearing that he had heard something similar to his name... His real name, not the one which he was given. But as the guards began to walk away and they were expected to follow, the elf was forced to abandon his worry and let himself be led right at the back, all the way up to the old oak grand doors of the throne room. And nailed to the doors, similar to the ones in the shoppe, a huge pair of knockers stood proud.
"The king is just beyond these doors."
Sir William appeared from the side, walking up to Molly to her side. He bowed his head slightly before turning to the guards who were protecting the door and gave a small nod.
And with that, the two protecting the door stepped away, raising a hand towards the handles on the front of it. If by magic, they slowly began to open...

Robin: I couldn't eat right away. I just sat there, fork in hand, pretending that I was just cutting it up and portioning the first mouthful so that the right amount of meat, pasta and cheese were upon it. Needless to say, I was a little nervous. Johnny was the chef one with his fancy finger sandwiches and sugarless cake, and all I had was an authentic Italian recipe from Mom's friend.
He was just saying that, that he liked it. He must have been. And as I took a mouthful for myself I was still convinced that he was lying. They must have never served up pasta to them in the 'monk' place...and he never did try my mom's, did he? 
That would explain it.
But he still must have been feeling a bit bad because of the sickness thing...
"Really?... And of you're not hungry then you don't have to eat it," I murmured, lightly nudging my knee into him, "Its not like I'll be offended or anything."
I gave a small laugh as I put another bit of the food in my mouth, glad that I did indeed do that. Yeah, it was hard work but it was worth it...despite all of those bitches' comments again...
No, I didn't need to think about it. It was Johnny and mine's first time together since ages so...
"But how are you? I felt like we haven't spoken in a while... I kind of missed you."
And already I was getting all soppy. Typical.

Olly: "Four across. A type of bird. Anagrams of NAVER..."
It had probably been about four days since the whole incident, and I was no more accustomed to the new look as I was the moment I realised that I was no longer in my body. Even my handwriting was strange. I was using the other hand. It was legible to say the least.
But even so, I still had to hold up the cover of shopkeeper boy for Molly until she got back. I had to sit there, waiting for the occasional customer and find new ways of entertaining myself. She didn't have a TV, just musky old books. Sure, I had read up on a few but there was only so much reading of ancient texts which I could handle without getting confused about certain aspects of the entire history of magic. There were the odd customers, however. Mostly people who I would never thought of as magical: the Petersons from down the road; Maggie Tanner who works in the bar on Saturdays and, most scarily, my old algebra teacher asked for griffin feathers. Who knew, eh?
And so as I peered up to the clock and sighed, realising that another hour alone had passed, I shut the puzzle book and frowned. I was hungry. I needed food. Normal food. Not magical food. Seriously, the cupboards were filled up all sorts of weird things from newt cookies to fly flu sauce. It wasn't very appetising...
But I still had another two hours of business before I could close the shop up and go to a restaurant...
"Brilliant."

[Sponsored content]