First Sight

I had a plan for this chapter but I had another dream and I may incorporate aspects of it into this chapter.

First Sight

"Jack! Come here for a second!" hissed Allen. Jack blinked in surprise; Allen was usually pretty reserved. The kid was pretty strange and obviously had a lot of secrets. Typically, however, he never displayed any of his real emotions on his face. He just hid behind a carefree smile. Not today. Allen looked... unbraided, for lack of a better word. 

"What's wrong?" asked Jack with concern carefully approaching him. Allen glanced around nervously. No one was around.

"Maybe... Maybe I should just show him..." muttered Allen to himself. He sent another panicked look around him before grabbing Jacks arms and dragging him back through the halls to Allen's room which was located by itself on the lowest corner of the castle. 

Allen's normally neat room was in chaos.There water all over the floor along with locks of long brown hair. The bed was a lumpy mess. Allen's weird little golden bird fluttering about screeching.  A knife covered in coral was laying on the dresser and Jack could have sworn that he saw the glitter of jewels underneath the grime. 

"What... is going on here?" breathed Jack.

"I-I don't even know... it's all so messed up." whispered Allen, "I am showing you because all the others are either loud mouths or they're related to the Earl. I- I am not sure if I want the Earl involved in this. But... I can't deal with this on my own."

"I... don't understand." said Jack truthfully. 

"Here, look." said Allen pulling back the covers slightly. Jack's eyes widened. There on the bed was a person he'd never seen before. Unevenly cut hair (hair that matched what was on the floor) was soaked as well as dark cloths that clung to...

"Allen... is that a-?"

"-A girl? yes." said Allen nervously ringing his hands, "and not just any girl. I- I think she is a- a witch."

"WHAT!?" exclaimed Jack.

"Shhh!" said Allen franticly, "I am not sure, but it seems like it... when we were in the witch water-"

"You were in the witch water!?"

"She fell! And I was right at an open window! And I just jumped without thinking... anyway there were all these crazy cursed-dead-things and then there was this knife and I got this zap of power from her that made them all go away. And now the Earl has been having the дкцма prowling around looking for her. Maybe I should turn her in but she seemed so freaked out by the experience too and-"

"You talked to her?" asked Jack. Honestly it was just to slow down Allen's talking. Jack felt like his mind was going into overdrive from all these confounding occurrences. No wonder Allen was distressed.

"A bit... she was a little confusing. She kept on talking about all these things she'd read in books... she sounded like Lavi. I think she might have been in shock. I-I asked if she was a witch and she just looked really confused. If she is a witch, I don't think she knows it." commented Allen running a hand through his hair.

"Makes sense; they'd never allow her to come here if there was any indication... poor kid. What are you going to do?" asked Jack.

"I am not sure. That's the problem." said Allen, "I climbed up the wall to the girl's floor and almost got caught by the дкцма. They're all over upstairs looking for her." said Allen shivering. Jack shivered too; дкцма were the soulless bodies of the previous witches that the Earl had enslaved to do his bidding after their betrayal in the Great Fall... If they caught the girl in Allen's room she would share the same fate. Jack understood why Allen was reluctant to turn her in. 

"I guess you could hide her here for now at least... nobody ever comes to you room or would question you bringing large quantities of food here. But she can't stay forever, we'll have to figure out something soon or all three of us could get in huge trouble for helping a fugitive." mused Jack pretending to be a lot calmer than he felt; Allen looked like he needed it at the moment.

"Yeah..." sighed Allen.

"Anything you need right now?" asked Jack.

"Yeah," said Allen glaring at the crusted knife on the dresser, "Get rid of that for me somewhere; it gives me a bad feeling and I don't want any more incidents like earlier."

"Sure." said Jack, glad to have a reason to leave. Jack picked it up, it was icy cold to the touch and ridiculously heavy... every part of him screamed to put the thing down. 'you're not supposed to have this' everything seemed to scream. Jack swallowed and tucked the knife into his large coat pocket. "I'll be off then."

****

"What's going on here?! why do we have to stay locked in our rooms!" complained Jaya as she sat on the bed next to Bethany and Rylie. Dria had stolen the couch and was slowly eating her way through a mountain of sweets.

"Yeah, I don't care if the дкцма f*****g stab me to death. I am not sticking around when that sugar rush hits." said Rylie pointing at Dria.

"So long as she doesn't mess up my kitty's." shrugged Bethany indifferently.

"Thanks a lot a******s." said Dria rolling her eyes.

"Where is everybody anyway?" asked Jaya.

"Probably staying in their own rooms like they're supposed to. F*****g rule followers." said Rylie.

"Actually I haven't seem Rachel or Sarah since morning now that I think about it... and both Yasmine and Siana also seemed to have mysteriously poofed into thin air." mused Bethany as she crocheted.

"One would think we would have heard them by now." said Jaya.

"Right?" laughed Rylie. They all fell silence for a bit... well near silence; Jaya was humming and Rylie was cursing under her breath as she james at a handheld game they had refurnished from before the Great Fall. Bethany held up the small doll she had completed to the light critically when she suddenly drooped it and cursed.

"The s**t?!" she exclaimed staring wide-eyed at the window.

"What?! What is it!" said Rylie and Jaya looking wildly around trying to see what ever it was that could have startled her.

"OH NO! THE ZOMBIES ARE ATTACKING! WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE-" screamed Dria dramatically although she was laughing.

"SHUT UP!" screamed Rylie.

"YOU TRYING TO START SOMETHING B***H?!" retaliated Dria slamming her candy to the ground and leaping to her feet.

"YOU-"

"So what was it Bethany?!" yelled Jaya over the sound of the other two starting yet another playful brawl.

"Nothing! Just my brain f*****g me over as usual!" Bethany yelled back.

"What?!"

"Never mind! Tell you later!" said Bethany, Jaya nodded and went back to careful monitoring Dria and Rylie. Bethany glanced back at the window.

For one crazy moment she had thought she had seen a creep wearing a mask hanging from the eves outside. Bethany shook her head.

She certainly had an imagination.

****

"Why do I have to wear this?" growled Siana as Tyki fastened a butterfly pendent around her neck.

"Because you have agreed to become part of the Earl's family. Matches within the иоач family work a little differently; you'll have to live with me in the beginning until the Earl approves of you. While you live down stairs you can hunt for your friend." Said Tyki easily. In actuality the pendent was a charm to keep the other иоач  from recognizing his little Tease for what she was.

"And as soon as we've found Rachel we can smuggle her back upstairs and you will clear the ridiculous charges of her being a witch from her name. Then we can wait a few weeks and than say that our personalities are not compatible and brake off the match." Siana reminded him glowering.

"Of course." Tyki lied easily; he had no intention of doing any of those things. But he could drop the act as after the Earl approved the match. Once you were a part of the иоач family you were stuck for good.

"Okay, let's get going." said Siana starting forward than stoping at the window and glancing back at him.

"Tyki..." as thrill went through him as she said his name, "How are we getting down...?"

"Easy," grinned Tyki evilly, "Like this."

"Don't you dare-!" started Siana as she realized what he was up to a second too late. Tyki scooped the short girl easily off her feet leaped out the window with a whoop. Siana didn't scream... Tyki thought she was cursing nonstop but he wasn't sure... it was hilarious whatever it was.

"Here we are my little Tease." grinned Tyki when they were inside safely. 

"난 당신을 죽일거야해서 ... 이 새끼 야!" breathed Siana through clenched teeth. She had wrapped herself as tightly around Tyki as was possible and he was pretty sure she was cutting off his circulation. He wasn't particularly eager for her to let go either though.

"Not sure if I want to know what you just said." grinned Tyki.

"Sure? I really think you need to hear it..." spat Siana full of venom, recovering herself slightly.

"For now let's go to our room." purred Tyki.

"Don't get used to me, I am not staying." warned Siana.

"I won't dream of it." but it was a lie. He already had dreams for them...

****

Rachel opened her eyes to find herself shivering. She sat up in confusion, disoriented for a moment by her unfamiliar surroundings. Then it all came back to her... something had awoken in her when she'd touched the white haired boy. There was a fire that had bubbled up underneath her skin, full of power and... something she couldn't seem to name. She could still feel it slightly. It was like a strange ticking sensation that made her almost want to sneeze. Too bad it wouldn't make her warm.

She realized that she was still whirring the slightly damp cloths from before. Though Rachel was eternally grateful the boy had not undressed her, she was now probably in danger of going into hypothermia. Speaking of the boy, he was nowhere to be seen. She wondered if she should wait for him to come back before she asked to borrow some cloths... Rachel started shivering so violently that her teeth clattered and her vision seemed to vibrate. Right, not waiting for silver-hair to come back. 

The room had been cleaned up since the last time she was awake and was back in such pristine order that Rachel was a little afraid to mess something up. Still it wasn't easy even once she'd found some cloths; she was shaking so much getting dressed was difficult. Eventually she managed it but the cloths themselves had yet to warm up so she was still freezing. Before Rachel had time to start freaking out about the possibility of freezing to death the door opened and the white haired boy returned with a steaming bowl.

"Oh, your awake. I was starting to worry." he said softly, though Rachel noticed that he very hurriedly shut the door behind him, "This is for you."

It was a bowl of hot soup. Rachel decided that she was in love. (with the soup of course!)

"Thank you." she said earnestly. She tried to take a sip of the soup and nearly burned herself so she had to comet herself with pressing her numb fingers onto the warm exterior of the bowl.

"Sorry that the room is so cold. The teachers would have invaded my room if it looked like I had accidentally left the fire lit when I went to the classes." apologized the boy as he hurried to stack logs in the fire place.

"I-It's n-no trouble. T-they do t-the same th-thing on th-e g-g-girls floors." smiled Rachel weakly through chattering teeth. The boy looked at her with concern but made no comment. 

"I am Allen by the way." said the boy, "Allen Walker."

"Isn't that-!?"

"The Earl's Family? Yeah, I am adopted. Sort of a weird position to be because half the family considers me a иоач and the other half... well it's not like I'll inherit or anything so I don't know why they bother." Allen grumbled.

"Oh..." said Rachel though she wasn't sure she understood. but the soup was just cool enough to eat and was warming her to the tips of her toes subsiding her shivers.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to rant to you about my problems. What about you? who are you exactly?" asked Allen seeming uncomfortable talking about himself.

"Oh, I am nobody." said Rachel not sure of how to treat Allen... The Earl's adopted son. That practically made him royalty.

"You're not nobody. I learned long ago that only the oldest and most important families were placed in this castle." said Allen skeptically. Rachel grimaced, she wondered herself many times if that might be true.

"My name is Rachel... Rachel Wilder." she sighed at last. Predictably his eyes widened.

"No way. you can't be... you're the girl Lavi never shuts up about?" said Allen incredulously. 

"Lavi Bookman needs to learn to mind his own business." grumbled Rachel, "I don't know whether he rants about me(I hope not) but he is my cousin. I've never met him of course(he's a boy obviously) but he is constantly having the teachers confiscate my notes on the findings before the Great Fall. I guess he's a Bookman so he gets that privilege..."

"I would have never imagined that Rachel Wilder was a witch..." mumbled Allen to himself.

"First of all, as I have already told you, I am not a witch. May I remind you that I was unconscious and that YOU were the one who caused all that crazy-what-not in the lake. Second, they're not called witches they're called Elflien (and I am NOT one of those either) and they can't actually cast spells themselves; they require magical artifacts and a compatible ежояsiст. Elflien were actually used in the wars more like weapons in the Great Fall. It was the ежояsiст's that were the actual problem. The Earl only destroyed the Elflien because without them the ежояsiст's were completely helpless. But I am not a Elflien anyway so it's irrelevant in any event." said Rachel in irritation. She knew she should have not snapped at him, he had after all saved her life, but he had been bothering her constantly about being a witch since she'd woken up the first time and it was getting on her nerves.

"How... do you even know all that?" asked Allen blinking in surprise.

"I- well there were these half burned records I found in the attic-" said Rachel nervously. She wondered if she'd revealed too much; she wasn't supposed to know any of that.

"That's... fascinating." admitted Allen, Rachel looked at him in surprise and he shrugged, "I may be the Earl's adopted son but that doesn't mean I am stupid. History books are written by the victors (as Lavi constantly reminds me) and the Earl's version of what happened has a lot of holes in it."

"That... sounds close to treason..." said Rachel cautiously.

"What we are doing right now is close to treason." said Allen quietly looking out the window. 

"More like scandalous... I wouldn't say treason." said Rachel blushing. He was absolutely right though, what was she doing hanging around here? it was totally improper! she wasn't even Matched to him.

"Not like that!" said Allen also flushing, "I meant that- uh- not everyone is as enlightened as you are about witches. All they know is that there was a power surge near here that caused the waters to start receding. The дкцма have been prowling the castle all day... they're on a witch hunt and they're looking for you... I'd tell you to go explain to them but-"

"-but there is no guarantee that they'd even wait to listen before they felt out punishment." said Rachel suddenly understanding. A feeling of dread began to settle on her.

"Yeah. I was going to have Neah talk to the Earl on you behalf (he is the Earl's favorite) but nobody has seen him all day and now people are starting to whisper that the witch must have captured him too..."  Allen trailed off. It was implied, not even being turned into an дкцма would satisfy the Earl if he thought there was even a chance that she'd caused the disappearance on his favorite son.

"Couldn't you talk to the Earl for me? I am sure-" Rachel began desperately but Allen held up his chard hand. Rachel saw a strange glowing green crystal imbedded inside it.

"The Earl and I don't get along." said Allen stonily. 

"Oh." Rachel wasn't sure what to say to that. They sat in silence for a bit. Rachel had the strangest feeling that though she probably in most danger at the moment Allen was the one who needed her help more... there was something about this boy... Even though he was the first boy she'd ever met in person Rachel could already tell that Allen was different that all the rest. 

"Hey Allen, do you think-"

"Shh!" said Allen suddenly pressing a finger to her lips and tensely listening to something. Rachel frowned and then she heard it too... or rather felt it; a strange chill, one she'd felt only on one other occasion, it was-

"дкцма." she breathed.

"S**t." cursed Allen grabbing Rachel and stuffing her under the covers and then climbing on top to child her with his body. Rachel knew it was futile though; they would see the fire's light and be able to tell right away that she was there... Allen twined his fingers with hers and gave them a squeeze of comfort. If only it was dark....they wouldn't be able to tell the difference...

All light in the castle instantly went out.

****

"Ah!" said Jack in surprise as the world went dark. He stubbled through the students trying to find his way back to his room. Unfortunately his sense of direction wasn't that great in the daylight and it was absolutely hopeless at night.  Soon he found him self completely alone in the dark. Strangely it was not as cold as he expected it to be given the completeness of the darkness. Soon he realized why; all the fire places and torches that usually gave light and warmth were still lit and crackling... but their flames, thought they still gave heat, were black.

Magic thought Jack. He wondered if it was the little witch Allen had hidden in his room and if that meant he was alright.

Speaking of witches, Jack had yet to get rid of the knife that Allen had found in the witch water. There was a magical pressure about the thing that seemed to compress upon his mind to the point that it was almost painful. In spite of sticking close to fires all day a constant chill was upon him-

"Wait a second... I am not cold!" Jack said aloud in astonishment stopping in the middle of the room. He pulled the knife out of his pocket and found in warm to the touch... almost pulsing. A soft green-gold glow came from it (possibly the only light in the castle) and though Jack loathed the thing, he was for the first time extremely glad he had it with him. Hopefully now he could get back to his room. The knife apparently had other plans. It tugged and moved itself in his hand ever so slightly and Jack felt his feet moving in the direction it was pointing without his consent.

"Wha-?" spluttered Jack in slight fear slight fascination as the knife led him through a secret passage way and down, down, down... further than he'd ever expected the castle to go. At last he reached his destination for his knife dimmed and grew heavy again. However it still hummed with power and intention. Jack stood absolutely still as he heard voices and felt the chill of the дкцма near by.

"Very good. The Earl will be very pleased that his дкцма successfully captured the witch. I told my little bother this would be the way it was but he wouldn't listen, silly Tyki." gushed a man that Jack vaguely recognized as part of the иоач family, "You are dismissed, I will deliver her myself."

The дкцма swept past Jack, not one noting his presence in the dark. Jack began to panic on the inside, surely if they had caught the witch then they had caught Allen too and surely they must know that he was involved to. 

"I am not a witch! there must be some mistake!" said a quavering voice.

"But my dear you are a witch. Those whom have fully woken as a иоач can see it plainly." the gleeful иоач informed her before adding thoughtfully, "Though it'd be a shame to simply return you without having a little fun first, don't you think? men and women's actions are sooo closely monitored these days..."

"Don't touch me!"

Jack didn't care at that point if he got caught. He couldn't sit by and let something like this happen. He leapt forward to where he guessed the witches voice was coming from in the dark and yanked her away from the иоач's clutches brandishing the knife in his hand as he did so. The metal turned so hot in his grip that he nearly dropped it and a strange shock of energy seemed to run between him and the one he was holding. There was a brilliant flash of light and then silence.

 A soft  golden glow was there now. Once Jack blinked the spots from his vision he saw that the иоач had been encased in a pillar of pure topaz. The girl in his arms trembled as she clutched his shirt. Jack looked down and blinked in surprise. His first thought was that this wasn't the girl he'd seen in Allen's room. This girl had long wavy brown hair and pale, delicate, features. And then their eyes met and all coherent thoughts left his head except yes as something seemed to click into place within him.

"T-thank you for saving me... I am not sure-" she began shakily.

"I love you." Jack interrupted having not really been listening, speaking his own thoughts out loud.

"WHAT?!" spluttered Sarah.

unnoticed by either of them the knife had lost its rust and shone anew, sparkling with emeralds and engraved upon the hilt was the symbol 土.

Author's Note

난 당신을 죽일거야해서 ... 이 새끼 야! - I am going to kill you... you bastard!
土 - earth

So this was a fun chapter to write. I didn't get to Yazzy and Neah in this bit mostly because the part I have planned for them happens when the black out is over. Jack is so funny :) though I didn't intend for this to be a birthday chapter HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH! I am drawing you a picture as well ;)

Reviews

[Imagination-mage]

LOL "I love u" sounds like jackXD I am sadly late but I look forward to the next chapter:D
I wish Siana the best of luck though-_-'

[PokemonFan#1]

MEH!!! I loved this whole chapter!!! XD
I really liked Siâna's part a lot, 'Twas cute and funny!
OHMYGOSH! I LOVED THE ENDING!! ^//w//^