It started snowing again a few seconds after we decided to depart for our home, and we both wrapped our scarves more tightly against our necks before leaving the slippery train station. I stepped on my hoverboard and we flew up to the clear blue sky, his wings flapping up and down to the steady rhythm of our heartbeats. Many people on the frozen and wet streets below stared at us, some muttering to themselves or their companions that we were up to no good --- again; while some gazed at us in awe, for no-one could have their own eudaemon, their own guardian angel, except for the top members in the Governo’ dell Kolasipublica and their firstborns, of which my father is a member of.
“I’m very lucky to be your pupilla, aren’t I, Quincy?” I murmured while dodging a particularly large piece of ice and snow. He snorted, “You aren’t. Think about what kind of person you would become if Abira was your eudaemon! I’m a bad influence.” We chuckled, thoughts flying towards the beautiful eudaemon. Her pupilla, or twin, was Gaius Ferguson, the tough, weathered principal of my boarding school, St. Andrews, which we were returning from to spend our Quaerieve holidays.
The huge brick castle slowly appeared in front of us, shadowed against the pink and purple sky. The workers had hung all sorts of Quaerieve decorations all around the whole building, decorating it with festive lights, wolfsbane and the foliage from pine trees. A few workers, dressed in the customary dark gray uniforms emblazoned with the coats of arms of Surrentinum and Kolasipublica, were in the little park in front of the castle, erecting an enormous birch tree right in the middle of the square. “We’re back already,” I commented, a smile creeping on my face. Quentin dryly replied, “I’m not blind, sister dearest.”
“Really?” I gasped in mock surprise. He rolled his eyes and concentrated on finding us a place to land.
The Invidian Bell struck five, and the sound of the bronze bell ringing across the hustling city teeming with citizens hurrying home for dinner accompanied us as we swirled around the tower that we live in. Finally, we landed on the balcony where our father was pacing and muttering, anticipating our arrival. My father’s eudaemon, Tamara, was the first to greet us, pulling me and Quentin into her embrace. “Pelagia, Quentin! How have you two been?” she exclaimed, stepping back to take a good look at us, “You two look a bit thin --- haven’t they fed you at all?” My father laughed, his pearly white teeth flashing. “Tamara, let us worry about them later! They look like they’re about to drift off any second.” It was true. The long trip from my boarding school in Cilkauf to the other side of Surrentinum, the county where we live had taken a lot of energy from us.
Quentin, as if to agree with my father, yawned.
“See what I mean? Even our favorite ball of fire is tired. You two get some rest,” my father ordered us, “because we are going to visit your aunt and uncle later in the evening. We don’t want you two to drop off during one of those extremely long speeches your uncle makes, do we?” We protested, stating that we would drop off anyway listening to them talk. He simply replied, “I really don’t want your aunt Pollia biting my head off for the umpteenth time, children,” and sent us for bed. We collapsed onto our beds immediately the moment we reached our bedroom at the top of the tower and slept.
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People were screaming and fleeing. The fire roamed and destroyed everything in sight, burning a few castles and reducing some houses to ashes and cinders next. Everyone hoped, no, begged for the stormy grey sky to rain, to stop this monster from ruining everything we held dear. But it was useless. It never rains in Kolasipublica. Desperately, I cried for Quentin; he could control fire, fire was his element, right? To my horror, I found him pale and lifeless, lying on the cobbled streets of Invidia.
“Quentin! Wake up!” I sobbed and begged for him to come back to me, like the way the crying damsel-in-distress shakes the dead hero in the old movies, only this wasn’t a fictional story, it was real. In his hands was the good-luck bracelet I made for him for our sixth birthday. It was a cruel, terrible blow to my heart.
How ironic my own guardian angel wasn’t here to protect me from this.
Suddenly, the horrible, horrible fire was all around me, threatening to engulf me and everything else that I cared about. “No!” I screamed and the world turned pitch black.
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“Pelly? Pelly! Wake up!” A voice, familiar and soothing woke me up from my nightmare. I sat straight up, staring into Quentin’s liquid brown eyes and saw my own bleary and tear-filled blue ones reflected in them. Tears that threatened to spill out broke through. I just sat there and sobbed into his shirt. I heard my father’s concerned voice telling Quentin to take care of me at home and to make sure we get some sleep, while he and Tamara go to Aunt Pollia’s house without us.The sound of him shutting the door echoed through the large bedroom, while the electric grandfather clock tick-tocked, lulling me to sleep once more. Quentin gently told me that everything was alright and rocked me in his arms, humming a funny little lullaby, the song our mother sang for us when we were still little ones.
Hush, little ones, hush, you’ll wake up the brush
Of the jujube tree;
Sleep, my loves, sleep, or else it’ll come and
Take you away from me;
It will curl around your little crowns and
Hold you to its chest;
Then it will turn away, with you, my babe,
You might imagine the rest.
Of the jujube tree;
Sleep, my loves, sleep, or else it’ll come and
Take you away from me;
It will curl around your little crowns and
Hold you to its chest;
Then it will turn away, with you, my babe,
You might imagine the rest.
I interrupted him. “I miss Mama…” I drowsily mumbled. I could feel Quentin’s shoulders droop at the very mention of our late mother, and he turned his head away, looking at the dark eventide sky. “I miss her too, Pelly. I miss her too.”
Now sleep, sweet one, my darling son
You as well, my dear;
When the moon is gone, the bush will long
For another parrot’s ear;
It will leave you alone, and your throne
Your mother will be rejoicing;
So sleep now, my darlings, till the sun is shining
Until the rooster comes a-calling.
You as well, my dear;
When the moon is gone, the bush will long
For another parrot’s ear;
It will leave you alone, and your throne
Your mother will be rejoicing;
So sleep now, my darlings, till the sun is shining
Until the rooster comes a-calling.
By the time he sang the end of the chorus, I was already fast asleep.
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I woke up to the sound of the Invidian Bell ringing, signalling to all the residents of Invidia that it was time to wake up and go on with their lives. “Feeling better?” Quentin asked me, putting down his book and jumping up from the comfortable velvet armchair that he was sitting in to open the curtains. The dim winter sun streamed through the foggy windows, casting dull shadows around the pale violet room. I ignored him, crawling out of bed, yawning and stretching all the way to the bathroom, leaving a puzzled Quentin in my wake.
After I brushed my teeth, I returned to the bedroom. He was waiting for me there, both arms and wings folded. “You didn’t answer my question earlier.” I looked back from the fire-roses to him. He had his head lifted up, and his knuckles were white, fingers digging into the thin fabric of his pajamas. I sighed, “Better than yesterday, that’s for sure." He immediately crossed the room to pull me into his arms. I barely reached his shoulders. “Do you want to talk about it?”
I shook my head. I saw his eyebrows go up but he didn’t press the matter anymore. For me it too was weird because I never hide anything from him, especially when it comes to nightmares. We shared everything together and we did everything together --- he was the best friend I ever had.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, and gently touched the huge aquamarine gem protruding from the nape of his pale neck. My father said that it was the sign of a true eudaemon, and that he was born with it when he first emerged from my mother’s womb. I came ten minutes later.
We stood there entwined for a moment, soothed by the comforting silence. Then Quentin pulled back, looked straight into my eyes, and whispered, “Was it about…that?”
I knew exactly what he was talking about. “Nope.” I turned away from him and sat in front of my writing desk, checking whether I had unread mail.
I was sorting through the dusty piles of paper, when Quentin suddenly spoke in hushed tones, “Can you still do that thing?”
Without even looking at him, I said irritably, “Of course I can. And Quincy, it’s not a thing --- it’s more like a new power or something.”
“Can you show me?” He sat on the wooden chair next to mine.
I sighed. Quentin could sometimes be really annoying, but deep inside, I knew he was trying to help. “No, Quincy. And that’s final.”
He pouted and crossed his arms. “Please?”
I melted inwardly, while giggling at his ridiculous expression. He looked like a little boy begging for some sweets. “Nope!” I sing-songed, and ruffled his already tousled electric blue locks.
He scowled, and tried to comb his hair back into place. “Why not, Pelagia?”
I gave him a dark look. He knew I hated it when people call me by my real name. “It drains a lot of power from me, like when you try to set something on fire out of nowhere, Quentin.”
Quentin narrowed his eyes. “One little trick wouldn’t cause any harm, right?” He argued, his wings flapping up and down in frustration.
“Yeah, you’re right…” I reluctantly stood up and pursed my lips. Quentin smugly leapt to his feet, and opened the bathroom door for me. “Here you go, little sister!”
I stuck my tongue out at him, and stalked into the bathroom while grumbling under my breath. He pranced inside, and filled the sink half full with water before stepping back. “Now do your magic, maestro!” He cheered.
“And they say he’s the mature one.” I muttered. I saw him visibly trying to suppress his chuckles in the mirror, but I ignored him and submerged both of my hands underneath the lukewarm liquid.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Concentrate, Pelly, I told myself. Concentrate… I visualized a sphere of swirling water in my head, and I willed the water to obey my commands. I could feel the slowly cooling water pulsating, swishing and swooshing against my cold fingers. Without thinking, I clapped my hands together and shockingly, I could feel the water pulling my hands into the center.
I heard Quentin let out a gasp. I forced my eyes open, and to my utter surprise, the originally calm water had turned into a whirlpool, and it had already sucked a bar of soap and our toothbrushes into the center. It wasn’t like this the first time! I drew in my breath sharply and quickly withdrew my hands from the vortex in fear.
What really terrified --- and astonished --- me was that when I drew my hands out of the water, the whirlpool continued sucking in things (including my silver bracelet), but I managed to hold a swirling ball of water in one of my freezing hands.
The globe of water started to swirl faster and faster while me and Quentin stared at it. From the corner of my eye, I noticed that the vortex was rotating faster and faster as well.
I touched the water with my free hand and it swirled up into my hand until it formed into a ball. The sink was completely bare now, with both of my hands holding its contents. I looked at Quentin, and smirked at him. He was at a loss, mouth wide open. I grinned at him, silently assuring him that it was the same Pelly that stood before him. But he didn’t return the gesture --- he just stood there, frozen to the wet, slippery bathroom floor. When he finally spoke, he just whistled, “Wow.” He went by my side and slung his arm around my shoulder and smiled at me.
I grinned even wider, reveling in my new-found power. I flexed my hands, trying to juggle the now rapidly spinning balls of water. All of a sudden, I realized that my body temperature was becoming colder and colder, but oddly I still felt I was warm. I was shivering all over too.
Quentin felt it too, for suddenly he jumped back, yelping that I was cold and shaking all over. Tiny beads of ice-water appeared all over my body like sweat and dropped on the floor. I panicked, and threw the swirling balls of water into the bathtub. They broke into little pieces of ice when they landed on the hard marble surface, but they quickly melted into normal, not-spinning water.
I shuddered, and I wrapped my arms around myself. A visibly shocked Quentin caught my eye in the mirror, and I turned around to see what he wanted to say. “We better not tell anyone about this, Pelly,” he said tersely, “We don’t know what the pure, innocent citizens of Surrentinum would do next if they knew.” I shakily laughed and he helped me to drain away the water, which was still ice-cold.
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