Headaches. Sore limbs. Burning sensations.
It was Jonathan. It had to be. Jonathan was furious with Stacey`s ability to keep him out of her head, but he didn`t know-- or maybe he did-- that the concentration it took to keep a big enoguh sheild up was taking its toll on her. At first it had just made her tired, but it had slowly progressed from exhaustion to pain. She hadn`t told anyone about it, but Aiden had probably suspected. She couldn`t keep a secret from him, and if he asked her if she was okay there was no way she could lie.
Stacey clenched her teeth together and rolled onto her side. The grass was soft and inviting compared to the invisible fire that danced across her side. Her breathing was heavy and labored, and her eyes were black with dark green streaks, at least they would be if she opened them. Her ears were ringing and she couldn`t tell if it was just her, or if it was some outside source. Whatever it was she wanted it to stop.
" What is it, you sunshiny ray of light? " Albus asked, as thirteen year old boy emerged from the tall grass. Even though his tone was cheery, he knew what Stacey had on her shoulders, or atleast, the feeling was well known to Albus himself.
He smiled cheerfully, and sat down next to the older girl. " You know, life is a lot of better when you let yourself go, a little bittle. Like, be a little like me. Even though it must be hard, as awesome as I am. "
Albus chuckled lightly, doing what he could to lighten up Stacey. " You know, I do often mean what I say, you can't always be on guard. You can't live in endless fear!"
Stacey winced, trying to make it look like a smile.
"You try having your da*ned evil uncle try to take you over from the inside out and see how much pressure you can take. If I`m not on my guard, I`ll freakin` get attacked mentally." She tried to joke at first, but by the time she finished it was clear that that wasn`t possible right now. "I`m sorry." She added, "I don`t mean to sound like such an a$$."
" No worries. It doesn't help to let out some steam once and a while! " Albus sighed, as his mind wandered.
" I really want to physically hurt that darn bastard of an uncle you have. " The words plumped out of his mouth, he couldn't stop his lips from leaking. " You're not the ass, he's the one. "
Albus was curious, but he didn't dare to ask, what and why Stacey's uncle was taking over, and why the tension that seemed to be between them was there.
((Read some of my fan fic. While it may suck, it gives a lot of information about it. But do it when I`m not here. I`m about to die of boredom.))
Stacey laughed once, sitting up.
"You don`t want me to let out any more steam, trust me. I may just catch a few things on fire in the process. And it`s kind of hard to hurt Jonathan. He`s an immortal bastard. Makes him just a little hard to kill." She winced again and shifted her weight, crossing her legs.
"I didn`t even know about him until a couple months ago. It was him who was causing the voices in my head, not damaged souls like Ginny and Lavy said." Her eyes lightened ever so slightly and she attempted a smile with a little more sucess.. "We`re still close enough to town and the school for me to read your mind. Try not to think too loudly and I`ll try not to listen."
Albus smiled at his own naive stupidity. " Of course. "
Sitting there next to Stacey, he realized that they were a bit like each other, or atleast, they're history was both tainted with others hunting them down, and ruining their lives. He nodded, it was hard. It was a time where both of them had to work. But Albus knew, that Stacey, would come out from the situation with her uncle one day, as the surviving victor.
" Want to let out some agression? I sure feel like letting some out now... " Albus grunted tiredly. He wanted to destroy things. Even though he was smiling, it was a mask that was on at all times.
"If I let anything out right now, there`s gonna be a big mess." She warned, resting her head in her hand. Her eyes showed her pain, but she couldn`t change that. Her eyes told everyone what she was thinking, whether she wanted them to or not. "And I don`t know, you may not be able to keep up with me."
She opened her hand and a flame popped into the air.
Albus chuckled, as the corners of his mouth slowly dragged themselves into a wicked smile. His teeth were shining white, completely perfect. Looking at the flame that burst out of Stacey's hand, Albus reached out his hand, and moved his blue finger through the flame slowly, feeling the sensation of the heat.
" You have to stop underestimating me! " Albus started. He made a grimace, and then started to imitate Stacey, with a slow, deep voice. " Umm, I'm to good for, so I don't think that you can duel me, 'cause I would be so extremely úbersome that I'd kill you with the flick of my fingers. "
Albus looked at Stacey, as he flicked his fingers. The flame in Stacey's hand froze, and around it was a coat of ice.
Stacey grinned, her eyes lightening slightly.
"But I am super cool, and I could kill you with a flick of my fingers. But I would never do that, or there wouldn`t be anyone here to entertain me." She teased as she flexed her fingers. The frozen flame expanded and small shards of ice hit the ground. It flickered blue with heat and her irises changed to match.
"Seriosuly, if you could feel what was in my head right now, you would so not underestimate me."
" Yeah yeah yeah, " Albus said, not really paying attention to Stacey. His eyes were fixated on the blue flame in her hand. Fascinated by it's color, Albus ran one of his fingers through it again. It was definitely hotter, and he burnt himself. Pulling the finger out of the flames instinctively, he felt the tip of his finger throbbing. Swearing, he fished up his wand from his robes.
" I hate flames! Episkey!" Albus pointed his wand at his burnt finger, and watched as some new skin patched covered the burnt area.
" Like, you get hurt if you touch it! It's really just lame. But... " Pausing for a second, Albus grinned at Stacey, " Since you made the flame, you're lame yourself! But that's really not a shock... Misses dun'ts understimates me! " He teased, hoping that she'd at least get a little bit annoyed, so that he could have some fun.
Stacey rolled her eyes, knowing that he was trying to get her aggitated.
"First, fire is suppsoed to be hot. That`s why it`s fire, so it`s gonna hurt you. Second, I am not lame. i am so down with the little kids." She grinned and shook her head while she twirled her fingers. The little flames pusled and grew again, moving with her fingers like an eager puppy. It didn`t seem to hurt her, and it didn`t. She could hardly feel the heat of the little fire.
((Shortness.))
(( Shortyness is funnyness : D ))
" Yeah yeah yeah " Said Albus, paying no attention to what Stacey said. His eyes rested on the puppet made out of flame in her hand. Amused by her little trick, he flicked his fingers, and in front of him, a puppet made out of snow was made. It looked just like Albus. It was three inches tall, and it stood there grinning at him. Albus chuckled lightly, as he made the puppet jump around.
Amused by his new discovery, he flicked his finger again, and now made another puppet made out of ice. Albus smiled, as he looked at the puppet. Looking right at him, an exact replica of Stacey stood in front of him. Both puppets were looking up at him. The puppet of Stacey was much taller than the one of Albus.
" The reason you're down with the kids is because your lame. " Albus said, chuckling lightly, whilst he made the puppets walk in front of Stacey.
" What do you think? " He asked, beaming at her.
Stacey smirked, amused by Albus`s amusement. "Seriously, have you never done that before? Try this." She made complex motions with her hands and an orange flame exploded from her palms. It took the form of a pheonix and began flying around between the trees, dipping and swirling while leaving trails of fire behind it.
She snapped once and the bird disappeared with a crack. Little sparks slowly floated to the ground, but before they made it the grew into little butterlies, taking their time wondering around to the fiery flowers that had somehow appeared, too. All of it was glowing a soft orange, and the flowers glittered with heat as a butterfly touched it.
Stacey looked over at Albus, her hands resting on her stomach, things still moving.
"What do you think?"
" Wow! That was amazing! " Albus said, as he looked at Stacey. He was amazed by her trick, it had been performed with such grace, that he'd become speechless. Even though he returned to his normal self within seconds.
With a low chuckle, he raised his right arm, formed a snowball out from nothing in his hand, and threw it at Stacey's back.
" Well, that's more fun than that phoenix thingy! " He said jokingly.
Albus stood up, opening his mouth. " Fancy a walk? "
Stacey couldn`t help but wince as the snowball hit her, surpsied by it and the pain it caused when it touched her, like it had been filled with little sharp pieces of metal.
"It may be more fun, but it hurts more." She said as she tilted her head to the side. A layer of heat surrounded her, not only to dry her back, but to protect herself from any more of Albus`s ice.
"Sure. But I don`t know how... hospitable I`ll be."
" Then onwards! " Albus said cheerfully, taking the lead quickly as he started to walk against the forest. " Well, you've always been kind Stacey! " remarked Albus, even though he quickly remembered the quarrels they'd had.
" Even though you often seem to try everything you can to either catch my attention, or annoy me, " Albus started, as he chuckled lightly. Being sarcastic was one of the things he lived for. " you're still very nice to me! "
Albus smiled, as he looked at the girl next to him. Hanging out with Stacey was fun, and having small quarrels were always fun with her, as she could give him some resistance.
((SOME resistance?!?!))
"Whatever." Stacey sighed, quickly standing up and following him. "Tone downn of the happy lasers, you`re giving me a headache," She said teasingly and gently pushed his shoulder.
"And I don`t have to try to get someone`s attention." She waved her hand, a rainbow of glowing color following.
With a chuckle escaping from his mouth, Albus said, " Well, everyone would get attention of they'd have rainbows attached to their hands! Duh! "
Turning his head towards her, he suddenly decided to stop. He didn't say a word, he turned around looking for someone close. As Albus slowly realized there weren't anyone close to them, he slowly, leaned into Stacey and whispered, "It's much more cool if your skins blue!"
Laughing out loud, he continued his walking, even though his pace had slowed down remarkably. Fishing his wand out of his pocket, he started to play with some peculiar rocks, levitating them around. Albus had always loved doing tricks with his wand, whether it was making green or blue sparks, to transfigurating objects into animals.
" You know, even though you've got some weird kind of powers, I can still beat you, wand wise! "
"If people had rainbows coming out their hands, there`d be some serious explosions going on every time my head hurt." She grumbled as he stopped, looking around and wondering why he had picked this spot to stop.
She watched with a midly curious look as he levitated the rocks. Her eyes flickered a little closer to orange and she pulled her wand out. It felt like an old friend that she hadn`t seen in a while. She had never used her wand that often, and even less after she graduated. What was the point in using it when you could just use your mind?
But she waved it anyway, ignoring his comment out how he was better with his wand. It might be true, it might not be, but without wands she could do a lot more damage.
Stacey flicked the long piece of wood and a soft wind blew through quickly, pulling some leaves from the trees and making them circle around the two teenagers.
Albus felt the leaves playing roughly with his hair; it sent a tickling sensation through his whole body. As he watched Stacey, he quickly flicked his 12 inch wand, making the leaves shift directions. Feeling quite light headed, a grin was stretched across the soon to be fourteen year old boy.
It was a bit comical, that even though he soon was 14, he still acted like a little child in so many ways. As the leaves bruised against his skin, he looked over to Stacey, his body feeling as light as a feather.
" Quite some time since I've seen you whip your wand Stacey! Would think you'd get all arrogant over your powerfully powers! " Albus teased lightly, even though he knew it just was some rubbish escaping his mouth.
Stacey coudln`t help but smile back at Albus, and she shrugged.
"I don`t know," She replied, swinging her wand to the side lazily, "This seems easier for somethings, but it just feels too.... I don`t know, heavy, I guess. I could do this leaf thing without a wand." She just shrugged again, unable to put her feelings into words.
((Shortness. x.x ))
Albus looked at Stacey, with a glimpse of curiosity in his eyes.
"I don't know why, but, I prefer using my wand..." He started, taking a pause, tilting his head to the head as he felt a numb feeling spread. " But like, if something dangerous happens, my reflexes automatically get me to use my ice powers. "
As he pondered at his own words, he concluded slowly, " But a wand is much more... versatile..." Albus ended, starring at the sky, with gloomy eyes.
Stacey smiled a little and shook her head.
"See, for me it`s the opposite. My wand feels kind of like a limitation, like I can only do so much. Without it, I can do so much with all of my powers. I guess having the wand numbs that feeling." She closed her eyes, relaxing her shoulders. Her head was still pounding, but with her wand clutched in her hand she felt... safer somehow.
" But, a wand is much more secure to use, and you can use it indefinitely, as long as it doesn't breaks! " Albus exclaimed, flicking his wand at a flower on the ground. The flower hadn't blossomed yet, and the crown was still a green ball. At his command, the flower burst out into a bright orange color, illuminating the surroundings with its bright color.
" And you don't even have to feel the normal fatigue, which follows using elemental or other powers! "
He flicked his wand several times, paying close attention to the flower in front of him, as it turned red, blue, green, and purple with each wand movement. Flicking the wand one last time, the flower curled back, looking as it hadn't blossomed, changed colors four times, and curled back up again.
" Much more fun with a wand, you see! "
Stacey watched Albus chane the flowers, her eyes thoughtfully purple.
"I don`t know. Without my wand, I can feel the magic. I can feel what I`m going to do with it, and it`s easier to shape. And it just sort of... feels right when I on`t use my wand."
(Can I JOIN)
((I`d really prefer if you didn`t.))
(No Worries)
" You don't always have to feel magic! Isn't it comfortable to know that what you're doing with a wand, doesn't take any energy out of you? I could channel thousands of ice shards, but eventually, I wouldn't have enough energy left after passing some thousand! "
Albus exclaimed, and then continued, whilst stretching his arms, and flexing his abs under his gleaming orange t-shirt.
" With a wand, I could channel tens of thousands ice shards without getting tired. " He put his arms down, and relaxed in his whole body, as they closed in at the forest.
" Even though the ice shards would be small, less sharp and move slower, by using a wand. "
Stacey clneched her teeth as she watched Albus, trying to find the words to explain how she felt.
"My powers are different that yours, different from anyone in Hogsmead." She started, wondering if she had told Albus about her immortal father and uncle. "I can do the things I do with my wand, without it. Only big things wear me out anymore. It`s like exercising; the more I use my powers, the stronger they get and the longer I can use them without getting tired."
She lifted her hands and slowly brought them together. There was a sort of flash and glowing ropes appeared around them. They twisted and moved, making a circle, letting off light as they ran through the color spectrum.
Albus let out a long, deep sigh; he was getting tired.
" You know, it is really boring when you're this gloomy. " He commented grumpily, whilst adding a little "humphf", and crossed his arms, sulking.
As they entered the forest, a wall of different smells hit Albus' nose. It was pine, moss, and fresh air, that tingled his nostrils easily, as he was reminded by several previous strolls into the forest.
Stacey snorted out a laugh.
"Sorry, kiddo. You try listening to what I hear every second of the day. A thousand thoughts pushing against yours. Sometimes I don`t even know what I`m thinking, things get so loud. You`re really lucky, you know." She leaned forward and ruffled up Albus`s hair with a smirk.
Albus leaned back, frowning.
" Dry off that smirk. " He snapped, quickly going on the offensive, and pushing Stacey tentatively. " You do not want to get hurt by my awful temper " Trying to keep himself serious was hard, he was forcing down the corners of his lips, preventing them to open, and let out a laugh.
((I just spilled my soda all over myself. >.< ))
Stacey laughed, leaned forward and putting her elbows on her knees.
"If you and me fought hand to hand you know that I would will." She was grinning evily. On her person she carried more than a dozen knives and she had been trained long and hard onn how to defend herself and disable others. She was confident in her abilities, not at all worried about someone like Albus.
(( Bet it's because of my telepathic abilities which made you. ))
Albus chuckled lightly, being confident to the point of arrogance didn't suit him.
" You know, I could beat you with one eye closed, and one arm tied to my back. "
(( Shortyness and caught in msn conversation is funnies ))
Stacey rolled her eyes.
"Only because you can use ice. With no powers you wouldn`t know anything." She moved so she was laying on her back looking up. Lacing her fingers over her stomach and tilted her head towards her friend.
"They`re called pressure points."
" Pfft! " Albus spat on the ground, protesting. " The same could nearly count for you. "
" There are several pressure points, some are more lethal then others. " Albus started, in a monotone voice, sounding like he'd swallowed a textbook. " We have the nose, both sides of the neck " He suddenly stopped, his mind racing. Discussing with Stacey was fun, even though he never felt really serious when doing it.
" Bah, I can't remember any more. "
Stacey laughed.
"Nearly doesn`t work for me, Albus. It`s all or nothing. And face it, in this case it`s all." She sat up with her legs crossed. "If you attacked me right now who would win? You can`t even think of some basic pressure points." Her eyes flickered a lazy grey. Albus always amused her, even when she was annoyed at him. Now was no exception.
Albus ignored her laugh completely, making a weird expression upon his face, it was nearly as someone had put dog litter right under his nose. Puffing out his chest; he resembled a rather pompous person.
" I do not think that you would be so cheeky with me if we'd have a proper duel "
"Yes, Albus, I know of your apparently unending talent, but you forget, I`ve graduated, you haven`t. I`ve had longer to learn, and I`ve been through more." Stacey replied. She pressed her hands against her stomach, feeling weird.
"Besides, technically magic isn`t real."
" What do you mean by magic isn't technically real? " Albus asked puzzled, as his eyes narrowed, and his mind raced whilst pondering on what she meant by those words.
Stacey rolled her eyes and slumped forward so her elbows were on the ground.
"Real, by definition, is existing or occurring as fact; actual rather than imaginary, ideal, or fictitious; being an actual thing; having objective existence; not imaginary; or something that actually exists, as a particular quantity. Magic is defined as the art of producing illusions as entertainment by the use of sleight of hand, deceptive devices, etc. As an adjective form it means mysteriously enchanting. First, mystery and enchantment are sometimes considered opinions or different views on the same subjects. So to many people magic isn`t real. We, of course, believe those people to be Muggles, who can`t generally see magic. But, there is always that one wild card. People with mental disabilities or a certain amount of imagination can see our magic much better than others." She shrugged.
"Our magic may just be an abstract idea that people have put into for thousands of years. We don`t know for sure."
((Oh my goodness, I hate philosophy.))
" Even though you spit that s to the hit out, it really doesn't change. Magic is magic, whether it's an illusion or not. "
Albus grinned, shifting again; his butt was slowly starting to ache, while he sat on the hard ground.
" Even though I hate that kind of abstract philosophy. Kind of annoying, when people can't accept that things are like they are, even though they keep wondering about it, making different solutions because the current solution doesn't fit them well. People only accept thruths that are convenient for themselves. That applies for most of us. "
Stacey groaned and lay down, pressing one hand to her head.
"I shouldn`t have said that. Now my head hurts even more." She rubbed at her eyes, which had turned and irritated orange. "It seems that whenever I`m in pain my head decides to spit out stuff I don`t care about."
((Yay for shortness that makes sense. D= ))