Kieve leaned forward and relaxed against Tesla. “Oh yes they are. They’re a bunch of sillies. Akira is great for certain…tips, and Ayame will do boring stuff with you like keep you company while you’re doing paperwork and stuff.”
“Cool, cool. I think they’re people I could hang out with.”
“If you’re lucky. They’re always in Unith anymore. Oh! We’re here.” Kiev thumped on Tesla’s shoulder sweetly. “Good job! Please let us down.”
“Er, we are?” Mathieu said in a disbelieving way. They had come to a stop in the middle of a large field with nothing in any direction that he could see.
Kiev slid off of the Shadowrider and landed smoothly on her feet, looking back up at him.“Yep.”
Getting down too, he held out a hand for Tesla, who changed into his purple ball of light and rested in his palm. “Alright, where is this place?”
“Well, dear one, I will show you.” Kiev looked around and decided on a particular direction to face before taking three large steps. Using her toes, she felt around in the grass until she found a metal ring and tugged. A trap door opened somewhat to allow them entrance to a steep, narrow staircase. “Lenny likes being underground because the fires don’t cause any problems there.” Kiev held the trap door open for him, smiling. “Don’t worry, scaredy cat. She has plenty of light down there.”
Wrinkling his nose, Mathieu started down the stairs into the dark, Tesla lighting his way with the bioluminescent of his inactive form. The stairs were rickety and creaked ominously under his steps as he descended them. The further down they went, the cooler it got, ironically, and he could hear running water nearby. “How far down is it?”
“Not much further,” Kiev said, a few stairs behind him, “but the stairs are going to turn left here in a second.”
Tesla pulsed soothingly in his palm, and guided his hand when it was time to turn. There’s a door just ahead. Don’t run into it. The comment was nice enough, but the sarcasm that echoed from the voice in his head made him roll his eyes.
“Oh thank you, Tesla.” His response was equally sarcastic, but if the door hadn’t been brought to his attention, he’d have plowed right into it. Instead, he opened it as soon as his fingertips brushed the wooden surface. “Hello?” He called in an uncertain way.
“Hey, Lenny, we’re here!” Kiev hollered past him, pushing against him until he was forced into entering the room. Their voices echoed around the high ceiling room and back down at him. Looking around, Mathieu realized he was standing in something comparable to an armory. All the weapons were sectioned out by type, or so he thought, but he didn’t have time to get a closer look because a head of dark brown hair popped into the room. The sudden movement caught his attention.
“Hi!” Lenore bounced over to the pair of them, wearing a pair of overalls with her hair pulled back in a messy bun. “I’m glad you came. Hi Kiev! But where’s Solomon?”
“Ugh.” Was all Mathieu said.
Laughing, the blonde hugged the other girl. “Solomon is being weird, like normal, so I told Mathieu I’d come with him to meet you.”
Lenore’s head bobbed as she motioned them deeper into her lair. “Come in, come in.” She led them into the room that she had emerge from: a forge. “No one comes to visit me anymore; it’s annoying.” She scowled. The woman continued talking while going to a piece of steel and starting to hammer it out. “So, I hear that Mathieu needs a weapon,” she said over the ringing hammering. “Word is that Darcia and Solomon had to basically teach you to fight from scratch. Completely unusually, but I don’t mind.”
Mathieu scoffed at her, arms folded. “You know, I’ve been taught somewhat before. But being taught by someone else who is…gifted, compared to someone normal is significantly different.” As he spoke, he sat on a stray chair, watching the way the petite brunette worked at the metal.
“Yeah, that’s understandable. So I feel so left out. I’m the only one who hasn’t gotten to really meet you. Tell me about you.” Lenore set down her hammer and slid her fingers along the metal, subtly shaping it and adding a fuller. She turned it this way and that before dousing it in water.
Watching with more interest in her work than his past, he told her in vague detail about his childhood and his life in Ateri. When he got to joining the resistance, his description became more saturated with details; that was something he felt comfortable talking to this woman about.
“Wow. You’d had a full life already. Tell me, do you want a sword? I can make anything that you’d like.” With just her hands she was sculpting the final shape of another weapon she was working on creating. “Don’t let those stupid boys bully you into a sword.”
“Well, I’ve been thinking about that.” Mathieu admitted with a blush. “I’d like a weapon that could be used with my energy. If I had to use my gift in order for my weapon to be effective, I think that I might get a better hold on it. I’m a bit…unrefined.” He admitted sheepishly.
Lenore nodded absently, now sharpening the edge of the blade with just her fingertips. “That sounds like a good idea. I’m envisioning something already, if you want to hear about it. You do? Good.” She steamrolled over any objections he might have had. “What about something like a dual-bladed sword, but with a gap that you could bounce your energy between. That way you get more bang for your buck.” She help up the sword in her hand and used it to half demonstrate her idea.
“Ah, but what about a grip?” Kiev interjected, cutting off whatever Mathieu had been about to say. “A regular one wouldn’t work well. Oh! But what about trying a semicircle grip? It’d be good for stabbing if you made the blades thin enough…”
The two girls lapsed into a conversation about his weapon-to-be, using words he didn’t understand, and he busied himself with looking around since it seemed he wasn’t require for this part. The room was surprising cool for being a forge, complete with a furnace for melting. There were a few anvils of varying sizes, and a collection of instruments that could double as torture devices, Mathieu was pretty sure. It was a nice enough forge, but not somewhere that he particularly wanted to spend a load of time.
It seemed to him that Lenore lived down here, if the cot in the corner was any indication. He wondered if the woman had a kitchen and bathroom somewhere or if she went someone else to do that. Mathieu sighed and fiddled with the hem of his shirt, he wished that either they needed more of his input, or that they could leave because he was getting rather bored. There wasn’t much to look at in the forge. As luck would have it, however, Kiev was standing abruptly, smiling at Lenore.
“Sounds like a plan, Lenny. We should get going so you can work, right?”
“Yep. I assume you can find your way out?” Lenore smiled, nodding her head to Mathieu. “Nice to meet you! I’ll see you soon, okay?” Without acknowledging them anymore, he went back to work.
Waving over her shoulder, the blonde led him back to the surface. “See? Painless.”
Mathieu scoffed. “Are you kidding me? I didn’t do anything. I just told her the same things that everyone here seems to already know about me. I could have sent a hand puppet in my place.”
“Oh, your sarcasm is not necessary.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He rolled his eyes, to which he received a firm head smack.
~*~
Mathieu sighed and rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling. Boredom was going to kill him. Literally. Nathan was off doing something secretive, Solomon wouldn’t speak to him which ruled out an training, it wasn’t time for lunch, and Akira had convinced Kiev, Ayame and Elric to go out with her to ‘hit the town’, as she had put it. That left Mathieu in the house with Josette, ugh, and Adele, who was attached at the hip with the she-devil. He knew that someday he would need to talk to Josette, but today he wasn’t feeling quite that brave; he wasn’t sure he’d ever feel that brave. What he had done to make the firestarter hate him was beyond him, but Kiev had said that she was always like that, so maybe it wasn’t really him that she hated. He hoped
not.
“What am I supposed to do?” He wondered out loud, and blew the bangs out of his eyes.
Nikola was in her catlike form, stretched out beside him and purring lightly. I dunno. Why don’t we go play? I like to play.
Sighing, he shook his head. Playing with Nikola required a lot of running, but he was more content with being fat and happy for now. “Sorry, Nik. Maybe later.” The Shadowrider grumbled into his mind but didn’t really protest. “Ugh!” In annoyance, he launched his pillow across the room, huffing. “This is so stupid! I need something to do!”
“Fine,” Solomon stood in the doorway with the pillow in his hand. “Get out of the house.”
Mathieu rolled his eyes. “And go where exactly?”
“Elise likes guests.” Solomon dropped the pillow back on the bed and dug in his half of the dresser, found the ledger that he wanted, and left the room.
Mathieu’s brow furrowed as the blond left him alone again. “Okay? Jeez, nice talking to you too. Come on Nikola. Want to go with me?”
Big eyes looked up at him from the bed, blinking slowly. Do I have to? You didn’t want to play with me, but you want me to go with you… Nikola rolled onto her back, exposing her tummy.
“Come on, little lovely. It’ll be fun to see Elise and get out of here. You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to, but do you really want to stay here with Solomon?” He pet Nikola’s belly coaxingly.
The Shadowrider wriggled around under Mathieu’s ministrations. Fine. But I’m only going so you don’t get lonely. She rolled over and stretched, digging her claws into the bed before sitting up.
Standing, he scooped up his furry friend. “Do you know the way or should I get a map so we don’t get lost?”
Nikola nestled into his arms, I know how to get there. Tesla and I like to go play with Mina. Nodding her dark reddish head as a pool of darkness opened below them, she licked his fingertips. Slowly they sunk into it. Traveling with Nikola was much easier than with Tesla or Solomon. Tesla’s darkness was squeezing and tight, Solomon’s was suffocating and aggressive, but Nikola’s was lighter, more weightless; it reminded him of floating. The travel took a bit longer because the darkness wasn’t so strong, so it took a few minutes before they came out in a very posh parlor.
The room was tastefully done in a light mint with coordinating, darker greens on the furniture. A fire crackled merrily behind its grate, and soft sunlight from the double suns filtered in from window set high up the wall. “Well isn’t this charming? But where are we?”
Nikola lifted her nose in the air, sniffing. Elise comes here often, so this is where I was drawn to. I’m sorry. Forgive me. She lapped at his wrist pitifully.
Mathieu rolled his eyes. “You’re just the pentacle of helpfulness.” His tone was sweet despite the sarcasm in his words. He cradled the Shadowrider lovingly. “Let’s look around, shall we?”
It’s an adventure! Nikola purred, nose poking over the edge of his arm, now interested in what they were doing. It’s not quite playing, but it’s better than nothing. She teased.
Carrying his friend, Mathieu first went to examine the two armchairs and the fire before deciding they didn’t lead to any hidden passages or anything, so they were nothing of interest. Next, he tried the small table with a book laid open on it. The book was in a language he couldn’t understand, so he ignored that too.
Opening the door into the hall, he looked around before stepping out and closing it behind him as quietly as he could. Mathieu was sure he was allowed to be in Elise’s home, but he kind of felt like he was spy; it was fun. In the hallway, the décor was in earth tones that set off the colorful tapestries on the walls at consistent intervals. Between the tapestries were small tables with holographic crystals set on them, each depicting a different set of scenery: some were of dense forests, others of vast deserts. The hall was lined with closed doors, but none of them caught his or Nikola’s attention, so he continued passed them until he came to the top of the grand split staircase that led down to a foyer. Leaning over the banister, he could see that there was a passageway under the staircase.
Intrigued, he took the left-hand side of the stairs down to the ground floor, his footsteps muffled by the carpeted stairs, and peeked down the passage. At the end of it he could see a door made out of glass that was cracked open, and from just passed the door, voices were floating to him. He couldn’t quite make out what was being said, but he recognized one of the voices as Elise’s sweet tones. Humming tunelessly to himself, he started down the hallway. It seemed the time for secret agent was over, so he playfully tossed Nikola in the air and caught her; she squeaked.
The door was a lot nicer than he originally thought, made of a blue-tinted glass with beveled edges. The glass was etched with an intricate, vector design. Pushing it open, he leaned in and caught sight of Elise, Mina, Darcia, and Avanon sitting at a table, playing a hand of cards. The room that they were in was most likely a sunroom with a door into the backyard. “Hello?” Mathieu said.
Elise looked up from her cards and smiled brightly. “Mathieu! What are you doing here?”
Grinning at not being sent away, he came fully into the room and approached them, grabbing a chair to sit in along the way. “Oh, you know. I was bored as hell at Nathan’s house, so I came to visit. Is that okay?”
“Of course, sweetie. I always love guests.” She laid her cards on the table. “Gin.”
“Damn it.” Mina threw her hand down, frowning. “I can’t win with you. Cheater.” Turning to Mathieu, she gave him a long look before saying, “Where is Solomon?”
Avanon snorted, but didn’t say anything. She shared a look with Darcia.
Mathieu shared in the look. Mina lived with Elise and didn’t see the mood swings her brother went through in a given day; nice to one person one moment, an asshat to someone the next. “He’s off being a jerk to someone else. Why do you ask?” He looked down as Nikola slid off his lap and slunk outside of the propped open door into the backyard.
“You two are fighting, are you not? I can feel how disgruntled he is with you. What have you done?” Mina asked as she collected up the cards, starting to shuffle them.
He shrugged one shoulder and watched as he was dealt into the game. “Can we not talk about this? I get enough of it at Nate’s home. Let’s not bring it up.”
Elise laughed and leaned over, patting Mina’s head. “Little Mina, are you and Solomon fighting, too?”
She pulled back her top lip, showing slightly pointed teeth. “Don’t do that. My brother and I are fine.”
Darcia laughed. “Gin still or something else?” He asked, picking up his cards. His eyes examined them shrewdly. “See, Avanon, I told you that you weren’t the only one having love problems.”
Mathieu hummed tunelessly, organizing his cards. “Gin is good for me. And what is going on with Avanon?” He raised an eyebrow.
“She tried to make a move on Elric and it didn’t go well at all.” Darcia said with a smirk.
Even Elise seemed interested. “Do tell, dear.”Avanon turned about eight shades of red, and drew a card; she resolutely didn’t look at any of them.
Mina put her hand over the discard pile. “You can trust us. And we can’t continue playing until you spill.”
With a determined look, Avanon began to try and force the card under Mina’s hand. It was to no avail. Finally, and in something of a temper, she threw the card on the table. “Fine. Fine, I’ll tell you people. Darcia, I curse you to the deepest ring of hell. I hope Zanika and Zerieve want you back to wash the toilet until the day you die.”
“Yes, yes. Now tell the story.” He said, resuming play.
Tossing her multi-colored hair over her shoulder, she coughed to clear her throat. “I tried to ask him to dinner, he misunderstood. The end.”
“How exactly did he misunderstand?” Elise asked, trying not to laugh.
Darcia seemed to feel as though he could tell the story better and took over. “What actually happen
ed was that Avanon asked Elric if he wanted to get a bite with her, and he said ‘that’s nice of you, but I’ll just wait for dinner. If you’re hungry, though, there are leftovers in the fridge’. Then he just walked away, nose in a book.”
They all started to laugh; even Avanon chuckled. “I swear, I need a sign; it’ll read ‘Available and willing, Elric. Just ask’. But at least I can be in the same room as the guy I like.” She gave Mathieu a pitying look.
He smiled and shrugged one shoulder. “Just lay one on his and I think he’ll get the message.” Elise smiled mysteriously, and Darcia raised an eyebrow before shrugging and saying something along the lines of ‘sounds like a good idea’. Mathieu nudged the older man. “Hey, let me ask you guys something?”
Elise smiled at him. “Whatever you’re going to ask, Avanon quite likes the idea.”
“I do?” Avanon asked, her brow furrowed in confusion. “What were you going to ask?”
Mathieu (White Flame Trilogy) Page 25