There was
yet one more thing to do today, that did not involve leaping about
the place, nor calm study. For Sparrow did not wish to wait on
testing Jill’s magical capabilities. It had been trouble enough to
leave the matter until after dinner, but now, the Baptism Of Fire was
about to commence.
She stood
in the Room of Requirement, before Jill, who, holding her and
Sparrow’s wand in her hands was leveling both of
them at Sparrow, as Jocasta watched from a safe distance. Sparrow
had her hand extended, casting a large translucent golden disc before
her.
Which was
not to say she was without backup – she had the Grey Wand in her
pocket, in case Jill actually surpassed the limits of Sparrow’s own
ability. But it probably wouldn’t come to that. "Alright
then." Sparrow squared her stance. "Begin."
Jill said
not a word, but a vast fireball shot towards Sparrow, slamming into
the disc, engulfing Sparrow in flame –
When the
smoke cleared, Sparrow could see Jill standing there, tapping her
foot, visibly annoyed. "Really," said Jill, "I would
have thought that did something."
Sparrow’s
feet had not even been moved an inch backward. "Heart of mine,"
said Sparrow, "you know me better than anyone. Did you think
that little party trick would do a single thing to me? Please! I know
you can give me more than that. Melt the stone, for heaven’s sake! Or was that a
boast?"
"I
–"
"She’s
holding back for your sake," said Jocasta. "This would work
better with a dummy. Such as yours truly."
Sparrow
rounded on Jocasta. "My dear, I already had to talk to Jill
about hating herself, I do not need you doing the same."
"Bite
me," said Jocasta.
"Whatever,"
said Sparrow. She turned back to Jill. "Hit me."
Once
again Jill leveled the wands, this time placing them together with a
loud CLACK. She cast the fireball, larger this time, but
clearly of the same substance. Once again it slammed into the shield,
and spewed smoke about the room, but shook Sparrow not at all. She
yawned, "The Nark was more powerful than
this. And you really think you can beat me? You really think you’re
a danger."
"You
think I’m not!" said Jill. She raised the wands high, casting
swirling flame all about her. Its strands doubled, and doubled again,
becoming a whirling, writhing mass of tendrils of flame, growing and
growing by the second, and steadily the room was filled with roaring
fire. Still Sparrow held her ground, her shield spell in a dome about
her –
But what
of Jocasta? Sparrow turned to where she thought the girl might be. No
sign of her. Maybe she’d gotten away. As it was, the room was
heating up, just the same problem that Sparrow had encountered back
in the empty tower. ⋄⋄UH,
JILL, YOU CAN STOP NOW.⋄⋄
In that
moment, the flames vanished, leaving Jill standing there, wands still
held high.
"You
say you’re dangerous," said Sparrow, "but your control
seems to be improving since last time."
"I
could hear you this time," said Jill. "That’s all."
There was
a small thump of air, and Jocasta reappeared next to Jill.
"That was an amusing display, I’ll say." She put a hand
on Jill’s shoulder. "But we’re talking about flame here. You
are too calm to show it off properly. What could provoke you? Oh, I
know! You could tell us how you feel about Professor Clearwater."
Jill
huffed. "I’m honestly more angry about the magic she
represents than anything she’s done. She’s never acted out of
malice towards us. I’ve been saddling her with the blame I place on
my family."
"Ooh,"
said Jocasta, "emotional maturity! Coming from you that’s a
surprise."
Jill
turned to Jocasta and raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to get
me angry at you?"
"Well
you have to get angry at someone," said Jocasta. "Oh,
how about the Headmistress?"
This did
put a frustrated look on Jill’s face. She crossed her arms. "She
thinks I can just turn these emotions on and off like a switch. She
thinks it’s possible to keep an overpressured steam boiler under wraps. She thinks we
actually have full control." A red aura began to glow about
Jill’s body. "She wants us nice and orderly and quiet. At the
same time we’re jumping around in the air for everyone to see."
"Good,"
said Jocasta, "that’s good, keep stoking that anger. What else
infuriates you?"
"The
statute of secrecy," said Jill, "which keeps us stifled
here, unable to go and rescue the people who need rescuing without
then committing egregious violations of their autonomy."
"Yes,"
said Jocasta, "that’s it. What more do you hate?"
Jill
closed her eyes. "Myself." Her eyes snapped open, glowing
red. She leveled the wands at Sparrow, clapping them together. "Prepare yourself."
⋄⋄I
TOLD YOU NEVER TO BELIEVE THAT YOU’RE A PROBLEM. WHY DO YOU BELIEVE
SO AGAIN?⋄⋄
"Prepare
yourself!"
⋄⋄NOT
UNTIL YOU ANSWER ME – ⋄⋄
The flame
that shot out of the ends of the wands was but a narrow band, nearly too
thin for Sparrow to realize what was happening. She got her shield
spell up just in time for a force to slam into it that sent her
stumbling backward onto her behind. Not since the bridge disaster had Sparrow encountered any
force that could seriously challenge her; not since the Nark had she
encountered any force that could even move her feet. Here was the
superior of them both, and it was rushing straight at her, as Sparrow
barely held onto her spell.
But hold
she did, and she slowly rose to her feet, fighting through the pain
in her shoulders and her head. She planted her feet firmly, leveling
her gaze at Jill. ⋄⋄IS
THAT ALL YOU’VE GOT?⋄⋄
The band
of flame vanished. "You think that’s all I’ve got,"
growled Jill. She gripped the wands tighter, and shot another band of
flame at Sparrow, a force that once again slammed into the shield –
but this time Sparrow kept her feet, though sweat was beginning to
form on her brow. Jill narrowed her eyes. "Let me tell you,
girl, I have every reason to despise myself." Another shot,
slam. "I know what I have done, and why." Slam.
"I have every reason to believe my great-aunt’s prophecy
is true." Slam. "I am nothing –" Slam.
"Worthless –" Slam. "Reckless –"
Slam. "Impossible –" Slam. "Incorrigible
–" Slam.
Now at last Sparrow was beginning to tire. Still Jill kept up the
barrage, her barrage of flame hurled at Sparrow and her barrage of
insults hurled at herself.
And in
that moment, Sparrow realized why Jill might despise herself
so.
She took
a deep breath. Once again it was time to set off the powder keg.
⋄⋄JILL. WHO DID YOU
INJURE?⋄⋄
The
barrage ceased, as Jill fell silent, stock-still.
Jocasta,
standing next to her, immediately looked alarmed. She
vanished, swiftly reappearing next to Sparrow, dragging her sideways
out from the protection of the shield spell, conjuring a wooden dummy in Sparrow’s place. Before Sparrow could ask
what Jocasta was thinking, Jill was screaming, red light shining from
every part of her skin, a red aura about her, tendrils of flame
whipping about her. Even her open mouth was casting a red light.
Sparrow
had half a mind to run to Jill and hug her, if that could possibly
calm her down. But Jocasta had her arm firmly linked with Sparrow’s,
holding her back.
And then
Jill’s screaming became words. "Injured? You think I just
injured someone? I HAVE KILLED!" She gripped the wands and
shouted, "INFERNUM!"
The flame
that shot out of the wands was a narrow band, in the sense that a
snake was a narrow band. It punched
straight through the shield, shattering it into thousands of shards
of light, striking the target dummy and immediately reducing it to
ash. Sparrow found herself hanging limp in Jocasta’s arms, her head
aching, her energy nearly spent –
But like
a snake, the flame was twisting this way and that, and growing ever
larger, now a python, now an anaconda, now a vast serpent, and it was
tasting the air with its tongue, fixing its eyes on Sparrow,
slithering towards her, leaving great scorch marks on the stone
flooring. Jill still had her hands on the wands, still glowing red
from all her surfaces, lost in fury.
⋄⋄JILL,
YOU NEED TO STOP THIS!⋄⋄
But Jill
was not stopping, and now the great snake was lunging at her and
Jocasta, the two of them only saved by Sparrow’s quick shield
spell, tilted at an angle to deflect the strike. It came at Sparrow
from another angle, forcing her to spend yet more of her remaining
reserves deflecting the creature – and more than she expected,
even, for the snake was devouring her magic as
it struck, biting at the shield.
⋄⋄JILL,
FOR GOD’S SAKE, YOU NEED TO FORGIVE YOURSELF!⋄⋄
†††††
ARE YOU INSANE? HOW
COULD I? HOW COULD ANYONE?
†††††
The snake
lunged again. Sparrow cast her shield once more, feeling the last of
her reserves of magic go. She coughed. "Jocasta, do you have
anything?"
As the
snake lunged once more, Jocasta whipped her wand out and cast the
shield spell. To her credit, she was even better than Sparrow at
picking a decent angle of deflection. But her arms quickly weakened,
as her magic was drained, and she had to lay Sparrow on the floor.
And then
there were two great serpents of flame, and then three, coming at
them from multiple angles. But before they could even strike, they
were already deforming, whirling around Jill, the roaring flame
nearly drowning Jill’s furious screaming – and the whirl of fire
grew, and grew, and grew, beginning to fill all the space.
The flame
grew too hot to face directly. Sparrow and Jocasta turned their backs
to it, though it might buy them only a little more time. "What
do you think?" said Jocasta. "Maybe use that special sign language of yours?"
"I’d
be using myself up entirely," said Sparrow.
"Let
me have a turn at the self-sacrifice," said Jocasta. She whirled
around back to the flame, and before Sparrow could stop her, she had
made the sign for the shield spell. At once a great barrier sprang
up, a translucent plane of glowing green – and for the moment, the
air cooled off. But though Jocasta had stood tall and proud to cast
it, she was visibly shaking, growing worse by the second.
Sparrow’s
first reaction, in that second, was to shake her sleeve out to bring
her wand to hand – only for her to remember that her wand was
firmly stuck beside Jill’s, out of her reach. She muttered a curse,
and then lunged for Jocasta’s
earlobe, biting hard. The girl yelped, the magical barrier vanished,
and the heat washed over the two again. Jocasta began to keel over,
Sparrow employing all of her meager strength to guide her gently to
the floor, covering Jocasta with her back to the fire, if only to
save her for moments longer. But the room was quickly becoming an oven, and it was getting difficult to
breathe. She would have been close to keeling over herself even
without the theft of her breath.
What
options were left, then? Sparrow rummaged in her pocket, feeling
nothing but a roll of parchment, and a couple sticks –
The
Fetching Stick. The one thing that could move the immovable
object. There was her salvation.
Except
that it was made of wood. Precisely
the wrong material for this situation. And the other stick was the
same – wait, it was the grey wand, wasn’t it? The dedicated
shield caster. Sparrow could just use it to throw up a barrier of
stone, or something – but she didn’t have enough power left to
use it indefinitely. And the flame was growing ever hotter. At this
point Sparrow didn’t even dare call Miranda –
Yet all
of a sudden, the heat was blown away by a wild wind. Sparrow looked
up to see a figure striding towards her, a dark shadow amidst an
ice-blue aura, wrapped in whirling clouds of snow. ⋄⋄MIRANDA? ⋄⋄
°°°
HELLO THERE, SUNSHINE, YOU’RE LUCKY JOCASTA CALLED FOR HELP. NOW
I’M ABOUT TO BE A BIT BUSY HERE.°°° Miranda interposed herself
between Sparrow and the whirling fire, such that, where Sparrow had
been feeling the press of heat, now she shivered in the chill of
bitter cold. Miranda thrust out her hands, driving the chill winds against Jill’s fire –
And Jill
in turn directed all of her flame against Miranda. The two titanic
forces met with a roar, the winds in the room picking up more and
more, dragging Sparrow off of Jocasta and blowing her steadily away.
⋄⋄NOT A PERFECT SOLUTION HERE, MY FRIEND.⋄⋄
°°°
BEST I CAN DO. DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING BETTER? °°°
Still
sliding away towards the wall, Sparrow drew the Fetching Stick out of
her pocket. She also brought out the grey wand. This was going to be
risky. ⋄⋄ALRIGHT BOY, I NEED YOU TO FETCH. I’LL BE PROTECTING
YOU UNTIL THE LAST MOMENT. GO.⋄⋄She tossed the stick into the
air. Before it could fly into Jill’s furnace and be burned to
ashes, she used the grey wand to conjure a sphere of stone around it.
This she directed towards the glowing figure at the center of the
roaring fire, trying to keep it on course in the midst of the howling
gale.
<
The
sphere drew as close as Sparrow could get it. ⋄⋄ALRIGHT BOY. BE
SWIFT. READY? THREE, TWO, ONE, FETCH!⋄⋄She dismissed the stone
sphere. Instantly there was a sharp CLACK, and then out of the
inferno sped a flaming stick, towing two wands stuck together.
Sparrow
immediately grabbed the stick, burning her hands before she hastily
smothered the fire in her robes, raising the smell of charred cotton.
She unwrapped it from the cloth – it was charred, but not burned
through. "Sorry boy." She patted the stick, then placed it
in her pocket.
The flame
had now changed – where before it had been directed entirely
against Miranda’s blasting winds, it returned to whirling around
Jill, in a great tornado of fire. °°° WAS THAT SUPPOSED TO STOP
HER? °°°
⋄⋄IT
WAS STEP ONE. JO, DID YOU WANT A CHANCE AT THE LIBRARY TRICK? ⋄⋄Yet
when Sparrow turned to Jocasta, she saw that the girl was shivering violently upon the cold stone, barely
keeping her eyes open. Sparrow grabbed for Jocasta’s hand – cold,
growing colder. With her remaining strength she threw herself on top
of Jocasta, desperately trying to warm her. ⋄⋄DAMMIT MIRANDA, LAY
OFF THE WINTER CHILL FOR A MINUTE, JO’S ABOUT TO FREEZE SOLID.⋄⋄
°°°
YOU WANT TO GET BURNED? °°°
⋄⋄JUST
FOR A MINUTE.⋄⋄
Miranda
stepped back, moving away from Sparrow, keeping a whirl of wind about
her, but not directly opposing Jill any longer. In a moment the air
about Sparrow became an oven once more. Jocasta began to stir – not
enough, not fast enough. In her desperation Sparrow planted a hard
kiss on Jocasta’s lips, hoping that she had more magical energy
left to give than her girlfriend, that the flow would move towards
Jocasta and not away.
Sparrow
knew it had worked when Jocasta threw an arm over Sparrow and dragged
her down, deepening the kiss. Sparrow laughed and pulled back. "Don’t
use me all up yet," she said, "I haven’t given you a
chance to try the Library Trick."
Jocasta
grinned, before coughing weakly. "Do we have enough juice to
make it work?"
"The
wands should help make it work," said Sparrow. "Come on."
She rolled off Jocasta, and together, the two of them crawled back to
where the wands hovered just above the floor. Together, they took
hold of the wands; together they pressed their lips once more;
together they cast the shield charm.
It
settled in a golden dome about them, the sound of the flame now
muffled, and Sparrow could feel herself filled with a new energy –
not the overwhelming heat of Jill’s inner fire, but something more
like the gentle chill of an early spring breeze that urged her to run
as far as she wished.
She was
so thoroughly distracted that she almost didn’t notice the
image of a sky-blue figure flashing into her mind. She separated from
Jocasta, rolling away, nearly springing to her feet, before she
realized it was a very low dome over her.
She also
realized that she’d been expecting to be able to Send through the
shield, even though last time the shield had blocked her effort. This
was the part of the plan she’d miscalculated. So what, then?
Dismiss the shield and suffer the hazardous winds, or remain here and
let Miranda wear herself out?
And yet,
a little something had gotten through to her just now. Maybe
she could get through to Jill. She lay facedown upon the stone, her
face enclosed in her arms, and concentrated on her thoughts of her
girlfriend. Slowly an image took shape in her mind – a figure
wreathed in flame, amidst a background of the starry night sky. Yet
it appeared as if through frosted glass.
The
figure dropped to its knees.
Sparrow
shook her head, dismissing the connection. She looked up. Jill’s
fire was dying down. But Miranda’s howling wind was not yet letting
up. Sparrow grabbed the wands and re-cast the shield spell, as a flat
plane between Miranda and Jill. She was buffeted backward by the
force of the redirected wind.
⋄⋄ENOUGH!
⋄⋄
The
whirling wind vanished, along with the flame. Miranda stood there,
shorn of her swirling clouds and shining aura, breathing heavily,
staring at Jill. Or the form of Jill, at least – she had not lost
her aura, but stood as a figure made of bright white light edged in
red.
Sparrow
pushed herself to her feet, Jocasta soon following. Hand in hand,
they staggered towards Jill. Swapping energy had made it possible to
move, at least – possible to cast at least the spell Sparrow knew
best – yet still she felt a prickling ache all over. Would that she
could partake of Jill! But who knew what that might do to her –
especially when the girl was still glowing white-hot. Sparrow could
only come within a few feet of Jill – a little more than arm’s
length. Nor could she think of what words of reassurance she might
possibly offer. A gentle touch seemed far more fitting,
and yet it was out of the question.
Jocasta
was the one to speak up. "Jill," she said, "how old
were you?"
†††††
I ALREADY TOLD YOU. †††††
"You
haven’t told anyone else. How old were you? Say it."
†††††
TEN. †††††
"And you think you’re to blame at that
age?"
†††††
WHO ELSE COULD I POSSIBLY
BLAME? †††††
"Everyone
around you," said Jocasta. "Every elder, every fool who put you in that position. Everyone who
failed you. Everyone who misled you. Who blamed you."
†††††
I WAS THE ONE WHO –
†††††
"Did
you actually cast a spell?"
†††††
JOCASTA –
†††††
•
JILL. DID YOU CAST A SPELL. DID YOU SAY ANY WORDS. •
†††††
NO. †††††
"No,"
said Jocasta. "It was a fit of magic. A characteristic outburst
of Wizards of that age, made far worse by all the pressure you were
put under – which is a danger well-known among Wizards, such as
should have been thoroughly understood by the Patil family. It
happened before you were granted a wand, before you were taught how
to control your magic, before you knew what you were doing. Time and again I have told you, none of this was your
fault."
"None
of it?" whispered Jill. The air began to cool as the light from
her body faded. Jill was revealed again at last – her face blank
with shock, a single tear running down your cheek. "Not even a
bit? How often you have said so – and how often have I believed it?"
Another tear joined the first, and then another, and more – she
collapsed to her knees as she wept.
Sparrow
knelt and threw her arms about Jill, soon followed by Jocasta. The
two of them held Jill tight as she sobbed into their shoulders.
Eventually
Jill’s breathing slowed. She was silent, for a time, until she at
last whispered, "How could you not despise me?"
"What
kind of jerk would I be if I blamed you?" said Sparrow.
"You
would be the Patil family," said Jocasta.
"Ten
years old," said Sparrow. "This was after the prophecy,
right? And after you were shut up inside for smacking that girl. So you were confined and then had your
heart hung out to dry because of a stupid prophecy – and your magic
lashed out in a desperate effort to protect you. Just like Miranda.
You forgive her, don’t you? You don’t blame her for what happened
to her."
"You
could blame me for what I just did now," said Jill. "I
nearly killed you, didn’t I?"
"Familiar
circumstance." Miranda laid a hand gently on Jill’s shoulder,
meeting her pained gaze with a look of perfect calm. "But
Sparrow forgave me for that incident. As for this one...Sparrow did
invite you to test her own limits."
"And
I might have found them," said Sparrow. "Whoof. Maybe I’m
not doing magic for a week."
"I
can help with that," said Miranda. She sat herself down upon the
stone floor, rummaging in her pocket and producing a vial of liquid
that glowed golden. "I’ve managed to perfect the Sunlight
Potion. Try it."
Sparrow
took the vial hesitantly. "I guess if there’s anyone I can
trust with experimental potions it’s you." She uncorked it and
downed the contents all at once to get past the taste as quickly as
possible – only to regret her haste, for the potion had actually
been as sweet
as spring sunshine. All at once the prickling ache in her chest
vanished, and she felt renewed. She giggled. "And my trust is
well-founded!"
Miranda
handed a vial each to Jocasta and Jill. They looked a little less
wary and reluctant than they had been, downing the contents and
visibly perking up. A wide grin spread across Jocasta’s face,
though for Jill, the potion sent her into nervous laughter. She
scooted back from Sparrow and Jocasta, hanging her head, her
shoulders shaking.
"To
reiterate," said Miranda, "we had similar circumstances,
and what sounds like similar outcomes. Yet you do not forgive
yourself?"
"You
were in immanent danger," said Jill. "What happened with
me...well, I’ve only let Jocasta see, so far."
"Will
you let me see?" said Sparrow. "Will you let me into the
center of your dreams?"
"You
won’t look at me the same way again," said Jill.
"No,"
said Sparrow. "I won’t. I’ll look at you like you were
willing to show me the truth, and that you
trusted me with the knowledge of the worst moment of your entire
life. And likely as not, I’ll look at you like you need even more
kisses." She scooted close to Jill and gave her a peck on the
cheek. "Why, I’d just bet you need all the kisses and hugs in
the world." She threw her arms over Jill’s shoulders and gave
her another peck. "A task I am happy to take up."
"Even
after you’ve seen the full force of my rage," murmured Jill.
"You are reckless."
"I’m
not running from you," whispered Sparrow. "Never from you.
Never more than an arm’s length, remember? That was
your promise. Now it’s mine."
†††††
SPARROW
– †††††
⋄⋄THERE
IS NOTHING THAT CAN TAKE ME FROM YOU.⋄⋄
Tears
flowed down Jill’s cheeks once more, as she threw her arms about
Sparrow, enfolding her in a fierce embrace.
Sparrow
heard a clattering of wood, and then as Jill released her, Jocasta
was handing Sparrow her wand – her own wand, yes, it felt just
right. Odd that Jocasta had got it right on the first try.
Odd that
she was looking far more downcast than Sparrow had expected. Sparrow
took her hand. "What’s wrong?"
Jocasta
took a deep breath. "I honestly do not think that even the
unforgiving Wizengamot would convict Jill of murder. She was quite
plainly not in control of her actions. She
killed without a bit of intent, and did not even set up the situation
that led to it." Her eyes began to shine with tears. "I, on
the other hand – " But she could not get any more words out.
"You
were even younger than me," said Jill.
Jocasta
nodded mutely. She sat apart, on the verge of open weeping. Jill
released Sparrow, and moved to Jocasta, taking her hand. Jocasta
sniffled, and then threw her arms around Jill, soon enfolded by
Jill’s embrace in turn.
Sparrow
gently rested a hand on Jocasta’s shoulder. "Is it safe to talk about yet?"
Jocasta
turned to meet Sparrow’s gaze, her eyes glowing green. The light
faded as she let out a long sigh. "I remain unready," she
murmured. "All I can say...is that I knew what I was being asked
to do."
"Let
the matter lay there this evening," said Miranda. "Lest we
have another storm on our hands." She stiffly rose to her feet.
"Better to take an early rest anyway, the Sunlight Potion can
only do so much. Sleep is the best recharge."
"Could
do with a bit of that," groaned Jill, rising to her feet in
turn. "Could do with a lot of it. Come on then."
As the
four of them made their way to the door, Jocasta said, "I didn’t
expect you to get here quite so fast after I called."
"I
was waiting outside the door," said Miranda. "I heard about
your plan, I knew how likely it was for Jill to blow up –"
"That
does not do wonders for how I feel about my self-control,"
growled Jill.
There
were no more words between them, as they departed down the hall.
…
As they
entered their dorm room, Sparrow let out a sigh at the sight of the
big four-poster bed. "Sleep at last," she mumbled. "Let’s
get to it."
"I
would have expected a separate bed for me," said Jill. "The
room gives you what you need, right? Maybe I need to sleep alone
tonight."
"Oh
no," said Jocasta. "You want to be apart from us.
But maybe you need to be close."
"The room’s making
judgments," grumbled Jill. She threw herself down upon the bed
without even removing her robes or tucking herself under the covers.
Sparrow
soon followed, too eager for sleep to bother with anything else. She
snuggled close to Jill. "See you in dreams?"
"They’re
not going to be open tonight," mumbled Jill. With that, she was
sawing logs.
The last
thing Sparrow saw before she drifted off was Jocasta closing the bed
curtains about them.
…
She was
not alone in dreams. There was Jocasta, sitting next to her on a heap
of bones, holding her hand, saying nothing.
And there
was the great whirl of fire in a ring around them, permitting them no
passage. All they could do this evening was sit, and watch.