Orna Puella

- IV -

It wasn’t Vicky. It was the Tramp. He jumped out of his vortex - portal, whatever - and clapped his hands just like the last time when he appeared in my house. The light blinked out of existence and the Tramp walked towards us.

“What happened?” he asked shortly, his bizarre looking eyes widening when he saw blood on my face.
“Nothing,” I made sure that my shirt was buttoned up and my pants were zipped. “Everything is okay.”
“Like hell it is!” the Tramp grimaced. “Monbrah was freaking out.”
“Why didn’t she come herself by the way?” I asked, brushing hair off my face.
“She couldn’t,” the Tramp answered absent-mindedly, his eyes looking at Raven intently. “She is sort of tied up at the moment… Not literally,” he added and shifted his gaze towards me. “What happened?”
“Everything is…”

The Tramp hissed impatiently and I blinked when one of his eyes - the red one - flashed angry scarlet.

“Selena,” he said sharply. “You used one of those spells. That means something happened.”
“How do you know I used…”

He snorted.

“You kidding me? The feedback from those things is unbelievable. I could feel it all the way across the freaking World! And Monbrah was almost hysterical. She thought you died or something.”
“I did,” Raven sighed and the Tramp’s eyes darted towards him immediately. “I am okay though,” Raven shrugged.

The Tramp narrowed his weird looking eyes at him and I gasped when suddenly he poked Raven in the chest with his finger. Raven winced at that. The Tramp cocked his head slightly to the left, his expression thoughtful.
“Well, damn,” he hemmed finally. “You did die…”

I was feeling cold again. The Tramp finally lowered his hand.

“Half-breeds are tougher than they look,” he grinned at Raven. “Speaking from personal experience, by the way…”

Raven grinned back at him.

“All right…” the Tramp nodded. “Let’s see how bad the damages are.”
“Ugh,” I said guiltily.

The Tramp chuckled.

“Don’t worry,” he muttered, walking out. “I am quite handy when it comes to stuff like this…”

I’ve heard him whistling some old tune outside and then there was some strange noise as if something was getting ripped apart. I looked at Raven and he just shrugged.

“Let him do his thing, I guess,” he muttered and I agreed.

The Tramp walked back into the shed ten or so minutes later. He looked almost serene.

“Okay,” he said. “Stay alive, both of you.”
“You are leaving?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he drew a quick circle in the air with his finger. “Monbrah needs me.”
“When is she coming back?” I asked in a small voice.

The Tramp shrugged.

“No clue.”

The air in front of him started to pulsate with the same dark blue light.

“Tramp, wait!” I suddenly remembered something and he looked at me briefly, waving his hand at the circle almost absent-mindedly. “This spell… The one I used tonight… Can I use it again or was it just a onetime thing?”
“Unlimited usage,” the Tramp grinned. “See you later.”
“Bye…” I said but he already jumped into his portal and several seconds later the blue light was gone.

Raven looked at me.

“So,” he said. “You wanna start walking home?”
“Nah,” I said lightly. “It’s way too dark. Let’s wait until the morning.”

He grinned.

“That works.”

The remaining of that night was way too short if you ask me. Oh and by the way, Raven wasn’t lying when he said that he could last a hell of a lot longer.

****

I woke up when someone was nibbling on my neck gently.

“Wake up,” Raven said softly. “Sun’s been up for a couple of hours… I am sure Edwina will show up soon.”

Ah, crap, that’s right. Edwina said she would check up on us this morning. I sighed, opened my eyes and sat up. I looked at Raven’s chest. There was no sign of the gunshot wound that was spitting blood last night. I shook my head.

“Unbelievable,” I muttered.

He knew immediately what I meant and shrugged.

“Being a half-demon has it’s perks,” he said solemnly. “I mean, it still hurts when you get shot but you don’t die completely. In my book that’s a perk.”

I laughed and kissed him on the mouth.

“Yes it is,” I reached for my clothes and Raven sighed with regret.

We got dressed in less than fifteen minutes and walked outside. My jaw immediately hung open when I saw that the garden looked untouched. Everything seemed to be in perfect order as if nothing happened last night. Good Dragon, the Tramp was as good as Vicky, I thought in astonishment.

“Impressive,” Raven muttered, looking around. “This place looked like a bomb went off in here last night… And now look at it… Even the grass looks fine!”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “The Tramp knows what he’s doing…”
“I’d say,” Raven muttered.

We sat next to the Black Shed and were almost done with our cigarettes when I’ve heard voices and second later footsteps. I winced when I recognized Edwina Colette’s voice. Smoking was prohibited on school grounds. Usually nobody cared about it too much but it sounded like Edwina was pissed. If she catches us smoking right now, she’ll probably give us detention until the end of school year.

Raven grinned and took the cigarette out of my fingers. He dropped both of them on the ground and squinted his eyes slightly. Both butts immediately burst into flames and then there was only a tiny pile of ashes on the ground. Raven carefully blew on it and it was gone. I laughed at that and then I saw Edwina Colette and behind her was none other than Arlen himself. I blinked and slowly got up.

Edwina Colette came to a screeching halt the minute she saw Raven and me. She shook her head slightly and looked around, her eyes slowly filling with puzzlement and anger.

“Arlen,” she said finally. “There is nothing wrong with this place!”
“It was ruined!!” he almost screamed. “The entire place looked like… Like… It was bad, I swear! She did it!!” he pointed at me and Edwina Colette let out an exasperated sigh.
“Arlen,” she said patiently. “Everyone in this school knows that Selena can’t even conjure a decent fireball, let alone do something like you described.”

Arlen shook his head in frustration.

“She did it,” he repeated stubbornly. “Or that half-breed… Or both of them! They were kissing here last night for crying out loud!”

Edwina Colette sighed again and closed her eyes.

“Arlen,” she said with strained patience in her voice. “I don’t know if you had an extremely vivid nightmare or if you were under some sort of influence…”
“I wasn’t drunk!” Arlen exclaimed in astonishment. “I know what I saw!! Maybe she is just pretending that she sucks at magic… She probably fixed the whole thing after I was gone… That would also explain why that half-breed is al…” he bit his tongue but it was too late.

Edwina Colette immediately spun around and stared at him.

“What?!” she demanded. “What did you say?!”
“Nothing,” Arlen said quickly.
“Arlen, did you assault them last night?”
“No!” he exclaimed. “I did not!! I just…”
“Go get Ealarauc,” Edwina said shortly. “I am going to clear this whole thing up once and for all. If there was even a slight touch of magic around here, she’ll sense it.”

Oh, Talath, I did not think about that. Apparently, neither did Raven because his shoulders immediately tensed up. Arlen walked away, fuming. Edwina Colette folded her arms in her chest and went into the Black Shed. She came out a couple of minutes ago and glanced at us.

“If Ealarauc senses even a touch of magic here,” she said quietly. “Both of you will be expelled. And if she will say that Arlen’s words are true then help you Dragon. Stay here until I come back. It’s in your own interests.”

She walked away and I leaned on the wall of the shed.

“Don’t worry,” Raven said quietly. “I’ll just say I did it.”
“Ugh,” I rolled my eyes. “Shut up, will you? Like I am going to let that happen!”
“Weirdo,” Raven hemmed and I smiled weakly.

Edwina Colette came back twenty minutes later and Ealarauc showed up soon after that. Arlen was following her closely. I realized that Arlen had to drive to the elf’s house probably since today was Saturday and there was nobody in school. Well, except for us.

I stared at Ealarauc, thinking that she will not miss this opportunity to pay us back for that one class where Raven made her look like an idiot and I laughed my head off. I knew that she could sense the amount of energy around the garden. The Tramp said last night that the feedback was unbelievable and I was positive that the aura would hang around here for a while.

The elf stopped frozen in her tracks, her facial expression indifferent but her lilac eyes darkened. Yup, she can sense it, all right. I closed my eyes. Here we go.

“Anything?” Edwina Colette asked shortly and I didn’t dare opening my eyes.
“Edwina Col…” Raven started saying and I almost hissed at him.
“Quiet!” Edwina barked and I was relieved somewhat. “Do not speak until you are spoken to.”

I opened my eyes and saw Arlen’s smirk. He opened his mouth and Edwina shot him a very dark look.

“That means all three of you,” she said with steel in her voice and I had to bite my lip hard to keep myself from laughing at Arlen’s dumfounded expression.

Edwina Colette looked at Ealarauc whose face now was almost serene. Of course, it’s serene, I thought bitterly. She is probably ecstatic at the very thought of getting back at Raven and me.

“Anything?” Edwina asked again and the elf looked at her, her lilac eyes peaceful.
“Not a single vibe,” she said in her usual melodic voice and I just stared at her.

Arlen started to cough.

“That’s impossible!” he managed finally. “She is…”
“Quiet!!” Edwina barked at him. “You sure?” she looked at Ealarauc again.
“Positive,” the elf said indifferently without even looking at us.

Edwina Colette glanced at Raven and me.

“You may go,” she said shortly.

Okay, what just happened? I tried to catch Ealarauc’s gaze but she wouldn’t look at me.

“Arlen,” Edwina said with irritation. “If something like this will happen again, I will give you detention, you understand?”
“I am telling the tr…” he started saying but she immediately cut him off.
“Do you understand?!” the steel in her voice was ringing louder than ever.
“Yes,” he muttered finally.
“Good,” Edwina Colette nodded. “Everyone is free to go.”

She marched away from us and Arlen followed her, throwing a last killer glance at Raven and me. Ealarauc turned away from us and started to walk away.

“Ealarauc…” I called uncertainly and she stopped and turned her head towards me.
“Tell your Aunt that we are even,” she said calmly. “The next time something like this happens, I will let them know that there is enough magic in the air to fry this entire town three times in a row.”

She didn’t wait for my response and walked away. I took a shaky breath and looked at Raven. He looked as surprised as me.

“Wow,” he said finally. “I wonder what Vicky did for her…”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I tried to pry it out of her but she never said anything.”
“Well,” he hemmed. “If you will be using those spells again, make sure it’s not on the school grounds. Or kill Arlen first so there are no witnesses.”
“Works for me,” I nodded melancholically.

Raven laughed.

“Okay, let’s start walking home, I guess.”

I sighed and looked up.

“At least the weather is decent,” I said solemnly.
“For now,” Raven shrugged and we started walking home.