Hunting For The Sun

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

A Question of Integrity

I suppose it was a mark of my lost innocence and sweetness that I didn´t laugh in her face. I sneered and shook my head.

`Bollocks. You don´t believe them.´ Then, nervously: `Do you?´

She looked around uncomfortably, fiddling with her cuffs. `I don´t know what to think, Rae,´ she shrugged. Her eyes were apologetic, but that didn´t change what she´d said.

I rounded on Draco.

`So I suppose you think these... nutters are right, as well?´ I demanded.

He shrugged. `Lucifer was God´s most beautiful angel,´ he said.

`I´m not evil!´ I yelled. `I´m not!´

But even to me the words sounded hollow, distant. As though I was hearing them through water. They were overlaid with a whistling buzz. I knew it all too well. It was a sound from my intuition. The one I got when Seamus had first told me he was called Cloud, the one I got when I told anyone that I didn´t know Malfoy: the one that meant someone was lying.

`Rae!´ Malfoy shouted, snapping me out of it. `You don´t know what this actually means!´

`So tell me!´ I screamed, backing away and snatching my arm from his grasp.

`Rae, there´s a balance. Good and bad, night and day, right and wrong, light and dark. Without each other, they couldn´t exist. There would be no line and then everything would fade, eventually destroying itself. In every generation there is one who represents Good, and one for Bad. The reason you survive normal things is because the world can´t risk losing you and destroying itself in a car crash. There are ways to kill you, and your counterpart.´ He took a deep breath and reluctantly continued. `These people are some kind of fanatical religious order. They think that evil is something to be got rid of, not knowing that without it there would be no good. They know about you. They know that if the prophecy is fulfilled they won´t get another chance to kill Evil.´

I gaped at him for a bit, then closed my mouth self-consciously and put on an air of disbelief. Why did I have to be so important and stuff? Why me? Even more people than usual were out to get me this time. Great. I pouted. I do that a lot. This was beyond unfair. I knew they weren´t lying. Draco couldn´t lie to me anymore. I could feel it the moment he started to speak. This time, he wasn´t lying.

`So what do I have to do?´

`I can´t tell you,´ he said sadly. `I can´t tell you.´

I didn´t bother asking why not. I knew that he just couldn´t. He´d already told me that. Suddenly the cold wind of the night high above the city began to cut at me, and I wrapped my arms around myself. Draco took off his coat and slipped it over my shoulders.

`Let´s get back,´ he said, using his gentle grip on my shoulders to steer me back to the slope. Alethea went ahead of us, silent and trembling. I cast one glance back over the rooftop and shuddered. I stepped over a dead body and mounted the rubble heap up the side. Then I fell to my knees. A hand was wrapped firmly around my ankle and pulling me back.

Draco cried out and grabbed at me, but the `dead´ man held me back. I screamed, but Alethea and Draco couldn´t get to me before the man swung me across the smooth stone and over the highest edge of the huge building, only just grasping my ankle. The steep face slanted inwards away from me. There was no chance I could grab it if I fell. Below me there was a caved in roof and a glass roof. Fun. The wind, stronger so high up, caught me and swung me about, banging me gently against the side of the roof. I screamed again and clawed at the edges of the smooth stones. I could hear Draco negotiating with the man, but I couldn´t hear the words. Wind howled in my ears.

`Fine,´ I heard Draco say. `Drop her then. You know it won´t work.´

WHAT? Drop me over the edge of a building! That´s real nice, Draco! I started coughing out hot tears. The tearing noises from my throat, that I then realised was me crying, terrified me. How was I making that noise? Why?

It was only a second later that I understood what it actually meant. The hand around my ankle clenched and unclenched several times, almost dropping me. Suddenly it wasn´t there anymore, and I started to fall. I yelled out as hard as I could. The ground was rushing up at me, but I could do nothing.

`HELP ME!´ I bellowed. No reply came. I could hear Draco and Alethea shouting then a heavier body, that of the man, rushed past, shattering the glass roof that was barely ten feet from my nose. I curled myself up into a ball and tucked my head in for protection. There was nothing left to do. Goodbye, cruel world, I thought melodramatically. I closed my eyes, but nothing came.

Then a slashing pain shredded through my body and I hit something hard, knocking all the wind out of me. I could feel hot blood flooding over me, clouding my vision, and then all was black.

~*~

I awoke in the dingy room with boarded-up windows and dusty floors, a pounding, searing pain in my head and body. I didn´t move, although I wasn´t sure if I even could. I blinked the blood out of my eyes. The blood over my eyelids hadn´t even dried yet. That was a good sign. I scanned the ceiling, swallowing through my parched throat. I tried to curl in one of my fingers, but nothing happened. I closed my eyes again, ignoring all the pains everywhere. I listened intently. Outside I could hear voices. A man and a girl.

`Can you see anything?´

`I can´t.´

`You said she´d be fine.´

`I said she´d live.´

`What´s the difference?´

`I mean that she could be very, very hurt but still alive. We have to be careful. She could have caused some kind of collapse in the building and be buried under here.´

The voices were getting closer. I tried to call out, but all that came was a scorched gurgle. I tried again. It came out as a hooting whistle.

`What´s that?´

`I don´t know.´

`Sounds like it came from over there.´ Footsteps were getting nearer, and I croaked again.

`There!´

`Rae!´ Draco exclaimed, kneeling down beside me. I flicked my eyes open and dragged my vision over to him. `Oh god! I thought I was wrong!´ He was scratching at his hands, shifting around as though trying to think of something he could do without hurting me. There was so much pain in my body that I was going numb. He touched a finger to my cheek.

`We have to get you to the other guardian,´ he said, looking around as though the person was going to materialise in the middle of the room. `She´ll know what to do.´

I couldn´t do anything. I closed my eyes and felt the tingle of a spell run up my spine. After that, I knew no more.

~*~

Before I opened my eyes I knew I wasn´t alone. I reached out my mind and found Draco´s familiar sense presently. There was another person there, though. Not denying my nature, I kept my eyes closed to listen.

`You what?´ A woman´s voice, cold and sophisticated.

`It´s not like it was going to kill her!´ Draco protested.

`You let her fall off a building?´

`She´s still alive!´

`You tit.´

`Stop calling me that!´

`Ah ah ah. Do not oppose the `tit´.´

`It´s not my fault! There was no way I could have reached her!´ He sounded annoyed now.

`You´re a tit, Draco. Live with it.´

I didn´t recognise the voice, but she scared Malfoy, and that was enough.

`Can you heal her?´

`Of course I can, tit.´ I felt a violent and fairly unpleasant buzzing all over my skin that felt like bees or something. Then all of my body felt fluid and floppy. Half a second later, though, it was all healed and tingling. I risked opening one eye just a slit.

`Thanks,´ Draco said, running his hand through his hair and looking at the floor.

`No problem.´ I swivelled my eye to the direction of the sound. In the edge of my vision stood a woman in long black robes, the deep hood down and just hiding a red dragon insignia across her back. Her hair was black and streaked with red. She wore black lipstick and was examining long black talons out of bright red-brown eyes. She looked terrifying.

`Rae!´ Draco exclaimed. He crouched down next to me and kissed my nose.

`Hello,´ I croaked.

`You okay?´ he said, really concerned.

`No thanks to you,´ I grinned, shifting myself into a sitting position.

`Hi Rae,´ the woman said, creating a nail file out of sparks and setting to work on an inch-long fingernail.

`Hello,´ I said nervously.

`I´m Raven,´ she grinned. `Well, not really, but you know what I mean.´

`Yeah,´ I smiled. She flicked her fingers and the file vanished.

`Well, I´m your High Priestess.´

`I have a Priestess?´ I demanded, dazed.

`Well, what you represent does.´

`Cool,´ I breathed. I settled back into the pillows. The room I was in was made of vaulted stone. The covers were dark red silk with little golden dragons embroidered into them. There were a few windows, but very high up, casting multicoloured patterns over the walls. Raven looked totally in place in this environment. Draco just looked muddy and tired. I couldn´t guess how I felt.

`As our high princess, this and the surrounding rooms will be your apartment. I take it you´ll be sharing?´ she said, giving Draco a suggestive look, then laughing evilly.

`So it would appear,´ Draco said stiffly. Raven laughed again and flicked her long, long hair before swishing her way out of the room, hidden high heels tapping sharply on the stones. There was a moment of quiet as she crossed the rug before the fire, then she tapped through the door, pulling it shut behind her.

`Are you alright?´ Draco asked, turning back to me.

`Fine,´ I promised. `Who´s that?´

`Raven,´ he sighed. `She loves tormenting me.´

`So I could tell,´ I grinned.

`Shut up, you,´ he said, cuffing me lightly. `She´s great.´

`What´s this about me having a religious following?´ I asked, blushing at the very thought.

`Well, it´s not really you. You´ve just been chosen to fill the boots.´

`Thanks,´ I said coldly.

`Not like that.´

`I know.´

`Well, you know those people we killed back in El Karem?´

`Which ones? Yeah, I know them.´

`They were your opposite´s following. This is yours. The difference is, we´re on speaking terms with ours.´

`Where are we?´

`In the temple.´

`Where´s that?´

`I honestly don´t know,´ he laughed. `Somewhere near Hogwarts.´

`Great!´ I hesitated. `Why?´

`You needed a lot of healing and very few explanations,´ he shrugged. `This is the best place. Raven uses unconventional methods with which to build her powers. It makes her stronger than your average.´

`How long have we been here?´

`Not long. An hour or so.´

`Where´s Alethea?´

`She´s with us. So is Cloud.´

`Cloud?´ I frowned, shocked. `Why him?´

Draco stood up and walked across the room to the fire. He pointed down at it and it burst into flame, glowing green briefly before looking normal.

`He´s your friend,´ he shrugged. `He saw us carrying your mangled body down the street and followed. I think he fancies Raven.´

`How relevant,´ I drawled.

`We have a mission, as soon as you´re all done up,´ he told me.

`Great!´ I said sarcastically. `Cos I just can´t get enough of rushing around killing things!´

`Rae,´ he chided. He came and sat on the end of my bed. I drew my knees up and hugged them to my chest. I couldn´t stop that sinking disappointment that we still weren´t done with all this. What I wanted more than anything else was to sleep and not need to wake up. To sleep with Draco´s arms around me and know that all my friends were safe. I didn´t want to jump up and keep running because if you keep complying then you know that it´ll keep piling on top of you and you´ll be running so fast that you overtake yourself and lose all sense and feeling and it´ll never ever come to an end. I know there are some people who need to be that way, but I can´t. There are heroes, like Harry before I killed him, and all those people that you can always admire and aspire to, but I never pretend to be one of them. I screw up. Badly, sometimes. I let people die. I kill people in cold blood. I´ve taken all the things that are good or interesting about me from other people and the real me is just some girl, someone who can´t live up to what she plays. I´m only clever or witty or sharp or pretty because of Draco. I can only fight because of Draco and my father. I´m only alive because of Draco. What good is Megara, then? I tell you what Megara was, she was tired.

`I can´t do it, Draco,´ I whispered, looking up at him.

`We can leave you here,´ he offered.

`No you can´t. You can´t go without me,´ I said.

`Why not?´

`I wouldn´t let you,´ I said. I knew it was the truth. If I were going to stay, Draco would need to stay with me.

`Well, we´ve got a few days to kill. Raven´s coming, and she wants to get some stuff cleared up. Then she says she wants someone called `Skye´ to come too. So we have to wait for her to get back. She said that would be on Monday.´

`A big party?´ I asked. Sounded a lot better than just us. Alethea and Cloud would be there too. Fun! Kill the priests and kidnap their rulers! Whoo! No, really...

`Guess so,´ Draco frowned, giving me an odd look. `Listen, I´m going to see if I can nick some food. Want anything?´

`Whatever you think I´d like,´ I smiled. He groaned and slammed the door on his way out. I grinned and settled back in the cushions.

I twiddled my thumbs and looked around, but I was bored. Took me about... five minutes. Pretty good. I sat right up and threw the covers off the bed. I was all muddy still and in my own clothes, less boots. At least it meant that I hadn´t been bathed and dressed. I tiptoed to the door and listened awhile before pushing the cast iron handle down and peering through the resulting gap. The next room was a sort of lounge, and it was empty. I stepped in, leaving the door open as an escape route. The room was lovely, and I was gobsmacked. All this, mine?

The floors were wooden boards in this room, polished dark and covered in the middle of the large room with a soft, deep piled white rug. The walls were stone, but covered with lots of tapestries depicting mountains and forests in beautiful colour. The windows were at a normal level in here. They looked like they had been pilfered from a church, because they had stained glass saints and lambs. It failed to escape my notice, however, that St Augustine had a twiddly moustache and a pair of devil´s horns painted on to his face. There was a sofa, facing a massive fireplace and covered with silk and fur throws. Several bookshelves lined the right hand wall, where there were no windows. Another door led out in the far-left corner. I crossed to it and pushed it open slightly. The bathroom.

It was huge, mosaic-tiled and with a massive marble bath sunken into the floor which was filled to the brim with steaming water. A window, masked from the outside world with a red glass dragon design, was set above a deep shelf which held hundreds of coloured glass bottles. On the back of the door was a soft black towelling robe for when I got out, and a thick red towel was folded on the edge of the bath. A note, written on the mirror in black lipstick, identified the wonderful person who had arranged all this for me.

Hello my dear

I hope you enjoy this. I´m sure you feel up to it right about now!

Love Raven

I grinned. Already I liked her. I stripped off my grubby clothes and sank gratefully into the hot water. From the edge, I could reach the bottles. I grabbed several and emptied them into the bath and over my head. I washed my hair and immersed myself completely in the bubbles. My tired muscles soaked up all the curiously sparkling and glowing bath condiments and I felt totally renewed. I couldn´t thank Raven enough. I got out of the water, which drained itself and refilled magically, and towelled myself dry. I slipped the robe on over my shoulders and tied it around me before wringing out my damp hair and muttering a drying spell. The warmth tingled my fingers and suddenly it was dry beneath my hands. I replaced the towel on the back of the door and returned to my bedroom. Draco had clearly come back while I was in the bath, because a bowl of steaming soup sat on a silver tray. I smiled and sat on the bed to drink it. Mushroom. The only soup for me.

The wardrobe was my next destination. I dumped my grubby work clothes on the stool and pulled open the great doors. Another note from Raven was pinned, on paper this time, to the inside of the door.

Rae

Can you wear something posh? We have to present you to the minions.

Posh clothes contained in the right of the wardrobe.

Love Raven

I turned my attention to the mentioned area. I was just wondering what colour I should pick when a flowing script added itself to the bottom of the page.

Something in black, dear.

I lifted out all the clothes in black. There were gowns, dresses, skirts, robes, shirts, cloaks, capes and trousers. I bit my lip. All of it was beautiful! Mostly, however, I wanted to make a good impression.

A gown or a robe, preferably

. I laughed.

I replaced all the unfitting garments and turned back to the three gowns and two sets of robes left. I felt more in a robe kind of mood. The gowns went back into the wardrobe and I stared at the robes for a while. They were clearly a perfect fit on me. I didn´t have to try them on to find that. One was silk and looked like it would rustle. It also looked like it was a summer robe. I picked up the heavy, soft velvet one. It had a hood so big that it covered my face if I pulled it down, but I didn´t mind. It had a corset built in, and was quite fitted. I paraded around in the mirror for a while. It pooled on the floor like black ink, and flowed after me like water when I walked. The neckline plunged into a deep V and the hood hung from right up at my shoulders. My dragon charm settled perfectly against my skin. My hands fitted right up into my sleeves, which were cut exceedingly long at the back. A gold chain sat around my hips as a belt. There was a black cloak with a gold clasp that obviously went with it, so I put that on too. I felt very dramatic. All my life I´d wanted clothes like this. My hair was, for some reason, co-operating perfectly, and lay in wide, shining waves against the pristine black of my gown. I did my make-up with magic and pulled on some shoes.

`Rae, darling?´

`Hello,´ I said, coming to answer the knocked door.

`Raven,´ she identified herself. `Are you ready?´

`As I´ll ever be,´ I shrugged.

`You look lovely, dear,´ she smiled. `The outfit looks like it was made for you.´ She gave me a sly smile and led me out.

`How do you like your rooms?´

`They´re lovely. Thanks so much, especially the bath,´ I grinned. She took me out into the sitting room and pulled my hood up surreptitiously before stepping out. I shrugged and went with her.

`I thought you´d need one,´ she smiled. She was incredibly tall. The tapping of what were plainly stiletto heels beneath her robes betrayed her, though.

`Thanks, I really felt like one,´ I said.

`Funny,´ she said, cocking her head to one side. `You didn´t look like one.´

`Oh, ha ha,´ I sniped, but I really liked her.

`Anytime,´ she grinned.

We didn´t pass many people in the halls, but that was to be expected. I gathered that it was about sunset, and time for the daily meeting. We would be just in time for a dramatic entrance. We came up to a tremendous archway, in which two carved wooden doors stood. Behind them I could hear voices.

`They´re expecting us,´ Raven whispered, leaning an ear to the door. `Come on, let´s show you your followers.´