“Noct, do you mean to say when I traveled between worlds, I was tearing pinholes in the universe and possibly leaving open gateways from here to Earth?” Hector inquired, but Noct shrugged.
“How should I know? I just see them around sometimes. I guess that makes sense, though, when you think about all the people you hear about who are just spirited away. I guess if someone accidently stepped into them the wrong way, they might fall inside or something,” Noct guessed, and Lydia’s grin broadened.
“The Bermuda Triangle. I knew it,” Penny whispered to herself, aching to share this information with her mother.
“It makes perfect sense, then. That must be how I came to this world,” Lydia proclaimed, apparently not very concerned with the matter. Hector raised his finger as if to interject a point, but Lydia continued on as if reciting a verse, “So I lived here for three years—I learned the language and I made friends with these nomad goblins.”
“Oh? Three years to learn a language fluently?” Hector asked.
“I never said I was fluent,” she rebutted and Simon glanced at her again, looking worried.
“And you just somehow managed to survive, how?” Hector pressed, avoiding Simon’s gaze that implored him to go easy on her.
“I was getting to that. We travel around in these carts and I tell fortunes for money. The people here really believe it, too, because of my gifts.”
“And these goblins, they speak Andronian pretty well? Or did you learn Gobblish too?” Argent grilled.
Simon butted in before she could answer. “Leave her alone, all right, she knows enough to get by.”
Penny’s suspicions had only increased. “Okay, what exactly are these gifts you keep mentioning and comparing to mine? If you come from Earth, you should know as well as I do that Tarot and fortune telling are a load of crap. That the only magic that really exists is that rock stuff that shows up here, or enchantments like Hector’s spells.” She jerked her head in Hector’s direction, but Lydia only smiled.
“You’re wrong,” Lydia shot back without a hint of sensitivity, catching Penny off guard. “Every world has magic, even Earth. Our dreams are magic—our dreams and what we can do with them. You’re a living example of that. Simon told me that you’ve got the gift, too.”
Penny cast a hollow glance at Simon, who was hanging his head in shame and could not bring himself to look at anyone.
“So what else exactly did Simon tell you?”
“Oh, just this and that. Little updates, here and there, just for conversation’s sake,” she answered with a little shrug.
“But Lydia, why did you never tell me you were from Earth?” Simon asked, going to her and touching her hand pleadingly. She touched the side of his face with affection.
“Sweetie, I never knew you came from there, did I? I just guessed that about Penny. And if you were indeed Elydrian, and since you never mentioned that Penny was from another world, you’d think I was crazy for bringing such things up, wouldn’t you?” Lydia cooed, pouting her lips. Annette snorted derisively from the corner, but Simon was nodding.
“That makes sense. Sorry I doubted you, love,” he said and gripped her shoulder.
Penny scoffed. “Okay, enough with this, I have questions that need answering. The dream magic, Lydia.”
“Haven’t you ever wondered how you could do it?” prodded Lydia. “Haven’t you wondered how any of them back home could work the miracles that they did? Or were you so close-minded that you classified all the psychics or mediums, shamans, or miracle workers as charlatans?
“You see, Miss Penny Fairfax, there are those on Earth who are cut off from the magic. They dream in black and white, they dream very little, or maybe not at all. They’ve closed their souls to the flow of magic. And then there are those born like you and me. We are the Dreamweavers. The ones who can command the magic of dreams instead of just recycling it.”
“You’re trying to tell me that there are tons of people who can see the memories of others like I can? Is that what you can do?” Penny stammered, feeling faint.
“Not always. Dreamweavers’ gifts manifest themselves in a variety of different ways when they are unconditioned and untrained. Sometimes it can be an ability to communicate with the dead, or a heighted sense of precognition, or maybe even something like acute empathy, or the ability to heal others. They’ve all got one thing in common, though―they that have a large amount of magic flowing through their bodies.”
“Extraordinary,” Argent gasped, his eyes blank as the information circulated through his head. “But that still doesn’t explain how you—”
Lydia interrupted him, her eyes fixed on Penny. “Even you, Penny, shouldn’t limit yourself to just the memories of others. You can do what I can do, if you want. You shouldn’t be afraid of your gifts.”
“And what is it that you can do, exactly? Spell it out for us,” Hector insisted.
With an unwavering grin, Lydia began to move her hands through the air, creating a fine, sparkling purple dust that accumulated around her fingers. Just as Penny recognized it as the same material Adrielle had stored in a glass orb for her once, Lydia blew it toward Hector’s face. He gasped, inhaling the sparkling matter, and his eyes sloped shut for a moment. Suddenly they blinked back open, He grasped at his shuddering chest, fiddled with his glasses, and averted his eyes.
“What did you see, Hector?” Penny asked sharply and she reached for his hand, but he drew it away nervously. “What did you do to him?”
“I’ll show you,” Lydia giggled and spun several more dreams in the air and blew them over at Noct, Mia, and Penny, each of whom had no time to dodge the shimmering cloud. When the dream entered Penny’s mind, her vision went blank for a heartbeat.
Penny sat comfortably in a meadow of bright flowers that danced in the warm, gentle breeze. Something silky and soft behind her was breathing heavily, and her heart gave a leap of joy as she turned and recognized Humphrey. He looked up at her with his soulful brown eyes and licked her face twice.
Penny laughed, noticing she was in a delicate summer dress that matched the clouds billowed above. She felt as beautiful as she imagined Annette must feel very day of her life.
From across the rolling hills a voice was calling her. Penny let go of Humphrey’s neck to see a group of people coming toward her through the sea of blooms. Everyone was there, all smiles and friendly waves, and leading the group was her mother.
“Mom!” Penny cried, leaping in great bounds across the field until she was safe in the arms of her mother. “Oh, I knew I’d see you again. You’re not mad, are you?”
“Not at all, kid. I’m just so happy to see you again! That’s all that matters to me!” Paulina Fairfax let her daughter go and gazed upon her with pride glowing on her face. Beside her, Hector stepped up casually and took Penny by the shoulders.
“I thought you’d be pleased,” he murmured with happiness like honey in his voice as he cupped her face and drew it toward his….
Reality tumbled down on the golden scene, causing it to collapse and fade from Penny eyes. A flood of negative emotions that had been wiped momentarily away by the glimpse of her inner paradise returned. She blinked away the dream as Mia’s voice cut through the caravan.
“I was home! Victor, I was there! Everything was the way it used to be. Mom and Dad were alive a-and…” she whimpered, smiling broadly as tears welled in her eyes. Noct was staring fixedly at the floorboard, hardly breathing.
“Not only can I view your pasts, I can show you your ambitions and dreams, and in this case, your desires,” Lydia said, letting Archibald crawl into her lap.
Noct came out of his stupor and looked at Penny. “That’s amazing! Big sis, how come you can’t do that?”
“I don’t know. What’s different about me?” Penny asked Lydia.
“You should be able to. I can’t tell you how exciting it is to meet someone who’s just like me,” Lydia added. “Just think, as easily as you can summon memories, you should
be able to weave visions that will tease out whatever you like!” Lydia began to weave another dream between her pale fingers with almost lazy ease. “They can all be in the palm of your hand. Wishes, secrets, fears.”
Without warning, she blew the dream cloud at Annette, who slumped over for a moment while the dream passed over her eyes. Penny watched Annette’s face, expecting to see a smile on her lips, but instead her heart skipped a beat when she watched her start to grimace as if she were in pain. Annette began to whimper and tears dripped from the corners of her eyes. Suddenly it was over, and a furious Annette was beside herself.
“How could you show me that?! That was—what’s wrong with you?” Annette bellowed, her hands balling into fists. Simon stepped between them, looking worried. Lydia looked at Annette with amusement as Archibald clicked a warning from her lap.
“Aw, you didn’t like it?”
With a sharp crack, Annette slapped Lydia across the face. The spider lunged as its master fell back, and Argent kicked it as Noct ignited the creature into flame. Lydia rose to her feet, livid.
Annette rushed from the caravan and Penny ran after her, catching her friend’s wrist before they got separated. The actress buried her face on Penny’s shoulder and sniffled.
“What did she show you, Nettie?” Penny soothed, smoothing Annette’s hair as she felt hot tears soaking through her top.
“I don’t ever want to talk about it…not ever. Oh, Heaven, please let me forget it,” Annette wailed.
Penny glanced back to see the others were on their way out of the caravan. “Come on, let’s get you home.”
Did you see that trashy shade of lipstick she was wearing? Ugh!” Annette raged, stamping her way down the street. Her smeared makeup and ruddy complexion received a few curious glances, and Annette’s scowl turned so poisonous passersby began averting their eyes.
The entire return trip had been a tirade on how awful Lydia was. Simon remained silent and tight-lipped.
“She’s a harlot if I’ve ever seen one,” Annette seethed.
“Annette, that’s―” Simon started quite brusquely, lost his nerve when Annette turned her scowl on him, and finished meekly, “…that’s i-impolite. You’re talking about my girlfriend, here.”
“You can’t possibly still want to associate yourself with that…that…serpent after what happened! After she lied to you? You’d have to be a complete fool! And since when do you care about your girlfriends? Don’t you pick up some new floozy every other week?”
Simon’s face turned a dark shade of red, looking more angry than upset. Annette tossed her curls and continued walking, and Simon rushed after her in rare form.
“You take that back and apologize, Annette! She didn’t lie, she just didn’t know! You don’t know her like I do. You haven’t seen what she’s really like!”
“She is a greasy, cruel little lunatic and I can’t for the life of me figure out why you’re trying to defend her after what you just saw,” Annette shot back.
“Stop that! I don’t know why she did that to you, but you’ve got her all wrong. Lydia’s an amazing person, she just gets nervous around strangers. Nervous and a little, erm, insulting. But it’s only because she’s so lonely! This is why I didn’t want to introduce her to you guys, I knew you’d act like complete jerks.” Simon’s anger began to deflate into something like despair. He turned to Hector with a forlorn glance. “Back me up, man.”
Hector fiddled with his glasses. Simon looked to Penny. “Penny, tell them! You’ve got the same talent as she does, you’re from Earth, too! You must know what it’s like to feel so isolated!”
“Um,” Penny hesitated, hating the confrontation. “I dunno, Simon. She seemed questionable. I want to give her the benefit of the doubt, but it did come off as kind of―”
“You can’t be serious!” Simon cried. “You’re all ganging up on me on purpose because you think you’re so smart. Did it ever occur that you’re judging someone before you get to know them? I’ve known her for months, and let me tell you, you’d all be lucky to have her as a friend!” He pointed at Annette. “You’re being a petulant little child. The reason why she won’t tell us what Lydia showed her is because it wasn’t anything at all. I think you were just acting up because you can’t stand it when you’re not the center of attention!”
Annette’s jaw dropped, and Mia covered her mouth as Noct stopped short. Simon and Annette stared each other down, the tension palpable. Argent stepped between them.
“Back off,” he growled and Simon grabbed the front of Argent’s shirt.
“You get your hands off me, you little rodent,” Argent hissed.
There was a flare of golden runes, and Argent and Simon were pulled apart as Penny felt a rush in her head.
“Stop this foolishness at once,” Hector told Argent and Simon sharply, then looked kindly at Annette. “Come along, it’s not far now.”
In awkward silence the group returned to the manor to find Armonie and Gavin sitting in the drawing room, their heads close together. Armonie jumped to her feet and shoved something inside her pocket, and Gavin rushed after Annette as she stomped up the stairs.
“Don’t waste any time. Get your things packed,” Argent told them, still looking angry and avoiding Simon’s eyes. “We should leave tomorrow morning. Early.”
“And exactly how are we going to get to this observatory?” Hector asked as he polished his glasses.
“We’ll take the anteloos, of course!” Penny cried hopefully and Hector rolled his eyes. Argent shrugged, considering the thought.
“That’s actually not a bad idea, we might need to do a fair amount of back-tracking. If four of us go, we can go on Humphrey and Serafee.”
“You’re not leaving us behind!” Noct whined indignantly, but Mia looked rather indifferent.
“You should really stay here. We can’t jeopardize your safety. You are protecting the eyes of Seival, after all,” Hector said, which only made Noct angrier.
“Actually, with all the turmoil that Rhea’s been spreading recently, it might be better if we could keep an eye on them,” Argent said.
Noct whooped and rushed off, presumably to pack.
“We’ll have to rent another anteloo at the stables, then―and do you think…?” Penny trailed off, wondering whether Simon was going to come along, and decided it was better not to ask at the moment.
PENNY DUBBED THE new anteloo Brandywine, and seeing it with Humphrey made her quite excited for the trip. The sun was setting as she finished packing her bottomless bag and Armonie knocked at her door.
“Big sister, I made some hot vanilla to cheer Annette up, won’t you come along and have some with us?” she offered, and Penny leapt up at the invitation. As they walked slowly to the staircase, balancing the silver tray and three steaming cups of frothy liquid between them, Penny saw something glinting in Armonie’s pocket.
“What’s that?” she asked, gesturing.
“I don’t know what you mean,” Armonie hummed, shoving the sparkle out of sight.
Annette appeared to appreciate the gesture, but Penny could not focus on the conversation. As the sun sank lower, she wished Hector would come by for their daily stroll, but knew it was unlikely tonight. Still, she wandered down to the foyer, watching her shadow stretch across the diffused red light. She looked outside and spotted Simon sitting alone on the front steps, a bag beside him.
“You know we’re not leaving until tomorrow morning, right?” she said, joining him. Simon didn’t look at her.
“I know,” he answered, putting his chin in his hands.
Cautiously Penny sat beside him. “Then…”
“My time has run out for this place.” Simon sounded melancholy but sure of his words. “You won’t see me around here anymore―I just wanted to say goodbye, I guess.”
“Simon, what are you saying? You just said the other day we were like a family. You can’t just run away because you and Annette had a fight,” Penny scolded, feeling alarmed. �
�What about everything we’ve been through together?”
“You mean all the adventures you all had while I got in the way?” Simon said dryly, finally looking at her, his eyes cold and unfamiliar to Penny. “Look, from here on out things are going to get ugly. Maybe you all have some sort of destiny with all this Angel madness, but I did what I was supposed to do for Adrielle. There’s no reason for me to be here anymore.”
Penny raised her eyebrows. “How about the fact that we’re friends and you have nowhere else to go?”
“Humph. Some friends. You all think I’m a helpless screw-up. And I do have somewhere to go, for your information,” Simon added sharply as Penny gave him a hard look.
“You know that’s not true. What’s really the matter, huh?”
“Oh yes, that’s rich. As if you could possibly offer advice. You who can’t make heads or tails of your own feelings.” Simon stood, grabbing up his bag and slinging it over his shoulder as Penny rose to confront him.
“Watch it, Simon. I’m trying to reach out to you here,” Penny snarled.
“Oh, now you’re all sensitive, hm? Or does the whole ‘running away’ thing strike a nasty chord with you? I noticed your reaction to it before, so I asked Hector why you were so touchy about it and he kindly enlightened me. Are you that afraid to get a taste of what your poor mother must be going through?”
“How could…” Penny felt her throat and constrict with pain. “I did what I had to do, and someone like you has no right to say anything.”
“Someone like me?” he coaxed.
“Yeah. Someone who is so desperate to make himself feel better about abandoning his family that he compulsively has to sleep with every woman he meets.”
His expression changed, and Penny knew she had cut him deeply. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.” His voice had been crushed into a whisper as he blinked away the moisture collecting in his eyes. “Has it ever occurred to you that I may actually be looking for something meaningful despite my somewhat―” he fumbled for a word, “—cavalier approach?”
Eden Undone (The Dawn Mirror Chronicles Book 2) Page 21
