Reunion

"How long has it been, Olly?" She opened her arms up to me. I content my katanas and ran over to her.

"You scared me half to death. Why are you here?" I punch her shoulder.

"I missed you and being stuck with Peter and the old classmates isn't really ideal." She let out a giggle.

We both took a second to comprehend each other's company.

"No but seriously, how did you get in here?" I set myself up so I can work on the spell.

"There wasn't a spell on it. You forgot to finish it." She took a seat on my couch, petting Beatrix.

"You're right. Give me a second, I'll quickly complete it right now." I cleared my mind, reciting the spell until the barrier formed.

"You really did get powerful wow, about to shed a tear for my child." I heard Clovis fake sniffling.

I set the barrier completely, the purpose of it is to prevent any other sorcerers from sending magic here, portaling here, or use magic within it.

"Cry me a river, Clovis. How is it back at home?" When I left, my parents were becoming a bit more violent towards the town folks.

"Your parents stepped out for a bit, no sign of them or anything. Two years later they came back angrier, which I didn't know was possible. They 'claimed' half of the town, and it's filled with so many hideous creatures." She went on and on about the town. Realization set in.

"Some of the creatures are goblins and basilinks, right?" I can tell she was confused on how I knew.

"Yeah, that's like two of the tens there are. They also sometimes set some of them free out of the town, beyond the barrier. I don't think they sent them here, purposefully. Right?" Her voice shook with concern.

I grabbed my phone and shot a quick text to Aunt Beth.

"Let's change the subject, are you seeing anyone?" I nudged her a bit, winking.

"I actually am, he's pretty strong and funny. Are you?" She admitted to the relationship.

"Oh my gosh, I need all of the details ma'am. Well, it's kind of confusing right now. Peter confessed and I'm unsure of my feelings so that's something." I mumbled the last part, so she'd have trouble hearing.

"Finally, that boy liked you for so long now. What do you mean you're unsure? Listen girl, I'm going to try and explain this to you as simply as I can. If you can see yourself kissing him, holding hands, and spending your time with him all the time like that, you like him. Do you think of him a lot?" Trying to process the question, I find an answer.

"No."

"Do you want to kiss him?"

"I don't know."

"Want to go on dates with him?" I saw the frustration growing in her.

"I don't know." I truthfully answered.

"You're so complicated, Olly. Listen. If he were to stand in front of you like this, would you be nervous?" She went on top of me, placing her face an inch away from mine.

"You have an eye booger." I put my finger right next to her hand. She groaned out of frustration and got off.

"You're clueless. Fine, it's up to him." She took out her phone and texted Peter.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm helping both of you, since you obviously don't know how to do it yourself. When was the last time you flirted or even caught feelings?" Clovis asked the genuine question.

"Uhh, I don't remember. If I ever liked a boy when we were younger, both him and I would be attacked by my parents. I tried flirting with him last time I saw him, and I kind of regret it because I didn't know he liked me and I was practicing for whenever I would have to flirt. We always used to flirt but I thought it was friendly." That was the main reason I don't know my feelings, I always had to push them aside in fear of being caught in any way.

"I completely forgot for a second, I'm sorry. The only tip I can give is, you'll find out soon if you do. Let it play out." Clovis got up from the couch and started stretching.

I went onto Spotify and put on our favorite song from when we were kids. She turned back to me, excited. I got up and we both started singing to the song, dancing around the couch.

The album went on, and we spent most of the time singing along to the songs.

Clovis's phone started ringing showing the caller ID.

"Who is it?"

"Peter, do I pick it up?" I tossed the phone to Clovis, both of us unsure on what to do.

She immediately picked it up and put it on speaker.

"Hey there, kiddo." She started the conversation.

"Hey, Clovis are you busy?" Peter asked on the other end.

"Yeah, I'm with a friend. Why?"

"I need to talk to you about Olivine." Clovis looked up at me with wide eyes.

"I mean we can talk about it right now, my friend is in the bathroom right now."

"I can't tell if she likes me back, it's kind of nerve wracking. What do you think I should do?" He truthfully asked. It's sweet.

"Give her time, you know how bad she is with emotions. Also, give her space. Let her come back into contact with you first when she's ready to tell you her feelings or what she wants to do with the friendship. Just start off as flirty friends. My friend is coming back so I have to go byee." She hung up right away.

I stayed at her in disbelief.

"Did you really just hang up on him like that?" I started laughing.

"What else was I supposed to do? I'm here with you, the girl he's nervous about. Didn't want to expose him, duh." She took off her hoodie, revealing her tanned arms.

"You got tattoos?" I grabbed her arm and looked at the skull tattoo on her forearm.

"Yeah, it hurt so much. Totally worth it though. Here's another one." She lifted her shirt and showed her lower back, a dragon on it.

"Clove, these are so cute. When did you get them?"

"I got them last year. I didn't want to send a picture because I wanted to show you in person." She put her shirt back down, readjusting it.

A new song came on, one that we were also obsessed with. We shared a quick glance before we started singing again. The next few minutes were another continuous concert for my neighbors. Once it died down, we dropped onto the couch and floor.

"I miss the old days. Not with your parents but when it was us and Peter."

"What if you guys came and visited more often? I mean, it doesn't hurt anyone in the process." I said. She looked back at me.

"You know what, that's true. I'll try coming once every few weeks?" Clovis caved in.

"If you can, let me know what she says. Do you want to see Aunt Beth?" I smirked.

"Heck yeah, right now?" We both got up from the couch.

I formed a portal to her house, letting Clovis get in first. Once Clovis fully went in, I followed through.

"Hey Auntie, I'm home." Clovis shouted into the house.

Aunt Beth ran down the stairs to see Clovis for the first time in years.

"Clovis, how are you? It's been so long." She gave Clovis a hug. Beth isn't so much other than us, she's 29 while we're 18.

"I've been fine, how are you? You look so good, girl." Clovis complimented Beth.

"I've been okay, other than this little daredevil." She playfully glared at me.

"Hey, I've been behaving recently." I defended myself. There was a loud crash upstairs.

I look upstairs, getting a bit defensive.

"Beth, the source is nearby. Be careful." I heard Mr. James shout from upstairs.

I stared at Aunt Beth and we started hollering. Clovis was just as confused as James when he came downstairs.

"James, this is Clovis. The energy source. She's a sorcerer from the old town. You were too interested in the studies you didn't realize I had friends. Clovis, this is James. I've told you about him a few times. He's a family friend, also dating Beth." I finally introduced the two hesitant sorcerer's.

"Nice to meet you, James." Clovis started the conversation.

"Nice to meet you, Clovis. Did you visit the academy sometime earlier this week?" I can tell James was a bit paranoid of Clovis.

"I did, and Olly tried burning me to a crisp. Using her warning thunder of course." Clovis reminded me of the time she arrived at the school, hiding her identity.

"Listen, I thought you were evil or sent here." I defended my actions.

"Let's settle down, do you girls want some cheesecake?" Aunt Beth went into the kitchen and came back with two plates with cheesecake.

"Thank you, it looks so good." Clovis took the first bite and gave Beth a thumbs up of approval.

We all sat around the dining room table, enjoying the company of each other.

"Clovis, can you tell me what's happening in the town?" Beth curiously asked.

"Well, Abigor split it. Half of it they own and it's fine if you enter it but you have to be, you know, evil. There are different creatures there, most of them are mythical. The other half of town is fine though, sometimes Abigor or Dabria visit and start some sort of chaos but it gets fixed afterwards. Dabria came to me once, asking about you guys." Clovis truthfully answered.

"What did they want?" Beth eagerly asked. I gave her a little side eye to calm down.

"She asked how you guys were, and where did you go. That's all, really. I told her that I didn't know what specific town you guys went to but I said you guys were doing fine." Clovis finished off her cheesecake, stealing a bite out of mine.

"Hey, that's mine." I slapped her hand away.

"When did she visit you?"

"She visited some time two years ago. Can I get some more cheesecake?" Clovis handed Beth her plate. Beth sighed before grabbing the plate and leaving the room.

Beth came back with the cheesecake, Clovis thanking her.

"Once you finish, you have to go back home. I have school tomorrow, and your mom might get worried." I told Clovis.

"Fine, but I'm visiting you guys this weekend." Clovis took a few bites of her cheesecake.

"Yeah, and please don't show up to the school like that again. Olivine got to leave early because of it." James chimed into the conversation.

"Now I want to show up just so I have more time with her." Clovis winked at James before forming a portal.

"I'll see you guys in the nearby future." She jumped into the portal, closing it behind her.

"Well that was something. It's getting pretty late, I'll go home and sleep for the night. Bye guys." I gave them quick hugs before forming my own portal back to my apartment.

"Olivine, don't be late again tomorrow." James reminded me.

"I'll try my best, see you tomorrow." I waved at them before walking in.

I entered my living room, looking for Beatrix. I saw an envelope near the front door, it looked like someone slid it under the door.

I opened the envelope and read the letter inside of it.

'Hi my lovely child. Your parents miss you, you should come back to town for a visit. We have a lot to catch up on. -Father.' I dropped the letter onto the counter, in disbelief. I look around the house to see if he's hiding somewhere, or one of his little minions. Once I saw the coast was clear, I took a picture of the letter and sent it to Aunt Beth.

I placed a stronger barrier surrounding the apartment, making sure Beatrix is safe and not hurt. I gave her a few treats before trying to sleep.

Half an hour passes...

Another hour... I sit up in bed, paranoid that my parents will show up.

'Peter, is there something that both you and Clovis aren't telling me about the town or my parents?' I sent the text message, impatiently waiting for a response. I looked at the time and realized it was 2 in the morning.

I heard a notification and saw it was Peter.

'Yes.. We didn't want to tell you to scare you. We were going to tell you soon, I promise.'

I called him.

"Peter, what are you guys not telling me? I swear I will portal to you and slit your throat so fast." I shouted from my line.

"Your parents want you to come back. With the town, there's a small part left that isn't controlled by them. One of the others told me that they overheard guards, your parents want to bring you back. They want you on their side, again. I don't know what their bigger plan is but it's not going to be good. Please, don't come back to town. Be careful, they might also have other sorcerers on their side and outside of this town."

"When were you guys planning on telling me? Huh? They could be with me right now, and I would have had no clue on what the hell was happening. When did your friend hear this?" I fell back onto my bed, feeling defeated even before anything happened.

"He heard this two weeks ago. Again, I'm sorry." Peter begged for forgiveness on the other line.

"Well, I'll be going to sleep. Night." I hung up on him and threw the phone across the room out of frustration.

I brought my knees closer to my chest, stuck in a battle of negative thoughts. I suddenly remembered my recurring nightmare. I grabbed my blanket, and covered myself with it. Holding on tightly, trying to prepare myself for the worst.