An Art of Balance

Chapter 17: Pressure

Warning: (very) mild swearing

Lizzie hurried through the empty corridors, the sound of her footsteps bouncing back from the walls. Her mind was reeling as she ran past abandoned classrooms and silent passages, Skye's angry accusations echoing in her ear.

"You just have a goddamn thing for her and that's the only reason you've stopped thinking straight a long time ago."

It was a catastrophe. If that was true, it was literally the worst thing that could have happened. Her head was spinning and she felt faint as she repeated Skye's words in her mind over and over again.

Her heart was racing, and not only because of the ridiculous pace with which she was tearing down the hallway. She wasn't even sure if she was running after Skye or from herself.

The image of Orion standing still in the middle of the chaos Skye had left behind appeared in front of her eye. Her heart broke at how pained and defeated he had looked as Skye had stormed out of the room. This team was his everything; he had poured his heart and soul into it and now all he had built was falling apart, right in front of his eyes. They had always had problems with Skye in the past, but this was a new level of escalation and it scared Lizzie to think what it meant for the future of their team.

She shuddered as she remembered the cold rage in Orion's voice as he had kicked Skye out. Lizzie had never seen him so furious before. Come to think of it, she had never seen him show any form of anger at all; he had always remained the calm and steady rock when Skye's and her emotions had raged around him. He had been the one to ground them again.

This was not good. She needed to talk to him, and desperately so, before everything got any more out of hand.

But not now; she needed to find Skye first. Skye had never attacked anyone in such a deeply personal way before and Lizzie was worried about what it told about her current state of mind. Whatever mess she had created would have to wait; Lizzie had a feeling her friend needed her right now.

Skye couldn't have gone very far; Lizzie had followed her almost immediately after she had left but it seemed as if she had vanished off the face of the Earth. Lizzie couldn't catch so much as a glimpse of her on her way through the hallways.

She gasped as her foot caught on a fold in the rug she was stepping onto. Her momentum made her stumble forward, crashing into a small wooden table. The ancient looking vase set atop it slowly toppled to the side. With reflexes sharpened by years of training, Lizzie lunged forward and caught the gigantic piece of porcelain at the last moment. She groaned at the unexpected weight as she pushed the vase back into a standing position.

"You have to watch your steps, little lady," a lenient voice called to her. It came from an oil painting hanging on the other side of the hallway. It showed an assortment of wizards in colourful robes sitting around a laid table, enjoying a cup of tea. "Are you hurt?"

Lizzie straightened up and smoothed out her clothes, using the pause to catch her breath. "I'm fine, thank you for asking."

The little wizard shook his head while sipping on his tea. "What a commotion today! You are the second young witch to run by like she's chased by the devil."

That must have been Skye. "Have you seen where she went? That other witch?"

The wizard waved his tea cup in the direction of the far end of the hallway where it ended in a small spiral staircase. "She went somewhere that way; I nearly spilled my tea from shock."

Lizzie nodded a quick thanks and set off in the appointed direction.

"Don't fall again!" the wizard called behind her. "Ah, do you remember when we were this young?" he asked his companions dreamily.