Three Lies, All True || ONC2021 Longlister

Chapter 7: Fun

Before the sky could even turn into a light blue color, Petra was already awake. Peter slept in one of the makeshift haybeds, saying that "it was a refreshing feeling" to sleep in something that wasn't luxurious, while Adrien spent the entire night remaking his potion again.

Once she woke up, she looked for the tallest house she could find and sat on its roof, pen and journal in hand to write. The lantern floating next to her was a good enough light and heat source before they would leave.

The only time she stopped to write was when the letter nearly fell from the pages of her notebook again, making her pick it up before it could fall down on the ground. She furrowed her brows before staring at the half torn paper flying from her hands, almost as if the winds wanted it to fly freely.

Her brows furrowed, and she crumpled the piece of paper in her hands. Stupid thing. It was all its fault that they were here, all its fault that she had to be in this situation. A dumb piece of paper was the reason she was in this dumb mission.

It was the paper's fault, not hers. She just had to do what she needed to do.

Her fingers itched, and she could feel her magic wanting to be released. Petra stood up and balled the paper in her palms. She needed something to calm her down, one that didn't involve dumb stars or summoning lamps by her side. She wanted to release a large portion of her magic, and maybe even destroy something in the process.

But before she could do anything dumb, she took a deep breath and sat down, placing the paper in her journal again. She couldn't destroy it. Not yet, at least. Not when they still needed it once they could get inside Alejandro's house.

Things would have been so much easier if it weren't for--

Petra narrowed her eyes. She placed her hands down the roof, tightening her grip on it. Still, she forced herself to calm down.

"You're done with your small potion-making, Adi?"

Footsteps echoed behind her as Adrien walked, stopping just when he was right behind her. Petra turned around, just in time to see Adrien sitting down. He shifted in his seat a little and brushed his light hair back.

"I guess I am," he answered as he turned to her. "And I think I've done it, now."

Her eyes slightly widened, and she raised a brow. "Really? How so?"

"I'm not sure, but..." He looked down and tapped his finger on the rooftop. "I made two of them. They have the same ingredients and process but I added a little something to the other."

Petra closed her journal, making it poof away once again. She tucked her hair behind her pointy ears--feeling strands of them cover her ears made her itch, and she was glad she could finally let them out.

"You sound... doubtful."

"Can you blame me?" He turned to her and sighed. "I'm... I'm not sure what it does, but I know it's dangerous. Maybe even fatal."

At the last bit, she felt her chest twinge. She flicked her eyes to Adrien's before immediately looking away.

Before she could say anything, however, Petra looked down. Some part of her body shook, or maybe pulled. It was almost like something was dragging her away, wanting her to be led out of Elderis.

She placed her hand on her chest and closed her eyes. There was a hum, one that was both loud and soft. When she opened her eyes, the first thing she noticed was the endless snow, albeit wavy and blurry. There were voices, too. They sounded muffled, but she recognized one of them.

Allaine.

She shook her head and opened her eyes again, allowing her to see from her sight rather than from the person she marked on. "We need to leave."