A Devil with an Angel's Heart

Chapter 30, Part 1

||Jotaro

They followed Kate through the halls of the castle. Jotaro had long lost orientation. He'd have to ask Kate for a map later. He was sure she knew every crook and cranny of this castle including all secret passages. He'd be surprised if there weren't any. Since Kate was in a hurry none of the men had any time to take a proper look around. Kate and Diavolo were talking to each other in hurried voices. One look at his watch told him why. They had only ten minutes left. Not exactly a lot of time to move such a gigantic castle. That much he was able to see when driving up to the gate. They scaled a long, windy stairway. Not really broad. The men blocked the path with their shoulders just by standing there. And the windows were small. One could oversee the court and garden but they didn't bring much light. And Jotaro had to actively mind his head. It's happened more than once that he hit it on one of the lamps. The old man even more often.

"Kate, I'm getting dizzy. I've been climbing stairs in circles for minutes now. When are we there?" complained Polnareff.

"Now." was all the woman said before opening heavy, wooden doors and leading the group inside the top floor of the tower. A small, round room, cramped to the top with books, scrolls -and mirrors. There were several big mirrors. And a big basin, rested on an elegant pillar filled with fresh, clear water. Once they entered the room torches at the walls lit up one after the other. The next thing he noticed was that the room had no windows. "All right. Stand back and let me work." ordered Kate and the men instinctively followed. "Diavolo-" was all Kate said to the demon before he moved and quickly turned a little wheel on the basin. Something must have opened because the water started flowing out of the pillar's bottom -yet the water level in the basin stayed the same- and distributed itself into drains throughout the room. Only now did they see the shallow ditches in the ground, forming a pentagram. In the meantime Kate had turned to the mirrors. She tapped them with her finger and with a spark of light they sprung to life. One could see all corners of the castle. And on the biggest one, the one she'd tabbed there was a map. "Cairo." she commanded and the map sprung to the wanted location. She quickly scrolled through the map and stopped somewhere in the dessert around Cairo. A location big enough to house the castle and keep it hidden. Though he was sure there was some sort of spell that could be cast in order to keep them undetected and protected. Kate took a deep breath. "Let's get this started." Jotaro thought to have detected a hint of nervousness in her voice though she masked the little tremor well. Diavolo retreated from the basin and stepped aside. Once again the room was plunged into silence. Only the gurgle of the water could be heard and the single deep breath of Kate took before starting. Green eyes flashed in the dark as Kate started fusing her magic into the water where her hand hovered over the middle of the water gathered in the basin. A light glow emanated her and the clear liquid within the basin. A ripple went through the water and it first turned black before going up in flames with a flash. The fire flowed into the ditches on the floor, scorching hot, heating up and illuminating the room, reflecting off the mirrors and sending a beam of light square through the room and finally hit the big mirror in front of Kate. The map in the mirror changed and now there was a perfect reflection of the location in real life. Kate stepped closer to the mirror. She took another deep breath, her green orbs closing. As she breathed out again she opened her eyes, now full of concentrated determination.

"Let's do this."

She stretched her hands out in front of her, almost touching the mirror. Feet and shoulders squared, concentrating on where she wanted the castle to land. Energy gathered at her fingertips and Jotaro could feel the rhythmic vibrations that rippled through the entire area and reverberated from the walls. The energy and heat built up to the point Jotaro thought it would squish him when Kate finally plunged her hands into the mirror. Magic circles worked like cogwheels on the mirror surface moving actual cogwheels and the castle started shaking, turning. It sped up and Jotaro pressed a hand onto the wall to feel some sort of stability as he started to feel dizzy from the ever turning room that was still gaining speed. It was impressive to see that Kate stood still grounded, feet planted on the ground. She seemed to be the eye of the storm. She seemed to be the axis in the middle and the room seemed to turn around her. Jotaro closed his eyes as he felt his balance waver. He could feel the room turning and the incredible energy course through him. It was a familiar energy. Soft, warm and welcoming -accommodating, yet, incredibly strong and powerful...dangerous. Jotaro knew that feeling very well, he'd gotten to know it very well over the last weeks. He'd fallen in love with this feeling -the person that had stirred it awake in the hidden depth of his soul and heart -something he thought impossible. A feeling that filled him with peace and calm but also a certain excitement that sent tingles down his spine and into his fingertip, an excitement that made his heart skip and filled him with barely containable happiness. And, though he knew the energy couldn't smell, his nose detected the scent of sunshine, hinted with the tiniest bit of smoke and anise. At the beginning he didn't know what to think of it, he was used to the smell of smoke -but mixed with anise? He'd been sceptical, now he couldn't get enough of it. He smelled this scent whenever he buried his nose in Kate's neck -his latest habit, though only executed in privacy. He drowned in the feeling of Kate's energy. So much, he forgot where he was for a moment. He no longer felt the castle turn and he could no longer hear his grandfather's calls of "Oh my God!" and Avdol's fascinated comments. He was jerked out of his secluded little world of peace once the castle landed at it's destination, jostling him.