Forgotten Magic

Chapter 14

Varian refuses to tell me anything about what happened to him during this expo, hah. So I assume it's back to me then...

~ ~ ~

To be honest...Varian disappeared soon after Cassandra. I...felt sorry for him, to tell the truth. It was obvious he was chasing after someone...unobtainable.

I aimlessly wandered the expo, lost in thought as I looked at people's inventions, some useful, others pointless, and some downright...strange.

I wondered what it'd be like if Varian and Cassandra did end up together. It wasn't an ideal situation...but...if it made him happy, I suppose it could make me happy too. But...I knew that at the end of the day...he would be disappointed. Crushed... Maybe it would be a good life lesson, I thought.

Of course, wandering aimlessly has...some consequences. One good example is bumping into people. Sometimes people you don't want to run into. Like a...just throwing it out there...a childhood bully.

I think that puts out there who I ran into.

"Oh, excuse me, I-"

I jumped, quickly becoming aware that I had bumped into someone. I looked up to find...well, who else than walnut haired Nickolas Chance.

His look hardened, and so did mine.

"Why are you here?" he hissed, glancing right and left. I noticed he was wearing a royal guards' uniform.

"I would ask the same of you, coward," I answered in a normal tone, "But I know better." Taylor's words echoed in my mind, even after more than a year.

"Don't worry too much about my brother, okay? His bark is usually much worse than his bite."

"Anyways," I looked him up and down, my hands on my hips, "I can see you've been busy. And...since you asked so kindly, I might as well provide you with an answer."

The guard scoffed. "Huh, like I actually care." He shoved past me. "I need to get going."

I had a feeling he was going to be 'keeping an eye' on me. And Varian, once he realized the alchemist was here.

~ ~ ~

I was setting up tables in a part of the castle when...to no surprise, I suppose...Varian showed up.

"There you are, Cass-not-Cassie. We, uh, we didn't finish our conversation from earlier."

"I did," I answered.

"Oh, you!" he laughed. "Seriously, I'm getting ready for the expo, and I think you'll be pretty impressed with my invention, yeah. The only thing is, when I present
it to Master Dr. St. Croix, it's gonna take two people to operate it. Hey! Wanna be the assistant for my demonstration?"

I was pouring...grape juice into a cup and accidentally left my hand in the position when he asked me this. "Assistant? What? Assis... N... No. Look-No! I can't catch a break today. "

When I went to get a cloth, I assume Varian did something with the stain because when I came back and began furiously rubbing at the cloth... "Varian, thanks for stopping by, but I wha...? The stain. It's gone! But how?"