A LEAP OF FAITH

Chapter 28: Tangled in the past.

Ari and Avery ran out of the small cottages that they lived in. Despite both of them being only fourteen, they always seemed to be getting in some kind of trouble.

"Avery, what're you doing? It's curfew, we're not supposed to be out right now...!" Ari called in a whisper-shout.

"Oh, nothin', just come on! I gotta show you somethin'!" Said Avery with a grin as he brushed his dirty blonde bangs out of his face.

"If I get in trouble, it's your fault..." Ari mumbled and followed Avery to a particular spot. They stood in front of the church, the one where everyone came to worship their goddess, Ambrosia.

"What are we doing here...?" Asked Ari as he glanced up at the large building.

"Just watch out for guards, okay?" Avery gripped his torch tightly in his left hand.

"Avery, I really don't think we should be h-"

"Will you just shut up already? Gosh, you're such a goodie-two-shoes." He scoffed.

Ari mumbled something under his breath, anxiously fidgeting with the hat that had been granted to him not too long ago. On his birthday, his mother gave him the wizard hat as a gift. It was far too big for him, considering it was hers before she gave it to him. She had instructed him to pass it down each generation. Before he could do anything else, he felt an odd heat radiating from behind him. He turned around, only to find Avery hovering his torch over the wooden exterior of the church. He had a manic look on his face, almost as if he was doing it on purpose.

"AVERY, YOU'RE GOING TO START A FIRE, STOP-!" He tried to wrestle the torch away from him, only resulting in the sleeve of his shirt catching fire. He shrieked and tore off the fabric, throwing it to the ground. The stress caused his hands to start sparking, he hadn't yet learned how to control his magic very well.

"Ari, stop casting spells, you already started this huge fire-!" Avery yelled.

"I DIDN'T START IT-!" He screamed back, panic in his tone. Avery pushed him aside and began screaming for help.

"THE CHURCH IS ON FIRE, SOMEBODY HELP!" He cupped his hands together and yelled.

As soon as they heard the call, several people ran out of their houses, including the mayor of SpringBrook. She saw Ari standing in front of the flamed church, immediately signaling for someone to get the guards. Ari anxiously looked around, far too shocked to do anything. Out of everyone in the large crowd, he noticed a familiar face. His mother. They locked eyes, she looked as if she was about to start crying. She hovered her hand over her mouth, shocked that her own son would do such a thing.

"Avery, what in the world happened, what did Ari do-?!" The mayor ran up to him, shooing away the crowd of people that formed around them.

Avery sniffled, "I- I saw him walking out of his cottage, and- I didn't know what to do, so I followed him here and- I tried to stop him, but he just set it on fire-! I tried; I really did try to save it-!" He explained in a solemn but panicked tone.

"THAT'S NOT TRUE-!" Ari screamed through coughs. The smoke was settling deep into his lungs, he felt as if he was about to throw up. Not from the smoke, but from the fact that his own best friend would betray him like this. "YOU TOLD ME TO FOLLOW YOU- AND YOU SET THE CHURCH ON FIRE-! WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD I DO THAT?!" He threw his hands out in defense.

"Oh, Ari..." Avery said softly, "trying to put the blame on me, huh? I know what you did, you can't hide it." He frowned, looking back up at the mayor. "I'm sorry this happened, I really did try my best to knock some sense into him... I guess all this attention he's been gettin' recently has gotten to his head." He shrugged.