The school of Bermuda - Volume 2 - The Sea Monster

-10-

Lili remained silent. She simply kept her head held high, her eyes fixed on the ocean that the albino was pointing out to her.

"Alonzo," she murmured. "What are you?"

"Pay no attention to me, I am but a shadow," he replied.

With these strange words, he disappeared as soon as she turned around.

A shadow? What did he mean by that? As she pondered over this, the wake-up bell rang in the room and the other girls woke up.

~~~~~

Ree was surprised that her friend was already up, but Lili preferred to wait until Lulis and the prince were there too.

"A shadow?" repeated Izãdo. "Goodness... what does he want from you?"

Lili shrugged in ignorance. After all, he didn't seem harmful and had never caused her any harm, quite the opposite.

They continued to discuss as they made their way to the dining hall for breakfast when Edward caught up with them.

"What are you up to?" Izãdo asked, annoyed. "Do you think we're friends?"

"Certainly not!" the blond grimaced. "I just wanted to know if Mause will still give me lessons tonight."

"You should start by apologizing," Lulis growled.

"I didn't call for you!"

Ree kicked him in the thigh, leaving him writhing in pain as she pushed her friends forward.

"Next time, I'll aim higher!" she shouted at him.

"I wouldn't want to be your enemy," Lulis muttered.

The blonde simply laughed as they finally sat down in the hall.

~~~~~~

After the meal, Lili bid them farewell to join Professor Mieret and continue her support classes to master her fairy magic. But the results were despairing.

"It seems that only anger allows you to use them," the Egyptian remarked, tapping her partially burned robe.

"I'm sorry," Lili hurriedly apologized. "I don't know why I can't do it..."

"Don't worry, we'll figure it out... But it's strange... it's as if something is blocking your control over this magic, we're missing some information... well, we have all the time in the world, by the end of the year, maybe you'll be able to master it. In the meantime, go back to your friends, the support class is over."

Lili nodded in silence and left the room, with a lot of questions in her mind.

If she never manages to control fire, could she become a danger to the school, to her friends? And if her powers manifest during the summer, in front of non-wizards? She shook her head and continued walking towards the dormitories... she must not worry her friends, she would tell them that everything is going well.

~~~~~~~~~~

The end of September passed without any particular incidents, and without anyone really noticing, it was already Halloween. There was no ball this year, but the first Quidditch match between the first and ninth years, which was won by the older students.

On November 1st, even at the Bermuda School, it was a holiday, and the students were wandering around the library, in the corridors, or in the park.

Lili and her friends were at the farm, of course, with the black rooster perched on her shoulder.

"I would like to come and help too," Ree muttered, caressing a lamb. "It looks fun, and some of them are really cute. It won't end up on our plate, will it, Mr. Lalus?"

"Not this one," he reassured her.

"Why don't you use magic to take care of the farm?" Lulis asked.

"You can't use magic for everything," the farmer simply replied. "Animals, crops, they are things that need to be taken care of with love, no matter how long or difficult it is."

He went to scratch the chin of a bison that had approached the fences. As they continued to talk about the farm, Ree suddenly grimaced.

"Look who's coming back," she said, pointing to the triplets approaching the farm.

Lili and Ree had both taken a lot of their time to help them. While Louis had made some efforts, Edward had not made any progress at all.

They didn't even need to speak when they finally arrived in the chicken coop.

"It's out of the question," Lili said.

"We haven't said anything yet!" Edward protested.

"I suppose you came to ask us to revise," Ree continued. "Well, no! Lili and I are resting today!"

"Just for a little while."

"They said no!" Izãdo growled, standing in their way. "Leave them alone!"

This time, Edward became angry, pointing his wand at the prince.

"You annoy and frustrate me,
So go take a dip in the sea!!"

His classmate suddenly found himself propelled towards the ocean where he fell.

Lili screamed and called her broom with a quick incantation, flying straight to where her friend had landed. The poor boy, who couldn't swim, was drowning.

She raced towards him and grabbed him, but just as she was about to fly back to the beach, the enormous monster emerged from the water, ready to trap them in its jaws.

"I won't lose a friend, that's my decree!
To the beach, quickly, get him to safety!"

With her wand pointed at it, Lili let go of the prince, who was once again expelled towards the shore and gently placed on the sand, while the monster closed its huge jaws around the half-fairy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Karel Mause suddenly felt dizzy and dropped the full plate he was holding, letting its contents spill onto the floor.

The children and teenagers he was training, sitting at the table, startled and turned to him.

"Are you alright?" Rita asked, concerned.

"Yes, yes... just a slight discomfort," the adult sighed and began to pick up the pieces of the plate and the now spoiled food.

What was this unpleasant feeling he had just experienced for no particular reason? It was as if something had broken within him, the same tearing sensation he felt the day he murdered his wife, the woman he loved more than anything in the world. Yet, nothing special had happened.

He pushed that thought out of his mind and ate in silence, amidst the rowdy children, before heading to the living room as the young ones went to train.

"Master Karel?"

He turned, annoyed, towards Rita. She had left him alone for a while, and now she was back to annoy him. She seemed nervous. Not to mention that her results were getting worse and worse.

"What do you want?" the hunter asked sharply.

"I have something... very important to say. Do you remember what happened this summer?"

"I told you I don't want to hear about it anymore."

"But..."

"The discussion is over! Go back to your training!"

Karel noticed a stain on his sweater and took it off to take it to the bathroom, but Rita blocked his way, looking determined. She looked him straight in the eyes, her eyebrows furrowed, both furious and scared.

"I'm pregnant!"