Broken Promises

2 - New Things - Anna/Gwen

Anna's POV:

I wake up with a start in my bed. My pack is on the floor. I get out and look through it. Everything was there with all the saren we managed to get before that light knocked us all out. That light. It had to have come from the staff. But why? I leave my house and go to the town square. Nobody's there. I swear that Harmony Blake's statue looked worried as opposed to her usual smile. I push down the icky feeling in my stomach as I head toward the only other place I could think of. I go to the cliff and Gwen's sitting there holding the staff. She turns to me and stands up. I fill with anger.

"What the heck! You actually took that?" I yell, pushing her.

"I couldn't just leave it. I didn't know it would knock us out." Gwen tries to reason, pushing me back.

"Well great, you have a magic staff." I say with more bite in my voice than expected. I throw my hands up.

"It doesn't work." She admits. "It's just a stick with a gem" She looks down. I try hard to sympathize but I don't feel bad for her.

"Serves you right. We could've been killed." I say just loud enough for her to hear me.

"Sorry," She apologizes. The staff starts to glow and a flower grows.

"Did I do that?" Gwen asks. She points the staff at another spot on the ground and a patch of flowers grew. She tries it with just her hand and it worked. "It worked!" She celebrates "Wait, you try!" She yells jumping. I try with no results. She shrugs it off. It hurts but I'm happy for her. She continues growing plants.

"Hey, I'm kind of hungry." She says.

"I'll make something. Let's go back to my house." I suggest. We walk back to my house. Gwen is smiling ear to ear.

Back at my house, I make a simple lunch.

Gwen's POV:

After we finished eating, I go to the market. I shop around looking for the perfect ingredients for scones.

I chop some carrots from my garden. It's been a few days since getting my staff. I hear a crash and my younger brother, Jared, cries out. I look up and cut myself.

"Shoot," I say, sticking my finger in my mouth. The taste of blood seems to go away. I look at the healed finger. Odd. I remember my brother and race to our room. He was laying on the floor with a broken vase near him. He wasn't hurt but mom was going to kill me.

"Sorry, Gwen but I was playing and I fell." He explains hurriedly.

"It's okay," I say. "Go finish cutting the carrots and then make the salad."

I kneel to clean up the pieces. I remember that I have powers and try to levitate them but nothing happens. It doesn't seem to work so I go back to cleaning them by hand. I throw out the bigger pieces and sweep up the smaller ones.

I return to the kitchen to see the carrots in a bowl and my brother, picking lettuce. I take out a large pot and put some water in it. I set it on an old, weathered, gas stove. I put the carrots in the pot and turn back to see Jared cutting the lettuce. I head out the door and climb the tree in my yard.

I go up to the highest branches and take out my staff, where it's been stashed for the past few days. I jump down into a roll. I notice Jack, a kid that lives in a house down the street in front of my yard. I throw the staff back into the tree.

"Hey, Gwen," He says with a wave.

"Hey, Jack!" I say back, hoping he didn't see my staff. "What are you doing here?" I ask with a forced smile. I'm not sure it counts as a smile because it feels like a two-year-old is pulling the ends of my lips into a straight line.

"I heard you went on an adventure a few days ago. Heard you found magic." He pauses as if he's trying to remember pre-rehearsed lines. "I heard it from Anna." That's how I know he's lying. But I can't let him know that.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. There's magic?" I lie.

"Yeah, that's right. Well, uh, if you learn something new, you know where I am." He says, walking away. I sigh a breath of relief.

I turn on my heel and walk back into my house. I take the lettuce and put it into the pot. I take chicken that I bought from the market, cut off the breasts and chop them into small pieces. I drop them into the pot. A sprinkle of salt and I can forget about it for half an hour. I decide to leave the 'Jack knows about magic' thing for tomorrow.

A/N:

For some reason, you came to part two! Crazy! Thanks for coming, hope you stick around. Also for some days, I'm going to do song lyrics. By the way, the quotes and lyrics don't always match the chapter. They're normally what's on my mind. For the people from Youtube, in 16 chapters and an Epilogue, you'll be in book two! YAY

Song Lyric of the Day:

"Apathy's a tragedy and boredom is a crime,"

- Bo Burnam - Goodbye

Sphinx <3