The Magic Makers

Chapter 27

There was an awkward silence after Vijay said that Rhea was an Auranium. "Don't worry. She has her loyalties sorted out." He added hastily, on seeing the look on everyone's faces. Katherine sighed audibly but Elsa still looked skeptical. She had thought Luke had had his loyalties sorted out, too.
"I'm sure she's amazing, Vijay." Katherine said, trying to dissipate the tension in the air. She was successful. "Yeah, she is." Vijay replied, the same dreamy look crossing his face. "C'mon, Vijay! The wedding's too far away. You've gotta treat us to some goodies!" Elsa yelled, pushing away her suspicious demeanour and Katherine took up her cry. Vijay laughed and the four walked away.

                         ~♢~

"Phillip, this is beautiful!" Ariana breathed as Phillip shoved his bag onto the plush red couch.
The living room was huge and beautiful. The floor was made of white linoleum and a fire burned merrily in the grate. A red couch with two sofas adorned the front part and a beautiful coffee table was set in the middle.
There was a glass staircase spiralling upwards to the bedroom. He grinned in reply to Ariana's comment. 
"I... I didn't know such a beautiful cottage even existed." "You haven't seen the rest of it, yet." Phillip said, guiding her into another room. Ariana gasped.
It was the dining room. A beautiful eight seater teak dining table stood in the middle, surrounded by equally beautiful chairs. A counter beside it made the kitchen. The dining room was huge as well. Phillip led her up the stairs to their bedroom. Ariana's jaw dropped on seeing it.
A beautiful black king sized bed took up most of the space. Beside it were two tables with a night lamp on each. A chandelier hung from the tall ceiling. The room was covered in a dark maroon fur carpet, making Ariana feel like walking barefoot.
She entered the bathroom which was amazing as well. It was made of red granite with golden lights. A bathtub, almost as huge as a swimming pool, took up the central space. Ariana climbed the stairs up to the terrace as Phillip lounged on the feather bed. The terrace was breathtaking. Beautiful blue fairy lights lined the walls, lighting up the huge place. Ariana walked towards the parpet and leaned against it. The view took her breath away. Directly below their house was the beach. And then the sea stretched on for miles and miles. The waves crashed against the sand, and Ariana felt the day's fatigue being washed away. She was an Imbrusian, after all. Water bodies restored her.
So this place basically looks like it's in the middle of a forest when you enter it, but when you see this, you realise that it's actually built on the edge of the forest, right where the sea kisses the shore.. Ariana thought, marvelling at the ingenuity of the location.

"Are you sure we didn't need the condoms?" Phillip asked playfully as Ariana came down the stairs. She gave him a grin. "Um.. I don't know, now." She replied, flopping down beside him. Phillip grinned. Ariana grinned back and leaned in to kiss him. Phillip kissed her, but she felt that he was holding back. She didn't bring it up.

                         ~♢~

It had been around a week since and Ariana and Phillip had shifted into their new house. They never really received a mail as they were way out in the middle of nowhere. But Ariana wasn't surprised to find a mail from Vijay in the mailbox. He had asked for her address, after all. "Look, Phillip! Vijay's getting married!" She yelled, rushing indoors with the invitation in her hand.
"Who's Vijay? Phillip asked, grating some cheese." "Oh, I'm so sorry. You wouldn't know him."
"Well I hope he's not intimately related to you."
Ariana punched him lightly on his arm. "Course he's not! Vijay is my elder brother." Phillip dropped the cheese dramatically. "I didn't know you had an elder brother! Why didn't you tell me!" He wailed, and Ariana looked at him sternly till he cleared his throat and apologised.
But the ghost of a smile still played on his lips.
"He's not literally my elder brother, Phillip. You know, when you're like so close to someone that you start treating them like your sibling?" Phillip nodded, eating some cheese. "Hey, don't do that."
"Do what?"
"Eat the cheese alone. I want some too." Ariana said playfully, and Phillip gave her some cheese, grinning. "So, the wedding's in two weeks. Oh, wait. There's something written here. It's a special invitee. Oh, we're supposed to be there a week early. That's great. I'll have some time to spend with Vijay.
Phillip cleared his throat.
"Yes, Phillip, I'm not gonna abandon you." "It's not that, Ari. It says here that Rhea's an Auranium."
Ariana's eyes shot back to the beautiful gold lettering. She recovered fast.
"So what?! Not all Auraniums agree with their Elder. Look at you, Phillip. Rhea must be Iike you."
Phillip swallowed uneasily. "Yeah.." he said softly.
"Anyway, it says that the wedding's gonna last a mon- A  month?! Okay, that's.. a long time." Ariana said.
Phillip looked over her shoulder. "Yeah, it is. The invitation smells heavenly." He said, inhaling deeply.
Ariana looked at him and laughed. "That was so random. "l know," Phillip said, kissing her tempting lips. He simply couldn't help himself when Ariana smiled like that. Which was always.

                        ~♢~

"Whoooo!!" Katherine whooped wildly as the wind blew in her face, scattering her hair in all directions. She was looking forward to her grand vacation of a month. They were on their way to Vijay's wedding, which was in LA. Quite a way from San Francisco, where Lexington was. The best part was that they would see Ariana again. "Kath, stop flailing your limbs like that! You might break an arm." Elsa reprimanded her, who was riding shotgun with... yeah,  Tyler. He was invited as well, for some reason. Katherine was sitting behind with Zack in their Mustang.
Obviously.
"C'mon, Elsie! Learn to have some funnnn!" Katherine yelled, her words swept away by the strong wind. Zack looked at her affectionately. Elsa sighed and looked out of the window, watching the hills roll by.
Tyler glanced at her briefly. She had looked like that ever since.. Luke.
The bastard.. Tyler fumed. He had liked Elsa even before Luke had seen her. And Elsa had always been unaware of those serpent green eyes that worshipped her the minute they had the chance.
They had seethed in anger whenever they had seen Luke and her together.
Now, the irony is that even Luke has green eyes.. Tyler thought, chuckling. "What?" Elsa demanded and he realised she had heard him. "Uh.. nothing. Sorry." Tyler replied hastily. He wasn't ready to open up to Elsa yet. He knew she was still.. disturbed about Luke, if that would be the right way to put it. "Well, keep your eyes on the road. We don't wanna die even before we get there." She said curtly, continuing to look out of the window. "Yeah.." Tyler said lamely, fixing his eyes on the empty road. But his mind still wandered.
He didn't know why Elsa got to him like that. If anyone other than Elsa would've talked to him like that, he would've come up with a mind boggling comeback. But it was different with Elsa. He simply could not say anything to her.

Maybe because he knew that she would have an equally amazing comeback, right at the tip of her tongue. But he knew this wasn't the reason he held back. He didn't mind fighting comebacks with comebacks. Elsa does this to people.. he thought, smiling softly.
She gets into their heads and messes them up and at the same time, makes them think freakishly deep stuff.. he thought, risking a glance at her again. She rested her head against the half rolled up window, headphones over her ears. Tyler didn't blame her. Nobody wanted to hear Zack and Katherine sucking each other's faces off.
He looked into the rear view mirror.
"Cut it out, you two!" He called, swerving wildly and throwing Katherine off Zack's lap. He earned a glare from her and Elsa in the process. "Are you jealous, Tyler?" Zack asked him testily, pulling Katherine back onto his lap. Tyler snorted.
"Yeah sure, Zack. I'm jealous of the fact that my face isn't being sucked off."
He said sarcastically. Zack shrugged. "Fair enough. You should be jealous. You don't know how amazing it feels." He said, returning Katherine's kisses. There was no disturbing them now.
Tyler sighed. He was getting tired. He had been driving continuously for three hours, and they were still three hours away from LA. It was almost evening and stars were climbing up the dark sky. "Do you want me to drive?" Elsa asked him softly. "No, I'm good." He lied, hoping Elsa would see through it. She did.
"No you're not." She said. "C'mon, let me drive. I'm old enough." She said and Tyler stopped the car without protesting. He was too tired. "What's wrong?" Katherine asked, pushing Zack away. "Tyler needs to sleep." Elsa replied, getting out of the car. "So..?" Zack asked. "So I'm driving." Elsa said simply, strapping her safety belt on. Katherine stared at her in horror. "Elsa.. do you know how.. to drive?" She asked, turning as white as a sheet as Elsa turned the key in the ignition. Tyler snapped his head up and looked at her, eyes swimming with the sorrow of betrayal.
Elsa grinned at him. "Too late, blondie. Okay. I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is, we might reach LA in less than three hours. The bad news, well.. we might die. Not much. Hang on, everyone!" Elsa yelled and jammed her foot down on the gas, the car shooting forward like a bullet. The only thing audible as the Mustang raced away into the night was Katherine's scream: the other two were too scared to even breathe.

                         ~♢~

A/N: This is shit and I'm a terrible human being.
Yours for eternity,
Grandma L.