City of Fire

Chapter Ten

"Ilona"

Nearly two hours later Ilona was still scrubbing paint. She growled her irritation and dropped the filthy wire brush into the hot water. Erin was beside her but he was actually smiling while he was working. She eyed him, knowing that if he wasn't so cute she'd want to smack him upside the head for being so stupid.

Why would anyone enjoy scrubbing graffiti off of walls?

"Why are you smiling?" Tidus asked in a gruff voice from farther ahead of them. Erin looked at him, his green eyes still smiling.

"Because we're helping the environment," Erin replied as if it were a known fact and Ilona shook her head, a slight grin touching her lips.

Only Erin...

"Yeah, I kinda figured you'd say something like that, plant boy," he replied and Ilona stiffened, her eyes narrowing dangerously. She knew that in his own way he was only teasing but having someone poking fun at Erin brought out an aggressive streak inside her. Her fingers itched to throw the wire brush at Tidus's spiky head but decided against it when Erin spoke up.

"Better than, sparky," Erin replied smoothly and Ilona bit her lip to keep from chuckling. It wasn't that good of a nickname; it was just how Tidus would always react and how his hair always stuck on end.

It was perfect for him...

"Shut up," Tidus growled as he started to work on an impressively painted 'G'. Erin looked at her, winking as he did so and she smiled back. They continued to work in silence and as they did so, Ilona's mind began to wander.

It wandered to the talking bird again...

The stupid thing had been annoying, but it had also given her a warning. As the raven's words came back to her an unpleasant sensation crawled up her spine, causing her fingers to tighten around the wire brush. She blinked, pulling away to act like she was rewetting it but felt Erin's concerned gaze on her. She didn't say anything and kept working.

Her mind then skipped to her mother and the stone that she'd given her...

Ilona glanced down at it once more, cradled against her chest as if it belonged there. She wanted to reach up and touch it again, feel the warmth that it provided but didn't. It was as if a piece of her had fallen into place.

Had found its home...

She knew it sounded odd, considering she hadn't known that any of this had existed yesterday morning but that's how it was. She decided not to think too much about it and just keep scrubbing. The words were slowly coming off, but the sun was rapidly setting. Ilona eyed it, trying to gauge the time but gave an irritated sigh and looked up at Adrian who was a few paces ahead of them. His eyes were trained on Zane, who was not surprisingly working off by himself, and Ilona shouted to get his attention.

"When do we get to go home?" Ilona shouted and Adrian glanced at her, looked up at the sun before flicking his eyes down to his wrist watch.

"Fifteen more minutes," he replied smoothly and Ilona sighed. As she turned back to the wall she caught something out of the corner of her eye, a sharp movement that suddenly made something click inside her brain. The world tipped and she suddenly wasn't standing in front of a brick wall. She was in a room covered with stones.

And she wasn't alone...

A woman was talking to someone, a man, and their voices were low. Their words were anxious, filled with fear. They were dressed differently, as if they were from the Medieval Era. A fire was dying in the corner and the wind moaned outside the walls. Their voices grew still and silence engulfed them. Even the fire seemed to sputter. Then the whole world seemed to shake. A high pitched wail sounded from the corner and the woman turned towards it. She raced across the stoned room and to a cradle. Stooping over it she gathered a small bundle into her arms, her large emerald eyes filled with fear.