Magus Academy 3

Chapter 16

A whole two weeks had passed without anything interesting happening; me and Jamie kept on flirt-fighting, Grayson and Jamie trained together and we somehow didn't break our spines from all the uncomfortable positions we had to sleep in.

Then again, I'm pretty sure I heard something crack on the third night.

Anyways, we were now casually making our way through the night and, according to Jamie, we were nearing the edge of Ociania.

"157 PILES OF BOOKS ON THE WALL, 157 PILES OF BOOOOOKS! YOU PUSH ONE DOWN, IT TOPPLES OVER, LEAVING 156 PILES OF BOOKS ON THE WALL!" Sophie sang very loudly, causing all of us to sigh tiredly.

She started at 250.

Not only that but for a princess, she was a pretty bad singer.

"Sometimes I really hate your sister," I grumbled frustratedly as Jamie sighed.

"Sometimes? I thought she was way more annoying than that," Jamie replied, causing Sophie to suddenly stop singing.

"HEY!" Sophie yelled, causing the two of us to chuckle quietly.

All of a sudden, Jamie pulled our horse to a stop, forcing everyone else to follow his lead.

"What's wrong?" I whispered, getting ready to pull my sword out from my backpack.

"Whoever you are, come out. Now," Jamie called put into the distance, causing a few bushes to rustle.

Out came a humongous, dangerous beast with jammie dodgers all over it and -

Oh wait, it was just a little girl.

So much for excitement.

The girl had gorgeous ginger hair and illuminant blue eyes, shining in the darkness of the night.

Her skin was pale, almost too pale, and cuts and bruises covered her entire body.

Bleep _ my motherly instincts were tingling.

I immediately got off from my horse and approached the girl, crouching a few feet away from her.

"What's your name?" I asked softly, causing the girl to avoid my gaze, "Where are your parents?"

Still no answer.

When Jamie saw I was struggling, he jumped off the horse and crouched down next to me, giving the young girl a soft smile.

"My name's Jamie. What's yours?" He asked, using the "you know a fact about me so I need to know a fact about you" tactic.

The girl squirmed a tiny bit.

"We can help you," I whispered to her gently, taking off my backpack and giving the girl an apple.

I handed my empty bottle to Jamie, causing him to fill it up with freshwater and hand it to the girl.

When Jamie was using his powers, the girl stared at him in awe and wonder, causing me to believe that she'd never seen magic before _ how odd.

She looked wearily at the two of us, however, we only gave her encouraging smiles.

She took one weary bite of the apple before finishing the whole thing up in seconds.

As for the water, well, that was the next thing that was gone.

I let out a tiny giggle, finding the girl way too adorable to be true. Not only that but we were way too similar with our eating habits.

"Where are mummy and daddy?" I then asked, causing the girl to look at me fearfully before shaking her head vigorously looking at us in fear.

It didn't take a genius to work out she had abusive parents.

"Did mummy and daddy do this to you?" Jamie asked, looking at her sadly.

The girl let a few tears slide down her cheek before nodding her head and whispering, "Mummy... punch..."

The girl seemed to have a hard time saying those two words, making me wonder how bad her condition was.

I think I heard my heart shatter to a million pieces.

I couldn't help but wrap my arms around the girl and hug her, feeling a few tears of my own slide down my face.

I felt the girl stiffen before relaxing a tiny bit in my embrace.

"We'll take care of you," I mumbled into her ear, stroking her hair gently. I don't know why it suddenly felt so protective of the strange little girl in front of me but I did.

Something about the way she looked so... alone. I couldn't help but remember my life back on Earth _ how I was alone all the time.

Bleeping hell, I think I'm tearing up just thinking about it.

I released her from my embrace, keeping my hands off her shoulders.

"My name's Lisa," I said softly, "Can you tell me what yours is?"

The girl thought about it for a few seconds before shaking her head and shrugging.

"Do you know your name?" Jamie then asked, causing me to glare at him.

"Of course she knows her name," I hissed, before looking at the girl who simply shrugged at Jamie's question.

I will literally kill her parents if I get the chance to see them.

"Let's set up our camp here," Jamie told the others as they nodded and hopped off their horses before setting up the campsite.

I took out a first aid kit from my bag and let the girl sit down cross-legged.

"Can I touch them?" I asked, gesturing towards the girl's bruises.

When she wearily nodded, I mentally sighed in relief _ at least I can try and help heal her injuries.

After a few minutes of carefully dabbing a cotton pad on the different cuts and wrapping the larger gashes, I finally back up a little and smiled.

"There we go. All cleaned up now," the girl smiled back at me before walking to one of the tents and pointing towards them.

"Of course, you must be so tired. Let's go in, ok?" I said, standing up and leading the girl into one of the tents before tucking her into the sleeping bag.

The girl gave me a gentle smile before holding my hand and squeezing it.

YES! PROGRESS!

"Goodnight," I whispered quietly before walking out of the tent, zipping it shut after I left.

I sat down by the fire next to Jamie and sighed sadly, wondering what the bleeping hell happened to that poor thing!

"You ok?" Jamie asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"I-I guess..." I replied before looking back at the tent the girl was sleeping in, "What are we going to do?"

Jamie sighed, "I guess we'll have to just take her to the nearest orphanage. See who wants to adopt her."

I thought about it for a moment before one of my brightest ideas crossed my mind. I couldn't help but let out a huge, creepy smile.

Jamie looked at me fearfully, almost as if he knew what crazy idea I had.

"Why don't I adopt her?"

That's when Jamie fainted.