W.I.T.C.H.: The Bloody Throne

Part 7

     After leaving Danny's house, the group quickly disassembled; each leaving in their own direction, lost in thought about Danny and her family. Sure, Sheela's cabin was small, but it was warm and cozy; the place their friend lived in now seemed a disgrace. Of the group, Irma was the most bothered. Sure, Danny's side of the family was never as wealthy as her side, but it had never been as apparent to her as it was now. It made her feel guilty to be so well off. While every member of Danny's family had to work for a living, Irma was lucky that her father worked in an office where he made enough that her mother could stay home all day. It didn't seem fair to Irma and she wished she knew how to fix life so that it was.

Hay-Lyn and Taranee walked to the Silver Dragon together, occasionally rubbing the tender spot on their butts where Roger had pinched them with his long, old-man, nails.

"Can you believe Danny is related to that nasty, old, kook?" asked Hay-Lyn and Taranee shrugged her shoulders.

"I can't, but a while ago I wouldn't have believed that other worlds existed and that we have magical, elemental, powers to protect it."

"Still," Hay-Lyn started again, "shouldn't we inform the authorities about Roger? He can't just go around pinching 'pretty-girl-butts' all year 'round."

"True, but Danny's family needs his retirement checks. If we alerted the authorities and he was taken away, it would be one less income for them." Countered Taranee and Hay-Lyn hung her head in defeat. As usual, Taranee was right.

"Still, there has to be something we can do."

"Well, we could use Pavlova's conditioning." Suggested Taranee with a grin and Hay-Lyn looked at her friend with an eyebrow raised in confusion and Taranee gladly explained. "Each time he pinches someone, we ask Irma to splash him with cold water until he stops."

"I would prefer we ask Will or Phobos to zap that old codger." Replied Hay-Lyn with a laugh.

XXXXX

For a long while, the small royal family walked together in silence. No one wanted to think of how Danny was living compared to them; furthermore, no one wanted to think of the old man Danny had to share her home with. The King wished they had been in Meridian, where he would have had all the right of the kingdom to burn the old man for attempting to touch Will and Elyon. Sadly, they weren't in Meridian and Will would never have allowed him to turn the man to ashes; so, all he could do was bit his lip and wait. Still, he promised himself that, should to old man attempt something again next time, that he would break his fingers.

Elyon, unlike her brother, was thinking of something else. She was just as surprised as Will to see him at the school gates. Furthermore, she had noticed the protective hand he had placed on her shoulder when Roger attempted to pinch her. She wondered what that had meant. Was he really worried about her or was he simply acting to make a good impression on Will? Though she wished the former, she felt it was the later. Then again, she thought, at the cabin he had attempted to reconnect with her. However, he had started a snowball-fight to escape a conversation with her. Then again, he had bandaged her injuries after the crawler attack. Still, he hadn't kept in contact since returning from the cabin.

This back and forth gave her a headache and she wished her brother was less complicated. She wished he would simply tell her he was sorry; she would accept and even forgive him. She could never forget what he had done, but she would follow Will's advice and give him a chance. Furthermore, she would ask him for advice; ask him to teach her. He had been willing to teach her back when she first arrived in Meridian; back before she knew he only wanted to drain her of her powers. Still, he was willing and able to teach her and Elyon was sure he could continue to teach her. She didn't care about her magic and he could have it if he knew how to drain it from her without killing her, but she wanted him to teach her how to defend herself. She knew he was a good fighter and she could use a few good tricks to keep Arty away from her. The teachers always excused his actions he had a mental condition or that was the excuse that his parents offered the school, and no amount of begging them to talk with him would make him stop.