The Search For Peace 2

Chapter 2

 When Harmony stepped over the door-frame of the cottage in Alpine Covert, the one Kevin had introduced to them that night, she came to realize that she was the first one there.  

Ultima had to speak with one of the teachers, which is why she hadn't come along, and as for whoever else was cordially invited, they were going to be fashionably late as well.

In the meantime, Harmony put down her heavy backpack and took in the musty, olden place. Bathed in the muck yellow afternoon sunlight pouring from the windows, the cottage was as dirty as she remembered, a mix of past times and modern junk. Ahead of her was a fireplace she hadn't noticed before, carved into the stone brick wall, covered in filth. 

The old couch was apparently a garbage green, as she liked to call it, it's shade now prominent in the day. Besides the crooked lamps and littered wooden tables, there was one thing that especially caught her eye. The bookshelves.

A wave of dust flurried onto her as she reached for the biggest item on the disoriented shelf, a hefty book so aged it was practically decaying in her hands.

The girl sneezed, placing the book down on the table in front of her, tucking her escaping locks behind her ear. 

"The...Legend Book?" She read the title out loud, the golden writing still gleaming under the light as she wiped it clean with her sleeve. "I wonder what this is about..."

With a furrowed brow and pursed lips, she flipped the scratchy pages, waiting for her gaze to catch onto something fairly interesting. But it was quite difficult to understand the twisted cursive, the ink smudged in many places. 

But even so, she managed to make out one particular word that kept repeating itself over and over again. Zodiac.

She had decided to carefully go back and read the text from the start to understand what the term 'Zodiac' meant in there, when the front door swung open with great force, startling her. As if she had been committing a crime, Harmony closed the book and hurriedly shoved it back into the shelf,  all the while turning her head to see who had come in.

"I told you, I don't want to be around these idiots!" It was the famous duo, Juliet and Alyssa, Juliet upset about something as usual.

"And I told you, these idiots are the only ones who can help you find Adrian!" Alyssa called back to her. She offered a smile to Harmony when they locked eyes, then went right back to arguing with her friend.

But before they could proceed, luckily, another bunch entered the small space, their names Kevin, Ralph, Sanjay, Carter, and Ultima.

"Okay, people!" Kevin clasped his hands together and beamed widely at the group he had somehow gathered. On the long withered couch, Alyssa, Juliet, Ralph, and Carter had squished themselves in, whilst Ultima had claimed the rocking chair not too far back. Meanwhile, Harmony tipped back on one of the tables, and Sanjay eyed Kevin with his arms crossed as he stood across of him.

"Now that we're all here..." the grown boy chided, his excitement not contagious, at the very least, "let's talk about what happened during The Autumn Dance, shall we?"

"What is there to talk about?" Juliet stated with her eyes on her freshly painted nails. "Besides the fact that some of us actually almost died, that is."

"Exactly my point." Kevin's accent was somewhere between British and American, hard to distinguish since he was switching between the two so frequently. "You see, after witnessing the whole ordeal, I think it's safe to say we're all in danger by the Capricorns, Geminis, and, as of yet, the Scorpios." All eyes followed him as he paced the area, his tone not as chirpy as before. "And since this is no mystery to any of you, I think The Magic Legislation will do very little to help us, considering how they reacted when we all went to save our dear Alyssa."

"What about the leaders?" Ralph stopped twirling his lollipop in his mouth, his tongue and lips a contrasting red against his pale skin. 

"I was getting there." Kevin nodded in his direction before continuing. "In my opinion, I think we should all involve ourselves in the matters of The Clans as much as we can. That way, we'll at least know when or where our enemies will attack next."

"And?" Ultima perked a brow questioningly. "What good will that do us? We'll just get in trouble like last time."

Juliet groaned with frustration. "Why do me and Alyssa have to be apart of this? I mean, last time I checked, we were basically useless 'cause we couldn't even defend ourselves."

"Oh, but you do need to be apart of this, my dear," Kevin was unmistakably speaking in a British accent now, as he bowed politely in the girl's direction, making her flinch. "After all, we do need to find your runaway sibling, before the Capricorns find him first."