Burned

Chapter Thirty

"That word actually means 'thee'," I pointed to a word Kate had translated wrong. "It has more a curve at the end of the tail-thing, that makes it 'thee," I explained. The Dark Language, or T.D.L. as it was now known as was a more complex language than English. It was unlike any language Kate knew. 

"Really? I thought this was thee," she pointed to a similar character. I shook my head.

"No, that is they," I quickly clarified. Kate nodded, scratching her head. It turned out I was really good at translating T.D.L. It was almost ten o'clock at night, but Kate and I had translated almost fifty percent of the text. We had been working on it all day. It had been my idea for Kate to come over, but it was her idea that we skip the last three classes. 

We had barely taken any breaks, only to get more water and some snacks. I couldn't count how many times it took for me to go back in time, which alotted for a lot of the time we had spent working on this. Eventually, we were able to create a key. This was then used to finish translating Sarah Good's spell, then moving onto Samuel's spell. His was a little more complex because we had a limited amount of characters to cross-reference.

There were pieces we had to leave blank. I wasn't sure what were going to do to fill in those gaps, but I was confident we would figure it out. It sounded easier than it had been. My mind and stomach were both starting to feel ill. I quickly found out that going back and forth through time took a lot out of the body. All-day I had felt nauseous. 

"Should we call it a night?" I asked Kate. My stomach contents sloshed as I moved. I had eaten some crackers and an apple, but that wasn't enough. That in combination with the nauseau was almost enough to make me puke. That was something I wanted to avoid in front of Kate.

"You think? We're getting so close," she trailed off. We both were aware of our timeline -- only fourteen days until summer was here. I was all for pulling an all-nighter if it meant we could fully translate the spell, but I knew I wasn't able to go back in time anymore today. I need a break and I needed sleep.

Kate's dedication was always something I admired. Currently, I found it a little annoying but in the best way. I wished I could keep up with her. The way her mind moved as if it was constantly working at a hundred percent. I wanted to know her secret.

"I'm maxed," I told her. It was a little embarrassing to admit. "How do you do it?" I asked her. She kept scrawling in her notebook. She didn't even lookup.

"Do what?" Her pen didn't even waver as she spoke. If everyone worked as hard and efficient as Kate, the world would be all robots. I shook my head at the thought.

"How are you still going? Aren't you tired?" Kate and I had never been that close. Other than working on the translating, Kate and I hadn't ever 'hung out' alone. There was always someone else with us. Usually, that was Addie or Mir. It was a rarity to see Kate without someone next to her, but even less when that person was me. 

I wasn't complaining about the increased time being with Kate. It had been very informative in every way imaginable. I found out that she wasn't just smart, but a fast learner, dedicated, and loyal to her core. She wouldn't let you down and that was comforting. I saw now why she would be the perfect second to Ivelyn. It was no wonder why Ivelyn and her were so close: they were the other ends of the spectrum.

Kate needed a fierce leader and someone to tell her what to do, but someone detected enough that wouldn't constantly need her. Then, there was Ivelyn who needed someone who wasn't going away and who had a loyalty she couldn't burn through. They were the most perfect pairing. I was a little stunned I hadn't seen it before. Then, there was Mir who was the glue that held the two together. Without her, the two would eventually get burnt out of each other.