Scarred

Chapter 8

Cassie's POV
"You two ready to go?" Apollo asks as we walk into the room.
"All set. We've said all our goodbyes and now we can go on our way," I reply.
"All? I'm offended you forgot about me Cassie," Flynn gasps, sitting on the sofa behind Apollo.
"What're you doing here?" Hunter groans.

"Dunno, I just came here to annoy you two."
"He's been here for almost an hour now. Who is he?" Apollo says.
"That, is Flynn Sutton. Eva's friend," I explain. "Anyway, if that's all you had to say, we'll be off. Keep an eye on Eva and Cas for us, okay?"
"I'll do my best, but Lucky seems to be handling it pretty well. Suddenly her and Eva are now super close, which is weird cause they were all awkward before."
"Well that's good. See you Flynn."
"Bye."

Apollo leads the way as Hunter and I linger behind, enjoying the snow as it settles on our shoulders. A mission to find an almost complete stranger's little brother, not something I was expecting to have to do.

"So, do you two have any siblings?" He asks, breaking the silence between us.
"Cassie doesn't, but I've got an older sister: Sephie. God, she's a nightmare."
"Well, other than my brother I've got a little sister. Her name's Ammie, despite everything she seems like a normal six year old girl."

"Y'know, you two have your siblings and all, but I do know how it feels to lose a family member," I sigh slightly.
"Your mum..."
"Yeah. She died when I was nine. On a separate note, I wouldn't mind having a little brother or sister."
"Is that why you're being such a big sister to Eva?"
"No-! I'm not even doing much. I've just... I dunno. It doesn't matter anyway, we're not here to discuss siblings, we're here to find Apollo's brother."

"There's one place I want to go to in particular. I did some asking around and apparently someone who matches the description I have of him was lurking around there."
"How will you know it's him though? The last time you saw him, he was one or something, right?"
"That's true, but before making a deal with the guard to ensure his safety, they showed us a picture of him, one they took whilst snooping around. Here, he can't have changed much. He was about ten in this picture."

The boy in the photo is incredibly skinny, I can somehow see his ribs despite the shirt he wears. Shackles are locked around his wrists and large bags sit under his eyes.

"He looks like hell."
"Hunter! Don't you think that's a bit insensitive?"
"It's okay, from what I've gathered he should be doing better now. I found out the location he was being kept and when I looked, there was no one there. Which means he hopefully escaped."

"Well... we'll find out when we find him. Now come on Apollo, lead the way."

Instead of boarding a train, or walking all the way like I expected, we come across a stream with a little boat, just enough room for the three of us. I've never been on a boat before, though I almost did one time. I'm glad the water's not frozen over though, that would be inconvenient at best.

It was before I had met Hunter, so at that point it was just me and Ada. Sometimes, we'd have others tag along with our mischief, but they'd never stay long as they feared punishment more than anything else. There was this one boy, William Madder, whose dad was a fisherman.

His idea of a brilliant prank was to take his father's boat and hide it deep in the woods until he realised it was missing. It was kind of stupid, nothing compared to what Ada and I could brainstorm, but it gave us something to do.

We decided we would ride the boat downstream until we found an appropriate place to hide it. But as we were heading over, William revealed the rest of his plan to us. He wanted to offer to find the boat for his father, and then get all the praise when he found it. If anything, his plan annoyed me. I liked mischief, that was it. All I ever wanted to get from it was a laugh, not praise, not a prize, I just wanted some mindless entertainment to brighten up my miserable life.

So in the end Ada and I decided not to help out with his plan, and he tried to pull it off by himself. He just ended up getting caught, which gave me more of a laugh than anything he could think up ever could.

It's a bit of a stupid story, no real moral to it or anything like that. But it's the first thing that comes to mind as I look at the boat floating on the water.

Cassie Ellis: the Impure girl who can see souls, is friends with the missing princess and ran away from home is also the girl who has never ridden any form of a boat in her whole life. Of all the things I have done, you would expect that to be one of them.

"So where we headed?" Hunter asks.
"Hezra, I believe."
"Oh, we've been there! We went there with Eva and Cas, it was where we met Alice."
"Doesn't some of Eva's family live there?"
"Yeah, that's how I found Alice."

"What on earth are you two blabbering about?" Apollo laughs slightly.
"Oh... well it's a long story really."
"And it's a bit of a long journey, obviously you don't have to tell, but I am a little curious. This Eva sounds like a peculiar girl, from what I've seen of her she knows a surprising amount about magic. Most people haven't even heard of nightmares."
"True, I hadn't. It's a surprise, especially so soon after a war you'd think people would still have negative emotions towards certain places or people. But, what do they look like to an outsider, how did you know they were fighting one?"

"It was their eyes. They weren't moving, just sitting there, their eyes completely blank. But the thing is, they aren't always like that. If the nightmare is strong enough, it essentially becomes real, and the only option is to fight it. I was lucky whichever of them created it doesn't have particularly strong magic."

"It was Cas' nightmare..." I add quietly.

"Let's hope Eva doesn't make one," Hunter laughs. "The little half blood's magic is pretty strong."
"Half blood? I don't think I've met one before. Well, other than Eva."
"What about Lucky?"

He stares for a moment, jaw dropped and eyes wide.

"Sorry, it's just, she never told me. I thought she was related to Warren or something."
"I mean, she might still be. I don't know much about her either. Anyway, off to Hezra we go."

The journey is mostly silent, despite the fact I know Apollo wants to be told about Eva's past. There's just a lot to it, and I've blabbered about her to too many people. People who shouldn't know.

After a long ride, one that involves Hunter and I taking shifts rowing, we arrive at the docks in Hezra. I can already hear the busy bustling of the marketplace form all the way over here.

"The one who told me about him, he said he'd meet me around here," Apollo mutters, looking around.
"Do you know what he looks-"
"Are you Apollo?" A voice asks, making spin around.

I feel like I recognise him from somewhere.

"Yes. You must be William, right? William Hadder?"

"That's why I recognise you! What the hell are you doing here Will?!" I almost yell, pointing at the fisher boy.
"Cassie? I could be asking you the same question."

William left moved out of town before Hunter started coming to school, so Hunter just looks at me, confused.

"Oh right, Hunter, this is William Hadder. He used to pull pathetic pranks on people back home, they were never as good as mine and Ada's."
"Shuddup Cassie, I didn't exactly come here to be insulted by you."
"I'm aware of that idiot. You're here to help Apollo find his brother. In that sense, we're the same."
"Oh really. Well unfortunately I think he's long gone, but I saw him on the route to Surrek. He stopped at the big grave they have for all the ones who died in the fire, maybe giving that a look might help your search," William replies. "I'll show the way, otherwise you lot will just get lost."

"I've been here before you know."
"That's a surprise, thought you would never leave home."
"Really? I've wanted to leave since the day I got there. So, y'know, all my life."

"Whatever, let's go."

Nova Note:
God ok

So Apollo
He's fine for now
But there's a part with him that I've been writing ahead of time and he becomes a lil problematic but I ain't gonna say why

Bye