Chaos Magic (The Forbidden Kingdom)

"Where did she go?" Cassie sighed, skipping past the shelves with a quick glance.

"She's a few rows ahead in Level 7," Darrius murmured, his steps gaining a bit of speed as a spike of excitement that wasn't his own ran through his soul.

"How do you know that? All senses and magic should be nullified here," Zion asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"It's a… feeling I have," Darrius answered with some restraint, his hand leaving his pocket to run through his hair.

Cassie's skip halted as she spotted a flash of silver disappearing into the next aisle. When she turned into the aisle, she dropped into a casual walk. Carmell's tall frame came into everyone's view, her long arms and legs stretching as tall as she could to try and reach a book on the top shelf. Darrius strode up behind her, the slight movement of his little brother spurring him to get there first. Zyn snickered as Carmell turned her head to watch Darrius with wide eyes. 

He reached up and grabbed the Level 8 book on Camouflage and Concealment. He hesitated before handing it to her, but he felt that even though it was dangerous to jump levels, she was the exception to that rule. She took the book from his hand, her bright green eyes sparkling with admiration.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Be careful with these," Darrius replied, rubbing his fingers down the spine.

 "Careful is my middle name," she teased, lifting the books to make them flatter and leaning forward until the pleasing tingles ran through her hands and her eyes locked with his.

 "Really?" Zyn asked in surprise.

 Carmel turned to look at him with her eyebrows furrowed and her head shaking slightly in disappointment. Cassie also looked up at her brother with an eyebrow raised; Zion, however, laughed his short ass off, gripping a shelf for security.

 "It's a joke, brother," Darrius sighed, turning his head to face him.

 Carmell took her bag off and dropped the books inside, whispering a quiet sorry to Tenet as she threw him in her bag and returned it to her shoulder. Darrius opened his mouth to ask who she was apologising to, but she strode off, grabbing his hand to pull him along. His question was soon forgotten as he relished in the tingling and her warmth.

 "Why is he acting like he usually gets jokes?" Zyn grumbled as he followed behind them.

 Carmell stepped up to her bedroom door, a small smile gracing her lips as it whooshed open for her. Darrius was pulled in with her; Zyn, having already gone through this, stepped in behind them, but Cassie and Zion cautiously stepped over the threshold before they let out the breath they were holding and followed behind them. The three that hadn't seen her room before couldn't help but look around with wide eyes filled with awe and a little jealousy.

"Your room isn't this big," Zion mumbled to Darrius, gliding his hand over the couch before he comfortably took his seat.

Zyn and Cassie smirked, sitting in the single chairs at the edges.

"Nope, get up," Carmell grabbed Cassie's arm and started dragging her towards the bathroom, "we have a uniform to personalise," she asserted, slamming the bathroom door.

With a bright smile, she turned to Cassie, pressing her fingers together at the tips. Cassie raised an eyebrow and stepped back in alarm. This girl was very different from the one they found on the road, and she realised that she wasn't joking when she said there was an adjustment period.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I have a secret to tell you," Carmell replied, her excited body relaxing as she leaned around to grab a book off the onyx marble sink, "I can't use magic the way you guys seem to," she finished, turning the book to show her.

Cassie's eyes widened on the grimoire pages, and the two spells she used to mould her uniform were laid out on separate pages. She flipped the pages on either side, confirming that there wasn't a blended spell.

"You did it without writing it down first?" her eyebrows furrowed together, but her eyes held her truth; she was ecstatic, "you need to meet my mother," she grabbed her upper arm, which, at her height, she was lucky to be wearing heals and tried to drag Carmell towards the bathroom door.

"No, no! I will not be meeting your mother on my first day," she hissed, pulling Cassie back from the door handle.

"Don't worry, she has the same magic, and it's a secret. No one is meant to be able to do this, and none of us can either," Cassie assured, stepping up to her and giving her arm a reassuring squeeze.

"Cassie, please, you don't understand," Carmell sighed, regretting opening up about this. It's time to change tactics, "Darrius and I are brand new, and I don't even know what we are. We're just following our instincts," she laughed, "dropping your parents into this is going to send our relationship into the stratosphere with a rocket ship rather than a hot air balloon."

"Oh, I see. That's a good point, except for the rocket ship. I'll assume it's faster than an air balloon. You'd be thrust into a family gathering faster than you can say engaged to the Crown Prince," Cassie let go of her arm to place her fingers under her chin and tilt her head towards the ceiling.

"Engaged to the Crown Prince? That wouldn't happen so fast," Carmell frowned.

"I wouldn't be so sure. My mom will love you, and that will stop the Temperance freaks from scrambling to get their children engaged to us," she shuddered.

"I'm surprised you're all single, right? Especially you as a girl. Oh, put your skirt how you want it," Carmell said, shaking her head at the thought.

It was very progressive.

"We can thank our mom for that," Cassie cackled, rolling her skirt up to just above her knees, "she's forward-thinking and believes we should marry for love like they did, hence why we should hold off you meeting them," she pulled her socks off and took off her tights, "socks or no socks?"

"No socks, they're fucking disgusting," Carmell complained, "marry for love, hold on, it's way too soon for that," she laughed.

Cassie snorted, "You keep telling yourself that."

Carmell narrowed her eyes and shoved the book into her hands. She pulled a notebook and pen out of her bag and wrote the spell.

"You can still remember it even though you don't need to say more than three words of it?" She almost sounded impressed.

"Let's just say that my previous experiences give me an advantage," she smirked, handing the notebook over and returning her grimoire.

"Oh, it's that simple," Cassie cooed, her eyes widening in shock and her body moving to stand in front of the mirror, "Conceal away from watchful eyes, reshape, and bond to my mind's eye to exchange the energy from those who leer," Cassie's eye glowed a bright green. Her hands glowed to match, and the magic she wielded glided through the air like Carmell's dust, reshaping her skirt and tightening her shirt and blazer.

She laughed in shock and pulled at her tight-fitted blazer, marvelling at how it moulded to her like a skin suit, and her skirt flared out in a retro dress style, no underskirt needed. Carmell stood off to the side with a satisfied smirk, her mind whirling with the display of a simple spell. She knew that all she had to do was speak the spell, but was it a matter of intention or execution?

"I'll have to practice some spells tonight," she sighed, taking her notebook from Cassie and dropping it in her bag.

The pair walked out of the bathroom one after the other, Cassie's skirt swaying from side to side and mostly at knee length.

'Indeed different,' her older brothers thought in relief.

Carmell turned her face to see the sun setting through her enormous windows. With a small sigh, she grabbed Darrius' upper arm and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"What is the plan for tomorrow?" she asked, glancing over at Zion since he seemed to be the organised one.

"Well, we showed you around the school, so why don't we take you into town?" Zyn interjected, catching her attention.

Carmell smiled, trying to keep her smile as inconspicuous as possible, marvelling at how she didn't need to suggest anything. For a moment, she wondered if it was part of the game and they were following a set of options, but she was doing things differently, and they wouldn't have taken the whole tour if the Twins hadn't spooked her.

"I love that idea; the sun is going down now. What time must we be up, and where should we meet?"

"Breakfast starts at 6 am," Zion said.

"That is too early," Cassie pouted.

"8 am then, I'll wait for you outside the door," Darrius finished, kissing her temple and heading for the door.

Zyn quickly hugged her before he left, but Cassie's hug was much longer and filled with warmth and friendship. Zion waved and gave her a small, sweet smile before he turned to leave.

"Sweet dreams," Zion called from the door, the whoosh a distinct sign that she was finally alone.