The Unicorn's Forest

Heathcliff couldn't help but feel surprised as he hung up the phone. Not only did Charlie want to speak to him about something magic-related that she said couldn't wait until they resumed their magic classes next Monday, but she didn't want any of her friends to know about it.

While in the past he might have thought about how he could use this to get control over her, he considered some other alternative ideas of what this might be. He was aware of some of the abilities she had, many of which were rather rare. He wondered if one of these might be the cause of what she wanted to talk about.

He was confident that she hadn't told her friends all of her abilities, such as being able to hear thoughts of others, but he wasn't surprised about that. Most thought mages who could do that were generally hesitant of telling others, since often those who were upfront about that ability would get accused of listening in on the thoughts of those around them, usually by their closest friends, even when they weren't. Since there often wasn't a way to tell when they weren't doing that, most found it easier to accuse them rather than trust them.

Maybe it wouldn't be that way with the Rivers girl's friends, but that wasn't for him to decide. Even if he had secured control over her, he would have allowed her to reveal that ability to who she chose, since that would be her prerogative.

In general he was surprised at how quickly the Rivers girl and her friends were going through their magic instruction. It was clear that whomever had given them their initial instruction hadn't done a complete job of it, they were still given enough that they progressed faster than anyone else had up that he was aware of.

Of the tutors that he'd selected for the girl's friends, only two had to be changed and that was because of what the special qualities of the magic of those people. Such as her fried Tim Cooper's magic had an air element specialty, while the tutor he'd initially assigned had been more of a earth element specialty. The other was with Hannah McKenzie who had a lightning specialty, which the tutor he'd assigned to her had a water specialty. That tutor was especially grateful to be reassigned herself.

He'd agreed to meet with the Rivers girl tomorrow, pretty much first thing in the morning. Although, he suspected that she might be a little late, since there was the time it generally took her to walk through the unicorn's forest as well as the world with the Bicorn in order to get to his place.

So, he estimated that she'd probably get to there around ten in the morning, although, if she got up early, which from what he understood about teenagers, unless she normally did this on her own anyway, she was unlikely to get up early on a day in which she didn't have school to begin with.

Although, there was also the part where he wasn't sure what to expect with this girl. Each time he thought he had her figured out and sorted, she displayed something that didn't fit what he'd come to expect of her. Which made him have to start that over again. As he then-

A knock on his door startled him out of his thoughts.

"Come in," he called.

Nick opened the door and closed it behind him before taking a seat in front of Heathcliff's desk. "I've secured the basic travelling supplies for our first expedition as well as for, uh, for the other group's expedition," Nick informed Heathcliff.

Heathcliff was amused at Nick's difficulty in talking about the Rivers girl and her friends. Although, he suspected that Nick hadn't gotten over how the Rivers girl was able to fool him so completely. It was his pride that was hurt the most and Nick didn't seem like he was letting it heal that quickly.

"That's good," Heathcliff replied. "What do we have in place for food for the expeditions?"

"I have a few non-perishable packs. Mostly instant oatmeal, dried fruit, nuts, and beef jerky," Nick answered.

Heathcliff nodded. Those were a few good options. "Maybe you should get some energy bars to go with that list. We need to try and get these to extend as far as we can, in the event the worlds that are visited don't have any options to replenish any of the food," Heathcliff instructs Nick.

Nick nodded. "I understand, sir," he merely replied.

Heathcliff sighed. One of the things he found so difficult with Nick wa his apparent inability to not be so formal with him.

Shrugging it off, Heathcliff moved on. "How many tents have you prepared for each group? We will need to make…" Heathcliff asked, making sure the fine details of the supplies are in order. Especially with how close they were to when both expeditions were to set out.

_

Charlie yawned as she walked through Petals' forest. It was early, even for her. She'd already had her breakfast and gotten dressed before even her sister had gotten up and had to deal with her sister accusing Charlie of abandoning her to their aunt.

Charlie had assured her sister that she would be back before lunch, but was sympathetic to Cherie that their aunt would be just as difficult to be around as she always had ben, which meant Cherie would get the full brunt of it through the morning.

However, Charlie fully expected Cherie to ditch their house pretty much as soon as Charlie got back and maybe not even return for the night. Which would force Charlie to deal with their aunt during that time.

However, since tomorrow was Thanksgiving, both Cherie and Charlie would have to be present and would be allowed to go off like this for any reason, since they would be expected to show up for Thanksgiving dinner as well as helping with any of the preparations, like putting food on the table as well as helping set the table.

The only person who ever was able to not get drafted to do any of that had been Ruthie. Partly because she was their 'guest' and partly because Aunt Rose insisted on doing whatever Ruthie would have been required to do.

As Charlie left Petals' forest and entered Arachii's world, she wondered what might be different this year, as Emily was there as well. Although, she also considered that there wouldn't be much different, since Aunt Rose didn't seem to even want to acknowledge Emily's presence more than she had to.

Then when Charlie left Petals' forest, she had to stop for a minute. She was impressed at the changes already apparent to the area made by the arachnoids. They were steadily building themselves a settlement there that was clear to eventually become a small town of arachnoids.

Despite it being a snowy part of the winter on this part of Arachii's world, the arachnoids were doing very well in spite of the cold. They'd even made a small bridge over the stream that allowed Charlie to walk to the gate without having to get her feet wet in the freezing water.

None of the arachnoids bothered Charlie or even seemed to notice her as she walked through, although she was confident that they were aware of her presence. They were just too busy at the moment to do anything else about her.

Not that she minded. It was one of the things she liked most about the arachnoids. They wouldn't bother her with unnecessary conversation if they themselves were busy, and they tended to be rather industrious and hardworking. Which meant that they were rarely not busy, unless they were waiting for something, or someone, specific. They certainly were a people that enjoyed keeping busy.

Then as Charlie entered the basement in Heathcliff's mansion, she started to feel the effects of getting up as early as she had. She knew she'd be able to push through it, especially since it wasn't like she was going to have to deal with some boring lecture at school in one of her classes, so she knew that she'd be able to get through this without nodding off. Probably.

When she reached Heathcliff's office, she surprised him. What surprised her about his surprise was the she had talked with him about this yesterday right after introducing her cousin and Emily to Petals.

Part of her wondered if he didn't expect her to be here quite this early, even though she had indicated that she was up to meet with him at this time. However, she didn't mind if he was finishing up other pieces of work that he had while they spoke. Or even before they got into what she needed to talk with him about.

"Sorry about this," Heathcliff apologized as he sorted out some papers on his desk. "I really didn't think you'd be here this early. I thought you'd probably show up in half an hour at the earliest."

"No problem," Charlie said, even though she did feel a little annoyed at it. Did she really put off an air that she was that kind of person who wouldn't take the effort to show up when she said she would?

Charlie waited patiently as Heathcliff finished what he was doing, which took about five minutes. Then as he accomplished that, he turned and faced Charlie, clearly giving her his full attention.

"So, what is it that you needed to talk with me about that couldn't wait until Monday?" he asked pleasantly.

Charlie sighed, trying to keep herself calm, given how when she thought about that dream, she frequently started feeling herself react as if she was in the situation in the dream. With her heart rate increased, alert to her surroundings, and horrified at seeing Beth die right in front of her.

"What do you know about dreams and their relationship to being able to see what can happen before it does?" Charlie asked, not sure if she was phrasing the question the way she really wanted it to be phrased. Especially since she wasn't sure exactly what she should be asking anyway.

"I see," Heathcliff said, sounding a little surprised. "I take it you had a dream that you think might possibly be telling you something about the future, I suppose?"

Charlie nodded. "Yeah, I had one a couple months ago and whenever I think about it, I feel like I can remember more about it than I could right after I had that dream," Charlie said, finding herself focusing on the top of his desk rather than Heathcliff himself. Almost like she was afraid to see what his expression would be.

"I see," Heathcliff said thoughtfully. "Would you use the method I had you use to show me what your magic looked like to you so I can see the dream?"

Charlie thought about it for a few minutes. She really didn't want to, but at the same time, she couldn't think of what it would hurt. As far as she could tell, Heathcliff wasn't involved in any way in the dream. Aside from that, while he'd tried some underhanded things in regards to her, he didn't try having her or her friends killed, or at least she was confident that he hadn't.

Yet, while she had her own serious misgivings about him, she felt like she was otherwise at a dead end in her search for what the dream meant or if it was just a dream. If she didn't show Heathcliff, would she be able to find a way to keep it from happening if it was more of a premonition?

So, she sighed and then used her magic to create an image of the dream. Almost like a holographic video in the air above Heathcliff's desk. She played it forward up until the blade came out of Beth's chest and she could see the shadow of the face of whoever killed Beth.

"I see," Heathcliff said at the end of the 'video' of Charlie's dream.

"So, what can you tell me about that?" Charlie asked, hoping there was something that he'd be able to say.

"I can't say for sure, since it's one thing to merely see the dream itself, and another to experience it for myself," Heathcliff answered. "However, if it isn't just a dream then it could be a warning dream."

"A 'warning dream?'" Charlie asked, feeling like he was making that term up on the spot.

"Yes, a warning dream. Similar to a premonition or foretelling dream, it shows something that will happen, except this kind of dream will show you a way to avoid it from occurring. The problem about that is the fact that it's not always apparent in the dream. It may come to you on your own, but other times you'll have to search the dream for clues as to what the element or elements that you need to change in the dream in order to prevent this from occurring," Heathcliff explained.

Charlie shifted in her seat. "Um, what is there that I can do to figure that out?" Charlie asked, unsure how she should go about his suggestion.

Heathcliff sighed. "It's rather complicated. You can try to remove elements from the scene as time goes on, but some elements are going to appear regardless of what you do or don't do. As you get closer to when that scene will occur you'll start to realize what elements there are that you have control over. Those elements are the ones that you have to figure out which ones to change or remove altogether from the scene," Heathcliff replied. "When it comes down to it, it's not necessarily those elements that cause the change, but rather a domino effect that will remove other elements that will cause the change you want."

Charlie sighed. She had hoped for a little more, but this at least was something she could work with. Although, she wasn't sure exactly how to go about it, but at least it was something she could work with.

"Would there be anything else you'd like to talk with me about?" Heathcliff asked.

Charlie shook her head. "No, I just had that I wanted to talk about," Charlie answered.

Heathcliff nodded and Charlie could finally move her gaze away from his desk again. "Well, if that's all, then I wish you a happy Thanksgiving and hope you'll have a good day," he said.

"Thanks," Charlie replied as she stood up. "And happy Thanksgiving to you too."

Even though she hadn't really gotten a solution to her problem, she felt better as she left Heathcliff's office. If nothing else, she had something she could work with to try and ensure that whatever that dream was about wouldn't happen. That she would be able to figure out what that choice was that led to Beth being killed, especially in that manner, and what she could do differently to change the overall outcome of whatever was going on at that time.