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Fantasy Unlikely Partners

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Chris nodded but didn't respond to her commit. He collected his clothes and went and cleaned up himself. He did notice the bruising as he walked past but again said nothing. Once he was cleaned up and changed into some shorts and a t shirt, Chris went out to head to bed.
 
Ilaria listened to the door shut as she got dressed, trying to ignore the way her body protested to the movement. With a soft huff, she tugged the sheets out and climbed into the bed. She gave a groan- even laying was a little painful now that the healers were gone. She sighed, and realized that she really wanted to see the moon.
When Chris came back, she was curled up on her side, facing the far side of the room, where she could see the sky through the sliding door. "I wish I had enough energy to call her." She said softly, even though she snuggled deeper under the fluffy comforter. It smelled faintly of whatever bleach the hotel used; housekeeping had been by and changed the sheets. That made her feel a little lighter, even though it all hurt.
"But without the ocean, it would be too hard now." She murmured, her eyes beginning to droop a little.
 
Chris laid down next to her and listened while she talked wondering how he could help. "The base magics are to different for me to be able to help you call the moon, but any place that the sun has once touched that I have been, I can counjer an immage of."
Without waiting for an answer, question, or objection Chris got up and went over to his bag. He pulled out a small bag of sand (the same material Seth used in crafting the containment ring for the Golam heart at the barracks). He stood to the side of the bed and wispered into his hands where he had cupped a small portion of the sand. Then he threw it up and out across the room.
The sand floted and sepperated until there was a cloud surrounding the entire room. The suspended sand shimmered a bit then disappeared, but as it did so the scene around the walls gave way to the ocean and beach that was behind Ilarias home. It was a perfect replication of the night the two of them were out there and Ilaria had called the moon spirit. If one squinted and tried to see past the illusion they could see the TV, celling fan, and other hotel things because it was not a strong enchantment. But if you let the magic work you could start to hear the waves and see the details of the shadows of the moonlight that was now shining in the room.
Chris climbed back into bed but stayed sitting up against the head board. "I really liked this night. Don't think I've ever had a memory do this well with this spell."
 
Ilaria gave a small nod, knowing sun magic would be no use. His next words made her open her eyes again, and she watched as he produced magic with a whisper and a handful of sand.
She would have gasped if she wasn't so tired. The night was replicated so well, she could almost smell the salt in the air. She blinked slowly, watching the waves crash softly onto the sand. He climbed back into the bed, and she shifted a little closer to his warmth.
"Its perfect," She said softly, watching the slow motion of the waves. Her breathing slowed to match it, and her eyes began to close again, a little bit at a time. "I miss home." It came out as a whisper, not at all sad, just a statement of fact.
 
Chris settled down into bed, laying under the covers next to Ilaria. Ilaria fell asleep in just a minute or two and Chris closed his eyes to do the same. With his concentration broken because of sleep the spell faded and the room returned to its normal hotel furnishings. There was no trace of the sand on any of the surfaces. It was like it was never there as the two of them slept.

At 7:30 the next morning Chris's phone buzzed with a text message. (Seth) Are you caravanning with us or will you two meet us back at the grove?
Chris read it quickly then replied We will see you guys up there. I want to give Ilaria a few more hours of sleep.
No problem, see you guys there.

Chris didn't respond again and set his phone down again and closed his eyes again and drifted back to a soft sleep until he felt Ilaria start to wake up.
 
It was drawing close to 10 AM when Ilaria started to stir from deep sleep. She shifted, snuggling deeper under the covers. It felt chilly in the room outside them. She rolled, and felt herself approach a dip in the bed. Chris was still there. She stayed nearer, now warm and comfortable.
About a half hour later, the moon child truly woke up. Her eyes struggled to blink open, and when they did, she groaned softly. She had a horrible headache, and her body was throbbing. It was like the worst hangover of her human life, magnified.
"Chris?" She asked softly, her voice croaking. Ilaria grimaced, and sat up. She needed a drink of water. And something to help with her headache. And a shower, maybe. It was horribly bright in the room, like it was already fully day. "What time is it?"
 
Chris had retrieved his journal and a glass of water and had been silently writing down what had happened the day before.
"It is 9:48." Chris answered her as he put his journal aside. "Want some water?" Chris asked, offering the cup he had on the nightstand to her.
 
Ilaria sighed slowly and took the offered cup. She gulped it down, and her body gave a little shiver.
"I feel like shit." She muttered, as she forced herself out of the bed and into the bathroom.

A few minutes later, she returned, looking like she had washed her face, and carrying another plastic cup of water. "You should have woken me, we need to get moving," She said softly, starting to toss her stuff in her bag and taking a sip of water every few moments.
It didnt take long for her to tire, though, and she sat back down on the edge of the bed to rest. She finished the cup of water with a scowl, and then remembered she was supposed to call Gio. That made her scowl more, but she did toss a glance around for her phone.
 
"It'll be okay Ari. We will move faster than the group will and it is okay if we are a little late." Chris Talked softly not committing on her remark about feeling bad. He quickly packed. He got his bags packed and loaded then came back and asked, "Anything I can do to help?"
 
By the time Chris got back, Ilaria had stuffed her duffel full and zipped it shut. She plopped it onto the unmade bed. She had located her phone, and was sitting next to her bag staring at the screen.
She looked up when he came back in, and sighed. "Um, Im packed, I just- you know, I said I would call Gio and see what he knew, so I need to do that." Her thumb hovered over the contact name, then in a few taps she unblocked the number and then hit call.
She gave him a small nod, stood, and went into the bathroom. The door swung shut behind her, muffling her voice.
The call lasted a few minutes, her voice rising and falling occasionally. When it was over, she reemerged with a strained look on her face.
"He will call me back after he does some digging," Her dissatisfaction was clear, but she didnt offer any more information. "We should get moving.. can we get food?"
 
While Ilaria went into the bathroom for her phone call, Chris picked up her bag and walked it out to the car.
"Why yes we can. There were a few choices a couple exits down the highway." Chris replied with a small smile. Chris scanned the room one last time, then whistled shortly to get Rex's attention then he pointed out to the parking lot where the car was and Rex jumped over the railing and trotted around the edge of the building. Chris held the door and then followed Ilaria out. He set the room keys on the desk and thanked the lady that was sitting there and continued out to the car.

After about 10 minutes of driving they passed a sign that listed the names of the gas stations and fast food places at the next exit and Chris asked, "McDonalds, Burger King, or Subway?"
 
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Ilaria plodded out to car, scowling up at the bright blue sky. She got into the passenger side without saying anything, and then took her jacket off and pulled it onto the top of her head.
She rode with the jacket covering her eyes from the sun, refusing to enjoy the sights along the highway. From underneath it, she mumbled, "Burger King. They have the little hashbrowns." Her voice sounded like a pouty child's. "Drive-through?"
 
Chris smiled a little when she fell into the passenger seat, then fully when she threw her jacket over her head. He started pulling off the highway and answered, "Yes we can get drive through."
They pulled up to the drive through and Chris ordered himself some food and asked for a minute and turned to Ilaria, "What do you want?"
 
Ilaria pulled her head out from under the jacket and peered over at the menu.
"A number 4, combo, with an orange juice." She answered after a very brief pause.
Once he had driven up, paid, and handed her food, she reached intot he bag and pulled out the hashbrowns. "See, little hashbrowns." She mumbled, already putting one in her mouth. It was hot. She had to dragon-breath it for a few seconds before chewing. "Hot," She mumbled, grabbing her juice and taking a large gulp.
 
"I bet." Chris smiled, then returned to the highway before getting out his own food. He ate quietly, staying at a lower speed in the right lane while he ate. Once he was finished he sped up again. He drove for just a few minutes before reaching over and turning on the radio, scanning for something he liked then hummed along with the music.
 
Ilaria wolfed down her food like she hadn't eaten for days. With it gone, she mumbled a thank you, pulled her jacket back over her head, and promptly went back to sleep.
........................................
It was the sound of her phone ringing that eventually woke her up. She fumbled for it, tossing her jacket off and swearing softly when daylight hit her face. She had absolutely no clue what time it was, where they were, or how long they had been driving. She just knew that Gio was supposed to be calling with more information, and he wouldn't be above being rude if she missed his first call.
Finally, she swiped the screen and held the phone up to her ear.
"Hello?" She croaked, and almost immediately frowned at the response. "Gio, please just cut to the chase."
She was silent for several moments, then reached into her backpack and pulled out a pad of sticky notes and a pen. She started scribbling down phrases, as well as a few names.
"Yes, I got it, thanks." There was more from the other end of the phone, and Ilaria closed her eyes and sighed. "No. Bye." She hung up before he could say anything more.
 
They had been driving for about an hour, it was a little past noon. The radio was playing softly when the phone went off. Chris glanced at the phone when it rang, turned the radio off, then returned his attention to driving as Ilaria fumbled to answer the phone.
After she hung up Chris gave it a few seconds before asking, "What did he say?"
 
"Not much that was actually helpful," She said softly, as she finished scribbling down a few notes.
"But he did give me a few names, of people on this side of the country that might be able to help us. No idea how to track them down.. but names are a start, I suppose."
Ilaria seemed more alert now, her body moving with less stiffness as she sat up. "He said theres rumors over there, of the last shard. But nothing concrete. I'll look into these when we get back, but honestly.. all he really said was that we will probably end up on the eastern seaboard before this is over."
She turned to look out the window, and shook her head a little. It was just a whisper when she said, "I hate him."
 
"It's been a while sence I have been to the East Cost. Might be fun." Chris was trying to be light and cheerful but he wasn't optimistic about it working.
Seeing that Ilaria was awake now, Rex nosed her from the back seat for some attention.
"If you don't mind me asking." Chris paused and glanced over at her. "Who is this guy you are talking to? And why do you not like him so much?"
 
Ilaria felt something from the backseat nudge her, and turned to find Rex expecting some attention. She turned in her seat to rub his ears, then his neck and face, giving him a calmer sort of affection than she normally did. She wasn't surprised by Chris's question, but there was still a pause before she answered.
"An ex-boyfriend, I guess," She said quietly. She didn't stop petting Rex the entire time she explained, "Although ex-fiance might be accurate too."
"He's the reason I ended up in Europe, drunk out of my mind and hanging out with dark witches. I mean, not the reason, but it was us breaking up that made me unstable enough to make such a horrible choice.
We met when I was still very young, relatively at least. Still within a human lifecycle. He is older, by about a hundred years, so it was kind of like a 30 or 40 year old human man getting involved with a human girl thats barely 17 or 18. At the time, I thought he loved me, and I thought I'd spend forever with him."
There was a pause, and she hesitated, her hands becoming still. But then she kept petting Rex, and continued talking. "We were together for.. I don't know, maybe twenty or thirty years, off and on. He cheated a lot.. or would start a fight and break things off, so that he could go sleep with someone else without it being cheating, I guess is more accurate. It was just.. a very bad relationship, and he knew better, but I didn't." She hesitated again, and then added, "Moon children aren't supposed to feed off each other. Its just kind of taboo, it creates all sorts of weird energy interactions and ties between their souls and its just generally bad for them. But its the best high out there for us, and young moon children are even more intense. He used me for that."
She sighed, and ended with, "The long and the short of it is, he's a philandering man-whore who used me for sex and energy, isolated me from the outside world, and then suddenly left me when I tried to stick up for myself. Now the world is going to end because I went a little crazy, and I went a little crazy because he messed me up, and he knew what he was doing."
Ilaria turned back to the front, and glanced at Chris. She didn't think he would judge her for this, but many people had, so she was preparing herself for a very long car ride if he didn't like what he heard.
 
Chris listened quietly, nodding and saying "Okay" when it seemed appropriate.
When she was done he sat quietly for a moment, contemplating what she said. Then he asked, "So if things between the two of you ended so badly and ended a long time ago, why would he be helping you/us now?" Chris didn't really care about the fact that this guy was an old boyfriend, but he was confused why they were getting help from someone that clearly was no longer a trusted friend.
 
Ilaria was silent for a moment, staring out the windshield unhappily.
"I don't know," She admitted quietly, "I mean, other than preventing the end of our society as we know it.. I'm calling him again, he's got a chance to get a hold of me again.. he was bored and this is entertaining.." She trailed off and gave a disgusted shrug. "I've never understood why he does anything."
 
Chris nodded again, grunting softly, not having anything to add to Ilarias trail of thoughts.
They drove in moderate silence for an hour or so when Chris's phone rang. The caller ID showed "Seth"
"Hello" Chris said as he answered.
"Hey Chris. You guys on the road yet?"
"Yep, been driving for about 2 hours."
"Good. How is Ilaria?"
"Little groggy, but doing okay."
"Very nice. Just checking in. See you guys back at the grove."
"Okay, thanks, see you there." The phone went silent as Seth hung up. Chris hung up his end and tossed the phone in the counsel.
 
Ilaria glanced over at him, found he didn't look like he wanted to say anything else, and fell into discontent silence. She chewed at her lip, lost in memories that were not entirely pleasant.
-----
The ride back to Mullbrook felt even longer than the drive from, at least for Ilaria. No shard to seek, no violence to prevent. At least not yet.
When she started seeing signs for Mullbrook, she mumbled, "Are we going straight to the Grove?"
 
"Up to you." Chris replied. "I'm going straight to the Grove, but you don't have to come if you don't want to. I could drop you off at your House."

The ride was actually faster than before because Chris was driving faster in an attempt to arrive at the grove at the same time as the caravan got back. The ride was mostly silent with music from the radio playing in the background.
 

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