*Julius Comet*
I stood in the middle of the hall among the chaos. The chaos of people. People of all sorts screamed in terror and fled. Separating in different directions. All with the same panicked expression on their faces. My ears ceased to function properly. Instead of hearing the panicked noise around me all I was capable of hearing was an ear-splitting ringing in my head. What should I do? I was alone. Abandoned by the speaking cat who had led me here, the talking cat who was with me earlier, the talking cat from earlier who had slumped themselves across my shoulders. The same talking cat who bolted as soon as he heard a booming voice come into the hall. The booming voice belonged to the magician from before. The cat mustn't of liked the magician's magic very much. That or the cat didn't want to go back into the hat he was pulled out of. I joked to myself. I felt a faint smile on my lips.
"Move you idiot!" The voice I recognised as the rude boy from earlier screeched from across the hall. I looked around me until my gaze caught sight of what had caused the chaos. The cage that once held the radiant bird lied across the floor. It's cage door ajar. I looked above me to see the radiant bird. It's wings spread showing off the different tones of orange of it's feathers. More colours appearing as the bird flew closer. Beautiful. The only pets, if they could even be considered pets, were the guard dogs stationed at various points on my Father's estate. As well as the koi fish in the ancient koi pond but you could never walk or play with a fish. In a flash an arm slammed around my waist dragging me towards the ground. The radiant bird swooping, it's red-hot talons burning strands of my hair as I fell. The marble hard and cold. After the radiant bird had passed. It continued it's chaotic behaviour above, near the ceiling and chandelier. Dangerously close to the chandelier. Reflecting light off of it's body onto the glass chandelier sending colour onto the walls. I tilted my head to see who had tackled me to the ground. For all I knew they had just saved my life. The rude boy from earlier lied on me. His arms tangled around my waist. His face nuzzling my stomach. I could feel him breathing against my body. His body warm against mine. He lifted his head away from my stomach. His eyes lifting to make contact with mine. The snarling expression from earlier still present on his face. How could such a pint-sized person hold so much anger?
"Do you have a death wish?" The boy said almost threateningly while scowling. The boy struggling to untangle himself.
"I hate to interrupt but don't you still have something to attend to?" The magician from earlier, now standing close to us mentioned. The magician pointing his finger up to the ceiling. Towards the Phoenix. I struggled to stand up. The boy and I struggled to stand up. Our bodies colliding with one another. With each collision I gave up a little less on standing up. The boy however got more aggressive with each collision. Eventually he pushed himself to his feet. Finally untangling himself from me. The warmth of his body separating from mine. I stood up after him. His assertive eyes darted around the ceiling until falling onto the Phoenix. Still, dangerously close to the glass chandelier. All while the magician glanced from him to me, to him, to me, to him, to me, observing the two of us with great interest. Watching the magician's repetitive actions was exhausting me. Why was he looking at the two of us like that? I was beginning to see why the talking cat had such a disliking to the magician. Enough of a disliking at least to run in the opposite at the sound of his voice. This man was annoying. Seriously annoying. My eyes drifted back to the equally annoying boy in front of me. His expression had settled. His face no longer snarling. His eyes focused and frantically darting around the ceiling with the bird. Without taking his eye off the bird he started towards the reception tucked between the staircase.
"The two of you make a lovely couple," the magician said nonchalantly, not missing a beat. What the hell was this guy thinking?
"Shut up," I replied. Following the boy towards the reception. The magician following close behind me. There would be time later to correct the magician. Right now, I was more intrigued by what this boy was going to do. Behind the desk of the reception he hastily fiddled through wooden drawers. His heard cast down towards the reception desk. Focused on finding whatever he was looking for. When he hadn't succeeded in his search he raised his head slightly. His eyes meeting mine and his teeth biting down on his bottom lip. His eyes full of focus and determination.
"Do you have a match?" He asked. His body leaning over the reception desk leaving our faces only finger-breadth apart. My throat strained under the heat of his intense gaze. I wanted to tell him no but I couldn't manage to get the words out. So, instead I shook my head. Hoping that was enough. That he had understood.
"I have a lighter, if that helps at all," The magician said from behind me. Reminding me he was still there. He rummaged through the pockets of his burgundy coat. Pulling item after item out of his coat. Each stranger than the last. The first item a bottle of maple whiskey. The second item a pair of baking mitts. The third item a foggy glass case. The fourth item a fire extinguisher. He continued rummaging, placing the unusual items on the desk of the reception until he found the promised lighter. My mind running loops on how he had managed to fit them into his coat. For more or less his reappearing presence annoyed me.