When Beth as almost at the garden, she heard something that she couldn't quite make out. Even though she knew she wouldn't have been able to understand what was being said, she could tell that it was muffled and in this place that didn't sound like it was going to be a good thing.
Beth started opening doors that seemed like it might be hiding whatever was making the noise. She at least hoped that she wouldn't get blamed for whatever she was about to find. It wouldn't surprise her if it happened, given how she and her friends had been treated when they first got to this world.
On the second door Beth opened, she found a woman bound and gagged, her back towards Beth, and a rope tied to her that kept her from reaching the door. The woman had brown hair, just a shade darker than basic brown. Beth couldn't think why someone tied her up, but if untying the woman got Beth in trouble, she was going to accept whatever came from that. She didn't see a reason why she should just leave the woman there.
After setting the puppy on the ground next to the woman, Beth first untied the gag on the woman before moving to untie the ropes, not only keeping her from getting to the door, but also that bound her hands behind her back. Once that was done, Beth then moved to untie the rope around her legs.
When Beth had finished that, she noticed the look the woman was giving Beth. It seemed to be a mixture of relief, confusion, outrage, fear, and appreciation. Her bright green eyes sparkled with unshed tears. Beth wished she could say something that the woman would be able to understand, but was at least happy to be able to do what she could.
Which brought to mind that she used her magic to scan the woman's body to see if she was injured in anyway, and she wasn't surprised to find that there was a couple broken bones and an injured ankle. Beth reached out to touch the woman where her injuries were and tried to ignore when the woman flinched each time Beth touched her. She had to assume that the woman thought she was a 'cut-ear' or whatever. She could only hope that was all it was.
When she finished, she moved back from the woman and held out her arm to the woman who at first seemed confused at the gesture, but then after a moment, she grasped Beth's arm and stood with Beth helping as best as she could.
Beth helped her out of the room, then the woman glanced at Beth, her expression wary, then started running off in the opposite direction from the gardens calling out something that, of course, Beth couldn't understand, so Beth merely walked towards the gardens. Whatever was going on, she couldn't see how it would concern her. Though, her puppy seemed to have woken up during that exchange, so Beth was fine with the dog exploring on its own while they walked.
As Beth entered the gardens, she suddenly realized where she'd seen the woman before, though she hadn't even thought she'd looked familiar until just that moment. The woman was the one that the boy who'd hidden under the couch when Beth first arrived in this place. She didn't understand what was going on, but probably more because she didn't know what was being said in the first place.
Shaking her head, she looked at the flowers in one spot of the garden, the petals were multi-colored, but not like she'd seen on Earth. These seemed to change color depending on what angle she looked at them. Then there was the part of them where when Beth wasn't looking directly at it, it appeared to have either a iridescent sheen to it or a pearlescent. There wasn't much of a difference, but Beth was confident there was one.
At first the gardens seemed peaceful, but suddenly there was a sound that didn't fit the surroundings, and not from the commotion Beth could hear in the distance that she was sure was from the woman she'd untied. She couldn't quite place it, as it was gone at about the same moment she'd heard it. So, she at least looked around to see if there was anything that stood out to her or if maybe she was just imagining things.
Her puppy suddenly barking drew her attention towards an area that was shaded from several plants that were being grown there, not that Beth could even guess as to what they were called.
She saw the puppy clearly investigating something that was behind a tree. Beth wanted to tell whoever was behind the tree that they should just come out, but kept herself from doing that, since she was certain they wouldn't understand her anyway.
So, she merely walked around and was shocked at what she saw. The boy from the night before was being held by a man who didn't look very friendly to Beth. The boy looked like he was scared, which told Beth that this could very possibly be a kidnapping attempt. After all, whoever lived here was either probably important themselves or were at least connected in some way to the important person. The man looked almost like anyone else around there. He had blond hair and green eyes.
While he didn't have any weapons out, Beth could somehow sense that he was dangerous. That she shouldn't consider him unarmed, even when she could see that he didn't have any weapons at all.
The man clearly recognized that Beth had seen him, though there was something about him that she couldn't quite place. However, the man at first looked tensed at being discovered, but then he relaxed as he looked at Beth.
Did she really seem as harmless as that? Beth asked herself.
The man said something that Beth wasn't going to even try to guess what it meant. She was debating how best to handle the situation. As it is, there was already something about the man that tickled the back of her mind, but she couldn't figure out what it was. She knew she didn't recognize him from anywhere, yet it felt like she should be able to spot what it was that bothered her so much.
When Beth didn't respond, the man said something else, but this time with an edge to his tone. Beth wouldn't be surprised if he was getting agitated that Beth wasn't saying anything, but she wasn't that concerned about it. She was mostly trying to figure out how she'd be able to keep the man from taking the boy away. Especially since the boy clearly didn't want to go with the man.
Then as Beth watched, the man drew a knife out and held it against the boy's throat. He started to move away from Beth and Beth decided then and there that she was going to do something to keep the man from doing whatever it was that he had planned on.
Pulling on her magic, she first wrapped the man's wrist that was connected to the knife he was holding until he dropped it from the cold. Beth didn't stop there. She wrapped ice around the man's ankles, and the wrist on his other arm.
However, while it was clear the affected joints were getting cold, he merely flexed the muscles in those parts of his body and the ice shattered. Beth was surprised for a moment before contemplating what she could do to make that more effective. Meanwhile, she knew the kid was still in danger. The guy didn't look like he was playing around.
So, Beth decided she would need to bluff, better than she'd ever have to do with her teachers in the past. She wasn't going to let a kid die like this if she could help it.
"Now!" Beth cried, looking past the man's left shoulder, as if there was someone there.
Then as the man turned to look, Beth immediately started sprinting towards him and managed to wrench the knife out of his hand as pull the boy away from him, before he was able to register what was happening. Beth was vaguely aware of her puppy barking nearby. Whether it was in support of her or the puppy's version of a verbal assault, she wasn't sure.
What was important for her was that the boy wasn't in immediate danger, and kept her body in between the boy and the man who was now openly glaring at Beth.
He said something more, that Beth still didn't understand. She wasn't sure what else she could do to let him know that she didn't understand a word he said, but wasn't going to worry too much about it. She had to assume that the reason the woman she'd found tied up earlier had been because this guy was after this boy.
As the standoff continued, Beth felt a headache starting. Not only was she hungry and unable to find where she could get something to eat, but now she was in the middle of a attempting kidnapping and she couldn't understand a word anyone said.
Whatever happened after this, she couldn't help but decide she would find something to eat and start eating, even if it was something in this garden, regardless of who else would be present
She hadn't asked to be brought here, she hadn't done anything wrong, and she especially would have preferred to have at least Ralph with her, so he could translate for her. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to get any of that, but she wasn't sure if she'd care if anyone tried to stop her.
The man however, didn't seem to be so interested in letting Beth go, and he started saying something that felt rather rhythmical to Beth, and she could feel magical energy start to form. It was colorful if nothing else, Beth noted.
However, Beth was preparing her own defenses. While she could be as flamboyant as the man in front of her, she kept hers more subtle. If nothing else, it would help keep the man from knowing what she was doing. Which Beth was counting on.
It felt like it took several minutes for the man to finish charging up his magic and Beth could hear heavy footsteps running in the distance, but she didn't let the sounds of someone running distract her and she was pretty sure that it probably was closer to just a single minute. She didn't feel like her own magic drained her that much.
When the man's magic shot out at Beth, and the boy who was still hiding behind her, it happened in almost an instant. If Beth blinked, she was sure that she would have missed the colorful display her opponent's spell created as it coalesced and shot out towards her. The only thing she wished could be different about it was that she wanted a camera to record it so she could not only see it again, but also share it with her friends.
Despite all the buildup, there didn't seem to be a noticeable effect. Not that the man seemed to react pleasantly from that. He stared at Beth incredulously. Beth could only smirk as she allowed herself to act like she hadn't had any doubts that it would turn out this way. All the while, she was a little frightened at how her defenses had cracked. She was sure that if her defenses had been any weaker, or had she been too clow in getting them set up, she wouldn't have been able to have survived the man's attack.
The man said something and Beth didn't bother replying again. She couldn't say what he was saying, nor was she sure if she should try saying anything, since she was confident he still wouldn't understand her either.
This time she had no idea of how long they just stood there. She wasn't going to move before the man did, as she certainly didn't want to give him the upper hand by noticing something that Beth wasn't aware of. While she didn't know what he might see, she had seen too much of that sort of thing in other books she'd read in the past.
Even as the footsteps came closer, she didn't look away from the man, though she felt her eyes start to burn. Then when she blinked, the man moved immediately as she closed her eyes, so when she opened them, she barely had time to react at his sudden advance.
More by instinct than through conscious thought, she pulled up her magic to block his attack. She couldn't see his attack this time, but was confident that it was there. She couldn't imagine this man attempting anything like charging at her if he didn't have a weapon at the ready.
Though, as Beth felt herself block his attack, she felt her eyes start trying to close. She wasn't sure why, but was pretty sure that it was from a combination of her lack of food and not having gotten adequate rest the night before.
She wasn't sure if she'd be able to do what she'd already determined to do to help the kid survive, but she didn't plan on giving up. No matter how much of disadvantage she found herself.
However, before she could do anything else, she felt the magic of someone else wrap around her like a comforting blanket and she could tell that someone else had noticed what was going on in the garden. She couldn't see them, but let her eyes close and sleep overtake her.
She couldn't say why it the urge was so strong, just that it was becoming more demanding and wouldn't let her go. Besides, the idea of sleep was so inviting and pleasant that she couldn't think why she should fight it anymore. Aside from the fact that she'd be able to get away from the hunger her stomach was complaining about.
_
Charlie's eyes snapped open when she heard the door to the room she was in slam shut. At first she was confused. She couldn't think why she was in this room, but after a minute, what led up to her being put in this room came back to her. As well as why she was sleeping on the chairs.
The next thing she noticed was the fact that her back was aching. Clearly sleeping on the chairs for as long as she apparently had, given she just realized she could see light shining in through a window high on the wall in the room she was in. As she realized how long she had to have been in the room, she couldn't help but feel hungry.
Charlie sat up, stretching, trying to relieve the pain in her back, but wondered if she might need to get Amelia to heal it or something. At the very least, it would help her relieve anything else she might have hurt inadvertently with how she'd been sleeping.
Though, it wasn't until she heard someone clear their throat that she realized she wasn't alone in the room. She turned to see the woman that she'd seen outside the library the night before. She didn't look like she was supposed to be there either, given how she kept glancing back at the door she'd entered through.
"Well, it's good to see you're doing well," the woman said to Charlie.
"It's good to see you're not freaking out anymore," Charlie replied.
The woman's face turned red as she looked away from Charlie. "Yeah, I guess I overreacted."
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Charlie asked, curious as to what the woman was there for.
"I heard you're a thought mage," the woman answered.
"Yeah, I am," Charlie admitted, not sure where this was going. Although, she was at least glad that the woman wasn't freaking out like the other woman in the uniform had been.
The woman shook her head, looking like she was hearing something unbelievable. "When did you become a thought mage?"
Charlie shrugged, "Technically, I guess you could say almost a year ago when my magic was unsealed, but since I had some abilities from it before then, maybe I was always a thought mage. Just before my magic was unsealed, I didn't have full access to the abilities of it."
"What do you mean, about your magic being 'sealed?'" the woman asked.
Charlie sighed. She had a feeling this was probably going to be a one-sided conversation. Not that she was going to object. After all, this was helping alleviate her boredom.
"Well, I was told that the magic of almost everyone on my world was sealed at the end of the war when the greater unicorns fled to their forests," Charlie answered.
"Wait. What do you mean 'greater unicorns?' What's the difference between them then?" the woman asked.
"Uh, before I tell you, would you at least tell me you name?" Charlie asked. While she accepted that it was their world, it got pretty old not knowing what anyone's name was. Especially since she couldn't say she'd rather talk to a specific person or other. Not that she really expected this time to be different than any time before.
The woman didn't respond right away and after a minute, Charlie was about to move on and answer the woman's questions, mostly because she hadn't expected an answer, when the woman spoke.
"My name is Dephna. What's your name?" she asked.
Charlie smiled, feeling a little more relaxed. "I'm Charlie and what the difference is between greater unicorns and lesser unicorns is largely that the greater unicorns can open or seal gates as well as creating a unicorn's forest. The Heart of the Forest that helps stabilize a unicorn's forest, can also be used by one who is considered a 'friend of a unicorn' to open or close gates themselves," Charlie answered, feeling like she might have been forgetting something.