Chapter 65

**Merianna**

It was great that we were making headway. Everyone else around me was running around with tasks to complete and messages to relay. Many were also helping the last stragglers of the coven. We assisted to move through the gateway to the Council’s building, where they could receive the help they needed. The Order was, after all first and foremost a battle unit and place of learning, not a sanctuary.

I was also glad that Noch gave me most of the answers that I was looking for after what Thyrion had told me. The uneasy knot in my stomach had loosened, but I was still worried. Many things were making sense, but then again, many other things were not making sense.

With a heavy sigh I closed my eyes and rubbed my face, only to have powerful arms suddenly wrap around me in the next moment. The moment I was pulled into a hug from behind and caught a glimpse of dark long hair, I knew who the culprit was.

“Junnie….” I whined in defeat and went limp in her grasp. Not that my body weight fazed her.

“Missed me little sunshine?” She sang happily as she rubbed my head with her cheek.

“Not one bit. In fact, I was basking quite happily in the peaceful atmosphere that followed after your departure.” I deadpanned unhappily.

“Now that’s not very nice. Why do you hate me so much, little one?” She pouted.

“Because you treat me like a child every time you set your sights on me.”

“But you are a child my dear.”

“I’m sixteen!!!” I yelled indignantly. I was already well past the age to be called an adult in society.

“Indeed, only sixteen years old. Your little soul is still so innocent. You should stay away from the horrors of this world and just be a good girl at home, find a non-lethal hobby and fall in love. Now if you were two hundred years old in a sixteen-year-old body… that would be a different story.” She sassed back while hugging me tighter.

“I’ll be making it my mission to catch up to you crazy people in no time.” I wheezed.

Junnie chortled. “Clearly not in age, my dear.”

“I’m not stupid.” I muttered, only to squeak in the next moment when Junnie suddenly let go of me.

“Now, tell big sister Junnie what has you all up in a twist. I shall listen to all your girlish woes!” She announced proudly, and bent at the waist to look me in the eye.

I turned fully towards her with a raised eyebrow. “I’m not in a twist. Moreover, I’ve never heard that phrase before. Jasnine always says tizzy though, is that the same thing?”

Junnie gave me an adoring smile. “Ahhh… so innocent. Please stay like this forever.” She practically oozed. “But yes me saying twist and Jasnine saying tizzy has pretty much the same meaning behind it.”

“Well then, nothing has me in a twist nor a tizzy. So now that your curiosity is satisfied, I shall be going.” 

I turned around only to have Junnie fly into my line of sight again. “Oh, no you don’t. I can see that you’re troubled by something, and I can’t just leave our dear Meri in such a state now, can I?”

I didn’t know why, but Junnie using Nelia’s nickname for me made my eye twitch. I didn’t like it. I actually appreciated it when she had used my full name. “Only Nelia can call me Meri. Not even Raska or Jasnine calls me Meri.”

“Oh dear, did that offend you?” She pouted again. “I only wanted to use your cute nickname since you seem to like it every time Nelia calls you Meri. I also just want to get closer to you, you can think of me as a big sister any time you want to!”

I frowned. Something didn’t feel right. I knew Junnie well enough at this stage, and I knew I didn’t like her calling me Meri just because I didn’t like her as a person. Glancing up at her quickly, I caught what it was. 

“No thank you.” I said fridgedly. Junnie seemed a bit taken aback by my tone and as she slightly tilted her head, one of her eyebrows dipped, which made her expression slip slightly only to be corrected within the next second. If I hadn’t been studying her so closely, I would have missed it completely.

“Is that so? I apologise then, dear Merianna. I honestly only want to get closer with you like everyone else at the Order. I didn’t realize that you dislike me to that extent, how cold!”

My eye twitched again. How did I not notice these small things before? But it wasn’t something to call out right now.

“I’m not cold! It’s because you keep smothering me! I’m not a toddler!” I fumed indignataly. At least that was the truth.

“But you’re just too cute to leave alone!” She insisted while wiggling her fingers in my direction.

“No! I’m not!” I exploded while quickly backpedaling. “You’re even more crazy than Nana Ara! Nothing about me is cute or pretty! Be gone and go do your job!” I yelled, as I turned around and sprinted away.

“But work is boring!” She yelled after me.

I didn’t care about whatever else she had to say. Now I had a new headache to analyze, and I honestly didn’t want to. It was a headache that I could do without, a headache that stung slightly.

***

**Thyrion**

I didn’t know what to make of Merianna. She was an interesting conundrum that I couldn’t seem to leave alone. No matter how much she seemed to dislike me. The thought made me smirk. There had been many interesting women over the years, but I had to admit, she stood well above everyone else in that respect.

I eyed Nelia as she continued to pick herbs from below the tree I was resting in. She knew that I was in the tree, yet she still studiously tended and checked the herbs she was busy with. Every time I caught a glimpse of her slightly blushing face, it made me smile and shake my head. She was adorable and a real beauty, but much too innocent for me. I bet that Merianna had been hostile towards me from the beginning because of her sister. Little does she know.

Nelia’s head suddenly shot up as she heard someone sprinting towards the castle. She silently moved to hide behind a bush, which confused the living hell out of me. It surprised me even more when she suddenly jumped over the bush and collided nimbly with the person that had been sprinting.

“Nelia!” Merianna shrieked in surprise. “What in the world were you thinking? I could have hurt you!”

“I think you underestimate me my sister dear.” She giggled back.

“Why on earth did you think that it would be a good idea to tackle a sprinting person?” Merianna asked wearily, now that her surprise had worn off. I leaned back on my branch with a smile and shook my head. Those two sisters were really something odd.

“It was you.” Nelia answered simply, like it was supposed to explain everything.

“For heaven’s sake, Nelia…” Merianna sighed.

“That and… did something happen?” Nelia asked seriously.

That question made me look back down through the leaves again. I managed to spot the two of them sitting on the grass on the other side of the pathway, and even I had to admit that Merianna seemed especially troubled. I could garner a guess that I was part of her troubled expression though. She definitely wore the same expression when I told her about the Warlocks.

Merianna heaved a heavy sigh and flopped onto her back. “I’m so glad that I have you as a sister.” She muttered with a smile.

Nelia smiled back. “The feeling is mutual. Now spill your guts before I make you spill them”

Merianna froze for a minute. “I want to retract my previous statement.”

“Retraction denied.” Nelia piped back.

Oh man, if I wasn’t careful, Merianna would discover me the moment I let out a snort. I didn’t want that to happen.

“There are just… so many things on my mind right now.” Merianna sighed and laid down on the grass.

“Well then just list them all off one by one. Maybe saying them out loud will make it easier for you to organize them in your head.” Nelia suggested.

Merianna looked thoughtful for a second, then she sat back up to lean in closer to Nelia. I knew I shouldn’t eavesdrop, but I was too curious not to. I pulled out my listening charm, activated it, and focused my concentration solely on the two of them.

“Well, first there would be Dermon. That time I fought with him in the basement of that building he kept saying that I was interesting, which clearly can’t be good. Then there is the Dark Warlocks, I don’t know if you know yet, but Dermon is actually working with them and not really the Hunters. Or maybe he still is. Who knows at this point? Then there is the goal of the Dark Warlocks themselves. They apparently want to bring back an old Deity from the time before the Cataclysm who was apparently killed back then, with their understanding of the Deity being one of War and Chaos, but Noch informed me that the Deity was actually one of Balance and not all that bad to begin with. Which also makes me wonder if the Dark Warlocks even really know what they are trying to raise. Then just now I bumped into Junnie on the way here, and I noticed something I didn’t notice before, and don’t like.”  Merianna rambled hurriedly. Ahhh, I knew I was one of her headaches, but it surprised me that she had so much going on in that head of hers.

“Wow, that is a lot. But what is this about Junnie? What about her didn’t you notice before?” Nelia asked with worry lining her face.

Merianna glanced around her for a second, then bent back to Nelia. “She’s a lot more sly than I figured. At first she was so clingy that I couldn’t focus on her face and words, but just now I could see it. She seemed to want to get closer to me as always, but this time she was a lot more forward and some of her expressions didn’t match what she was saying. She says she wants to get close to me, but her face says that she’d like to do nothing of the sort. Something about her isn’t sitting well with me. Nelia, you have to be careful around Junnie too.”

I blinked at the two of them. Junnie was not trustworthy? Well, I had my doubts in the past, but I couldn’t picture Junnie being anything but her annoying self at present.

“Meri, are you sure about this?” Nelia asked worriedly. It seemed that I wasn’t the only one that was worried about what Merianna was saying.

“I’m sure Nelia. When have I ever been wrong about this sort of thing?”

Nelia pursed her lips and nodded. “Alright, I’ll be careful around her. Shouldn’t you be telling Noch about this though?”

Merianna shook her head. “I just came from there, if I pop back in again so soon afterwards it’s more likely that he’d toss me out of his smithy than listen.”

Nelia made an expression of agreed annoyance. “Well, you have to tell someone at least. What about Fog?”

Merianna seemed to think it over. “I think I’ll do that. He should be making his way out of the dungeon by now since Raska is back. Remember Nelia, be careful around her. I don’t know what she’s up to, but I have the feeling that it isn’t anything good.”

“I’ll do that, you be careful too Meri.” Nelia said as they both got back up and Meri went jogging into the castle in search of Fog.

Nelia on the other hand, walked back to my tree. The moment she was underneath where I was laying, she looked straight up at me. Which only served to confirm that she knew exactly where I was all along.

“I know you were listening. What do you make of it?” She asked while looking me in the eye. It surprised me that she was being so forward with me. Usually she would just blush and try to hide her face. But all signs of that bashful little girl were now gone.

Yep, there was no way I could play stupid and say that I was actually asleep and didn’t hear a peep. If Merianna was still here and saw this exchange right now, she would have kicked me right out of this tree in no time at all. Oh, how different these two sisters were.

“Well, I’m not sure if my opinion in this matter would really be valuable to you, Nelia.” I said with a grimace.

“You know Junnie very well though, so you should have something to say about what Meri picked up on right?” She pressed.

I gave a small groan. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to answer her; it was just that I wasn’t sure about this myself. Junnie was confusing at best and sporadic at worst. I could never figure her out. Even so, there were a few times lately where my gut told me that something about her was off…

“For all we know Merianna could be right. Junnie and Dermon had a history after all when he was head of the Council.”

Nelia gave a groan of her own. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

I shrugged. “Neither do I. I wonder what Fog or Noch would think once she tells them.”

“Why can’t Meri ever stay out of trouble?!” Nelia agonized to herself.

“Hey! At least there’s never a dull moment when she’s around!” I countered with a grin. At which she only gave me a glower, then seemed to catch herself staring and blushed furiously. I only laughed at her red face.