The Witch And The Other One
Part 8
Belatedly,
Christine stopped her images from flowing and blinked at Renil. Oh my God,
she thought, I really killed this one. He's really dead and I'm looking
right at him. The feeling of guilt and surprise was somehow less than when
Christine had believed she'd killed Naomi, she realized with some confusion.
Naomi!!!,
she remembered. Her body still felt too weak to go to her, but not so bad she
couldn't think to her.
Very
sloppy, kid, came her voice. I coulda done better
I didn't want to kill him, Christine thought back.
I know. I'm not terribly fond of killing people myself.
Naomi!, Christine gasped as her presence finally found its way to Naomi's
mind. This time, the bubble that had closed Naomi's flame in was gone and Naomi
was laying in the middle of dying embers.
"Naomi,
your light!" Christine in a panic, running to her side.
Naomi
waved off this comment. "No problem," she said, a weak smirk crossing
her face. "Who needs a flame, anyway, right? I can work in the dark."
"No
way," said Chris flatly and she tried to help the flame rise. She sat in
the embers with Naomi and took her hand.
"Kid,
please..."
"I
can do it!" Christine snapped. Parts of the embers flared up slightly, but
did not stay burning. Naomi squeezed Christine's hand and Chris could feel a
bitter cold in her fingers.
"Christine,"
she said gently. Chris looked at her full in the face and could not turn away.
A soft look had come over Naomi's face. "I'm dying, aren't I?"
Christine, not sure what to say, lowered her head. "You don't have to say
it; I know I am. I wasn't really ready before...and I'm probably not now now.
Most of the pain's not that bad, though. Losing all that magic so fast was the
worst of it, but now that that's gone, it's like falling asleep with a bad
headache."
"Naomi,
I don't want you to..." Chris began.
"I
know, I know, you don't want me to die, but I'm okay with it, really,"
Naomi smiled wanly. "I don't think I'm actually interested in living
anymore..."
"But
Renil's gone and you can start over again!" Christine protested.
"There'll
be others, kid. You think he's the only person in this world I've ticked
off?" Naomi replied.
"Don't
you even care???" Christine exploded. "Don't you even care
that I don't want you to go? You think this is just all about the way you
feel? You just think you can decide to die all graceful and think I'm gonna like
it? Well, I'm not, and I don't care what you've
decided because if you're not gonna do anything to save you, then I sure
am!"
Christine's
grasped Naomi's hand with a grip that surprised Naomi and glared at her hard.
Suddenly, the embers began to burn again, ever so slightly. Try as she might,
however, she couldn't make the flames grow.
"Are
you gonna help me or not?" Christine demanded.
Naomi
frowned. "You think you're doing this on your own?" she replied,
sounding more like the old Naomi.
"This
is all?" Christine asked incredulously. "This can't be!
You have to live." But even as she said this, she could feel her
own strength dwindling away again.
Naomi
could feel Christine weakening, too. "Let go," she said, trying to
take her hand away.
"No,"
came the reply.
"Let
go!"
"Not
without you!"
"You've
got a life to live, Chris."
"Don't
be melodramatic. You've got a life, too."
"I agree," came a voice. "On
both counts." Christine and Naomi looked up and found Robin looking down
at them. She knelt down and took Naomi's other hand, saying "You're a poor
actress, my dear. You're not made of the stuff that causes valiant
deaths."
Naomi
shrugged weakly. "I've been practicing, though," she replied
facetiously.
"Very
funny," said Robin. The flames continued to dance higher, but again
stopped. "I believe we could use some more assistance," Robin added,
the strain of helping Naomi's light regain itself taking its toll on all their
faces.
There
was a sigh behind Christine just as Marcus knelt down by Naomi. "If it'll
make you happy, sprite..." he said, putting his hand on Naomi's forehead.
"Hold
it!" came a voice behind them all. Everyone turned to find Daina glaring
at them fiercely.
"But
Daina..." Christine protested.
"Don't
'but, Daina' me; Naomi and I have business to discuss before she rejoins the
world of the living, honest and hard working," said Daina seriously.
"Business?"
Naomi echoed uncertainly.
"Business,"
said Daina. "Here's the deal. You become Christine permanent and loyal
live-in nanny and I make sure no one tries to take you out like this again for
as long as you live and treat us right. Deal?"
"A
nanny?" Naomi echoed again. "I can't be a...."
"Please,
Naomi, please? You can start all over again and never have to kill anyone
again." Christine turned to Daina. "She doesn't really like killing
people," she said confidentially.
"Mmm,"
said Daina skeptically, unconsciously raising a hand to the spot where Naomi's
crossbow quarrel had gone through her before. For a moment, it seemed as if she
were having second thoughts. "Look, if you don't want to..." she
began.
"Deal,"
said Naomi quickly.
"Yea!!!"
shouted Christine, bouncing on her heels gleefully.
"After
all, what have I got to lose, right? Can't be a bounty hunter anymore,
anyway," Naomi shrugged. Then, she added, "I'm not making you any
promises on my behavior, though."
"Oh,
yes you are," the other four said simultaneously, then they
laughed.
Daina
sighed, as if not sure she'd gotten the best end of the deal. "Alright,
heal the wench. Target's watching over our bodies topside and you don't need
me, so I'll meet you there. Too many people in this little brain, anyway,"
muttered Daina. She gave Naomi a smirk as she disappeared.
"I
heard that!" Naomi yelled after her.
"Supposed
to," came the fading response.
"So
you're really gonna stay?" Christine asked, half-concentrating on healing
Naomi.
Naomi
shrugged indifferently, but Chris could feel her slight wistfulness.
"Yeah, I guess. I'm sick of running around the realm for bigwigs,
anyway," Naomi replied. "I could use the change of pace."
"Yeah,"
said Christine. "Running around with me is definitely gonna be a lot
faster than that." Naomi looked at her in surprise and Christine grinned.
"I'm gonna make your life miserable," she said, narrowing her eyes at
Naomi with the same maddening grin.
Naomi
was thrown off guard, but only for a moment. "Try it," she said, meeting
Christine's grin of mischief with a matching one.
"Oh,
wonderful," murmured Robin sarcastically. "A challenge.
The two of you are going to be merciful Hades to live with."
"Count
on it," said Chris and Naomi simultaneously.