Chapter 9

Heathcliff sighed. "So, are you sure Emily won't be a problem anymore?"

The young woman sitting on the other side of his office shook her head. "I can't say if she is or not. All I know is that I interrupted what she was trying with the girl you're so interested in."

"Keep an eye on her. I can't afford to take any action against her right now, aside from talking with her, so I'll have to let her actions go for now. You can let her know that I'll want to talk with her before lunch, but don't let her know anything of what I'm willing or not willing to do, alright?"

"No problem, Uncle," the young woman replied. "But, I was more worried about Nick Sanders. I'm not sure he's up to the task."

"Maybe not, but it's time that I give him a test of my choosing. If he's not able to accomplish the task I gave him, then he's not going to be very useful down the road. I mean, how hard is it to get someone to trust you when they don't know anything about you?"

"Apparently rather difficult," the young woman commented. "I spoke to him about it and he seemed to think that the girl you're interested in was just like any other girl or woman and ignored what I'd been told by that girl that she was finding him a creep."

Heathcliff laughed. "We'll see if he can get around his own short-sightedness. He still might be able to get out of his own way given he has the entire week," Heathcliff said.

"What is your plans with the girl anyway? I mean, I'm fine helping protect her from others, like Emily, who would use their magic to toy with her, but she doesn't seem special in any way to me," the young woman replied.

"I'll let you know that later, just trust me on this that I'm not sure I can open the gate without her," Heathcliff replied, opening a drawer in his desk and removed some papers from it. "I don't know what's special about her, but it's possible that she's considered a friend by a unicorn."

The young woman laughed. "Seriously? I heard about how you got the Heart of the Forest and how the forest was sealed. How could that runt encounter a unicorn?" she asked.

Heathcliff sighed again. "The forest was sealed after the Heart of the Forest was removed from the Unicorn's Forest," Heathcliff said, talking to Shirley as if she was a student and he was her teacher. "No one was guarding the forest during that time, so the unicorn could have left during that time period. We also don't know what effects removing the Heart of the Forest might have on the forest itself, so that could also play a part of how the girl might have encountered a unicorn. Especially with the damage that had been done to the forest."

"How will you be able to tell if she has encountered the unicorn?" the young woman replied, clearly annoyed at being treated like a student.

"The only real way to tell is to ask her, I'm afraid," Heathcliff answered. "I'm not aware of any other way we can be certain of if that has occurred. That's why I have to be so careful with this, Shirley."

Shirley nodded. "I see. If she has met with the unicorn and we ask her, we risk letting her know too much," Shirley mused to herself. Then to Heathcliff, "How do you plan on using her to open the gate then?"

"Its another delicate issue. If we just ask her outright, what chance is there that she'll accept, let alone believe us? If we hand her the Heart of the Forest, what reason would she have to try and use it?' Heathcliff asked.

"If we get her in our debt, would she feel obligated to do what we told her to do?" Shirley asked, her eyes drilling holes into Heathcliff.

Heathcliff nodded, as if it wasn't a clear challenge. "I admit much of this is a pure gamble. I'm not even sure of what I'd do if I was the one trying to get her to work with us," Heathcliff replied. "I'm merely working to try and slowly get her to trust us and consider us as friends rather than enemies."

Shirley laughed. "If you really did, then you wouldn't leave the task we're talking about with Nick, who as you said yourself, is untested. I know how important this is, so why wouldn't you give this task to someone who has proven themselves and test Nick in some other way. I get the feeling that the girl we're talking about isn't someone who trusts easily and that she will pull away from us is she isn't handled delicately."

"Time will tell which of us was wiser," Heathcliff replied, standing up from behind his desk. "But right now, we really need to begin on the preparations for the camp.

"This camp idea is going to be a compete mess," Shirley predicted.

Heathcliff laughed. "You may be right," he admitted. "I couldn't think of what exactly to do with this camp, but it was the only way I could think of to get that girl here. This also may put me out of business if we can't get the gate open. Maybe the fact that I need the help of someone who I haven't been able to guide before has made me make otherwise avoidable mistakes. All we can do is hope that this works out well enough for us."

_

Charlie put her paint roller down. They'd finally finished painting the girl's cabin. Not that Charlie understood why they had been painting it pine green with black trim. The green color was a little out of place in Charlie's opinion, as well as how there weren't any trees that she'd seen on Heathcliff's property. Personally, she would have thought white, yellow, or light blue would have been a better color with any combination for the trim. Regardless, the week was almost over and Charlie found herself looking forward to the trip they'd been promised at the start of the week, even though she wasn't sure what kind of 'exercises' Heathcliff had meant. She suspected them to be team-building exercises or something along that line, but wasn't sure.

Emily had tried a few more times to do whatever she had in mind, but seemed to get upset when it was clear her use of her magic wasn't having the result that she thought it should have. Charlie was happy that she wasn't finding herself in the same situation as when she first met her. Although, she did have a couple close calls at first. Mostly because she was still trying to get used to what it felt like to have someone work magic on her.

Though, she did find Emily once arguing with Shirley about Emily's inability to enchant Charlie again, Emily accusing Shirley at directly using her magic to stop her. Shirley denied the accusation after struggling to come up with a response, though Charlie found it very entertaining how Shirley couldn't think of what to reply with, given Charlie knew Shirley didn't have anything to do with that, which is what Emily clearly thought.

The only problem Charlie really had with Emily at this time was that while she suspected what Emily was trying to do, she couldn't pierce Emily's thoughts deep enough to find out, and on the other hand, Charlie wasn't that sure she really wanted to know. Which made Emily more of an annoyance at times and a source of spontaneous entertainment at times too. Charlie probably could pierce Emily's thoughts, but she couldn't be sure if she might cause problems, given when she'd tried before, she was fairly sure that she'd accidentally given Emily a severe headache that lasted for hours.

Shirley seemed to act like a big sister to Charlie, and while Charlie appreciated it at times, she still felt unsure about her. Charlie would like to have a fling with Shirley, if not a full out relationship despite the clear difference in their ages, but didn't expect Shirley to reciprocate the interest, so she kept herself from saying anything to her about it. Though, Charlie did keep track of her when she was around, given how Charlie knew she was up to something, which Charlie had yet to figure out. Just as she was with Emily and Nick. She couldn't be sure that any of the other counselors were up to something in relation to her, but couldn't detect anything that would indicate so.

Nick was still the same creep that Charlie had experienced at the start of the week. He acted like he was trying to help, but when Charlie pried into his thoughts with a light touch, she could tell that he had ulterior motives, Charlie was more worried about how he was interested in trying to get her into bed. She could tell that wasn't the main focus he had, but it was on his 'goals for the summer list' that Charlie saw. Though, while Charlie couldn't see all that was on that list, he had in mind to tell Charlie about magic, which Charlie found rather amusing. Which also made her wonder just how many people here, both the counselors and campers would have magic. With how many people here already who knew about magic, she couldn't help but assume there would be a good number of the campers who would have their magic already unsealed.

Charlie stretched as she began her clean-up for the day. It was still early afternoon, but she had finished the tasks that she'd been assigned, so she was planning on trying to take another dip in the pool without a crowd being in or around it at the same time. Maybe even get in a few laps before she had to go anywhere, like dinner.

However, as Charlie started to take her painting supplies to where she had been told to store them after putting on the green light jacket she'd brought with her to protect against the wind that was starting to pick up, Nick appeared. Much to Charlie's annoyance.

"Would you like some help?" Nick asked as he reached for the painting supplies Charlie was carrying.

"I'm good," Charlie replied, moving so he couldn't get a clear shot at taking what she had in her hands.

"You know, you're not like most girls," Nick commented, falling in step next to Charlie, occasionally trying to get the paint supplies from Charlie, which she was able to sidestep each attempt.

"I'm aware of that," Charlie replied, not caring how it might come across. Besides, she knew it was true regardless. Most girls that Charlie knew were a lot more social than she was herself, for one thing.

Her statement had the desired effect on Nick. He couldn't think of what to say in response for a minute. Then, to make sure she kept a step ahead of Nick, she started using her magic to keep track of his thoughts.

Charlie started listening to his thoughts at the same time that he finally spoke. "So, I take it you know just how much more beautiful you are compared to most girls," he said.

If Charlie hadn't already started getting creeped out by Nick and couldn't hear his thoughts, she might actually have accepted what he'd just said. Instead, she laughed. "Seriously? I'm well aware how much other girls compare to me, and how 'beautiful' I am," Charlie replied, using air quotes around the word beautiful. However, she couldn't help but feel a little pleased at the remark. Even if she knew it was just a line and that she disagreed with the statement, it did feel good to hear such things.

What is this girl's problem? Charlie heard Nick thinking. What he said, was different from what his thoughts would indicate. "So, you haven't much chance to really bloom, have you?"

"I guess you could say that," Charlie allowed. She certainly hadn't tried putting herself out there, so she wasn't going to deny that statement.

"Have you ever met someone that you start caring what they think about you?" Nick asked, his smile almost looking genuine to Charlie. Maybe I can get her to accompany me back to my bunk, Charlie heard Nick think to himself, and the images that came with that thought of them doing it nearly made Charlie throw up.

"No, I can't say that I have," Charlie replied, wondering how much she should let Nick dig a hole for himself while trying to keep her sudden nausea from her face.

"So, would you like to see what that's like?" Nick asked.

"Of course," Charlie replied. "I just don't think it's going to happen here at camp."

Charlie smiled to herself as she heard his chaotic questions form in his mind as his mind race to recover from what she'd just said.

"How about this," Nick suggested. "If you come with me, I'll show you something that will completely blow your mind."

Charlie could tell that he was talking about telling her about magic by the feel of this statement with how it affected his thoughts, rather than the vomit inducing fantasy he'd had just a moment ago. So, she decided it would be good to play along, and maybe blow his mind with showing him her magic.

"So long as it isn't anything gross or disgusting," Charlie replied, wondering what Nick would consider gross or disgusting. Especially as the idea of doing Nick was rather disgusting to Charlie.

"I promise, you haven't seen anything like this before," Nick said. Charlie heard his thoughts decide where to go: Heathcliff wouldn't mind if I took her to his house to explain about magic.

"Let me finish putting these away and I'll then I'll accompany you to Heathcliff's house," Charlie replied, struggling to keep a straight face with the expression on Nick's face as she mentioned the location he had in mind but hadn't said.

"How'd you know where I was going to suggest?" Nick asked, his tone a mix of offended and confusion.

"Where else would you show me something that I haven't seen before around here?" Charlie asked, innocently, still keeping her laughter in check, barely.

Nick couldn't say anything for another minute, and even his thoughts had come to a screeching halt during that time, which only added to Charlie's amusement. Which she was hard pressed to continue to hide. Fortunately, her nausea was long forgotten at this point.

Finally, he was able to collect his thoughts, admitting to himself that Charlie was very different than any other girl he'd met, which Charlie was pleased to hear from his thoughts, with how his changing opinion was more in line with ways she would describe herself as. "Fine, you're right. It'll be at Heathcliff's house, I have a room he said I could use for this purpose."

"Sounds good," Charlie replied, doing her best to sound and act casual. She did not want to tip her hand too early.

Charlie began walking at her usual pace, not saying anything to Nick, neither of them being stopped by anyone else around, which Charlie didn't really care about. She knew that everyone assumed that she was the only one who didn't have, or at least know about, magic and because of that, they weren't supposed to use their magic at the moment. Not that it stopped anyone, they just did their best to be more subtle about it. Charlie wouldn't have noticed herself, if she hadn't been put on guard from the first incident with Emily, and all that had happened on her first day here.

After they got to where the paint supplies were supposed to be stored, Charlie wondered if she was the only one who brought their supplies back here at the end of each day, as she disposed of the roller core while putting everything else in the place designated for them.

When she was finished, Charlie turned to Nick. "Okay, show me what you want me to see," Charlie said, wondering if she'd still be as entertained by the time she showed Nick that she already had her magic. She could feel the swimming pool calling her and at the moment, she'd really like to be able to answer that call.

Nick took the lead as they started towards Heathcliff's house, which was the farthest building from the supply shed. As they walked along, Charlie noticed Emily looking at Charlie as they were about a quarter of the way to Heathcliff's house, a worried expression on her face. Charlie gave her a thumbs up, not bothering to check her thoughts, assuming that Emily was worried about if she was meeting with Heathcliff. Charlie knew that she didn't really care what Emily was worried about at the moment.

Then as they reached the house, Charlie saw Shirley leaving. Shirley didn't try to stop them, but did give Nick a questioning look, which he merely smiled back in response. Shirley shook her head as she turned away to leave. The incident only fueled Charlie's amusement, to the point where she had to chuckle in order to keep from laughing and giving her game away.

Nick led Charlie in a direction of the mansion that she wasn't familiar with, but that didn't concern her. She wasn't familiar with most of the mansion so it wasn't surprising there would be parts of it that were unfamiliar.

What surprised her was that Nick led her up two flights of stairs and then down another hallway before opening a door. By that point, Charlie was able to stop chuckling and entered the room calmly.

The room was sparsely decorated. It had a table, four padded chairs around it, a light fixture about it, and a vase of flowers in the center of the table.

Charlie tensed only a small amount when Nick closed the door and locked it. She wasn't too worried, given she kept track of Nick's thoughts and could tell that he wasn't planning on anything that Charlie would object to. At least right away.

"So, what it is it you wanted to show me?" Charlie asked, looking around the room.

"Do you believe in magic?" Nick asked, his tone letting Charlie know how awkward he was finding this conversation even if Charlie wasn't listening to his thoughts, which Charlie couldn't blame him for. It did sound a little ridiculous, even if both were aware that magic was real.

"Seriously?" Charlie asked, struggling to keep a straight face. "Isn't that an oldies song?"

"I am serious," Nick answered, taking a seat at the table and indicating for Charlie to sit as well. "Do you believe in magic?"

Charlie didn't sit down, but rather leaned against the wall, one leg lifted up to rest her foot against it as well. She also couldn't help herself but give the second line of the oldies song. "In a young girl's heart. Yeah, I believe in magic. I just don't go advertising it," she replied, trying to sound as innocent as possible. "I mean, mermaids and unicorns are magical creatures, right?"

"Would you like to have your own magic?" Nick inquired. "Magic that you can use however you want?"

"Yeah, that sounds fun," Charlie replied, afraid to laugh, not so much the laughing part, but rather how long she was afraid she'd continue to laugh and not be able to stop. After all, she already had her magic, so the whole situation was just threatening to tear her apart with all the laughter she was holding in.

Nick sighed. Charlie was a little surprised at how frayed his nerves seemed. "Well, if you help us out with something, we can get you access to your own magic," Nick offered.

Charlie considered it. Not so much the offer, but more if she should keep up the charade. Finally, pushing out from the wall, she decided to end the charade after one last bit. "Would you show me what you mean?" Charlie asked, walking over to the chair and sitting down.

Nick smiled broadly, clearly pleased with himself. "Watch closely," Nick instructed, holding his hand out to the flowers on the table.

Charlie watched as he struggled with his magic, muttering words under his breath, which told Charlie that his focus was words. Finally, a flower carefully disentangled itself from the vase and floated over to his hand. Charlie could see sweat beading on his head.

"Oh, that," Charlie said, as if she had been confused with what he'd been talking about. She held out her hand and created her flame rose, but this time made the flame blue.

Nick stared at Charlie stunned. "B- b- b- but they said your seal was still in place," Nick sputtered.

Charlie finally let her amusement flow, her flower disappearing as she did so, and laughed for at least a full minute, her sides hurting from laughing so much by the time she was able to stop.

Nick glared at Charlie. "What's so funny?" he demanded.

"Sorry," Charlie apologized, not because she was actually sorry, but more to assuage Nick's hurt feelings. "I didn't know that this is what you've been wanting to show me since I got here. I just thought you were up to something totally creepy. Like trying to get me in bed or something just as icky."

Nick stared at Charlie in surprised. His expression actually between a glare and surprise. It merely added the surprise at Charlie's statement. Though, his thoughts were borderline shocked and outraged.

Then after a few more minutes of silence, Nick sighed. "How did you get your magic unsealed?"

"Hey, I don't even know what's going on here," Charlie replied. "I'm certainly not going to tell anyone here until I know more."

Nick shook his head. "I can't believe this," he muttered. Then, looking at Charlie in the eyes, he said, "You're going to have to tell me something or I'm going to have to get serious."

You're not serious now? Charlie asked mentally, her amusement beginning to return. "I don't really care," Charlie replied out loud and she really didn't. "I doubt you'll be able to do anything to me that I won't be able to counter."

"Just because you can create a flower made out of blue fire, doesn't mean that I can't stop you. Especially since it's clear that that's all you know how to do," Nick replied, his anger apparent on his face as well as in his thoughts.

Charlie sighed. –Just because I showed you that, doesn't mean that I can't do anything else with my magic.– Charlie said with her magic, her amusement gone, replace with annoyance, as well as being tired with this whole situation in general.

Nick blinked. "H- how did you do that?" Nick was clearly stunned. His thoughts were utter chaos.

–I know more than you realize about how to use magic.– Charlie replied, using her magic still, partly because she was ready to leave this room and head back to her bunk. A nap was starting to sound good to Charlie, a dip in the pool could always wait for another time.

"Where did you learn all of this?" Nick asked, his thoughts showing Charlie just what he planned on doing with that information: Take that information to Heathcliff and get credit for having 'figured out' the way to do what she was doing.

"Sorry, Nick," Charlie replied, shaking her head slowly. "As I told you before, I don't know what's going on here and I'm not giving anything else until I know more."

She could hear the hesitation in Nick's thoughts. She'd put him on defense and he was livid at it. However, she could also hear reasoning going on in his mind that he needed help to know what to do with this situation. Charlie waited patiently while he debated with himself over what path to take.

She estimated that it was probably around 5 minutes before he finally made a decision. Even if she couldn't hear his thoughts, she'd have been able to tell from his posture. His eyes cleared from their glazed over expression while he was lost in his thoughts, his back straightened and he didn't look like he was going to either slide out of his chair or just flat out fall from it like he had a moment before.

"I guess you have me at a disadvantage," Nick growled. "If you'll follow me, I'll take you to someone who will be able to explain what you're wanting to know."

Nick stood up and walked towards the door, Charlie only a step behind. She didn't say anything, but was quite certain that she was likely to be taken to Heathcliff, though since no name actually appeared in Nick's mind, she couldn't be absolutely certain. However, if it wasn't Heathcliff, it would be someone at least close to him. Charlie merely wondered who else there could be that Nick would think to take her to.

Charlie followed Nick down the stairs one floor, then as he travelled down another hallway. The door he opened, didn't apparently lead directly to where he was taking her. It merely led to another room, which opened to another hallway, or maybe just another part of the same hall and was being used as a short-cut, before reaching the door that he was leading her to.

Inside was a small office. However, it wasn't Heathcliff inside. She recognized him when she first saw the Heart of the Forest, but for some reason she couldn't remember anything else about him, and just thinking about it was making her sleepy.

Charlie couldn't help but feel like she should know who this was with how familiar he was in her mind, despite not remembering anything else about him.

"Why did you bring her here, Nick," the man asked, sounding rather irritated.

"You remember how you said that you tested her for magic and found the seal still in place?" Nick asked.

The man nodded. "Yes," he replied slowly. "What does that have to do with why you're here?"

"Actually, somehow her seal is gone. She has access to her magic and an ability that I've never heard about," Nick said, taking a seat in a chair that was by a side table.

The man closed his laptop and stood up. "What ability is this?" the man asked, looking at Charlie.

Charlie merely looked at Nick, content in letting him enjoy having to explain all of this.

Nick eventually got the hint. "She can communicate directly in my mind with her magic," Nick said.

The man nodded, then turned his attention to Charlie. "Who taught you to use your magic?" he asked.

Charlie shrugged. "I have no obligation to tell you anything," Charlie merely replied, part of her withering under his gaze with her brazen refusal to a simple question, it didn't help that as she looked at him she felt like laying on the ground and taking a nap right then and there. It took everything Charlie had to keep from folding under his scrutiny. Though, she doubted that she was able to keep it from being noticed.

The man merely nodded. "Well, given that you already have access to your magic without us unsealing it, you've probably already met the unicorn that was supposed to remain sealed in its forest," he commented.

"Wait, you've found a unicorn's forest?" Nick asked, his surprise almost making Charlie laugh again. It was only because of the other man in front of Charlie that she was able to quickly dampen her amusement.

"Yes, we did," the man replied. "Not many know it, because we still haven't been able to use the Heart of the Forest to open the gate." The man looked directly at Charlie as he mentioned the Heart of the Forest.

"What's a 'gate?'" Charlie asked, doubting that it was the kind of 'gate' she normally thought of.

"It's like the entrance to the Unicorn's Forest, only it connects worlds together directly and can't be moved," the man answered, looking towards Charlie as he did. "They were all sealed roughly a thousand years ago, which means knowledge of them faded over time until hardly anyone knows anything about them, even those who still have writings that explain about the gates."

"What would I have to do with any of this?" Charlie asked, not sure if they would expect her to answer anything specific after they explained what they wanted from Charlie in all of this.

"Well, you see, we haven't been able to get the gate we know of open, even with the Heart of the Forest. When you entered the room where we had it, it lit up, showing a reaction to you that we hadn't been able to elicit from it before or since," the man replied, pushing the chair he'd been sitting in into the place it went at the desk.

"'Elicit?' Nick asked. "You're making it sound like it's alive or something."

"You could say that," the man said. "It's not really clear what the Heart of the Forest is, it shows many signs of being able to think for itself, but other times it doesn't show signs that it can do anything by itself. We're really not sure whether it is alive or not, only that not everyone can activate it."

"It would need to be alive, or it wouldn't be able to hold magic, wouldn't it?" Charlie asked, recalling something about enchanting objects the crystal had told her during one of her magic lessons in the past couple months.

Nick gave her a confused expression while the man considered what Charlie said. "You do have a point, but that brings us back to where did you learn all of this?" the man asked again.

Charlie considered whether she should hold out for more information or not. After a minute she decided that she should give them something, as they did give her more information, largely about the gate and if she continued to hold back, they might decide she wasn't going to work with them, which meant they might consider using force or other means to get her cooperation. "I learned it from someone I met in the Unicorn's Forest you said you sealed," Charlie hedged, enjoying the look of shock the man gave her.

"H- how'd you get past the seal?" he stammered.

Charlie shrugged. "Actually, it was someone I know who figured it out. Something about the song 'Clowns' by Tatu. Not really sure what that's about, but it got us in," Charlie said, taking immense pleasure in the incredulous expression the man wore in response, in addition to his face turning red when the song was mentioned.

"Why would that song affect a magic seal?" Nick asked Charlie.

"As I said, I'm not really sure how that worked. All I know is that it did," Charlie replied, unsure how else to explain it.

The man sighed. "Very well," the man said. Charlie couldn't help but think he sounded a little defeated. "I'll make a call and we can begin right away then instead of this weekend like we'd planned." The man turned and picked up the phone on the desk.

Charlie watched, wondering what would happen now that they've moved on from exactly how she'd gained access to her magic. She saw the man press a few buttons, then wait. She assumed that it wasn't an actual phone call, merely to another phone in the mansion, given he only pressed three before waiting. On the other hand, he could have activated a speed dial. Charlie wasn't sure how that worked, so it was possible.

Charlie tried using her magic to listen to the man's thoughts, so she could hear all of the conversation, but when she tried, it felt like her magic ran into a glass surface that kept her from his thoughts and her efforts just slid off, having no effect and leaving no noticeable trace. She didn't know what it was or why, just that it wasn't working the way she had become accustomed to.

"It's Carl," the man said into the receiver. Charlie couldn't hear what was said in response, which was putting her on edge. "Yeah, she's here, but there's a problem. She already had her magic unsealed before she got here." Charlie couldn't say that she was surprised that she would be a topic, given how much it seemed so much was done to try and get her as an ally, or at least willing to work with them.

"No, it wasn't anyone we know, though we still don't know exactly who," Carl continued before pausing. "I thought it should be time to try anyway."

Charlie wasn't sure what he was talking about, but suddenly thought that she should try to contact Beth. She wasn't sure what they might be planning, but it wouldn't hurt to try and get some allies to help her if it came to that. So, she stopped paying attention and began trying to test how far her magic could extend to try and reach Beth.

However, despite Charlie's best efforts, she couldn't reach Beth. She couldn't tell how far her magic was able to reach, but had the feeling that it was at least half the distance.

"…yeah, I can take her as well," Charlie heard Carl say as she ended her attempt to contact Beth. "That shouldn't be a problem, but right now? Are you sure?" Charlie wondered what they were talking about now. She was able to listen to Nick's thoughts, but it was clear he didn't know who they were now talking about or what.

"Understood. I'll call you as soon as we learn anything," Carl said, as he finally hung up.

He turned to face Nick and Charlie. "I'll need both of you to accompany me. We'll be leaving shortly for Berthoud Pass," he said, starting to walk away from the desk, leaving his laptop.

"Where will we be going?" Nick asked, his tone indicating to Charlie that he was starting to get nervous.

"As I said, Berthoud Pass," Carl repeated. "I'll be showing both of you the location for the gate. We should be able to get back before dinner."

Nick didn't seem to question this statement, but Charlie wasn't so convinced. "What do you plan on doing with us at the gate?"

"Open it, of course," Carl replied.

_

Charlie wasn't sure why she didn't put up as much of a fight as she had so far. Which really wasn't any resistance, to be honest, Charlie had to admit to herself. She was in the back seat of a sedan, Shirley on her right and Nick on her left. Carl was in the driver's seat and another man that was someone Charlie knew that she'd seen before, but couldn't place, who Carl had identified as Ronald.

Ronald held the Heart of the Forest and Charlie had suggested that they could let her hold onto it, since Carl had made it clear that Charlie would be the one to use it. However, the suggestion was pretty much ignored, which told Charlie what they thought of her. Which meant that they weren't giving her much reason for her to trust them. Charlie also got the impression that Shirley and Nick were there to keep Charlie from trying to jump out of the moving vehicle. Which Charlie thought ridiculous. She certainly wasn't suicidal and, especially on the turns climbing to the pass and then descending it, it certainly would be where they were at the moment. Not to mention it wasn't like she could get very far by herself on foot in the mountains.

Charlie craned her neck to see above everyone as they went over the pass and continental divide. However, Charlie couldn't see much, given how quickly they went over it as well as how much Ronald and Shirley obstructed her view.

As they started to go down the other side of the pass, Charlie sat back. She'd always liked reading the sign for the pass whenever she went by it, but with this trip, she had the feeling that she was not going to have many, if any at all, enjoyable bits. Already, it was rather boring, aside from the passing scenery.

Once they were on the last turn before heading into Winter Park, Carl turned the vehicle off the road and parked in the shoulder, where it looked like maybe some people used it as a rest stop.

Shirley and Nick got out, Shirley taking Charlie's hand in hers, though not in the manner Charlie would have preferred. It was more the way a parent would hold the hand of a child so the child doesn't go running off. Carl and Ronald led the way, the rest of them following down a path that Charlie thought maybe led to where people might use as a restroom but couldn't be sure, Nick was behind Charlie. Charlie assumed it was in case she got out of Shirley's grip and tried making a run for it.

While Charlie thought it stupid, she did have to admit that they didn't know what her reasons for being willing to go with them and why she'd accept whatever they needed her to do in order to get the Heart of the Forest. Although, Charlie admitted to herself that they probably weren't going to let her take the Heart of the Forest without a fuss. Charlie wasn't sure what she'd need to do, but knew that complying with what they wanted her to do, at least for now, would be the best path to try and get the Heart of the Forest.

It wasn't even ten minutes at a very leisurely pace before Ronald and Carl stopped. Charlie looked around. She could still see the highway, though not quite the car they'd taken there, but that was more because of trees and other vegetation. There didn't seem to be anything that made this place all that special, but given where the entrance to Petals' forest was, that didn't mean anything to Charlie. When they arrived, Shirley let Charlie's hand go.

"So, how do you expect me to open the gate," Charlie asked, drawing surprised looks from Carl and Ronald. Of course they forgot I was here, Charlie added to herself.

Carl sighed. "Well, do your thing and we'll see if the gate will open."

Charlie sighed. If they weren't going to even try to work with her, Charlie figured she'd see what the crystal thought. She'd been able to keep anyone from knowing it was in her jacket pocket, so she slipped her hands into her pockets, her left hand gently gripping the crystal as she began to converse with it.

–Any suggestions?– Charlie asked it, hoping that she wouldn't need to brainstorm with any of the others that were standing around her.

–To open the gate? Take the Heart of the Forest in your hands and the rest will come to you.– the crystal replied. –They won't know what you're doing so you can do what you want and they won't be able to say if you did or didn't do any part they want you to do. Nor can they stop you once you begin.–

Charlie nodded, removed her hands from her pockets and turned to Ronald. "I'll need to hold the Heart of the Forest," Charlie merely said. She didn't think she should say more than that. She doubted they'd really listen to any explanation she'd give.

"Why should we?" Carl asked, looking at Charlie in the way she was used to from adults who thought they knew more than she did, regardless of what the topic was.

"Because if you don't, we're all wasting our time here," she replied, not caring if any of them took offence with her tone or statement.

Carl glared at her. "You realize that we can compel you to do what we want with our magic, don't you?" he threatened.

Charlie smirked at Carl. "If you can do that, why not compel the Heart of the Forest to do what you want it to do," she suggested, already knowing that they'd either tried that or knew of some reason why that wouldn't work.

"Because we can't use our magic directly on a Heart of the Forest without harming it," Carl retorted.

"Well, if you compel me to do what you want to do with trying to open the gate, would it be me trying or would it be you?" she asked.

"We'd be using you, of course," Ronald said, rather smugly in her opinion.

Charlie shook her head. "With what you know of magic, would that be the same thing?" she asked, knowing what the answer actually was but not sure if they were aware of it.

Carl opened his mouth to say something, but couldn't. It was clear he realized something that he hadn't thought of. Slowly he closed his mouth and took a deep breath. "Fine, you may have a point," Carl relented.

"What point?" Shirley asked. "She can't know that much about magic."

"Regardless of what she may or may not know, she is right about this point," Carl replied. "If we use magic to compel her to open something that's magically sealed, then the magic would recognize that it was us who were trying to open the seal and treat us accordingly. So, if this girl is the one who has to open the gate, then it has to be by her choice and not because she'd being magically compelled."

Nick shook his head. "You've gotta be kidding me," he said, walking away a little bit.

"Sadly, right now we're in this girl's hands. So, we have to let her have the Heart of the Forest, if only for right now," Carl said, motioning Ronald to give Charlie the Heart of the Forest. "But remember, only open this gate. No others."

Ronald was grumbling to himself as he walked over to her and handed her the Heart of the Forest gently. "Thanks," she said. She wasn't sure what Carl meant about not opening any of the other gates, but shrugged it off. It wouldn't help her to try to dwell on everything he said that she didn't really understand.

She was about to say more when she was suddenly pulled into her mind, or what felt like her mind. Not that SHE could really explain it.

Everything that had been around her was gone. In place of the Heart of the Forest that she had been holding were the hands of what appeared to be a girl, roughly Charlie's age, who had a white sleeveless dress that left her shoulders bare with a collar that came up to the base of her neck and came down to mid-thigh. The bodice was form fitting and the sight of it made Charlie's heart beat faster and the skirt flowed from the top of her hips to flutter in some unseen breeze. Charlie looked over the girl and saw she was barefoot, her eyes were a striking iridescent blue, had hair that looked almost made out of pure silver, her skin was almost a white-silver color and had a single horn coming out of her forehead and extended about two feet. The horn was the same she had been seeing on Petals. The girl also was at least half a foot taller than her. She felt a strong urge to pull the girl into her arms and kiss her even though she couldn't say that she'd seen the girl before or understand what made her feel like she already knew this girl.

Instead, she decided to try and figure out what was going on. Especially since she couldn't say what had just happened.

"Who are you?" she asked, partly aware of her voice echoing, both around her and in her ears.

The girl grasped Charlie's hands tightly, and Charlie couldn't help but feel her face heat up as she realized how warm her own hands were against the girl's hands she was holding tenderly, despite the girl's own iron grip.

"I am the Heart of the Forest," the girl replied, though her mouth didn't move as she spoke, but somehow Charlie knew that it was the girl who was talking and that it was her voice. While she at first thought she was talking with magic, she didn't get the same feeling as when the crystal or Petals had spoken to her with their magic. "I am a reflection of the greater unicorn who created me in addition to a small part of a reflection of you."

"What's happening?" she asked, a part of her wondering if her mind had finally snapped and she was merely hallucinating this.

Not that she would completely mind, a mental break with this girl wouldn't be too bad of a way to lose it, she mused to herself.

The girl laughed, her laugher a beautiful melody that Charlie felt she could get addicted to. "First, I am not a hallucination. You can see me here in your mind because you are holding me and you have a decision to make. There is a gate in front of you and you are being asked to open it. However, you are a Friend of a Unicorn, so you get to make the choice," the girl said.

Charlie's mind raced, there was a lot of information that she was just given. "What do you mean that I'm a 'Friend of a Unicorn?' What does that mean?"

The girl smiled and Charlie felt her legs start to turn to rubber. "It means that a Unicorn considers you a friend. Just as they may want to hide their horn from others, they can not hide their true self from a Friend of a Unicorn. You also can act either in the interests of Unicorns or in place of them when you have a Heart of the Forest with you," the girl answered. "This is a privilege extended to those who a Unicorn considers a friend and trusts implicitly."

Charlie wanted to look away from the girl, but felt compelled to keep looking that the girl's lovely face. Mostly Charlie wanted to look away so she could better concentrate on the conversation rather than the girl's beauty.

After the girl finished speaking, it took Charlie a minute to realize that fact. "What choice do I have?" she asked.

"Your choice is to open the gate or not. Then if you choose to open the gate, do you want to open just this one or all of them? Regardless of what others have told you, only you get to make the choice," the girl answered.

Charlie thought about it for a moment. "If I opened all of the gates, would they be aware of it?" Charlie inquired. She wasn't sure what these people were up to, but she had a feeling that if she didn't open the gate, then that might create a problem to getting the Heart of the Forest back to Petals.

"Not right away. Only you would know of it and until they search for others or something comes through another gate would they become aware that the other gates would be open. Unless you tell them yourself."

Suddenly Charlie realized that both of them were sitting down. Charlie was still holding the girl's hands, but she didn't have any memory of sitting down.

"Don't worry about the change in your position," the girl assure Charlie, clearly sensing Charlie's alarm. "We are both in your mind and any change in your position will come as your mind needs. You won't be able to move as you think of it in this space. You will only move as you either think about it or as you feel the need to."

Charlie shook her head. "Whatever," she said, really not interested in getting too deep into the details of this world She didn't have the patience at the moment to try and learn as much as she could about this. She felt time was pressing, so getting this done would get them moving on for whatever it was that made Charlie feel like time was running out. Although, a part of her was struggling to take control and just remain here forever with this girl.

"What do I need to do to open the gate?" Charlie asked.

The girl's smile deepened. "You have but to tell me and it will be open. Do you want to open the gate and if so, do you want to open just this one or all of them?"

"All. I don't know why they want this gate open or what their goal is, but I don't trust them. So, open all of the gates. Let them deal with that problem themselves," Charlie answered, feeling calm about her decision.

"Done. The gates are opening now. Not all of them will be open right away, many will open over time and without warning, but the one in front of you is open now."

"Thanks," Charlie said, thinking about holding the girl in her arms, and suddenly the girl was sitting on Charlie's lap, both of them still holding hands. Though, while Charlie could feel the girl's hands in hers, she couldn't feel anything of the girl as she was sitting in her lap. Not even any weight.

"Now that you have done that, I ask you, please return me to my forest. I don't know how much longer I have before I will fade out, but each day I feel myself getting weaker and weaker."

"I will," Charlie assured the girl. "I promise."

As Charlie said those words, she was suddenly standing back where she was, Ronald having just handing her the Heart of the Forest. Charlie blinked and started looking at each of those around her.

"Hurry up," Carl ordered. "Open the gate already. There's no time to look dazed."

Charlie laughed. She couldn't help it. The whole situation was just to surreal to her. "I guess I already have," she said, in between laughs.

Carl scowled. "You didn't do anything with it," he growled

"I don't know what you expected," Charlie said. "But with the conversation I just had with the Heart of the Forest, I believe the gate is open."

"Then hand the Heart of the Forest back to us and step through it," Carl replied, dismissively.

"You only told me to open it," Charlie argued. "What would I be walking into anyway?" She was wondering if now that they had the gate open, would this be a way that they might want to 'dispose' of her? She doubted it, but couldn't rule that possibility out.

"It should be a grassy field. Or at least that's what the record indicates this gate should lead to," Ronald replied.

"She didn't need to know that," Carl said heatedly, looking like he was going to walk over to her and throw her through the gate if she didn't step through willingly.

"Well, regardless, you don't need the Heart of the Forest anymore, so I'll take it back to where it belongs," Charlie said, putting it in the right pocket of her jacket and imagining a seal that only she could pass through over the pocket as she pulled on her magic.

"That wasn't the deal," Carl said.

Charlie smiled. "Just like stepping through the gate myself wasn't part of the deal, you mean?"

"That was always part of the plan," Carl retorted.

"Maybe one of us could just look through it first?" Shirley offered, looking uneasy at where this was going.

"No, Charlie will step through the gate herself," Carl said, his tone letting Charlie know that he wasn't going to budge from this demand. "Right after you give us back the Heart of the Forest."

"You're welcome to try and take it," she said, putting her weight on her right leg and putting her hand on her left hip, hoping to give the appearance that she was more confident than she actually was. "Besides, it may have been part of your plan, but that doesn't mean I agreed to it."

"Nick, get the Heart of the Forest," Carl directed.

Charlie didn't even try to react as Nick reached for her jacket pocket where everyone saw her put the Heart of the Forest. Though, she did try to keep from laughing as Nick pulled his hand back, the tips of his fingers blistering from what clearly was a burn.

"What the hell happened," Nick snarled, trying to take care of his burn without much success given they didn't have anything with them to try to treat it.

"I sealed my pocket, so only I can move through it," Charlie replied.

"When?" Carl demanded. "You didn't say anything and there's no way you could have predicted the need for that before we got here."

Charlie nodded. "Yeah, I didn't say anything when I place the seal, but since words aren't my focus, I don't really need them."

"Focus?" Carl asked, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, that's what I was told when my magic was unsealed and I started to learn how to use it," Charlie explained as if they were having a friendly discussion.

Carl's expression went from a range of emotions, from outraged to bewildered. Finally it was clear he had enough. "Fine. Keep it. Just get through that gate and then return," he snapped.

Charlie couldn't tell how, but she knew exactly where the gate was now that it was open. She faced it and walked to it and stepped through.

Charlie didn't know how she was able to react so fast as she went through the gate and found no solid ground. She felt pain in her left arm as it took the full weight of her body as it jerked from stopping herself from falling a very long distance.

Charlie struggled to get her other hand to the gate so she could hold on with both hands and eventually was able to do so. She could feel that her hands had found a rock to hold on to on the other side of the gate, but she wasn't sure how long she could just hang there. She looked around for any possible alternative, but what she saw only made her heart sink even farther.

She was in mid-air above a canyon. Not only that, but there were nests around. Not bird nests either. There were griffins in those nests. Some had unhatched eggs and others had young griffins with parents bringing them food. The adult griffins that Charlie could see were around the size of an SUV if her estimates were correct, though given the distance of some of the griffins from Charlie, it was hard to be sure. The upside for her was that they hadn't noticed her. Yet. She was quite sure that this was likely as close as she'd really want to get to them as well.

While it was entirely possible that they might not pay any mind to her, she doubted they would ignore her for too long. She'd seen how some birds were very protective against even perceived threats against their young and with the size of these griffins, she was sure she'd be dead if they took issue with her. Aside from the possibility of the griffins feeding her to their young.

She tried to lift herself up with her arms, but couldn't do it very well, given she couldn't move her hands to get better support for her attempts without risking having her hands lose their purchase and slide through the gate as well, leaving her with nothing to do but fall who knows how far. She was definitely not going to look to see. At least right now. Maybe if she survived this, but not while she was hanging on for her very life. She also felt her legs kicking as she made each attempt, which didn't help her with any balancing act as she tried to lift herself. Part of her worried that if she lost her balance, then she'd find out just how high up she was the hard way.

She wasn't sure what she could do. She didn't expect she had much time in order to do something. Eventually her arms would get too tired to hold her, but nothing was coming to mind that she thought might have a chance of success. She felt a tear slide down her cheek, the sensation only heightening her sense of impending doom.

She wasn't even aware at first when she felt hands grip her arms and trying to pull her up, but when she realized that was happening, she did what she could to help as well. Even though she hadn't been able to think of anything she could do, she still hadn't given up on trying to live.

As she felt herself start to inch upwards, she felt another pair of hands appearing to help as well. Each pair of hands took one of her arms where Charlie felt herself being lifted by her arms and she felt herself begin to return through the gate.

When Charlie was completely through the gate and back on solid ground, she felt all the strength leave her body and she collapsed on the ground. Relief coursing through her to the point she felt herself starting to cry. She was grateful to be alive.

As she cried, she felt hands on her back, rubbing her comfortingly. Unconsciously, as she started feeling some strength return to her, she moved towards the direction she sensed the hands extended from, eventually ending up in a comforting embrace from Shirley.

"What happened?" Charlie was vaguely aware of Shirley asking.

"I thought I was gonna die," Charlie sobbed. She clung to Shirley tightly, reveling in the comfort the physical contact with another person was giving her, yet at the same time desperate for more. The fact that it was Shirley she was embracing wasn't even entering her mind at the moment. She was only peripherally aware that it was Shirley whose embrace she was in. The contact with another creature was all that her mind could process fully at that time.

Charlie felt Shirley begin to stroke her hair. "Shhh, it's okay," she soothed. "You're safe now."

Charlie wasn't sure how long she was crying or what those around her may have been doing, but eventually she calmed down enough to where she first stopped crying, then slowly began extricating herself from Shirley's comforting embrace. She still sat on the ground, her legs didn't feel like their old selves yet.

"Sorry about that," Charlie apologized as she tried to wipe her eyes against tears that wouldn't stop flowing.

"Don't worry about it," Shirley replied softly. "What happened on the other side of the gate?"

"There wasn't a field of grass," Charlie said, glaring at Carl, vaguely aware of tears still flowing from her eyes. "It was above a canyon full of griffins and their nests."

Charlie didn't care at the shocked expressions she received. She was still too upset about her near death experience.

Carl seemed to be the first to recover from the shock. "And we're supposed to believe that's what happened and you weren't trying something else?" Carl asked, his tone making Charlie want to not only punch him in his face, but give him a kick to the groin as well. If not do more. Once she had the strength to do so, at least.

"Take a look for yourself," Charlie said instead. "I have nothing to gain from telling you something you could disprove so easily."

Carl looked at Charlie like most teachers did when they didn't like the point that she made. After a minute, he went and stuck his head through the gate. When he pulled his head back, his face had gone pale. "How?" she barely heard him ask, his voice was so soft.

Charlie worked at calming herself by taking deep breaths. She was vaguely aware of Ronald, Nick, and Shirley taking turns to look through the gate.

When they were done, Nick was the first to speak. "So, what now? What do we with this gate?"

Carl gave a bitter laugh. "Nothing. We seal the gate so no one accidentally walks through, but we can't do anything with this gate. We also need to find why it's not leading to where we expected. Was the information we found inaccurate or did we miss something when we determined which gate we were looking at. Then we also need to find another gate and then use the Heart of the Forest to open it."

"Should we talk to Heathcliff about this?" Ronald asked.

"Of course we talk to him," Shirley said, sounding rather offended at the suggestion that they wouldn't. "You know he'd be asking when we got back anyway. Then if you find another, he'd want to know why you gave up on this one."

"She's right," Carl said. "Besides, he might have an idea of what might have happened, but I doubt it."

Charlie put her hands in her pocket , to see if the crystal might have any thoughts on the matter when she became alarmed due to another issue. The crystal wasn't in her pocket anymore. Alarmed, Charlie started looking around frantically.

Where could it have fallen out? Charlie wondered.

She couldn't see it anywhere, then as she realized it wasn't there, a horrifying realization occurred to her. The only time she couldn't account for it being secure in her jacket pocket was when she was hanging on for dear life just inside the gate. Not only that, but she couldn't sense it the way she'd been able to since she started using it as her focus. The more she used it, the stronger the ability to sense it had become.

Charlie slowly walked over to the gate, kneeled down and poked her head through, bracing her hands on the ground on her side of the gate and looked down. She couldn't see it, the ground was too far to make anything out clearly on it, but she could clearly sense it down there as clearly as if she could see it. Looking down at the distance to the ground on the other side of the gate, she felt a wave of vertigo wrap itself around her, making her glad she was on her hands and knees, or she thought she might fall through the gate. Part of her couldn't help but estimate how long it would have taken for her to fall that distance, but she quickly pushed that thought out of her mind. Far out of her mind.

She pulled her head back through the gate. This was problematic. Not only did it fall out of her pocket, but now she would have to find another way to that canyon. There was absolutely no way that she was going to try to find a way to climb down from this gate. Not only would she be hanging in a very uncomfortable distance from the ground, but the griffins were another issue she had with the idea.

Which meant she was going to have to talk with Heathcliff herself. He certainly knew more about these gates than she did, so she'd need to see if she might be able to get a better idea of what to do about it.

"Well, regardless," Carl said, startling Charlie back into the conversation going on around her, "we need to head back now and figure out what to do next. As well as which gate to open next. This might be the only one like this, but it might not. The only way is to take a look ourselves."

The others nodded and they started to walk back towards the car they'd arrived in. Charlie didn't say anything, but started walking with them, though it didn't seem like any of them noticed. It was almost like they'd forgotten about her. Charlie wasn't complaining, but wondered if she didn't stay with them if they'd leave her behind.

When they reached the car, it did appear that they'd forgotten about Charlie, as when Shirley got in the car ahead of Charlie, she closed the door before Charlie could get in. Charlie didn't say anything, she merely opened the door and waited a moment for Shirley to either move over or make it clear that she would need to climb over her to get to the middle seat. In the end, Shirley moved to the middle and Charlie was able to get in the car.

Then she'd barely closed the door before Carl started driving off. Charlie wondered if he'd even paid attention to if the doors were closed or not. Though, since Charlie was in the car, she didn't worry too much about it. It looked like everyone was almost in a state of shock. She couldn't think about what might have happened in their discussion while she was realizing she'd lost her primary focus, but was sure that something had been decided and she'd missed it.

Whatever it was, Charlie put it out of her mind, it probably wasn't going to be an issue that would affect her. Besides, she still felt a little out of it from dangling so far up in the air, certain that she was going to eventually fall.

So, she let her thoughts wander onto other matters. Like her conversation with the Heart of the Forest. She hadn't realized it at the time, but as she thought about the conversation, she couldn't help but feel her face heat up in embarrassment with how she was acting around that girl. It was almost as if she was a completely different person, one who was willing to go for what she wanted regardless of who it affected. Or how it would make her look, or even how she might get hurt if things turned out badly.

She ruminated over that through the entire drive back to Heathcliff's camp. Though, she wasn't able to get anywhere on why she had been that way or what it had all been about. she sighed, she saw Heathcliff's mansion as they entered the valley that it was located, with the entire 'camp' that was about ready to accept the campers for Heathcliff's math camp. She decided that it was time for her to talk directly with Heathcliff about what had been going on. Especially with what she knew she likely would need his help with. She didn't trust him, but from the shape of things right now, she had no choice, given how much more knowledge he had about what was going on in addition to gates and magic in general.

Charlie got out of the car after Carl parked it. She stretched her legs, not minding that Carl and Ronald started to head to speak with Heathcliff first. Or at least that's what she assumed, given how much they looked to Heathcliff as the person in charge. What she had to talk with Heathcliff about was important to her, but it probably would be better if his own people gave him the report on what happened. It would at least save her a lot of time and headache.

"Are you feeling better?" Shirley asked her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, thanks," she replied. She used her magic to peek at Shirley's thoughts and saw that Shirley was in fact truly concerned with Charlie and not because of any assignment she'd received.

"Let me know if you want to talk about what happened, okay?"

"I'll keep it in mind," she replied. Talking about it might not be a bad idea, but she wasn't sure if Shirley should be the one she talked about the incident with. Beth would likely be in a better position to know what she needed, even if she wasn't sure herself at the moment. "But I need to talk with Heathcliff first."

"Good luck with that," Shirley said.

Charlie started following where she'd seen Carl and Ronald head, so she started out, realizing when she was opening the door to enter the mansion that she didn't even see where Nick had gone when they got back.

Mentally shrugging, Charlie let it go. She had other issues she needed to focus on rather than where Nick was. Especially since she'd be just fine if she didn't see him again this whole next week.

Part of her was vaguely aware that people were heading over to get dinner as she made her way over to Heathcliff's mansion. At the moment she wasn't sure her stomach could hold down any food. Her insides were just so twisted at the moment that part of her wondered if she wouldn't collapse part way to Heathcliff's office.