Conversations and How to Avoid Them.
Our trip in the portal couldn’t have taken more than a second at which point we appeared in front of a large wall with a gate in the center. My stomach churned and I felt nauseous. It felt like I had sat in a chair and was violently spun around 15 times all in the span of a single second. At this point I was holding on to Milo’s hand for dear life especially since he seemed completely unaffected. What a jerk. I took a few deep breaths before I noticed Lady Malfoy and Draco Malfoy in front of us waiting patiently. It seemed everyone was waiting for me to regain my footing and ability to not throw up, which although nice was also mortifying.
“Sorry about that, it’s my first time going through a portal.” I hastily explained to try and make them less annoyed about having to wait for me. Milo and Draco both looked at me oddly but quickly shifted their gaze to each other.
“Not to worry Heiress Potter. Thank you for contacting my family and I regarding Prince Emilio. We greatly appreciate the trust that you put in us and allowing us to help get him home.” Draco said. As soon as he did, 3 men in a peculiar uniform which was dark blue and boasted white swirls around it came up to us. They placed their hands across his chest in what I assumed was a salute to Milo and Milo responded by nodding his head.
“Atlas, Elias, Evren, thank you for coming, it is good to see a familiar faces.” said Milo relieved. He hugged all 3 of the men before the one in the middle spoke.
“Emilio I am glad to see you are safe. Come, your mother has instructed me to bring you back”. The man in the middle responded. “If you would take my hand I will portal us all to the Air Court”. He said extending his hand to Milo. Milo took his hand and the two men behind him held on to his shoulders. Lady Malfoy took his other hand while Heir Malfoy (I guess?) took his mother’s hand. Just as quickly as the first, the light blue light enveloped us and we suddenly stood in a large open room with 3 thrones at the front. I started to shake knowing that if I had any food in my stomach I would have thrown it up already. I don’t know how portals work but I have to say that I hate them and I take personal offence to whomever started this practice.
Milo ripped his hand from mine saying something I was to dizzy to make out and started running toward someone.
“Milo wait-” I said trying to take a few steps to follow him. I felt myself leaning to the right trying to regain my balance from the dizzying portal. “Mierda (*shit*)” I cursed under my breath as I took a few steading breaths trying to get rid of the spinning in my head while also biting my tongue from pain. I had one arm wrapped around my ribs and another out trying to steady myself. I felt someone come up behind me and I spun to face them.
“Are you ok? I know portals can be incredibly disorienting at first for many people” said Heir Malfoy extending his hand to me. He looked concerned which was a new look I had not yet seen on his face given our previous turbulent interactions. He had really grown into his own, his grey eyes looked like silver and were framed by his blond hair. I took one last breath steadying myself and brushed invisible specs of dust off my shirt before saying,
“I’m good, thanks”. I turned around looking for Milo only to find him being embraced by 3 regal people, two men and a woman, and a boy who seemed to be around my age. They embraced each other for a few more seconds before one of the regal looking men broke off along with the boy and walked towards me. I started feeling anxious as they approached me with a serious face. I swallowed my nervousness and walked toward them. The man then suddenly opened his arms and hugged me. I froze not quite sure how to respond before cautiously bringing my arms around him and awkwardly patting his back.
“Thank you so much for bringing my son home safe” He said thickly before letting me go.
“I am happy to have been able to help. I am so sorry that this happened. “ responded.
“How did this happen? Who did this?” said the boy next to him. I finally got a good luck at him. He was taller than I was and had blond hair that seemed almost white, similar to Malfoy’s. He, however, had dark grey eyes which looked like storms.
“I- um-” I stammered trying to explain through the spell but I couldn’t. I looked over at Milo in a panic his head shot up at hearing his older brother and when he locked eyes with me his eyes widened in understanding.
“Lucas I-ugh” He started unable to finish with frustration.
“What Milo?” His brother asked turning back at him.
“I- ugh, arhhhgh” Milo said trying to continue but stuck. He then started miming what I can only assume was his experience. It looked like he was trying to do an interpretive dance of a dying bird and I didn’t know whether to be concerned or amused. That was answered quickly when Milo’s brother turned to me.
“What did you do to him?” He asked as he stalked towards me. I started backing away slowly in fear until one of the guards stopped me.
“Milo!” I said in desperation. I wasn’t trying to get killed here and Milo’s brother (and now parents included) were looking at me with barely concealed anger. The once warm and thankful expressions were gone and had been replaced with nothing short of fury at the thought I had done something to Milo.
“She didn’t do anything! She helped me get back even though she didn’t have to and she has never done anything to hurt me” Milo yelled exasperated.
“Then why can’t you answer the question? What happened and who took you?” Milo’s brother asked with frustration.
“Because I can’t neither of us can. We want to we are just physically unable to ok? Its a stupid spell” Milo said. His mother started to inspect him closely trying to find anything wrong with Milo while who I assumed were Milo’s father and brother stared at me in suspicion.
“Is this true?” Asked Milo’s father
“I- erm- argh” I gave up and tried miming like Milo did as the second regal looking man approached us. Both men closed their eyes and frowned.
“Alden,” The second man said walking up to who I thought was Milo’s father (although now I was rather confused, perhaps an uncle?) “Let us get Milo and his friend checked out by a healer. They may be able to tell us more about what is happening and if there is anything that they need.“
“You are right as always Bram, Elias, call Healer Asa and tell him his services are needed immediately by the Air Court.” said who I now knew as Mr. Alden (his royal highness? that was still to be determined). I looked around very confused and also quite nervous. I had never had a good relationship with most doctors and healers and I wasn’t sure how to politely decline being seen by a healer. I locked eyes with whom I assumed was Milo’s mother (although at this point I was truly lost) and she smiled softly at me as if understanding part of my dilemma.
“Alden, Bran, I believe that in all the excitement we have forgotten our manners. Why don’t you introduce everyone to Milo’s friend.” She said softly still holding Milo. Milo smiled up at her and then grabbed her hand to bring her over to me. I smiled awkwardly at them all before Alden spoke up.
“My apologies, my lovely wife is correct I have forgotten my manners. I apologize for my oversight but I was just so concerned about my son and what has happened.” he said
“No need to worry. I completely understand” I responded.
“I am King Alden of the Air Court and alpha of the Zephyr circle. This is King Bram of the Air Court and beta of the Zephyr circle” he said pointing to the other man beside him. “This is our wife Queen Valentina of the Air Court and Omega of the Zephyr Circle. The three who accompanied you from the outskirts of Navarah, where you portaled in first, are our Pareyas Lord Evren and Lord Atlas, who is Blood Wraith of the Air Courts, and Lord Elias who is our Gheyo. Finally, this is our first born, Crowned Prince Lucas of the Air Courts, Emilio’s older brother.” He said nodding as if that explained anything at all. I was even more confused than I was before. I looked over at Milo who laughed sensing my utter confusion.
“Father, Mira isn’t from Navarah and doesn’t know much about us. I think she might be a bit confused about what you just said.” Milo replied. My face turned beet red as everyone in the hall, except for the Malfoys and Milo, looked at me with surprise and curiosity.
“This is Heiress Amira Potter,” Milo said looking over at Draco for confirmation, “she is a witch from Earth.” Milo finished. I really hated being the center of attention ironically and everyone’s eyes on me were making me anxiously fidget. I took a deep breath and said,
“Its a pleasure to meet you all.” while extending my hand for a handshake
“Likewise Heiress Potter” replied King Alden while shaking my hand. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding when the sound of a portal came behind me. I quickly turned around just to see a man walking out. They both wore similar robes to those of the 3 men that had met us at the boarder. However, their uniforms were white with silver swirls. My eyes widened as they began to walk towards us.
“Healer Asa, thank you for coming on such short notice. Our son Emilio has finally been returned to us with the help of Heiress Potter and we were hoping you could give them both a once-over as they both seem to have a spell on them that makes it difficult to speak and also to ensure there is nothing else amiss.” said King Alden.
I turned around to face King Alden, my fear concealed by a grim expression.
“King Alden, as thankful as I am for your hospitality, I must take my leave now that I know Milo is safe with his family. Everything happened so fast that I didn’t have a chance to let anyone know we were leaving. Besides, I wasn’t sure who I could trust given the circumstances in which Milo arrived on Earth. All this to say that I must get going now.” I said. I could feel myself getting more and more anxious as I went on and by the end I was sure I was rushing through my sentences. The Dursleys didn’t know I had snuck away to get Milo back safe and if I didn’t get back soon I wouldn’t have time to complete all of my chores. I really couldn’t afford not to complete my chores, not after last night. My ribs still ached and now felt like they were on fire after my quick anxious breathing and my tensing to not throw up after going through the portals. King Alden and King Bram looked at me suspiciously.
“Please, we insist you are seen by our court healer before we send you on your way. Going through portals can take a toll on a person if they have never gone through portals before and we wouldn’t want to return you to your family in anything less than pristine condition. In terms of your family not being notified, I am sure we can arrange Lord Malfoy to send a letter to your family so that they know where you are and that you are safe. Having only just gotten my son back I can assure you that as parents we get beyond worried about our children if they are missing and I would not wish that on your family.” he said.
“No! No, erm,” shouted before catching myself. I was trying to come up with an excuse so that King Alden wouldn’t send a letter to the Dursleys nor to anyone else. If an owl showed up for the Dursleys I would be dead meat. “Its um fine. I will send them a text message on my phone. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before, erm, but you don’t need to send them a message. I will.” I was bluffing. I didn’t even own a phone and I was desperately praying that no one around me knew what it looked like. Out of my bottomless bag I pulled out a calculator that I kept in there. Sometimes muggle inventions are far superior to wizarding things. I pressed a few random buttons pretending to send a message and then waited a few seconds staring at the calculator as if I was waiting for an answer. I stuck it back in my bag and looked up. I got a few odd looks but I was hoping that it was just a reaction to the muggle technology. Given no one said anything I figured I was right. I took a deep breath ready to tackle the next problem: the healer. King Alden motioned us to follow him and he guided us through what seemed to be a maze of hallways until we got to a large sitting room. Healer Asa went to Milo and the other healer came towards me.
“Hello, I am Healer Edwards” he introduced himself politely.
“Heiress Potter, pleasure but I don’t need a healer .” I said distracted watching the spells being performed on Milo by Healer Asa. He frowned as he continued and just as suddenly as he started, the spell stopped. Milo’s parents went up to him and started speaking in hushed whispers but it was clear there was something wrong.
“Shit, Milo” I said moving away from Healer Edwards. I started walking towards him only to be stopped by Healer Edwards.
“Let me go if there is something wrong I want to know.” I said trying to pull away.
“Heiress Potter please, I need to check you out-”
“Fuck that. If you won’t let me go over then you better and help out Healer Asa. Something is wrong with Milo and I am not going to just stand here knowing that” I said with venom in my voice. He looked at me with frustration but I honestly couldn’t have cared any less. I didn’t need a healer anyway. King Bram turned at the commotion and said something to Milo’s other family and walked over.
“Heiress Potter, is something wrong?” He said.
“Something is wrong with Milo isn’t there?” I asked nervously trying to figure out what was wrong. “What’s wrong with Milo?”
“Heiress Potter-”
“Shit shit Milo!” I said as Milo’s mother started crying.
“Heiress Potter-”
“Damnit let me go!” I said trying to get to Milo
“Amira!” shouted King Bram
I turned around at the sound of my name.
“Yes, there is something wrong with Milo. Healer Asa is going to take care of it. Milo needs specialized assistance but he will be fine.” He said soothingly. “Given what you both said, or better said couldn’t say, we suspect you may also be affected by something similar.”
“No I’m fine, if there is something wrong with Milo then Healer Edwards needs to help him. Milo’s just a kid and-”
“And so are you Amira. We need to make sure that you are ok and the faster we do that the faster we can all focus on Milo. Please just let him check you out.” King Bram said. It didn’t seem like I was going to get out of getting checked out even though I didn’t need it and Milo did. Besides even if there was something wrong its not like they would do anything to help much less stop it from happening again. I must have had a panicked look on my face or something because King Bram kneeled in front of me startling me a bit.
“Hey its going to be ok. No one is mad at you, no one is going to be mad at you. Its ok.” He said giving me a hug. I didn’t even realize I was shaking until then.
“Breathe just breathe Amira” he said. He was right, I wasn’t breathing. Why wasn’t I breathing? It felt like an elephant was on my chest. Was I having a heart attack? No, right? I mean I was way to young.
“Breathe Amira, follow my breathing”. Breathing right I needed to do that. In. Out. In. Out. In. Out. I felt the crushing feeling in my chest start to loosen despite the pain from my ribs lingering longer than I wished. Not a heart attack, that’s always good.
“You back with us?” Asked King Bram
“S-sorry I um I don’t like- I’m not good with- sorry.”
“Hey, hey, hey, it’s ok. Were going to help you. Let’s just take it one step at a time ok?”
“Ok”
“Why don’t we start by just doing a scan. Nothing more, nothing less. Would that be ok?”
“Ok”