Kaleidoscope Eyes [Clarisse la Rue]

x. Sneaking Out and Chain Restaurants

"Lights out is in fifteen, Aurora, remember," Mara placed a warm hand on the young girl's shoulder, a rare, playful grin on the daughter of Hecate's face. "But... I don't see any reason why you can't see your friend."

    Aurora instantly perked up, sitting up in her sleeping bag. Her cheeks hurt from the smile that pulled at corner of her lips and she itched her cheek, "Really? You mean it?"

    Mara nodded, and her smile only widened at the younger girl's squeal. She held out a hand, pushing Aurora's sleeping bag back with one and helping the small girl to her feet with the other, "Since you did such a good job cleaning up the stables today, I think you deserve a bit of a reward, hmm?"

    Aurora nodded excitedly, but then she looked over to the left wall of the Cabin, where Butch was talking with some of the older children of Hermes who had never particularly taken to Aurora - she didn't know there names. Aurora hesitated, "But what about Butch? Did he say I can go?"

    Mara frowned, and the hand that held Aurora's tightened, "Butch may be your older brother, but you don't need his permission for everything. Besides," Mara waved her hand, and a glimmer of purple mist shimmered in the air for a moment. And then, before Aurora's eyes, a perfect copy of her lay in her sleeping back where she was only a moment before. "He won't even know you were gone."

Aurora's eyes widened, "Woah, is that me?" She looked down at her arms and legs and frowned.

    Mara laughed lightly, for the first time Aurora had ever heard. It was a tittering and musical sound, something that seemed so different from the way the girl typically spoke. Mara shook her head, causing her dark bob to whip across her cheeks slightly, "It's a mirage. A trick of the light - it's not really you. But Butch won't notice."

    "How'd you do that?" Aurora asked with wonder, her kaleidoscopic eyes swirling. Mara gave her a small, teasing smile, "Do you want me to waste time explaining it to you, or do you want me to take you to your friend?"

    "Clarisse, please," Aurora sung, and Mara nodded, tugging her arm leading the small girl out the Cabin. Aurora hugged closer to the older girl in the dark, and seeming to understand relatively quickly, Mara put her left arm over the girl's shoulder and pulled her closer.

    "Now, I don't want you to let any of Clarisse's brothers scare you," Mara placed both hands on Aurora's shoulders once they stood outside the bloody red Cabin. Aurora nodded, and she did her best to put on a brave face - but the thought of seeing Matthew, the older boy who had beaten her at sword-fighting - petrified her. "I won't."

    "Good girl," Mara praised, and she turned Aurora towards the Cabin. "If any of them give you trouble, tell them Mara's outside waiting for you. They'll be too busy pissing their pants to care you're there."

    Aurora giggled, and before she could take a step closer to the cabin, she felt the ground leave her feet. Aurora swung her legs helplessly in the air, and Mara laughed musically once more from behind her, "They've buried land-mines around the Cabin. I'll float you in."

    She let herself be pushed through the air by a thin purple mist, landing lightly on the front step of the Cabin. Aurora swallowed heavily, and she glanced back over her shoulder to make sure that Mara was still waiting for her. The girl gave her a reassuring smile and then tapped her wrist, signaling the time. Aurora nodded, and she turned back and knocked timidly on the cabin door.

    The door swung open almost immediately, and a tall, muscular blonde boy towered over Aurora. He gave her a once-over and sneered, "Wrong cabin, twerp." When Aurora didn't instantly turn on her heel, he pulled a knife out of his pocket and began to wipe it against his shirt, "I said wrong cabin."