Cole's Robyn Sky- Part 2

The sky was a faded blue complemented by graying clouds when Robyn joined Foquet for supper. She had spent the evening adding details to her new room and putting her new items in new locations. Quietly, Robyn now slipped into her seat and waiting for Lord Foquet to speak.
“Ah, my new apprentice. I hope you have found everything to your likings?” Foquet watched as the girl nodded, her cropped hair bouncing about. She had brown eyes, black hair, and was wearing the black outfit he had provided for her. Black boots, pants, tunic, and shirt. Smiling approvingly at her, he asked, “What should we work on first Robyn? Battle skills and history or your magic skills?”
“Magic skills, if it pleases my lord.” She answered softly.
“What exactly would those be girl?” Foquet asked.
“Same as yourself, my lord, I work with images.” Foquet nodded as the food was brought in by servants, liking the girl even more.
Robyn glanced at the food on her plate. A green blur outlined the meat, and a soft blue in the drink. Sleeping potion, she thought, that’s alright, but I can’t eat the green stuff. She started eating around the meat, picking at her salad and bread.
Foquet, who was inconspicuously watching, asked, “Why do you not eat your meat?”
“I do not eat animals,” Robyn quickly said. “It is a preference of mine, if you see.”
His eyes narrowed, “Very well.” He finished his bread, then added, “We will start your lessons tomorrow. Meet me in the library at seven sharp. We will have a few things to discuss.”
Robyn nodded, and pretended to sip from her cup. Without warning, she fell asleep and slumped back into her chair, dropping the cup to the floor. Servants rushed to her side, trying to wake her up, but Foquet brushed them off. “Take her to her room. Char?”
The head servant, Char, came rushing, in a calm way, into the room. “Yes my lord?”
Foquet glared at him, “Did you search her room?”
“Yes.”
“Well, did you find anything?”
“No sir. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Just a very well decorated room. She has a rather exquisite taste.” Char stated.
“Something doesn’t seem right about her…” Foquet said slowly as he watched a few servants take her up the stairs. “After I finish, meet me in her room. I’m going to try a spell to tell us a bit more about her.”1

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Cole was sitting on his bed, working on his writing assignment, when he heard a sound from Sky’s room. They had emptied it yesterday, clearing it out for a new student. Some girl named Cassie, who could go invisible, taking anything she touched along with her. No matter who was in it, it would always be Sky’s room. Always.3

A knock came to his door, a soft tap that seemed uncertain.
“Who is it?” he called, too lazy to get up.
“Um, my name is Cassie, and I-” a voice started.
“Come on in.” Cole yelled, interrupting her. He heard the door jiggle, then Cassie spoke again.
“It’s kinda locked.”
Cole sighed and got off his bed to open the door. “That would be a problem, wouldn’t it?” He opened it to find a blonde girl with blue eyes and a soft face.

“Hi, I’m Cassie, from the room next door. I was told that you’d show me around and explain…secret stuff?” Cassie grinned, showing pearly teeth perfectly lined in two rows.
“yeah, I can do that,” he paused. “Meet me after supper in the library. We’ll start there.” Cole went to close the door, but Cassie put her foot in the way.
“Um, Cole?”
“Yes?” Cassie removed her foot as he opened it slightly.
“Two things. First, when’s dinner?”
“6:15 sharp. Never be late.”
“Okay, and why is my room all white?”
Cole turned around and shut the door. “Sky’s room. Not yours. Sky’s.”4

Later after supper, Cole entered the library and found Cassie sitting at one of the many tables in the grand room. “Sky loved this room,” he whispered, painfully remembering his friend was gone.
Cassie looked at him questioningly, “Sky? Who’s she?”
“Never mind.”he brushed her off. “Let’s start looking around, shall we?”
He led her around the school, showing her the many places, bringing up more painful memories. By the time he was back at their adjoined rooms, he was almost in tears.

“Thank you Cole for the tour. See you tomorrow?”
He nodded, “I guess.” The two both went into their rooms, and Cole lay down and cried. 5


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Lord Foquet entered Robyn’s room with a following Char doodling behind. He surveyed Robyn’s room. It was a mixture of blue and purple, with a nice trim over the small windows. Robyn was on the small bed that was provided, with pillows of a unique softness around her.
Of course, it only looked like a soft pillow. Foquet brushed it slightly and watched it shimmer at his touch. He could tell she had had practice decorating rooms before. Amused, he sat down next to the sleeping girl.
“Now Robyn, let’s see who you really are. This spell should work, since you’re asleep, taking away any illusion you hold on yourself, thus revealing your identity.”
Foquet made some hand gestures and began chanting softly over her. He closed his eyes and felt the power slowly sift over her. Breathing softly, he opened his eyes, expecting to see a different face; the real ‘Robyn’ if that’s who she really was.
“What? No change? Why did it not work?” Foquet whispered, enraged.
“May I suggest trying again sir?” Char quietly suggested from behind.
“Are you inferring that I messed up? Never mind. I’ll just try it again…” Foquet growled irritably as he quickly recited the spell once more. Nothing.
“Why won’t this work?” Foquet yelled at no on in particular. 7

Robyn was nervous. It was hard to concentrate while those two were string at her. Luckily, they couldn’t tell if she had her eye open or not due to the illusion.
“Maybe this won’t work because she doesn’t have any illusions on herself and this is really what she looks like,” Char suggested.
Robyn felt Foquet’s eyes pierce through her. “Maybe so Char. I guess she’s trustworthy after all…but we should still watch her, just in case.”
Char nodded in agreement, “Good idea, my lord. Shall I awake her for your meeting at seven?”
“Very well, but wait until six-thirty. It’s only five, so we should let the effect wear off. That should take forty-five minutes in the least?” Foquet asked as he left the room.
“Correct sir.”
“Very good. Oh Char? Let’s see to it that…” Robyn heard their voices fade down the hall. She knew that now she would have to be careful around those two.
As she lay on the bed, still in pretense sleep, her mind drifted in wonder of what the next few months would be like. After a few minutes, she drifted off into a real, restless sleep.8

“Robyn? Miss Robyn? Are you okay?” She awoke abruptly to see Char standing next to the bed, peering over her.
She slowly sat up, and blinked rapidly, “What happened? Who are you?”
“I am Char, the head servant. You fainted during dinner, so we brought you to your room.” Char handed her a platter with some food. “You didn’t finish eating, so I thought I’d bring something up for you.”
Robyn smiled, “Thank you Char.” She glanced at it uncertainly. No odd glows, good.
Char cleared his throat. “I would like to remind you that you are to meet Lord Foquet in the library in half an hour. He doesn’t like those who are late.”
“Thank you for the tip, Char. You may go now.” Robyn said while slowly picking up some of the food. 9

Char bowed and left the room. Not long after, Robyn left in search of the library. She arrived precisely at seven and found Lord Foquet waiting for her.
“Robyn! I see you’re feeling better.” Liar, she thought, filthy liar. Instead of saying anything, she just nodded.
“Good, good. Now come sit down, my apprentice.” Foquet beckoned her to the seat next to him at the small study table. “I’d like to know some more about you Robyn, where you came from, why you decided to come here.”
Robyn sighed, reminiscing of home, “I came from the small town of Horcre, about a day or two’s trip to the east. It all started when my parents never came home from trip they had gone on. I had been staying with my uncle, and had been feeling miserable because I was always messing him up. I didn’t have very good control over my powers, and so images would pop up, revealing what I was thinking about. They would randomly appear all over our home, driving my uncle mad. He didn’t understand why I couldn’t stop the images from flooding the house. One day he finally kicked me out of the house. He told me that I could come back when I could control my powers.
“So I left the town and traveled, slowly gaining control by practicing every night. It was hard at first; I had only a little money on me. After walking alone for weeks, I decided to stay with a family who would take me in for awhile.”
Robyn’s eyes darkened, “A few days after I had been there, a messenger found me. He gave me the news of my parent’s deaths and that my uncle wanted me home as soon as possible, seeing as I was the only heir to my parent’s land. I didn’t want to go home though, because I didn’t trust my uncle. I knew that he would be my guardian, meaning he had access to all of my parent’s possessions. Knowing Uncle, he would only sell them to make a profit. So I sent a message to a close friend asking him to hold onto the land and other things for me until I returned and that my uncle was to have no control over them. Obviously, my uncle was furious about this, and disowned me, banning me from my hometown forever.
“I knew that they only way I could go back home was to finally learn to control my powers. And once I did, I would return to take back what was mine and take revenge upon my uncle. So I came here, hoping to learn under you.”

Foquet nodded, showing no emotion to the girl’s broken tale, “And you shall. Let’s start with seeing how fast you can bring up illusions.”
“Instantly sir.”
“Show me, and please, don’t call me sir.” Foquet glared at her.
Feeling bad for upsetting her master, Robyn put all of her effort into having a sup of wine appear in front of Foquet. And it appeared instantly, perfectly done.
Foquet smiled, then slid his hand back and forth thorough it. “Can you make it solid?”
Robyn frowned, “What do you mean?”
“Watch.” Foquet made a replica of the wine appeared in front of Robyn. Curious, she passed her hand thorough it. It was solid!
“Incredible!”
Foquet yawned, “Yes, I suppose it is, isn’t it? I would teach you how to do it easy tonight, but those mongrels from Carros High took my book on that.”
“Carros High sir?”
“Yes, heard of it? Rather annoying bunch they are. And don’t call me sir child, it makes me feel old.”
Robyn clenched her fists in anger, “Two agents from Carros High were responsible for my parents deaths.”
Foquet was interested in this and grinned inwardly to himself. This anger could be harnessed and used. It would be a force he could use to motivate her. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you and I will be seeing them soon enough. Back to your training. You must take the long way now, seeing as the book is gone.” Foquet looked thorough some notes, then turned to Robyn. “I have some plans that will boost your power and get through my checklist at the same time.”
He handed her some papers, “Know these inside and out by tomorrow morning. We leave at dawn.”
Robyn nodded, “Yes my lord.” She watched him walk with authority out the door, then turned to the papers and grinned in delight.10

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Life was getting worse for Cole. It had been a month since Sky…since Sky left and he found himself missing her from time to time. His grades had dropped from A’s to C’s, and he knew they wouldn’t stop falling anytime soon. Cassie had heard from others about Sky and had decided to be Cole’s friend. Cole had been okay with that. He now had someone to talk to when he felt lonely or depressed. Lately though, he felt bad because he was forgetting Sky more and more often. It made him feel guilty at times. Cassie was always there for him, finding a way to cheer him up. Cole appreciated it immensely.
Another thing that had happened was that he had started going on more missions to clear his head. Every chance he got, he was out on the field, training. Recently, technicians at Carros noticed that Foquet had been more active then ever. He was hitting all the towns around him, leaving chaos and destruction behind.
Cole had been on several missions to try and stop him, but he and other never got past his new apprentice. The agents couldn’t tell if it was male or female, all they knew was that whomever it was, they were unstoppable. He had faced this mysterious apprentice, but had found himself lost in illusion after illusion. Many agents who had been sent in as spies were never seen again. Distress calls, cut off before they had a chance to ask for help. Foquet and his apprentice were only building Cole’s hatred for them.
He was still determined to take his revenge, but he soon found out it may not be that long until his chance came.

A pattern had been detected in Foquet’s movements. If it continued, Carros High would find itself straight in his path. Luckily, Foquet lived a ways away, so he wouldn’t arrive for a few more months. Cole, who had now reached Greyno level, was determined to continue moving up in rank by planning the demise of Lord Foquet. He had already started planning with other various minds around the school. Mat and George were strategic specialist, Karen and Jen were in charge of blueprints, Cole and Cassie had studied Foquet’s tactics and style, and there were many more. They worked day and night on this task, only leaving for classes, meals and a few hours sleep. They wanted to be as prepared as possible for the attack.12

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Two weeks later, Robyn shuffled coldly through the snow, wishing she had worn a warmer attire. It was pitch black early in the morning and she and her master were on their way to Parian’s Peak, the town a third of the way to Carros High.
It had been obvious when the agents had realized their plot to hit the school. Suddenly, more agents appeared wherever Foquet struck. The strong and the weak fought, and their numbers increased each time. It did not worry Foquet though; Robyn knew he was merely amused by the useless effort. Robyn was a bit worried though. She hadn’t perfected the solid illusions yet. She was almost there, that was true, but there were still flaws in her work: water with transparent glass, smoke with walk through flames, etc. She was almost there, and Robyn knew it. Foquet said it would be only two weeks until perfection was reached. She hoped he was right.
“Robyn!” Foquet called from a distance. Shrugging off the cold, she ran towards him.
“Yes master?”
Foquet had a sly smile on his face as he pointed to the distance, “Tell me now, what do you see?”
Robyn leaned over a snow-topped cliff and reported, “A town master, Parian’s Peak, may I assume?”
Foquet nodded happily, “Correct. Are you ready to pull off the next phase of the plan?”
Robyn laughed in delight, “This is going to be the biggest illusion the world has ever seen!”

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