The Hazelpage

Posting all of the Curse of the Code comments! I just copy-pasted them onto a doc =) the fanfic is in motion!

The door burst open. Cool autumn wind rushed in, with red and yellow leaves blown in. The Hazelpage occupants turned to look at the door. A girl in a black cloak stood at the entrance. She pushed her hood back, revealing that her hair was a dirty-blonde with darker and lighter streaks, and a dark blue dyed forelock. Her blue-grey eyes surveyed the room. She walked in and closed the door, then hurried to a seat, black boots tapping on the wooden floor. Scanning the menu, she grins. Then she hops out of her seat and skips up to the bar. Leaning on the thick wood, she signaled for the barmaid to take her order. “I’d like a Pear Blossom Fiz, please, and a cheeseburger and fries if you have any.”

After getting her meal, which isn’t a cheeseburger, but instead a thick slice of sourdough bread with butter and jam, she returns to her seat in a far corner of the tavern. In the shadows of the room, she is quickly forgotten. She eats quickly, then goes back to the bar to rent a room for the night. When she gets a room key and a de-cookie-er, she hurries up the stairs and disappears into one of the upstairs rooms. As soon as she is upstairs, the door opens again. A boy walks in, his dark red hair whipping in the wind that has picked up outside, steel-grey eyes darting from person to person, looking for someone. His skin is pale, like he doesn’t spend much time outside, and his dark green cloak is dripping code. The door slams shut behind him as he stalks up to the bar. “Where is the girl who just came in?” He demands. The barkeep stares at him, baffled and confused. “Where is Jayde?” The boy asks again.
“U-upstairs, in Turret Room 7,” the barkeep stutters. “Who are you?” He asks, regaining some of his composure.
“Me?” The boy smiles. “My name is Havoc. Havoc Codebreaker.”

Havoc storms up the stairs before anyone can process his name. He comes to the top floor, and stands in front of the door marked 7. He bangs on the door. The girl opens it, then yelps and slams it in his face when she sees who he is.
“Come out, Jayde,” he demands.
“My name isn’t Jayde, it’s Bluefire,” the girl protests.
“When you were Codekind, your name was Jayde,” Havoc reminds. “We want you back in our ranks.”
“No.” Bluefire peeks out of the door again. “I’ll never join the Codekind again.”
“You don’t have a choice,” Havoc snarls. He darts into the room before she can close the door again, then slams it shut before she can escape. “You’re coming with me, whether you like it or not.”
“What happened to you?” Bluefire says, dismayed. “You weren’t like this before you joined the Codekind!”
“The Codekind made me strong. They gave me power. They can give you power too, Jayde, and you can fight by my side again!” Havoc stretches out a hand to her. Bluefire steps back, shaking her head.
“Power corrupts,” she murmurs.
“So be it,” Havoc growls.

Iceflower, who had dragged a chair behind the bar, rose from the rickety old stool and grabbed a glass, wiping the dust from its rim before filling it with a bubbly, cheerful-looking green liquid. She slid it over to the customer in front of her, resting her chin in her hands. “Anything else?” She looked around for the girl who had requested a cheeseburger, but turned back to the girl before her. Iceflower took a glass for herself and filled it to the brim with an odd, fizzing orange concoction. “Pumpkin juice,” she said before taking a sip. “Seasonal beverage. Would you like a menu? You don’t really need a menu. I can make pretty much anything if I put my mind to it. But menus can always be helpful.” She slid a thin, worn-looking menu across the counter, downing the rest of her pumpkin juice. She looked out at the patrons, a sour look on her face.
“What are you staring at?”
A minute later, she was back on her stool, a stale, buttered roll in hand. She whapped it against the counter a few times, frowning.

There’s a flash of light from upstairs. The patrons of Hazelpage glance at the stairs before going back to their drinks. But they look up again when dark lines of code start trickling down the stairs. Bluefire staggered down the stairs, black codelines dripping down her cloak, dragging her down. She glanced up at the bar and made eye contact with Iceflower.
“Help me,” she begged.
Then Havoc bounded down the stairs and tackled her, pinning her against the wall and putting a knife against her throat.

Iceflower launched herself over the bar, knocking her glass to the ground. She flinched as it shattered, sending shards of glass skidding across the wooden floor. Unsure of who her attacker was or what their intentions were, she faltered, fixing her green stare on the assailant. “Put the knife down.” Her hand inched toward her bag, long fingers searching.

“Wait… What?” Brightwing asked, scared, to the person next to her. “Who are the Codekind? What’s happening to Bluefire?”

“Make me,” Havoc seeths, pressing the cool steel closer to Bluefire’s neck. The girl whimpers, fighting not to cry.
“Don’t do this,” Bluefire begs. “Please don’t do this.”
“The Hazelpage is supposed to be a place of peace,” the girl, Iceflower, reminds. “So put the knife down.” Havoc glares, but remembers the Peace Contracts put into place. If anyone inside the Hazelpage harmed another, they would be kicked out. Havoc can’t risk that, not now. He glowers as he sheathes the knife. Bluefire slumps against the wall, breathing a sigh of releif.
“This isn’t over,” Havoc snarls before stalking out the door. It slams shut, blocking out unfriendly codes. Bluefire heaves a sigh of relief.
“What was that about?” Iceflower asks Bluefire. Bluefire freezes.
Oh no, she thinks, not now.

Iceflower scowled at the spot where the attacker had stood just moments ago. “Good riddance.” She swept off toward the bar, leaping over it with all the grace of a deer. “You,” she said, back turned, “need a milkshake. Calms the nerves.” She turned. “Who in the name of my Great-Aunt Eva was that?” She slid a glass onto the counter, the contents a rich pink colour and topped with an impossibly tall mountain of whipped cream. “Hope you like strawberry.”

The door slammed open as another blogclanner entered the room. Cloaked in shimmering purple and green, she turned toward the scene on the stairs. Her dark, shadowed eyes were filled with all the sadness in the world as she threw back her hood, revealing her dark, almost black, brown hair that shimmered in the faint light.She noticed the assailant gap in surprise. She smiled, magic was a great distraction. Using some of the same magic that had made her beautiful, she sent a shimmering bolt of purple and green sparks at the knife in his hand. It shadered, but the girl didn’t even wince. With a quick jerk of her arm, she sent him reeling toward the stairs unbalanced, and fingers away from Iceflower’s bag. His arms pin wheeling, fell down the stairs, and was knocked unconscious on the way.
Delicately stepping over his body, she made her way to the girls at the top of the steps. ” That was Havoc wasn’t it.” Her eyes were glassy as she turned her face away.
Without waiting for an answer she made her way to the bar, calling over her shoulder “Irismist, I’m Irismist”, retreating to the shadows.

Iceflower planted her hands on her hips, behind the bar once more. “Well, Irismist,” she said, green eyes narrowed, “do you want anything?” She gestured toward an empty stool in front of the counter. “Or are you looking for a room?”

“Um…” Irismist looked at her, eyes all-knowing. ‘What do you have to drink?”
Irismist was wary, refusing to sit, and she knew this was her intial response to everything. One of the perks of being a seer she knew. And she had seen this green-eyed girl, Iceflower, before. She was in one of her visions. If only Irismist could remember which.

“I think I would like a Raspberry peach fizz, and, where am I?” Irismist looked around, dazed. She realized that the effects of using so much magic were starting to kick in.
Iceflower turned to make the drink, and Irismist felt faint. She felt a tingly sensation as her dark blue eyes returned to their normal hazel, and her raven locks returned to their usual brown and honey color. As the final pulse rushes to her face, covering it in faint freckles, Irismist felt the floor rushing to meet her. Her mind was filled with thoughts of code-kind and her eyes filled with purple and green sparks.

Iceflower leaned over the bar, eyes narrowed. “Hey, you down there!” She said, frowning. Jumping over the counter yet again, she reached a hand out to the girl. “Are you alright?” She looked back up at the bar and, stretching, grabbed the glass of raspberry peach fizz she had made. “Here.”

Irismist shook her head, trying to clear to pain and fog. She felt like screaming at everyone to beware the Codekind, but she knew from experience where that would get her. People didn’t like seers. They feared people who could see more than they could see. But this place, the Hazelpage, seemed much safer than other places, and she trusted this girl.
“I’m a seer” Irismist felt herself admitting long-kept secrets. Not that they were much of secrets anymore, after her whole shebang, throwing her magic around. “And I have seen Codekind, and Havoc, before. They aren’t up to any good.” Remembering how Havoc had originally threatened the other girl, Bluefire, Irismist whirred around and rushed to the stairs, knocking over a chair on the way. Her hands glowed purple with a magic that Irismist couldn’t control. She just rushed on, hoping she wouldn’t explode the place.
Irismist ran up the stairs, she left trails of magical sparks. If a seer like her couldn’t tell what was going on, maybe she could.

Iceflower rested her chin in her hands. “Bye, then.” She said, watching the girl go. She listed her head. A seer? How interesting.

The girl looked warily at the place where Havoc had been, then at the girl he had attacked. Probably the Codekind, she thought. She didn’t know much, but she knew enough to steer clear of them. The girl fixed her jade eyes on the girl, who was now chatting with another girl, who had just handed her a drink. Should I see if she’s alright? Deciding against it, the girl cracked open the door, wincing as the cold night air blew in as well as a gust of snow. Trying not to be noticed, she slipped through the door and headed off into the night, pulling her coat tight around her. I need to see what this is all about, she thought. She notices a thin trail of code in the snow. Interesting…she thought, stepping off into the trees. She followed the lines of code, watching…listening.

Bluefire sighs, staring at the drink in her hand. What exactly had happened? She remembers Havoc sheathing his knife and leaving, but she also remembers that other girl, Irismist, using her flashy magic to beat him off, leaving him unconscious on the stairs. Was their some sort of time loop? Had she lived two versions of the same situation? Suddenly dizzy, Bluefire sets down her drink with a thunk and puts her head in her hands, squeezing her eyes shut.