Chapter 20 Chapter 1
I like the fact that this Oldsmobile is old.
It's just too hot, the road has been exposed to the sun all day, and it's so hot that even opening the windows doesn't help.This requires an air conditioner.
Probably Elijah had the same idea.He held the steering wheel with one hand while driving, turning his head and talking from time to time.I understand that with his level of magic, he can completely predict what will happen in the next ten minutes, so we will never have a traffic accident, but I am still a little nervous.
"I'm going to install the air conditioner," he said apologetically to Yulia.The girl suffers more than anyone from the heat, and her face is covered with ugly red patches, and her eyes are getting cloudy, and I hope she won't throw up. "But having air-conditioning makes the whole car look ugly, it's not designed to have air-conditioning! No air-conditioning, no mobile phone and no on-board computer."
"Hmm," Yulia said, smiling slightly.Our place was very busy yesterday, and no one slept.Worked until five in the morning, and then everyone slept directly in the office.The thirteen-year-old girl must have been busy all night with the adults.But she did it voluntarily and no one forced her.
Svetlana, who was sitting in the front, looked anxiously at Yulia, then at Semyon with great disapproval.Under her stern gaze, the calm magician choked on his Java cigarette.He took a breath—the smoke from the car had entered his lungs.He "chucked" and threw the cigarette butt out the window.Smoking "Java" brand cigarettes was originally a concession to public opinion. Not long ago, Xie Miao preferred to smoke "Flying" brand cigarettes and other rotten domestic cigarettes.
"Close the window," Semyon demanded.
A minute later, the car suddenly became cold, and there was the smell of the sea, a little salty and slightly rippling.I could even make out that it was the sea at night, and not too far away—the common Crimean coast, smelling of iodine, weeds, and faint mugwort.black sea.Koktebel.
"Koktebel?" I asked.
"Yalta," Semyon replied curtly, "on September 10, 1972, at about three o'clock at night. After a slight storm."
Ilya clicked his tongue jealously and said:
"It's yours! You have kept this kind of thing until now and it's useless?"
Yulia looked at Semyon apologetically.Canning the weather was no easy feat for any magician, and the cloud of air Semyon was using now was enough to brighten any evening party.
"Thank you, Semyon Pavlovitch." The girl felt as shy in front of him as she was in front of the boss for some reason, and added her fatherly name to Semyon.
"It's a small matter," Semyon replied calmly. "In my collection, there is a rain in the primeval forest of Siberia in 1913, a typhoon in 1940, and a spring in Jurmala." morning, it must have been in 1956, with a Gagra winter evening."
Elijah laughed.
"Winter evening in Gagra—forget it. But the rain in the primeval forest is..."
"I won't exchange it with you," Xie Miao said immediately, "I know that none of your collections have the same value as it."
"If I exchange two, no, three with you..."
"I can give it to you," Semyon said.
"Fuck you," Ilya said, turning the steering wheel, "then what do I have to give you in return?"
"Then I'll call you when I unseal it."
"Then thank you."
He must be angry.In my opinion, their mana levels are about the same, maybe Ilya is even better.But Xie Miao collected all the moments worthy of the magician's memory, and he would not waste it on trivial matters.
Of course, from another person's point of view, what he just did was a waste: using such a precious set of feelings to decorate the last half-hour journey in the scorching heat.
"When eating kebabs in the evening, it is best to smell this fairy-like breath." Ilya said.Sometimes he has really thick skin.Julia felt uncomfortable again.
"I remember one time in the east," Semyon said suddenly, "our helicopter... Anyway, we had to walk in the end. The communication equipment was broken, and if we used magical means to communicate—it would be equivalent to carrying 'Down with black hair and dark skin' People!" placards were walking around in Haarlem. We walked in the deserted Hadramaut desert, a hundred or twenty kilometers away from the local embassy, but we had no strength at all. No more. At that moment Aleshka, a fine fellow who now works in Primorye, said: 'I can't do it, Semyon Pavlovich, you know, I have a wife and two Boy, I want to go home.' He lay down on the sand and opened his collection. It was raining down on his side, pouring, for twenty minutes. We drank and filled Kettle, so my whole body was full of strength. I wanted to punch him in the face, but who told him not to speak before that, but I couldn’t bear it.”
He talked for so long that the car fell silent.It is rare for Xie Miao to describe his magnificent life experience so vividly.
Elijah was the first to wake up.
"Then why don't you use the rainwater from the primeval forest?"
"I made a comparison," Semyon said angrily, "one is a sample of rain in 1913, and the other is a continuous spring rainstorm, and it was collected in Moscow. It smells like gasoline, believe it ?”
"I believe."
"That's the way it is. Everything has its hour and its place. I still think of that evening with pleasure. But it wasn't terribly good, but it's a nice match for your car."
Svetlana laughed softly.The slight tension in the car subsided.
The whole week of the Night's Watch patrol has been a hectic one.In fact, nothing special happened in Moscow, just a general routine.The weather in the city was sweltering, unprecedented for a June month, and reports of unexpected incidents were at their lowest.Neither the light emissary nor the dark emissary could adapt to this heat wave.
After a day and night of intelligence analysis, our analysts concluded that the hot weather was caused by dark forces.Presumably, the Sun Watchers patrol team is also investigating whether this climate is the masterpiece of the light magician.When both parties are convinced that the abnormal weather is caused by nature, there is nothing to do.
The Dark Emissary fell silent like a fly washed down by the rain.Contrary to all the predictions of doctors, the number of accidents and natural deaths in the city fell.The Lightbringers were not in the mood for work; magicians quarreled over trivial matters, had to wait half a day for documents from the archives, asked analysts to predict the weather, and asserted grumpily: "The water in the clouds is dark." ’” Boris Ignatievich wandered about the office, seemingly completely dumbfounded: even he, a man of rich Eastern experience and background, was crushed by the heat of the Moscow version.Yesterday, Thursday morning, he called the whole crew together and announced that the entire night watchman patrol would only need to leave two volunteers to help him, and everyone else would leave the capital and go anywhere...to the Maldives, to Greece, even to It's better to find the devil in hell-it's more comfortable there than here, or go to a villa in the suburbs for vacation.He ordered us not to be in the office until noon on Monday.
Just a minute later, the smiles on everyone's faces hadn't faded away, and the boss added that if everyone used work and surprise labor to compensate for the unexpected happiness, they wouldn't pay for meaningless things in the future. Ashamed of living.He also said, didn't the ancients say, "Monday begins on Saturday", so since we got three days off, we should finish all the work that should be done during the vacation in the remaining time before leaving.
We had to do all the work, and some people worked almost till dawn.We checked out those dark emissaries who remained in the city and were under special surveillance: vampires, shapeshifters, sleepwalkers and all sorts of society dregs, current witches and other low-level restless elements.Everything is normal.What the vampire wants to drink now is not hot blood, but cold beer.What the witches are trying to do now is not to bewitch the people around them, but to make it rain a little in Moscow.
Anyway, now we're going on vacation.Not to the Maldives, of course, the chief overestimated the accountant's generosity a bit.But two or three days off in a year - that's a good thing.As for the volunteers who remained in Moscow with the chief, let them do their duty.
"I'm going to call home," Yulia said.When Semyon replaced the stuffy heat in the car with the coolness of the sea, she visibly perked up. "Sveta, give me the phone."
I also fully enjoyed the coolness.From time to time I glanced at the cars we passed: most with the windows down, and the people inside looking up at us enviously, guessing blindly that our old car might have high-powered air conditioning.
"It's about to turn the corner," I said to Ilya.
"I know. I've been there once."
"Slow down!" Yulia said in a low voice, and then she blurted out a long series of sentences into the microphone: "Mom, it's me! Yes, I'm here. Of course, good! Here's a Lake, no, it's very small. Dear mother, I can only speak for a moment. This is the phone I borrowed from Sveta's father. No, there is no one else. Let Sveta answer the phone? Wait a minute. "
Svetlana took a deep breath and took the phone from the girl.She looked at me sadly, and I tried to look serious.
"Hello, Aunt Natasha," said Svetlana in a soft, childlike voice, "yes, very happy. Yes, no, with the grown-ups. My mother is not here, Would you like to speak to her on the phone? Yes, I will pass on. Definitely. Goodbye."
She turned off her mobile phone and said to the air in front of her:
"Girl, what if your mother asks the real Sveta how you went on vacation?"
"Sveta will answer, have a good time."
Svetlana sighed and looked at Semyon, as if seeking support.
"Using magic power for personal purposes will lead to unforeseen consequences," Xie Miao said in an official tone, "Remember, there was one time..."
"How can there be any magic?" Yulia was really surprised. "I just told her that I went to a party with my friends and asked her to make up an excuse for me. Svetlana was reluctant at first, In the end, of course, I agreed."
Ilya sat in front of the steering wheel and laughed.
"I'm going to that party," Yulia obviously didn't understand why Ilya laughed, she was a little annoyed, "Even ordinary human children would want to play, what's so ridiculous about that? Huh?"
Work occupies most of the time in the life of each of our patrol team members.It's not that we're fanatical work obsessives - who in their right mind doesn't think rest is better than work?Not because the work is very rewarding, most of our work is boring rounds, or sitting in the office and tearing up our pants.It's just that there are too few of us.It was much easier to replenish the Sun Watch Patrol, and any Darkbringer was desperately looking for a chance to control the others.Our situation is quite different.
But outside of work, each of us has our own little personal time, which we give to no one: neither light nor darkness.This part belongs only to us, the little piece of our life that we neither hide nor show off, the little remnant of the essence of human beings from ancient times.
Some people travel whenever they get the chance.For example, Ilya prefers to travel with tour groups, while Semyon prefers ordinary hitchhiking travel.He once hitchhiked penniless from Moscow to Vladivostok in record time, but he did not register this achievement in the self-guided travel league because he used two time magic.
Ignat, and certainly not alone, thought that a break meant a sexual adventure.Nearly all of us go through this stage, when life allows others to do much more than it allows humans to do.It is a well-known fact that human beings have an unconscious but very strong fascination with others, even with others who do not want to be others.
There are many collectors among us who collect everything from pencil sharpeners, pocket watch charms, stamps and lighters to weather, smells, bioelectric fields and spells.I collected model cars for a while and wasted a lot of money on rare samples that only a few thousand fools knew their worth.Now that all this collection is thrown away in two cardboard boxes, it should be taken out sometime and dumped on the sand in the park for the children to play with.
There are also many people who like hunting and fishing.Igor and Garico are obsessed with extreme skydiving.Sweet little girl Galia, our useless programmer, works on growing artificial trees.In short, we have enjoyed all the pastimes and hobbies that humans have developed.
And what is the obsession of the little tiger we are going to visit now, I don't know yet.I want to know this as much as I want to escape the heat of the city.Generally speaking, if you live in someone's house for a while, you will know his little "hobby" immediately.
"Are you going to go for a long time?" Yulia shouted willfully.We had turned off the main road and made a detour of about five kilometers on dirt roads, passing a cottage resort and a small river.
"It's almost here." I checked the map Xiaohu left for us.
"That means completely and thoroughly," said Ilya, turning the car directly into the woods.Yulia covered her face with her hands and yelled "Oh".Svetlana reacted calmly, but still stretched her hands forward, ready to crash.
The car drove through dense undergrowth and almost impassable terrain of dead wood, and broke into a wall of trees that stood up like a wall.But the car, of course it didn't crash.We walked through the misty clouds and came to a beautiful asphalt road.There is a lake ahead, shining like a mirror, and there is a two-story brick house by the lake, surrounded by high walls.
"If there's one thing that surprises me about shapeshifters," Svetlana said, "it's their yearning for seclusion. A blanket of fog isn't enough, you need a wall."
"Little Tiger is not a shape-shifter!" the girl said angrily, "She's just a shape-shifting magician!"
"It's one thing," said Sveta softly.
Yulia looked at Semyon, obviously waiting for support.The magician sighed and said:
"Actually, Sveta is right. A professional magic fighter is also a shapeshifter, but with different characteristics. If Xiaohu's mood was slightly different when she entered the dusk for the first time, then she would become a dark magician, a shapeshifter .There are very few people where everything is pre-determined. Generally speaking, there is a struggle in the preparation stage at the beginning."
"And what about me?" Julia asked.
"I told you," muttered Semyon. "Your process is very simple."
"Because I was a little disappointed with the exemplary behavior of my mentor and parents," Ilya said with a smile, parked the car at the gate, "so the little girl was full of love and kindness to the world around her."
"Ilya!" Semyon stopped him.He had been Yulia's mentor, a rather lazy one who actually never asked about the development of the young witch.But now he was clearly displeased with Ilya's mischief.
Yulia was a capable girl, and the patrol had great hopes for her.But it was not for her, after all, as it was for Svetlana, the future great sorcerer, who drove her through the maze of moral dilemmas, not to that extent.
Probably Sveta and I had this idea at the same time—we looked at each other.After looking at each other, we immediately turned our eyes away.
An invisible wall squeezes us, squeezes, separates us in different directions.I will always be a third-level magician.Svetlana was about to pass me, and in a short time—very short, some steps were deemed necessary by the patrol leader—she would become a supersorceress.
Until then all we can do is - a friendly handshake when we meet, a card for birthdays and Christmas.
"Are they all asleep in there?" Ilya, who was never upset by similar questions, said disapprovingly.He poked his head out of the car window - a rush of hot air rushed into the car in an instant, but the air was very clean.He looked at the camera installed on the gate and waved, and the horn sounded.
The door opened slowly.
"That's about the same," the magician muttered, driving the car into the yard.
This place is very big, densely planted with many trees.It is amazing how this villa was built without destroying these huge pine and spruce trees.Except for the small flower bed around the fountain, of course there is no vegetable patch to be seen here.Five cars have been parked on the concrete platform in front of the house.I recognized the old Niva, which Daniela had bought out of patriotism, and Olga's sports car—how did she drive it, from a dirt road?Between them was a battered pickup truck driven by Torik, and two other cars I'd seen at the office but whose I didn't know.
"They didn't wait for us," Ilya complained. "They were drinking and having fun, while the best people in the patrol team were bumping on the village road."
He turned off the ignition, and at that moment Yulia screamed with joy:
"Tiger!"
She easily stepped over me, opened the door, and jumped out of the car.
Xie Miao scolded, followed her with a sway.Just in time.
Where the dog is hiding, I don't know.Anyway, before Yulia got out of the car, they didn't reveal themselves at all.But as soon as her feet hit the ground, pale yellow shadows appeared in all directions without a sound.
The girl screamed.She is capable enough to deal with wolves, five or six dogs should be no problem, but she has never had actual combat experience, so she panicked.To be honest, I didn't expect to be attacked, or to happen here, let alone this kind of attack.Dogs generally do not attack others.They fear the dark forces and love the light forces.However, they must be strictly trained to suppress their instinctive fear of magic.
Svetlana, Ilya, me—we rushed out.But Semyon was ahead of us.He grabbed the girl with one hand and drew a line in the air with the other.I figured he was using scare magic, or going into dusk to stop the dog, or maybe burn it to ashes.Usually under the reflex actions, the simplest spells are used.
But what Xie Miao used was the "quick freezing technique", that is, temporary freezing. This magic power caught up with the two dogs in the air—the dogs' torsos were wrapped in blue light and hung in the air. The saliva fell drop by drop from the fangs like bright light blue hailstones.
The three dogs, frozen on the ground, looked less intimidating.
Xiaohu has already run to us.She was pale and her eyes were wide open.She looked at Yulia for a while: the girl continued to scream, but her voice had dropped unconsciously.
"Is the body still intact?" She finally said.
"You're so fucking out of line," Elijah put down his wand and muttered under his breath, "what are you doing, breeding beasts?"
"They're actually not that bad!" Xiaohu said apologetically.
"Really?" Semyon put Yulia under his arm on the ground.Thoughtfully, he ran a finger over the tusk of a dog hanging in the air, the elastic frozen membrane quivering under his hand.
"I swear!" Xiaohu put his hands on his chest. "Guys, Sveta, Eurenka, please forgive me, I didn't have time to stop them. These dogs are well trained to attack and block strangers."
"Including others?"
"yes."
"What about the Messenger of Light?" There was a sincere admiration in Semyon's voice.
Xiaohu lowered his eyes and nodded his head.
Yulia came up to her, leaned against her, and completely calmed down:
"I'm not afraid, I'm just overwhelmed."
"Fortunately, I'm not overwhelmed," Ilya said gloomily, hiding her weapon. "Roasted dog meat—a dish with a special flavor. Xiaohu, but your dog seems to know me!"
"You, of course they won't touch."
The tension slowly dissipated.Of course it's better that nothing terrible happens again, and we'll heal each other, but it's better to cover the picnic food with a copper basin.
"Please forgive me." Xiaohu said again.She looked around us begging for forgiveness.
"Listen, why do you need this?" Sveta looked at the dog, "explain to me, why? You are capable enough to fight off a platoon of Green Berets, why keep these Rottweilers hound?"
"It's not a Rottweiler, it's a Staffordshire Terrier."
"What's the difference?"
"They caught a thief once. I only stay here about two days a week, and I can't drive from the city every day."
The explanation is not very convincing.Just a simple spell - guaranteed that no one would dare to approach here.But before everyone had time to talk about this point—Xiaohu disarmed us with one sentence:
"That's just how I am."
"Do dogs hang for a long time?" Yulia asked still leaning against her. "I want to make friends with them. Otherwise, I will leave hidden psychological syndrome, which will affect my future personality and sexual orientation." influences."
Xie Miao smiled "puchi".Yulia resolved the conflict with one sentence, which was straightforward and appropriate.
"They will come back to life in the evening. Mistress, will we come in?"
We left the dog around the car and headed towards the house.
"Xiaohu, how nice you are here!" Yulia said.She has clung to the girl and has completely ignored us.It was as if the sorceress was her idol, an idol that made her forgive everything, even the hypervigilant dog.
Interestingly, why do those unattainable skills always become something of blind worship?
Yulia is an outstanding analytical magician, good at unraveling the clues of objective reality and finding out the underlying magical reasons.She is a smart person, and her colleagues in the department like her very much, not only because she is a little girl, but also because everyone regards her as a comrade-in-arms, a valuable and irreplaceable partner.But her idol is Xiaohu, a shapeshifter magician and magic fighter.If only she had admired Polina Vasilyevna, the good old woman who worked part-time in the analysis department, or the head of the department—a good-looking, elderly playboy, Eddie. good.
Unfortunately not, Xiaohu became her idol.
I began to whistle while walking behind everyone.Sensing Svetlana's gaze, I nodded slightly.everything is normal.Then there are a few whole days and nights of leisure time.There are no Darkbringers and Lightbringers, no schemes, no conflicts.You can swim in the lake, bask in the sun, drink red wine while eating kebabs, and go to the sauna at night.In this kind of villa, the sauna room should be good, and then take a bottle or two of vodka and a jar of salty mushrooms with Semyon, leave the others, find a quieter place, and talk about some philosophy while looking at the stars. Drink to your heart's content.
very nice.
I want to be an ordinary person, even if it's just for a day and a night.
Semyon stopped and nodded to me:
"Let's take two bottles, maybe three bottles, and there should be more people coming."
Don't be surprised, let alone be angry.He didn't pry into my mind, it's just that he has more life experience.
"We've made a deal." I nodded.Svetlana glanced at me suspiciously again, but said nothing.
"It's easier for you," Semyon added. "It's hard for me to become an ordinary person."
"Is this necessary?" Xiaohu who was already standing at the door asked.
Semyon shrugged his shoulders:
"Of course it's not necessary, but I still want to."
Then we went into the villa.
Twenty guests might seem a lot, even for this house.If we were human - that's a different story.We've made too much noise.Try to gather together twenty children who have been working hard for several months, put into their hands a whole store of toys, allow them to do what they want, and see the result.
Svetlana and I were probably the only ones who did not take part in the raucous entertainment, but stayed aside.We each grabbed a glass of wine from the table and sat down on a leather sofa in the corner of the living room.
Semyon and Ilya were engaged in a magic duel, a civilized and peaceful duel, which made the people around them very pleasing from the very beginning.Apparently Semyon had hurt his friend's pride in the car, and now the two of them took turns changing the weather in the living room.We have experienced the winter in the suburban woods, the fog of autumn and the summer in Spain.Xiaohu resolutely forbade light rain and heavy rain. Fortunately, the magicians didn't want to invite a blizzard.It appears that they imposed some internal limits on the variability of the climate, and the main comparison was not the rarity of the imprinted momentary natural phenomenon, but its permanence.
Garico, Farit and Daniela are playing poker.The most common game, nothing new, just the air on the table sparkling with magic.They are using all the cheating and counter-tricking magic they can, which cards fall into their hands, and what cards they make up, it doesn't matter at this moment.
Ignat stood by the open door, surrounded by the girls from the research department, and the two spare programmers from our department.Apparently, our sexy hunk has recovered from his last love defeat and is now licking his wounds in his garden.
"Anton," Sveta asked in a low voice, "do you think all this is true?"
"What do you mean?"
"Happy. Do you remember what Semyon said?"
I shrugged.
"When we're a hundred years old, shall we come back to this question? I feel good. It's good. Nowhere to go, nothing to think, nothing to figure out if the Patrolman is out of breath. If you are angry, it is better to take shelter in some dark corner."
"I'm not bad, either," Svetlana agreed, "but we have only four young, even very young players here. Yulia, Xiaohu, you, me. What will our future be—— A hundred years later? Three hundred years later?"
"We'll see."
"Anton, you have to remember." Sveta gently touched my hand, "I am proud to have joined the patrol team. I am happy because my mother is healthy again. I am living a very happy life now." Well, it's ridiculous to be arguing here. I can even understand why the Boss put you through that test..."
"Stop talking, Sveta." I grabbed her hand. "I understand him too, but I'm very sad. Don't talk about it."
"Yes, I don't want to either." Sveta drank the wine in one gulp and put down the empty glass, "Anton, what I'm talking about is—I can't see happiness."
"Where?" Probably, I'm a very slow-witted person sometimes.
"Here, on the Night's Watch, among our friendly companions. You know, we have battles here every day, big and small. Fighting crazy shapeshifters, fighting dark magicians, fighting all We muster our strength, our jaws out, our eyes wide open, ready to jump up and block a bullet hole with our chest, or a hedgehog with our bare ass."
I burst out laughing "poof".
"Sveta, what's wrong here? Indeed, we are all fighters. Everyone, from Yulia to Gesar, is certainly not a pleasant thing to fight, but if we hold back..."
"So what?" Sveta asked. "Is the end of the world coming? The forces of good and the forces of evil have been at war for hundreds of years. They shouted at each other at the top of their voices, ordered human troops to fight, and everything For noble purposes. But tell me, Anton, has the human world gotten better in the meantime?"
"It's changed for the better."
"From when the patrols started working? Anton, dear, you have told me so many times, and you are not the only one, that the most important battle is to save people's souls , saying that we are preventing large-scale wars. Yes, we are preventing. But human beings are still killing each other, more than they were two hundred years ago."
"What you're trying to say is, is our work—harmful?"
"No." Svetlana shook her head wearily. "That's not what I mean. I'm not so pretentious. I just want to say that maybe we are indeed bright, it's just—you know what, there are people in the city Selling fake Christmas trees, those prop trees that look real on the outside, but this kind of thing does not bring joy to people at all."
She said this little anecdote seriously, without changing her tone.She looked me in the eye.
"do you understand?"
"I see."
"Yes, perhaps you really understand. Dark magicians have begun to do less evil," said Svetlana, "this is the result of our concession, replacing evil with good, and we have issued a license to allow dark messengers to murder humans. Evidence, and try to justify doing so. I believe that the dark forces do less evil than before, and we should not bring evil. But what about human beings?"
"Does this have anything to do with humans?"
"Of course it is! We are protecting them, selflessly and unremittingly protecting them. But why don't they get better and better? They are actually doing dark work by themselves. Why? Anton, perhaps, we have lost something Is it the belief that drove the magician of light to send his army to die generously, and he himself led the way? Is it the ability not only to protect people, but also to enjoy themselves? If this is a prison wall, What makes them indestructible? Humans have forgotten real magic, people don't believe in darkness, but they don't believe in light either! Anton, we are warriors, yes! But people only love and respect armies when there is a war going on .”
"The war is on."
"Who knows?"
"We're probably not exactly fighters," I said.It was always unpleasant to deviate from one's accustomed position, but there was no way around it. "Mostly hussars. Cha-cha-cha..."
"The hussars can laugh. And we—almost can't laugh anymore."
"Then tell me what to do." It dawned on me that what was supposed to be a good day was racing down the slope into a dark, smelly ditch full of old garbage. "Say it! You are a great magician, maybe you will become a great magician soon, and you are the general who commands us to fight, and I am just an ordinary lieutenant. Give me orders, and clear orders. Tell me How to do?"
Only then did I realize that the living room had quieted down, and everyone was listening to our conversation, but I didn't care anymore.
"If you say: Go out, and kill the dark! I will go. I'm not good at it, but I'll try very, very hard! If you say: Smile, and do good for people! I'll go. But who will Will I be responsible for the way I have thus opened for evil? Good and evil, light and dark, yes, we emphasize these words while erasing their meaning, hang them as flags, and let them be in the Rotting in the wind and rain. Then give us new words! Give us new flags! Tell us—where to go and what to do!"
Her lips were trembling.I stopped - but it was too late.
Svetlana covered her face with her hands and wept.
"What on earth should I do?"
Maybe it's true - we don't even smile at each other anymore?
Even if I'm right a hundred times, but one mistake is...
What is my truth worth if I am ready to defend the world but not those around me?Am I suppressing the hate in my heart, but not allowing myself to love?
I jumped up, put my arms around Svetlana's shoulders, and led her out of the living room.The magicians stood where they were, looking away.Maybe they have seen this scene more than once, maybe they understand everything.
"Anton." Xiaohu quietly appeared beside him, she pushed on the wall, and a door opened there.She looked at me with reproach and unexpected understanding in her eyes.Then she walked out, leaving the two of us alone.
We stood motionless for a while.Svetlana cried softly and threw herself on my shoulder, as I knew she would.It's too late to say anything now.我已经把我能说的全说出来了。
“我要试一试。”
这点我没有料到。什么都想到了：委屈、回击、抱怨，只是这一点没有料到。
斯维特兰娜把手从满是泪水的脸上拿开。她摇摇头笑了一下。
“你是对的，安东什卡。完全正确。我现在只会抱怨和抗议。我像个孩子似的在抱怨，什么也不懂。他们必须把我的鼻子按到麦片粥里，准许我碰碰火，然后等待，等待我长大成熟。这些训练是必须的。我要试一试，我会给你们一面新的旗帜。”
“斯维塔……”
“你是对的，”她打断我的话。“我也有一点点正确。当然不是指在伙伴们面前任性。他们确实是既能寻欢作乐，又能作战。今天是我们的休息日，不能让其他事把它毁了，就这么说定了？”
我又感到一堵墙的存在，一堵无形的墙。它永远竖立在我和格谢尔中间，竖立在我和最高领导层的成员中间。
时间在我们之间筑起了那堵墙。今天我亲手在墙上铺了几排冰冷的玻璃砖。
“原谅我，斯维塔，”我小声说。 "please forgive."
“我们会忘记的，”她很坚决地说，“让我们忘记吧。在我们还可以忘记的时候。”
我们最终环视了一下四周。
“书房吗？”斯维塔猜道。
一排排橡木书架，深色的玻璃后面直立的一卷卷大部头的书。一张结实的大写字台，上面放着电脑。
"yes."
“小虎不是一个人住吗？”
“不知道。”我摇摇头。“我们不习惯打听别人的事。”
“好像她是一个人住的。起码目前是这样，”斯维特兰娜掏出一块手帕，小心地擦干眼泪，“她的房子不错。我们走吧，不然大家会感到不自在的。”
I shook my head and said:
“他们大概感觉到了我们没吵架。”
“不，不可能。这里所有的房间之间都有屏障，他们探查不到。”
我透过黄昏界看了一下，发现在墙里有时隐时现的光在闪烁。
“现在我看见了，你的能力一天比一天强大了。”
斯维特兰娜微笑了一下，有点不自然，但还是很自豪。she says:
“奇怪，如果一个人住，为什么要设屏障呢？”
“如果不是一个人住，那为什么要设呢？”我低声反问道，并不指望得到答复。斯维特兰娜也没有回答。
我们走出书房，回到客厅里。
气氛虽不能说像是在墓地，但也差不离了。
不知是谢苗，还是伊利亚的努力——房间里散发出一股沼泽的潮气。伊格纳特和莲娜搂着站在那里，忧愁地观望着。他比较喜欢快乐——从他所有的表现来看，任何争论和紧张空气都会使他感到心如刀绞。牌迷们默默地望着放在桌上的惟一的一张牌——在他们的注视下，这张牌在颤动，在弯曲，在改变花色和点数。尤利娅紧绷着脸，轻轻地向奥莉加打听着什么。
“倒杯酒喝吧？”斯维塔握住我的手问，“你知道吗，对歇斯底里病患者来说，最好的药是白兰地。”
听到这话，带着满脸不安神情站在旁边的小虎匆匆朝吧台走去。怎么，她把我们的争吵归罪于自己了吗？
我和斯维特兰娜端起酒杯，像做给大家看似的碰了碰杯，然后互吻了一下。我觉察到了奥莉加的目光：不高兴，不忧郁，但却是关切的目光，略有些妒忌。不过这种妒忌与我们的亲吻无关。
我突然感到不舒服。
我仿佛从艰难地徘徊了多日、甚至数月之久的迷宫里走了出来，却又看到了下一个狭窄地道的入口。
Notes:
Notes: