01_-_The_Alchemyst

“We need to talk,” Flamel said quietly, though the side street was
deserted. He ran his fingers through his close-cropped hair, and strands came
away on his fingers. He looked at them for a moment, then brushed them on
his jeans. Another year was etched onto his face, subtly deepening the lines
around his eyes and the semicircular grooves on either side of his mouth.
“This person we’re going to see can be…” He hesitated and then said, “…
difficult.”
“You’re telling me,” Scatty muttered.
“What do you mean by difficult?” Josh asked in alarm. After everything
they had just encountered, difficult could mean just about anything.
“Cranky, cantankerous, irritable…and that’s when she’s in a good
mood,” Scatty said.
“And when she’s in a bad mood?”
“You don’t even want to be in the same city as her!”
Josh was puzzled. He turned to the Alchemyst. “Then why are we going
to see her?”
“Because Perenelle told me to,” he said patiently, “because she is the
Mistress of Air, and can teach Sophie the basics of elemental air magic, and
because she can give Sophie some advice on how to protect herself.”
“From what?” Josh asked, startled.
“From herself,” Flamel said matter-of-factly, and turned away, heading
back toward Ojai Avenue. Scatty moved out of the shadows and fell into step
beside him. “Wish I’d brought sunscreen. I burn easily in this sunshine,” she
grumbled as they walked away. “And wait till you see my freckles in the
morning.”
Josh turned back to his sister; he was beginning to have some idea of the
huge gulf of understanding that now separated him from his twin. “Do you
have any idea what he was talking about? Protecting yourself from yourself?
What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I think I know.” Sophie frowned. “Everything around me is so…loud,
so bright, so sharp, so intense. It’s like someone turned the volume up. My