บท 9: A new problem
I felt peaceful as I drifted in my dreamless sleep without direction or purpose, I felt good not having to worry, but something felt off in that darkness... like I wasn't alone.
"R-Re-joiiiiiinnn," I faintly heard off in the distance as the darkness I had been peacefully drifting through abruptly vanished, finding my eyes opening to a field of green, orange, and red trees that shifted in a way similar to fall which I knew vaguely just like everything else in my memory.
"Whuh?" I looked around disoriented by the sudden change that came with my eyes opening, "Where am I?" I tried to remember where I was last as I looked around to see a dark blue sky which oddly didn't have that large ball of light in the sky.
"Why isn't there a sun?" I looked at the sky strangely before I jumped at the sound of a large thud.
"Gah!" I spun around in the direction of where I heard it coming from to see a blob of tiny dots flying off into the sky with the sound of numerous flapping wings.
"Birds... so I'm in the forest?" I looked around again seeing how unfamiliar this place looked compared to any forest I'd seen before.
"-But what part of the forest and what was that noise?" I tried to think of what could make that kind of ruckus.
"Shit!" I jumped again as another thud rang out, followed by the loud snapping of a tree and a boom as a dust cloud formed just around the edge of the section of trees I was in.
"Ok, I should probably get moving," I backed up in the opposite direction of the now-settled cloud of dust as I nervously glanced around before turning and making an attempt at silently running away.
Another loud snap and boom rang out as I ran, coming from the same direction as before.
I sped up a bit more, getting the same feeling that someone might get if they were watching a chase scene in a horror movie, only that I was the character getting chased.
"Why do I understand that!" I growled as my brain gave me another reason to question how amnesia worked.
A third closer set of noises rang out as I started to hear something similar to a fast-paced gallop or a weird skittering from a large bug demon.
"What is that?!" I sped up even more as it sounded even closer than before, finally showing a gigantic pitch-black canine in the blue light pouring down from the canopy of trees.
"Is that a wolf!" I felt my mind drift back to the scene of Hunter listening to my explanation of wolves back at the castle, 'Wait yeah, I know some stuff about wolves," I looked forward as I continued running.
"I just have to think of something useful!" I dug through my memories, looking for any useful information that might help, 'What is an Alpha male and what does it have to do with wolves?' I pushed past that as I glanced back at the large black-furred wolf that was catching up.
'Come on!' I turned back as I pushed past more and more information until I remembered something about dogs and their bellies which made me feel frustrated until I stopped and looked at the information closer, finding a kernel of info that could help me.
'Wolves have soft underbellies!' I clung to that information as I got ready to turn... but the wolf was already lunging at me.
'Is this really how I die?' I thought, watching it close its jaw around me as I reluctantly relaxed my body, fearfully resigning myself to my fate and then... I woke up with a start, falling out of bed.
"G-God damn it!" I felt a cold sweat coating my skin as I righted myself, trying to ignore the feeling of fear that the nightmare instilled in me.
"That's the third time since that fucking fight in that castle!" I felt the hand that was almost bitten in my nightmare tremble as I tried to replace the feeling of fear with anger.
"-and what's with that fucking word that keeps appearing!" I thought back to the start of the nightmare when a singular word brought me there like every night before.
'Whatever rejoining my dream is talking about is getting annoying!' I clenched my fist and felt something sharp pierce the skin where my nails should have been.
"Agh!" I glanced down to my right arm to see it transformed only that it was smaller than the last time I saw it which was two nights ago.
"Is it shrinking or something?" I pulled back my sleeve to see the veins in my arms colored pitch black just like the blood of the Creature.
"That's..." I pulled the sleeve up more to see the veins stretched even further past my arm and into my shoulder too.
"..." I stood up, looking at my arm closer as I changed it back with the popping sound of a bone I saw that the veins faded back into the skin.
'Well at least it's only there when my arm's changed,' I sighed, remembering how it started, 'It was pretty unnoticeable at first with the weakened magic, but it's spread up to my shoulder,' I slumped a bit as I looked at my arm.
'What did that thing say again?' I thought back to my conversation with the Centipede Drone.
"If I didn't turn into a drone, right?" I straightened my back as I thought about its words.
"Does it mean I was immune-no it's probably a resistance then?" I theorized as I started to pace around.
"I mean that has to be it!" I started unconsciously moving my arms as I continued to pace.
"-but doesn't that mean I'm gonna become a drone eventually?" I stopped pacing for a moment before my pacing started again just like the newly minted questions that came with my guess.
"That could also explain the weakening symbol magic and the smaller transformation," I stopped again and focused my energy on my hands as I noticed a larger concentration moving to my shoulder before I released it, letting the energy fade back into my body.
"I thought it was my magic, but is-" A loud knock rang out from my door as I had one thought that would determine the course of my day.
'I need more information,' I clenched my fist again in a way that would cover the needle-sized holes that I unintentionally made in my palm before walking to the door and opening it.
"Hey Raine, sorry if I woke you up," I looked up to see the annoyed and tired face of Raine just outside my doorway, shadowed over by the early morning dark.
"-I was groggy and I fell out of bed," I lied, replacing my real reason for yelling with what I thought was a believable excuse.
I watched Raine's face for a moment as he looked down at me with the same tired face, now tinged with concern instead of the slight annoyance that I saw before.
"Are you alright?" I nodded, watching as Raine's eyes tiredly scanned over my body, 'Please don't notice, please don't notice,' I practically chanted in my head before his eyes stopped and opened a bit wider as his tiredness seemed to fade.
"What's this?" Raine kneeled down as I turned my head to see where he was looking and felt my lips tighten almost as much as Raine's when he opened my balled-up right hand to reveal the remanence of the dried red blood that remained.
'That Creature's blood must have burrowed back in without me noticing,' I watched as Raine traced the slim fragmented trail of blood back to the barely noticeable holes in my palm before looking up at me with something between anger and concern.
'He looks angry right?' I felt something odd rise from the cauldron of emotions that confused me, but was easily identified as 'Guilt?' I noticed my face was starting to frown as my lips drooped into a frown.
'Why do I feel guilty for trying to hide that?' I questioned myself, staring at Raine who was still waiting for an answer, "I don't know," I saw him frown even more as I felt a bit more guilty, 'Do I need to hide it?' I mentally shook my head as I thought back to the black veins spreading up my arm, leading to what Raine might think if he saw that.
'He saw that Centipede and attacked it,' I felt my eyes wander briefly before I reluctantly locked my eyes back on Raine.
'Would he attack me? Maybe he would if it stopped another drone from being made...' I focused on Raine's expression as he sighed and stood up.
"Look, you don't have to tell me," Raine said calmly, leaving me confused and feeling guiltier than before.
"I know you've only known me for a little less than a week and it's ok if you're still suspicious of me, but that doesn't mean I don't want to help," Raine turned towards the direction of the foyer.
"So when you feel comfortable continuing that conversation we had," Raine looked back at me with a patient smile that left me surprised and confused.
"-come talk to me," Raine turned back to the direction of the foyer and walked off.
'I don't understand, wasn't he angry?' I thought, confusion joining my guilt, 'He knew that I was lying, but didn't get angry?' I imagined myself in the same situation, knowing something is happening and not knowing what it is.
'I'd be angry if it hurt me in the end...' I thought of how this Creature's blood could spread and how I'd react to something like that...
'...I'll just keep it a secret and if I can't stop it then I'll just have Raine or someone else stop me with their magic or that boiling water, right?' I stopped for a second as I remembered what happened on the Emperor's Castle Bridge.
'Nope, not gonna think about that,' I walked out of my room and headed the same way Raine went as I arrived at the living room a few moments later with my hand scratching at my palm lightly and turned my attention to the orb which was playing the same thing I saw in the hospital, Boiling Isle news.
"-and here we are at the BonesBorough library here for our interview with the mysterious and elusive head of the Library Coven, Malphas!" I thought back to my statement about my lack of information and rushed over to the couch to watch this interview intently.
'This guy has to know what I need!' I thought as I waited for this Malphas guy to show up on screen.
'He's gotta be knowledgeable if he runs a library... shoot, I need to get down there and ask now or Malphas might be too busy to talk later!' I stood and took a quick step toward the kitchen before the image of an angry Raine flashed into my mind.
'I'll... just leave a note that I'm going to the library,' I thought before I looked to the coffee table that conveniently had some papers with some papers and a weird feather pen that Raine was probably using for something.
'Whatever, it's just a quick note,' I grabbed a random paper and scribbled my note on the back.
'Cool, now to get going,' I silently rushed to the foyer and opened the front door as quietly as I could before closing it and running off to the town where the library was located.
**********
"Willow, should we really be doing this?" I looked around the street we were walking down, seeing a few Reformatorium Guards walking around.
"My mom's gonna be mad," I glanced back to the green-haired girl in front of me as I started twirling my brown hair.
"Oh come on Amity, it'll be fun," My friend, Willow reassured me, making me smile nervously as she turned her head to me while we walked, "I mean Malphas is there!" Willow's eyes sparkled even more as she stopped, fully turning to me.
"-and didn't you talk about how cool it would be to work at the library?" She looked at me intensely like I was the one who suggested we go to the library after school.
"Yeah, but I didn't think you meant we should go without an adult!" I let go of her arm and frowned.
"Come on Amity, please?" I saw that glimmer in her eye turn against me as I faltered under her stare.
"F-fine, but I get to talk to Malphas first since I'm the one who wants to work at the library," Willow nodded before quickly grabbing my hand as we continued walking towards the town square where we would soon walk through.
**********
"Az, I made breakfast," I opened the guest room door and looked around for him only to see he wasn't anywhere in there.
"Az?" I looked around more frantically before rushing out of the room and opening every door in the hallway.
"Did he run away again?!" I panicked as I remembered the last two times Az wasn't near me, making me search even more frantically, eventually heading towards the living room despite knowing that I had just passed it earlier and hadn't seen him.
'Please be here!' I felt my jaw tighten a bit, knowing that this was the last place he could be in the house besides the kitchen which was visible from the living room.
"Damn it!" I finally got to the living room and he was nowhere to be found only the news droning on in the background with some interview of the Library Coven Head.
"Azure! You better not be hiding in the kitchen!" I walked towards the kitchen and looked into the archway to he wasn't in there either.
I quickly turned around planning to head to the door before I noticed one of the papers in the stack of forms I was working on yesterday flipped over with something scribbled on it.
"Going to the library will be back soon, Az?" I sighed in relief as I felt the panic I felt fade, replacing it with annoyance and a slight bit of lingering concern.
"Well, he still ran off, but at least it's not like last time," I thought back to when he dropped from my Palisman as I scratched my head in frustration.
"That doesn't excuse him for worrying me though," I turned to the T.V. Showing BonesBorough library behind the two demons on the crystal ball.
"-so to make sure he learns that his actions have consequences I'll drag him back and ground him," I thought about it for a second as I walked to the front door, "That's how parents do it right?" I shrugged as I left it for the future me to figure out when I got back before opening the front door and stepping outside.
**********
"God dang it, where am I now!" I growled in annoyance as I looked around for the top of the library that I was using to guide myself.
"That's what the Gate Guards said I should do at least," I slumped before raising my head to see where I was.
"Looks like some kind of open space... a town square or plaza?" I sighed as I spotted some kids close to my age standing around in some weird uniform.
"Students? Maybe they know where to go?" I felt my body straighten at the prospect of a guide or guides in this case.
"Hey, you-" I was cut off as the three students turned to a pair of girls who just walked past.
"Well, Well, Well... look who it is, the Blight and her little friend," I stood there silently as the Demon in the middle spoke not sure whether this was some kind of acting or if this guy was serious with that type of line.
'It's gotta be an act right?' I chuckled awkwardly, holding my chin as I looked on, confused as to why that sounded so cliche or why it made me think of guys wearing leather jackets... 'Another term for my memory bingo,' I sighed and continued watching.
"H-Hi there?" The Brown Haired Girl greeted the demon boy in the middle with a weirdly meek voice, noticing they were wearing a similar outfit to the three except for a trio of plainly colored bandanas on their necks.
'Maybe they're classmates?' I mean it seemed like the most plausible answer, but who knew, they could be from different schools?
"Don't you recognize us!" The kid on the right of the Demon Boy crossed his arms and stepped next to him, "We're from your class at Hexside!" The Brown Haired Girl's face knitted tighter as a drop of sweat seemed to fall from her forehead.
"Yeah, and we heard what you two were talking about in class," The third demon, a girl stepped up last as her words caused the Brown-Haired Girl to fully freeze.
"Like my friend over here said we heard what you're doing out here," The Demon Boy smiled cockily, "So if you don't do what we say then we'll tell the faculty who'll tell your parents!" The Demon Boy threatened as I saw Brown Hair bite her lip with an uneasy look.
"Wh-what do you want?" The Demon Boy chuckled before stepping out of the way, letting the girl in their group step up.
"It's not what they want," She snapped her fingers and the two boys stepped back, "It's what I want," The Girl smiled pridefully.
"Ok well, what do you want?" Brown Hair asked before looking down and taking a deep breath as if in preparation for something bad.
"I want you to do badly on your next exam," This seemed to get a pretty big reaction out of Brown Hair as her head shot up to meet the Demon Girl's gaze.
"I can't my mother will be furious and-" The Demon Girl stopped her, "Uh uh, either you promise with a binding spell or I tell the faculty," Looking at this I felt annoyed, not just because this was blackmail, but because something was boiling inside my head and heart, a memory that I couldn't grasp laced with enough emotion that I just wanted to... punch the lights out of all three of them.
'Fucking Bullies, every last one of them,' I growled as I started stomping over only for the bigger Demon Boy who switched places with the girl to push me away.
"Hey loser, what do you think you're doing walking up to us?" The words of the Demon Boy seemed to get the attention of the others as Brown Hair and the rest paused their conversation to look at me before I stood up.
"Hey, punk! Who do you think you are?" The other Demon Boy who was talking earlier walked up next to the bigger Demon Boy who now that I looked at him looked like...
"A stick?" I looked at him annoyed before The Stick Boy's face contorted in anger as he heard me say that.
"Stick?" He walked over and looked down at me, "What's that supposed to mean?" He growled as I felt the annoyance that was still building start to turn into anger while watching his stupid effort to intimidate me.
"I meant that you look tall and skinny like some branch I could find in the woods," My eyebrows tightened together as I clenched my teeth preparing my fist for a punch before the Stick Boy started to move and-
"Hey, what's the deal, Josh!" The Stick Boy looked to the Bigger Boy who was now looking on in interest.
"Just give me a second..." Josh walked up to me and I felt my emotions boiling in me trigger something before I heard a familiar click like back at the castle, figuring out why I felt so irritated.
'My fucking bully!' My anger turned to rage as the edges of my vision darkened, Channeling my rage into my energy I darted forward with less speed than I would usually have, but more than enough to deck the guy in his face with all the strength my 7-year-old body could muster without transforming before he went flying past the Girl and Stick Boy who stood there uncomprehending of what just happened.
'How dare he fucking blackmail me for a... what was I thinking about?' I looked on now confused as the emotions I felt just a second ago seemed to vanish and with that, so did my energy as well as the dark tint that coated my vision.
'Wait, what did I just do?!' I internally panicked, freezing on the spot as I saw the weirdly irritating Josh lying against a wall.
"G-good shot, but now I get to return the favor," He fumbled for a second as he tried to get his bearings before the Girl ran over to help him up.
"Josh, we should get you to a healer before that," She looked at him concerned, "I know you want to help me, but speaking as your sister, we should get you healed up," I watched the over-dramatic dialogue unfold between them as again questioned whether they were acting or if they genuinely talked like this all the time.
"Fine, but I'll be back to return that hit new rival," The Stick Boy also joined in, helping Josh keep his balance, 'Huh, I must've hit him pretty hard?' I felt nervous as I thought back to my burst of rage before I heard the Stick Boy join in on the dialogue.
"You won't beat Boss next time, Blue Hair!" I felt a pang of annoyance resurface again when I heard that, somehow knowing that this annoyance came from the same memory or maybe memories that made me act out.
"Finally! Now I can go find the library-" I paused, remembering what I was doing before I got into that little skirmish, "Ugghhh, now I won't get to the library before that guy leaves!" I slapped myself on the forehead before feeling a tap on my shoulder to see a Green Haired Girl who I vaguely remember standing behind Brown Hair.
"Uh, What's up Green Hair?" I said, deciding to go with the same naming scheme I used for Brown Hair, 'I mean I need something to call them,' I mentally shrugged before focusing back on Green Hair.
"Green Hair?" She looked confused but shook her head before smiling at me, "Never mind that, I wanted to say thanks for saving me and my friend over there," Green Hair pointed over to Brown Hair as she thanked me, giving me an appreciative nod.
"Uh, you're welcome, but if that's all then I need to get going, so see you later," I tried to not come off as too rude but I was in a hurry and didn't have time to focus on them.
"Wait! You said you were heading to the library, right?" I stopped and turned back, "Yeah, What about it?" I glanced back to the rest of the town square behind me eager to set off since I didn't know how long that Malphas guy would be at the library entrance.
"Me and my friend were heading that way too, so I was wondering if you wanted to come along?" My eyes widened as I nodded emphatically, "YES I WOULD LOVE TO!" I said a bit too excitedly before noticing Green Hair's friend looking at me with even wider eyes showing a surprise that I wasn't expecting.
"Something wrong?" I turned back to Green Hair as she looked at me confused only realizing who I was looking at a second later and turning back to Brown Hair before walking over to talk most likely.
"Huh, well I guess I can wait, right?" I suddenly felt anxious for some reason as I looked around to focus on something other than my impatience.
**********
"Willow, what were you thinking!" I glared, feeling annoyed at my Best Friend for deciding something that could be trouble for us, "We can't have this guy with us, he'll draw those three back!" Willow gave me an awkward smile and scratched the back of her head.
"Well, he wouldn't have their attention if it wasn't for us," Hearing her words now, I felt just as awkward as her, a faint blush appearing on my cheek before I nodded.
"Y-yeah I guess, b-but I wasn't expecting the second rank of our class to try and threaten us for my spot as star student!" I retorted, still trying to get Willow to see that this was a stupid idea even if we were the ones that started this whole thing.
"I mean, we can still help him without having him follow us, right?" I tried to compromise with Willow like Mom taught me to, but it only seemed to work for a second as Willow looked at me thoughtfully before shaking her head.
"Look, we caused this so we need to at least help him to the library and if you still feel like we should split up then we can leave him to do whatever he's going to when we get there," I saw the determined look in her eyes as I heard her talk and what Willow was saying wasn't too unreasonable, so...
"Fine," I sighed as Willow raised her hands in victory, making me feel even more exhausted than I was after that absurd little fight between the Blue-Haired Kid and Josh with the Blue-Haired Kid who was now looking around with this dopey look in his eyes.
"-but don't blame me if he makes trouble for us" I knew that this kid was going to be trouble, but just hoped my friend and I could leave before he could draw it to us.
"Great, then let's get going!" I watched as my smiling Best Friend turned around and rushed off to the blue-haired Kid to offer our help.
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