Notes: If you do not want to read promises, hopes, summaries, and disclaimers, skip on ahead to Chapter One. I do not own the Septimus Heap series, I am not Angie Sage. There. I said it, even though I would like you to think that I'm a professional author.

This story is written in first person with a name I really like: Madeleine. It looks like it would be pronounced "mad-E-lIn" but I pronounce it "mad-E-lEn" like you are saying "mad a lean".

Any questions feel happy to note me. And please don't continue because of this! I apologize if you hated my before the story prep. Now, on to the story!

Chapter One

Gone

I awoke to the imagined chorus of imaginary birds. I stretched and changed into a green tunic, or a robe as I though it assembled. After changing and taking care with some hygiene stuff, I opened my door and looked down the hallway. Sleepyhead's door was still closed. I smiled and tisked silently. Creeping toward his room, I heard Marcia scowling at the coffee pot. I pushed Septimus's door open slightly, ready for a shout of, "Close the door!" There wasn't one. His covers on the bed were a mes, but I could still see Sep's head poking out. However, he was lying with his feet on the pillows, his body hidden under a ness of blankets, and his head at the end of the bed. His "homework" was on his desk, finished. I took a look at it and he had scrawled something on the bottom.

1:34

I tisked again. It just HAD to be the time he had went to bed. I walked over to the bed and pondered the best way to wake him up. I ended up rocking him left and right. Finally, he opened his eyes. "Mornin'" he murmured.

"How late did you stay up doing your homework?" I demanded.

"What's the time on the paper say?" he asked, making a motion with his head toward the desk.

"One thirty-four," I said with a "I doubt you even know how late you stayed up" attitude.

He made a "Humph" sound and closed his eyes again. "Septimus, get up! It's seven o' five!" I insisted.

His eyes flew open and widened. Marcia expected us and 7:07. He jumped out of bed, and I saw that he was still wearing his apprentice robe.

"Geesh," I said to myself as Sep hurried around the room. I stepped out of his bedroom and cracked the door. My steps made gentle creaks as I hurried down the stairs. There was a crackling fire in the "living room", and I saw Jillie Djnn moaning on the sofa. I hurriedly passed her. She creeped me out. There was muttering coming from the kitchen, Marcia yelling at the kitchen utensils I assumed.

"Hello, Marcia," I said as I walked into the kitchen.

"Darned coffee pot," I heard Marcia mutter. She then turned and looked me over. "You're later than usual," she said.

"I had to wake Septimus up," I said as-a-matter-of-fact-ly.

"Oh, that's nice," Marcia said as she turned back around to proceed flipping eggs.

"He was up until 1:34 doing his homework," I continued.

"Goo dfor him," Marcia answered. I could tell that she wasn't listening.

"Marcia!" I said loudly. "Septimus was up until 1:34 doing the homework YOU assigned him!"

She paused and turned around. "He was what?" Marcia said crossly. That time, she had heard me.

I then hear some thumps as Septimus lumbered into the room. For waking up early in the young army, he sure looked like a mess. His hair was scruffier than usual and his eyes were barely open. He was leaning against the wall and there were dark spots under his eyes that I had been too hurried to notice when I woke him up.

"Good morning," he said after a moment of silence and blank staring.

"You're late," Marcia stated, as if she hadn't heard anything I had just said.

Sep emitted an "Umph" sound and lumbered over to the counter. He attempted to board the stool, but he fell off with a thunk! That probably awoke the whole Wizard Tower. His second attempt was much more successful. After getting atop the stool, Septimus slumped forward. His forehead was touching the counter.

"You're late," Marcia repeated solemnly. The coffee pot then let out a cloud of steam and Marcia growled. She then turned around to prod the coffee pot with her mittened hand. Septimus didn't move. I gingerly poked his head. He then raised his cranium from the table. He looked like he was sick.

"Wait a minute!" I speculated. "You stayed up late in the Young Army until you were ten! And with all of your adventures you went on, 1:34 should be a treat to you!:

"I quite agree, Septimus. Whatever were you doing last night? I didn't give you that much homework!" Marcia said as she poured her steaming coffee into a mug.

Septimus didn't reply. He stared blankly out of the kitchen window.

I gritted my teeth. I didn't know what to do. He looked so miserable. Then I got an idea. "Marcia, permission to take him to the ick bay, please," I requested.

Sep grunted and turned away from me. He really was not acting normal. Marcia sighed

"I do not think this is the proper moment to take my Senior Apprentice," (I winced at this remark), "to the 'ick bay' but take him down there anyway." Marcia then sighed again. "I need a bit of time to myself. There's been another juvenile delinquent practicing Darke Magyk. I noticed that Septimus got tense when she said that. "I also need a bit of time to think. Go on an educational field trip or something along those lines".

I nodded and grabbed Septimus's arm. "Come on, sleepyhead!" I pulled him and he obediently got off of the stool and started to follow me. I speed-walked out of the kitchen, into the living room, and out the door. It then occurred to me that I hadn't had breakfast yet. I sighed and grabbed a couple slices of toast. I handed a couple slices to Septimus and opened the door.

The obvious scent of Magyk played with my senses, a feeling most do not enjoy. Nauseous, I took a clumsy step. I had been in the Wizard Tower for a while and still wasn't completely used to the presence of so much Magyk. I took a few awkward steps toward the staircase before my feet straightened out. I looked over the railing, staring down to the first floor of twenty-one. Septimus stepped onto the step behind mine, and the stairs then began to churn. The steps moved down like an escalator, except the site looked a lot grander. We rotated until I saw the landing for the ick bay. I stepped off, and so did Septimus. Just so you know, the ick bay was a nickname for the Sick Bay. The "s" in the lettering above the door had flown off when a spell went wrong some time ago. No one had replaced the S. I cautiously opened the ick bay door. The Sick Bay made me queasy. Its occupants were never… delightful to look at except for the "nurses" and visitors. The dis-enchantment chamber in the back had a presence of Magyk so strong- let's just say I didn't go in there too much. Rose saw me and smiled. I smiled back. Rose was the new Sick Bay apprentice. Actually, she had been apprentice longer than I to Marcia, so I guess she wasn't technically new. She was learning Physiks and also liked to make charms, an old hobby had I pursued. She somehow reminded me of an elf- the pointy ears, rosy cheeks, and her long brunette hair which she sometimes wore in a single braid down her back (which has nothing to do with being an elf). Her eyes twinkled, but when she saw Septimus in his "state" her gaze went funny.

"Is he ok?" She asked me.

"Nope!" I replied. "Far from it."

"Oh, that's not good. Sleepy, I suppose. He looks tired," Rose said.

"Yeah, must be. Supposedly stayed up untilo1:34," I said.

Septimus crossed his arms as if he didn't want me telling random people how late he had stayed up.

Rose bit her lip in concentration. "Mmm, I suppose I could give him a fizz bomb. That would wake him up," she told me.

"Go for it," I replied.

Rose smiled and reached into a satchel sitting on the ground. She pulled out a small bag and opened it. She then brought out a green ball that looked like the candy part of a sucker. She then gave the bomb to Septimus, who popped it into his mouth without hesitation. His eyes widened. He looked around and apparently realized where he was. After a minute of the fizz-bomb dissolving, he said, "Thanks."

Rose smiled. "No problem! I suppose you'd like to see Syrah while you're here", Rose said.

Inside my mind, I grimaced. More like Sleeping Beauty. Septimus nodded and Rose opened a door in the back with a key. She and Septimus walked in and I "stood guard" from the outside. Like I said, I didn't like to go in there. Plus, Septimus needed some time alone with Syrah. I grimaced again. Jenna had told me that he thinks about her ALL of the time. Jenna didn't see what he saw in her, but she pitied his obsession and grief no less. I suspected she was a bit jealous of all of the attention he gave her though. I, to be honest, had never actually meant Syrah while she was "conscience", but for some reason right off the bat I didn't really car for her. All that she had ever done for him was save his dragon. Save I guy's dragon and he'll love you forever. And no, I am not jealous. Rose emerged less than a minute later and sighed.

"How long do you think he'll be in there?" I asked.

Rose shrugged.

I then heard Septimus's voice. "Hey, Rose! Did you guys move Syrah since yesterday?"

Rose looked puzzled, and so was I. "No. Why?"

Septimus came out, and he looked like the world was ending. For him, it probably was.

"Syrah isn't in there. I thought maybe you guys had moved her to a different section, but She's not in any of them," Septimus informed us.

Rose's eyes grew wide. "When was the last time you saw her?" Septimus asked.

"I checked on everyone last night! She was in there, and her condition didn't seem close to the possibility of walking out overnight!" Rose looked frantic. Losing a patient that was supposed to be in the Disenchantment chamber was about one of the worse things that could happen. But we all knew what it really meant if she was gone. If she hadn't walked out on her own or been stolen, she was-

"Gone," Septimus said. Tears were forming in his eyes. Rose didn't know what to say. I didn't know how to cheer him up. The disenchantment chamber housed people who had some sort of Darke Magyk thrust or used on them. Syrah had been possessed by a Syren for 500 years. Septimus had been the one who had freed her from her predicament. I guess that was why he loved her. He felt responsible for her. Still, there was no way he could know that she returned the feeling. Anyway, Syrah had been unconscious in the Disenchantment chamber almost ever since. Lucky patients heal, but other times, patients in the Disenchantment chamber just disappear. Their connection to Earth is lost. They vanish from existence, never seen again. Imagine never seeing your loved one again.

Septimus wiped his eyes with his arm, and started toward the door. Rose gave me a divested look. Apparently she thought that it was her fault.

"Rose, it's not your fault. I would stay, but I've got to make sure he doesn't go get into trouble. It happens, doesn't it? Bye!" I hurried out of the room, and saw Septimus walking out the great doors. His voice rang in my mind, repeating "Gone" over and over again. How could she be gone?

Note: I forgot to mention this before, but some of the story will be confusing unless you have read Darke. Sorry, I will try to explain as much as I can!