Here is chapter 2! I apologize again for the lack of updates for my other story, I'm having a bit of writer's block. I have an idea, I just can't seem to write it. Also, I had family over yesterday and I spent the day with my niece and my brother's girlfriend's son and had volleyball practice in the morning. I think for this story, I'm going to rotate POVs. I'm going to have Marina's POV, John's POV, my OC's POV and maybe some others as well like Nine.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Lorien Legacies series. All of the books and characters belong to Pittacus Lore.
Marina-
I'm running through the forest, invisible, my hand tightly gripping Six's. We're trying to get as far away from that island as we can. My new legacy helps us run by freezing the marsh around us so we don't have to swim.
"If I ever see you again, you traitorous bastard," I yelled. "I'll take the other fucking eye!"
I try to expel the memory of what I said, what I did and what I've become from my mind. I'm going to forget everything and become as cold as my new legacy. No more soft, gentle Marina. I'm going to just go by Seven from now on because Marina is dead. She died with Eight and Seven is going to get her revenge. I'm gonna…
"Marina?" Six asks, interrupting my thoughts. She starts to slow down and I do too. With a quick look around, I realize we are in a clearing somewhere in the middle of a forest.
"Don't call me Marina," I snap. "Just call me Seven, Marina brings back too many memories. She's gone, so don't remind me of her." Because she reminds me of Eight, I think. I leave that last part out; Six doesn't even need to hear me say it to know what's going on. She's such a good friend.
"Well, Seven, can you heal Nine? I don't want to carry him anymore," she grunts as she sets Nine down on the ground. I bend down and place my hands on his lower back, healing him. When I'm finished there, I move on to his ribs. Sometime while I'm healing him, Nine wakes up and pushes himself into a sitting position.
"Uhhh," he moans as he massages his shoulder. He shoots me an apologetic look, full of sadness, that doesn't suit him. It kinda scares me. When I'm done, he finally starts to realize where we are and what happened. When he opens his mouth to speak, I almost expect him to start with 'Marina, I'm so sorry' or 'please forgive me.' But, he only mutters, "I think I'm gonna be sick."
"Okay, we'll leave you alone. Come on Mar-I mean Seven," Six says quickly as she stands up to leave. Nine smiles weakly at her and leans over, clutching his stomach. The two of us exit the clearing.
"Seven," Six starts but I cut her off.
"Don't try to give me some lecture about how sorry you are for me. I'm fine," I hiss. Six looks nervous before continuing.
"I'm not going to give you some lecture, I just want to tell you to don't do this. Don't turn into me or Nine. We both were hardened by the death of our Cêpans, don't let Eight's death change you. He wouldn't want you to change. Please, don't lose yourself like I did and don't think that being unable to feel makes you strong, because it doesn't. It's not even possible; so don't try it. Also, don't try to make an image for yourself like I did. Don't hide your emotions so you'll seem 'tough' and 'strong.'" She says. I roll my eyes.
"Seems like a lecture to me," I quip.
"Seven, please," Six urges. I look her in the eyes and realize she's serious.
"Okay, I'll try to stay me," I mutter, giving in to Six's pleas. I distantly hear Nine moan and cough and suggest that we should go back. Six agrees and we walk back slowly, wanting to give Nine a little more time to finish vomiting or whatever he's doing.
"You okay?" Six asks when we come back into our little clearing. Nine, who looks a little pale, shrugs.
"I don't know. I still feel a little sick. I think it was just from swallowing a lot of the swamp water," he replies. I walk over and press my palm to his forehead.
"You have a fever, I'm not sure how bad but I know you do. It should go away within a couple of days though," I say. "Let's go, a forest isn't exactly the best place to rest when you're sick." Nine smiles weakly again and Six goes to help him up. We pick up our backpacks and start to make our way to the next town.
…
By the time we reach civilization, Nine can barely stand and all three of us are dehydrated and starving. I head for the nearest hotel and book a room while Six and Nine wait for me by the elevator.
"What happened?" the man at the desk asks.
"Car crash, we lost our teacher and we need a place to stay," I answer. "Luckily we have emergency money," I add wearily.
"Well here is your room key, hope you find your teacher and get home," he says as I take the key and make my way over to the elevator to join Nine and Six. I wave to the man as the door closes and Six presses the button for the third floor. As soon as the door is shut, Nine collapses against the wall and shivers.
"Don't worry Nine, we're almost to our room," Six assures us as the elevator dings and the doors open. We walk out into the hallway and I count the room numbers. 301. 302. 303. 304. 305. 306. 307. And, here it is, 308. I slide the key in and open the door, noticing how much of a coincidence it is that we're in room 308. 308. Why does it have to be eight? Out of all the numbers, we're in the eighth room on the third floor.
"Here we are," I say as I flick the light on. Immediately, Six grabs the phone and orders room service while I grab extra clothes from my bag. I toss a pair to Six as she finishes her order and she goes into her room to change. I give Nine some clothes too and he decides to just change in the apartment's living room. I excuse myself to the bathroom to slip off my dirty clothes and put on cleaner ones. When I'm done, I come back out. There is a knock at the door and Six answers.
"Room service," the guy says. He gives Six some plates with food on them and Six gives him a tip.
"Thank you," she says as she closes the door. Once the door is closed, she turns and faces us. "Come and get your food!" she announces loudly. I rush over and grab a plate for me while Six brings one for Nine, who is nearly passed out on the couch. I press my hand to his forehead again, inaccurately taking his temperature, and realize that his fever has increased.
"Don't worry, Nine. I'll get some stuff from the local store tomorrow and help you get better," I say. He coughs weakly as a response. Six offers him a plate of macaroni and cheese but he says he doesn't want it, instead curling up on the couch and falling asleep. Six sighs and puts his dinner in the fridge.
"Well, I'm gonna go to bed," she says. "Goodnight, Seven."
"Just call me Marina again, It sounds weird when you call me Seven," I mutter and she smiles.
"Good. I like Marina better," she sighs. I laugh quietly.
"Me too."
"Goodnight, Marina."
"Goodnight, Six." I stand up and walk to my room, climbing into bed and instantly falling asleep.
…
"NO!" Nine screams as Five's blade pierces Eight's heart. Eight stumbles towards me, arms outstretched. He tries to say something but all he manages is nothing. He pitches forward and collapses on to the ground.
I scream, louder than I can ever remember screaming as the burning sensation appears in my ankle. There's something different about it though. It seems… colder. The pain is still there, and it's excruciating.
I somehow make my legs work as I unstably stagger over to Eight's limp body. I fall down next to him and press my hands to his wound, willing my healing legacy to work. While I do this, everything stops. Five stops shouting, Six is frozen in the middle of sitting up and the Mogadorian ship halts. I gasp happily and reach to hug him but stop. Eight doesn't look happy.
"You let me die," he hisses angrily. I sit back, startled.
"N-no I didn't," I stammer, my hands nervously wringing my shirt.
"YOU LET ME DIE!" he screams again. My eyes fill with tears.
"I didn't want you to die," I whimper. Eight shoves me off him and I start to cry. "Eight, please. Don't leave me. Don't be mad. Eight. Eight, please," I beg but he ignores me, standing up and turning to face me again.
"I can't believe you did that, Marina. It's your fault for letting me die. I'll never forgive you," he snaps before slowly disappearing.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" I scream. Something shakes my arm and I try to get rid of it but whatever's shaking me doesn't want to stop. The dream fades and I blink as I try to adjust to the sudden light that just appeared.
…
"Eight," I whisper. I turn and realize that Six was the one shaking me. Nine is leaning up against the wall, looking like he's about to pass out.
"Eight's not here, Marina. Look at your ankle, I'm surprised you slept through it," she says quietly.
"Slept through what?" I ask while pulling my covers off me to show my legs. I inspect my ankle and count the scars: One, Two, Three, and, Eight? I rub my hands over the three scars, looking for the fourth one. "Where's Eight's scar?" I demand.
"It disappeared while we were sleeping. It woke Nine and me up but it didn't bother you at all. You just kept having your nightmare. The weird thing is, though, is that it felt the opposite of when the normal scars burn into our legs. It was… colder, almost like the scar froze away," Six answers. I nod.
"Why do you think it disappeared?" I ask. This time, Nine answers.
"I think it's because Eight is somehow alive," he whispers hoarsely. I feel my face light up for a moment, but before I can get too excited, I remember my dream. The one where Eight hated me and said he'd never forgive me.
"What's wrong, Marina?" Six asks.
"Nothing," I reply quickly. Six doesn't look convinced. I sigh. "Okay, I had a dream where Eight hated me for letting him die and he said he would never forgive me." I shiver. "What if… What if he really does hate me for letting him die?"
"Marina, Eight's death wasn't your fault. It wasn't even Nine's. It was Five's fault for joining the Mogs and doing what they say," Six says. I smile gratefully and thank her.
"But how are we going to find him?" Nine asks. I jump. I forgot he was here.
"I don't know, first, we should find John because he has the tablet. I bet he's heading here now to try to find us. We could head North to try to find him but we would have to wait until Nine's better," Six says.
"I'm fine," Nine insists.
"No, you're not. In the morning I'll go to the local store and get supplies, including first aid. You are not fine now but you will be. I can't heal your fever for some reason so we'll just have to rely on human medicine and rest," I declare. Nine sighs with relief. Six grins.
"Well guys, it looks like we have a plan. Everyone just go back to bed and Marina will go shopping tomorrow. Once we get back on the road we'll figure everything else out," she decides. Nine and I nod. The two of them leave and I lay back down. When I sleep, I don't have any more nightmares.
Tadaa! For chapter 3 I'm going to have John's POV. After that, I will probably have Eight's POV as my OC explains herself. I promise you, if this story is not already interesting I will make it better. I just have to get all the introductions out of the way. If it gets long and boring, please tell me. I'm really bad at beginnings when I already have so much planned. And trust me, I have some interesting things planned. *evilly laughs while petting a cat* I can't wait to write it all down!
