Lianne awoke with a groan. Her hand went straight to her head, which throbbed painfully. She forced her way into a sitting position, letting the cool stone wall clear her head as she leaned against it. Looking around, she realized she was in the infirmary. She noticed there were several circles surrounding her bed, with several different runes drawn in chalk surrounding the circles. Frowning, Lianne tried to reach out with her magic, to sense what the circle meant, but realized that she couldn't use her magic, or even feel it.

Her eyes widened in shock, and she looked around once more, noticing Tris, lying pale as a ghost against the sheets, in a bed next to her. There were no circles surrounding her bed. She looked to the door as she noticed it opening, seeing the Head Dedicate Moonstream walking towards her bed, and through the binding circles.

The dedicate smiled warmly. "I'm glad to see you are awake." Laying a hand on her forehead, she checked on her using magic, prompting Lianne to ask how it was she could use her magic within the circles. Moonstream answered softly, "The circles are tuned to you, my dear. My magic is not affected." The dedicate looked uncertain. "We… were uncertain what is causing the tremors, but your magic was sensed throughout the last set. We had to be certain that you wouldn't cause anymore."

Tris chose this moment to stir. Lianne moved to stand, to make sure her teacher was alright, when Moonstream pushed her back onto her bed gently. She moved quietly to the red head's bed as the young mage cried out softly. Lianne watched helplessly as her teacher tossed and turned, and asked quietly, "How long have we been unconscious?"

Moonstream answered without turning back to her, "We spent the rest of the day after the tremor trying to dig you both out. It was difficult; we had to make sure that the rest of the building wouldn't collapse upon you. Since then, it has been four days. Tris has still not woken. We were getting worried."

She finished talking just as Tris awoke, groaning in pain. Moonstream laid a hand on her head, soothing the pain in her head. Tris sighed and sunk into her pillow. The pain in her head was gone. That was, until she glanced to Lianne's bed and was almost blinded by the complexities of the spells.

"What in blazes is going on here? Why is she bound?" Tris cried out angrily, squeezing her eyes shut tightly.

Moonstream explained quietly. "The last of the tremors had her magic print all over them, and we needed to make sure that she wouldn't accidentally-"

Tris exploded. She was more disrespectful to Moonstream than she had ever been when she replied, "Lianne had nothing to do with those tremors. I was with her when they started, and it wasn't her magic that started them. If her magic was on the last set it was because she tried to stop them!" Tris calmed down, and spoke softly now. "There was a magic involved, yes, but it wasn't Lianne's. It was someone's that I haven't sensed before. Now would you kindly take down those circles so I can make sure my student is alright without blinding myself?"

Moonstream considered carefully, before retreating to get Niko and Lark to take down the circles. In the time before then, Lianne spoke up. "I- I thought I felt another magic too, Tris. It pushed, and it hurt and-" Tris cut her off with a hand, still not able to look at her in her current condition.

"Don't worry about it now, Lianne. Unless you managed to get a location, it's not going to help much. Niko will be able to get a location if I tell him what to look for, and then we can find whoever is responsible for the tremors and get them stopped. Now lie back and get some rest, you must be tired."

Lianne complied, waiting for Lark and Niko to arrive to take down the circles. When they had, she was relieved to feel her magic once again, and a little scared to find how lost she felt without it. Smiling back at the gentle dedicate, she thanked Lark for taking down the circles.

Relaying their information to the Seer and stitch witch, Lianne and Tris settled down to get some rest while Niko set up complicated spells, trying to find the source of the tremors now that they knew they were magically enhanced and that Lianne wasn't to blame.

Three days had passed, and they were still bedridden. Lianne, because the violation of her magic had left her especially weak, and Tris because she had received a bad concussion which left her dizzy every time she sat up. Lark, Rosethorn, and Tris' foster siblings had visited frequently. This was the first time that Niko had.

He sat in a chair between the two beds, holding one of Tris' hands in his own as he relayed his news.

"The magic is coming from Lightsbridge. The tremors too. They're building up strength slowly, though, so they are only able to be detected at about the time they enter Summersea." He steeled himself for Tris' reaction, and wasn't disappointed.

"What?!" She almost screeched. He winced as he waited for the rest of it. "You mean those pavao sucking idiots didn't learn their lesson the first time they tried to harness the power of earthquakes?"

He nodded his head, and turned to Lianne. He hesitated. "We owe you an apology. I am sorry I doubted you." She had received such apologies from the others already, and was getting used to them by now.

She grinned, "Don't worry about it, Niko. Have you sent a message to Lightsbridge yet, to tell them to stop their experiments?"

He nodded. "It should get there within week. How are you holding up? I understand when the mage attacked you, it left you rather weakened."

She nodded, and grinned. "I'm doing better now. I think I'm ready to get up and move around, but Moonstream thinks I'm still much too weak and delicate."

He returned her smile, and gave her shoulder a brief pat as he stood. "Well, I must say I'm much too tired to sit around much longer. All that scrying has me beat. I'm going to get some shut eye, and I'll see you two in the morning."

Lianne awoke to the walls shaking. She stood quickly, grabbing the bed as both the room shook and her head swam with dizziness, she waited until she was steady enough to keep moving, and helped Tris stand. Tris swayed, but grim determination kept her on her feet. They made their way to the doorway, and stood there, waiting for the tremor to stop.

When it did, Moonstream rushed to them, and helped them outside. Tris sat down on the ground, sweating profusely from the effort of walking such a distance. Niko ran to them, and Lianne took the opportunity to stretch her legs, unused for so long.

Panting, the seer explained. "There's a big one coming, big enough to destroy Winding Circle. That one was just the warning tremor. Our message hasn't reached them yet."

Lianne's eyes widened. "W-What are we going to do?"

Niko turned to her, thoughtful. "We need to stop it. Lianne, you need to stop it."

She backed up, shaking her head. "I-I don't have the strength. I can't stop it…"

Tris spoke up. "I'll help you. I have a bit of magic with the earth. We can do it."

The girl was still shaking her head. "But- How… You always taught me it was folly to mess with the natural order of things."

The red head nodded. "You know what they say though- desperate times call for desperate measures."

"But how will we do it?" Lianne asked, still not convinced.

Before anyone could respond, the foreseen earthquake hit. It started off as a low rumbling, before entire buildings started shaking, windows cracking. Lianne reacted without thinking, sending her magic out, trying to calm the wave of earth that moved angrily below them.

When that failed she let herself go, deep into her magic, letting it guide her in stopping the life threatening earthquake. She absorbed the power, the ground below her sinking several feet as the power coursed through it, turning it to mud. So strong was the power coursing towards her, through her, that the other mages were knocked back. Tris tried to get to her, but even she was unable to control the earth moving power in her weakened condition.

Lianne was unaccustomed to the power that was coursing through her. It burnt like fire, coursing through her body as she screamed at the pain. Barely conscious, she sent it out to sea, unaware that she knocked down part of the wall that protected Winding Circle from strong winds and enemy attacks.

Unseeing, she sent the tremors and the magics deep within the soil below the water, until the pain from the power surging through her took over, and she sank into unconsciousness.

Her limbs felt like over cooked noodles. Her head pounded, and she cried out as she opened her eyes to what felt like blinding light. There were two figures at her side immediately, and one of them soothed her pain with cool magic.

Sighing, Lianne opened her eyes once more, noticing the light was only the dim sunlight that managed to permeate the room. She smiled her thanks up at Moonstream, who had her hand on her shoulder. Looking to Tris, she opened her mouth to speak, only to cough instead as her throat scratched at being unused for so long. After she had been hauled into a sitting position and swallowed what seemed like a gallon of water, she tried once again.

"How long have I been out for?"

Tris answered. "Two weeks. We were so worried about you. When you pulled the power of the earthquake into you…" She left the sentence unfinished.

Lianne nodded. "Did it work? Is Winding Circle alright?" Moonstream smiled.

"Yes, my dear, it did work. Winding Circle is still standing. The mage that caused it is dead, he couldn't control the magics he unleashed and poured his entire strength into it." The Dedicate hesitated.

Tris took up where the Dedicate left off. "When you released the energy into the ocean… it caused an underground earthquake. The earthquake caused a large wave to form… we got word of a village that was destroyed by the wave yesterday." She watched her student closely, gauging her reaction.

Lianne was shaken to her core. Finally she shook her head and leaned over the side of the bed, dry heaving and expelling what little she had in her stomach in the first place. Tris rubbed her back as Moonstream left the room, giving them some privacy.

Lianne sobbed quietly, hugging her pillow as she cried herself to sleep. Tris watched on, sorrowful, knowing the guilt that was associated with killing people. Sighing, she left the room, leaving Lianne to rest in fitful sleep.

Lianne awoke the next day. It took a few moments to remember the events of the previous day, but when she did she felt like vomiting once again. The only problem was, she didn't have anything in her stomach to expel.

Her problem looked to be solved when Tris walked into the room a few minutes later, carrying a tray of food. Lianne picked at it, her appetite non existent, never meeting her teacher's eyes. Tris spoke quietly. "Your family is on the way. They'll be here in a few hours, Briar's gone to get them."

Lianne didn't look up, speaking so quietly Tris had to strain to hear them. "I don't want to see them."

Tris placed a hand under her chin, forcing her eyes up to meet her own grey ones. "It wasn't your fault." Her voice was firm.

Lianne torn her gaze away forcefully. "Yes. It was. I'm the one that sent the energy there. I'm the one that caused the wave. It's my fault that people died."

Tris grabbed her arm and gave her a good shake. "Yes. It is your fault." Lianne looked up sharply, shocked at her teacher. "It's your fault that people lived! It's your fault that Winding Circle still stands, and that none of us are dead now. You did the only thing you could think of to save us. It is not, however, your fault that people died. It's that idiot mage's fault, the one that tried to control the power of the earth. He's dead now." Looking haphazardly at her student, Tris continued. "Let me tell you about the time that pirates attacked Winding Circle…"

The End.

Once again, I have finished one of the many stories that I started and never actually finished. Wow. I have like, two left. YAY!!! I have a whole big long list of stories to write, so this is not the end.

Some of those include, if anyone is interested, are…

Tortall Universe:

Daine returns to Snowsdale to face her past.

During a big working, the barrier between Daine and her Wildmagic dissolves, and before Numair can fix it she finds herself in a life and death situation, and calls upon her friends for help. Loosing herself, can her friends save her, or will their Daine be lost to them forever?

Star Wars:

There is an illness spreading through the Force, killing most of the Jedi that come down with it. Can a certain Jedi save them? A ticking clock is added to the scenario when his beloved is diagnosed…

Pirates of the Caribbean 3 One shot:

SPOILERS!

How does Elizabeth feel as she realizes she has lost everything; her father, Commodore James Norrington, and even her newly wed husband.

X-men Evolution One shot:

Kitty and Rogue get to talking, shortly after Rogue has moved to the Xavier institute. When she reveals that her most treasured possession is still at the Brotherhood Mansion, Kitty enlists Kurt's help to get it back.

Tru Calling/SVU Crossover:

When the body of Detective Olivia Benson asks for help, Tru has difficulty in convincing the cop that she is in danger. Tru must stop a murderer from getting his revenge on the cop who put him away, while staying out of prison herself.

Tru Calling:

Jack decides it's time to stop Tru's interfering once and for all.

And many many more…