The Animorphs Alternate-Universe Series
The Faith
Chapter 12a - Virus
(Marco)


"And why am I here at seven at night? I'm skipping dinner and I doubt my mom bought my "Studying-at-Cassie's-though-I'm-not-quite-sure-why" story." Rachel crossed her arms over her chest and looked for all the world like she was about to have a tantrum. And the meeting hadn't started yet. By the end of the meeting, I knew she would..
said Tobias. He was worried, I was worried, Cassie was worried, Jake was worried, Ax was worried. The only one not worried was Rachel and, frankly, she didn't care enough about Sarah to be worried even in the slightest. This meeting was supposed to be the one where everything came out in the open - Sarah's truth, the Casting, Alay, the Weapon thing, where she had been the night before… that last one was what I wanted to know the most.
We all looked up at Tobias, who cursed in Teslahani and plain English before he swooped off the rafters and, of all things, began to demorph. A moment later, illuminated by the orange of the low sun, Alay strolled in, carrying a half conscious Sarah on her back. Jake and I both leapt up at the same time, but by now, Tobias was demorphed. Alay let Sarah fall into his arms and Sarah sunk again his shoulder. She was pale and shaking, and fringes of hair clung to her cheeks and forehead.
"Well, there's a complication for the meeting plan t'night," said Alay coolly, cocking a hip. "Our girl's got a Caster virus."
"A what?" I asked as Jake swore.
"How'd she get it?" he asked. "If it's this far along, she didn't get it last night."
"Well, no crap, genius," snapped Alay. "She probably got it when she was in the Academy, reporting to Head Caster Hannah. Unfortunately, unless your Healer Caster Daniel deals with this kinda thing at this level, Sarah's on her own." I shared a look with Tobias, who looked disturbed greatly by the conversation that had lost me. Cassie seemed as confused and worried as I was and Rachel just looked confused and annoyed.
"She's a fire element," said Tobias quietly. "That means…" Alay nodded and there was a flash of fear in her eyes.
"At stage one, she has a fever and feels weak," she explained flatly, calmly enough. "Exhaustion, fatigue, everything that's she complained about feeling today that we put to her late night last night. At stage two, she has a headache, still feels tired, and her balance is a little skewed…"
"Alay…" started Tobias. He was scared, I knew it, because I felt the same fear in me. Whatever this was, it couldn't be morphed off. It was like a genetic disease… Casting is a part of the world around the person and if something's wrong with their Casting... Please, Alay, don't say it…
"At stage three, she loses consciousness," continued Alay, voice level, eyes grim.
"Please…" whispered Tobias, while I mouthed the same plea. Don't say it, don't say it…
"Stage four, her body's being ravaged by the heat. She feels cold on the outside, but she's sweating."
Don't say it…
"Stage five… there isn't one," she said, voice quiet. "Before stage four ends, she's-"
"Don't say it!" The yell was mine, but the feeling was echoed in the eyes of the people around me - even Rachel, who, as much as she hated Sarah, knew she was still a part of the team. I saw it in Alay's eyes, even as she prepared to rebuke me. But I wasn't about to stand for something I fully believed wouldn't happen… or at least, something I forced myself to believe would never happen. "She won't give up. She knows that she can't." Tobias gave me a nod, and a smile, and I knew he felt the same way. Alay smirked.
"She needs somewhere to rest, and water, otherwise dehydration will take her before the virus has a chance to," she said. "But, here's the thing. Marco, you can't go near her, because you'll definitely catch it and it will be harder to handle two of you sick than one." This made no sense to me, because Tobias was holding her, for pity's sake, and he's a Caster, same as I. I told Alay what I though, and she arched an eyebrow, then looked at Tobias, who shrugged. "He's a special case. Unlike you, he's grounded, centered, and protected from viruses. You, currently, are more at risk, so don't touch her, understand, lina atae?" I made a face her, but nodded. I didn't like being called a little boy, but I didn't feel like arguing. I felt tired, but not because I was sick. Because of the damned knife that Emily had given me that hung around my neck. I felt tired because Sarah felt tired.
"I'll go lay her down," said Tobias. "You can have the honor of explaining to everyone." Alay rolled her eyes and made a face.
"Thank you oh-so-very-much, bird," she said flatly. He grinned and shifted Sarah's weight before he carried her back to the pile of loose hay Cassie's day kept at the back of the barn in an old horse stall. I knew he would keep at eye on her, but I would have liked to be the one to do that… I owed her, in the least, for making such an ass out of myself at school. That, and… other reasons.
"I'll go get some water," volunteered Cassie, standing up. "Be right back." She trotted out of the barn and stumbled as she tripped over a root or a rock, but kept right on going anyway.
"There's a lot that needs to be discussed," said Jake, watching Tobias and Sarah. "We could be here a little while." I felt that was an understatement…