i know that i forgot about a lot of things that happened in the beginning of this so i decided to include those in this chapter. sorry if it's a little confusing. another thing, i actually had to calculate how long Elara was an Apprentice and god was it a pain. please review!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER 6~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xenia had not cried the previous night and I finally got some sleep. I looked out the window and saw a staggering pile of newspapers for everyone in the Wizard Tower. I was confused. Why? There never was a stack outside before. I couldn't remember the last time I read the paper anyway. Intrigued, I snapped my fingers and sent the papers to everyone in the Wizard Tower. I took ours and skimmed the columns when something caught my eye. I stared at it and wanted to scream. In a fit of rage I threw the paper on the floor. Marcia's door recognized me and recognized anger too. It swung open as I ran out.

I arrived at the Manuscriptorium and stormed in. "Where is Beetle?" I demanded one of the scribes. I was lost in my thoughts as I headed in the direction where the scribe was pointing. What did I do to Beetle? For him to write that in the paper? I tried to keep my cool as I headed for the Chief Hermetic Scribe's office. I kicked the door open and my eyes widened in horror. For one, Septimus was in there smirking. And two, the Chief Hermetic Scribe was floating in the air. Septimus's eyes were clouded and Beetle's were completely white. I pressed the heel of my hand to my forehead and punched Septimus's face. His neck went completely to the side and I felt myself shrinking back as his neck crackled and went back to its place. "Sep, what the hell? You've, you've, I actually don't even know what you did to Beetle. What's wrong with you?!" I shook him and I thought I saw color coming back to his eyes but it faded away. He made a shoving motion and I flew back. I hit the wall and struggled but I couldn't move away from that spot. He turned to Beetle who looked just about dead. Septimus looked at him with hatred and made a fist. Beetle made a choking sound and I closed my eyes. My friend was being murdered right in front of my eyes. Suddenly I felt a surge of hate flowing through me. The barrier keeping me from moving broke and I searched around the office for something to break. I saw a vase and smashed it on the floor. I picked a shard of glass and threw it at Septimus's arm. His grip on Beetle loosened and I heard Beetle breathing again. Septimus fell and I looked at his blood. "No." It was black and pooling around his arm. A white mist floated out and instead of black, red began flowing out. I breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Beetle. I waved my hand and he was gently brought down to his chair.

You did this. How do you mean? Let me visualize it for you.

I took the shard of glass and cut my arm. It was… red? You're losing blood for no reason. Clean yourself up and your friends. I nodded and stared in disbelief. If the voice was there, it should be black. But it wasn't…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~THE NEXT DAY~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scenes from the day before played back in my head. Both Septimus and Beetle were in the Sick Bay and I bandaged my arm. I was trying to piece everything together. The voice wasn't there when Septimus was going all crazy. It came back when the misty thing came out of his wound. And that voice made Septimus write that column in the paper how I kidnapped a child and Marcia was letting me torture it. Why was Septimus trying to kill Beetle though? It made no sense. Sure, you can write bad things about me, but as far as I know, trying to commit homicide was completely unnecessary. It was all so confusing. Don't think about it too much. Sorry, I wanted to understand. I did a MindScreen and, frowning, I lifted my bandages and picked at the scab on my arm. What are you doing? You'll get infected. Sorry. It itches. I pressed my arm and a bead of blood came out. It was red. I groaned in frustration. It didn't make sense! So you see? I'm not an evil mastermind that wants to manipulate you. I am a-

Yeah, yeah, just another one of my consciences. I know. But what do you know about this? Nothing. Same like you. Then how do you know what other people are thinking? Sense. Sense? I sense them. Cool.

I was pulled into another world, just like I did at the MidSummer Day party. It was dark. I looked around frantically and before me a spotlight was turned on. A puppet show. A puppet that looked like me, pulled by the strings. Two eyes outlined in white and an evil grin on the face of the person who was pulling the strings. Showing me picking up a knife and stabbing myself. And falling to the ground.

I gasped and looked around. I heard Xenia wailing and ran to her side. She was holding her arm. Black blood was coming out of her and the same misty thing floated out. "No, no, no, no, no." I pressed my lips together. "Not you too." As much as I hated to, I had to let her bleed until I saw red blood. My eyes widened as I realized that the black would not stop pouring out. Xenia's face was turning pale. She was a week old and was dying. It was then I wondered how it could be black when the misty thing was gone. I waved my hand over her arm and stopped the bleeding. I cleaned her up and cursed at my mistake. Something kept me from seeing the red. Something wanted her to die. Or was it just that I had a problem with vision? "Elara!" I heard Marcia yell from her study. I laid Xenia down in her crib and went over to Marcia. "There you are. When do you want to make the other Wizard Tower?"

"With all due respect, Marcia, why am I needed here?"

"So you can learn how to be ExtraOrdinary Wizard, of course!"

"Can't I just alternate going to the Palace and then here?" Marcia opened her mouth as if to say something, but then closed it. She began laughing. "You know, I've been so used to solving problems the complex way that I didn't see that coming!" She sighed. "Yes, I suppose you can do that, haha. So do you want to make a schedule?"

"I don't think we need to. I just need to alternate days." Marcia chuckled again and shook her head. "So do you want to stay here or go to the Palace tomorrow?" I shrugged. "I guess I'll go to the Palace. I've spent six years, four months, and eighteen days here. I think that going to the Palace won't hurt." Marcia nodded. On the way out, I heard her mutter, "You really shouldn't make solutions complex. Just look at the bigger picture and you won't go crazy." I frowned. The people around me were changing in ways that seemed like I was in a horror show, like the plays in the Ramblings. Septimus had turned into a murderer. Marcia was a nervous wreck. Beetle had become all possessed. And I wasn't able to distinguish between what I want to see and what I don't want to see. Xenia had almost died because of that. But what was troubling me most was I accepted the voice's help to get the people's trust back. We weren't doing that. All in due time. I am so close to swearing at you. I helped you. You f-

I helped you in other situations so you could trust me because clearly you don't. I'll help you get trust if you put your trust in me. Do you understand? Do not talk to me as if I'm a child. Don't worry, Miss High and Mighty. Don't call me that. Alright. ...Thank you. Heh.