(er, it's a bit gorey but I hope it's good. Ill change the rating to K+)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER 5~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I felt like throwing up. I had my arms pressed against my stomach and bending down. The pain was unbearable. I tried standing up but doubled over. I sat back down by the lake. I felt my forehead getting hot, and something rusty in my mouth. I vomited and was horrified. I managed to get none of it on myself, but on the grass was a puddle of blood. I covered it up with some leaves of the underbrush and felt my eyes go red. Back at the party, my friends looked white. They didn't see me yet, but they already looked as though they saw someone die. I sat down on the chair swing, that fortunately no one was sitting on, and closed my eyes. I had images of Una Brakket throwing Thunderflashes and two adults blocking my view, and falling down. I heard footsteps walking away and a door slamming. I heard yelling and screaming. And then I saw blood. I opened my eyes, trying to get rid of the images of that nightmare. But surely it was a nightmare? And not what actually happened? I snapped out of my reverie and saw my friends standing over me, with anxious faces and gray pallor to their skin. "Sierra, we better take you inside," Jenna said gently, and reached for my hand. Instinctively, I pulled it away. She looked devastated, and for a second, I thought she was afraid of me. Then, it was like I was pulled into another world. I was inside a pyramid. There were walkways in the air and nothing below. I saw Rose running on the walkway opposite me. I ran towards her, but she disappeared. I felt terribly alone. The same happened with all my other friends. I was laughing in that world, even though I wanted to cry. And I was also laughing in reality. I "woke up" and abruptly stopped laughing. Beetle, Septimus, Rose, and Jenna were deathly pale. I was confused. What happened? Jenna took my confusion to her advantage, took my hand, and dragged me to the Palace. I wanted to cry for some reason, but I laughed instead. Rose put her hand over my mouth and helped Jenna drag me along. We reached the Palace doors and Septimus swung them open. We hurried inside, with my giggles continuously muffled by Rose's hand. I didn't remember much after that. I felt like I was dropped like a stone, there was yelling, crying, and someone constantly touching my hand. I felt blood rushing to my head, someone screaming…. It happened so fast and yet so slow. And then my brain started working again. I gasped and sat up. I saw Jenna, Beetle, and Rose huddled together, and Septimus sitting with Marcellus Pye. I didn't remember him coming in, but then again, I didn't remember much else. I looked around me. My neck hurt to crane around but I did it anyway. I saw the cloth I was laying on covered with blood. I looked at Septimus's belt to catch my reflection. Streaks of red came from my eyes. "Wherr…" I mumbled. Marcellus took a wet cloth from a pocket in his cloak and wiped my face with it.
"Sierra, do not think of the things you do not wish to think about. It will only provoke it."
"Provoke what?" I asked, still a little dizzy. "Your mind. Sierra, you are the seventh daughter of the seventh daughter of the seventh daughter of the seventh daughter of the seventh daughter. Your great-great-grandmother was also the younger sister of the Queen and was born in the Lands of the Long Nights. Your great-grandmother was a Spirit-Seer and the wife of the ExtraOrdinary Wizard, which many did not approve of. Your grandmother was the sister-in-law of the Chief Hermetic Scribe. And your dear mother married a PathFinder. You see, you are the most powerful person in the Castle since Hotep-Ra, and have connections to all the dignitaries. And because of all that power, your mind cannot take your memories. Particularly the ones you hate. Because you keep those memories, you have turned to Insanity."
It hurt to think. I closed my eyes and felt myself drop, but I didn't care. I was far too tired, hurt, and scared to care for anything. It always has to be me, I thought. But, then again, others had faced much worse. For the first ten years of his life, Septimus had been tortured by the Young Army. Jenna watched her mother die and her father abandoned her before she was even born. Beetle never even met his father and his mother was usually sick. And Rose had to witness the blood and suffering and deaths of many Castle inhabitants who had undertaken an injury of some kind. It must be harder for them than it is for me. After all, I don't have all the problems in the world. It sure felt like it, though. I fell into a dreamless sleep, though not entirely dreamless. At times, Things, tendrils from the Darke Domaine, and Kraan invaded. Otherwise, I saw darkness and nothing more.
I woke to a terrible headache. I felt as though someone had drilled a hot needle through my scalp. I scowled. I didn't like the fact I was going insane. Even if it was meant in the other way, it still sounded bad. It took a while to focus on my surroundings. I was in a domed room, there was a dresser, and I believe a desk… I slapped myself. I was in my room in the Wizard Tower. How they managed to take me up here, I don't know. Or maybe it was my insanity that drove me up here? Or was it Magyk? Or my supposed power? I repeated Marcellus' words over and over through my head. I was the most powerful since Hotep-Ra? Even more than Septimus? And I had connections to all the dignitaries and special people? I didn't deserve this. That sounds like someone else, not me. Me, an orphan, insignificant, foolish, clumsy, strange. Someone else should have what I have. I got up and walked out the door. I found Marcia staring stonily into her coffee. At the sight of me, she jumped up and knocked down her chair. "Sierra! You're okay! Oh, dear, you look so pale. Come, sit. You have to eat." I was so confused. What just happened? Marcia did not yell at me for waking up late, did not tell me to "go and study. Right NOW!", she did escort me to the kitchen table, and she did pick up her chair and ushered me onto it. At this point, I was totally and utterly lost that I thought it must be a dream. I pinched myself to make sure. My skin ripped like paper and my flesh showed. "Stop. You are very weak, considering the blood you lost." I nodded. Marcia was acting so unusual. "Where's Septimus?" I mumbled. "In the Pyramid Library. Searching up on your, er, condition," Marcia replied. I didn't like the way she emphasized on "condition", but then again, I didn't like anything else happening here. "Am I really that… powerful? It doesn't sound like me. It sounds more of, well, Septimus or someone like him."
"Yes, it does. But it's true. This is who you are. And you need to learn to control yourself so you don't go completely insane. Last week you were almost there."
"I was sleeping… for-for a week?!" I stammered.
"More of unconscious, really," Marcia said as she was pouring me a cup of coffee. "When you dropped back down again, Septimus thought you died. Rose cried a little." I shook my head. How could they care so much? For me? I was so relieved and sick at the same time. Sick because, well, I was sick. And relieved because they care. The corners of my lips curved up, and Marcia and I both took it to be a smile. "You have really good friends, Sierra. Never lose sight of the fact they love you. I didn't have many friends when I was your age, and people still think of me as grumpy. I do agree I have a short fuse, but you have friends who love you for who you are and don't care about some stupid illness. They love you. Don't doubt that." I felt tears of joy pricking at my eyes but I blinked them away. I sipped my coffee and smiled inside. What Marcia said was exactly what I needed to hear.