[Insert witty opening comment here]

Chapter 13

At first, it seemed as though the spell had failed. Nothing was happening. No immediate dispelling of the monster that dwelled with Ben, no purple light to say that they were finally separated. She began to feel the beginnings of despair when suddenly, the tendrils around her cousin seemed to tighten against her will. She could feel them squeezing his form with enough force to cut his blood circulation, cut his breathing.

He coughed and choked, having no oxygen to actually cry out, as he felt he would be cut into pieces by such a force. Gwen tried to make it stop, but found that she could do nothing, but let the manna continue. She knew she was going to kill her cousin, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

She felt suddenly betrayed by her grandmother having just left such a dangerous book with no instruction on how to use it, or what to expect the ancient words effects were. Though, placing blame was not something she could do. She used it without practice and would now have to bear the consequences.

Tears fell from her glowing pink eyes in fear as she not only watched her cousin slowly be crushed, but felt it too. Just as she had internally given up, her power did something none of them had expected. It entered his body, seeming to melt into the skin, going so far as to even create a hissing burn that made them both cringe.

A sudden darkness fell upon her vision as she found herself seemingly floating in nothingness. She was utterly blind in the darkness and found it was much harder to breath. Was this her cousin's mind? If so, then the final battle would end here. She readied herself, forcing the manna to surround her hands, and pushed forward.

The air hung with a heavy foreboding feeling and, with no discernable shapes, she couldn't help but feel paranoid. It didn't help when it seemed as though the pink light surrounding her hands cast absolutely no light to help her see. Then again, there might not have been anything to see. Ben's mind was not a foreign place to her, but actually being within it was.

Being a manna user at her level, she knew that no mind was the same, but all could be categorized from intelligent to gifted, average to idiotic, and impulsive and emotional to just downright evil. A mind like this however… She wasn't sure. She felt malintent, but also a form of innocence. Perhaps her cousin and Zs'Skayr residing within the same area? No, Zs'Skayr was nothing but evil. It was indescribable, the energy that floated around her.

As she tried to separate her quarreling thoughts, a shadow of a figure fazed into existence within the dim light. Caught off guard, she shrieked and prepared to throw the energy at the being when she realized who it was.

"Ben!" She floated to him as he seemed to just hover, head down, seemingly unconscious. She hugged his form close to her and looked around, making sure the ghost would not appear while she was focused on her cousin.

"Gwen…" She looked down, but found it in vain as she could only make out his silhouette with both of her hands occupied. She put a hand on where she assumed his cheek to be and found she felt nothing. Temperature didn't seem to serve a purpose within his mind.

"Ben, are you okay? What has he done to you?" She questioned sadly, running her fingers through his hair, but found it to be texture-less. Perhaps all she could really feel of his subconscious was its presence.

"…Is he gone?" That cancelled her next question. Apparently, he hadn't seen the phantom either. Maybe he was gone. Expelled before she entered so she could heal the damage. But that didn't quite explain the malintent she still received from the energy around them. She made to answer his question when a something forced them apart, quickly dragging her backwards through the darkness she had came.

"Ben!" She cried. She reached out for him, but he was quickly swallowed by the dark. The force stopped dragging her and she was slammed into something. She could feel everything around her again and she opened her eyes to see the world was still chaotic, but her cousin was no longer the cause. He had fallen forward and Kevin had caught him.

She glanced around to see if Zs'Skayr was now within their realm, but found nothing and sensed no residue of a possible escape. It was unexplainable. Where could he possibly have gone? She seemed to remember something and looked cautiously to Kevin.

"Did he manage to touch you?" She called, running up to him.

"Nah. He was a couple inches away when you got him." He replied, flipping Ben onto his back. "You killed it, right?" His look was confident as though he already suspected the answer.

"… I really don't know. There were traces of evil everywhere, but no ghost to be seen." At least he knew she had gone into his mind and didn't have to explain as such. "But Kevin, I kept getting this really weird vibe off of him."

"Explain it in the car. Trouble's not over yet." Gwen saw him struggle to stand as he tried to pick up Ben at the same time. It was there she realized the bleeding hadn't subsided and his condition was still extremely sickly and pale. She helped Kevin up and steadied him as he carried her cousin over to the car, laying him gently in the backseat. She forced him into the back as well, to make sure no more damage befell him as she was driving, and to monitor his condition. Kevin gave no argument but handed her the keys.

For some reason, none of this felt awkward to him. Having to hold his friend's upper body against the curves and dips in the road while Gwen drove as quickly as possible without killing them all. He knew he should, but it seemed urgency did not make room for awkwardness in situations like this. He did pay little mind to the blood beginning to spot his clothes, but that just made him worry more. These two were the only ones to ever show faith in his existence and he wasn't going to let them go so easily.

"What were you talking about before?" Kevin asked, trying to distract himself from his nagging urge to rest. It took a full minute for Gwen to answer as she drove anxiously down the road.

"I felt something in there Kevin. Something I wouldn't expect from Ben, yet, there wasn't any other source. It frightens me being unable to identify it." There was quite a large amount of worry in her voice and Kevin couldn't find any comforting words in him this time. He tried to compensate by trying to get her to explain further, but the hospital came into view and he knew no words would be exchange until Ben was safe.

Coming to a screeching halt in front a hospital seemed to be one way to get many a nurses attention as three ran outside to investigate the emergency and two ran back for a stretcher. Kevin found himself poked and prodded as a nurse inspected him for damage on the way in, pushing her off by saying he was fine. The blood on his clothes wasn't his.

Ben was rushed off and they were forced into a waiting room until someone told them otherwise. Waiting was the most agonizing part, and it seemed that the healing powers he had once had had gone along with the ghost, so there was no hope of a short wait.

Minutes ticked by so slowly, Kevin could've sworn that an hour had passed while the clock insisted that not even a minute had gone by. He shifted in his seat, trying to stay awake, finding it more and more difficult as time passed. He searched for words of conversation in his head when he remembered what he was talking about to Gwen. His genuine curiosity instantly woke him up.

"What were you saying before, about sensing something from Ben?" Gwen looked to him, her eyes red rimmed themselves out of her silent tears, her exhaustion, or a combination of both.

"… I've sensed many minds, but I can't place Ben into any of those. He's just… I can't say it was evil despite the malintent, but… There was a strange aura of innocence too…" It seemed as though she couldn't get her thoughts straight as she processed what she felt. Kevin tried to help her despite not knowing exactly what she felt.

"Well, how do you… categorize them?"

"…From all the teens we've been around, I've been able to sense many states of mind. Happy, sad, stressed, relaxed… Even so far as intelligence level. It's excreted as an aura. But Ben's had nothing to do with intelligence or emotion really."

"But you said you felt bad intentions in there? Did Ghostfreak damage him?"

"I don't think that's it… Hold on." She close her eyes as a thought occurred to her, crossing her legs in the waiting chair. She brought up the manna from her memories, slowly going through each, identifying the feel. Was it intelligent? No, that one had been rather stupid. What about stressed? No, not stressed per say… Maybe it really was pure evil. She brought up a memory of Ghostfreak when they were ten. Even then, she could sense things, but was unable to identify what. She shivered. Not that either.

What about… Misguidance? The thought was absurd, but when she brought it up, it matched perfectly with one aura.

"Misguidance…" She muttered. Kevin snapped back to reality and realized what she said. Was he supposed to memorize it? He would've asked what she meant if it seemed like she was done. All he could do was wait.

What else linked to misguidance? Many things could, but few would actually match. If he was misguided, how did Zs'Skayr fit into the picture? She tried to continue along that train of thought, but Kevin nudged her to point out the nurse walking toward them. She resumed her normal sitting position and anxiously awaited the news.

"Is he okay?" She asked, voice desperate the know the answer.

"Well, his condition is very serious. Three broken ribs, a sprained wrist, a slight concussion, and spots of internal bleeding. He's also extremely pale and cold. What happened prior before bringing him?" Gwen looked to Kevin for support. They couldn't exactly tell her Ben had been downtown trying to destroy the city. She was lucky he was a quick thinker.

"We were downtown when one of the buildings collapsed. He got caught in some of the wreckage. We managed to pull him out and bring him here before authorities arrived. Couldn't wait around for them while he was bleeding to death." He managed to say it all with such a straight face Gwen almost believed the story herself. That must've been the other reason for the quick rush. Questions, possibly convicted if they had waited for the officials.

"Oh, I hope it's not terrorist's. They do such a damn good job at what they do." She shivered, obviously believing Kevin's story. "But was he sick before the incident?"

"He had gotten sick a couple of days ago. I'm sure the recent turn of events hasn't helped either." Gwen replied, finding that going along with Kevin's story wasn't so hard.

"I see. Well, he's in surgery right now. Seems one of his ribs pierced his lung. Are his parents aware of him being admitted?"

"I was going to call them after I learned he was going to be okay."

"And you are his… sister?"

"Cousin." Gwen smiled wearily.

"Sorry, I was judging by your eyes. And you are?" She looked to Kevin expectantly.

"More distant cousin." He replied. It was a good lie as only his family would be allowed to see him once he was put into a room. The nurse nodded, giving him a look as though she knew that was a lie, but ignored it the same.

"Well, it's going to be a at least six hours before you can see him. I suggest you go home and rest."

"Actually, if you don't mind…"

"Oh, by all means, you can wait here. I'd offer you a room to get some sleep in, but it seems that more people from downtown are being brought in. Very curious that some were frozen…" Gwen bit her lip. Ben was going to be very distraught when he recovered.

"They could be making anything from over seas." Kevin offered, noticing Gwen's hesitance on the subject.

"Very true. I'll leave you be. I have to tend to the new patients." She walked away, turning down a hall behind them, the click of her shoes on the tile fading into the distance. As soon as she was out of earshot, Kevin looked to her.

"Are you actually going to call?"

"I don't know. I don't think his parents would want to hear that we didn't handle it very well and that their son destroyed downtown."

"Good point." He waited a few minutes to see if Gwen would say anything else before he spoke again. She didn't leaving him an opening. "Uh… what did you want me to remember the word 'misguided' for?"

"One of the aura's in his mind. It was misguidance. Though I'm not really sure how it connects… Perhaps Zs'Skayr was? Evil can be that way sometimes."

"He looked pretty set on what he was going to do." He saw the small frown on Gwen's face and softened a little. "Maybe you just need to rest. I've heard that sometimes the answer will come to you when you least expect it."

"Yeah, from the movie we were watching a month ago." She smiled as Kevin rolled his eyes. The tension seemed to ease as she allowed herself to drift little by little into sleep.

"Kevin?" She muttered, lay her head on his shoulder. He was a little startled by this action, but smiled regardless.

"Hm?"

"Thank you. For the reassurance." He didn't reply as she drifted off right after she said it. He yawned. Perhaps sleep wasn't such a bad idea. It seemed as though sleep was an animal of prey, waiting for his guard to be down because as soon as he shut his eyes, his chin fell to his chest, lost within his own world.

She wasn't sure where she was. A long dimly lit hallway with many doors. Obviously a building of some kind. She walked cautiously, her footsteps creating more of an echo than there should have been. The walls were a tinted grey and every door down the extensive hallway was black. There were small windows in every door so one could easily pear in upon its occupants.

She looked into one window, curiosity getting the better of her. She saw a woman, possibly midtwenties, sitting in the corner, crying. She wished she could get inside and ask what was wrong, but it seemed none of the doors had handles. She continued onto the next door and saw a man laying on a cot, seeming to whistle at the ceiling.

As she went on, she wondered more and more what kind of place she was in. She looked away from the next window, gasping at it's inhabitant who now hung lifelessly from the ceiling. The next door held a man of his late forties, laughing for no particular reason, and the next held a female shrieking at the wall in fear.

She continued to stare at the woman, putting together that she must believe she saw something there. Something that obviously caused her great distress.

'Much like how Ben had reacted in the desert…'

She sat up with a loud gasp, awakened as the answer presented itself violently in her dreams.

"Gwen? What's wrong?" Kevin had felt her jerk violently, startled awake by her. The gasp had further alerted him that something was wrong as he wait patiently for her to answer.

"Oh God Kevin…" Gwen choked, a sob escaping her lips. "He's insane."

"How can you be sure? He seemed perfectly fine earlier." Kevin asked her skeptically. They now stood in front of a window to a room. Ben's room, though he wasn't visible behind the curtain the nurses had drawn. They had managed to catch about six hours of sleep, and the other Kevin had spent trying to calm her. She couldn't be serious. It must've been a nightmare.

Sure, they had suspected this from early on, but they chalked to desert thing up to past trauma as Gwen had felt nearly the same being within the wretched ship of Zs'Skayr's.

"But that's just it. Insanity isn't always blatantly obvious. It can take on more subtle forms. Misguidance is one." Gwen said quietly, wiping her eyes.

"But explain why he looks dead. That's not something insanity can produce." Kevin refused to believe such an outrageous accusation. Ben insane? The two words don't even belong in the same sentence.

"Bear in mind Kevin, he still has Zs'Skayr's DNA. Just not his consciousness." Gwen's face bore no emotion except it's remnants of tear streaks as she stared into the window, unseeing.

"… Maybe the exorcism worked like it was supposed to and you were just-"

"I know what I felt, Kevin, as much as I don't want to believe it either." Kevin was at a loss for words. All this time, while they were trying to be rid of Zs'Skayr…

"All those times he… And a couple hours ago I was…" He could finish any of his thoughts. Ben couldn't have been doing that. Even if he wasn't in his right mind. He had always pictured him as strong, unfazable, but when it came right down to it, he was only human as well.

"You can see him, if you like." The nurses voice was gentle, but it still made them jump. They nodded, both unable to speak. Gwen was little afraid of the state they might find him in.

It wasn't horrible however. His chest had many bandages zigzagging over it, while his right wrist had a small cast on it. He still looked like death however. His eyes had dark circles around them while his skin was nearly grey. It was a sad sight to behold when a person you once thought so strong now lay before you so close to death's door.

"We couldn't get his watch off. It was so tight around his skin." The nurse stated from the doorway, watching them curiously.

"Oh, yeah. I gave that to him when we were little. Never took it off." Kevin said, looking at her.

"Mmm, well, keep it safe. I'm sure it's not only precious to him." The nurse winked and walked out. Kevin stared after confusedly. Then again, it wasn't uncommon for female plumbers to become nurses for an actual job.

Gwen couldn't tear her eyes away from her cousin. She sat next to him on the bed, finding the situation somewhat reminiscent of their time in the desert, only this time was much different. She stroked his hair, happy that this time she could feel it, and watched him. Kevin sat in one of the bedside chairs silently. Nothing could really be said until Ben woke up. How could they explain that he had taken leave of his insanity and hurt people? It would crush him, if he first believed that Zs'Skayr had not been real.

They must have sat like that for twenty minutes until Gwen shifted and suddenly the heart monitor flat lined. Kevin rose up in shock, but Gwen waved him off, showing him that the device had only come off his finger. It was then that Ben began to stir.

"Ben? How are you feeling?" Gwen asked him, griping his arm gently despite how icy it was.

"Uhn… Like I was hit by a truck… I wasn't, was I?" So he didn't remember what he did. That was going to make explaining even harder.

"No, no. Nothing like that." Her voice was almost a whisper, frightened and caring. Ben looked like he was going to ask about her condition, but a group of loud voices interrupted him.

"Another one? I don't know how all of this could have happened without a suspect! Burnt holes, frozen people… I swear, hell must have finally risen on earth!" A doctor ranted beside a couple of nurses as they wheeled a frozen woman down the hallway. Ben immediately sat up, ignoring the pain in utter horror of what passed by his room. Burnt holes and frozen people… Jetray and Big Chill…

"Ben…?" Gwen knew this was going to turn out awfully, but the look on his face only made it worse.

"… I can't… I did…" Ben whispered, the pain obvious in his voice. The heart monitor show his horror by syncing to his heartbeat and, in frustration, he took the small device from his finger and threw it at the wall. He coughed as the motion pained him, but looked as though he accepted it as a form of retribution for the people he hurt. Kevin moved to turn the monitor off as Ben put his hands on his face. Gwen rested a hand on his shoulder.

"… How many?" Gwen looked piteously at him, unable to answer.

"How many?" He repeated upon not receiving an answer.

"It doesn't matter how many-" Ben threw a look of anger at Kevin, silencing him.

"My job is to save people. I can't go around being the one hurting them!"

"It's not your job, Ben. It's just what we do. What is right." Gwen told him quietly, gently forcing him lay down. He refused, pushing her arm toward her.

"At least, he's gone, right?" A form of tension hung heavily in the air at the question. Both Gwen and Kevin looked away, making him choke when the obvious answer presented itself. "He's not…"

"It's not that…" Gwen hesitated. How could she put it so Ben wouldn't want to jump out the window?

"Is he or isn't he… It… whatever…" Ben was becoming increasingly impatient with her evasiveness. There was only one answer after all.

"It's hard to explain, Tennyson." Kevin said, helping Gwen. She didn't have the courage to say it. His look was so stoic, yet there was something about his eyes that made Ben realize the heaviness of the situation.

"Did I- he- do something else?"

"B-Ben… there was no he…" She stuttered, looking at the awful blue tile that covered the floor. Ben didn't understand. He looked helplessly to Kevin for an explanation.

"Zs'Skayr… Never existed." Ben looked like he'd been stabbed with a white hot knife.

"W-what did you…?" He choked, staring at the opposite wall. He never existed. Zs'Skayr had never been real? He looked to them to see if it was a cruel joke but found Gwen had begun to cry and Kevin had stood up beside her, rubbing her arm to comfort her. No joke…

"That's right, you idiot!" His mind taunted. "It was you who nearly killed Cash! It was you who killed SevenSeven! And it was you who nearly destroyed the city! Almost taking your friends in the process!" It laughed at him the in the voice he despised. He wasn't possessed. He was out of his fucking mind! He threw his hands up to his head to make the laughter stop, cringing as a few tears made their escape down his cheeks.

How could he have been so stupid! He should've known his mind would try to compensate for the sudden change by showing him what he believed! It was so obvious he began to feel ill. He wretched, though nothing came up. He felt a pair of hands pull his arms away from him and looked up to see Kevin had grabbed them. He couldn't feel anything as the numbness set in, but his ears began to try and work once more.

"…en! Ben! Are you still with us?" Gwen had her hands on his cheeks, shouting him back to reality. He hissed and pulled away from her as a burning sensation flared up on his face and realized why Kevin had pulled his hands away. He had been unconsciously dragging his nails down his face deep enough to scratch. He dropped his head, showing he was done and Kevin released his arms, allowing them to fall at his sides.

"… I can't believe it… I just can't. All those times when I thought He had possessed me, I was just possessed by my anger. It's so unbelievable I just…" He wretched again, throwing a hand over his mouth. He was so perturbed that it made him ill and bile kept rising in the back of his throat.

"But I think now that realize it, it won't happen anymore. Your mind only gave you what you expected." Gwen comforted, keeping her hands in her lap as she doubted Ben would want to be touched.

"Of course it's not going to stop. Don't you see, I'm insane!" He scowled bitterly. "And that's only the beginning! Haven't you ever heard of the crazy person who never knows they're crazy? That's just the fuck of that."

"Yeah, but now you're aware! You're mind won't deteriorate anymore because now you can stop it!"

"I'd love to believe that, but have you ever heard of such a thing? Insanity is not like a cold. It doesn't just go away."

"No, it's a state of mind." Ben looked to Kevin who had once again taken his seat next to the bed. "It's like happiness, or anger, or even depression. One can be taken from that state by the elements around us. Think about it." His expression look as though he were angry, but Ben knew that was the face he took on when telling of a fact that he was absolutely certain of.

He looked down at the horrid white bed sheets, contemplating what he was just told.

"Beat insanity? Hah HAH! The Great Benjamin Tennyson can barely deal with saving the world! But, dear boy, how can you save the world from yourself?" Ben gripped the sheets tightly, blocking the mental beatings.

"How does one come out of insanity?" He spoke quietly, tracing a finger down the seam of his blue patients clothing.

"Well, if you fall to it, I'll just have to kick your ass back on track." He said it as if it were so simple, but they all new it was going to be one hell of a challenge, but this time, he would be ready. He couldn't let himself fall to his own inner workings. Though part of his mind continued to laugh at him, he wondered if it really would be alright.

Low and Behold the chapter to top all chapters! In length and in content. So, Ben was crazy. Hm, even I didn't know that until halfway through the story. Just kidding. This is really the chapter that makes or breaks everything, so I hope I haven't ruined anything for anyone. And don't leave after this! There is still a special thanks to be paid, and a super secret shiny special to a sequel I'm considering. Hope to hear your opinions! Xangabell, signing off!

-Xangabell 8:21 PM