Alrighty, this is it for a little while... at least, for this week. Too many tests I need to study for. Patience is a virtue!
The stone walls seemed to wiggle, and the floors seemed like jelly as Joseph tried to walk down the hall towards the only person that seemed straight in this strange place—Nayeli. She was sitting down at a table in the library, reading a blue diary of some kind. Kathryn and Severus walked around the corner, both carrying a load of books, no doubt getting ready to search for methods of helping Nayeli recover.
Joseph squinted his eyes, confused. She was sitting right next to them, reading a book! She was healthy! Could they not see her?
"Severus! Kathryn!" Joseph greeted them, hoping that they would look up from their books and realize she was there. They ignored him, continuing to study. He almost thought that maybe he hadn't said anything at all, and that his imagination was getting the better of him.
He walked up to Severus and went to push him, but instead, the table that the two were sitting at moved quickly out of grasp, all the way to the window across the library floor. Joseph paused, unnerved. He looked for Nayeli again. She was still sitting down, reading the blue diary. He settled, and walked around to peer over her shoulder, interested in what she might have been reading.
It was in Sheeva's writing. He nodded as he realized that this was the diary that she'd left them-the one that had gotten them in this situation in the first place.
"Your mother misses you. You wake up now." He said to her, thinking that maybe he'd slipped into some bizarre alternate dimension. She ignored him too, turning the page when she'd finished reading it.
As if on cue, Sheeva opened the doorway to the library, walking in, dagger in hand, appearing to be possessed. Her face scared the hell out of Joseph. Snake-like, she made her way to where Nayeli sat, hiding the dagger behind her back. She gave Nayeli a soft smile as Nayeli looked up and said "hello" to her mother.
"You are reading my diary." Sheeva commented in Kadessian. Joseph's gut sank, and he stood in front of her; shielding Nayeli from her murderous mother. Sheeva gave him a stern glare.
"Move aside, Joseph. I want to see my daughter." She growled. Joseph shook his head. She pushed him aside, and stood behind Nayeli, resting her hand on Nayeli's shoulder.
"I am very proud of you, Nayeli. I love you, very much." She whispered, moving some of Nayeli's hair behind her ear. All the while, she kept the same, blank stare. She raised the dagger, the blade shining and reflecting the light of the candles back in Joseph's face.
Joseph rushed at Sheeva, pinning her to the bookshelf and restraining the hand that held the dagger above Sheeva's head.
"Do not interfere! I am setting her free! You will let me go! That is an order!" She screeched, raising her leg to kick him between the legs. He closed them quickly, capturing her thigh between his before it could make contact with his gonads.
He pried the dagger from her hands and turned it around, hitting her in the temple with the handle of the dagger. Her eyes fluttered closed as she fell unconscious and limp in his arms. He set her down carefully, and turned to Nayeli. She was now paying attention to him, smiling.
"Thank you." She'd said, but it was warbled and distorted. He tried to squint his eyes to focus on her a little more, but it didn't work.
He snapped his eyes open, and sat up, severely disturbed. Draco was standing over him, a worried look on his face. Joseph looked around, confused. He didn't remember falling asleep in a bed. He searched for the chair that he was sure he'd fallen asleep in. It was tucked underneath a desk by an unoccupied bed.
"I wanted to wake you up so that you could say goodbye to Sheeva. She wants to leave tomorrow morning." He explained. Joseph stood out of bed, shaking himself to help get his mind off of that bizarre dream. He looked over at Nayeli, and in the better light, she looked very peaceful.
"There's a pretty dark handprint on her neck." Draco stated when he followed the direction of Joseph's eyes. Joseph nodded, and felt a hand on his arm. He looked at it, and it was the shadowy figure. He brightened a little, feeling relieved. Now that he looked at it, it did seem to resemble Nayeli.
He hurried to the dungeons, and waited for Draco to open the door. They stepped inside, and Joseph paused, staring at the many luggage bags lying around. He felt strangely angry.
"Captain." He announced his presence. He crossed his arms, scowling.
Sheeva walked out of her bedroom a little later, staring up at him. Her pale face had thinned immensely, and her hair was disheveled.
"Tam?" (Yes?) She asked, crossing her arms and scowling at him.
"So, the captain is giving up?" He began in Kadessian. She took a deep breath, and stared at the floor.
"I must leave. I almost killed my daughter. I hurt my husbands. I gave you a black eye, for Guyana's sake. I cannot tear my family apart like this. I am not… sane, Joseph. I need to leave."
Joseph leaned against the dresser, sighing.
"It is not a bad thing, to be scared. You're still somewhat sane, Captain. This all means something, you know." He explained, trying to put it into perspective. Blaise and Draco waited their conversation out, unable to understand it. Sheeva scoffed and rolled her eyes at him.
"Like what? Tell me how, or even what it means, because I must be too stupid to see it, Mr. Arrogant." She hissed, angered. His chest hurt slightly, but he forced it off his shoulders.
"You are willing to let your daughter go, because you want her to move on. Now… Kathryn has something that she would like to research a little bit more. Your husbands still need some time for that plant to finish growing." He pointed out. He paused a little, gathering his thoughts, and when he opened his mouth to speak, she cut him off.
"You do not—
He held up his hand to signal that he still had more to say, trying to be patient with the rude side of Sheeva.
"I am just pointing out that while you are ready to move on, everyone else is not. And, until they are ready to move on, they need you by their side. You are a mother and a wife. Severus needs you, Sheeva. Kathryn is barely holding him together as it is. He weeps for his sister in his sleep, and mopes when Kathryn is not around. Jeffrey will be devastated if you leave. Draco and Blaise will be hurting, too. Your duties are to your family now, and—
-What do you know of family, Cowles? You think you can walk in here and tell me how to—
-you interrupt me one more time, Cap-tain." He growled, taking a few steps toward her and pointing his finger in her face. He turned his back on her, forcing himself to calm down.
"Look. I know you want to leave, but give it another week, at least. Give it until they're all out of ideas. As your Captain now, I am telling you to stay." He begged. She scowled at him.
"Since when do you appoint yourself Captain, boy?" She snapped. He smirked.
"Well, you're not sane, and Senator Bahkrieva's not here, which temporarily makes me Captain." He explained.
"You cannot—
-Zakkari did the same thing to me. You were dead, and I was out of my mind. He assumed leadership to prevent me from making what would have been the last mistake of my life. I'm keeping you from making a pretty bad mistake." He cut her off once more. She stared at him, dumbfounded. Technically, he was completely right.
The clock struck and it rang six times. Joseph calmed as he listened to the tune of the grandfather clock. He readjusted his cowl and checked his hair in the mirror.
"I have ball to go to." He announced, surprising the hell out of the three of them. Blaise smirked, happy that Joseph was breaking out of his arrogance. Perhaps, being stuck in a foreign world had much to do with it.
"Do you even know how to dance?" Draco asked. Joseph shrugged.
"I know many Kadessian dances. Amanda said she will teach me."
Sheeva sighed, and shook her head.
"You are not going with your hair like that. Sit." She ordered. Joseph gave her a questioning look.
"My hair is fine. I used…" Unable to find the word, he searched for the item on the dresser. As he found the hairbrush, he picked it up and showed it to her.
"Brushing your hair is not good enough, Cowles. If you are going to the Masquerade Ball, you will need to have your hair pulled back, at least. Now, sit down." She ordered. Blaise caught Draco's eye, shifting his eyes to Sheeva.
We should go too. He mouthed. Draco nodded, thinking along the same lines.
"Hey, Sheeva…" Draco started, keeping his eyes locked with Blaise momentarily. Blaise nodded to egg him on.
"Hm?" She asked, brushing Joseph's hair roughly. Joseph winced when she would pull out a hair or two, but at the same time, whenever she tugged roughly at a tuft of it, it turned him on slightly. He scowled in the mirror to feign irritation, crossed his arms, and crossed his legs to hide his slight arousal.
She put his hair into a ponytail at the base of his neck, leaving a section of his bangs forward. It was simple, but the transformation was pretty astonishing. Joseph was speechless. He looked at Sheeva in the mirror, his face conveying his shock.
"Thank you." He muttered. She nodded.
"You are welcome. I am… sorry, for the way I acted." She mentioned to Joseph, but turned to Draco.
Blaise had slipped off to ask Jeffrey if he wanted to go with them, or stay. Draco scooped Sheeva up into a hug.
"Do you want to go? It would be a chance for us to reconnect, at least." He asked. Sheeva softened in his hold, and slowly nodded her head.
"Yes, I… suppose that would be… good." She whispered. Joseph stood and brushed off his cowl, then headed for the door.
"I will see you soon." He mentioned before leaving. He shifted his arm to rest comfortably in its sling in his cowl, and continued walking. He bumped into Severus and Kathryn snogging in a hidden corner of the hallway. Severus had his hands buried in her hair, pinning her against the wall.
"How'd you know that we were here? I cast a muffliato and a cloaking charm." Kathryn asked, confused. Joseph smirked at her.
"I am trained to track and kill." He mentioned, as though saying: "duh…"
Kathryn was wearing a red dress, her long curly hair beginning to fall out of its beret. Severus grabbed his wand and flicked it, fixing her hair to straighten itself out. She giggled and thanked him, taking his hand and began to walk to the Great Hall. Severus had on a red, silky, shirt underneath a black suit, and the red contrast beautifully against his dark skin.
Joseph paused as he stepped into the hall. His jaw dropped, and he gazed at the transformation. The tables and chairs rested against the walls, shrunk to fit nicely. Candles decorated with flowers floated in the air, giving off an ethereal glow. Streamers of many colors hung from the ceiling, and various masks floated about in front of the patrons.
A particular navy blue color stood out to him, and he reached out and grabbed it. Sure enough, it was there, tangible, in his hand. He caught himself smiling at it, but then blinked it away, shifting his eyes from side to side to see if anyone else had noticed.
Someone tapped him on the shoulder, and he turned sharply, taken by surprise.
Amanda stood there, her long hair in a braid, the short hair feathered out. She wore a dark blue dress, almost the same color as the mask that Joseph was holding. Her pale skin stood out against the fabric of the dress, and seemed smooth. She had a light blush on her cheeks, whether from make-up or her body's reaction, he wasn't sure. Still, she looked incredibly cute.
Her blue eyes twinkled at him as she smiled and dipped her head.
"Hello, Joseph." She greeted him. He gave her a smile when he snapped out of his reverie, and bowed as gracefully as he could with only one useful arm.
"You look beautiful." He commented, a rare shy smirk on his face. She grinned and blushed even more, scratching the back of her neck.
"Heh, thank you. Um… do you want to dance?" She asked. He nodded slowly, uncertain.
"I do not know any… human dances." He admitted. She nodded.
"I remember, you said so. It's easy, really. How is your arm?" She asked, touching it lightly. It sent a shiver along Joseph's spine. Not from pain, but just a weird tingle.
"I still cannot use it well." He admitted, bummed. He was getting used to being one-handed. She nodded, and took his hand gently and rested it on her hip, then grabbed his other hand and rested her hand in it. She took a step back, and he figured he should take a step forward. She stepped to the side, and he stepped with her.
"Did you practice with someone?" She asked, as she led them into a waltz. He shook his head.
"We have a few dances in my… home." He muttered, suddenly feeling homesick. He tried not to frown, but failed.
"Oh, that's right. You're not originally from here, are you?" She recalled, testing to see if he knew to spin her. Intuitively, he did, and inwardly smirked. It was almost too easy. It was very much like the Kotus turventia, one of the first dances that he'd been forced to learn in his younger years in school. Surprisingly, it came in handy on a few undercover missions he'd needed to complete.
"Iye. Er, no. I am not." He blurted in Kadessian. She stared at him, intrigued. She wanted to hear more of this language.
"So where are you from? Professor Longbottom never said." She continued, her eyes conveying her curiosity. Joseph thought for a moment, trying to remember what Sheeva had told him to say, if ever confronted about it. For the life of him, he couldn't, and found himself admitting the truth.
"I am from Kadessa." He told her. She blinked, and gave him a funny look.
"Where is that? I've never heard of it." She asked. Joseph felt his gut tighten, as a sixth sense seemed to tell him not to say anything at all. Matter of fact, he'd already said too much, he felt. He quickly thought of a lie, wanting to rattle off that it was in a country called Turkey (which he found secretly hilarious, because it shared a name with a type of human fowl).
But as he opened his mouth, Sheeva walked up to them, smiling. Whether it was genuine or not, he couldn't tell. Either way, he was thankful for the interruption.
"You two look cute together." She stated. Joseph sneered, annoyed that she'd called him "cute".
"Thank you, Miss Sheeva." Amanda whispered, turning a shade redder than she'd been previously. Sheeva walked behind Amanda and flashed Joseph a warning look. He nodded slowly to show he understood. He wasn't to let on where he was from.
"Do you like to read?" He asked. Amanda smiled and nodded, beginning to talk about her favorite book, The Jungle Book, by Rudyard Kipling. He tried to pay as much attention as he could, but due to his limited English, he could only understand bits and pieces.
Apparently, a human boy was raised by a "pack of wolves", whatever those were, and was being hunted by something called a "tiger". Regardless, it sounded interesting, and when he became fluent in English, he made a mental note to read it.
The room definitely became more and more crowded by the minute as students continued to file in. Someone bumped into Amanda as the dancing picked up. She was thrown forward, and, being such a petite girl, she couldn't fight the force.
Joseph caught her and held her steady. He glared at the person that bumped into her, and then flashed an apologetic look as he realized it was her friend. She'd done it intentionally. The woman winked at him and smirked, turning back to dance with her partner.
"Oh, sorry, I'm not normally this clumsy…. It's just these shoes, I… Erm…" Amanda apologized, embarrassed. Joseph smirked at her. So she had a sense of decency and proper morals…
He shook his head and held her upright, continuing to dance with her. She smiled and found herself wrapping her arms around his neck, taking him by surprise. He felt nervous, and his gut tightened. She was a little too close for his liking.
"Thank you, for coming with me." She whispered, smiling as she looked into his eyes. They were half-lidded, with an extremely dreamy expression in them. He furrowed his brow, somewhat confused, and somewhat… unnerved. This was moving quite fast for him, and he didn't like it.
When she said "thank you", he flashed back to the dream that he'd had earlier that day. He fought hard to not remember the way that Nayeli had thanked him for saving her from her crazy mother. He was frozen and stunned as the vividness of the dream came back to him.
"Can I… kiss you?" Amanda asked, tilting her head up, blushing madly. He couldn't speak as he began to feel the shadow's presence, boring into his heart and mind. It was incredibly jealous, almost furious, and he felt his heart aching, as though he were the one about to watch someone he wanted be kissed by another.
When she placed her lips to his, he began to shake, giving out a whimper as the shadow exploded in fury, swarming and engulfing him in its darkness. He felt a pulling sensation from inside his gut, and he feared that he'd been sliced open, or even stabbed. He looked at himself, and he couldn't see a damn thing.
He could no longer feel the warmth of the room, or even the warmth of Amanda. He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that someone would call to him and bring him out of the darkness, just like Jeffrey did. He opened his eyes when the pulling sensation faded and his breathing slowed to an even, relaxed pace.
He was shocked to find himself in the hospital wing, alone in the dimly-lit room, illuminated only by the moonlight streaming in through the window.
"What you want! Who are you?" He barked out in the darkness, angered. This was the final straw. He kicked a desk, threw a chair across the room, and stormed up and down the aisle of beds, throwing a fit.
He forced himself to stop, as he realized that he was being incredibly childish.
The shadow had taken a completely visible shape. Joseph stared at it, and it stared back. Taking a deep breath and sighing out of pity and shame, he approached it.
"What you want from me?" He asked, defeated. The shadow reached out and gently touched his cheek, caressing it with the back of its knuckles. He shuddered—the hand was freezing cold. Despite the cold, it filled him with a sense of completeness, as though it were forgiving him.
"I am sorry. I did not want her to do that." He muttered to it. He swore that where its mouth was, a pair of lips curved into a smile. Lost in the moment, Joseph found himself reaching out to it, wondering if he could touch it the same way that it was touching him.
To his dismay, his hand fell straight through the shadow, and he drew his hand back quickly, apologizing in Kadessian. He stared at the shadow, lost. He didn't know what he could do now, except suggest something completely absurd.
"Are you Nayeli's soul?" He asked it. It made no noise, but only stared at him. He tiredly stared back, out of ideas.
To his complete shock, the shadow leaned forward and placed a cold, eerie pair of "lips" on his. He sucked in a breath and his eyes widened as he felt the shadow flow into his body, his oral and chest cavity going stone cold as the shadow invaded his body.
Shivering, he wrapped his arms around himself and looked around, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. The shadow was gone! His knees buckled, and he fell to the floor, barely managing to catch himself on the bedrail. He tried in vain to pull himself back up, terrified.
The shadow was killing him! Surely, and slowly, it was suffocating him! He tried to scream, but the sound was swallowed in the ongoing darkness. He pounded on the floor, on the rail, trying to force a breath into his lungs, screaming for air! Dizzied and defeated, he lied back on the cold stone floor, watching in horror as the ceiling seemed to become further and further away. His sight dimmed… and his arms grew heavy.
His arm fell to the floor. His hand gave a final twitch. His sight went black, and his body became completely unresponsive.
Pale, inattentive, and numb, he stood, staring down at the bed's occupant. His lips were blue, and his eyes drooped almost closed.
He pulled the air tube and the food tube from the woman's throat, letting it fall aside carelessly. He leaned down, hesitating for a minute before planting his cold lips against the warm, plump ones.
A whoosh of air left Joseph's lips as the shadow escaped and rushed into the body in the bed. Nayeli's body convulsed, arching off of the bed as the shadow filled the void, trying to scream, but only letting out a sickly, eerie raspy noise. Joseph fell to the floor.
Joseph felt his strength return to him, and as he seemed to settle back into his correct state of mind, he pulled himself up using the spare bed. He accidentally knocked over a metal cart as he watched Nayeli twist and turn. He slapped his hands to his ears as she gave out a deafening screech out of what must have been immense pain. He watched, confused to high hell. He wasn't even aware that he had control of his own body, let alone able to breathe.
The door slammed open, and he turned around, eyes wide and scared.
Madam Pomfrey was hurrying toward him, a confused look in her eye. As she neared the two, she saw that Nayeli was awake, hyperventilating. She grabbed her wand and waved it, and a paper bag materialized in front of her. She opened it, closed off the end, and placed it to Nayeli's mouth, trying to help her to calm down and slow her breathing.
It worked, and Nayeli eventually calmed down, breathing evenly. She lied back and closed her eyes, trying to figure out what was going on.
Madam Pomfrey looked at Joseph sternly, either pissed or scared, he wasn't sure.
"What happened?" She asked. Joseph didn't even know how to respond, let alone where to begin.
"I-I…I do not… I—
Madam Pomfrey shook her head, and ordered him to stay where he sat, rushing out of the hospital wing. She ran all the way down the four flights of stairs, her brown robes billowing behind her. She barreled into the Grand Hall.
"Sheeva! Draco! Blaise!" She cried out as loudly as she could, scanning the overgrown crowd. The entire Zabini-Malfoy family rushed out into the clearing, scared at the Medi-witch's hasty actions. She stared at them for a minute, then shook her head.
"Come with me! Nayeli, she's-she's awake!" She barked, picking up the hem of her dress and running back out the door. When she realized they weren't with her, she halted and rushed back.
"Come on then! What are you waiting for?" She spat.
They all followed her, unable to believe their ears. Draco picked up Jeffrey and let him ride on his back, and they slowed as they reached the hospital door, panting, nervous and scared. Madame Pomfrey opened the door and magically lit some candles to illuminate the dark room.
Severus shuffled in first, followed by Jeffrey, who hopped down off of Draco's back and ran through the open door.
"Sissy!" He cried out, running up to her and throwing his arms around her in a hug. Severus rushed forward too, ecstatic as he encased his sister in a hug as well. Kathryn followed, almost barreling them over onto the bed as she wrapped her arms around them all.
"You're awake, you son of a bitch!" She blurted, beginning to cry.
Draco and Blaise stared, then shook their heads, turning to see if Sheeva was alright. She'd paled, and to say that she looked stunned would be an understatement. Her knees buckled, and she fell forward, fainting. Blaise caught her, and Draco helped him to pick her up and carry her inside.
They set her down in a bed, covering her with the sheets, and then finally turned to Nayeli when the others broke away.
"Dads." She said, giving them a small smile. They scooped her into a hug, and she fought to hug them back. After a little over two months, her muscles were weak from not being used.
"What… happened? Is mom ok?" She asked, looking at all of them. Draco and Blaise paused, looking at one another.
"Umm… Nayeli, there's a lot that we have to explain. We should wait until we can all talk about it." Blaise answered, trying to stall for time.
Kathryn pulled away, looking for Joseph. He had actually been here before them all, she'd noticed.
"What happened Joseph? Were you here?" She asked. Slowly, he nodded his head yes, still scared out of his mind. She quirked an eyebrow at him, and crossed her arms.
"Ok. Will you explain what happened?" She asked. He stared at her with scared wide eyes, and shook his head no. To be completely honest, he couldn't even begin to comprehend what had happened within the last half hour, it seemed.
Kathryn set a comforting hand on his slung arm, and patted it lightly. He looked almost like death itself. He reminded her of herself every time she came back from the orphanage.
"Hey, what's today?" Nayeli asked, bringing Kathryn back to what was happening around her. Kathryn braced herself.
"It's April 6th." She answered. Nayeli's expressions dropped as the date registered in her mind.
Ha, how do you like that? Whelp, hope you enjoyed the chapter! This isn't all, there's still some other things that I need to wrap up in this story. Expect quite a few more chapters.
Ciao!