23rd Sun's Dusk… 2200…

Azriel sat up on the small sofa and looked around the enormous room. The blue light seemed to emanate from the very walls and it confused her. She had no memories past opening the door to Valerica's study. No memory of how she had come to be on the sofa in the first place.

"Aela?"

Azriel cleared her throat and tried again louder. "Aela? Where are you?"

She tried to sit up, but her entire body refused. She was exhausted beyond anything she had felt before. The worst part was she couldn't remember anything, not even her dreams.

"Serana… where are you?" Tears leaked from her eyes from the strain of trying to move. "Why won't you answer me?"

She tried to look around the room, but the light burned her eyes.

She looked up at the strung herbs that decorated the entire ceiling. She managed to look around the room filled with reagents and potions. They lined the walls and shelves.

"Aela? Serana?" She called as loudly as she could without using her Thu'um.

Azriel forced herself to move this time.

Her entire body screamed at her in futile resistance.

Serana knelt down next to Azriel as she slept. Her body shivered as she called out for Serana again. "Aela, she's burning up."

"Just let her sleep. She's notorious for staying awake for too…"

Azriel sat up and her eyes opened. "Aela? Serana? Why won't you answer me?"

"We're right here, Azriel." Serana whispered.

Aela knelt down next to Serana. "She's dreaming."

Serana watched Azriel shiver again.

"Please… where are you?" Azriel choked back a sob at the empty room. It was all so confusing and so very painful to make her body respond to her commands.

It broke Serana's heart to hear so much sadness in her voice. She made to reach for Azriel and Azriel shifted.

Azriel looked down at her bag and pulled it open. She reached into it and pulled out the small bottle. She looked around again with the bottle hidden in her hand.

The room was absolutely devoid of life.

"Aela? Aela, where are you?" Azriel held the tiny bottle tightly and rubbed her face. How did I get in here? Where are they?

She tried to stand, but almost fell.

The room held no windows. Nothing gave her a clue as to the time. The lack of anything fresh in the room made her shiver again. Even the cold breeze from the outside didn't help. Everything in the room hadn't been touched in millennia and the thought made her bristle.

She wondered if she would die there. Like one of the flowers on the shelves, she wondered if she'd wilt. Lost to time like the object the room contained. And there were many.

Azriel tried once again to stand, only to fail. She leaned back, trying to catch her breath. She had no idea why she hurt so badly. Her eyes burned, her body was sore, and even her brain seemed to be in a fog.

Azriel closed her eyes, trying to take a steady breath. She focused on her breathing, letting the air move in and out of her lungs.

The pain is so much worse than before…

She found herself slipping and tried to catch herself. The sudden movement sent new spasms over her body. Slowly, she wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand and forced herself to relax again.

"I'm confused. Her eyes are open, but she doesn't see us." Serana whispered to Aela.

Azriel opened her eyes to see the walls moving without sound. Only the blue light emanated from the walls like a vision underwater, but they moved as if they had life. "Stop it!"

Aela waved her hand in front of Azriel's face. "She doesn't see a thing. It's just like when she…" Aela paused and looked at Azriel's fist. "No…"

"No? No, what?" Serana furrowed her brow in question.

Aela tore her gaze from Azriel shadowed face to look at Serana. "How many days has she gone without sleep?"

"At once or total?"

"At once."

Serana thought about the question. "Most of them. She only sleeps for an hour or two at most."

"And she doesn't eat either? When asked, does she say 'she's not hungry'?" Aela looked back at Azriel, scrutinizing her.

"Yes. Why?" Serana watched as Aela's eyes shifted to amber.

"Her moods… do they seem… irregular? Brooding one moment, angry the next, almost as if she was Chaos itself?"

Serana nodded, but didn't answer out loud.

"Does she keep fidgeting? Moving when she doesn't need to?" Aela's voice carried a hard edge to it. She was staring at Azriel's hand.

"Yes, constantly. Aela, what is it?" Serana asked nervously.

"I'm going to kill her, Serana."

Azriel shifted once more, this time her hand came up. She popped the top of the bottle off with her thumb and looked at it.

Aela grabbed her hand and Azriel's looked right at her frightened. "Where did you come from? You were gone and…"

"What is this, Dragonborn?" The fury in Aela's voice was unmistakable to Serana.

Azriel looked at her hand and looked at Aela. Serana saw the fear in her eyes.

"It's nothing."

"You call this nothing?" Aela forced her fingers to open, revealing the small bottle in her hand. "I will not go through this again with you!"

Azriel tried to pull her hand free and Aela pulled her to her feet. "Did you fucking hear me, Dragonborn?" Aela slammed her against the wall. "I said I will not deal with your drug addiction."

Serana looked between them, appalled. "What are you talking about?"

Aela pulled the bottle from Azriel's hand and held it up. "This poison she drinks."

Azriel reached for it and Aela punched her in the face.

"Aela!" Serana grabbed Aela and pulled her away. "You're hurting her!"

Aela snarled at Azriel. "Not like she hurts herself!"

Aela slammed Azriel against the wall. "How long?!"

Azriel's eyes were wide. "No, Aela… you don't understand!"

"I asked you… how long?" Aela roared at her, slamming her against the wall again.

"Aela, stop it!" Serana shouted at her, but Aela ignored her.

"Answer me, Dragonborn. Or I swear to the Gods themselves I will send you back to Sovngarde." Her amber eyes were full of fury. "How long have you been hooked on skooma this time?"

ChildofSithis - You had so many good guess, but I do hope you enjoyed this. "You would have never guessed." LoL

ShutUpandCalculate - Her addiction was always present throughout the story. That's not a trait of a Mary Sue.

Tomed Ceht - Thanks for re-reading this and for listening (as always)! You are the cutest werewolf ever and stop looking at me like that...

Timberwolf - There are only a couple more left under this short-story arc. You're almost there...

MightyMerlin - Thanks for being a sounding board! It took me forever to bring the story back around to her addiction. I was biding my time and damnit it if didn't take forever to get it to the 'right' spot.

For the rest of you - check my profile. I added some new stuff that's for the Lore, complete with links. It covers a few things about Dragons and Dragonlings. Have fun! Oh, and I look forward to your comments on this chapter.