✧The Earthe of the Elves✧

31

"She's going to have another vision," Rose says, her voice urgent. It's clear she wants to leave and see what's going on with the Cin rather than be here. "We can't do anything to help. Unless you want to knock her out. Take her to her room, I'm going outside."

Unless you want to knock her out. Okay Mia, knock yourself out please. When darkness threatens my world again I let it, hoping it will pull me under and I can get a break from this pain. This is a million times worse than that headache I had one time in Earth; it was so bad that I had to take a few pills and even then it didn't completely fade. This is way, way worse.

My attempt half works, but not completely. Some part of me still wants to fight the darkness. So I end up half-conscious. Great.

My limbs go limp, my head falls back and my eyes close on their own. Knox shifts so my head lulls forward to rest against his chest, and he says something I can barely hear to El.

We must've used a transport stone, because a second later we are at my room. I feel someone take my hand and bring it to my door, the vines carved into it molding to my fingers to unlock it.

By this point my throat is raw and tired, my hand throbs, and I'm physically exhausted. So when the next wave of drilling pain flashes through my brain the only thing I do is let out a pained moan and grit my teeth. I knew the visions were getting worse, but oh my god, this is ridiculous. I'm sick of it, okay brain? S I C K.

"I'll be back, stay strong Mia," Elanil says, squeezing my arm. I want to push the darkness back again, but I'm too tired at this point. It feels like pins and needles are stabbing my body all over, like that feeling when you sit on your foot for too long then walk on it. But everywhere. And worse.

Knox lowers me down onto my bed, pulling up a pillow so I can sit up a bit. When I blink I can see more clearly, but there 's still darkness swimming in my vision. The feeling returns to my limbs as I run my hands over my soft sheets, only to pull it back when I see red spots through my muffled sight. Right, I cut my hand.

Knox grabs something from the desk by my bed and sits next to me. I can feel his hand shaking slightly as he takes mine. He must put leftover healing cream into my cut, which is why my hand washes over with a cooling sensation when he touches it. It feels so still inside my room, though I can hear movement and screams and snow crunching outside.

A moment later El comes back in a haze of fog, something in hand. I can't tell what.

"Mia," I hear a voice, a voice I recognize and don't at the same time. The same one in my other vision. Suddenly the pain that had been subsiding comes crashing back, like I just slammed my head into a brick wall. It's excruciating. My whole body tenses, and I let out an agonized sound. Knox grabs my uninjured hand, squeezing it, and El brings over a tiny glass full of a green liquid. My head aches again, and I squeeze my eyes shut as hard as I can, gripping Knox's hand so tight I'm sure it's not comfortable, but neither of us care.

"Drink it," she commands, holding it to my mouth. I grab it and drink it in one gulp, ignoring the way holding the glass sends a tendril of pain out from the cuts on my hand.

It tastes like mint and some other fruity taste I don't recognize. I feel the current of whatever it is pulling me under, and I let it, relieved.

The world around me fades in an instant.

-

Summer birds chirp and twirl their notes around me. My face feels hot, and my closed eyelids are penetrated with sunlight. I open my eyes, sitting up from where I was lying on the dirt. I look around, seeing a forest. Dead leaves scatter the ground, and trees rise up in all directions around me, their leaves bright green, their bark white and brown and rough. Sunlight dapples the ground around me, filtering through the leaves, making them look translucent.

I can see colors. I don't feel weird, I feel like I'm actually here. I can control my movements and thoughts. This is different.

I stand, brushing dead leaves and dirt off of the back of my clothes. Looking down, I'm dressed in a red shirt, a jacket, and plain black, straight jeans. My mouth parts in surprise. This is the outfit I wore... One day at home. Was it the day before I came to Earthe, or the day before that? It doesn't matter.

"Hello?" I say loudly, listening to my voice travel through the expanse of air around me. A yellow butterfly flutters past, a bluebird screeches from it's perch on it's branch. I walk over to a maple tree and run my hand along the bark, feeling the rough grooves scrape at my skin. Why does it feel so real?

Since I have no clue what's happening, I just pick the direction that feels right and start walking, leaves and grass crunching underfoot.

I have no clue how long I've been walking, but it's been a long time. Long enough that I'm starting to wonder if I should try to wake myself up. But how, and why would I have as much pain as I did just to get to a meaningless vision? Clearly it's taking energy to create this vision, so I should probably stay. Something in me agrees, so I keep walking.

As I walk more and start to feel tired, I also start to lose the vividness of the vision. The trees are starting to take on a more wintry, dead quality, and the birds don't sing. After what feels like another hour the landscape, still sunny and cheerful, is beginning to smear together, like a wet paintbrush swiping over a freshly painted canvas. Maybe I should just stop, the vision is about to end, I can feel it.

Just as I'm thinking about turning around, I see a flash of red. My pace quickens, eager to finally reach somewhere. Another butterfly flies past me, but it's wings are misshapen, smeared, almost like 2-D, with the rest of the world. I can feel my breaths coming out in huffs as I run to the treeline. The forest is starting to lose color now, and I even see a tree melt to the ground like candle wax under intense heat, which kind of freaks me out.

Finally I reach the treeline, and I stop to stare.

I'm in my town, although the buildings are fuzzy. I scan the area looking for anything helpful. There is one bright area, one bright building, and that's my school and the streets behind it. Red brick walls stare back at me, white doors I've walked in countless times. I can feel myself losing a grip on whatever is giving me this vision, and although I want to look around more I just keep staring at the school. And somehow I just know.

The Heartstone is at my school.

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Hmmmmm.... Anyone have any predictions on what's gonna happen w/ her visions?

-A