Another World

Prologue

Prologue

Ohnoha

"Paroe you ready," Annalise asks in a whisper.

"About as ready as anybody could be while running away from Marro and his men" Paroe responds a little louder than Annalise.

"Paroe, not this again you know we're linked together." She walks to the door of the cabin she's in.

"I know, I know, but that doesn't mean I have to like it." Paroe walks to the door as well, in his human form. He walks out the door that Annalise was holding open.

Annalise seems to look back at the room she grew up in. Her face looks as though she is in deep concentration; she seems to be lost in thought.

"Annalise, are you coming? You know they may still come here." Paroe asks from outside the room.

Annalise shakes her head and looks away from the room, "I'm coming, I just forgot something." She walks out, locks the door and puts the key in her pocket.

"Alright let's go over the plan again." Paroe says.

"We walk to the forest, when we get there you shift into an eagle and fly as far and as fast as you can get. When we get to the next town we by some food and supplies, then we hike the rest of the way to council headquarters," Annalise turns sharply to stare at Paroe when she says, "but you have to stay in your human form so..."

Annalise is abruptly cut off by an annoyed Paroe, "...I don't arouse suspicions since humans think that titans have gone extinct, yeah, yeah, I get it."

Annalise scowls at Paroe's condescending tone. "When we get to headquarters we persuade them to hide us and protect us from Marro, if they hear about what Marro wants us for then they are sure to protect us."

Paroe frowns and says, "I still don't like this plan." He sounds dismayed.

Annalise turns to Paroe, a look of pity in her eyes, "Roe it's not too late, you can still go back to Tia and Psani, there's no way to know how long I will be running from Marro."

"Wherever you go, I go. Anna, you and I, we're a packaged deal and even though I may complain I won't turn my back on you, that would be betrayal."

"I won't see it as such; I would see it as you needing to be with your mate and son. I love you Roe and I don't want to see you hurt." Annalise says in a pleading voice.

Paroe turns to Annalise, his face annoyed. "Anna I already explained this to you, our minds and our spirits are linked, if I was to leave and Marro was to capture you I could never live with myself. I would go on a rampage looking for you and he would kill me because I won't stop until you're safely back where you belong. If I die then you will die as well. Also, you already know that once we started sharing souls we can't be separated for too long."

Anna frowned, "I understand all that but I would still feel better if you were out of harm's way."

"I could say the same thing about you but I can't change Marro's evil ways, can I"? Paroe says with a small pensive smile.

Annalise sighs, throws up her calash so she is not recognized, shakes her head and looks at the ground as she and Paroe start walking.

They make their way through the night quietly. Unbeknownst to either of them one of Marro's dreadful men had been following them and knew of the plan to hide away at the council. When Annalise and Paroe started walking so did the hidden man, only he was walking in the opposite direction, towards Marro's hidden castle.

__________________________


A man with brown hair and eyes the color of onyx sat upon a velvet throne. He was wearing dark clothes. This is Marro, the man Annalise and Paroe thought of with such apprehension. He is the man that has been hunting down Annalise and many of her ancestors.

"Master, there's a dark Katya member here to see you." A man in red robes said. The man had a scar running the length of his face. It started from his left eyebrow to the bottom of his right cheek. His face was made more menacing by the permanent scowl he wore.

"Why," Marro sits up at attention, "has he captured Amani's spawn." Marro's voice was filled with such excitement, the man almost feared to crush his hope for fear of punishment.

"I don't believe so...he claims he has some valuable information."

"What could possibly be so valuable." Marro ask with a frown.

"I'm not sure, sir." The man says, "but he insisted."

"Alright, send him in but if the information is not worthwhile I want you to dispose of him." Marro says still frowning.

The man turns away, walks to the door and opens it. "The master will see you now," the man says to someone outside the door. He steps aside and in walks another man, this one taller and well built.

The man walks to Marro's throne and drops to one knee. "Master I have news regarding Annalise and her titan," the man says.

"Do you know where they are?" Marro ask with contempt.

"No, but-" the man begins but is cut off by Marro.

Marro glares and starts pacing, "if you cannot tell me where Annalise is then why should I care about whatever other information you have."

"I do not know where they are currently, but I do know where they are heading." The man says quickly trying to get all the information out before Marro loses his temper.

Marro quickly stops in his tracks and turns to the man, he cocks an eyebrow "elaborate."

"I overheard a conversation between her and her titan about what their plan was; they plan on going to the council for protection. I thought it would be killing two birds with one stone if you were to take out the council and retrieve the summoning magic." The man stated matter-of-fact.

Suddenly something the man said had Marro questioning the man. "If you overheard her conversation you would have been close enough to be able to take Annalise and there would not even be any worry about the council."

The man quickly supplied an answer, "I figured that the titan and Annalise would be on guard and there might be chance that she escapes, I am but only one man, against a titan and a summoner I would have died and they may have changed their plan. It occurred to me that if she made it to the council headquarters she would be off-guard, the perfect opportunity to snatch her and destroy the council. The council might have their defenses up higher in anticipation of your attack."

"Then we shan't give them the opportunity to build their defenses any more than they already have. We attack the night she arrives at the castle." Marro looked at the man a while when he snapped out of his trance, he looked the man up and down and then said, "I like you, you're a good schemer, I could use someone like you." Marro turned to the man in the red robe. "Marquis, enlist this man into our guard." He turned back to the man kneeling in front of him, "what is your name."

"I am Oswald of the dark Harlequis wizard Katya." The man said with such pride.

"Well Oswald of the dark Harlequis wizard Katya," Marro says with a sarcastic tone. "You have been promoted to my guard, but for now you are dismissed."

The man, Oswald, stood up from his genuflect, bowed his head, turned around and walked out the door that Marquis was holding open.

Once Oswald walked out Marquis shut the door. "Marro, what do you wish to do with this new information?" Marquis asked.

"This is perfect, more than we could have ever hoped for; I can take out two birds with one stone-or three if you count the titan." Marro was overjoyed and his smile was beaming with happiness. "Marquis, gather all the troops, we will catch them off guard. Tell the spies that have already infiltrated the council palace not to capture Annalise, yet."

"The infiltration and retrieval will begin as a stealth operation; we will kill as many council members in their sleep as we can. Once they sound the alarm, we send the troops in." Marro looks at Marquis, "Marq, are you writing this down."

Marquis looks to Marro and nods his head, "I have it written down as an incantation." Marquis's magic is incantations- or spell writing- he can create all kinds of spells. His words are important for any spell to work. Though he creates the words using magic, there is a certain magic he has to add or the spell won't work, the words will just stay suspended in the air until he either erases them or adds the magic, it's effortless. This is why he often uses his incantations as a notepad, and then erases the information.

Marro begins pacing, "Alright then, there are ten companies of 50 men each, 25 are wizards 25 are not. Four of which shall surround the castle, one company will be left behind here so that there aren't any uninvited guest. Two will storm the castle, once inside they attack anyone insight- Annalise and the titan should be inhibited at this point, no harm should come to either. If there are any wizards restrain them as well, they are to be locked away and used for other purposes. Kill all of the nine council heads. One company will man the long range weapons and the remaining company will fill any of the gaps that may open up. Finally, we will burn down the whole castle."

"Marro is the last company to be shipped to the castle if the numbers start dropping."

"Yes, there will be telepathic wizards monitoring the battle. We will have no surprises."

"When will this be," Marquis ask.

"Ah, yes inform Joeni to keep a look out for Annalise at the castle. When he sees her he is to inform me immediately, the troops will set out on foot the following day- they will keep to the forest so that no one will see them, if we lose surprise, this will be a suicide mission. They should reach the castle that night, at this point Joni and his men should already be murdering the council bastards where they lay."

"Will there be anything else," Marquis inquires.

"No, Marq, that will be all, you're dismissed."

Marquis walks away he leaves behind a smiling Marro.

"I have you now, Amanai, my sweet." Marro smirks.

___________________________

Annalise

I open my eyes to a room that is pitch black.

I smell the distinct scent of death, the only time I
ever smell it is when Marro or his men are present. Maybe it's just a nightmare, but wait that doesn't make sense; scents don't ever find their way into my dreams.

Hands grab me from behind, I open my mouth ready to let out a blood curdling scream when a hand covers my mouth, my eyes go wide.

"Paroe please tell me you're still there and unharmed." I scream into Paroe's head.

I hear a grunt to my left then, I hear Paroe's voice in my head "I'm fine just a little banged up."

"What happened," my eyes are attempting to see in the windowless room.

"You already know that I don't take too lightly to being restrained. They threatened to hurt you if I use any of my powers. I can't risk you getting hurt." I still could not see Paroe or any of the "restrainers" Paroe spoke of.

"I could just summon us out of the room" I thought.

"That won't work either, Marro stormed the castle, and you can't summon us back to the cabin because of how much magic you would need, you're bound to leave some magical indicators. The wizards will probably trace the magic back to Unshyn, and then they would kill off each and every person until they found you. The forest and surrounding towns won't work either, apparently every dark wizard Katya has been given your description and a reward has been put on your head and mine. There seems to be no way out of this one, I'm sorry Anna I know that you had a lot set on the council protecting us from Maroe."

"It's alright Roe, just don't give up hope." Though I was trying to cheer him up I could see no escape myself.

The man holding me started walking towards the direction of the door. He removed his hand from my mouth and shoved me out the door, I was about to let out a scream when I saw the state of the hallway. My eyes watered.

Bodies littered the ground. There was blood everywhere, scorch marks were all over the walls more than likely caused by magic. I look down to see intestines, at that I throw up the contents of my stomach right there on the floor. The guard holding me groans. Paroe and the two guards restraining him walk past me "Anna is you okay." Paroe asks me.

I don't answer him; I don't have it in me to lie right now.

We, Marro's men, Paroe and I, walk a couple paces when suddenly I trip, the man holding me stands me back upright. When I look down to see what caused me to trip I saw a little body. My mind refused to comprehend what that meant. I looked closer and saw the face of a little boy. The boy looked to be about seven year's old, way too young to be dead. When I realized this I lost all control.

I threw my head back until I felt it connect with the head of the man holding me, he let out a yelp and instantly released me, having been caught off-guard. When he released me I turned and put both of my hands on him- I have no idea why I didn't just run or something, but I was no longer thinking for myself. What happens surprises me. The man, right before my eyes, explodes into a thousand little pieces. I don't take the time to question it I run to the men who were holding Roe. I put one hand on each of them, they explode as well, and then I turn around and retch.

"Anna what-how did you just do that?" Roe's voice came from the left of me. He rubbed circles into my back; it was soothing and helped me to calm down.

"To be honest, I don't even know." Suddenly something occurs to me. I look down to my neck to find a lavaliere. The chain was made by the love of my life, which I may never see again.

"I think this might have been Qwen's doing." I say in such a quiet voice.

"What could he have possibly done?" Roe says.

"Remember the chain he gave me to put my mother's pendant on, I think it's M.S.M." M.S.M. - or magic storage metal- it's a metal that is very rare and very expensive. The metal is used to store the magic of the wielder for any number of reasons. Though the metal is unpredictable, it is said that if it is worn by someone- other than the wielder- who possessions old magic, that person's magic mends itself into the magic stored in the medal. Also M.S.M is one of the most beautiful metals on Ohnoha, coupled with the fact that nothing can tarnish it, I could not understand where Qwen could get the money for this.

"What, how could Qwen get his hands on that, do you think he realized you were in trouble, is that why he gave you the chain."

"I may have given him a couple of hints on the whole being on the run thing," a tear slips down my cheek. "now that Marro's found us I'll probably never see him again." More tears dropped from my eyes and down my cheeks, pretty soon my eyes resembled an effusion of water. My heart ached and I wondered if death would be easier than the pain of knowing that will never see Qwen again, but I couldn't do that, not to Roe. He already followed me on this journey. I don't think I could take it if he died because I killed myself, it would be murder.

"Anna I can see where you're headed and you know I could never let you die, you mean too much to me. Don't cry you'll break my heart. There is still a chance we could make it out of here, but not standing here we won't. We will find a way, together."

I wipe my tears with my hands as I stand up. "We better get going before someone comes looking for us."

"Alright, what's the plan?" Roe asks

My eyebrows scrunch, "the plan, the plan." I said my mind blanking, I cannot even think of one good idea. Finally something comes to me I send it straight to Roe's head. "Okay how about, we run out of the castle as fast as we can, if we run into Marro's men we take them down, I think I'll have to use Qwen's power again. Try not to use any of your magic because as soon as our feet touch the ground outside you should shift into an eagle and fly us out of here. Using my magic would be a bad idea without knowing where to go, and going back home uses to much magic, so I'm useless for now. You should fly out for a little while, find the forest we had come across while getting here, then we can walk for a while, not great but it's the best I can come up with for now. You got it."

"Yeah, I got it," then we start running.

We run all the way down the stairs, all the way down about five flights of stairs, I hadn't realized how many stairs we had to climb to get to our room until now. When we get to the bottom I blow up about three more of Marro's men, then we're out the door- good thing to since my magic is running low. Once outside Roe shifts into an eagle, he grabs my shoulders with his claws and flies away. After about five minutes in the air I realize that being in the air is not a great idea- without realizing it flying was the only Annalise and Paroe could have gotten past Marro's four companies surrounding the castle. "Roe do you think you can touch down, the sky is too much of a vantage point even at night, and we need cover."

Roe flies down into the clearing with the tall grass and shrubs. We touch the ground and he shifts into his natural titan form. We start running- again, honesty I feel like I've spent my whole life running. Roe always looks so elegant in his natural form; he looks like the night sky running beside me. Titans have humanoid forms, but their skin is rock solid. Their skin is the black of the night and dotted everywhere with what looked like twinkling stars, they look like reflections of the night sky, and it is absolutely beautiful.

I was admiring titan form when I hear a voice to my left. "Hey you, how did you escape the castle." When I hear this, Roe and I both turn left and start sprinting.

We run for about three minutes when we realize that the men are still gaining on us. "Roe do you think you could shift into a cheetah." He shifts.

When he completes the transformation he slows done a little bit, I hop on his back and we are racing through the night. The gap between us and Marro's men is getting larger. Suddenly I feel some powerful magic.

"Roe you feel that."

"Yeah, do you think it's Marro's doing."

"I don't know, but I would hate to find out."

I look up to the moon illuminating our path, a few paces in front of us is something weird. It looks as though the world has been covered with a plastic bag or that you're looking at the world through a lens. Roe continues foreword

"Roe I'm going to summon us somewhere else things are a little too weird, I feel like we are sitting ducks, the problem is that I don't know where to go."

"Go anywhere; at this point anywhere we go should be better than this."

As soon as Roe thinks this we pass through the weird film, it feels like going through a waterfall but to quickly the feeling ends when I finally decide where it is that I want to go.

It's going to be somewhere with a lot less magic.

A second later Roe and I hit the floor. We both groan, but Roe's groan comes out sounding like a menacing purr. I roll off Roe's cheetah form and fall into what feels like water but way colder. Next to me Roe shifts to his human form.

"Anna I think there's something wrong here." Roe says with disdain.

"Yes, I see that. Roe do you know what this white stuff we're stepping in is."

"No, I don't know what it is but it's freezing. It reminds me of ice."

We start walking, we head south. I wrap my hands around myself, the only other time I have ever been this cold is with the ice makers that belonged to Qwen's Katya- at remembering Qwen's name a tear drops from my eye, it freezes halfway down my rosy cheek. We walk a few more paces when Roe suddenly bursts out "I can no longer take this anymore, it is way too cold." Roe shifts into a piti. It is an animal bigger than a dog whose fur is extremely fluffy and helps against the cold. I had never seen one in person, they are found in only one place on Ohnoha, Mount Oro the coldest place in the whole world. It is considered to be where ice magic originated from.

We walk some more until we step out of the forest and reach what looks to be a thin road we follow it. I'm staring at the narrow road, the road seemed to be made out of rock. The roads at Ohnoha were composed of magic they were cleared flat by magic and kept clear by magic, this road is weird.

As I'm walking I bump into someone.

Roe in his piti form grunts at my side. "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't see you there," the man who I bumped into spoke. I look at him. He's attractive, but not nearly as attractive as my Qwen.

"It is fine; it was I who had not been attentive to my surroundings." As I was saying this I attempt to step around the man, the man held out his hand to stop me. "Oh, wow you're freezing. Where's your coat."

When he says this I frown. "Coat, I am not yet familiarized with the term."

The man's eyebrows shot up. "You know a protective garment worn to protect from the environment, you know like the snow."

"I do not own whatever this coat is...Snow, is that, what the white stuff is." I crouched down and touched the "snow." As soon as it was in my hands it melted away, I accumulated a mass of snow and put it in a ball in my hands. It melted slower. My hands were freezing. I stood up, wiped my hands on my dress and tucked my hands under my arms at my axilla. The man chuckled. I look up at him.

Roe whines at my side. "Anna, I'm freezing and I'm in piti form, you must be cold. Inquire about whatever this "coat" is and see if you could buy it from him before your blood starts curdling."

"How is it that one goes about acquiring this coat?"

The man smirks. "You buy it."

"Alright in exchange for your coat I will give you one shilling."

"What do you mean one shilling, you know what I have a few extra coats at my house I'll give you one."

This makes me suspicious, why give me a "coat" for free. "So you're giving it to me for no charge." My eyes narrow, "why."

"I feel guilty standing here in a coat while you're freezing away."

"Why," I ask again. This time the man just shrugs his shoulders.

My eyes were still narrow when I said the next part, "I hope you know if you attempt to capture me, escape will be easy."

"Why would I capture you?" He asked his brows furrowed.

This time it is I who shrugs my shoulders. "I'm just informing you."

"Okay." He draws out the syllables in the word, and his tone seems condescending, I ignore it- if he tries anything I will not hesitate to kill him. He could still be one of Marro's men, though I am almost certain he is not. Marro's men cannot even feign care. The man starts walking, I follow reluctantly. "My house is at the end of the street."

He stops and turns around. "My name is Robert by the way, Robert Duncan, you are?"

"Annalise." I reply

"What, no surname."

"Surname," I frown at this, "what do you mean surname?"

"You know what never mind." He sticks his hand out. "It's nice to meet you Annalise."

I looked at his hand; he must want the payment after all. I stuck my hands in the pocket of my dress and pulled out one shilling, I put it in his hand.

"What are you doing, what did you put in my hand." He was looking at his hand and the shilling as he said this.

"It's a shilling, you outstretched your hand, I assume it was because you changed your mind and wanted the payment." I said. I could not understand why he couldn't comprehend.

"What no, my hand was outstretched because I wanted to shake your hand."

"Why?" I asked frowning, that seemed like a stupid thing to want to do.

"You know, you shake hands when you meet someone, it's a courtesy, and I don't know why you do it." I could not understand why he would do this. While running from Marro, my whole life, I did not have much contact with people. Before I met Paroe I was constantly alone, the only people I came into contact with were the rapscallions that frequented the shops that I bought my supplies from, and they weren't too keen on making introduction- they just frequently wanted to cause trouble. Then there was Qwen and his Katya members but they were rogues.

"If you don't know why you do it, then why do you do it?" I asked thoroughly confused.

"Look you know what forget it," he put his hands in his pockets. "It's like you grew up on Mars." I chose to ignore this since it will probably be something else he can't answer.

"This human is so confusing; he talks in circles and does unnecessary things." Roe says in my head, I had almost forgotten that he was walking beside us, since he had not said a word.

"I know I do not understand much of what he talks about. We must be in a part of Ohnoha that I had never ventured before." I look around the environment is ridiculous, the trees are odd. They are triangular and the needles are prickly. The architecture of the homes that we pass is nothing that I had ever seen before. The houses were made of red rectangular rocks I had never seen before.

"I don't think so; I have seen much of Ohnoha and have never seen anything like this." Roe replies.

I feel a tap at my shoulder, "my house is over there." He points to a white house that looked like it housed at least ten people comfortably.

I was finally happy, I could sit down if only for a minute my legs were in agonizing pain and had long since frozen completely, my arms, feet and toes were also in the same condition. Instantly I summoned all three of us into the house, as soon as we land I hear a scream at my side.

We find ourselves in a dark room. I think I may have done something wrong, when I realize that the lights are probably off. I summon light, it comes in the form of three lamps which were connected to a cord which seems to be connected to the wall.

"Oh my God, what the hell just happened? Annalise are you okay!" I hear Robert Duncan at my side screaming about something or other, I do not understand why he is being so melodramatic, magic isn't amazing.

"I think you should have warned the human about summoning, you know you have old magic and humans do not know about it." Roe says as he shifts to his human form at my side. He had clothes because I would not allow him to stay in his human form without clothes, it was entirely too uncomfortable. So he bought a clothes charm at one of the Katyas we had passed on our journey to the council's castle.

I hear a scream at my side coming from Robert Duncan. "Robert Duncan what is wrong."

He points at Roe, his face ashen. "He just became a-a man." Robert Duncan looked scared and could not understand why, had he never seen magic, if Roe had been in his titan form I could understand his shock and maybe even fear, humans believed the titans had been extinct, but they had just gone into hiding.

"Well yes that's because he is a shape-shifter."

Paroe speaks out loud for the first time since we met Robert Duncan. "Anna this human acts as though he has never seen magic."

"Magic," Robert Duncan says in a squeak, then his eyes roll and he faints.

"Anna I am so confused. This human is the weirdest creature I have ever encountered."

I sigh, "I know, I think we should stay here until. He wakes up, alright."

Roe says nothing, he walks over to one of the long fluffy chairs and lies down, he's asleep instantly, I can tell because when Roe is unconscious he shifts back to his natural, titan form. I walk over to the other long fluffy chairs; my limbs seem to way thousands of pounds. I lie down and fall asleep instantly as well.

While asleep I dream of a world without magic. It was a nice dream and I didn't have to keep running away from Marro's men.

________________________

I wake to pokes and probes of my face. I instantly shoot up, bombarded by memories of Marro's attack on the council's castle and a blubbering human.

"I truly thought that I had dreamt you up." I look to my left and see Robert Duncan at my left, he is crouched. I frown at him.

"Roe you up."

"Yeah, I woke before the human; he woke up maybe a minute before you did. He didn't see my Titan form. I think his heart would have stopped." I can feel the smirk on his face and just as I had thought when I turn my head to the right I see Roe lounging, in his human form a smirk in his face. When I see him I shake my head and smirk as well.

"What's wrong, what happened, why are you laughing? It seems to me that this is his default setting.

The smirk instantly drops from my face. "No reason." I get up. "I would appreciate it if you could point me in the direction of the coats so that I may take my leave."

"What no," Robert Duncan shoots up from his crouch. "Why, stay for a meal." I realize that though Robert Duncan's ignorance is annoying he had an attractive face. He had pale skin, a straight jaw line- which was at that moment covered by stubble- and brown hair. His lips were a pale pink and his eyes looked like the Ohnoha seas at dawn. His nose was somewhat crooked, as if he had been in a fight and had gotten it broken. I think that his crooked nose and stubble kept him from looking to feminine, without them he would have excessively beautiful; his face might be easily mistaken for a woman. His face anyways, his build not so much. Robert Duncan is tall, 6'7 or 6'8, not only that but you could then he kept his body in the utmost of fitness, though he had lean muscle- like that of a runner. His looks were the exact opposite of Qwen. Qwen had skin the color of raw sienna and lips a shade darker. His hair was crimson. He, like Robert Duncan, was tall. Qwen though was taller than Robert Duncan by an inch or two. Qwen did not have lean muscles; he was not built like a runner. Qwen was built like a fighter. His muscles were large, they had to be, with all the A class missions he went on.

Qwen was everything I ever wanted and needed, and now he was gone. I could feel my eyes begin to water. I quickly turned my head away from Robert Duncan. "Where is the washroom, Robert Duncan?" He frowned, but points towards a corridor anyways. "It's the third door on the left."

I quickly make my way to the restroom while simultaneously blinking back tears I did not wish to shed. I could not understand. I had never shed this many tears. I love Qwen, but I had been alone too long to cry this much for anyone, except Roe but our souls are intertwined, even if I am in agony without Qwen, I would not show such weakness in front of anyone. Especially someone I don't know.

My stomach suddenly felt odd, it felt as if something was disrupting my magic. I didn't- I felt a jerk, I quickly got up and ran to the toilet, the seat was already up. I regurgitated. Inside my stomach was churning, I was in agony. After I had spilled my guts I flushed the toilet. I went to the sink and washed my hands. I also rinsed my mouth out. Pain wracked throughout my stomach. I whimpered and fell to my knees.

"Anna what's wrong, I can tell there's something wrong with you." Paroe's urgent thoughts reach my head

"I don't know." The thought barely leaves my head before I'm in pain again, I whimper some more. I hear a knock at the door. "Anna let me in." Paroe's voice tells me from the opposite side of the door. I don't have the strength to get up, so I summon Roe inside the washroom. As soon as Roe manifests in the room a pain like no other rips through my whole body starting at my stomach and reaching every crevice of my body. I let out a scream. My magic is burning me, and the necklace feels the same way, but I cannot muster the energy to take it off. I was on my knees, but all of a sudden my position shifts and I'm falling. Roe catches me before my face can hit the floor.

He spins my body until my head is resting on his lap. His touch soothes me, it's as though his magic is calling to me. "Anna what's wrong what happened." Roe asks clearly panicked.

Before I could even muster up the energy to say anything I hear a knock at the washroom door. "Annalise, are you okay. I heard you scream is everything alright?" Robert Duncan asks.

"I'm fine-" my voice cracks at this point but I continue on, "there's nothing to worry about."
My scream leaves my throat in pain and my voice is husky.