Mostly Normal: Magic Cannot Cure Sickness

Chapter Seventeen: Side Quest One

"So what is the first thing that we need to do?" Jackie asked the other male. His eyes flitted away from the other male as he tried to focus on the one thing that was least beautiful part of Liam.

"Well, we have some quests that we need to do. A lot of them involve things that I do every day, so I will come with you. I say that I do these everyday, I do not mean that it will be easy. Are you prepared for this? It will help with the quest that you were not able to finish," Liam said, sighing as he looked through the papers.

"I am prepared to, yes," Jackie said. Butterflies fluttered around his stomach and he shifted around nervously. "What is the first quest?"

"We have to find a lost soul and bring her back to the sanctuary. She is currently with your older brother, but she is not stable right now. There is another woman who we may encounter on the way, but she knows her way to the sanctuary. C'mon, let's go," he said, standing from his position on the floor.

"Okay," said Jackie, trying to sound brave and standing as well, "How are we going to do that?"

"Just follow me," Liam said with one of his gorgeous smiles. Jackie was captivated. "Okay," he repeated, following the other boy as he began to walk.

The halls of the haven were quiet, per the usual as they day occupants talked quietly. Most of them were either permanent occupants or adults that were forced to work the graveyard shift. "What are we going to be doing?" Jackie asked. Liam sighed.

"There is a little girl having nightmares every night, she recently fell ill and so we're going to go find her and bring her back to the Haven," Liam replied, his eyes were sad like this was something he had had to deal with many times before, and from talking to the son of Hypnos, it was something he had to do everyday.

"All right," Jackie said, "How do we do that?"

Liam stared into the distance, the sparkle gone from his green eyes. "Very carefully. Where we're going, nightmares are tangible. They can drag you down into endless torture, and we don't need that."

Jackie gulped and nodded. "Okay," he said in a small voice, clinging tighter to Liam's warm hand. The other boy smiled slightly, but the twinkle had still not come back to his eyes. Jackie could tell Liam was nervous.

They finally walked out of the Haven, and stepped directly into a dream. Colors swirled around them violently and two people hovered over a smaller figure who was hunched over in a defensive position.

"You are worthless," one of the people shouted at the small figure, "You will never amount to anything."

"You have made everyone else fail," said the other person, "It is all your fault. Everybody hates you."

The figure sobbed. "Please, I tried!" it cried in a young girl's voice, "I'm sorry! Let me go!"

"Your trying isn't good enough, try harder," tears streamed down the young girl's face. Liam's face was tense and stressed as he walked over to the crying girl.

"Leave." His voice was commanding and stern, forcing the other two figures to turn into a shimmering mist that soon dropped into the dark colored carpeted floor of the night-terror. "Think of something pleasant child. What is your most favorite thing in the world?" the son of Hypnos asked, kneeling down next to the small child, his voice had changed from stern to a voice that Jackie thought was only held by mothers.

"My mama," she answered, smiling a crooked grin that held gaps where teeth were soon to be. "But she doesn't like me any more."

Jackie's heart clenched as he watched the small girl begin to tear up as she thought of the mother that no longer loved her. "Just think of your favorite memory of her and let it take over you. I have to go now, but remember that memory whenever you get scared to sad, alright?" The little girl simply nodded and Liam stood, walking past as she began to fade into the mist that surrounded their ankles.