Mia's POV
--------------------
A gasp of shock bursts from my mouth as pain fills my head, more than a headache. Like someone is trying to shove something into a drawer not big enough for it. The pain starts at the base of my neck, traveling up until my whole skull is pounding.
"El," I gasp out, staggering. I blink back tears that prick at my eyes. Elanil turns, pushing back through the elves around us and lifting my hunched body straight again.
"What is it?" She asks, her voice frantic and breathless. She scans my body for any visible injuries. I open my mouth to reply, but a wave of searing, white hot pain goes off like a bomb in my skull. This is different than the pain of punches or kicks or cuts. This feels like someone is pinching my nervous system, prodding my brain. I scream, grabbing at my head, probably getting blood in my hair. Tears swim in my eyes and dark spots dance like stars in my vision. I blink rapidly, stumbling to my feet and letting El support most of my weight as we run- or, as close as I can get to run- to the castle, which is now in sight.
The edges of my vision darken, the pain easing for a second. I grit my teeth, pushing back the darkness. I can't faint now. More pain drills my brain, and for a second I think I might pass out. I feel alive with the sharp feeling, yet my mind is fuzzy in the haze of agony. It's an odd combination of senses.
"My head," I gasp, letting out a sob. My knife is back in its holster, one of my arms is wrapped around El's shoulders, the other used so I can press my hand to my head. Like that'll do anything.
What is wrong with me?
Warm air hits me like a wall as we finally reach the inside of the castle, but I can't make out anything. Everything looks unfocused, like I'm seeing triple vision of fuzzy images.
"Just- Take deep breaths, deep breaths," Elanil says, her voice strained. I roll with her advice and try to take deep breaths. I feel weird. Well, that's an incredible understatement. When I breathe out I can literally feel my blood flowing through my body, including seeping out of the wound in my hand. It's the oddest sensation.
The pain continues steadily, coming in waves that make me groan as El helps me into what I think is the throne room. I hear faint voices, and see two, or maybe three figures. I recognize Rose and Knox. I see the figure of Knox run up to us, his voice ricocheting in my brain.
"What's wrong with her?" He says, his voice just as frantic as El, nearly breaking.
What do you want, brain? I ask myself. When was the last time weird things like this happened?
A moment later it clicks in my half-aware brain.
I'm having- or going to have- a vision.
The minute the thought pops up another wave of nauseous pain slams me, and my arm falls weak around El. I try to stifle another scream by clamping my mouth shut as I fall- or, I would've fallen, if someone hadn't caught me and picked me up bridal style. Knox. The smell of cedar wood and fresh air fills me, and for a second the pain fades to a manageable amount. I don't need to hold onto him to stay up- He has me safe in his arms, so I press my palms to my temples as hot tears run down my face. By now I've ditched the deep breaths, taking fast, shallow ones. I can't seem to focus enough to take a deep breath.
"Where's Andor?" I hear Rose's strained voice faintly.
"I don't know," Knox replies. "Why are the Cin here?" He pauses and I let out another cry as an agonizing pain throbs in my head, like someone is stabbing at my skull. I feel his arms tighten around me. "Nevermind, how can we help Mia?" His voice makes it sound like he's in just as much pain as I am.
"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.
—————————————————————————
Hmmmmm.... Anyone have any predictions on what's gonna happen w/ her visions?
-A