Y/n P.O.V (???) (???)
Pain.
That's all I can discern.
My ears ring, and my eyes refuse to budge.
But the pain in various places over my body is very prevalent.
"Alpha, what about the other one? The storm is too thick and the cabin is too far, she won't make it" A female voice begs.
"That Bitch" Another voice calls out before the harsh pain of a shoe hitting my stomach takes hold. "Leave her here. She's no treat"
"But Alpha..."
"SILENCE! I am the Alpha and..."
His words are lost as I fall back into unconsciousness.
"Hey sleepy head" A calming voice calls out, luring me awake, piercing through the ringing. I flutter my eyes open slightly but the throbbing in my head prevents me from seeing anything but a blurry mess.
As well as my eyesight, I can't spell or taste anything but a sort of metallic liquid. And the cold stone I lie on is overbearing.
But regardless of all that, I can still sense her.
"Lucinda?" I mutter.
"Hey sweetie, just relax okay, you're safe now. I've got you" She sings, though even in this state, I can tell she's worried.
I reach out blindly but find her hand nonetheless. I clench down tight.
"Y/n..."
"What's wrong?" I ask.
A few moments of silence fill the air before. "SERIOUSLY!" She shouts, comforting and calming tone now completely gone. "You are beaten, bruised, can hardly make out your surroundings, just had your younger brother kidnapped and your cursed with a forever potion, yet you're seriously worried about how I'm doing"
"Zane's been kidnapped?!?!" I shout, trying to get up but the pain stiffens my spine and only grunts leave my mouth.
"Hey hey, slow down, try not to move" Lucinda reassures as my eyes finally paint a clear image. We're in some kind of makeshift lab inside a cave. All sorts of ingredients and books are spread across multiple shelves and a cauldron boils on the main table.
"No, I need to get Zane..." I start but trail off as I'm unable to move my arm any further. I look down to see a lightly transparent blue chain around my wrist. "Lucinda?!"
"I'm sorry but you're in no state to go anywhere now sit still and let me work" She demands.
"Lucinda please, I need to..."
"What you need to do is heal, you're of no help like this. The others are looking for him"
"Lucinda..." I say, trying again to get up but only causing myself more pain.
"Y/N SIT STILL!" Lucinda orders.
I comply.
The anger in her eyes begins to fade at the sight of the fear in mine.
"Oh my Irene, Y/n, I'm so sorry" She says as she pulls me into a hug.
At a loss for words, it just sit there, motionless. Not even wanting to move.
"What, was that?" I ask.
Lucinda pulls off and looks at me with guilt written on every feature of her face.
"That was an order" Lucinda says as I raise my free hand to wipe away her tears. "As my familiar, I can order you to do, pretty much anything. And you have to obey. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to it's just this is really stressful but that's no excuse I promised myself I'd never do that to you I'm so sorry"
I cup her head with my hand and bring her closer so that our foreheads touch. "It's okay, I'm okay. We're okay. I won't go after Zane just let"
"Thank you. And, I'll remove the chain" She says shakily. She breaks the spell and I instantly cup her head with both my hands a pull her in for a kiss.
She melts into it and soon it turns into a full make out. Against the wall of this cave. While I'm covered in bruises. So romantic. Till the moment is broken as I jolt in pain cause of Lucinda getting a little to adventurous with her hands and sliding over a nasty cut.
"Ouch!"
"I'm sorry" She says and we both start laughing, enjoying what little moment we have right now.
"I love you" I say, keeping her face close.
"I love you too. Let hold still" She says as she gets up and picks up an empty bottle from the shelf, dipping it in the cauldron, filling it. "I need you to drink this"
"What does it do?" I ask as I take it.
"Nothing I just need you to tell me how it tastes"
"I can't really taste anything right now"
"Oh right, hold still" She says as she places the bottle down and brings a bowl of water over.
"Sisenikordyh" She casts and the water rises, goes up both my nostrils and down out my mouth, coming out a mucky red. "Better"
I take a quick stuff and swallow some spit. "Yep"
"Good, now drink" She says quickly as she dives the bottle in my mouth. I take a swig but have to really force it down. "How'd it taste?"
"Like burnt socks"
"Good, first try" She says as she gets back up and goes over to the table. Adding a sprinkle of, something with a dash of, something else. And, an Emerald.
"Where'd you get that?" I ask.
"You're pocket, you're lucky this thing is still in one piece considering all the damage upstairs"
"Yeah, that fight was rough"
"Here" Lucinda says as the emerald disappears and the potion starts to glow. "Drink"
I take a swig but from the look on Lucinda's face I can tell it's not enough. I quickly down the rest and Lucinda takes hold of my chin, examining my eyes.
"How do they look?"
"No longer emerald green"
"Soooo?"
"So either the potion failed and the timing was very coincidental or it worked and you're back to normal. Only one way to tell. Try..."
Lucinda P.O.V (Cave Lab)
"Meow" Looking down I spot a familiar black cat nuzzling up next to me.
"YES!" I shout, picking her up and cuddling her close while twirling on the spot.
Before I can think another thought, I'm suddenly flopped onto the ground with a.
Thud!
"Ouch" I chuckle out, opening my eyes to see her panther as well.
"Thank you" She says, shifting back into human form and kissing me deeply.
"Wait wait, aren't you still injured?" I protest, pushing her lips off mine.
"Yep, really hurts" She says with a joyous, cheerful smile that if I didn't know any better, I'd think she wasn't injured at all.
"Okay, lie down" I chuckle as I gently help her to the ground, then lean over her and begin using healing magic.
Y/n P.O.V (The Lodge) (An Hour Later)
"Wow, I really did destroy this place" I say as Lucinda and I walk down the scratched up, torn up remains of what used to be a hallway.
"Yeah, please don't scare me like that again" She jokes as we continue to walk.
"Y/n!" Everyone calls out. Everyone as in Garroth, Aph and Kim.
Garroth immediately comes running over and hugging me tightly. "Y/n! Thank Irene you're okay"
"Hey of course I'm okay. I'm the queen of okay. Okay?" I say, his arms wrapped tightly around me. "And Zane! You're okay" I call out, only now noticing he was here. "Zane how did you do that?"
"Do what?" He asks.
"You smell different"
"Well that's rude" Zane says.
"He doesn't remember me!!!" Garroth cries, still latched onto me.
"What?!?!" Lucinda and I both say.
"Did he hit his head during the fight?" Lucinda whispers to me.
"Not hard enough for memory loss. And that doesn't explain why I don't recognise his sent" I whisper back.
"How would you even know my, scent. We've never met either" Zane says.
"But you know Aph, Kim and myself" Lucinda asks.
"Well I won't say, know, I know of you but we've never really talked before" Zane explains. "But I certainly know Aphmau, she's my best friend"
"Selective memory loss" Lucinda says.
"And only for me and Garroth?" I say.
"Magic?" We both whisper to each over.
"Hey Zane" I say, pealing myself out of Garroth's death grip. "Could you look at me for a second"
"What...?" Zane asks.
"Please Zane" Aph says as Garroth walks over to her and Kim.
"Okay..." Zane says, before turning to look at me. Only to have a sight fright at the sight me and Lucinda staring him down. "What are you two..."
"Hush!" Lucinda says, playing her hand over his mouth.
"Green eyes" We both say to each other.
"Zane come with us please" I say as we each take one of his eyes and lead him into the other room.
"We'll take care of him, just stay here for now" Lucinda says, closing the door behind us.
"Ladies please, I don't think that now is the time, I need to find my brother" Zane says, slight blush on his face.
"Gross" I say, holding in puke.
"You're brother?" Lucinda asks.
"Yeah, we got separated in the storm"
"How?"
"I'm not really sure, there was a flash of green and suddenly he was gone. Soon after I ran into Garroth"
"So, this Alpha hit Zane with a forever potion that makes him think that Zane is his brother" Lucinda explains. "But why?"
"Can't we cure him like you did with me?" I ask.
"We'd need another one of those emeralds. And I'm not sure where to get them... Aaron has one!" Lucinda exclaims.
"I'll get him!" I say, rushing out the door.
"Y/n! How's Zane?" Garroth asks.
"And are you alright, you were out for awhile" Kim asks.
"What exactly is going on?" Aph asks.
"I promise I'll explain soon but right now, I need to find Aaron. Do you know where he is" I ask.
"We'll go find him" Kim says.
"Thanks, bring him back to me as soon as you do!" I say before shutting the door. "The others are gonna go look for him"
"Good, for now all we can do is slow down the process like I did with you" Lucinda explains. "Did you get anything from his when you fought? Any information?"
"Nothing I can make sense of, but Zane definitely knew him" I say.
"Did he say a name?" Lucinda asks.
"I think so. It's all a bit of a blur" I say. "Plus, I was high on adrenaline and scared about protecting Zane"
"Y/n..."
"I know I know! Let me think!" I say, rubbing my temples.
Then it clicks. "Ein. Zane says his name was Ein"
"EIN!!!" Lucinda shouts.
"Who's Ein?" I ask.
"My brother" Zane says.
"The Alpha?" I ask.
"Sadly both. We need to find Aph and Aaron, Now!" Lucinda orders.
"Okay! I'll find them, you take care of Zane!"
"My supplies are still in the cave, I'll hurry and get them" Lucinda says.
"What about me?" Zane asks.
"STAY HERE!!!" We both shout, before running out the room and in different directions.
I run straight to Kim and Garroth who both stand out the door.
"KIM! Where's Aph and Aaron!" I shout.
"What's happened?" Garroth asks. "I'm not exactly sure but Lucinda says we need both of them back here now! Where are they?"
"Aaron went into the storm awhile ago" Kim says.
"And Aph just ran out trying to find him!" Garroth shouts.
"Okay. Stay with Zane, keep him safe, wait for Lucinda" I say as I step outside. "I'll find Aph and Aaron"
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Hi PTH here,
And I'm back! Yay! Exams are over and I can finally relax and chill. I don't have anything to say besides that. Hope you lot stay safe. Cya for the next chapter.
Goodbye and goodnight
Thanks for reading