Petra's POV
"Hey, Petra, how're you feeling?" Caenis loudly burst through the door causing me to jump out of my trance.
"Hey..." I said, sitting up in the bed, "Didn't hear you coming... Caenis..."
"Oh, ha-ha, sorry about that!" he said cheerily, "So, no panic attacks or anything?"
"Nothing happened."
"Hmm..." Caenis thought, rubbing his chin, "I would let you go, but I think it'd be safest for you to just stay here for a little while longer."
I didn't like that. I already hated that room, but now I really, really wanted to get out. I had to get that quill for Ethro, and I wanted to do it sooner than later. I needed a plan.
"Uh, hey, Caenis," I said, "I'm a bit thirsty... could I go get myself some water?"
"No, you stay here and take it easy!" he said, walking over and helping me lay down in the bed. He adjusted the sheet around me.
"I will get it for you," he said, beginning to walk out of the room.
"I think I can get it myself," I said, "I'll be fine."
"No, no, no, I am going to be nice and get it for you. It's the kind thing to do." He waved his arms in front of him in protest.
"The nice thing, huh?" I said, "What if I told you that I'm nicer. I will bring you water too." I slowly rose from the uncomfortable mattress.
"Ah-ha... what?" Caenis laughed as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing, "Silly Petra, I think I'm the nice one... I will bring you water... and that is final!"
"Oh yeah?" I said, standing up and getting ready to run. I was pretty fast even when I wasn't at my best, and by the looks of this guy I could outrun him easily.
"Yes! I'm going to get you a drink, and while I'm at it, I'll get you another blanket as well!"
"Sure you will," I said, "If you can catch me!"
I dashed out the door, pushing him aside, then darted down the hallway.
"Wait! Hold on!" I heard him call from behind. His feet pounded against the wood of the floor as he looked for me.
Once I believed I had lost him, I began to frantically search rooms. I stopped short on a carpet in a hallway, making it start to slide. I turned quickly and regained my balance as I raced into the room beside me.
In it was a small work desk with a few scrolls laying about. There was a quill and ink, but it was just normal writing ink.
"Uggh, where is it?!" I said as I frantically opened each drawer on the desk, looking for something that could possibly be the magic quill.
I continued this process for a few rooms until Caenis's footsteps could be heard down a staircase nearby.
"Petra!" he said, "I got you some water!"
Hearing this, I dashed back out of the room, sprinted down the hallway and ran back to my room. I jumped onto the thin mattress with a thud.
"Oww...!" I said when my bottom hit the boards underneath. Throwing the covers over me, I laid back down.
Caenis came strolling in carrying a glass potion-like bottle filled with water. In his other hand was a folded-up blanket.
"Aw... you beat me..." I said unenthusiastically.
Caenis looked triumphant. "I suppose that just means I am the nice one!"
"Yeah," I said as he spread the blanket out and handed me the bottle, "Well, I'm feeling pretty tired, so I think I'll just rest up here."
"Yep! I'll come back and check on you later!"
He left and shut the door behind him. The floor creaked as he walked away. I sighed and slumped onto my back.
"Well, that didn't work," I said, talking to the ceiling, "I need to get that pen, but how? And... I'm so bored I'm talking to a wall."
I blew air out of my lips, causing a piece of orange hair to flutter away. What now?
Aiden's POV
We had been banging on the door for a while, and we were getting tired. The coldness was stinging my hands and my nose had lost its feeling. The cold air caused my lungs to hurt as I continued coughing.
"Aiden, can you, like, not cough?" Maya asked sounding annoyed. Her arms were wrapped around her to keep warm and her back was slouched.
"I can't help it!" I said with a sniff, "You know, allergies."
"Mmm-hmm," Katcha said sarcastically.
"How about you j-just lay down and t-take it easy once we're inside," Lukas said between chattering teeth. I just nodded, not wanting to admit that I was feeling too bad for it to be allergies.
"At least you'll be with your friend," Nightmelody said, trying to comfort me.
"I guess so, but I think she needs to stay alone," Darling said, looking unaffected by the cold. Her hands were held above her head and they were deflecting the snow and below her feet was somehow green grass.
The door shook a little, then clicked and opened. Inside stood Caenis with that same cheesy smile plastered on his face.
"Aww, you poor little things! Come on inside!" he said, escorting us through the entrance.
Sheldon looked urgent. "Caenis, there's something we need to discuss."
"I'm sure there is! I bet you had a lot of fun out there! You were gone for quite a while!"
"That's because we were locked outside...!" Sheldon said in a low voice.
"Caenis, this is serious," Magnolia said, "Let's go to the library."
"The room of knowledge," Darling said as she and everyone walked in. She had almost a dreamy look in her eyes.
Everyone came into the castle and went their separate ways; everyone else went into another room that was apparently the library while Darling took me into a bedroom upstairs. My head was already throbbing and coughing just made me dizzy.
Darling awkwardly led me down a few hallways in silence, neither one of us saying anything.
"I suppose you're feeling kind of bad," Darling said.
"I mean, I'm not at my best," I said with an added cough at the end. She smiled, her blue eyes filled with sympathy and cautiously put her hand on my back as if she wasn't sure if that was okay.
"Aw, it'll be okay," she said, "We might have some potions that can help you feel better. For now you can just rest in here."
She opened a door with faded white paint on it that entered into a small bedroom. We walked in together and I sat on the bed.
"I hope this is fine," she said as she straightened out a cream-colored blanket.
"This is great, thanks," I said as I sniffed.
"We'll probably be in the library for a while, so if you need anything, you know where to find us." She smiled and walked out the door.
"Uh, thanks. Again."
The door clicked shut, and I was alone with Katcha again. She was floating around the room already and practicing picking things up and counting how long they could stay in her hand before they fell through.
"...two... three... four..." Katcha counted as she held a hairbrush. Near where she was floating was a vanity with a dusty mirror and a hairbrush with straw-like bristles. It fell through her transparent blue hand and landed back onto the desk.
"Katcha, could you please quiet down a notch?" I asked. I laid down and put my hands over my head, trying to block out any light or noise.
"Oh, okay, sorry," Katcha said. She continued in a whisper, "One... two... three... four... five..."
WHAM!
The hairbrush fell onto the table with a hard clatter.
"Sorry," she whispered. She picked it back up and continued to count.
"Katcha... maybe you could just... do that later?" I said.
"Alright, fine." She set the hairbrush back down on the table and floated over to the bed. As I tried to fall asleep, Katcha kept adjusting herself sitting on the edge of the bed and fiddling with the blanket.
"Aiden, I'm gonna go check on Petra," she said. A whirl of butterflies exploded in my stomach, so I was either excited or really sick. Maybe both.
"Alright, that's fine," I said trying to sound calm as I rolled over.
With that, Katcha left the room.
Jesse's POV
The library had a nice feeling of nostalgia with its dim lighting coming from a roaring fireplace. The air smelled of burning logs and books and the dark wooden boards creaked slightly under our feet. There were a few chests and paintings lining the walls with the rest of the room being filled with bookshelves and book cases all filled with neatly lined up and stacked books, ranging in colors and sizes.
"Wow..." I said as I entered and looked around. There was a circular rug that sat illuminated in front of the fireplace. Magnolia and Sheldon got right to business.
"I know that there's a book with the different types of dragons in here somewhere," Magnolia said, "Shelly, you look in the Ds and I'll check the S section for 'species.'"
"On it," Sheldon said as he found his way to a bookshelf. Darling entered through the door a moment later.
"Ooh, look, a fire!" Lukas said, tapping Maya.
"Heat!" she exclaimed. They scurried over to the rug to warm up. Melody smiled and followed. Juniper frowned and backed away.
"Ugh, fire, no thank you. Nope," she said. Darling stifled a giggle.
"Well then, I suppose I'll leave you to it," Caenis said, "Have fun!" He walked out of the room like nothing was wrong.
"Okay, the cupcake's gone. Good," Sheldon said.
"Aw, he's not that bad, you big sourpuss," Juniper said.
"Here, got it! Dragon Species," Magnolia said, pulling a thick book off the shelf. She grunted a litter as she struggled to carry the heavy object.
"I got it, here," Sheldon said. He came over and carefully took it out of her hands.
"Now, uh, I don't quite remember the dragon's name, but I think I know enough about it to be able to find it in the book," she said as she and Sheldon walked over to the carpet to sit with Lukas, Maya, and Melody. She turned over the well-loved front cover and began flipping through the pages.
"Ah, here it is!" she said as she stopped at a spot near the middle of the book, "Ructo is what it's called."
"Wow, an adult must be really painful to have barf on you; seriously, look at my hand!" Sheldon said as he extended his hand that had touched the dragon's spit. It looked bright red and slightly swollen.
"Hey, at least it doesn't bite hard," I said, wanting to stay positive.
"That's because you'd be dead before it had the chance to bite you," Melody said, almost having an enthusiastic tone in her voice. She cleared her throat awkwardly and calmed down.
"Wow, dragons are so fascinating," Magnolia mused, staring dreamily at the sketch of the full grown Ructo.
"I feel that if we leave the baby alone for too long it could cause some serious harm, though," Darling said.
"Can't you just... kill it or something?" Maya asked, "Not in front of me, of course, I don't want to see that."
"Duh, we have powers, remember?" Juniper said, "Shelly could probably kill it with his weapon powers, or what if I grow a tree on top of it? The corpse would make excellent fertilizer; I hear corpses are good for that. Is it different for dragons, though?"
"Juniper, what have you been reading?" Sheldon said.
"The venom would kill the tree," Magnolia said, "We can't do that."
"Juniper, the weather would kill the tree, you dimwit," Sheldon said, "It's the middle of winter!"
"It'll be an evergreen, dimwit," Juniper spat back.
"How about I just chop its head off. It'll be easier than growing a tree on top."
"Okay, fine."
"I suppose we'll be going back outside, then?" Darling said.
"I should tell Petra about it first," I said, "She should know."
"Aiden too," Maya added.
"Right," I said. I felt a rush of embarrassment realizing I had already forgotten him. Poor guy.
I left the library and headed up the stairs.