Jia screamed as she struggled against the tentacles of a Darkling. She was so caught up with the Manitcore and the Psi-Leopards that she didn`t see the Nightmare creature. Its body was said to be black but it was built like a squid that had legs and tentacles.
From what Jia remembered from her Beastery and Biology Class that Darklings like to suffocate their victims, making them pass out before eating them. She tried releasing an electronic discharge from her skin but the Darkling was immune to electricity so it just kept squeezing her tighter.
When she finally thought that she was going to pass out, it suddenly dropped her before it vanished in a cloud of black smoke. Jia was lying on the ground gasping for air as she turned and saw that the Psi Leopards and the Manticore were gone.
She took deep breaths and moved to stand and clutched her shoulder. The blood was soaking into her uniform but that could be dealt with later. She ascended and flew off, calling out for Fiona.
When she finally found her, her blood ran cold as her lava wielding friend was slummed against the wall, bleeding from her head and mouth.
"Fiona!" She screamed and few towards her before landing beside her. She put a hand out to feel her pulse and was relived to find it there. She tried waking her up but the red head didn`t respond to her.
She couldn`t lift her up herself but she tried to use her magic to do it and got no-where.
"Man, I wish I was Zoey," Jia muttered angrily as she pulled Fiona into her arms and sat with her," Hold on, Fiona. Help will come soon."
It took another ten minutes of waiting until Zoey came with some Ravenpoint Guards and Jia nearly wept with relief.
The next hour or so was serious of events. The girls were taken back to Viola where Nurse Irma was able to treat all of them. Yes, Jia said that. All of them. Apparently, the other girls had encountered trouble as well.
Zoey and Clary had to battle a Were-bat until they realized that it was the librarian transformed. The Magic Guardians would be working to cure her of the transformation. Zoey had used her magic to make it heavy long enough for Clary to petrify it.
As for Rose and Kyra, they had to fight off three Psi-Leopards on the room who were guarding an EMP Crystal and an Illusion Tablet. Their battle lasted a bit longer as Rose was taken out earlier by a scratch and was rendered weak. Kyra had to shadow travel to fight the monsters all by herself while protecting Rose. Once the battle was over, all technology was back on line and Rose was able to call for help. The Ravenpoint Guards however, arrived to see a partly destroyed Library and a fully destroyed Museum.
All the girls had scratches, cuts, bruises and suffered from magic depletion.
Later on, Jia heard the Guards saying that the museum workers were missing. Everyone working there that day was gone. Vanished. Another mystery for another day.
The next morning, as she was finishing her breakfast, the Infirmary doors burst open to show Roy and his friends marching in.
"Roy! My dearest cousin!" Jia said with a fond smile as she leaned back against her pillow. Her cousin smiled and claimed the seat next to her bed as the other boys moved around as well to the other girls.
Zoey, who had just woken up, was being hugged and kissed to death by her boyfriend. Rose was asked by Chase to put away her laptop and eat while Mike fussed over Kyra who smiled shyly at him.
Dylan moved to Clary`s side with Tristan in tow, which kind of surprised her. Jia didn`t think Dylan even knew that the blonde existed.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Roy asked.
"Pretty good since I took out two Psi-Leopards and a Manitcore before getting my noble butt kicked by a Darkling," Jia answered honestly.
Roy then frowned and reached forward to touch her shoulder, "And this?"
Jia glanced down at her injury and sighed mournfully, "The Manticore managed to get me, now I really can't wear strapless dresses."
The grey eyed Knight snorted at his cousin, "I'm surprised that`s on your mind right now."
Her shoulders fell in misery, "I have to focus on something, right?"
Roy then looked up at the bed near the window that was blocked off by a huge curtain from the rest of the girls, "What about Fiona? How is she?"
Jia followed his gaze and her face softened, "I don`t know. She hasn`t woken up yet. "Roy turned back to his cousin who shrugged," The nurse told us that she`s fine. She was just exhausted from the battle."
"Who did you girls fight?"
"And what were you doing at the Museum?" Dylan walked over to Jia.
Before she could answer, the doors flew open as a tall, muscular man walked in with a motorcycle helmet in hand. He had topaz coloured eyes that looked very worried and a black shaggy hair. He had Fiona`s nose and her eyes.
"Sir, there are other patients who are resting, you have to be mindful of them," Nurse Irma reminded the man as she ran in after him.
"Where`s my daughter?!" He asked, his voice ringing throughout the room." Where`s Fiona?!"
"Sir…- "
"She`s behind that curtain, sir," Rose answered him while pointing at the closed off bed. He turned to the techno sorceress and nodded before marching over to the curtained wall. Nurse Irma huffed and threw an angry glare at Rose who instantly moved Chase to stand in front of her. The turquoise haired nurse shook and head before retreating, mumbling about reckless girls.
"Are you sure that was wise?" Roy asked Rose who shrugged.
"Her father was worried, she had no right to keep him from her."
"Right," Roy then turned back to cousin and informed her that her father is expecting a call from her sometime today. Jia nodded before asking about news from the Museum.
"The damages have been repaired but the Staff are still missing," He explained.
Jai titled her head at him, "How many were there?"
"Seven of them."
"The same number as the monsters that we fought." Rose whispered with horror.
"You don`t think?" Zoey asked hesitantly.
"The Were-bat was the librarian," Clary stated as a fact.
" Yeah, but what kind of magic would do that?" Jia asked.
"What are you all getting at?" Chase asked. He was seriously confused and Jia felt sorry for him but she couldn`t stop then to explain what she and the girls were hinting about. Not when they were on a roll.
"Transformation magic maybe?" Rose gave her answer but it sounded more like a question. She glanced over at the curtains before whispering, "Maybe we should talk about this later."
Jia nodded, "Rose is right. Anyway, Nurse Irma said, we should be alright today and we can leave the Infirmary anytime we want." She then turned to her cousin, "Roy, help me back to my room?"
The Knight nodded and help her out of her bed before letting her lean against him as he walked her back to the dorms. The walk thankfully didn`t take long so Jia asked about her younger cousins, the Triplets. Roy`s younger siblings, Rachel, Yelena and Timothy were five years younger than her but seemed to have a knack for getting in trouble these days.
Roy was telling her of the latest stunt they had pulled during a Society Luna where they had 'accidentally' set a pig on fire before launching it at a Duchess whom Roy disliked. The woman was making eyes at her Uncle Elias. So far, the Triplets were her heroes.
"Do you think they could cause an 'accident' for me?" Jia asked with a smile. They had entered her team room and Roy slowly led her to her bedroom where she smiled when she spotted her phone on her nightstand with her things. Someone must have brought it back to her room for her.
Roy shrugged, "I don`t see why not? You are their favourite cousin."
"Tell them the next time they are near Lady Grace, make sure she`s fully humiliated," Jia instructed him. His grey eyes sparkled with laughter as he nodded and helped his cousin into her bed before leaving with a promise to return with food.
"Call your dad, please," He pleaded when he stopped at her door.
Jia rolled her eyes and nodded before reaching for her phone on her night stand. She wasn`t surprised to see messages from her uncles, aunts, her grandparents and her Papa.
Dialling his number, he picked up instantly but instead of a regular imaging call, he used Teleportation Call which made her purse her lips and glance down at phone before watching her Papa appear with her uncles in front of her.
"Since when does my phone have self-imposed Teleportation Call?" Jia asked.
"Since I added it," Brad informed her with a grin.
"Oh."
"How are you?" Marcellus asked as he kneeled beside his daughter`s bed. She had a small bruise on her chin and her shoulder looked like it was bandaged up heavily. She also looked weak and tired.
"I`m okay, I got hurt by a Manticore Spike but otherwise, I will be okay, "Jia assured him. "Nurse Irma said that I need to rest as I also suffer from a slight Magic Depletion, papa. That is why I look sick. "
"Do you feel sick?" Nikolai asked his niece.
The teenager shook her head and leaned back against her pillows," Just unusually tired."
"You have the craziest adventures these days," Dalton remarked while folding his arms and shaking his head. His god daughter did look sick and he was sure that Marcellus really wanted his daughter to come home but the teenager wouldn't dream of leaving school at this moment.
"Do you need me to bring you anything?" Marcellus asked.
Jia titled her head at her Papa, "You're at home right now?"
"Yeah, for two whole weeks now," Marcellus confirmed.
The sorceress shook her head, "No, Roy is taking care of me so you don`t need to trouble yourself."
"That boy is a gift."
"So why were you at the Museum in the first place?"