"Annie?" I hear Asphodel and knocking on the bathroom door.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The door screams with its high whine as it swings open. I can feel myself being dragged. I don't know what's going on. My body isn't willing to move. Asphodel is tapping my face repeatedly.
"Cmon Annie, what happened?" She sounds panicked.
I feel myself try to get the words back that I am okay. They never seem to part my mouth. I can hear the sound of Asphodel fighting the tears.
Come on eyes, open. Open up! I can't be done already. Why can't I damn well move?!
"Sven!" I hear Asphodel exclaim. I can feel the heat of Sven's body in the room.
It's easy to tell when my Draconid is nearby. They give off such immense heat. I feel a nudge. Moments after another nudge.
'Get up,' Sven says to me in my mind.
'I can't move,' I reply.
'I see.' Sven doesn't sound impressed.
Sven flies to Asphodel and wraps their tail around her arm. They drag her with the force of their wings alone. He gets her to grab an arm. He wraps his tail around my arm. The two of them gently manage to drag my body to lay onto the bed.
I don't know what's going on. It appears to me that neither of them do as well. The expression on Asphodel's face is clear to me. She's stressing out. Asphodel heads into the bathroom and goes to bring my clothes. As she gets to the bed, she's feeling my pockets. I can clearly hear the steps and ruffling of clothing.
I hear a tap. I think I know what she was searching for now, my miniaturized bags. I bet she's looking for the books! I feel so warm thinking she may actually use them. Perhaps my efforts were not totally in vain.
"I'm thinking someone paralyzed you. I can't be sure, but there's a way to find out." I can hear her talking to me.
For a moment, I convince myself it's because of comfort. However, she is talking to me as if I'm actually listening to her. I feel so conflicted; I wish I could hug her but, also am grateful I get to hear her voice like this. She genuinely cares.
"C'mon, what herb was it?" Asphodel says with a harshness upon herself.
She must be searching for the bag still while trying to recall her knowledges. If we are alike, she is internally panicking. She is going through mental notes, like a student during exams. It really makes sense when I think of it this way. I feel a hand pry my mouth slightly open.
"Incrementum!" Asphodel commands and I feel a book nudge me.
I wonder for a brief moment about how she found the tiny book in those tiny bags so quickly. Then it hits me. What is she familiar? She never shown me it or spoke of it. I get curious.
"Not in this book. Damnit." Ashpodel cusses. "Ima get ya out of this, Annie. I swear." She says to me.
I never thought I would hear her speak in this way. She commands another book with the enlarging spell. I can hear her go through the pages. The air becomes still. She sits in silence. I lay in able of anything but to lay in the awkward feeling silence. I only could try to picture what she is reading, however it caught her attention.
I struggle to keep my mind quiet from the questions of the pages she has opened. What could leave her silent? I don't understand.
"Damn." Asphodel tries keeping her voice from shaking.
I know already that's a bad sign. How long am I going to be out of the field like this? How long before I freely walk. Sven perches on Asphodels shoulder. This gives me an idea.
'Sven, I know this may be hard on you because I am out of commission, but are we still able to have you lend me your eyes?' I think to Sven. I know he can still hear me.
'Clever.' He says. 'Very well.' For the first time, I notice an accent within the way he spoke to me. Almost as if he were from London, England.
'Thanks.' I say.
I wind up seeing too many colours to focus on the page she's reading. I try to focus my eyes, but don't know how. Then I realize it's still his sight.
'Make that so you can see everything like a human, if that is possible.' I ask.
This has got to be my greatest idea, and it's thanks to witchcraft. I am laughing on the inside right now. I'm proud I can figure things out. My vision turns into a warm filter of vision. I can at least read everything. Immediately I know the herb, hemlock. Even normal humans can't be exposed to too much of that stuff.
'Hemlock.' I think to him.
She sits and stares at the page on the book. I wonder what she's thinking so hard about. She should be more familiar to me, right?
"Who did this to you..." I hear Asphodel murmuring.
'Get her to make all the books big somehow. I have a solution.' I order him.
'Now, now, don't get too cocky kid, I am still a being. I am partners not a slave, but I'll try to figure this out.' He replies.
Ouch. I get released from his vision. He seems to understand where I am coming from, but he is right. He is not a slave to me. I can't boss him around like that. I hear the rustling of falling clothing.
I hear powder hitting the surrounding bed. I can't tell what, but I figure Asphodel has figured out a way around the hemlock issues. I can't believe even a bath is no longer safe even, Geez. I hear matches and grinding. She sounds to me like a busy person. I can't do anything but wait. It pains me inside that I can't even move.
I hear her clacking items together and then a slight giggle shortly after. if anything, Asphodel must be an experienced witch for her age. Mom would be even wiser, although we aren't able to contact her.
'She's working on the solution,' Sven says to me, trying to keep me calm.
I pay no attention to Sven. I just lay there. Still and silent. It must be eerie to even see me in a state like this for Asphodel. I have no idea what she saw. She only explained why they are called eaters now. were the normal humans that envious of our ability and knowledge?
I swell my mind just with questions. A noisy parade of them is always on my mind. I feel like Asphodel leaves things a bit too vague and I don't seem to know what to even ask about. I feel so lost with witchcraft. The only thing I know of is the language is Latin for our incantations. What if we aren't using the right language? Can my whole family be wrong about something like that?
I hear Asphodel clear her throat. She places this paste on my forehead. I feel it being a bit cooling. the sensation has me relaxing as if my muscles and body had never existed to begin with. With the shifting creak of the floorboard, I can feel rhythmically a warm wave of love and light flowing through me. It crashes through my body entirely, and I can't help but find it soothing. So welcoming.
I could let this exact moment last forever, if time would allow it. I find myself feeling warm, like bathing in sunlight. I sigh deeply as I find my way to sitting up. I get up and off of the bed. for some reason, Asphodel isn't hugging me. I look to see her still working on the spell. I must be dead. That's the only explanation I can think of.
I feel like I'm a ghost. I can see now, Asphodel preparing scented oils and candles. Having my body in the centre of a black powder drawn circle. I wonder what she is doing to me now. This is not any craft I've ever thought was even possible. What's that black stuff around me? I keep asking more and more, but it feels useless. I can't be alive and out of my body, can I?
I watch asphodel intently. I know she has to get this right. By both of our needs. I can't die from hemlock. That's so ridiculous to die from a bath. I feel so enraged. The lights flicker.
"No, Annie no!" Asphodel calls to me, but it sounds so muffled, as if she was in another closed off room.
'am I dying?' I ask aloud but get no reply.
'it's not your time yet.' Sven sits on my body's lap and I watch him stare at me.
'What's that mean?' I ask.
'This is a part of who you will be.' He speaks with a low rumble back to me.
If we are talking, I know I am not dead. Though I am not far from it either. I feel tense as Asphodel continues to the creations of a spell. She gets several white candles. Then she gets Six black candles. She places them in the pattern to repeat opposites. Black, then white, and black, then white. So on and so forth.