"Don't worry Robert, everything's gonna be fine," Miss Greene reassured him as he lay down on the large, white x-ray machine.
"But Miss..." Robert began, but she placed a finger on his lips.
"Don't speak, Robert. Everything is going to be okay," she whispered, her voice full of reassurance. Then, casting an uneasy glace at the doctor, she left the room, leaving Robert alone with him.
The doctor approached the machine and began to adjust the settings. "This won't hurt a bit," he said, but Robert couldn't shake the feeling that this would hurt like the world was coming to an end.
"Alright, please, stay still," the doctor said in a tone tinged with an undercurrent of anxiety as his eyes darted back and forth as he worked, betraying his nervousness. Then, he positioned a part of the machine producing orange light before Robert's face. "But, just incase you don't make it alive, I'd like you to know that it's not my fault, I'm simply doing what I'm told," he muttered to himself.
Meanwhile, Oliver paced around the boys' hostel deep in thought. He was plagued by a nagging suspicion that their current course of action was misguided.
"Don't you think we should call this off?" He thought to Solomon, "It's Gabor your after, not his descendants."
Solomon remained silent, but Oliver could sense his anger and hatred. His body suddenly froze before transforming into a flurry of ice particles, rushing out of the hostel towards Mr. Williams' lodge.
As Tom and Zaire walked into the hostel, a swirling cloud of ice particles zipped past them. They watched in bewilderment as the cloud of ice dust raced towards the teacher's lodge. Their expressions were a mix of disbelief and alarm as they followed it with their eyes, unsure of what to make of it. "Tom, did you see that?" Zarie asked, his voice shaking.
Tom nodded, his eyes wide with fear. "Yes I did, Zarie. Yes, I did." He reached out and grabbed Zarie's arm, as if to reassure himself that his friend was still there.
"Too bad no one's gonna believe that."
"We could just beat the crap out of this doctor and get out of here," Robert thought to himself. But then he remembered Miss Greene, who might come into the room if there was a commotion. What would she think if she saw him transform into an elemental? He couldn't risk it.
"Robert, relax. Just let the doctor do his thing. While I'm not completely certain about what I mentioned earlier regarding the possibility of you experiencing memory loss or a mental breakdown, there is a potential that the conflict between the different waves could lead to serious outcomes," Poison said, his voice calm and resolve. "And remember, if something does happen to you, I'll just go and find your sister and inhabit her body. I'll never give up my quest," There was a hint of humor in his voice, but Robert could tell that he was serious.
"Idiot!" He thought, rolling his eyes. "Well, if you say so." He closed his eyes and tried to relax as the doctor fiddled with some knobs and then with a sudden jerk, he pulled a lever.
And then...
Well, there was no then.
The doctor's eyes widened as he looked at Robert. His eyelids suddenly lit up, glowing with an array of mysterious colors - a medley of red, blue, purple, and green - flickering and dancing behind his closed eyes. The doctor froze, unsure of what to do. This was not supposed to happen, even though he expected something to happen, but not this!
He rushed to turn the machine off, but the lights continued to dance behind Robert's eyelids. The doctor was terrified. He had never seen anything like this before. He didn't know what to do, and he didn't know what would happen next.
Meanwhile, Robert felt like his head was about to explode, he felt a sharp pain in his fore head. As he forced his eyes open, he saw something that took his breath away. It was like he was watching a movie, but it wasn't any movie he had ever seen before. It was as if he were reliving his past - from his earliest memories to a few days ago. He saw himself getting out of his mom's car on his first day at Solar Springs High School. He saw himself vacuuming his room during the End of the year holidays. He saw himself back in 7th grade, on the day he first met Dora at the theatre. Past events kept playing rapidly in his head.
But that wasn't all. He saw things he thought were Poison's memories - things he couldn't explain. He saw an oddly familiar old man being struck by a bolt of lightning. He saw waves, tornadoes, fire and destruction, a scream and a flash of blue light.
"Am I dead?" he thought to himself as he kept sinking in this world of memories.
However, a voice or rather a feeling caused him to 'turn' around and his eyes caught scenes that he would never forget in his life.
He saw Poison possessing him the night he first heard the voice. He also saw Solomon flinging Poison towards the boys' hostel. He saw himself playing a board game with Oliver. He saw a black-haired boy transform into an ominous looking fire elemental. He saw a black haired girl running in mid air. He saw a horde of strange creatures. There were flashes of different lights and faces he couldn't identify and then, he saw Solomon stab Dora.
But at that point everything turned black.
"No!" he whispered to himself as another scene unfolded and he saw a massive winged creature transform into Dora as it fell from the sky. "Robert!" The apparition like Dora called to him. "Dora, no!" He shouted as a fire elemental grabbed her feet, a long object fell from her hand as the fist of the fire elemental turned to a sword and stabbed... "No."
His eyes snapped open.
"You're alive!" the doctor exclaimed completely taken aback. Robert sat up from the machine, his breath heavy and his eyes wide with horror. The doctor couldn't believe it. Even after he pulled the lever and turned off the machine, whatever was happening to Robert didn't stop. From what he had been told by Mr Williams, the boy was not supposed to be alive and even if he was, he would have gone completely insane, but there was no guarantee that the kid would be alive!
Robert glared at him and scowled menacingly. He rushed and grabbed the doctor's collar in a grip of iron and demanded loudly, "Tell me, who told you to do this?" Robert felt really anxious and frustrated with the knowledge of everything he had seen. The machine, instead of trashing his memories or hurting him, caused him to experience something entirely different.
"I was just doing my job," the doctor pleaded, so horror struck that he might soil his trousers anytime.
"Doing your job, huh?" Robert snarled, his eyes flashing with anger. Without thinking, he reflexively summoned a rock dagger and held it to the doctor's throat. The doctor froze, his eyes wide with fear. He could feel the cold blade against his neck, and he knew that if he so much as swallowed, it would cut him.
He tried to speak, but his voice caught in his throat. All he could do was stare at Robert, pleading with his eyes. But Robert's expression was unreadable.
"Tell me who you told you to do this!"
"You're... you're a wizard!" The doctor stammered.
"Tell me!" Robert yelled, his eyes filled with rage.
"What!" Mr William's eyes widened in shock as he watched the scene unfold on his laptop screen. "He didn't die! That's not even possible!" he exclaimed. The footage showed Robert standing unharmed while the doctor cowered on the ground.
Oliver watched from behind the window of Mr Williams's bedroom, stunned by what he was seeing.
"How the hell is that even possible?!" He thought to himself. Solomon's voice suddenly filled his mind.
"Incompetent fools!" He growled, "Well, like they say; if you want something done right, do it yourself." And immediately, Oliver transformed into a powerful gust of wind and blew out of the school.
"Tell me, who was it?!" Robert shouted baring his teeth. The doctor was still reluctant to expose his employer. Robert could guess it was Mr. Williams but he wanted to be sure.
Miss Greene's expression turned puzzled as she listened to the muffled sounds from behind the door. Her unease about the doctor grew; unsettling was his haste in ordering an x-ray for a patient experiencing hallucinations seemed premature, bypassing more obvious explanations like substance abuse or underlying medical conditions. Sensing that something had gone horribly wrong, she pushed the door open and walked in.
"What's going on here?" she exclaimed, shocked by the scene before her. She stared incredulously around the ward. "Robert, let him go..." But her words trailed off as her gaze fell upon the rock dagger in his hand. "That... where did you get it?" she asked, astonished. The craftsmanship was impeccable, with a subtle metallic sheen.
Robert threw a very threatening look at the doctor, who had witnessed him conjuring the dagger. The doctor knew immediately that he had to shut his mouth if he wanted to live.
Robert wondered why she was not surprised at him pointing a dagger at the doctor's neck. "Teacher, I can explain all this." Robert tried to cover up with a lie but she waved him off.
"I know what happened."
"You do?"
Suddenly, there was a deafening crash as the window exploded inwards, and an enormous figure made of ice burst into the room.