Helplessness

 

Riding in the back of the carriage, bumping lightly over the rocks and roots, Ellyra felt quite pleased with herself. Although Zayric’s subtle reminders that he was in control had annoyed her originally, the Dove got a strange sense of satisfaction from seeing the stunned expression on the crown prince’s face. She and Zayric had not talked much after her song, mostly because she was busy accepting compliments and explaining how she had developed her voice for the rest of the event. She left with Tam and a crowd of still-chattering well-wishers, leaving Zayric only enough time to compliment her as well with a “very ladylike, Ellyra,” before Tam helped her into the carriage. She was sure that if Zayric had not still been so shell-shocked by her performance that he would’ve tried to deprive Tam of this office, too, but as it was, Zayric could not and did not. 

                Ellyra knew full well that the ballad she had sung had not been her best performance, but even all her mental critiques could not stop her face from shining with pride. It was one thing to practice for hours in order to perform for an audience of many people of relatively low social rank, but it was quite another to whimsically give a private concert for a socially elite members of society, including the king and queen. She supposed that the greater number of people should intimidate her more, but the truth was it was more the surprise of the request that had bothered her. For the brief moments before she opened her mouth to sing, the Dove had been gripped by an almost paralyzing fear that her singing voice would have somehow not been the same as it once was. The mysterious illness and even the strangeness of her current situation had led her to believe that somehow things she took for granted were subject to change without her knowledge, but it was comforting to know that her voice, at least, had not.

                Ellyra emerged from these thoughts only when the carriage had skidded to a stop in front of the large castle doors. She smiled at Tam when he opened the door, and gratefully accepted his hand to step down from the stair and onto the hard, frosty ground.

                “Thank you, Tam.” She said to him, hugging him gently. “I’m sorry it was so awful for you.”

                “Not at all, m’lady!” Tam crowed, returning her embrace. “I’d take a smack in the face any day if it meant I got to hear you sing. I’m sure by now you’re quite tired of hearing it, but you’ve got a simply beautiful voice. I’d I’ve heard some pretty prestigious singers in…” he winked, “’Galandrin.’”

                Ellyra laughed sweetly and let him go, taking a few small steps toward the castle. “I’m sure you have.” She said teasingly. “Now let’s…” Groaning softly, the Dove caught Tam’s hand. “There’s that faintness again.”

                “Ellyra? Are you…? Oh what am I thinking of! Of course you’re not all right!” Tam scooped up the small woman in his arms and carried her to the door. “I wonder if this means that Cleven’s having some trouble.” He muttered under his breath.

                “Wha?” Ellyra asked faintly, her head lolling back and her eyes opening wide, her pupils dilating due to some unseen force.

                “Hang on Ellyra. We’ll get you inside.” Tam rapped forcefully at the door, or as forcefully as he could with a young woman in his arms. “Fallin! Eliza! Any of the ghosts! Please let us inside!” He called out, kicking at the door now.

                When no one responded after a few minutes of waiting, Tam began to get desperate. “Cypress?” He yelled.

                “I was too little to remember her face.” Ellyra murmured suddenly in a mournful tone totally unlike the one in which she had previously been speaking. “She left just after I was born. At least, that’s what my daddy told me.”

                “He told you what?” Tam asked, trying not to jiggle her too much as he continued to pound and kick the door. “Come on! This door is too heavy to open by myself!”

                “He told me that her face was beautiful. Angelic, even. So soft and with gentle curve and loving eyes…” The Dove sighed dreamily in Tam’s arms, seeming not to notice his distress. “Tam?” she asked distantly.

                “Yeah?” Kick. “Ellyra?” Kick.

                “Did you ever see your mother’s face?”

                This remark made Tam stop kicking the door and look down at Ellyra, noticing her placid smile and wide eyes. “You’re out of it again, aren’t you?” He whispered, shifting his position a little to better support her head and brushing some of the stray hair out of her face.

                “Nnn…” Ellyra responded, half-closing her eyes.

                “Yes.” Tam told her quietly. “I’ve seen my mother’s face. It was a long time ago.” He smiled. “She was pretty. Hair like mine, except straighter. And her eyes were a lot like yours, Ellyra; but a little more blue than grey. Kind eyes. She—”

                Before Tam could finish his sentence, he was cut off by the muffled sound he heard from within. He stopped talking to listen, and a shiver ran down his spine at what he heard. Words were being yelled in pure fury, words which he could not completely discern through the thickness of the wood, but he could tell that they were roared in a voice that had more in common with a growl than a human shout. No longer caring about getting inside the castle, Tam back away from the door. As he did so, Ellyra’s pale fingers dug into his shoulder, her nails scratching him painfully and her grip surprisingly strong.

                “The lights!” She whispered in a frantic, intense voice. “They’re taking away the lights!”

 

*

 

                “Let me go you blasted creatures!” Cleven roared in anger, slashing the air with his deadly claws.

Of course, as lethal as they were to the living, they did nothing to deter the half dozen ghosts that were surrounding him, pulling on his fur and limbs to keep him still. Because they lacked physical weight of their own, this task was much harder than it first appeared, even with so many ghosts there to help.  Even without the aid of his physical weaponry, though, beast Cleven was a distressingly powerful creature. His swiftness had allowed him to put far more ground between the entrance to the east tower and the three refugees’ hiding place than was comfortable for both the ghosts and the trapped humans and fairy, although it was clear that Cleven’s goal was not, in fact, the library. At least, it wasn’t yet. As Fallin had predicted, Cleven’s first target was, once again, Cypress’s room. He had no real way to know that the other residents in the castle would hole up in the library and, as the many of the ghosts would later report, it looked as if he would not have used the logic of the thick doors and many locks to find them. This did not mean, however, that the creature was incapable of tracking his target: the one thing that the ghosts could do nothing about was the sensitivity of Cleven’s nose, and that alone had helped him get as far as he did.

Cleven was just a floor below the library when enough ghosts finally caught up to him to wrestle him to the ground. Getting the vial of liquid in his mouth was much harder since he continuously thrashed about. Tasmine, the self-proclaimed holder of the vials, managed to get a few drops of the first vial into his mouth, but a few drops alone was obviously not enough to calm the mad beast. The second vial was wasted in a similar manner, so the housekeeper ghost had to be incredibly careful with the third. In the meantime, Saiko, the ghost with the melancholy voice, was reluctantly sent back to the three trapped in the library in order to obtain more of the elixir if it was needed.

“We need more.” Saiko declared simply as he floated through the library door.

“More?” Liza repeated, dumbfounded at first, before she began to tremble.

 Cypress looked up from the book over which he was poring and rose to go put a comforting hand on her shoulder to steady her. “Can you make more?” he asked the professor.

“I…. yes. Of course.” Immediately the little man began crushing more Garner’s weed for a third vial although this was made difficult by the fact that his fingers were trembling as he attempted to grind the herbs. “But what happened to the first three vials that I gave you?” He asked as he ground the herbs in his mortar.

“They keep spilling.” Saiko explained. “We can only get a few drops into his mouth at a time and it’s just not enough. He’s too fast for us. We headed him off when he got to Cypress’s room, but he eluded us even then. We just managed to catch hold of him and he’s still wriggling furiously.”

“Where in the hells are Ellyra and Tam?” Liza wondered aloud, her voice carrying annoyance as well as alarm. “What if Cleven gets here before—”

“He won’t.” Cypress insisted bravely. “The ghosts can hold Cleven off until Fallin makes more Garner’s weed stuff and then we’ll all be fine. Even if he somehow gets to the door he’ll still have to get through it before he can get to us, and until then we’ve got time on our side. Ellyra has to get back soon.”

Eliza chose not to point out how Cypress had failed to say that Ellyra and Tam would get back soon because her mind was more occupied with pressing matters. Whirling on the anxious professor, she asked, “Fallin, are we even sure that Cleven will get better when Ellyra and Tam get back? He didn’t recover too quickly a few nights ago and then Ellyra as here the whole time.”

“That’s a possibility.” Fallin admitted as he grinded his herbs, “But I don’t think it’s a very likely one. There’s probably some explanation for what happened last night, but from what we know now we can only assume that the fact that Cleven’s condition worsened shortly after Ellyra left means that her presence here directly corresponds to Cleven’s ability to control the beast he’s fighting. If it doesn’t, my theory is void and we have nothing to go on.”

Just then, Tasmine floated triumphantly through the door. “All is clear, now.” She declared.

“At last!” Fallin sighed, wiping his brow. “We don’t know how long the elixir will keep him down, though, so we must be very careful.”

“Oh, but we never got the third vial of elixir in his mouth.” Tasmine told him dismissively, holding out the vial for him to take. “He just stopped struggling.”

“Did he fall asleep?” Liza asked apprehensively, still tense.

“No, although he is feeling rather drowsy. From what I can see he’s back to normal, except for the walking part.” Tasmine reported.

“Maybe your theory was right, Fallin!” Cypress enthused excitedly. “Perhaps Ellyra has returned!”

“Maybe so. Liza, do you want to go check to see if the carriage is there? I’ll go look in on Cleven and explain to him what’s happened. Cypress, you should stay here in case Cleven has another outburst.”

“But what about you?” Cypress protested. “If you’re going to go see Cleven then I should get a chance to as well!”

“The only thing we know for sure so far is that he wants to go after you first, Cypress.” Liza told him gently. “Please stay in the library, at least for now. We’ll meet you back here soon.”

“Can I at least go back to my room?” Cypress pleaded.

Fallin raised a long, thin eyebrow. Why would you want to go back there, of all places? It’s the very place you’ve been complaining about all this time.”

“I… I know.” Cypress admitted, faltering as his eyes fell on the book that he had been reading. “But… I’m still weak from being sick and all the excitement has worn me down. Please. If Cleven is safely himself again, then there should be no need to go tiptoeing about. I’ll stay away from him for a while if you want me to, but at least let me back in my room.”

“Cypress…?” Eliza asked, looking at him strangely.

“Please.”

“All right.” Fallin agreed cautiously. “Go sleep, if that’s really what you’re going to be doing.”

“Thank you.” Cypress said, his eyes betraying relief. He picked up the tome he had been reading, folding the page over slightly to mark his place as he carried it back to his room. Before the three of them parted ways, Liza turned her head sideways to read the title of the book. The spine read: The Metaphysical Properties and Elements of Fairies’ Wings. Liza hurried down the stairs, puzzled. “What,” she wondered, “could Cypress possibly want from a book like that?”

 

*

 

“It’s bad to hide.” Ellyra chided Tam, in one of her rare moments of pseudo-clarity that burst through her clouded brain.

“Not in this case.” Tam explained softly. He had yet to satisfactorily explain to himself why he bothered explaining things to Ellyra when she was in this highly volatile and detached state, but if she still had some bit of consciousness left in there, she did deserve to know what was going on in the world around her. “Cleven’s in there.” Tam went on. “And I’m not sure what he’s looking for yet, but he’s definitely angry, so we’re going to stay out here where it’s safe until he calms down.”

“Safe…” Ellyra cooed softly.

“That’s right.” Tam said, nodding. “We’re safe out here.” He was crouched with Ellyra inside the carriage, the door tightly locked. It wasn’t the best hiding place, obviously, especially since the horses were getting restless, but Tam knew he didn’t have the stamina to carry Ellyra very far, and at any rate he wasn’t sure that taking her somewhere was the best thing for her in her present state. He inferred by the lack of responses to his repeated calls and by the absence of any ghosts to help him take care of the horses that everyone in the castle was preoccupied with the dealing that were taking place inside it. This worried him terribly, especially with Cypress inside, but he trusted that the castle-dwellers would handle the situation. The knowledge that the ghosts, at least, were impervious to Cleven’s claws and teeth was some comfort, although not nearly enough. It was quite a relief for Tam, therefore, when he saw Eliza emerge from the castle door, pushing it open with some difficulty.

Tam immediately pushed the carriage door open and stepped down to meet Liza, leaving Ellyra lying in her prone and now half-asleep position on the cushioned carriage seat. “What’s going on in there?” He asked anxiously. “Was anyone hurt?”

“Not this time.” Liza responded. “It looks like you two got back just in time; Tasmine said that Cleven calmed down and went back to normal a few minutes ago. It must’ve been when you first arrived.” She strained her eyes to look toward the carriage, where Ellyra’s shadowy form rested. “How’s Ellyra?”

Tam shook his head, his wild curls shimmering orange and gold in the fading light. “She became delusional again only a few minutes after we got here. There’s definitely a correlation between her madness and Cleven’s.”

The muscles in Liza’s face stretched and elongated in a grimace. “Well at least we know something, then.” She said ruefully. “It’s just a shame that keeping Cleven’s beast in check comes at such a steep price.”  

“I’ll say.” Tam agreed. “What about Cypress?”

“He’s fine. Not a scratch on him.” Liza reported. “You should talk to him though, Tam. When Cleven started clawing at the door we all took refuge in the library, and Cypress told us about why he wants to be a Keeper so badly. It’d be worth talking to him again to get his side of the story.”

“I’ll talk to him later, I guess.” Tam said grudgingly. “I’m just glad he’s all right for now.”

Liza squinted at Tam through the twilight and reached out a hand to touch his face. “What happened there? You’re bruised.” She asked, lightly fingering his cheek, though she quickly pulled her hand back when he flinched.

“Funny story, that.” Tam chuckled, though there was no small amount of irony in his laugher. “Cleven’s not the only one with anger issues, apparently. He must get it from his brother.”

“Zayric hit you?” Liza gasped, aghast.

“Yep. Caught me right in the jaw.” Tam confirmed. “But we can discuss that later. Now we have to get Ellyra inside and make sure that Cleven’s okay. Help me get the door?” Tam returned to the carriage to get Ellyra out, carrying her gently in his arms. The dress that Marina had made for her shimmered dazzlingly and reflected the colors of the setting sun, casting patches of deep purple and red over Tam’s neck and face.

“Mmm?” Ellyra stirred when she was moved, and shifted a little in Tam’s arms, her eyes cracking open a little to squint at him through her thick eyelashes. “Daddy?” She asked hopefully, carefully looping her thin arms around his neck.

Tam smiled sadly back at her and brushed her hair back with one hand before shifting her head more firmly on his shoulder. “Not today, Ellyra.” He told her softly. “Someday soon.”

The disoriented Dove groaned and closed her eyes. “Dizzy…” She intoned.

“We’ll get you back to bed soon, Ellyra.” Liza assured her as she tugged at the door, managing to pull it open a little with much difficulty. With Tam’s help, they were able to get it open and slip inside.

 

*

 

“Master Cleven?”

“Fallin…?” Cleven blinked a few times, his pupils narrowing to adjust to the light before he closed his eyes tightly, his hairy face bunched up against the brightness. “Is that you? I’d open my eyes but it hurts to look at the light.”

“It’s me, Cleven.” Fallin assured him. “Me and several ghosts. They had to hold you down. You might feel little drowsy.”

“I do, actually.” Cleven said thoughtfully, pressing the finger-claws of one paw lightly against the palm of his other paw to see if his claws were still out; by now he honestly couldn’t tell the difference. When he discovered that they were, in fact, out, he retracted them immediately. “Where am I?” Cleven tried once more to open his eyes, but the harshness of the garish light made him squeeze them shut again without getting a good glimpse of his surroundings. He could feel the carpet beneath his back, which meant that he wasn’t in the tower anymore, but that begged the questions of how he had gotten out of the tower and why he was lying down. Suddenly he realized that Fallin was talking to him, probably revealing the answers to these questions, and this jerked him from his reverie. “What did you say Fallin? Sorry, I wasn’t listening.”  

                “I said that you escaped from the tower. The Beast took you over just after Ellyra and Tam left for High Tea at the palace, and you managed to break out of your room. Eliza, Cypress and I took refuge in the library and I made an elixir of Garner’s weed to sedate you before you could do any damage. That’s why you feel drowsy now.”

                “If you gave me the elixir then why aren’t I dead asleep right now? Or… wait, how much time has passed? And more importantly, why in the seven Hells can’t I open my eyes without being blinded?”

                It was a good thing that Cleven couldn’t see Fallin’s hands since he would have immediately recognized his tutor’s old nervousness exercise: touching the tip of each finger against the thumb of each respective hand.  “I’m not sure, Cleven. Perhaps your eyes have become more sensitive to light? Keep them closed for now.” Fallin pricked up his head and peered out one of the high windows. “It’s twilight now and it’ll be dark soon. Things should be easier for you then. As for the time, you’ve been like this for a few hours. You never actually fell asleep from the elixir, though; you recovered just before Tasmine was able to put very much of it in your mouth.”

                “I didn’t… hurt anyone, did I?” Cleven asked fearfully. “How close are we to the library now?”

                “Just a flight down. One more set of stairs and you would’ve had us, but the ghosts did a good job of keeping you back.”

                “You’re fast, Master Cleven.” Marina’s voice floated to Cleven’s ears. “We had a time catching you since you kept running through us.”

                “Well I’m glad you caught me.” Cleven said firmly. “How did I get out of the tower? I thought we locked the door.”

                “We did, Master Cleven.” Tasmine reported, her firm alto voice strangely reassuring to Cleven’s sensitive ears. “You clawed through the door. It didn’t take you very long to do it, either. If we’re going to keep you in for next time, we’re going to have to get a new door made of metal to put there instead.”

                “Well let’s hope there won’t be a next time.” Cleven moaned.

                “We can’t be too careful.” Fallin warned, stroking the fur of Cleven’s back. “If your new inclination to walk on all fours and this hypersensitivity to light are any indication, the beast that’s trying to take you over is either getting stronger or whatever Ellyra’s doing to keep it at bay is slowly wearing off.”

                “The light sensitivity has to wear off.” Cleven insisted sharply. “I can’t see this way.”

                “I’m sure something will come up.” Fallin said, though Cleven didn’t find his tone particularly reassuring.

                “Where’s Ellyra?” The beast prince asked suddenly. “Is she safe?”

                “Safe and sound, though she’s delusional again, the poor thing.”

                Cleven whipped his head around toward the voice that had spoken and the footsteps that matched it; both were coming up the stairs. “Tam? Is that you?”

                “Sure is, Cleven. Eliza’s with me, too.” Tam told him, kneeling near the fallen prince. “What’s this about light sensitivity? I didn’t hear much.”

                “It hurts to open my eyes.” Cleven explained impatiently. “But never mind about that now; what’s wrong with Ellyra?”

                “The same thing that was wrong before.” Liza chimed in, squatting next to Cleven as well. This, Liza told herself, was one of the benefits of not going to High Tea today: it had allowed her to wear breeches instead of a dress, and kneeling in a dress was impossible.

                Tam nodded, although Cleven couldn’t see him doing it. “She’s in and out of consciousness, but before she faded out she was rambling on about her mother’s face and how she’d never seen it. And she thought I was her father. And… she was yelling about how they took away the lights, at one point. She almost got violent, then. I’ve got little bruises in my arm where her fingernails were.”

                “That’s not the only place you’re bruised.” Liza muttered under her breath, hoping that Cleven wouldn’t here.

                Unfortunately, he did. “What’s that Eliza?” He asked tiredly.

                “Oh nothing.” Tam inserted quickly. “I’ll explain later. Now, what are we going to do about this light sensitivity thing?”

                “Do you think it’ll go away, Fallin?” Liza asked, looking at the professor.

                “I don’t know!” Fallin cried, wringing his hands. “I… I would assume so, but I’m just as in the dark about this whole fiasco as any of you are.”

                “We could try getting rid of all the torches.” Marina suggested. By now many of the other ghosts had dispersed, but she and Tasmine remained, interested in the conversation.

                “That would help. Torchlight’s never been something very easily filtered by my eyes to begin with.” Cleven agreed, trying once again to open his eyes. This time he was able to keep them open for a few seconds before closing them again, after which he covered his closed eyes with a paw-hand and groaned. “At least it’s getting better.”

                “Well for now we must assume that it’s an after-effect of the… transformation? Is that what we should call it?” Fallin sighed. “Let’s get all the torches out of here and hope that Cleven can see again.”

                “In the meantime, I’m going to—” Tam began, but Liza cut him off teasingly.

                “Eat?” She suggested. “That’s actually not a bad idea for all of us, since the last time I ate was at breakfast.”

                “Actually, I was going to say that I’m going to check on Cypress now.” Tam told Liza, a hint of annoyance creeping into his already strained voice.

                “Are you sure that’s a good idea now?” Liza responded, unapologetic. “He said he was rather exhausted before he left. When Cleven got control of himself again, the first thing Cypress wanted to do was go back to his room and sleep.”

                “You were the one that said I should talk to him.” Tam pointed out challengingly.

                “I never said you should now.”

                “Now is as good a time as any. Sorry Cleven. I hope you don’t take this as me abandoning you in your time of need or anything.”

                “Not at all Tam.” Cleven returned pleasantly. “I can… understand why you wouldn’t want to be alone with me in the dark.”

                Everyone shivered a little, especially Tam. The previous night he had explained to them all in vivid detail what Cleven had done and said, mostly for Cleven’s benefit. He was, of course, appropriately chagrined, and Tam, judging by his jittery demeanor and strong desire to get away, had not quite recovered from the encounter yet.

                “All right fine.” Liza muttered grudgingly. “But talk to him quickly and meet us downstairs in at the table for dinner. I want to hear all about your adventures at High Tea.”

                “Surely.” Tam answered, pushing himself up from the floor. “I’ll see you all soon.”

                Liza watched him go, squinting through the fading light as a nearby ghost doused the torches one by one. “I hope he’s all right.” She murmured.

                “I’m sure he will be, Miss Eliza.” Cleven comforted her. “Are the lights out?”

                “Yes, Master Cleven, they are.” Tasmine told him.

                In the sudden darkness, Liza couldn’t help but notice that her palms were a little clammy and she was glad to feel Fallin’s reassuring hand on her shoulder, although she noted that his hands were trembling slightly.

                Cleven opened his eyes for a fourth time, and this time they stayed open, although their open state drew a horrified gasp from Eliza.

                “What?” Cleven queried, frightened. “What’s wrong, Miss Eliza?”

                “Your eyes!” She squeaked. “They aren’t the same!”

                “What ever do you mean?” Cleven seemed puzzled, and rightfully so; the all were, a little.

                “They were amber before, weren’t they?” Fallin whispered quietly, unsure.

                “What? Yes, yes of course they were!” Cleven cried helplessly. “Why? Aren’t they amber now? What’s happened to them?”

                “They’re the same shape…” Eliza ventured, crawling cautiously closer to the beast to get a better look. Her whole body quivered as she felt Cleven’s warm breath on her skin; despite its gentleness on her face, she couldn’t forget the fact that it was coming from a mouth full of sharp, pearly teeth. “The pupils are the same and everything. It’s just the color that’s different now.” She was quiet for a moment, examining them.

                Cleven, whose eyes were unaffected, even heightened by the dark, could see the fear in Eliza’s face as plain as the castle around him. “Well?” He asked, slightly impatient. “What’s different?”

                “It’s just the color.” Eliza breathed. “They’re… strange now. Orange around the edges and crimson in the center.”

                “What could that mean?” Cleven wondered, distantly annoyed that at the present moment he was unable to view this change for himself.

                “Nothing good, that’s for sure.” Fallin mused unhappily. “I don’t like how many changes have been going on with you recently, Cleven. It doesn’t bode well for us in the future.”

                “Yes…” Cleven agreed quietly. He was silent for a few seconds before he spoke again, steeling himself for the suggestion what was about to issue from his lips, the admission that perhaps he wasn’t truly in control of anything that was going on. “Maybe we really should get that new metal door for the East Tower. Just in case… just in case something like this happens again.”

               

*

 

                “Cypress?” Tam asked hesitantly, poking his head into the room and glancing around it. His brow furrowed when his initial sweep did not reveal his friend: there was an open book lying in plain sight on the fairy prince’s bedside table, its pages fluttering slightly. Cypress’s bedclothes were tangled and empty, although the large wardrobe in the corner was slightly ajar. “Why would he be in there?” Tam asked himself as he stepped into the room and crossed it rapidly. Before he could get to the wardrobe, however, the chilly breeze that blew over him alerted him to the open window. Turning, he glanced to the small balcony outside and his azure eyes widened as he took in what he saw. Cypress was there on the balcony, his brown hair blowing back in the breeze, his knees bent and his torso thrust forward: he was ready to jump.

Author's Note

There's excessive word-padding in here, I know. I'm way behind for JulNoWriMo, so I'll be plagued with wordiness from here on out, I'm afraid.

Did I skip around too much in this chapter? And I know a lot of it is explanation of things that the readers already know and I know that that gets boring, but it feels weird to me to have characters talking about things that other characters do or don't know about without formally informing everyone.... I don't know. Sorry if this chapter was boring >_<

Reviews

[Hannah!]

I didn't think it was boring. The explanations make sense to me, and sometimes, it's helpful to have them. I have no idea if I'm the only one who does this or not, but when a story get tense, I don't always read every word, and particularly exciting scenes usually leave me a bit confused. XD Anyway, you made the explanations as brief as possible--and if they are really bothering you, you could always just cut them down to "they explained the situation" (in prettier sounding words, of course), which puts all the characters on the same page without repeating things that characters already know. But this is JulNo, and explanations like that do not use very many words. XD

I'm excited. I am. I've run out of theories as far as this story is concerned, and now all I can do is read each new update as fast as I can to find out what happens next. XD I'm worried about Cleven. I felt so sorry for him when he came back to himself, I really just wanted to give him a big hug. I don't blame the other characters for being scared of him, but it makes me so sad that they are, because...he's the nicest guy in the house when he's normal. Hopefully, Ellyra doesn't leave again any time soon, and he'll at least have something of a hold on himself...although if Cleven's madness is passed on to Ellyra as I'm beginning to suspect it is, I don't know if I like the state of things when she's there any more than when she's away. Poor Ellyra. D:

Gah. I just want to read what happens next. Does Cypress almost jumping have anything to do with the book he was reading? I hope that circumstances aren't what they seem, because I am going to be pissed off Cypress kills himself, or even just tries to and fails. Seriously.

Oh, and to answer your other question, I don't think you skip around too much. Maybe a little, but it's nothing major--I'm not sure if I like the abruptness of the scene changes or not, but I definitely did notice them.