Temporary Insanity

Tyler was jerked out of sleep by a wild, agonized scream, followed by a heavy thud. He jack-knifed into a sitting position, sending Fio scampering under the blanket, and looked around.

Jai was on the floor, writhing around as though she was on fire and screaming just as loud. She clawed at her face, and though her fingernails had never been very long, they were sharp enough to leave thin red marks in her skin.

“Jai!” Tyler shoved his blanket off and headed for his sister. Noah beat him to her, loose hair flying as she grabbed Jais’ wrists and wrestled them from her face, pinning her to the ground. Jai continued to scream and thrash, shaking her head violently and trying to yank her arms free. The restraints only seemed to make it worse.

“What’s wrong with her?” Tyler cried, eyes wide with panic.

Noah ignored his question. “Get Mi’ta,” she commanded.

He didn’t hesitate to obey. He rushed to the door and nearly ran into Alec and Mi’ta in the hallway.

“What’s going on?” Alec demanded. It was clear that they had just woken up; neither had shaved or dressed, and Mi’ta was still putting his glasses on.

“Something’s wrong with Jai,” Tyler said hurriedly, moving aside to let them into the room. “She’s freaking out, I think she’s having a nightmare.”

“What was your first clue?” Noah said acidly, still struggling to keep Jai on the floor. “Mi’ta, get over here!”

The magician hurried to Jai’s side, kneeling next to her. He took her face in his hands, holding her head still and running his thumbs gently over the scratches she’d given herself while murmuring what sounded to Tyler like complete gibberish.

Gradually, Jai calmed down. She stopped fighting and her screams quieted, though her mouth continued to move and she made small gagging noises.

Noah released her, and Jai’s hands went back to her face. She started when she felt Mi’ta’s fingers and opened her eyes, taking a moment to focus as she looked at him.

“It’s all right, Jai,” Mi’ta soothed. “It was just a nightmare.”

She gazed up at him, her wide eyes slowly filling with tears. A violent shudder shook her entire body, and Mi’ta gently gathered her up, pulling her into a hug. She buried herself against his chest, still trembling.

Tyler pretended he didn’t see the pleasure that passed behind Mi’ta’s glasses. He convinced himself that any happiness the magician found in the situation was from helping Jai. Because anything else the happiness might indicate was just gross.

“What was the nightmare about?” Alec asked after a few silent moments of Jai collecting herself.

“Bugs,” she muttered, muffled against Mi’ta’s shirt. “Giant bugs, everywhere. All over me, and you guys, and getting inside us, and-”

“It wasn’t real,” Mi’ta reminded her, stroking her hair comfortingly.

“Felt real.” Jai shuddered again and scratched her neck. She sat up, and Tyler could see thin welts forming on her face from where she’d clawed at herself, perhaps trying to get the bugs off.

“What are we going to do about this?” Noah asked, unnerved. “Mi’ta, can’t you get the damned curse off her?”

“It’s very-”

Jai screamed again, startling Noah into drawing Lyalin. Tyler followed his sisters’ gaze to see the large lump in the blanket that was Fio, squirming about the bed.

“It’s just Fio,” Alec told her, sounding relieved.

“Oh…” Jai swallowed hard, glancing up when Tyler moved to sit beside her. “I t-thought it was o-one of the b-bugs…”

“The bugs were as big as Fio?” Tyler asked, horrified by the thought alone.

“Some of them,” Jai said sourly, before groaning and burying her face in her hands. She jerked after a few seconds and scratched her neck again.

Mi’ta caught her wrist, pulling her hand away from what looked like a bruise on the side of her neck. “Don’t touch it, you’ll only irritate it,” he said, holding her hand in both of his. “The spell I cast is very gradual. It will work, but it takes time. You’ll have a few more bad dreams, but no more sleep walking and - I hope - no more as bad as the bugs. All right?”

Jai looked up at him, fingers flexing restlessly in his hold. “Okay,” she agreed, and looked pained. “It itches, though…”

“I don’t know if I can do anything about that,” Mi’ta said with a sigh. “Toying magically with the physical part of the spell could make it worse.”

“So how can we get rid of the curse?” Noah asked irritably.

“It depends on the nature of it, and the demons’ strength,” he said. “We can cast a healing spell and wait it out, as we’re doing. We could attempt to exercise it, which would probably kill Jai. Or we could kill the demon who placed it.”

“Oh good,” Tyler said bitterly. “Another reason to kill Damaen.”

 

The bug dream stayed in the back of my mind for the next several days; it was far back enough for me to ignore, but just close enough to make my skin itch. It would have made sleeping difficult, but every night Mi’ta cast a spell to put me to sleep, and in the morning he cast another to help me forget the newest nightmare.

 

The nightmares, I’d decided, were like movies. Mi’ta could mute and fast-forward them with all the spells he wanted, but I still saw the images. Whether they were worse than the bugs or not was a matter of opinion.

There was one where snakes replaced the bugs; huge, hissing snakes, poison dripping from their fangs. There was another where I was being chased by something I couldn’t see. It got closer and closer with every passing minute until I could feel the hot breath on my neck. I woke up seconds before it caught me.

The most disturbing nightmare, as far as I was concerned, took place on Earth. I was getting home from delivering Tyler’s project to his school, and instead of finding Dad beating up Lily, I found her killing him. His lifeless body was on the floor, along with Moms and Aunt Chloes. Their blood was everywhere, and when Lily turned to face me, she was smiling.

I refused to tell anyone about that dream. Especially Tyler.

Despite still having the nightmares, I was grateful for Mi’ta’s sleeping spells. Sleeping every night made it easier to focus during the lessons Noah and now Mi’ta were insisting I take.

In the mornings I practiced with Noah, and Tyler worked with Alec. Sometimes the village children would come to watch, marveling over the guns Alec and Tyler used. During the afternoons Noah taught Tyler, and Mi’ta took me back to the cave where we could practice magic in private behind his protective spells.

The magic lessons were often frustrating. Mi’ta wasn’t allowed to do much, as he claimed; he cast a spell to prevent me from using too much magic so it wouldn’t get out of control, then merely watched, occasionally reminding me to focus and breathe.

“You know, I highly doubt I’m going to forget to breathe,” I said moodily, sitting on the cave floor. My chin was propped in one hand, the other gathering small rocks and piling them neatly together.

“Some students do,” Mi’ta said with a smile, watching me. “They get so focused that they forget everything else, even breathing.”

“Is that a jab at my lack of focus?” I asked as I placed another rock on the pile. I wasn’t sure why I was doing it, though it was probably out of boredom; I’d been staring at them for nearly an hour, trying to make them move while remembering to focus and breathe. Needless to say, my only success came when I’d started moving them by hand.

“Of course not,” Mi’ta soothed. “Remember, we’re trying to control air. Try moving the air around the rocks instead of the rocks themselves.”

I frowned and looked at him. “You expect me to create wind strong enough to move these?” I asked, adding another pebble to the heap.

“I’m sure you’ll find it easier than it sounds.”

Sighing, I turned back to my pile. It was starting to look like a mountain, instead of the castle I was going for. I scowled and scattered the rocks, starting over. “I still don’t see why you can’t just teach me how to do it.”

“I told you,” he said patiently. “I would have to take you on as my formal apprentice, which would require us returning to Nyahal to perform the Sharing Ritual. It’s complicated,” he added before I could ask. “And the master and apprentice partnership is forever. Since you’re returning to your world at the end of this ordeal, making a commitment like that would only complicate things for both of us.”

“Than how are you able to be a Hunter?” I wondered, adding rocks to the pile without paying much attention, my eyes on the magician. “Shouldn’t you be on Nyahal, with your master?”

“I don’t have one,” he replied. “I never have. Not a formal one, anyway. On Nyahal, a master may take many students, but he can only teach them indirectly. The master chooses one apprentice to teach.”

“What happens to the other students?”

“They have a few options. They could find a different master, or teach themselves, which takes a long time and is very difficult, or they go into different fields of work.”

“So you taught yourself.”

“I still am. I knew healing magic when I met Alec, but not much else. I had to learn fighting and defense spells to stay alive.” He was watching my growing castle with interest. “I’ve learned other things along the way, as well.”

“Do you know elemental magic?” I asked, adding another rock to the pile. It was probably just another formless heap; I didn’t bother looking.

“Not really. Few magicians do. At least not to the extent the belt provides. For the most part, only the members of the royal family were powerful enough to learn elemental magic, and even they had trouble with it.”

I snorted. “So even if I was your formal apprentice, you wouldn’t be able to teach me what you don’t know.”

Mi’ta smiled. “I don’t think that’s really an issue,” he said, an eyebrow raised.

“What?” I looked down at my rock heap and paused in the act of adding yet another stone. “Oh.”

Sitting before me was a tiny castle, complete with a drawbridge, miniscule windows, and four towers. Apparently, all the rocks in my pile had melted together to create the image I’d been thinking of.

Mi’ta chuckled. “Not bad for your first try,” he said, amused.

“Not bad?” I lifted the little castle, turning it over in my hands; it was rough and heavy under my fingers. “This thing is awesome.”

“Mm. But we were trying to move the rocks with air, not reshape them. Please try again.”

So I tried again, my confidence restored by the creation of the castle I’d been completely unaware of. Unfortunately, trying to do a specific thing was apparently more difficult than trying to do anything, and by the time night started to fall all I’d managed was a breeze that rattled the stones a little. Still, as we returned to the inn, Mi’ta assured me that I’d done well.

Outside the inn, Tyler, Fio and the two Hunters were waiting for us. Tyler was surrounded by village children and looking quite confused about it. They seemed to be playing a version of fetch; the children - around five or six of them 9 years old and younger - gave Tyler a gold ball, which he threw as hard as he could upon their urging. The children would race to catch it, and the one to get it first would triumphantly return it to Tyler for him to throw again.

As Mi’ta and I reached the group, I was drawn into the game, as well, and it became a sort-of keep away; Tyler and I threw the ball back and forth while the kids ran after it, determined to catch it. I felt kind of ridiculous playing games while Lily was still in danger, but I knew the Hunters wouldn’t agree to leave Altaire until they were satisfied with our training.

I just hoped we were getting close.

X X X

In the morning, after Mi’ta edited my latest nightmare (I’d been stranded on an inflatable raft surrounded by sharks), the Hunters had to go chase something that had appeared on the Seeker. Assuming it was Liske, I found myself hoping the demon was smart enough to avoid getting caught.

Alec wasn’t sure how long they would be gone, so he left money for us to buy food with. I wanted to ask Tyler to go out with me, but he disappeared with Fio shortly after the Hunters had left.

On my own I wandered into town, milling with the locals who didn’t seem confused by my presence anymore. Apparently they’d gotten used to us being there.

I had a small basket, which Alec had been using to buy groceries. I absently made my way through the crowded market, buying food I recognized that Alec had gotten previously. My favorites were paplias, round green fruits that tasted sort of like apples, but much sweeter.

I didn’t really focus much on the shopping, sparing just enough attention to put the items in my basket and pay the correct amount. Other than that my thoughts were elsewhere.

I thought about my nightmares and if they meant anything. I was tempted to practice my magic, but knew that was better saved for when I was in private, and there was no privacy without Mi’ta. My thoughts even drifted to Oyin, and I wondered how the village was doing under Sayr and Maram’s care. I vaguely thought back to Shalved, smiling a little when I remembered Rodrick and Eleta. Absently I hoped they were all right. I wondered where Tyler had gone, and how Lily was doing.

Thinking of Lily sent my thoughts on a path back to Earth, and I recalled Tyler wondering about our parents. What were they doing now that we weren’t around? And Aunt Chloe? With my siblings and I gone, did she still keep her basement locked? Was there any need to?

Why did she have those things in her basement to begin with? I wondered as I put a loaf of bread in my basket, my eyes narrowed as I thought. What was she doing with Damaen’s book? What else did she have? My thoughtless stride slowed to a stop as I thought back, trying to remember everything from Aunt Chloe’s basement.

She had all those books in different languages, and… parchment? And a… metal band… It looked kind of like…

 

My eyes widened as realization dawned on me, and I nearly dropped my basket.

Was Aunt Chloe a Hunter?

 

“You really should pay more attention to your surroundings,” a voice said, jerking me back to reality. I looked up and started upon finding the thief Adrie standing beside me, an amused smile on his face.

Briefly, all I could do was blink at him. “Where’d you come from?” I asked, alarmed. Part of me half-expected him to give some smartass answer; my mama.

 

His smile grew. “I’ve been walking with you for a while,” he told me, carrying an armful of fruits, meat and bread. “You’re lucky I was, too. Some other thieves were looking very interested in you, and they probably would have gotten you, with how spaced out you were.” He gestured toward an alley, where a group of teenagers, presumably thieves, were lingering.

I blushed and frowned. Reluctantly I started to thank him, before I noticed how strangely light my basket was. I looked down and wasn’t horribly surprised to find it empty, all my groceries in Adrie’s arm.

“Can I have those back?” I asked tiredly.

Adrie laughed and replaced the food. “Sorry. I’m a thief, it’s what I do.”

“Is it really smart of me to be walking around with a thief?” I wondered.

“Smarter than walking around by yourself,” Adrie replied. “Where are your friends today? I would have thought that magician too protective of you to let you wander around alone.”

I frowned at that. “They had to go take care of something. Besides, it’s not like he’s my keeper. He doesn’t tell me where I can and can’t go.”

“Oh, I see.” Adrie smiled but didn’t seem to believe me. “Your name is Jai, isn’t it?” he asked randomly.

I nodded, absently wondering how he knew.

“That’s a pretty name.”

“Thanks…” I eyed him warily, not really trusting his pleasant smile, for obvious reasons. Deciding that I was finished shopping, I turned to go back to the inn. It didn’t come as a huge surprise when I noticed Adrie following me.

“Don’t you have anywhere else to be?” I asked over my shoulder.

He smiled. “Not really,” he admitted. “Besides, I like talking to you.”

“I’m flattered,” I said flatly. “Really, I am. I should go, though.” I turned from him and made my way back to the inn, trying to ignore him as he continued to follow. Thankfully he didn’t tag along into the building.

I brought my groceries upstairs, disappointed to find that neither the Hunters nor Tyler had returned. I put my basket on the table before taking out the book Mi’ta had given me out of my bag, sitting on my bed with the heavy tome on my lap. I paged through it thoughtfully, pausing here and there to read the details of some of the items listed. For the most part the book was useless, since I didn’t have any of the items it described, but it was fairly interesting to read.

It wasn’t long, unfortunately, before I grew bored enough to venture back outside. It was rather annoying, though not at all surprising when I found Adrie waiting for me.

“Were you just going to stand out here on the off chance that I would come back?” I asked, highly disturbed by his apparent interest in me.

He looked up and considered. “Maybe,” he admitted. “I probably would have gotten bored eventually, though.”

“You really need a hobby.”

He followed me as I wandered through Altaire. He rambled about the city, mentioning his favorite hiding places and the best escape routes. I kept quiet, my hands stuffed in the pockets of my jeans, barely listening to his chatter. I kept hoping we would run into Tyler, or the Hunters, or even Liske; Adrie seemed to dislike groups of people, and I wanted a reason to get rid of him.

With this in mind, I turned down a particularly busy street, packed with people. Stands and booths were set up, though only a few seemed to be selling anything, namely dresses and jewelry. It wasn’t long before I realized that the rest were fortune tellers, reading peoples palms or seeing their futures through such mediums as cards, water, and pebbles. One man seemed to be using bones with tiny symbols painted on them

“Do you want to have your fortune told?” Adrie asked, undeterred by the thick crowds. He looked around with an interest I hadn’t expected. “The palm readers are never much help, but the water readers are usually accurate.”

“You believe in all this?” I asked, surprised.

He looked at me and smiled. “Of course,” he said. “Why? Don’t you?”

I hesitated, thinking back on my past experiences with fortune tellers. “I don’t know,” I said after a moment.

“Have you never had your fortune told?”

“I have, but I don’t know whether to believe it or not.”

“Ah.” Adrie smiled knowingly. “You were told something you didn’t want to hear, and you don’t want to believe it.”

“What?” I looked up at him and scowled. “No. I was told things that I already knew and things that don’t make sense.”

“I see,” he mused, unconvinced.

I rolled my eyes and kept walking. We wandered through the town, eventually coming upon some entertainers. There was quite a variety, including musicians and dancers, sword-swallowers and fire dancers. I noticed Baek, surrounded by a crowd of fascinated children as he told them a story of a princess who had been locked away by a king who wanted to marry her. I couldn’t help smiling, wondering how Noah would react if she heard.

I glanced toward Adrie to say something, pausing when I saw him toying with a thin, heavily decorated knife. It looked oddly familiar, and when I looked back at the entertainers, I saw a knife-thrower wielding blades identical to Adries’.

“What the hell?” I hissed at him. “Have you been stealing things this whole time?”

He looked at me and blinked, then smiled. “Not the whole time,” he said innocently. “Did you just notice? You really should be more observant, Jai.”

“You can’t just go around stealing whenever you feel like it,” I snapped.

“Obviously I can,” he replied, slipping the knife under his belt. “Besides, I got you a present.” He reached into his pocket, withdrawing a pair of earrings, which he held out to me. They were rather tacky, thin gold discs the size of his palm. Each disc was embedded with a large white gem, a strange black mist floating about inside.

“Adrie, I don’t…” I paused, my anger slowly fading as I studied the earrings. “Really?”

“No, not really,” he admitted reluctantly. “I don’t know why I took them, they’re kind of ugly. Force of habit, I suppose…”

I didn’t pay much attention to him, focused on the gems. They were very ugly, as he’d said, but I couldn’t help feeling a strange attraction to them. An odd fascination, despite my lack of interest in jewelry. The same way I’d felt about the belt.

“Can I have those?” I asked, interrupting Adrie’s rambling.

He blinked, then shrugged. “Sure,” he said, handing me the discs. “I probably won’t be able to sell them, anyway.”

“Thanks.” I carefully tucked the earrings into my pocket. My ears weren’t pierced, but I was sure Mi’ta could fix that. “Is that what do you? Steal things and then sell them back?”

“Of course. What else would I-” Adrie paused, his gaze drifting over my head. Suddenly, he looked distressed. “Uh oh.”

“What?” I looked back, scanning the crowds. I quickly spotted the cause of his displeasure; five men suited in leather armor were approaching, and they didn’t look happy. I’d seen them around before; some sort of medieval police force.

“Looks like you’re in trouble,” I mused.

Adrie didn’t answer. Instead, he grabbed my wrist and hurriedly started walking, pulling me along behind him.

“What are you doing?” I scowled. “Let go. I don’t want to get involved in this.”

“Too late,” he replied grimly. “They saw you talking to me, and probably saw me give you the earrings. They’re going to assume we’re accomplices.”

“So tell them we aren’t,” I snapped, fruitlessly trying to pull away.

“They wouldn’t listen.” Adrie glanced over his shoulder and grimaced; apparently the soldiers were gaining. Bursting into a run and forcing me to join him, he led the way through the crowds of people, expertly dodging through the masses. Pulling me down a small side street, we ducked into a narrow alley and sprinted to the end, our way blocked by a tall stone wall. Behind us, the soldiers footsteps were growing louder.

“What now, genius?” I hissed, barely able to believe I’d gotten myself into another horrible situation. Noah was going to skin me alive.

Adrie didn’t answer, looking around quickly. He spied an overturned wooden barrel, which he hurried to straighten.

“This way,” he said, climbing onto the barrel. Reaching up, he grabbed hold of the roof of a building and swiftly pulled himself up. “Hurry.”

I groaned, hardly able to call myself athletic. “I must be insane,” I muttered, but followed suit anyway, climbing onto the barrel and reaching for the roof. I barely managed to reach, due to my lack of height, but Adrie grabbed my wrists and helped pull me up. I successfully rested one knee on the edge of the roof, but that was as far as I got.

A large hand suddenly grabbed my dangling ankle and pulled hard. Unprepared, I yelped as I was yanked backward, quickly losing my balance. My hands were pulled from Adries and I found myself falling backward through open air.

Whoever pulled me had gotten out of the way, letting me land on the cobblestone. The impact sent jarring pains through my body, drawing a cry and what were probably some very colorful curse words from me. I couldn’t even begin to think of moving, but I didn’t really have to.

The soldiers grabbed my arms and pulled me to my feet. They had to hold me up; my legs were jelly, and I was too dazed to stand on my own. One of the soldiers, a large, bearded man with a red face, was shouting something at me, but all I could hear was my blood rushing in my ears.

I was dragged out of the alley, in too much pain to really notice. With the last ounce of clear thinking I had, I looked up to the roof of the building.

Adrie was gone.