Chapter 8: Dead Weight
Song: Love the Way You Lie part II by I Am King
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I had a dream about Ianite. She told me to stop praying and then she stuffed me in a tank full of sharks. In the middle of the tank was Tom, tied up and surrounded by blood thirsty sharks. They tore him to shreds. I wasn't there in time.
It felt so real.
"Come on, wake up. I see you moving. Just open your eyes." I heard a voice encourage me.
My eye lids were so heavy, but I tried anyway. Light filled my vision. I saw a figure standing over me.
Mot. His scarf was covering his mouth, keeping his expression mostly hidden.
"Finally. I've been babysitting you for two hours. You scared everyone to death."
I tried to sit up, but pain began to flood my head so I laid back down again. "W-Where's Tom?"
"In the other room. He's still sleeping. Took your priest awhile to get rid of all the fluid in his lungs."
He's okay. Thank goodness.
"I don't even know what happened...it's like something took over my head and...I didn't realize we were in trouble." I looked around the room. I think I was at Decs house. I recognized this room from when I had surgery on my nose.
"You mean someone? You were attacked. Dia said he saw it happen."
"What? By who?" I thought of Ianite. I prayed to her just minutes before. Did she do this?
"Who do you think? Who else would want to kill you for worshipping another god?" Mot rolled his eyes.
"...Mianite?"
"Ding ding, congrats. You guessed correctly. Your prize is a cookie, because if I don't take care of you that chick is gonna attack me." He laid a cookie on my chest and went to sit back down in his chair.
"What chick?" I took the cookie and began to eat it. I was starving. My mouth tasted like saltwater.
"I don't know what her name is. She wears a fox hoodie. And she's got an aggressive boyfriend who looks a lot like Jeriah."
I tried to sit up again. The pain had nulled so I continued to stay that way. "Oh Sonja...she's uh, Alyssa's other."
Mots eyes widened. "Alyssa's other is dating Jeriahs other?!" He screeched.
"U-uh, Tucker isn't really...he's an okay guy. And he's Toms best friend so.."
"Okay?! I snapped when she brought home Andor! If she ever brought home Jeriah...oh gods it makes me sick to think about it. That soggy napkin with my daughter..." He shook his head in disgust.
I laughed. I wonder if Jeriah really is as bad as Mot describes him to be.
I heard the door open and in walked Dec, who looked absolutely exhausted. His eyes were rimmed with purple circles and his hair was messy. I felt bad. Due to me being weak, he has to patch me up all the time and lose sleep.
"Oh you're awake. Someone was supposed to tell me when you were." He narrowed his eyes at Mot.
Mot hissed at him. "Shut up, you Mianite loving ginger."
"Why do you hate me so Mot? You always have. Even when I wasn't a priest." Dec pulled out a bunch of tools and sat them down on the bed beside me.
"How can you love a god that tried to drown your own friends?" He spat back at the priest.
Dec only sighed and pulled on his stethoscope, pressing it to my chest to hear my heart.
"He was not always this way. I used to have much respect for him. Now...I wonder what I'm still doing by his side." I remembered how happy he had been at the wedding with Kyra. I wondered if he wished to be on her side.
I tried to change the topic. "Toms okay, right? He's not hurt or anything like that?"
"No. He's fine. Your friends from Urulu are watching him right now."
Tiff and Lola. I'd completely forgotten about them. After the eldrich guardian attack, I hadn't seen them. They were still living in Toms tree.
"Although um...I am a little worried about you, Jordan." Dec continued.
"What do you mean? I feel fine." I hadn't swallowed that much water. It was Tom who nearly died in there.
"Your heart rate is very fast and abnormal but...so is everything else I've checked. Your temperature is off, your skin has rashes, and you seem to be leaking purple fluid from your ears. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with the near drowning, but I don't think I can help it."
I touched my ear and sure enough when I pulled my hand back, purple fluid was on my fingers.
They didn't know. Who did know? Martha, Tom, and Sonja all knew about my powers. Why wouldn't the only priest in Dagrun not know? And Mot...what would he think? He was friends with Spark. Oh my god. I didn't even think about Spark. His wife was dead and he was trapped in a different dimension.
"Jordan?" Dec snapped his fingers in front of my face and I snapped out of my thoughts.
"Just some Thaumatic magic affects of something Sonja gave me. I'll be fine. It goes away."
It wasn't a complete lie. But it was for the most part.
"Thaumatic magic? Isn't that forbidden magic?" His expression seemed to grow darker.
"Er, yeah." He knew about forbidden magic. Of course he did! He's a priest!
"How...how are you still alive? Eldrich guardians kill any mortals who know anything about forbidden magic. And the affects..."
"Dec, can we talk about this later when he isn't in here?" I whispered so Mot couldn't hear. I didn't want him to know Ianite was dead.
He looked like he wanted to say more, but he instead closed his mouth and turned back to his supplies. "I will see if Toms room has enough space for more visitors. I will be back in a moment." He picked up his supplies and left the room, leaving me with a suspicious Mot.
"What was that all about?" He raised an eyebrow.
"He's just being weird. I think I'd know if I was using forbidden magic." I tried to play it off as being annoyed by Dec, but I wasn't entirely sure if my acting skills were enough.
He opened his mouth to say something else, but the sound of the door opening stopped him.
"He's awake if you'd like to see him Jordan." Dec said from the door. I hurried out of the room as fast as I could. I hope he was okay. I still had the image of his limp body imprinted in my brain.
Dec led me down the hallway into a room a few doors away from mine. I could hear talking coming from it, but as soon as Dec opened the door for me, everything went quiet. Tiff and Lola weren't the only ones in the room. Sonja Tucker and Wag were there too. Tom sat on top of his bed, fully awake and unharmed. There was a long moment of awkward silence. Something wasn't right here. Why did they immediately shut up when I came into the room?
Wag spoke first. "Hello Jordan. Are you feeling better?"
Everyone seemed to be looking anywhere but at me. Something definitely wasn't right.
"I am...what's up with you guys?" I looked at Tom, but he didn't even meet my gaze. He looked like he hadn't even been asleep.
"Dec, we told you to wait." Sonja whispered yelled at Dec.
"I refuse to be your lying puppet. Sort this out yourselves. I have things I must discuss with my god." Dec spat. He left the room, slamming the door behind him.
His god? What did he mean by that?
I turned to my friends and they once again looked away from me. "Is someone gonna tell me what's going on?"
Silence.
I studied the room a little closer and realized most of them were wearing armor and a few of them had bags at their sides. What the heck is going on? They look like they're about to go into battle or something.
"Tom you tell him. He's your husband." Tucker said to Tom.
"What? Why am I obligated to tell him?" Tom argued back.
"Because it was your idea in the first place. Tell him." Sonja crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him.
Tom sighed in defeat and turned to me. "While you were out, Mianite showed up. He's actually...not a bad guy. He wants to help resurrect Dianite and he said the we could help if we found some things he needed for it. So we're going on a mission to find the stuff and it'll take an entire month to find everything...and you're not coming." He looked down at the last part.
"What do you mean I'm not coming? If you guys are going on a mission then I'm going too. Especially if Mianite is there. You need all the help you can get." I didn't understand why he didn't want me to go. I'm a part of this team like everyone else.
"Sparklez you're not going. Don't try to argue. We already decided this. It's five against one in votes. You're staying here." He was getting irritated.
They didn't want me to go?
"I voted against it Jordan, just so you know." Lola said solemnly. She was sorry for me.
"Why don't you guys want me to go?" I was getting angry. Why would they decide something without me?
"It doesn't matter. You're not going anyways. We have to catch a train in a few minutes so we have to get going." They all began to pick up their bags and gather their things.
"I'm going and you can't stop me. This is dangerous and you guys need help. And why are you even trusting Mianite anyway? After all the things he's done to us and you're going on a mission with him?!" I was yelling now, but I didn't care. I was so angry. Mianite has made my life hell and now everyone is friends with him?
"He wants the same thing we all do Sparklez. And if you try to come with us, Wag already put a spell on the town to keep you from going out of it." He tried to walk past me, but I shoved him back. He was not leaving like this. I can't believe he's doing this.
"Why can't I go?! Why are you trusting him?! He's tried to kill all of us Tom!" I shouted in his face.
His irritation turned to anger and he shoved me hard into the wall. "It's your fault we keep getting almost killed! You put that water in the specter dimension, not him! Sonja told me! You're stupid side affects did it and it almost killed me and you! If you come on this mission you'll be nothing but a shit load of dead weight and you'll get us all killed! Stay here and be useful for once! I'm getting damn tired of saving your ass every five minutes. Just shut up and take orders like a decent wife." He stormed out of the room without a second glance back to me. The others trailed behind him, giving me pitied looks as they walked by.
I felt like he tore my heart out and stepped on it. My own husband. He thinks I'm useless.
You are useless. He only married you because he had to.
"Jordan...I'm staying here with Nicky while Tiff goes with them...if you need someone to keep you company I'll always be at Toms tree. He said I had permission to stay there so...guess I'll be here for a month."
I didn't answer her. I was in the worst pain I'd ever felt. Even worse than all the times I was nearly killed. Even worse when Ianite crumpled in my hands. Even worse when I went insane.
You are insane. You'll always be insane.
I'll always be insane. I'll always be dead weight. I'll never be strong.
"Jordan? You okay?" I felt Lola put a hand on my shoulder. I flinched and shoved it off. I couldn't take the pity looks and the constant fake care. No one cares. Lola doesn't care. Tom doesn't care. No one will ever care.
I ran. I ran through the fields. I ran past their houses. I ran past the place where I once called home.
I couldn't go far. Wags spell prevented me from getting anywhere near the border of the town. But I knew that spell. I also knew the spell to undo that one. Wag isn't as clever as he thinks.
I broke the barrier and ran further and further towards the only place where there wasn't anyone. A place I thought I'd never be able to go back to. The End.
The portal shone brightly, pulling me in with its soft calm atmosphere. I jumped in immediately.
I felt sort of relief to the pain when I walked in. Quiet. I loved it so much. Ianite always loved it too. I could tell.
I didn't really know where to go exactly. Before I knew it, I was walking the path to Ianites house. I saw the familiar glow of owl eyes in the trees. They didn't make any sounds. They just stared. I think they sensed she was gone too.
I walked into the clearing and saw it. The large pile of ash that was once my lady. I wanted to cry, but I didn't. She wouldn't want me to. She would want me to be strong and move on. I walked past it and went into her house. The door creaked loudly when I opened it. The hinges hadn't been used in weeks, no wonder they made such loud noises. Her living room looked just as it had when I'd last been here. Warm and cozy. I missed this place.
I looked around for anything that looked like a large container. I couldn't find anything. Maybe she had something in her bedroom. She used to have a bunch of old boxes she used to store Sparks things in.
I approached the shut door of her bedroom and put my hand on the knob. It felt weird going into her room without her being here. It was like I was invading her privacy.
She's dead. She's not coming back. She won't mind.
I twisted the knob and swung the door open slowly. Her room was still as messy as it had been the first time I'd been in it. The bed untouched, the picture frames dusty, the large amount of mold on the corners of the walls. She always said she didn't like to move things because they reminded her of Spark before he left.
There were a few boxes in the corner if the room. I could use one of those as a container for her ashes.
I picked up one of the empty boxes, making a few things fall in the process.
I heard a noise. A small gasp of freight. It freaked me out at first, because no one had been in this room in a long time. But then I decided it was probably just my mentally insane mind playing tricks on me. I picked the things that fell up and placed them back in the piles of stuff.
"Why are you playing with mommies stuff?"
I froze. Is this my head? My thoughts never took the voice of a girl. This was real.
I turned around and scanned the room. I heard another gasp and I saw something move behind the bed. Someone was here.
I bent down slowly and unsheathed the knife from my pocket. Who would even come in here? I was the only one left in this town who knew about the end and Ianites home.
"Who's there?" I called to the opposite side of the room. No answer.
"Come out, or I'll come over there. I'm armed." I stepped a little closer to the bed.
Small hands appeared from the bed, and then a small head followed. Curious blue eyes stared at me from the other side of the bed.
"Who...who are you?" I asked, amazed that there was a kid here.
"Mommy calls me Ianita."
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