I was able to go home the next day, feeling much better now. Stein had checked in on me, and said that I would be fine to stay in my apartment, as long as I got plenty of rest and tried not to do too much physical exertion, the man signing me out of PE for the next week or so.

I sighed, putting my book into my bag, my stomach twisting slightly with an uncomfortable feeling. I hadn't exactly told Stein about it, or the small coughing fits that usually ending with me wiping some blood off onto the sheets. I honestly just didn't think much of it. I guess that after you went through some of the things I'd been through things seemed less important.

I tried to think back to before I'd gotten to the academy, and found only jumbled memories. I thought I could remember some dark place, and pain, so much pain, but other than that, anything before being brought to the academy was fuzzy and I couldn't make sense of it. Not to mention the almost "cracked" memories that were now pushing themselves into my mind.

I shouldered my bag up onto myself and felt a cough coming on. I moved my hand to my lips and took in a breath, waiting to cough, and then flinched as I did, cringing. I didn't wait to see the blood that had to be on my fingertips. I walked to the door and stepped out into the hallway. Everyone was out, it being the weekend and all. My friends had texted me about plans, and I'd declined all of them, saying I needed rest. Honestly, I just needed time to think. Think about everything.

I walked through he hallways until I reached my apartment. I unlocked it and stepped inside, set my book bag down and going and laying down on the ouch. Skye wasn't here, so I figured that Black Star had taken him out for a walk or something. I let my eyes close, letting my mind swirl about and try to make sense of the odd, twisted memories going through my mind.

There was a faint nock on the door probably forty minutes later, and I jumped a little, having been asleep. I sat up too quickly and my head spun some since I'd just been asleep. I looked around and let out a sigh. I was in my house. It was fine. Whoever was at the door knocked again and I jumped a little, standing and walking to the door.

I opened it and looked at the person standing there. Well, looked up, it was Stein so he was very tall. "Professor?" I asked, rubbing my eye. Marie moved out from behind Stein, and I became even more confused. "Marie?" I asked.

Stein nodded. "(Y/n)." he said. "We need to tell you something about the witch that infiltrated the DWMA earlier." He said. I moved so they could come inside. They sat down on the couch and I sat in one of the armchairs. I didn't say anything as Stein and Marie seemed to have a silent conversation with each other. Stein finally turned to me. "The witch is one that the Academy has had to deal with for a while, Medusa, the snake witch." He said. The words meant nothing to me. "She's put one of her snakes in you." He said.

This didn't make much sense. How was there a snake in me? "A snake?" I said, thinking that I was still half sleep and this was just some joke. I felt a twinge in my chest, and I flinched a little.

Stein noticed it. "I know that it's a little odd to think about, but..." he trailed off for some reason. He pulled something from his bag, a notebook, and began to scrawl things on it. "Has anything having to do with that other problem come up?" he said. It had only been a few days ago that I'd turned into that thing again. I shook my head, my throat hurting.

Stein wrote a few more things down on his page, and then sat back, an unreadable expression on his face. "Oh." He said.

"What?" Marie said, sounding short. "Something good please." She said, reaching over and putting a hand on my knee.

"What do you consider good?" he asked, adjusting his glasses. He had that look in his eyes that told me that he'd figured something out. It was the same look I'd caught when I'd changed to the... to the demon the first time. He leaned back, closing his notebook. "I think this snake in you—it's obviously one of Medusa's magical ones, the same ones she drove me insane with—is actually keeping your demon "form" at bay. But..." He said.

I took all of this in. I reached my hands up and rubbed my face. I was too exhausted for this. "But?" I asked, not able to deal with his scientific vagueness.

He leaned back on the couch. Marie seemed to realize what he was thinking, and her facial expression changed to something like he was biting an especially sour lemon, not like the mire lemons Angelica used to make into lemon squares... wait. How did I know that? Where had that memory come from? I couldn't remember... who was Angelica? A headache began to scratch at the insides of my skull as a flash of memories raced through my mind.

I was young. Small. Maybe Eight? Seven? I saw a beautiful girl, she had to be twenty, smiling down at me. There was a young man standing next to her, his hair dark and swept to the side some. He was looking at her smiling down at me. It was clear he cared about her. "(Y/n)," The girl... I knew her. "We're so proud of you."

The memory shifted to a dark scene of something at night, and I looked at my hands, seeing them covered in blood. I looked up. The girl's body laid torn and ragged on the ground, snow about up. Red was everywhere. Her chest was barely moving up and down. I screamed and moved forward, grabbing at her face. I faintly felt the presence of something dead next to me, but it disappeared and faded away.

Angelica smiled up at me. "It's okay, (Y/n)." she said, pair going across her face, agony in her eyes. She smiled at me, her face beautiful. "I love you." She was still. Angelica. That was her name...

The scene in my mind shifted to someone else. The girl looked a lot like Angelica, and I realized... I saw all of my friends, and another girl too. I knew her, sitting next to Mari, her hair long and auburn. Asuka. I looked at everyone, their faces happy.

I snapped back into the present, sweat on my face and my hands gripping the chair. Marie was kneeling in front of me, her hand holding mine. "(Y/n)," she said, her gold eye soft and kind. "it's okay." She said.

I nodded, and she returned to her seat. "What was that? Another one of those memory flashes?" Stein asked. Had I told him about them? I couldn't remember. I must've.

I nodded. "I'm sorry. What were you saying?" I said, shifting into my chair to get more comfortable.

He nodded, the slightest hint of concern in his eyes. "I was saying that the snake seems to be keeping your demon form at bay, but at the cost of... well Medusa once tried this with me. She drove me mad with the same trick. I believe that if you were to shift back into that form, you would be stuck in it, or it would cause you to go berserk or... insane." He said. "I can see her waiting for this and then controlling you with it." He said.

I nodded, staying clam. For some reason this felt very normal. Like it had happened before. I stood, walking to the kitchen and getting a glass of water. "Okay." I said. Marie whispered something to Stein, sounding a little panicked, and he replied softly. I could only catch the words "she'll be fine".

"Take these for a time. I don't want to take the snake from you because I actually think in some twisted way it could be helping you." He said, passing a bag of pills to me. "They're just something like vitamins to help your health. It's deteriorated again." He said. "And don't come to class if you don't feel up to it. I'll inform James. Your other friends as well." He said.

I nodded, watching as the sink filled my cup. I watched as the water reached the top and then over flowed. I felt the cold water on my hand, and then Stein shut the sink off, pulling me out of my daze. "Yes, sir." I said, clearing my throat.

They left, Marie kissing my head, and shut the door. I set my cup in the sink after drinking the water and taking one of the pills. I touched my ribs again, the aching feeling in them intense. I drew in a breath, anxiety slowly creeping into my shoulders. As far as I was concerned I'd handled the thought of having something, a snake, in me rather well.

My hands started shaking, and I doubled over, holding a hand over my mouth, feeling tears creep into my eyes. This couldn't be happening. Why was everything going wrong? Small salty tears dripped onto my cheeks, and a sob escaped my lips.

I heard the door open and two sets of footsteps enter, one human and the other canine. Skye instantly pushed his nose up under my folded arms, licking my face and whining.

"(Y/n)." Someone said, and I knew it was Mari. Her gentle arms wrapped around me, pulling me to her chest as I kept crying. She stroked my hair, whispering that things were fine. I nodded against her chest, my whole body shaking.

"Mari it's Medusa..." I cried, and she nodded. Stein told her. I was glad, I didn't want to have to talk through it again.

"I know. It's all going to be fine. Believe me, okay?" She said. I nodded again, my hands trembling as I wrapped my arms around her neck and sobbed into her shoulder. I was exhausted. Tired. Drained. She lifted me and helped me to the couch.

I laid with my head on her legs, her hand resting on my shoulder and the other on my hair as I gripped her jeans. "Mari, I'm remembering all these things. But they aren't my memories." I said.

She seemed to hold her breath for a moment. "I'm sorry." She said, and I felt a gentle wash of her magic wash over me. It made me begin to slip off. "This is all my fault. I'll explain everything. I promise." She said.