14 ~ Nightmares

. : Sebastian of Havfrue : .

The forest was quiet at night, so much so that it gave Sebastian the chills as he crept through it. The greenery was thick and tangled, and there were no clear paths, except the one his pirate colleague had left earlier in the evening. There was no trace of the Twilight Children or their home in the woodland, only Kendrick's sloppy trail. 

Sebastian grumbled at the leaves and vines as he pushed through the foliage. He hadn't wanted to track him down, but his soldiers had said some concerning things to him, and Sebastian decided to follow him. 

Finally, he came upon a squat wooden house, built at the edge of a clearing. A few more small dwellings rested nearby, all dark and quiet. A mini village-- too large for just the Twilight Children. How had Kendrick found this?

Sebastian glanced around and watched Kendrick enter one of the houses. Sebastian rolled his eyes, he was probably just after some sort of treasure, as pirates often were. Still, Sebastian found himself waiting and watching. He could leave once he knew Kendrick was out of there.

It was deathly quiet for a few moments, save for a few small bugs chirping, and a nearby lagoon, where a water wheel was hooked up. Sebastian ran his hands over his biceps, trying to ward off a chill, when he heard a scream, coming from the house where Kendrick was. It sounded as if it were immediately cut off.

Sebastian straightened up and walked over to the house. They couldn't be harming innocent villagers, the only people they had to fight were the Twilight Children, who fought back.

Sebastian pushed the door open and nearly gagged. The metallic scent of blood was enough to make him want to throw up. He pushed past the neatly woven doormat, and the shadowy entryway, through a curtain and came to a dead halt.

Kendrick, his long greasy hair hanging in his face, stood with his curved sword above his head. Sebastian stood, stunned into silence, as he plunged it into the throat of a sleeping child. 

"What the fuck are you doing?" Sebastian choked out. His stomach was rioting. He had killed people before, but had never butchered children, had never seen anyone killed in such a grotesque manner. He couldn't handle it, and turned around and retched to the ground. Nothing came up, since all their food was on the ships that had been burned earlier.

Kendrick snapped around, and Sebastian flinched back at the bloodthirsty glare. "Sending a message. If the Igni wants to destroy our boats, we will take something back."

Sebastian let out a sharp sob. "You can't kill innocents. They came after our soldiers. We have to go now."

Kendrick shook his head, and raised his red gleaming sword up, about to slash the neck of another, but Sebastian ran forward and grabbed his arm. "No! We are leaving now!"

Kendrick snarled but didn't object anymore, allowing Sebastian to pull him out of the house and back down the grassy trail. They had only just vanished beyond the trees when a scream rang out. 

Sebastian turned his head back as more screaming began, and a fire lit up in one of the tree houses, that he hadn't noticed in the dark. The Igni.

"Let's go now." Sebastian barked, shoving Kendrick away.

~~~

Sebastian woke up in a jolt. His heart was pounding hard enough to make him feel like he was choking. His lungs were pummeling his chest in a desperate attempt to get air. He hadn't had a nightmare as bad as that in ages.

As he calmed his breathing and stared at the pitch black of the bunk above him, he rolled over onto his side. An unpleasant squishing sound rang out through the room, and Sebastian's face contorted in confusion. Why was his mattress soaking wet? It wasn't like he had wet the bed since he was six, and the mattress was drenched.

Sebastian grumbled and pushed himself up, his hand coming away dripping with water. He stood up, only to sink up to his ankles in lukewarm water.

"What the hell?" Sebastian mumbled. Maybe he was still dreaming. That would explain the water on the floor. He crouched and reached his hand into the water.

It seemed to welcome him, and climbed up his arm, wrapping in smooth liquid lines around his bicep. A cool feeling erupted low in his abdomen, crawling through his body. 

Sebastian started away from it. This wasn't good. He had never felt this before. If he didn't know any better, he would've thought it felt like...

"Magic," He whispered. "Oh no no no no no."

He stepped back, into more sloshing water. "No, go away, get away from me." 

The water on the floor did as he commanded, spiralling through their open window and catapulting into the lake below. 

Sebastian collapsed back onto his now dry mattress, it had to be a dream. A twisted dark dream.

~~~

He couldn't stop fidgeting. He had woken up, and the feeling was still there. The cool oozing had sprawled through his body and made a home in his veins. Everywhere he went, it was as if he could sense the water following him. Everywhere he looked, in people's glasses, in the lake outside the castle, he could feel the water as if it were part of him. Even now, as he stood in front of the river, following the rest of the group back from their lesson. 

Most just crossed the bridge without worry, but Sebastian hovered back, worried if he got too close the water would grab him as he did last night. 

He didn't like this feeling. He had grown up in a sea kingdom and had spent more of his childhood in and on the water than he did on land. He hated being scared of the water.

"What's the problem? Scared of the sea, little sailor?"

Sebastian clenched his fists. The last thing he wanted was Kendrick in his face. He was struggling with the feeling of another being inside of him and didn't need Kendrick provoking him into a fight.

"Get out of my face."

Kendrick raised an eyebrow. "Not in the mood? What's the matter? Bad sleep?"

"Kendrick, if you speak to me again today, I will punch you hard enough that you lose teeth."

Kendrick's eyes widened and his gaze drifted to the water behind him. "Is good ahead of us in magic, or are you just naturally gifted?"

Sebastian snarled, and Kendrick stepped back, snickering as he walked away, across the bridge. 

Slowly, Sebastian turned around to peer at the rushing river, only to have his eyes widen as he realized that it had frozen over.  The feeling in his belly squirmed in delight as more of the river froze. Sebastian stumbled back from the riverbed, terrified at the changes inside of him.

Something was severely wrong. Some sort of twisted magic had crawled inside of him and taken hold, trying to latch onto him. What would his parents say? If he couldn't get rid of him? He was his parents' only living heir, he couldn't have magic. It would get him chased out of his castle and kingdom. His breath quickened as he sat down, staring at the frosty river. Somehow, he had done that.

Who could he go to? None of the professors; they would only encourage it as good magic. Dovey would write a letter of concern to his parents and they would find out immediately. Not even Tedros, since he would write to his parents too.

He slammed his hands into his pockets, trying to keep himself from reaching out to the water, to try and confront the magic. 

Inside his pocket, his hand wrapped around a necklace, filled with glowing gold dust, and Sebastian clenched his jaw, running his fingers over it. He could never. She would laugh him out of the room. 

But then again, what choice did he have? She might know what was going on and be able to help, even if she was based in fire magic.

Sebastian pushed himself up, pushing down the pride that stopped him from wanting to ask his enemy for help. 

He needed help.

~~~

Sebastian trekked up the stairs to the girl's hallway in the purity tower. He had gotten the room number from another one of the boys, who knew where most of the girls were.

Heat rose in his cheeks as he marched up the stairs, shame threatening to turn him back. The pushing feeling of cold in his body kept him heading forward. It was rising and scratching at his mind, overwhelming him in every sense, to where he could barely focus on anything except keeping his feet moving forward. He made it to the top of the stairs and froze when a voice called out.

"Sebastian!" 

Sebastian inhaled sharply at Beatrix's voice. Not now. "Hi, Beatrix."

"What are you doing up here?" Her voice was dangerously sweet.

"I'm visiting someone, excuse me," He attempted to step past her, the strange water-like feeling climbing up his body. 

"Are you sure you don't want to stay for a few minutes?"

"I'm certain, maybe next time." His voice was meek, but he darted past before she could stop him.

He dashed down the hall away from her, and to door number 51, where he knocked quickly.

Agatha pulled the door open, and in the background, Laura sat at a wooden desk, wrapped in a loose pale pink nightgown and house robe. Her hair was out of its usual braids and ran fluffy down her back.

She stood up as soon as she noticed Sebastian, her face into a hard glare, and her robe tight around her.

"What?" She demanded. 

Sebastian inhaled sharply, before letting out the four hardest words he had yet to say to his ultimate enemy.

"I need your help."

~~~

A/N note ~ What on earth could Sebastian need help with? 

Until next time,

~ Indigo

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