Stuck in a Fantasy

Chapter 30

"Are you done beating the crap out of our guards yet?" Cato asked me impatiently. I teleported from across the room, leaving about 6 dragons on their human forms flat on their backs, and appeared next to Cato. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and trying his best to not let his amazement be noticeable. It had been a few days since I got teleportation down to a science and even I had to admit that it was pretty cool.

"Stop being such a sourpuss," I told him as I too leaned against the wall with a smirk on my face.

He rolled his amber eyes and reminded me, "Drake has been waiting for you for almost an hour. He can't finish all of the paperwork without your signature."

"So that's what this mood is about," I remarked, "All the extra paperwork Drake asked you to pick up on since he now has a life."

"You mean he now has a sex life," Cato grumbled.

I shrugged unashamedly and asked, "Is there a better kind of life?"

He glared at me and said, "Anyways! Let's leave the poor guards alone. We all get that you're a walking weapon at this point."

I stopped leaning against the wall and held my arm out for Cato to lead the way. With a huff, he stood up tall and walked out of the training room. I followed and went by his side. "Aren't you glad that the queen isn't some pushover human?" I questioned with intrigue.

"There's nothing wrong with most humans," Cato replied, "Plus you were never a pushover."

"So you really do despise me?" I asked.

Cato refused to look at me as he replied, "I think you'll bring trouble. Wherever there's power there's someone bad after it."

My eyebrow raised and I inquired, "You think that someone is after me?"

"I think it's all inevitable," he replied and stopped, "You can make things appear out of thin air and teleport. Add in your intelligence and looks and you're practically unstoppable."

I stopped too and I leaned against a windowsill. I sighed as I examined Cato's concerned face. "Don't worry. I'd disappear before any real harm would happen here," I reassured.

"That's part of the problem. You leave and Drake will go crazy. Plus they," he said as he gestured outside the window to the dragons flying overhead, "Would no longer have a queen."

My eyes flickered outside and they glanced at the dragons. "What would you have me do then? That is if anything ever did happen," I asked.

"I'm still working that out," Cato admitted.

My eyes shifted away from the sky and went to the guards and officials on the castle grounds directly below us. I saw Marvin at a station near the gardens and smiled as I watched him and his partner laugh at something. "We should get going," Cato said.

My gaze stayed on the guards for a few more seconds. I nodded and took one last look at the dragons in the sky. As my eyes were moving up I saw that on the horizon, there was a bluish tint forming over the grass. My jaw dropped as I watched it spread over all of the ground. "Kyna, what are you looking at?" Cato asked me with concern.

"Can't you see it?" I responded in disbelief. The blue grid soon covered everything on the ground. I looked away from the window in terror and saw it on the stone floor of the castle.

"I don't see anything! What's going on? Are you okay?" Cato inquired.

I faced him and motioned with my hands all around us, "You're telling me that you don't see all of this!"

He looked around and shook his head. "I don't see anything out of the usual. You're freaking me out," he told me.

"You're freaked out!" I snapped, "I'm freaked out!"

"Yeah... Let's get you to Drake," he grumbled uncomfortably.

Cato grabbed my bicep and I let him move me forward. I keep closing and reopening my eyes so I could see if the blue grid would miraculously disappear. It never happened. It stayed in its perfect glowing blue squares all along the floor, the ground outside, and the tops of buildings that I glanced at.

What's happening to me? Why can't Cato see all of this? It must be an Amari thing, but what is it for? Cara never saw any grid-like this... at least not that she told me of.

"Here she is," Cato announced.

I broke out of my thoughts and realized that I was now in Drake's office. The lines were all along the floor and I found it hard to focus on my soulmate. "What's wrong with her?" Drake asked his brother.

"You can't see it either!" I panicked. I get Cato being too stupid to see it but not Drake.

Drake stood up from his desk and went over to me. He rubbed my arms up and down and I could feel his gaze on me as I continued to look at all the lines. "See what?" He whispered, "What do you see?"

"There's like a grid all over the ground. It's everywhere," I explained to him.

"Kyna, there's nothing like that," Drake told me.

I shook my head and my breathing became faster. This can't be happening! I can't be seeing things. I was designed to be perfect. Seeing things is not being perfect.

"Woah!" Cato exclaimed, "Calm down!"

I shook my head harder at his words and pushed Drake off of me. My eyes glanced over the floor that still had the bluish grid lining it. "Knock me out!" I yelled.

"What? No!" Drake and Cato replied.

"Obviously my mind is glitching or something! So knock me out so it can restart," I ordered.

"No!" Drake told me then turned to his brother and added, "Don't you dare touch her."

"What are those?" I asked Mom as I climbed into a counter stool that was far too big for me.

Dark circles underlined her brown eyes and she sighed. She forced a smile onto her face and helped my small frame sit. "It's just a sleeping patch sweetheart," she informed me.

My young mind reeled in shock and I questioned, "Why would you want to sleep? Sleeping is awful! You can't play or anything."

"I guess that's true, but you know what daddy says when it's time for bed. Sleeping is healthy," she said.

I nodded my head and inquired, "Are those patches for me or for you?"

"They're for me. So go run along to daddy and tell him I'll be asleep in a few minutes," she told me.

"Why do you have that look on your face? What are you planning?" Drake questioned me. I summoned a sleeping patch and then I looked back up at Drake.

I got it ready to stick on my arm and Cato started to bang his hand against Drake's chest. "What is that!" Cato yelled and pointed at the patch, "What are you doing with that?"

I quickly put it on my forearm and I felt a rush of cold run through my body. "No! What did you do?" Drake asked me with fear.

"Sleeping patch. I have five minutes before I'm passed out on the floor," I answered.

"Are you insane!" Cato wailed as he dragged his hands through his hair.

"Maybe! I'm seeing a grid all over the ground! Cara doesn't even do that!" I snapped.

Drake groaned in frustration and went over to me. He quickly picked me up off the ground and told Cato, "Have the cooks send my food for the day to our chambers."

"I can walk still," I reminded him as I rolled my jade eyes.

"Not for much longer though," he responded.

I shrugged and Drake carried me out of his office. I waited till we were out of earshot of the guards then asked, "Can you really not see all of the lines?"

My head rolled back as exhaustion hit me full force. I placed my cheek against Drake's shoulder. I looked over his shoulder and saw that the bluish grid was still there. Looming and taunting me.

"I really don't see anything," Drake answered. As my mind started to shut down all I could think was one word. Why?