Burn As Bright (Frerard)

33

Frank sat as far back on his bed as he could, leaning against the wall for support. The more time that passed, the more the exhaustion seeped into him. He was having a hard time just keeping his eyes open, let alone focusing on the conversation happening between Ray and Jamia.

Jamia had felt his magic. She had been hit by his father's, but Frank's magic was able to subdue it's effects quickly. She had mentioned how she had felt something artificial attempt to take hold, making her lose her balance before a calm and comforting feeling shoved it away. She had even seen the magic physically around them.

Ray, from his vantage point under the bed, was able to easily hear the conversation and see the effects from a lower angle. Though he didn't have the same feeling Jamia did, he saw the magics in the air.

Frank let his head drop and his eyes close, though he fought to maintain consciousness and a grip on the conversation in front of him.

"How do you stop someone like that?" Ray's voice was barely above a whisper, "Someone who can get in people's heads?"

"What does he ultimately want, though?" Jamia countered in an equally hushed tone, "What's the endgame?"

Frank kept his head down, trying to listen, but he felt so out of it. He went from being able to hear his friends clearly, to only noting a buzz of audio around him. From feeling their presence around him, to sitting in an emptiness. He wasn't sure why he was feeling this way. It felt different from before...

There was a soft tingling sensation against his cheek. Frank opened his eyes and lifted his head, feeling a familiarity to the touch. When he tried to see who was there, however, he was greeted by a dark void surrounding him and a faint mist of pink fading in front of him. Frank tried to reach out, but his hand went through the mist as it further faded from view. He tried to call out to it, but no sound escaped him. He tried to call out louder, trying to keep it from fading, but even the sensation on his cheek was nearly gone.

Frank gasped as he lifted his head, blinking rapidly at the sudden brightness of his room compared to where he had just been. Jamia and Ray both turned to him with concern as he brought his hands up to his face to rub his eyes.

"I need to go back to see Patrick." Frank's voice was muffled by his hands as he tried to keep the exhaustion from creeping back in, "There's still pieces... it's not completely there. Neither is he, but I can help him."

"You want to go back?" Ray exclaimed. He took a moment to shake his head before responding again. "That didn't exactly work well for us last time, Frank. We almost got caught."

"I did get caught." Jamia frowned, "I heard him talking about something as he was coming up with someone but I..." her face scrunched as she looked down. "I don't know..."

"I don't think we can risk that again, Frank." Ray frowned at him, "It's too dangerous."

"No, there's still things I can't remember." Frank shut his eyes, trying to picture the pink mist again, or feel its touch against his skin. "There's a feeling, like a phantom of something I know that won't fully come back." It was hard to even drag the encounters with the mist to the front of his mind. It was like anything connected to it was being restrained where he couldn't get to it. "He's the only one I can think of to help."

"What if your dad goes back down there?" Ray asked, "What if we can't hide we did last time?"

"Frank... Ray may be right." Jamia's soft voice pulled Frank into opening his eyes and turning to face her. She was looking down at the ground, trying to hide a clear nervousness on her face. "It's a lot riskier now... and we only have a few hours before the Force Commander arrives."