Mostly Normal: Magic Cannot Cure Sickness

Chapter Twenty: Side Quest Two

"Hey," a flowy, light female voice directly into Jackie's ear. "Are you dead? Oh, I guess that's kind of a stupid question to ask someone here, 'cause there are people who are dead here. But I haven't found any armadillos yet. Unfortunately."

"Lucy, leave him alone. Is Liam back yet?" another voice asked cautiously. Jackie felt two tender hands slip under his head, cradling it.

"Dunno," the girl spoke again. "Look there's another girl. Hey honey, are you okay?"

"Ow," the girl that Jackie had rescued earlier said.

Jackie sat up and looked around, blinking and trying to get his bearings. "Where am I? Where's Liam? Who are you?" he asked, disoriented.

The girl who had whispered to him laughed. "One question at a time," she scolded, "I'm Lucy. This is Quincy, a.k.a. Quinn."

Jackie stared at Quinn in confusion. "I hate to be impolite," he said apologetically, "But I can't tell. Are you a boy or a girl?"

Quinn laughed. "I'm non-binary. They and them are my pronouns, if you please." They brushed their short, bright orange hair out of their twinkling blue eyes.

"As to where Liam is," they said, brushing their hair out of their eyes for another time, "I think that he went to see Lucy's newest 'creation.'" They put the last word in air quotes as to say that it was less of a creation than Lucy seemed to think it was.

"You're back in the dreamscape, and what do you mean by-" Lucy was cut off by a strong voice that Jackie had heard before.

"Lucy, I through that we agreed that you wouldn't build anymore armadillos in the Dreamscape. Save that for-" Liam stopped short and surged forward, hugging his friend. "Good Gods! I thought you'd be dead."

Jackie wrapped his arms tightly around the other male as if to make sure that he was as real as anything could be in the Dreamscape.

"I was so scared. But I got her back, she's so frail. What else could we do in the Dreamscape? What could be any worse than that?" Jackie asked, tears formed in the corners of his large, doe-like eyes. Liam shook his head and began to rock them both back and forth.

"Just one more, alright. The list changed. While you were gone, I-I had someone come and talk to me. They gave me a special mission. We just need to complete that, if we do, everything else will be fine. I promise," Liam's voice was hoarse as if he had been crying. "I promise." The son of Hypnos took a deep breath and gathered his wits before he stood up and addressed the other two demigods. "Lucy take the new girl to the healer, Quinn, make sure that she does what I ask."

"What are we doing, Liam?" Jackie asked, standing up so that he could look at his friend in a better angle.

Liam looked strange. "We need to do something for a Kitsune," was all he would say. Jackie knew the taller boy was hiding something, something that made him sad, but he didn't push the issue.

"Let's go then," Jackie said, squaring his shoulders as he prepared to do something terrifying yet again. Liam raised his eyebrows and took a deep breath, sighing out through his nose. The opened yet another door into the dream world. He stepped one foot through the portal before he looked back, seeing his friend wrecked with anxiety. "I ca-can't. I just can't. I'm sorry, Liam."

The son of Hypnos held his hand out, and Jackie took it. The boys embraced for a moment before they intertwined their hands and walked through the portal.

"Wh-where are we?" Jackie stammered, as it was suddenly dim. At least he was still holding Liam's hand, which felt really comforting and took away a lot of the smaller boy's anxiety, but the anxiety was still there.

Liam gently calmed Jackie. "It's fine, we're in a forest," he said, "The best place to find a Kitsune." he sounded sad again, but Jackie still couldn't tell why.

"Or someone, much, much more dangerous," a silky smooth voice with a bitter tone sneered. Jackie felt something cold and sharp pressed to his forming Adam's apple. "Why are you in my forest boy?"

"Anna?" Liam's voice was shakier than it had been only moments ago. "Nyamo sent us." The knife fell away from his throat but he felt a body get pressed against his back, it was strangely shaped, but obviously female. "Can you let him go?"

"Sure I can sweetheart. Now tell me how my wife is doing," her voice had turned from the harsh chainsaw noise to a small, sad purr.

"She misses you. You are in her dreams every night. Why have you not gone back to her?" Liam asked, his hand broke away from Jackie's, just as the boy had finally gotten his vision back. Before them stood a creature with grey skin and feathered ears. The tips of her long fingers were stained with blood and some sort of black liquid.

Anna, the grey creature, looked sad. "I cannot return," she whispered, "the Alps have been banned from Kitsune territory."

Liam gasped. "But that is unheard of!" he exclaimed, "What is Nyamo's father thinking?"

"He hates the Alps," Anna sighed dejectedly, "he thinks us meddling fools and thieves. He will not stand for me to be near his daughter any longer."

"Wasn't he the one that arranged the marriage in the first place?" Liam questioned. Blood rushed to the tips of his ears and his cheeks. Anna grew quiet, her ears tilted downward. "Come with us, please. Nyamo will perish unless she sees you. If you truly love her, then you will come with us," his words changed from English to another language, one that Jackie couldn't have recognized no matter how long he listened to it. " Sheknalka. Bota kanat."

Tears rushed to Anna's large eyes. "I would die to see my darling Nyamo again," she whispered, "Ne borku. Gatei kanti veke."

"Then let's go," Liam said.