The Varied Path (Akatsuki no Yona Fanfiction)

Chapter 140: Forced Normalcy

Not one to back down, she blocked his arm as he came at her again, barely avoiding the knife in time from digging into her shoulder. Yanking his wrist away from her, she shoved him off of her, twisting his arm behind his back in one fluid motion to get him to release the knife.

Hak punched him in the abdomen, knocking him out cold and dissipating the chaos as quickly as it came.

She panted, taking a moment to catch her breath. Shooting Shin-ah a glance, she nodded to show that she was okay.

The blue dragon was tense but heeded her unspoken instruction, not going over to her. But his eyes didn't leave her even as hers left him. Reassurance or not, he had a knack for knowing her better than she knew herself and if she didn't seem alright, he wouldn't hesitate to go by her side.

Resting her hands on her knees, Calista took some deep breaths, steadying herself.

Jae-ha put up a better fight than the other two chasing him combined. If the drug didn't hinder his ability to fight, then how on earth was he taken down so fast?

Her brother helped her put him back to bed as soon as they got him under control, assisting her with the heavy body mass that was too much for her to carry alone.

"Do you know what it is?" Hak asked her as soon as they laid him down.

Calista shook her head, greatly troubled. "It isn't like anything I've seen before. If he was addicted to something, we would've seen this a lot sooner so it had to have happened tonight."

Zeno blinked. "Miss Notch?"

She ran a hand through her hair, tugging on the roots frustratingly. "I'm not sure what I'm saying exactly."

Her eyes were guarded and rather cold the next time they landed on the feverish green dragon, concealing her emotions from view.

Jae-ha's senses were so sharp, she didn't know how this got past him. There was no evidence of a struggle of any kind, not bruising anywhere. It didn't seem like he was forced to take it.

But for him to take it willingly didn't make any sense either.

"I don't know." She said with finality. "These aren't symptoms I've encountered before. Vomiting, sweating, difficulty breathing? But he's got enough coordination to almost stab me? You better bring in the expert for this one."

Hak shot her a look of incredulity that she would suggest a thing that would put Yoon in harm's way but she gestured to where Jae-ha was passed out helplessly.

"You have a better idea?" She exhaled forcefully.

Her range of knowledge concerning these kinds of things didn't cover drugs she couldn't identify.

Hak growled, pondering it for a few seconds before a violent jerk from Jae-ha's unconscious body had him giving in.

"Fine." He grumbled, at his wit's end.

The three dragons clustered around their brother as Calista got the two outside.

"You can come in, but—" She held up her hand to halt them when they immediately almost ran her over. "If we tell you to leave, you have to listen, okay? He's not looking too good."

She didn't want to worry them but she wasn't going to mince her words. They needed to be prepared for the sight.

Yoon nodded frantically before pushing past her and this time, she let him. Yona wasn't far behind him.

Calista took a seat on the floor, leaning against the wall, far enough so that everyone was within her field of vision. She sighed tiredly, shivering slightly as the cool flooring made contact with her bare legs.