Michela

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

August looked up at us with horror boldly written on his face. His eyebrows were gone too. He looked funny. His head reminded me of Patrick the star's.

"Blimey! Augustus what the heck happened to you?" Cornelius screamed in shock.

"I... I... don't know. I woke up this morning, wanted to comb my hair and ended up scratching my SCALP with the freaking comb!" He said throwing the comb far away from him as if it had burned him.

Martha snickered.

"You find this funny? I lost all my  hair in a night and you are laughing?" He said turning to Martha with eyes shooting lasers.

"Calm down would you? I warned you yesterday didn't I? I told you the fruit had magic in it or did I not?"

His eyes opened in realization.

"Damn that fruit! Damn it! Blast it! Double blast it! It was just too tasty! Wait! Cornelius ate it, why does he still have his hair?"

I watched on as Cornelius unconsciously tugged at his hair.

"He only took a few bites, you overdosed." Martha explained.

Cornelius heaved a sigh of relief

"WHAT AM I GOING TO DO NOW!!! After the desert, we are going to Libidine! I was hoping to dazzle the girls with my beauty! Who would look at me now! I look like a monk!"

We all burst out laughing.

"sorry August, it would be fine! Your hair would've at least grown a bit before we cross the desert. I hope." I tried to reassure him.

"You're lucky. You don't have to worry about the Desert weather affecting your hair anymore." Festus said while patting August on the shoulder who in turn swatted his arms away.

"We don't know if the fruit made him permanently bald." Leon added.

"WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO ME NOW?" August wailed loudly.

"Not helping Leon." I mouthed to him.

"sorry"

"Magic from fruits barely have lasting effects, so calm your yourself." Martha said dryly.

We all went to prepare breakfast, look for a source of water and arrange the camp.

I left with Martha, to find a source of water. I noticed that Martha was acting a bit uneasy and distracted. After walking for about fifteen minutes following Martha's lead, we came across a confluence of two small rivers.

"Thank goodness!" I exclaimed. I looked at Martha, she was looking much less enthusiastic than I was.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

She moved closer, dipped her hands into her clothes and brought out a yellowing book. It had to be at least a hundred years old. She opened the book to show me a page. On it, was a drawing of the fruit August Kept munching on yesterday; the fruit of Mort. Under it, was the drawing of a skull with two crosses on it, there was a word beside it, it read; Poison.

I sucked in a breath, very sharply.

'What does it mean Poison? Your hands didn't glow black when you touched the fruit yesterday." I screamed.

"I really don't understand! After August went bald, I remembered my grandma mentioned balding as a symptom of poisoning. The Mort fruit isn't like any other fruit Michela! One doesn't just die immediately after eating it. The magic goes deep into the souls and sucks the very life out of the person, little by little. It weakens you day by day."

I watched her talk on with my eyes opened in fear. It struck me that Cornelius also ate some of the fruit.

"AUGUSTUS JUST HAD TO OVERDOSE!" she screamed pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Cornelius ate it too." I whispered reminding her.

She stopped dead in her tracks, then all of a sudden started pacing again.

"This is bad! This is very bad!" she kept repeating as she paced.

I picked up the book which Martha had dropped on the floor, to search for an antidote or something that could help. There was nothing! Nothing! I only saw the symptoms of poisoning by the Mort; yellowing of eyes, loss of hair, brittleness of toenails, chapping of lips, cracking then eventual loss of voice, then death. The whole process would last for three months at most. Only a bite was enough to lead to death.  I felt tears prick my eyes.

"I brought them out of London to die." I said choking on my saliva.

"it's not your fault Michela! We chose to do this for you and for the whole of England." Martha said trying to console me, it did not work. Not in the least.

We sat in Silence for about twenty minutes, each of us lost in our thoughts.

"I have an idea!" Martha screamed.

"what is it?!" I asked, raising my voice slightly.

Since the fruit is made of magic, we can attempt to use magic to remove the poison from their body."

"how?"

"it's simple! Well not exactly simple but it's worth a shot. The human body is made up of several constituents, one which is water. We'd take the fruit, submerge it in water then try to extract its juices while submerged."  Martha Explained.

"WE?"

"Yes. We. I'm not strong enough to pull it off. Michela you have magic! You..."

"I've never used magic before! I don't know how to use magic! I don't know the kind of magic I have! I don't know anything! And you want me to help save August and Cornelius! What if I kill them? What if I make them disabled? What if I..."

"CALM DOWN WOULD YOU?! Geez! Magic is not as hard as you think it is. You just have to concentrate!"

"But..."

"Do you have another Idea? Do we have another option? Augustus Overdosed on it, he skipped  the first symptom. That means the poison is working faster. We have to try everything possible!"

I nodded my head in agreement as everything she said sank in.

"We have to tell them first." I told Martha. she nodded in agreement.

"How do you think they're going to take the news?" My voice quivered as I asked Martha.

"Knowing both Nelly and August, they would most likely flip out."

"I know right?"

We filled up the bottles with water then eventually went back to the camp. The guys were busy cooking breakfast, except August; he seemed to still be mourning his hair. He had his back hunched, one hand on his head as his other hand held his hair.

How on earth am I going to tell him about the Mort fruit?! I wondered.

"Ahem. We have something to tell you guys." Martha announced.

A shiver ran down my spine as they shifted their gazes to us. Martha nudged me to speak.

"uhm... we... I... uhm..."

"GET ON WITH IT THEN!" August screamed.

I hiccupped. How do you tell your dramatic friends they are dying?

"The fruit you ate yesterday was poisonous." Martha decided to break the ice, facing Augustus. He collapsed.