Fablehaven: Journey to the Eternals' Pass (fanfiction) (HIATUS)

9: Homecoming

Something cold trickled onto his eyes. The rivulets ran down his cheeks and curled over his neck. 

Somewhere at the back of his mind he heard a girl's voice. "...before he wakes up." Then, a boy's: "thank you."

His body regained feeling and his vision cleared, although it was still hazy. It looked as though someone was in the distance, but the silhouette quickly disappeared and he couldn't be sure. A few moments later he felt back to normal, although his legs still felt like jelly.

"Darcy, he's awake." Elaine was looming over him.

"But that's-" Seth could tell Darcy was restraining himself from saying something and the boy forced a smile onto his face. "Hey. How are you feeling?"

"Been better." Seth murmured. His muscles didn't feel completely his either. They felt like jelly, and not a good kind.

"Yeah." A bottle of water appeared and tipped water into his mouth. 

"Who was that? Where are we?" Seth looked around hazily. It didn't look like anywhere he knew. 

"We're in a penthouse suite of a building called the Millenium Tower. We're in Los Angeles."

"Los Angeles?" Seth rubbed his eyes. "How did we get here in a few hours?"

The twins exchanged dark looks. "A few... hours?" Darcy swallowed. "Seth, it's been almost two weeks since you were, um, turned to stone." 

Seth froze. "What?"

"You don't feel it at all?" Elaine ventured weakly. "Sick, starving, dehydrated, nothing?"

"I feel like I've had the flu, or something, but..." Seth shook his head. "Wait, turned to stone?"

"It's a long story. A really, really long story." Darcy said tersely. "We need to go. Right now."

"But... who was the other person?"

Darcy's expression didn't change, but something flickered in his eyes. "What other person?"

"I thought I saw... someone else. I heard a girl's voice."

"That was just Elaine." Darcy said darkly. "Come on. We need to get you home." At that moment, Canis came over, padding silently across the carpet. Seth inched away from him on the bed that he was lying on. He didn't actually believe Darcy, but at the point he was feeling too dazed to argue. He barely registered being brought into a fancy car. 

"Are wolves allowed in limos now?" He mumbled. 

It was only when they were in the car that he started to feel the two weeks catch up to him. 

The hunger was excruciating. He doubled over. One of the twins grasped his chin and forced water into his mouth. "Drink." Darcy commanded. He did, suddenly realising how parched he was. The twins managed to get water and soup into his system and prevented him from passing out in the process.

When his head was clearer and his limbs felt more like his own, he found Darcy offering him a phone. "There's someone who wants to speak to you." The boy said, smiling faintly.

Seth took the phone with some apprehension. "Hello?" He managed.

"SETH!" Kendra's voice cried out in relief. "Seth, you're okay!"

"Yeah. Yeah. I'm okay." His throat closed up. For him it'd felt like hours. Everyone else had been missing him for two weeks straight. Kendra had never sounded like that, not even when he was holed up in the Sphinx's dungeon.

Another voice filtered in. "Seth, we're all glad you're all right." And yet another-"we'd better get Stan and Ruth on."

"Seth," Grandpa said, as relieved as Kendra was. "It's good to know you're safe. We were afraid... you were dead."