Fallen (MCSM Fanfic)

Chapter 11: The Argument

"Petra?"

"Petra, can you hear me?"

"Come on, now, Petra... wake up."

Petra heavily blinked open her eyes, groaning softly. She was lying on her back, on something somewhat soft. Above her was a dark grey stone ceiling, a single cobweb dangling from the corner. She could smell dust.

"There you are... I was getting worried."

Petra turned her head to the side, seeing the slightly fuzzy shape of Lukas beside her. His brow furrowed in concern, blue eyes laced with worry.

"What happened?" Petra asked, closing her eyes again and reaching up to touch her sore forehead.

"You fainted." Lukas said, raking a hand through his blonde hair. "There was a door in the hallway that lead to this little room... not sure what it's meant to be, but at least there's some seats in here that's more comfortable than the stone flooring outside."

Petra gave Lukas a small appreciative nod.

"You were out for quite a few minutes... how are you feeling?" Lukas asked her, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Like somebody with the world's worst flu." Petra mumbled as she finally gathered to courage to heave herself into a sitting position. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, slowly recalling everything that happened.

"Do you believe me?" Petra asked, straight to the point.

Lukas lowered himself onto another seat next to the one Petra had been lying on, taking a deep breath.

"I would be blind if I didn't believe that something was going on." Lukas said. "You're Petra, probably the most stubborn person I know. Yet, a few minutes ago, you were literally pleading for my help. If that isn't a sign that something is going on, then I don't know what is."

"Geez thanks." Petra muttered, swiftly glaring over at Lukas. "No need to rub in the fact that I got desperate."

Lukas smiled for a brief second, before it faltered again. "Listen, before we get to the more complicated side of things... What exactly is wrong with you?"

Petra looked down at her arm, rolling up her sleeve again to reveal the veins. She sighed softly.

"Honestly, I think this is a part of the more complicated side of things... Wither Sickness, from getting in contact with the Wither Storm's tractor beams or tentacles for an extended period of time."

Lukas gave her an encouraging nod to go on.

"It's fatal." Petra said, causing his face to fall. "But I don't believe this to be normal Wither Sickness. We'll get to that later, let's just say... I'm deteriorating a lot faster than I'm meant to."

Lukas slowly exhaled, raking his fingers through his blonde hair again, and causing it to stand on end. Petra could see that the part about her slowly dying has really only just gotten through to him.

Lukas lowered his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. "So the whole, 'we're back in time' thing..." He said, not looking up.

"It sounds crazy." Petra said bluntly. "I know. If I wasn't first-hand experiencing this – I'd think it was a load of crap as well."

"I want to believe you." Lukas said, looking up. "You're my friend, Petra. I know you, and you're not crazy... but this all just sounds so bizarre."

"Isn't this whole wither storm bizarre?" Petra pointed out vaguely, causing Lukas to crack a faint smile.

"I guess so." He said softly, his smile fading again. He looked up at Petra, expression serious.

"Aiden." He said softly. "He... did this?"