Aletheia━𝐢.( PJO/HP )

𝐱𝐱𝐢𝐢. OF DRAGONS AND UNICORNS

▬▬▬ CHAPTER TWENTY TWO ▬▬▬

ESMERELEDA WAS IN A DARK forest again and for a terrible second, she thought she'd stumble upon another one of Ethan's suspicious Iris Messages with the mystery person again, but thankfully, that wasn't it.
       
The trees were were too thick and full of wavy branches that created creepy shadows. The bushes were full of thorns. There were too many bulging tree roots and brambles. And it was a lot darker than the forest back in camp.
       
She was standing in the forbidden forest in the middle of the night. She began wandering around, glad that she was at least able to move in this dream.
       
She came across a small stream where a pure white horse was drinking from. Then, it looked up, as if sensing something nearby.
       
That was when she realized she wasn't looking at a horse.
       
There was a horn on it's forehead.
       
It was a unicorn.
       
Esmerelda had seen pegasus a hundred times before, but never unicorns.
       
"Whoa," she marveled, and the world must have been deaf to her voice because the unicorn didn't react. It kept staring to the left where a thicket of trees were so closely packed together that Esmerelda couldn't see anything suspicious.
       
But then a figure stepped out. It was decked out in a black cloak, a hood propped up to hide their face. She would've been able to see what it looked like if only the person was facing her.
       
They kept their wand pointed at the unicorn, who was beginning to run away.
       
The person—a male, judging by the voice—said something that Esmerelda thought she heard wrong. Abracadabra? That was an actual spell?
       
No wait, I think he said Avada Kedavra? She wondered.
       
A stream of green light shot out from the tip of his wand, and it struck the fleeing unicorn. It crumpled to the ground right away. It didn't twitch, or neigh, or anything. It just stayed motionless.
       
Is it... dead? She thought, feeling unsettled. She tried moving forward to check on it but found that she was rooted in the same spot. Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!
       
The cloaked man hurried over to the fallen unicorn and took out a small knife from his pocket. He stabbed the unicorn in the neck, and a stream of liquid silvery trickled out from the wound. The hooded figure lowered his head and, without removing the hood, started to drink the blood. She only knew what he was doing because of the loud slurping sounds he was making.
       
Gods, that's gross! Was he some sort of monster or something? The only other blood-sucking monsters she could think of off the top of her head were her sisters, the Empousai. But they were female...
       
No, he can't be a monster because he was using a wand. He's a wizard!
       
"Not enough!" A voice hissed angrily. It sounded a muffled, and sort of faraway. She was certain it didn't come from the cloaked figure, so where did it come from?
       
"Forgive me, my lord," the figure said breathlessly, noticeably trembling as he wiped the blood off his face. "I shall find another one."
       
"No!" It snapped. The man flinched. "Too many killings would be noticeable, you fool! It will draw too much attention! You must wait."
       
The figure nodded fervently. "Yes, my lord."
       
"Now leave the forest. Else that bumbling giant finds you." It instructed.
       
The figure rose to his feet. "Understood, my lord."
       
He turned to Esmerelda's direction, but the dream ended before she could even catch a glimpse of his face.
       
She opened her eyes and saw the very familiar hospital wing. She could hear Madam Pomfrey walking around the place and squeezed her eyes shut, knowing that another scolding was inevitable.
       
She sat up and Madam Pomfrey snapped her neck towards her so fast she was sure the woman got whiplash.
       
"Miss Esmerelda!" She boomed, and said girl began to shrink. "Do you know how worried Pomona and I have been? You've been unconscious for over a week!"
       
"Pomona?" She said dumbly.
       
Madam Pomfrey's face reddened. "Professor Sprout—your house head! We've been worried sick, young lady! Practicing advanced spells again, have you? I have half a mind to tell your guardians about what you've been doing!"
       
She was pretty sure Chiron wouldn't mind. He'd probably encourage it too, but she didn't dare voice her thoughts out loud. Instead, she settled with a very sheepish look. "Sorry?"
       
"You're very lucky the Fat Friar was there when you collapsed! The corridor you were in was empty and all the classes in there would've taken another fifty minutes to be finished!" She huffed. "Honestly, someone ought to follow you around and make sure you weren't doing anything too dangerous. I know Professor Sprout would be all for that!"
       
"I-I'd rather not..." She said nervously. The thought of someone following her around creeped her out a lot.
       
"I'd rather you not practice advanced magic, but not everyone gets what they want." She retorted. "Drink this, it's a nutrition potion. You've been unconscious for thirteen days. That's almost two weeks, by the way."
       
"Thanks," she said gratefully before drinking it all up. "Sorry for worrying you... Again."
      
"Honestly," Madam Pomfrey sighed, shaking her head. "I may as well just label this bed as 'Esmerelda's' since you're always stuck using it—unconscious!"
       
"So should I be expecting Professor Sprout to come storming in here?" She asked miserably. It happened the last couple of times she knocked herself out.
       
"Unfortunately, she's teaching her class," Madam Pomfrey said dryly. "Once you're ready to move, you have the free day today, so don't bother going to any of your classes. I strongly suggest you to rest up in your dormitory or catch up in what you missed, but I highly doubt you'll do that..."
       
"I think I'll go find the Fat Friar," Esmerelda said aloud. "I need to apologize to him."
       
She nodded in approval. "Good. I reckon you gave him a heart attack—again."
       
"But he's dead so he can't—"
       
"—Go."
       
"Yes ma'am."
       
It took her a while to hunt the friendly ghost down, but she found him floating miserably near the hallway outside of the Great Hall. He gave a strangled cheer when he saw and she apologized profusely for giving him a heart attack (or as close to a heart attack as ghosts can get) and she promised to stop practicing her necromancy for at least two weeks (she still needed to perfect it after all). He accepted her apology and her promise, and the two went on with the rest of their business after a cheery goodbye.
       
Luckily for her, it was Friday, which meant she could spend the weekend catching up on everything she missed. There were a few tests and quizzes that she was excused in, but she had an essay for Potions and the Defense Against the Dark Arts, and some new charms to learn.
       
She managed to write up a very sloppily done Potions essay and decided to do the rest over the weekend. Once night fell—and after reassuring her classmates that she wouldn't pass out again—she waited for her dorm mates to fall asleep before sneaking out to the forest.
       
"You have been gone for a week." Rumbled Magorian, the leader of the centaurs in the forest. He had long dark hair, high cheekbones, and always wore a proud expression. Except for tonight that is. Now he just looked irritated with her.
       
"Sorry. I was unconscious. Again." She said sheepishly. "Anyways, um—"
       
"—Over a dozen dracaenae slipped through us! They almost made it into the castle," he growled.
       
"Sorry, but—"