Don't Forget

#39 Magic Exhaustion

Quinten's dreams are an amalgamation of facts and fear. It gets to a point where he doesn't know what's real and what's just his imagination.
"What did you learn today? Show me!", Seven squeals, leaning against Four's leg. They're both in the recreation room of the facility. There's a few numbers also in the room after their various training sessions.
     "It's not anything like last time. I think I'm finally starting to understand my magic through", Four smiles. He cups his hands, taking a moment to feel all the water surrounding him. "Glacies carcerem", he mutters.
The small bit of water touching the inside of Four's hands suddenly solidifies into ice. The ice chuck floats up and hits the ceiling.
"What do you mean!? That's definitely cool", Seven swims up to mess around with the chunk. She starts coughing after a few minutes. Quinten pulls her down, his eyes lighting up when he gathers magic for another spell.
     The water around them pushes out and away. There's soon a giant air bubble. Enveloping the corner of the room.
     "....... Thanks", Seven begrudgingly says. She doesn't like to admit it when she needs help. Four ruffles up her hair, getting a groan in response.
     It's too much. Quinten is shaking as he tries to control all the magic. No matter how he tries, he can't protect anyone. A single ice pillar rips right through the building it was suppose to protect. There are screams everywhere.
     Quinten wakes up with an ice pack on his head. Four's heart is pounding like a drum in his chest from fear. The only thing that kept him still was the distinct absence of any magic. He groans and squints his eyes open, everything looking dim and blurry.
"Quinten?", Jason jumps up from the chair next to his bed, the book he was reading tumbling to the ground.
     "Hmmm?", Quinten hums, the vibration making him nauseous. He can't remember what he was just doing very well. What day is it? Time for magic training? No, it feels like he's taken too many sleeping herbs. Like twice the.......... he looses track of the thought.
     "How are you feeling? You just COLLAPSED after making all that ice from LITERALLY nowhere and you-", Jason spews out, nearly yelling.
     "Too loud.......", Quinten growls at Jason. He tries to cover his ears with the pillow, but his limbs feel like lead. He gives up and only manages a few floppy waves.
     "Sorry", Jason whispers, dropping his voice and biting his lip, "I was just really worried about you".
     It takes Quinten a few awkward moments to process the words and come up with a reply. When he finally opens up his eyes fully, the world is still spinning. Like a top. Four can't help but wonder if he's on top of the top, or he is the top. The entire world is a top, isn't it? Isn't he supposed to be saying something?
     "Itsh o-k", Quinten slurs. He moves his head to look at Jason. The world starts spinning in the other direction. Quinten tries to sit up to get a better look, but he has a hard time balancing enough to prop himself up.
      "I don't think you should sit up", Jason is still whispering. He doesn't have any medical training, and Quinten is fine on the outside. "Sub said that you used too much magic".
      "Magic? mmm, I do not think..... I have any left", Quinten finally leans against the headboard of the bed. He's in the same room that Sky was unconscious in, but he doesn't know that. His eyes are nearly the same shade os Jason's gray ones. There's only a hint of the neon orange left. 
     The entire camp knows what he is now. The squids are the ones who started the war and destroyed their homes. Still, a few acknowledge that Quinten did fight for them. He nearly killed himself defending the defenseless.
"Ya know, I didn't wanna tell you yet, but I'm thinking that I could fix your limp", Quinten turns to face Jason, squinting and leaning on his arms. The room is still wobbling.
"Wait..... Really?", Jason is a little doubtful. He's had the limp all his life, and Quinten isn't thinking very straight at the moment.
"I could try! All it is is a few cuts. I bet that your tendons are all knotted up", the number giggles a little at what he thinks would be a simple fix.
"Well, definitely not now. You need to rest", the Zemrlt comes closer to the bed to try and get Quinten to lay back down, but the squid number pushes back.
"Having your back for once was worth it", he slurs, "You're always protecting me from everybody. I got to do the protecting this time".
"Yeah, and now I have to make sure an entire camp of soldiers doesn't try to cut you in half", Jason smiles grimly.
     "I bet that's not true! Mitch finally doesn't want to cut off my head!", the half Piscus seems set to prove it, and starts to slide out of the bed. Jason grabs onto him just as he nearly face plants.
      Quinten's magic and mind are exhausted, but he's physically fine. He's stronger then Jason with his limp. The hybrid drags Jason out the door and into the camp.
"I don't think you should be out here", the Zemrlt struggles to hold Quinten up and try to keep him from leaving, "You're acting's really weird".
"Am I? It's probably a symptom of magic losssssss......", Quinten drags out the last word, looking around for anyone familiar.
"What are the other symptoms? What can I do to help?", Jason finally gets the squid number's arm around his neck.
       "Dizziness, clumsiness, hallucinations, lack of judgement, maybe? It'd p-probably be better if I slept it off.....".
      "Then why don't you get back in bed already!?".
     "I don't wanna! You can't make me!".
     Quinten, somehow, gets off of Jason and manages to sprint around the corner. Jason hurries after him and watches the sorcerer slam into the corner of a building. He falls back on his back, laughing and coughing.
"Are you ready to get back in bed?", Jason stands over him.
"Yes..... No. W-Weren't we looking for Mitch?".
"No, you were looking for Mitch. Oh geez, I really don't know how to help".
"Why don't we go swimming!?".
Quinten gets up, still unsteady. Jason hesitantly follows him through camp. There's no way that he's letting him leave. The two get many strange looks as they wander around. Jason is too nervous to leave Quinten alone, but not wanting to help him escape the camp's walls. The squid number gives up after slipping down the pallets multiple times.
"How about hide and seek? I bet that you can't catch me", Quinten starts laughing again, finding the strength to run. He doesn't crash into a wall this time. Jason is too slow to keep up, and quickly looses sight of him.
Quinten is acting like he's completely insane, and maybe hallucinating, and Jason is starting to panic. He could be literally anywhere. What if he found the hole in the wall and did go swimming? Jason doesn't even know where to start looking.
He stops short when seeing someone crouched beside a barrel. Quinten and Jason make brief eyes contact before Quinten squeals and runs away again.
     That's how it went on for three hours. Jason would only get brief glimpses of Quinten before he would run off again. How does someone so sick run like their hair is on fire?
      Quinten said that squid numbers are trained to fight and use any abilities they may have: teeth, claws, or magic. Creating those massive ice pillars almost killed him, but Jason's never seen anything like it. He's just starting to realize how powerful his friend is.
Jason sees Quinten slip into a building out of the corner of his eye. He glances at the building, a little uneasy. It looks abandoned. The Zemrlt goes inside to find Quinten on the floor, sitting next to a closet door.
"Mitch showed this to me a while ago", He says, squinting. His eyes seem a little brighter then they were before.
"What is this building? It's too small for barracks", Jason looks through the other door, revealing a small office. There's no bed or anything stored here.
      "It belong to a guy named Seto. He was a Sorcerer, and used this door to practically teleport", Quinten looks over the door, his eyes pausing at things Jason can't see. Looking at the door, it's nothing special. The wood is even starting to rot. What's concerning is the two blood smears near the bottom. Quinten sees Jason's alarm and he quickly explains, "Blood runes. Seto could open this door for himself and other people, but there are names on the bottom. Sky and I both have one".
"Really? Who are the others", Jason crouches down.
"I don't get how Seto could have known. Every person on here is in the camp right now, but Seto didn't know me. The names are Mitch, Jerome, Ty, Sky, Ian who is Sky's trainer, and you and I. I wish I could just fire out how to open the door again. The runes are just so faded".
      "If anyone can do it, I bet it's you", Jason smiles, "But, right now, you should get back in bed. Your practically already asleep!".
       Quinten straightens up, "You know what? That sounds pretty good right now".