Disclaimer: Diadem: Worlds of Magic does NOT belong to me. It belongs to Peel and his publishers, currently Llewellyn Worldwide. I highly respect his work and am making no profit from this, nor do I intend for this piece of fan fiction to interfere with his profits.
Author's Note: Takes place sometime after Book of Nightmares and before Book of War
-------
Diadem: Book of Thoughts
CHAPTER 1: “The Warning”
by Luna
--------
It was the dead of the night when Score was abruptly awoken by the rough shaking of his blue friend, Pixel. "Hm, huh?”, Score murmured groggily and none too happily. “What’s goin’ on?"
Pixel’s voice was full of trepidation. "Something’s wrong with Helaine.”
Score snorted in reply. “What? More than the usual, you mean?”
Pixel shook his head at Score. “This is serious! You have to see for yourself.”
That brought Score into full consciousness. Although a worrier by nature, Pixel was not one to exaggerate, and there was no mistaking the panic creeping into his voice. A bit shy and unsure of himself Pixel may be, but he was not a coward. Score forced his reluctant body out of bed and followed Pixel down the hallway and to the open doorway of their library.
From the hall he could see Helaine, wearing her large, medieval sleeping tunic. She was writing a strange script on the wall and her face was emotionless.
"Helaine, what on Dondar are you doing? It’s the middle of the night. You of all people need your beauty sleep." Score joked as he entered the room. Despite the verbal barb, Helaine showed no recognition of either Score or Pixel; she only maintained her bizarre act of writing on the wall.
Now Score was feeling concerned. Helaine not rise to an insult, especially one he shot at her? He approached the girl and waved his hand in front of her face. She neither blinked nor flinched, obvious of his actions while her hand remained steady in its task.
"She’s been like this for the past ten minutes,’’ whispered Pixel. ‘‘I think she’s sleepwalking."
"Well, I guess we’ll have to wake her up," answered Score simply.
"No!" exclaimed Pixel, but his warning came too late. Score had already started to shake Helaine awake. She gasped, and her eyes shut close. As if she were a marionette with its strings cut, her body went instantly limp and she started to collapse. Score quickly managed to catch her before Helaine hit the floor.
"You idiot! You’re never supposed to wake a sleepwalker!” shouted Pixel angrily.
"Well, how was I supposed to know, Blue-boy?" retorted Score, starting to feel two emotions he hated: guilt and worry.
Helaine’s eyes fluttered open, her entire body trembling and her face drained of all color. She turned her head frantically around the room, an unfamiliar expression of confusion mingled with fear on her face.
"What—why am I here?" she demanded, trying to rein her wavering voice into control.
"You were sleepwalking, and I, um, woke you up," answered Score, feeling slightly embarrassed at his possible mistake.
Helaine raised her eyebrows in an expression of surprise and incredulity, and then stared hard at Score’s arms which were still supporting her shaking frame. Her face started to blush as she realized the awkwardness of her position.
“Score, please let me go.”
“Think you can stand on your own alright?” he asked.
Helaine looked indignant. “Of course,” she replied, her old haughty attitude creeping in. Helaine broke away from his arms, and managed to stand on her own power, although it took greater effort than she expected and she still shook slightly.
Score eyed Helaine carefully, knowing better than to trust Helaine’s confident attitude regarding her health. The girl had a proud, stubborn tendency to walk away from a battle bloody and broken, all while claiming she was 'fine'.
Pixel, of course, was a bustle of worry. “Be honest, Helaine. How are you feeling? Is anything wrong?”
Helaine looked conflicted, trying to decide how truthful she should be. Both Pixel and Score noticed her pause and gave her a demanding, yet concerned look.
"I’m just a little jittery. I’ve had a few bad dreams of late.”
"Do you have any idea why? Have you had past experiences of sleepwalking?” Pixel questioned. He had his familiar “figuring-out-the-puzzle” look on his face.
"I never have, not on Ordin. My maids or the servants would have noticed. What exactly was I doing while sleepwalking?"
Pixel pointed at the strange text on the wall. "You were writing that."
Helaine walked over to where the writing was.
"What does it mean?" asked Helaine.
“Beats us,” shrugged Score. "I never did get my degree in sleepwalking gibberish.”
Pixel (ignoring Score) continued to look deep in thought. His gift for solving complex riddles and decoding messages was in high gear. He smiled. "Of course! It’s not written backward or upside-down, but in mirror writing. To read it you need to see its reflection." Pixel closed his eyes and magically summoned a mirror into the room. Score recognized it as one of the full length mirrors in the left wing's guest bedroom.
Tilting the mirror so its reflection faced the strange text, it read:
Prepare for the coming of Morphos
Beware the coming of Morphos
"Well, that makes a whole lot of sense," muttered Score sarcastically.
"Who’s Morphos?" Pixel asked Helaine.
"I have never heard the name before," replied Helaine, her brows crinkled in bewilderment. "I still have trouble believing that *I* wrote that, while sleepwalking no less!"
"Well, there’s no use in losing more sleep over that tonight," added Score with a yawn. "I say we go to bed, and try to figure it out in the morning."
A large yawn also escaped Pixel's mouth. "Sounds like a plan to me," he agreed. Score left the room, Pixel following right behind him. Realizing they were a person short, he turned around. "Are you coming, Helaine?"
Her fingers were tracing the mirror writing on the wall. "Yes," she said, her voice distant, "I’m coming".
Chapter 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
