The next thing Neely remembers is waking up in a soft bed, softer than most, almost difficult to move in. In the struggle to get up, he shifts his shoulders. Immediately, a torturous pain shoots strait to his head. He fights to get up but the pain resurges with each heartbeat. Defeated by the pain, he falls back into bed grasping his head as though it would help.
It did not.
Laying there he tried to remember the previous night. Something big happened. It could explain why his head was pounding. He remembered saying … something. It was a very important something to … somebody. Did something change? The chronic pain robbed his concentration and his desire to remember. Whatever it was will come back to him later, maybe.
He scanned the room moving his head and shoulders as little as possible. His vision was a little blurred but he could tell that he was in a room, a hotel room. The place was very empty except a small green figure in the corner. It had to be a person. He lifted his shoulders again to see exactly who it was. He was hit with even more pain than before.
“Ow. Wha?” The only thing he remembered clearly from yesterday was drinking a delicious mixture of orange and grape juice. He also remembered this particular feeling after battles with Chemist Talent users. “Somebody put poison in my drink?”
Catlin, ecstatic, stood to great him. “Neely! You’re awake!” She shouted in her naturally high pitched voice.
She was across the room; but to Neely, it seemed like she shouted directly into his ear. Raising the hand that was not holding his head, he motioned for her to stop talking, “Not… so loud please.”
Catlin couldn’t help but giggle at Neely’s situation and remembered that he had asked a question. “The simple answer would be ‘yes’,” she said in a much softer tone.
“Yes what?”
“Someone put poison in your drink.”
His head was filled with questions but lacked the constitution to sort them out. It must have been a weak poison if he was still alive. He remembered no fight. He remembered no imprisonment or rescue. How could that be true if he woke up in the safety of her hotel room?
“I… I think you asked them to put it in,” Catlin said giggling even more.
Now that’s just stupid. Was she playing a trick on him? Nah. Catlin’s Unholy Talent Set changed her. Much like his Holy Talent Set changed him. Regardless of their changes, they were still very good friends. It was very unlikely that he would ask to drink poison, but she was giggling and smiling too much to lie convincingly right now. Not that she lied much anyway.
Catlin’s smiling continued as she reached around to the one thing on the dresser, a simple glass of water. “Here,” she says handing him the glass, “We made this for you. It should put some of the edge on.”
He took the water and smiled at it, noting the dry humor. He took a sip and felt better. Then he drank as though he had not seen water for days. The enchanted water was amazing. By the time he finished drinking, he felt almost like his old self.
Still, pieces of the previous night eluded him. He remembered that Jaquan defended the championship and they had a party to celebrate. He went to the bar. The rest of the night was still fuzzy. “What happened?”
“We’ll tell you about it on the way.”
“Where are we going?”
“No idea.”