Wolf

[Demeter]

OOC: following "Lost"

Flora was walking the path that lead between the schools when she came across a small pond. Not the one the merpeople lived in nor the undines. Just a normal pond - or at least she thought. She knelt down by it and washed the dust off her face.

She had been working on her secret garden - a place she could retreat to when things got too crazy at Alfea. She had just gotten the last set of flowers settled for the moment and then she could get to work on the water features.

A different reflection flickered in the water and she looked down at it. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the wolf's reflection in the water. A shrill scream escaped her lips.

OOC: tags, Sky and Palladium

[Sky]

Wincing at Flora's scream, Sky waited for it to die down before he said carefully, "Flora, it's me - Sky. Look, you've got to believe me; Darcy hexed me and to make a long story short because frankly I don't think I have much time left, I'm turning into a wolf. If my fears are correct, pretty soon, I won't even be able to talk so I need to get this out now. I need to find Professor Palladium or whoever it is at Alfea that can reverse the hex." Growing more desperate by the moment, already finding it much more difficult to get words out, Sky finished, "I don't want to go inside your school because I have a feeling that I'll scare all the girls and I don't want to do that. But, do you think you can bring the professor here? I-I think it would be better that way."

[Demeter]

Flora waited for her nerves to settle before she spoke. "Okay, I'll get Palladium. He should be able to help. He broke Icy's hex on Stella so he should be able to break Darcy's hex on you." She still didn't want to know why this was happening - but, Sky was a friend and she had to help him.

She bit her lower lip as she thought about something. "Maybe you should come with me. True, you might scare the girls. But... who knows what's out here in the forest and it'd be better if you come after all. What if you turn into a wolf mentally and leave - we don't want to have to explore the entire forest to find you..."

[Sky]

Knowing that Flora had a good point, Sky wavered for a moment, still not liking the idea of being seen like this. Finally, however, his sense of self-preservation won out over his pride and he nodded. "All right. I'll go with you . . . and, Flora . . . thank you for believing me."

[Demeter]

Flora still couldn't believe she was trusting him - only because his appearence scared her and he really didn't look like Sky. And the voice was starting to sound different. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye as she lead him down the path. "So, how's your girlfriend, Chris, taking this? I'm surprise she didn't come with you. You two have a fight?"

[Sky]

"She's not my girlfriend," Sky replied. "And yes, we did have a bit of a fight about a week ago," he added, referring to what had happened at Christine's coronation ceremony. "But we've kind of made up and," Sky swallowed hard, clearly having difficulty getting the words out. "And now we're just friends. I told her not to come with me because I didn't want her to be a part of this; she's always getting dragged down because of the mess that is my life and I wanted to put that to a stop."

Closing his eyes for a brief moment, Sky then said hoarsely, "Can we not talk anymore, though? It's getting kind of painful."

[Demeter]

Flora nodded. "All right," she said quietly. She didn't like the fact that his voice sounded hoarse. Was a bad sign, she thought to herself. She sighed softly to herself before brightening.

"Good news, we're almost to the outskirts of Alfea and the professor's office."

[Sky]

Sky inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. He was almost there. Pretty soon this hex Darcy had thought up would be far, far behind him. Pretty soon he would go back to being just Sky. Thank goodness that this nightmare was coming to an end.

[Demeter]

A good ten minute walk at a fast clip later, Flora knocked on Palladium's window. She waited for him to open it before she looked up at him. "Professor? Can you come out here a moment? We have bit of a problem. Darcy hexed Prince Sky."

[Palladium]

Squeezing the bridge of his nose, Palladium finally nodded as he said, "I'll be right down." Closing the window, Palladium grabbed his jacket from his coat-stand and hurried down the hall, mentally wondering how many more curses and hexes he would have to deal with this year because, from his perspective, it was far beyond out of control. First there was Flora and the Demeter fiasco, and then Bloom, who he had yet to find a cure for; then Stella and now one of Red Fountain's students.

Shaking his head, Palladium stepped outside and made his way over to Flora. In a brisk tone, he asked, "All right, where is he?" As his gaze landed on the wolf next to Flora, Palladium's brows rose as he said, "Well, it looks as though whatever hex has been put on him has been fulfilled in its entirety."

[Demeter]

"Does that mean it can't be broken?" Flora asked, her voice unsure. Sky deserved many things - but being trapped as a wolf... Well... that wasn't one of them.

[Palladium]

"No, no, of course not," Palladium replied absently, his mind already running through lists of possible cures. "But it may make things more difficult."

[Demeter]

Flora nodded. "Just how difficult are we talking?"

[Palladium]

"I'm not exactly sure," Palladium answered, his features drawn as he mentally debated whether to try a potion or a counterspell first. "But while I try to figure things out, perhaps we ought to bring him inside; it'll make things easier because I will have access to all of my books and potions. Before we do that, however, to be on the safe side, I'll cast a non-aggression spell on him." After casting the spell, Palladium nodded. "All right; that should do it. Let's bring him in."

[Demeter]

Flora nodded and quietly lead the wolf inside, following the professor. "When you said it was fulfilled in its entirety, did that mean he's now mentally a wolf as well?"