.:~*~:.
Floating... She could swear she was floating. She tried to open her eyes, but they didn't seem to want to obey her. Aside from the light feathery feeling in the pit of her stomach, she felt warm. Almost cozy. That was, until something tried to rip her from the inside out. Conscious for only mere seconds and before she could regain the energy to even open her eyes, a sharp jolting pain ruptured throughout her body.
She screamed. Or at least, she thought she did. It felt as though she was lazily wading in water, only to have what would probably have felt like a muggle toaster thrown on top of her. Surge after surge ran throughout her body and underneath the agony she felt herself descend to... where? She didn't know, all she knew at the moment was the pain. If she weren't in so much pain, she would have heard the calls of her friend. After what seemed like hours of the torture, which could have been only seconds, the jolts receded and she slipped back into blissful darkness.
.:~*~:.
"Are you alright?!" a shrilly, yet soft-laced voice shrieked. Sheenah ran to her friends still sprawled on the floor.
"Agh… what just happened?" Cassy rubbed her eyes, trying to focus back to the present.
"Hey, guys?" Now untangled, all eyes reverted back to the silent until now, Slytherin. "That book's still doing somethin'."
All four gazes went to the open book that sat inches from Lilithe. It was still faintly glowing white, but glowing specks sputtered from the pages. Lilithe scooped up the book. She spread the pages open wide, not noticing the action made worse of the tear already in it.
"DEIDRE! YOU GET YOUR HUFFLEPUFF ARSE BACK HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!"
"I don't think she can hear you," Cassy tried.
"Well she bloody well better hear me! I told her not to."
"It didn't look like she could help it, you all fell onto her! Besides, didn't I say that this all seemed a bit dodgy? She didn't do it on purpose..." Sheenah tried to reason. Lilithe and Cassy both shot her a look. She quieted.
"This's all your fault."
"What? I didn't mean to! It was a sneeze! Y'can't help those things!" The Gryffindor tried to defend herself, but Lilithe wasn't hearing any of it. She broodingly sank into the chair Deidre had once occupied and buried her nose into the still slightly glowing book. How could such a stupid thing cause such a reaction? She glanced up to see her friends' looks of apprehension. "Well? Sit down. Figure there's nothing we can do but read on. Maybe we'll see what happened to D."
And slowly, they sat back down. Cassandra pulled the other arm chair nearer to Lilithe's and her and Sheenah both settled into it. Crystal fell back onto the couch.
"Alrigh'. Get on with it."
.:~*~:.
She woke with a start. With the flinch, brought remnants of the pain that gripped her the last time she dared consciousness. She ached all over. Deidre opened her eyes. Her gaze was brought straight up to what was obviously the sky. Light blue with thin, wispy clouds filled her vision.
Slowly and carefully, she brought herself to a sitting position. Wincing at the aches that followed the action, she took a look around. She was pleased to find her wand, undamaged, lying beside her on the dust ridden ground. She picked it up and brought herself to her feet before giving it a flick. 'Scourgify'
Instantly her robes were dust-free and clean. It was more of a test to make fully sure her wand was in working order.
'I must be in the book..' Onward she walked, following the road that she had awoken on. She couldn't help but grin when the situation dawned on her. She was in the book; of Fushigi Yuugi. Her friend's would be livid. L in particular.
She surveyed as she walked, turning her head in every which way. There wasn't much to see. On all sides surrounding her, was wasteland. A few dying trees were scattered around, but other than them, not much else lay on the horizon. In the distance, perhaps less than half a mile from where Deidre stood was a small town, surrounded by a crumbling wall. She headed for it. Deidre felt that this was the capital in which the story started, so she was fairly confident in what she expected to see behind the walls.
~^~
