Smoking Gun

RHEA
Four months had passed since I found out that I was pregnant and within these four months, I started to have more nightmares. The visions were no longer coming. My stomach was increasing in size too quickly. Haru told me it was because I wasn't carrying just one child. Jaden on the other hand, seemed to be avoiding me. Each time he was in rut, he made sure to steer clear of me. I wanted to believe that he was doing so, in order to make sure he doesn't hurt me or our pups. But, I suspected that there was more to it.
"Have you seen Jaden today?" I asked Klaus on my way to Jaden's office.
"He's in his office. He cancelled all the meetings he was supposed to have today. I think it's odd" he said and I frowned.
I walked into Jaden's office and closed the door behind me. Jaden was sitting on his chair, his head resting on his desk. He looked pale and had dark circles under his eyes. Worried, I made my way towards him. Once I got to him, I placed a hand on his face. He was burning up.
I swallowed hard and patted his face to wake him up. He slowly opened his eyes, his tired gaze resting on me.
"Rhea?" He breathed and I nodded. "It's me" I told him. I gently helped him to a sitting position. It was clear that he was not feeling well. This was strange.
"You're burning up" I pointed out and he sighed.
"I've not been able to regain my strength since last night. I don't know what's going on with me. I can't feel Tarus either" he said and my heart sank.
"What did you do last night?" I asked and he rubbed his eyes.
"I slept. It was the first time I didn't have a dream or a nightmare. When I woke up, I felt awfully drained" he responded.
I took his hand in mine. Then, I pressed a kiss to his knuckles.
"Come on, let's get you to your quarters. You should get some rest and allow your body to recover" I said. He rose to his feet with my help. He grunted as we started to walk towards the door.
"Are you feeling pain?" I asked when we walked out of his office.
"No. I just feel weak" he told me, his voice hoarse.
We got to his quarters and I made him sit on his bed. I poured him a glass of water and handed it to him. I was more worried when I saw that his hands were trembling as well. He emptied the glass and handed it over to me. Jaden rose to his feet and walked towards the window, his movements stiff and robotic.
"Jaden, you should lie down. You're not in a good shape. I don't want you to get worse" I said. He ignored me.
I walked towards him and placed a hand on his bicep.
"Come on, Jaden. Now's not the time to act all tough. You need to get some rest"
"Jaden?"
I was tensed now.
He remained silent and continued to stare at empty space. I waved a hand in front of his face but got no response. His eyes had gone blank and his expression was the definition of pokerface. I didn't know which one scared me. Was it the fact that his fever had spiked up to an extreme level? Or the fact that he'd suddenly become both deaf and dumb?
"Jaden, look at me" I said, my voice shaky. I placed a hand on his forehead, my heart sinking when I realized that his fever was worsening by the second.
"Jaden, please. You have to lie down" I said, tugging at his arm. He continued to stare, unmoving.
'Klaus, Darryl.... little help here?' I said through the mind link.
'Did something happen?' they both asked.
'I managed to get him to his room. But, he's not responding to me anymore. He's just staring at empty space and he's not moving. His fever is spiking up and he's really pale' I said. I'd barely completed my statement when I heard the knock on the door. I rushed to the door and opened it. Klaus and Daryl rushed in with concerned looks on their faces.
"Jaden?" Klaus said, waving his hand in front of Jaden's face. He remained unresponsive.
"How long has he been like this for?" Darryl asked.
"For the past five minutes" I replied. Jaden's knees suddenly gave out and he started to fall to the ground. Klaus and I broke his fall. Then, we carried him to his bed and laid him down.
"He passed out" Darryl said. He looked even more worried.
"This is strange. This has never happened before. Do you think he's under some sort of spell?" Klaus said and I froze. He had a point there. If this was Thalia's doing, I needed to figure out what she was doing to him. It was the only way I could find a solution to his problem.
"You said that he was unresponsive and continued to stare at empty space.... What if she's controlling his mind?" Darryl said.
"Even so, it can't be so easy to do that" Klaus said.
Jaden stirred, his breathing strained. "Jaden? Can you hear me?" I asked and he let out a groan. He looked like he was in so much pain. I placed a hand on his forehead, flinching as a result of how hot his skin was.
"Can you tell me where you're hurting?" I asked, dabbing his forehead with a damp towel.
He clutched his chest and turned away from me, letting out pained groans.
Klaus and Darryl exchanged bewildered glances.
Jaden was writhing now and I was more angry than upset. I hated the fact that Thalia was causing him pain. I wanted to get my hands on her and teach her a grave lesson.
"I've figured it out. I need to perform a ritual to reverse the one Thalia did" I said and they both nodded in understanding. The sound of the bedsheets being ripped apart caught our attention. We all turned to look at Jaden who'd curled into a ball, his claws digging into the sheets as he tried to muffle his groans of pain. His shirt was soaked with sweat and he was trembling.
I ripped his shirt off his body. Then, I started to soothe him using my magic.
"Get me a piece of paper and a pen. I need to write down everything I need for the ritual. I have to do it before midnight" I said and Darryl left to get me a pen and a piece of paper. After I'd written it down, I handed the paper to Klaus.
He patted Jaden's shoulder.
"Hang in there" he said and left the room with Darryl. I placed Jaden's head on my lap and stroked his hair. He looked so exhausted.
"Where am I?" He asked, his breathing laboured.
"In your room. Don't you recognize it?" I asked.
"No." He rasped, squeezing his eyes shut.
"Why am I not healing?" He slurred.
"It's because you're under a spell" I told him. He didn't say anything else. His temperature wasn't increasing or reducing. It just remained as high as it was. He kept twitching every few minutes and there was a niggling feeling of fear gnawing at my insides.
"Please, be okay. Please" I pleaded, dabbing the back of his neck with the damp towel.
...
THALIA
I opened my eyes with a little difficulty. My vision was blurry and my tiredness was bone deep. I winced when sunlight flooded my room, all of a sudden. Someone had just moved the curtains aside. That someone was Zaden. Lately, he has become a pain in the ass. He would always give me his dramatic sympathetic stares that makes me feel sick to my stomach.
The smell of hot chicken soup flooded my senses and I gagged. Heaving a sigh, I pushed my tired body into a sitting position, my bones groaning in protest. I spent the next few minutes, coughing up a lung. When I was done, I wiped off the blood from my lips with the back of my palm.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on with you or not? You have been worsening for the past few months and you're not saying anything about it" he said and I scowled.
"Shouldnt you be asking me why the potion hasn't been used yet?" I said and he sighed.
"It's because I'm more concerned about your deteriorating health. What use will you be to me, if something drastic happens to you?" He said, folding his arms across his chest, his brows knitted into a frown.
"I'm fine. You don't have to be so worried. It's not like I'm dying" I said, looking away from him.
"I don't believe you. Do I have to force the answers out of you?!"
My gaze met his and I could see the turmoil in his eyes.
"Zaden---"
"Just tell me what's going on" he was desperate now.
I swallowed hard and lowered my gaze. I felt like I wouldn't be able to tell him what was going on if I continued to look at him.
"I stole my aunt's magic because I wanted her to feel what it's like to be miserable" I said, gripping the sheets, hard.
"Is that why you look worse for wear?" He questioned.
"It's a backlash. She had stolen from a lot of people. When I took her magic which was a combination of hers and the victims of her theft, it became toxic to me. It....is slowly tearing me apart....from the inside"
"So, it's killing you?" He asked and I sighed.
"Can't you remove the magic..."
"I don't want to" I cut him off as I got out of bed.
"What?! It's killing you..."
"I'm not talking about this anymore" I snapped and started to walk towards the door. I froze when I felt it. My magic had captured Jaden's will. The ritual had worked. A smirk worked it's way onto my lips and I turned to look at Zaden who was still standing by the bedside, a bewildered look on his face.
"It worked" I breathed and Zaden's frown deepened.
"What?"
"I've captured Jaden's mind" I told him and his eyes widened.
"All I have to do now is to summon him" I said and walked out of the room.