*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

My eyes slowly crack open.

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

'Where am I?'

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

'A hospital?'

*Beep*

'I didn’t die?'

*Beep*

'My chest feels very tight.'

*Beep*

'That's a heart monitor.' I smile, now knowing what that sound is.

*Beep*

*Beep*

I slowly turn my head to the side. A window enters my view. The dark sky was visible, but not a star was in sight. The smell of sanitizer fills my nostrils. I hear the sound of rustling fabric.

“Dixa’dri fispek miz’ozo. Mic'a'ze touk aloop,” a voice near me calls. What did it say? I don’t know. Behind me, a door opens, then closes. I’m too exhausted to turn and look.

A second, similar voice replies, "shmel'op ticka-tak."

The figure that spoke first walked towards my bed and knelt down so that I could see his masculine face. There was a flash of green light, and his human eyes were replaced with that of a changelings. Another flash, and they returned to normal.

The human-changeling brought his fingers, glowing with green light, up to my head. A moment later, my mind cleared. But only by a small bit. His hand returned to his side, and he moves to sit in a chair by the window.

The last thing I remember was passing out on the plane, and the three flashes. Does that mean that there are three of them here?

I feel warm. Uncomfortably warm. Too bad I can’t muster up the strength to remove the blanket from my bed, or even vocalize my complaint.

The door opened again, three sets of footsteps entered, and the door shut.

“Ahh, Mr. Ross, It’s good to see that you are awake.,” one of the sets of footsteps asked. “I’m Dr. Wesker. How are you feeling?” he added. The newly identified Dr. Wesker walked around my bed and knelt down, just like the changeling had only moments ago. The other two sets of footsteps moved into the edge of my vision. They were dressed in identical black robes. They must be other changelings.

It took a moment, but I finally mustered up the energy to say, “Too warm.”

The doctor placed his fingers on my forehead, and declared, “You don’t feel like you have a fever, that’s good. How about I just pull back your covers a bit. There, doesn’t that feel better?”

“More, please.”

“And how’s this?”

“Thanks.”

At this, Dr. Wesker stood up. “Tell me, does it hurt anywhere? I may need to adjust the pain medications.”

“No. Chest is… tight, but… no pain.”

“That’s good. Tell you what? I’ll go call your friends and family to let them know that you’re alright, and you can just rest,” the doctor said. As soon as I nodded, he turned and walked out of the room. I slowly turned my head to look at the three changelings in my room.

“Chrysalis… sent you?”

“Yes sir. She told us to ensure your survival. She considers you an ally too valuable to lose,” the first changeling said. Ally? Not friend? I thought we were closer than that. Makes sense. After all, she has a kingdom to run. In her position, I would keep the otherworldly ape close enough to use, but far enough away to dispose of if need be.

“How… are you? If I had died, you… would have been… trapped. Are you okay… with that?” I slowly asked. Sending them here seems like a rather risky move for Chrysalis. Just how valuable of a pawn am I to her?

Apparently, getting trapped here had not crossed the minds of the three changelings. Looks of panic, worry, and anger crossed their minds. The second spoke up, “We had no choice," he growled. "She took our bodies and sent them here without our consent. This would not have been a problem if we had remained at home, but here…” he trailed off.

The third resumed, “Here, we cannot feel the hive mind. It is as if we are the only three in existence. Had we failed, it would have been banishment without a crime.”

“Good… thing… you didn’t,” I spoke, shock at Chrysalis’s rash decision overlaid with exhaustion in my voice.

The three nodded in unison. “For now, rest. We shall remain with you until you are well enough to return us.”

“I will. And one more thing… don’t feed on me, my family, or my friends. You’ll never return... to your hive... if you do,” I threatened them. They gulped, and, satisfied that no harm would come to the ones I loved, I relaxed.

I don’t remember falling asleep.

I awoke the next morning to see my family standing around my bed. There was no sign if the three changelings. My mother, seeing me awake, smothered me in the kind of hugs only mothers can give. My whole family was overjoyed that I was alright. Apparently, Nick and Catherine had already filled them in about the events on the plane, omitting the part about me using magic. It confused them to no end. I had taken out six armed men in some explainable way, and then collapsed for no apparent reason.

From what I was told, today was June 10th, meaning it was only yesterday that the whole incident had occurred. When Catherine had called them, they jumped on a plane as quick as they could to get down to me. They knew about the three ‘men’ who had ‘appeared out of thin air’ to come to my aid, but when my family wanted to find said men…

“It’s the strangest thing. Three robed men come out of nowhere, help keep you alive until you get to the hospital, and then refuse to leave you. And now, no one in this hospital has seen heads or tails of them. They didn’t sign out and no one saw them leave, yet they don’t seem to be anywhere. Who were they, anyway?” my father asked, his voice laced with confusion.

“Friends.” It was all I could say.

“Well, it looks like the left you a ‘get well soon’ gift, whoever they are. Kind of creepy looking, if you ask me.” My mom picked something up from the foot of my bed.

A plushy.

A plushy changeling.

A plushy changeling that blinked its eyes.

There were two more at the foot of my bed. I couldn't help it; I burst out laughing. Laughter that quickly degraded into a painful coughing fit.

“AAAHHH! THAT HURTS!” Well, there goes my good mood.

“Easy, easy, Will. The doctor said that you have fluid collecting in your lungs and mildly degraded heart tissue. We can’t risk hurting them anymore, especially since they still don’t know what’s wrong with you.” I could only nod.

The doctor came and ran a few tests. Lungs, heart, blood, and the works. Two hours later he returned with the results. “Well, the bad news is that we have absolutely no clue as to what caused the symptoms that you experienced.”

Magical exhaustion will do that to a person. Not that you'd know.

“On the other hand, you are clean of any infections and toxins, your hormone an nutrient levels are within normal ranges, and your lungs are clearing up. Whatever caused this seems to be a one-time thing, and it’s run its course."

I already knew that, but nodded anyway. No way would I ever repeat this incident.

"You should be cleared to leave in a few days. I must stress, however: no strenuous physical activity for the next month,” Dr. Wesker concluded.

Minutes after my friends and family left, the three plushies on my bed began to stir. Each jumped off my bed and resumed human form in a burst of green flames.

“Unfortunately, your condition is worse than what your doctor claims.”

I was not expecting that at all.

“After examining your magic throughout the day, it’s fairly obvious that your body is not behaving properly for simple magical exhaustion.”

“W-w-what do you m-mean?” I stuttered.

“What you are experiencing should be impossible. Chrysalis herself would have to be present in order for this to happen, as she is the only living thing in all of Equa that could have done this. And it has only ever happened once, to her, without her consent. It was under the influence of Discord, the god of chaos, early during his reign."

“You're converting.”

Author's Notes:

Dun-Dun-DUUUUUNNNN!!!

*Ding* Have a chapter!

He survived the overuse of his magic, only to find out that something else is happening!
Chrysalis isn't really his friend.

LIVING PLUSHIE CHANGELINGS!

From Rens-twin

Discord made Chrysalis into the first changeling during his reign.
Brownie points to those of you who can figure out approximately how long his reign was. (I left enough clues.)
Is discord responsible for this? maybe...

The next chapter's title is a pair of acronyms: "S.H.C. and O.B.H."
Can you guess what it means? $10 says you can't.

(edited 12/21/2013)