Explanation

"Here Curtis, drink this, it should make you feel better" said Maddie as she handed Curtis a cup of warm water, that was the next best thing that they had right now.

"Thank you" said Curtis as his voice came out scratched as he took the cup from Maddie and he drank the warm water.

They were back at the camp, and the sun had finally risen, Curtis had woken up, and Annie, Maddie, Matt and Ollie were all worried for him, what they had seen back there was no joke at all, it was very serious, they were even surprised that Curtis looked like he was back to normal again.

"Curtis, are you alright?" asked Annie as she looked at Curtis, she was so worried, she checked his face, his eyes, and his nose, luckily he had stopped bleeding, but he still looked as pale as a sheet.

"I am fine Annie" said Curtis as he replied.

"Are you sure Curtis? You look very pale?" asked Annie as she looked at him and she touched his face, he was still very pale… too pale for her liking.

"I am fine Annie" said Curtis as he replied and he cleared his throat, he could feel his voice coming back to him, which was a relief.

"Alright Curtis, if you don't feel alright tell us" said Annie as she was concerned, she did not want anything bad to happen to Curtis at all, her mind kept on going to the image of her hand covered with blood, and the sight of Curtis' bloody face, and his violent coughs, they had no help here, they were alone here, so if anything bad was to happen to any of them, they would be done for.

"I am fine" said Curtis once again as he finished drinking the warm water, it helped soothe his voice.

"Here Curtis, you need to eat" said Maddie as she handed Curtis his breakfast, which was oatmeal again, they had no other choice, it was the fastest food that she could make right now, and she was sure that it would give Curtis the strength he needed.

"Thank you" said Curtis as he took the bowl of oatmeal from Maddie.

"Curtis, you still look so pale, are you sure that you are alright?" asked Annie as she sounded like a worried mother, but she did not care at all, she was worried for Curtis right now.

"Annie, I told you that I am alright" said Curtis as this was what he did not want, what he tried so hard to avoid.

"Annie if he says that he is fine, the he probably is" said Matt as he wanted Annie to calm down, it was not good for her to worry like this.

"But he's so pale Matt" said Annie as she looked at Matt, her voice laced with concern.

"That must be because he lost so much blood" said Maddie as Annie turned to look at her.

"But once he eats, he will regain his colour and get some strength, so don't worry Annie, if you worry, you will only make it worse" said Maddie as she smiled, she wanted Annie to calm down now.

"Okay fine" said Annie as she sighed, even though she was still worried, but they were right, she should just calm down, she should not make things worse.

"Annie, you should eat as well, you have been through a lot this morning" said Maddie as she smiled at Annie.

"I'm not hungry" said Annie as she shook her head.

"Oh come on Annie, you need to eat" said Maddie as she pleaded with Annie, Annie was still not yet strong enough, she needed to eat, they could not risk her getting sick right now.

"Annie, Maddie is right, you need to eat" said Matt.

"Yes Annie, you need to eat, how will you be able to take care of Curtis if you don't feel well yourself?" said Matt.

"Yes, you need to eat Annie" said Ollie as he agreed with Maddie and Matt.

"I will eat when Curtis Is feeling better, and that is final" said Annie as she was not going to be coaxed like a little child, she knew what she wanted, and she did not want to be treated like a child at all.

"Alright fine Annie, fine" said Maddie as she did not want to force Annie into doing anything that she did not want to do, she knew that she was just worried right now, and that was very understandable.

"Curtis, what happened, why were you bleeding like that?" asked Annie as she looked at Curtis.

"Yes, what happened Curtis, were you poisoned or what?" asked Ollie as he was curious, that was not normal bleeding, not at all.

"Yes were you poisoned Curtis? If so, then by what?" asked Annie as Curtis sighed and he put down his bowl, he did not want to have to do this, but they needed an explanation, he wondered why they had followed him anyway, they should have just stayed back, and they would have not had to see that.

"No I wasn't poisoned, not at all" said Curtis.

"Then what was that Curtis? Why were you bleeding and coughing so violently?" asked Annie.

"If you were not poisoned, then what was all that?" asked Ollie.

"Yes, and don't say that it was nothing serious Curtis, because you passed out, you seriously passed out" said Maddie.

"And your heartbeat was irregular" said Matt as he added.

"That was nothing serious… it has happened before… many times" said Curtis as Annie looked at him in confusion.

"So this wasn't the first time?" asked Annie.

"No it's not" said Curtis.

"I have had worse episodes" said Curtis as he added, he stated it like a fact, and he did not even look worried at all.

"But, that's… how long has this been going on Curtis?" asked Annie.

"For a while now" said Curtis as this had happened many times, his body would shut down, he would start to bleed from his nose, and he would start to cough and gasp for air.

"What do you mean for a while now?" asked Annie as Curtis did not say anything at all.

"Curtis, can you just tell us the truth for once, just the truth" said Annie as this was so typical of Curtis hiding important things such as these, he looked like he was dying back there, and all he could do and say was to tell them that it had been happening for a while now, that was not the explanation they needed, no not at all.

"Annie calm down" said Curtis.

"No Curtis, don't you dare tell me to calm down, or else I will lose it" said Annie as he had no right to tell her to calm down right now.

"Curtis tell me the truth, nothing but the truth, because if I hear one more irrelevant explanation from you, I am out of here" said Annie as she could not deal with this right now, she was so worried, and yet Curtis did not seem to take this seriously at all.

Maddie, Matt and Ollie just all stayed quiet, it was clear that this was something between Curtis and Annie alone, and they had never seen Annie act like this before, never, she must have been really upset with Curtis this time.

"This happens regularly" said Curtis as he knew that he had no other choice than to tell her the full truth.

"Why?" asked Annie as her tone was commanding, either Curtis spoke, or she would just leave him here, she would actually do it, because it was clear that Curtis was not taking her seriously at all.

"I don't have any magic to sustain this form" said Curtis.

"I am getting weaker, and so is this form of mine, it is shutting itself down" said Curtis as he explained, that was the reason he had been lea

"Then why don't you turn back into your book form? You should be able to do that right?" asked Annie.

"I can't Annie" said Curtis.

"If I try to change back to my original form, I won't have any magic at all, I will die if I try to change back" said Curtis.

"So your bleeding because you don't have magic?" asked Annie.

"Yes, this body is shutting down" said Curtis.

"There has to be some way to stop that from happening Curtis, you can't go on like this" said Annie in worry as she looked at Curtis.

"No Annie, there is nothing to be done, and you do not need to worry, it is not all that serious" said Curtis as he lied, the truth was that it was very serious, sooner or later, this body would fall apart, and he would be as good as dead.

"Don't tell me that Curtis, there has to be a way to get you back to normal" said Annie.

"Annie, the only way for me to get better, is for you to get your powers back" said Curtis seriously.