《Treacherous | Hermione Granger Book II》|53| Chapter Fifty-Three
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open when she woke up. Instantly, she was panicked. She hadn't the slightest clue as to where she was or how long she had been in the Grey for. She didn't know if anybody had come for Hermione and Penelope, and in turn for her. She didn't know if she could trust her senses either, for everything was blurry and faded. It was only when she gripped the edges of the hospital wing bed that she realised that she was okay.
Everything seemed to cramp. Whether it be physically, as her muscles ached and felt as though they had had a fire lit underneath them. Not to mention her mind, which couldn't bring her to any conclusions and wasn't able to translate her thoughts into language.
All she could do was hoarsely state the word "Hermione" to try and signal to whoever was in the hospital wing that she was okay. Luckily, she was just loud enough, as mere seconds later she was met by Amanda who rushed in through the curtains around her bed briskly.
Saffron croaked and Amanda offered her a nod of understanding, proceeding to mumble numerous incantations under her breath as well as pouring a beaker of a flakey white liquid into a cup, forcing feeding it to Saffron.
Those actions soothed Saffron's pain. Suddenly, her body felt more relaxed, her mind was no longer discombobulated and her mouth was able to get out all of the words that she wanted, albeit it in a rushed manner.
"Hermione! Did you find her? Was she still there when you got there? I just found the two of them there, I tried to do something, I did but I--I couldn't, I wasn't able to look away from them and then it happened,"
"Saffron, relax," Amanda told her soothingly. "You're in a state of shock, but you're going to be okay, everything's okay,"
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Unsure of whether or not it was the soothing words or soothing liquid that had the effect, Saffron was relieved that she started to feel her shoulder relax and the aches in her body come to a gradual halt. Everything seemed to slow down, her thoughts, her words and the words of the woman in front of her.
"Is she okay?" Saffron asked the nurse slowly. "Hermione?"
Amanda nodded. "Professor McGonagall found the three of you out cold in the library. In your case, strictly temporarily unconscious, whilst for Penelope and Hermione, they were petrified, but only petrified, thank goodness," She paused, treading carefully around Saffron who still looked visibly upset in spite of her newly found relaxed state of mind. However, when it came to the question that she was about to ask Saffron itself, she didn't beat around the bush. "Who was waiting for you in the Grey?"
"My mother," Saffron replied softly. She had been so worried about what was happening outside of her mind that she had momentarily forgotten what had gone on within it. "She-- she told me to wish you well,"
"Oh," Amanda croaked, freezing in an instant. Similarly to her mother in the Grey, the woman's eyes were a picture of pure sadness. It must have been very different for Amanda whenever she thought of Saffron's mother, or at least that was how Saffron saw it. As Amanda actually knew who Prina Mitchell was, for the most part, not what she wanted her to be like how Saffron and her siblings knew her. That didn't make the pain any harder or easier necessarily, but it made it far rawer, as Amanda missed a person whilst the remaining Mitchell's missed the thought of a person. "Thank you for letting me know,"
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Not wanting the emotion to overrule what had happened in the library, Saffron made an effort to redirect the conversation.
"Did they find it?" She asked Amanda briskly. "The monster?"
Amanda snapped out of her train of thought about her old friend and answered Saffron's question with a frown.
"Unforuntdatly, there wasn't any sign that would point us in the direction of the monster," Amanda informed her with sadness, though a different type of sadness in comparison to when she thought about Prina. "Except for this,"
Without warning, Amanda walked out of the curtains that surrounded Saffron's bed but before Saffron could even start to think about what Amanda was doing, the woman returned. In her hand, was a small circular mirror. "It was found with them, you wouldn't know why they had it, would you?"
Saffron furrowed her eyebrow in utter confusion. "I-- I have no idea,"
"Rest assured that all of the staff are trying to figure out what exactly happened," Amanda told Saffron firmly, noticing how worried the girl was looking. "It's only a matter of time before someone puts a stop to this business, let's just count our blessings that the pair of them were gravely injured," She paused. "And that you weren't either,"
"I feel terrible," said Saffron suddenly, her eyes bulging out of her sockets. "I don't think it happened long before I got there, if I had of been able to control it, maybe I could have seen who it was,"
Amanda shook her head adamantly. "And then you would have been attacked too, you can't allow yourself to think like that, Saffron. There was nothing more that you could have done, nothing," She paused. "I think what you need is sleep, you've been out for a good two hours, but your definition of being out is very different than the rest of us. Here, take this," Amanda passed Saffron a sealed test tube. "Drink this and you'll have a dreamless sleep, I think you could use it after the day you've had,"
"Yeah," said Saffron in agreement. Without hesitation, she twisted the cap off the tube and downed the potion in one. Instantly, she started to feel sleepier. But first, she directed her attention onto Amanda again. "Thank you, Amanda, for helping me,"
Amanda shook her head. "No, thank you, Saffron, for letting me. The acceptance the four of you have shown me these past few months was beyond my wildest expectations. I truly am so grateful for you all,"
Saffron yawned loudly, her eyes flicking open and close constantly. "Yeah, me too,"
With that, Saffron fell into a dreamless sleep, which was much needed especially considering the nightmare she was going to have to face later that evening.
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The Exiled Villainess Returns
(Please heed the warnings above before reading) Reborn into the beautiful but deadly world of Ethetia, she comes to a sudden awareness that she is now Livia Katrina Valentine, a character of a game of a reverse harem she once played on Earth called Aster Academy: The Feuding Houses. But this revelation comes a bit too late. You see, Livia wasn't just anyone. She was not given the anonymity of being a background character, or even the blessing of being the heroine. Instead, she has bestowed the role of being the atrocious villainess. And that is exactly what she had been. As a result, Livia triggers her own death flag event at her debutante. Her memories of her past life have the grace to come only minutes before she is accused of poisoning the heroine, Amelia. But all is not helpless. Via last-minute intervention, Livia successfully manages to avoid having her head decapitated. Being exiled was a small price to pay for retaining a pulse. Plus, at least this way, Livia can finally start to live her life, to become more than just a cruel folly. Her exile should have been a new but unusual beginning to her story. But pitiless reality comes knocking. Ethetia had once only been a background setting in a game. A pretty and still picture that mostly went disregarded as the even prettier characters on the screen unloaded their dialogue, but now, it was Livia's world. As real and wonderous as planet Earth once had been, filled with small creatures with their own wills, ambitions, and needs. Such one creature decides that exile was not enough of a penalty. That Livia, the bullish and jealous tormentor of the heroine, deserves a fate more befitting of her past deeds. One worst than death. Livia's fate is ripped out of her hands. She is forced into a collar, sold to an empire rotten with greed, and placed inside a harem where she is expected to wither and die from the inside out. But Livia refuses to be forgotten. Burning with a deep rage against those who only wish to see her fall into her own grave, Livia makes a twisted promise to herself. A promise that pushes her through the darkest moments of her life and brings to light a newfound power rooted deep inside her. So keen to discard her as the villain she has once been, the little creatures in their own ignorance brought forth something they could never dream to fathom. A beacon of darkness.
8 149Super Minion
Fortress City has Super Villains, who have evil lairs, and in them they make super weapons. But when a bioweapon is granted super powers of its own, will Fortress City be able to handle the Super Minion?
8 115The Preying City
The city calls for you. It spins a web around your vulnerable self. Lulls you into a cozy sleep and tightens its grip on you. There is NO escape from the city. The city of Kindlewich entices everyone with promises of riches and happiness. It harbors supernaturals with unimaginable powers while the masses remain ignorant. The strong prey on the weak and the weak exploit each other. The cover art is by Arnaud Imobersteg, a brilliant architecture visualizer. Please show him some love if you can. https://www.artstation.com/artwork/8xlvO
8 204Guild Wars
Lilith, a snarky, hyperactive fourteen-year-old just wants to join a guild, go on adventures and do fun things. But first, she has to pass the annual Adventurer’s exams requiring her to compete against other examinees and examiners in a myriad of games ranging from freeze tags, arm wrestling, battle royales and... Poker? What the heck is poker? Together with a rude fox boy she meets along the way, she’ll need to strategize, brute force and cheat her way through the precarious exams where little seems to be against the rules. Join her on her journey of uncovering the darker secrets within the guilds, explore the various themed territories, and... Kill the guild leader of the number one guild in the world! Wait. Why the heck would she do that? Because a woman inside her head told her to. Who is this woman anyways? She seems like a massiveeee prick. Onward! .:.:.: [A/n: Do note, this is not a LitRPG but the setting just features a game-like world. This novel adopts heavily on some of my favourite anime tropes like Hunter x Hunter, Fairy tail and Naruto that have inspired me to start on this project! :D]
8 136A BEND IN TIME
Before there ever was a boy that ever lived in a cupboard on Four Privet Drive, there was a similar boy in a far worse home that lived on Spinner’s End. We all know the tale of that abused boy who grew up to become a bitter spy. But not all tales end the same for in the many parallel worlds that exist in the universe there are far better endings, and equally as many worse ones. This is a tale of one such condemned universe that for better or for worse choose to change its own fate. (All rights to the Harry Potter world and characters belong solely to J. K. Rowling. However, I do claim creative fanfiction rights. Please do not post my fanfiction elsewhere without my express permission.) (Please note only first few chapters will be posted on this site the rest and future chapters are hosted at, https://www.webnovel.com/book/14576125306898605/A-Bend-in-Time)
8 174The Core of a Factory
An abandoned steampunk arms factory, in the middle of a conflict torn former state of the Empire it served, gains a soul. This transforms it into a Lord, capable of turning land into power. Beset by enemies on all sides it must figure out how to win the war its creators lost a century ago. This is a progressive Dungeon Core novel (which is to say the core will progress and expand in scale, eventually) across multiple dimensions with different characteristics (e.g. steampunk, magic, mythological). It has rationalist leanings (paragraphs of reasoning) and litrpg leanings (there are stat blocks). The core game mechanical idea is something like "what if different flavors of magic power actually did come from controlling land" and then the story is: "what if there was a flavorless (artifact deck) dungeon core". Chapters will be relatively short (my aim is that in three column format each would fit on a wide screen monitor), the first few chapters - setting up the main character and mechanics - are currently the longest in the entire series. I write chapters in blocks, and then release them one a weekday (M-F; 6 PM GMT, unless RoyalRoad's publish thing screws up) until I run out. There may be a few days of gaps here and there if someone finds an egregious error I have to re-write around or if I am behind. In general though one can read this once a weekend. I may do slight retconns and edits, I'll make sure to put it in an authors note if I do.
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