~The Good Witch~ AmericaXReader (Ch. 2)

Chapter 2: Healing Potions and Their Side Effects

    "First, where am I?" he continued.

    "Oz," you took a step towards the castle.

    "Second... did you slap my butt?" You could feel your face flush, the heat a bittersweet distraction from your pain.

    "W-We need to get back to the castle," you started your trek towards the castle, your legs threateningly shaky.

    "Woah, what? Castle? Where am I?!" you turned, giving him a ridiculous look.

    "Are you stupid or something?" you frowned, looking at him more closely. He did dress differently, but you never knew what kind of fashion was going around Oz most of the time, Elizabeta mainly kept up with that.

    "This is Oz, always has been. Always will be," you immediately regretted the words. You had just barely met him, and you were already insulting him. That wasn't very good of you.

    "You don't understand, I'm not from here. I'm from Kansas. You know, in America!" was he insane? Your thoughts raced, Kansas, America? Maybe it was another land you hadn't heard about, but... you thought you knew all of the lands around and in Oz. The name did sound strangely familiar though.

    You searched his face for any signs of lying, finding none. "We'll discuss this later, weirdo," you turned back, determined to return to your castle.

    "Now, come on."

    "Fine..." you heard him say reluctantly, followed by footsteps that followed your own. "This goes against so many stranger danger lessons."

-----------------------------------------------------(Time Skip)--------------------------------------------------------

    You walked back, with a little help from Alfred. You didn't dare tap into your magic since you had used enough of it saving Alfred anyways.

    "It was just so cool how you flew out to catch me! Like Superman, or something!" he carried on his conversation with you about how you saved him.

    "I didn't fly, I jumped. Honestly, this is the third time I've said that," you growled, looking away from him.

    He held you bridal style, and you wanted to protest but you really couldn't. Your legs had started to hurt so much you had collapsed earlier, Alfred picking you up.

    "We're almost there," you glanced at the gaps between the trees, expecting to see white walls any minute.

    You inhaled the cool air, taking in the night's scent. The air was filled with faint chirping from the night birds and crickets, making for a relaxing atmosphere. You took a deep breath, staring at the soft glowing stars that dotted the darkened sky. The cold air bit your fingertips, and you stuck them under your arms.

    You wanted to walk on your own so badly, almost to the point where it hurt. You didn't want to show him you were so weak.

    "This suuuuucks," you whined. You didn't usually whine but... you wanted to find out something.

    "What?" he looked down at you.

    "I wanna waaaaallllkkk," you leaned your head back, so everything was upside down.

    "You'll collapse though."

    "I know," you sighed.

    "I'm fine with carrying you," you picked your head back up to see him smiling sincerely.

    You felt a hot redness unconsciously spread across your face. "U-Uh thanks," you tried to hide the growing color. So that's what kind of guy he was. Loud and obnoxious but willing to help people. You could trust him.

    "Woah!" he exclaimed, looking up. You could make out the proud white walls of your castle above the trees, "There it is." He continued staring as more of the castle came into sight, letting out small 'Wow's every now and then. He had to walk around a wall, being that the castle's doors weren't facing the forest you had come out of.

    He let out a small gasp as he entered the large courtyard. You stared at the steps you had been standing on not a few hours ago, watching the stars. Alfred walked up to the doors and opened them, managing to balance you at the same time. A thought suddenly struck you, What was Elizabeta going to think? You, coming home with a stranger carrying you. What if she- your thoughts were interrupted by a long wolf whistle.

    There was Elizabeta, staring at the two of you. Was she whistling at you and Alfred, or just Alfred?

    "E-Eliza," you began.

    "No need to explain ____," the witch sauntered up to the blonde, smiling at him.

    "Eliza! I can't walk!"

    The Northerner looked down at you in slight surprise, "Why?"

    Because I saved this doofus, you wanted to say. "I'll explain later, I just need to heal for now." You were carried up to your room by Alfred, who was surprised at all of the stairs.

    He set you on the bed softly, and you smiled at him gratefully, "Thanks."

    "No problem dudette!" he said, looking around your bright room. White walls were decorated with different stuffed animals on shelves and small paintings. The furniture was all white and (f/c), creating a nice pattern of color. Your bed was much the same color as the other furniture, it being a queen sized bed. A lone dreamcatcher hung above your bed to "catch bad dreams", which you seemed to have a lot of lately. What? A witch couldn't be superstitious?

    The merchant you had gotten it from, Yao was it, had said it would reduce nightmares. Then again, he had also tried to sell you a "magical" carrot that would grow into a horse.

    You stared up at the feathery object, remembering how you had been fascinated by it when you first saw it. It's spider web pattern core and the feathers with beads were so unlike anything else Yao tried to sell you. You had never seen anything like it before.

    "Oh cool! You have a dreamcatcher!" the blonde exclaimed, leaning over the bed to take it off of it's hook. "Wow, these feathers look like they're from a red-tailed hawk!"

    "Red-tailed hawk?" you said it slowly.

    "Yeah, it's common bird in Kansas," he said absentmindedly, while looking over the object.

    "Alfie~" a singsong voice rang out, followed by your Northern friend sweeping into the room, her night gown swirling.

    "Alfie?" you mouthed silently, looking at Alfred. The American shrugged, watching as Elizabeta stood unusually close to him.

    You felt anger rise in your chest slightly, she just met him, and she's flirting with him? You gave the witch a warning stare, not that she noticed. Winking at the blonde, she set down a small bottle on your bedside table, the purple liquid inside swirling.

    "We better leave ____ alone so she can rest," the Northern witch shooed Alfred out of the room, quickly walking back to your bedside.

    "Stay away from him," you growled softly.

    "Why? You like him or something?" she smirked.

    "N-No!" your cheeks burned, "I just met him! Wait... is that why you were flirting with him? To see if I liked him?!"

    Another smirk. "Maybe... he's not really my type though... Oh, uh," the witch glanced at the lavender bottle of liquid on your bedside, "You want me to keep him away from the room?"

    "Yeah, take him to the garden. But I'm watching you."

    "Okay," she said, putting her hands up in mock defense. Turning, she walked out of your room.

    You turned to the bottle, already knowing what it was. A potion for healing, a basic one, but it should get the job done.

    Unscrewing the bottle, you drank in the sweet, honey tasting liquid. You could feel the magic begin to seep into your body, traveling along your skin, leaving goosebumps. Closing your eyes, you felt a sort of warm relaxation come over you. Then you prepared yourself for the next part...

    "AH!" you arched your back in pain, twisting the bed covers tightly in your hands. A raging pain shot through your legs and back, hot then cold. You tried to muffle the screams, squeezing your eyes shut.

    It felt like an eternity of a sharp pain running through your body, you screaming then gasping for air only to scream again. Eventually, you felt light headed, blood rushing to your head... Blackness.

--------------------------------------------------------(Time Skip)-----------------------------------------------------

    You woke up, head pounding. Your eyesight was bleary, you unable to focus on anything.

    "____, you're awake!" a familiar voice exclaimed.

    Where have you heard that voice? You blinked repeatedly, trying to make out the figure of the person talking to you. Wasn't that that Alfred guy?

    "Woah dudette are you okay? Your pupils are all big," you could vaguely see him stand up and walk over to you, squatting so he was level with your face.

    You would've blushed at his closeness if everything hadn't been so confusing and mixed up. "Yeah, it's just... the potion... how long was I... out?" you looked where you remembered the window was. You weren't blinded into a throbbing headache by light so it still must've been nighttime.

    "About an hour."

    "Where's Elizabeta?"

    Suddenly a muffled crash caught your attention, followed by a boom. A sense came over you, a sense that something was wrong. The crash came from below you, a few floors by the sound of it. You threw the covers off of your body, your legs feeling no pain now. You set your feet on the soft carpet, trying to stand but only succeeding in stumbling a few steps before landing on your hands and knees.

    This wasn't going to work. "Alfred! Help me get up!" you heard him scramble towards you, lifting you up. You felt a lot more stable as you clung onto him and stood up. "Can you take me to where the crash was?" you felt him pick you up again.

    "YOU DON'T HAVE TO CARRY ME YOU IDIOT," you tried to protest to no avail. He ignored your outburst, carrying you down the many stairs easily.

    You looked around, blinking to try to focus again. He stopped. You blinked again, frustrated at your eyes.

    "What's happening?!" you whipped your face towards his.

    "U-Uh, your friend is fighting a flying thing, and they made a giant hole in the wall," he took a step back.

    "Flying freaking monkeys," you squirmed in his grip, causing him to drop you hard. You blinked violently and stood, tapping once again into your magic.

    You felt the tingle of the magic in your hand, curling your fist into a ball. The magic formed into a ball and slowly opened your hand. You raised your hand like you were going to throw a baseball.

    "ELIZA, MOVE," you shouted, hoping she could hear you. You gathered your strength, raising your leg slightly. You put your foot down, letting your body follow. The energy traveled up your body and into your arm as you released the expanding sphere in your hand.

    You could follow the ball of light, it expanding greatly as it traveled it's path. A ear-splitting screech rang out through the air and you smiled. You saw the glowing ball disappear through the giant hole in the wall made by Elizabeta's fight.

    "What happened?" you turned your head towards Alfred, trying to keep your balance. Silence was all you got back. "Al? What happened?!"

    "T-The monkey... took your friend with it."

    Oh.

    You felt your energy drain at this loss, your body slowly sinking to the ground. No...They took her. They were going to take her magic too. No...

    "No..." you voiced your thoughts. "No. No. NO. NO!" you brought your fist to the ground harshly.

    "Hey, hey! Don't hurt yourself," you could feel Alfred pull you into a hug to prevent yourself from hitting the ground more.

    "You... You. YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND," you could feel the cold wetness of tears begin to stream down your cheeks. "I-If a witch loses her magic, she will become mortal and die. Elizabeta will die."