My Parasite by CirinaSea

My dreams were painstakingly normal ever since that incident. It had been two weeks now, and I only occasionally dreamt of Minerva, and nowhere near as vividly as I had before. Unfortunately, all dreams involving Minerva were nightmares. I couldn't help but feel guilty about dreaming about her in this way. After all, she was a guardian — someone to be revered. In my previous dreams, she had been so sweet. That was the real her, wasn't it? Not the way my nightmares distorted her.

Oh well. Nothing I could do about it now.

I went to the kitchen to make myself breakfast when I noticed a slip of paper on the table.

Please water the flowers.

As simple as ever, Mom. It wasn't unusual for her to leave short direct messages for me when she was in a hurry. Her line of work often involved being called in early, meaning some tasks were left to me. I didn't mind most of them, though the garden was occasionally annoying. While relaxing, it managed to be time-consuming, especially when I'm already juggling making breakfast and getting ready for school. It didn't help that the flowers we recently planted were very particular about when they were watered, so I couldn't put it off until later.

"Ezelion," I called out. Within a matter of seconds, Ezelion appeared before me. I would never get used to the feeling of cool liquid sliding down my arms when he materialized, despite the feeling being purely internal.

"Yeah?" he asked, seemingly in a good mood today.

"Make us some breakfast, I need to take care of something." I held up the paper for him to read. He squinted a little before nodding his head. Grabbing some gloves and a sunhat from the rack, I made my way outside.

Our garden was relatively small, but so was our backyard. My mom had always been a huge fan of nature, so two sides of the yard were covered in flowers, creating an L shape. Grabbing the watering can we keep by the back door; I turned on the faucet and waited.

I remember when I was little, I could never crank the faucet enough for it to turn on. It must have taken me at least two years to gain that strength, and I remember eagerly running inside the house and boasting about my success. Stupidly, I had left the faucet running at full pressure, so there was a huge mess when I returned. Thankfully, I'm older and smarter now not to make that same mistake.

Once the can was filled up, I began watering. If I'm careful and hurry, this shouldn't take more than five minutes. Refilling the can was the big time waster. My mom would probably want me to spray the flowers as well to keep pests away, but I'm in a hurry as it is.

Everything was going swimmingly until I noticed a bright blue orb near one of the lilacs. It was small, maybe twice the size of a marble but no bigger. I pulled off one of my gloves and appraised the orb. Just what was it anyway? Probably some large marble. But why did it seem to glow in the sunlight? Probably the reflection of the paint. Eh, it's pretty. I stuffed it in my pocket, shoved my glove back on, and continued watering.

---

Today was the math exam and I'm not good at math. It's a shame, especially when I'm expected to follow in my parents' footsteps in accounting and business. I had been tutored numerous times which somehow only made me suck at math all the more. Several anxiety pills later, my parents accepted this was about as good as I would get with math.

I had been putting off studying because it was pointless and only made me more anxious. My plan was to guess my way through the multiple-choice questions and hopefully pass the class with a low C. Alexa had passed me a few of her notes which did little to nothing with how much I fail to understand math.

The exam started and my body immediately tensed up, locking in place. I thought about a million and no topics at the same time. I was here, and yet I wasn't.

"Miya? Are you okay?" I could vaguely hear in my head, but I ignored it. Just guess, Miya! Skip the open-ended questions and go down to the multiple-choice!

Which is equivalent to 49 3/2?

A .21
B. 98
C. 294
D. 343

What was that supposed to mean?! Is it C? I'm just going to circle C.

Why did I have to be here? Why did I have to take this stupid math class? Why couldn't I just be as smart as everyone else and understand what the hell I was supposed to do?!

I shoved my hands into my pockets, fiddling with whatever they could find. The cool smooth texture of the marble from earlier brought a small amount of comfort to me.

I wish I could disappear to some sort of sanctuary. Literally anywhere other than this stupid classroom.

As if my wish were being granted, a bright light enveloped the classroom momentarily blinding me. When my vision returned, I was sitting on the ground in a very different location.

Trees of varying sizes surrounded me. The ones closest to me must have been around my height, maybe even shorter despite being fully grown. Behind them were taller trees, tall enough to rival the skyscrapers in New Lork City. Yet, behind those were medium-sized trees. The leaves were bright lime green, some even yellowish-green, and the bark was mahogany, and far more vibrant than I had ever seen. Beneath me was grass taller and thicker than I had ever seen before. It seemed to almost glow in the sunlight.

Speaking of sunlight, the sky above me was black save for a tiny dot of light that somehow illuminated the entire place in an unrealistic almost eerie way. I really wish I had paid more attention in my physics class.

That begged the question though: Where was I?

I was about to call for Ezelion who should have noticed by now that we weren't in the school — maybe not even on Eyris — anymore, when a small creature approached me. It had the head of a mole and the body of a beaver, its closed eyes taking up half its face. Despite not being human in the slightest, it still wore clothes made from leaves and fabric. I swear I knew this creature from my childhood, but what was it?

A moracer.

I panicked; my body froze for a split second before darting in the opposite direction of the moracer. Weren't these things supposed to be fairytales?! Then again, so were parasites!

I ran and ran, and the next thing I knew I was tumbling down a hill. My back collided with small rocks causing me to groan as they cut through my shirt. When I finished tumbling, I was near a giant tree with red and dusky pink leaves. It was pretty, except for the twenty or so moracers gathered around it!

Shit!

I tried to run to the side, hoping to avoid their gaze. I wanted to call for Ezelion's help, but that would only alert them of my presence. Had he seen the moracer before I had? Was that why he had been silent?

I managed to run past them, only to run directly into a wall made of grass? I looked up to see that it was no wall, but a giant hill that could not be climbed from this side. Despite how tall it was, it produced no shadow. I really hate physics.

I didn't have time to ponder how this strange world worked, because I could hear the rustling of grass behind me. Shit. They saw me.

But that doesn't matter as long as I don't see them.

I continued running along the grassy wall hoping I would come to some sort of clearing. Just my luck, more moracers approached from in front of me. With no other choice, I closed my eyes and ran straight towards them, hoping I could run through them no problem considering I was at least four times their size.

This was a mistake. I felt tiny bodies jumping on me one by one until I was weighed down. It's okay, Miya, just keep your eyes closed! And whatever you do, don't call for Ezelion. You do not want one of these as your parasite.

I clenched my eyes shut as tight as possible, but I felt little paws tugging on my eyelids. No! You will not succeed in opening my eyes!

Pain shot through my eyes as I felt my eyelashes being plucked one by one. Giving into the pain, my eyes shot open. In front of me were five moracers, their swirly eyes wide open, each fighting for control over my body. My eyes naturally focused on the one in front of me and a dizziness washed over me.

It felt as if my very soul were being kicked out of my body and stuffed into another one. And in a sense, it was. That's what moracers do — steal your body for themselves.

I looked down at my tiny paws. What was I supposed to do now? Moracers could freely trade bodies with humans, animals, and even each other. In the fairytales I read, their existence was pure chaos, constantly making each other's lives miserable. They were a poison to each other. Only moracers could swap bodies — their victims were left in whatever cursed form the moracer last held.

What was even worse was that moracers gained some of the memories of their victims, meaning they could trick others into thinking they were talking to the victim, only to swap places with the moracer and get trapped in the very body they were talking to! Obviously, these creatures were very dangerous, which is why they were immediately banished from Eyris to another dimension, one of the minor realms. I guess that explains where I am. But how did I even get here in the first place? And how do I get back?!

Well, if I want to get back, I'll need my body first. I followed my body who seemed to walk emotionlessly past the other moracers. It stopped several times, seemingly swapping between moracer after moracer. My body isn't some prized possession to be won!

Eventually, they exhausted themselves, and the last moracer gained control of my body. Wonderful. I followed it as it sauntered through this cursed realm.

We arrived at a clearing and it slowed down to a stop. To my horror, my hands grabbed my boobs and started bouncing them up and down. My cheeks burned watching the smile on my body's face grow wider each time they jiggled. Pervert!

My hand reached into my pocket and pulled out the marble from before. It seemed dull compared to earlier and didn't reflect the light as it once had before. My face frowned at it before sliding it back into my pocket. "Ezelion!" my body called out.

No answer. Good, he's realized this isn't me.

"Ezelion, it's me! Miya! I think I found a way for us to go home." My body beamed.

He won't fall for that, right?

To my utter disappointment, Ezelion appeared before my body. The look in his eyes showed no familiarity with the person in front of him. At least he's recognized that much. But why come out at all? "You did? Tell me!" He beamed in delight at my body. Ah, so he's trying to get information.

"I will, but first..." My hands reached behind Ezelion's neck and pulled him in for a kiss. To my horror, he deepened the kiss as my body leaned into him. Ugh! You know that's not me, so leave my body alone!

Disgusted at the scene before me, I turned to a rock next to me. Strange, it had two tiny white dots on it and—

Oh. Another moracer. Since when could moracers swap with inanimate objects?! My book of fairytales never told me that! Besides, why would you even want to swap with an inanimate object?! It can't do anything! And the moracer I was in before dropped to the ground because guess what? It's a rock now! Rocks can't move!

I would sigh if I could. One strange perk about being a rock was that I could adjust my vision to any side of the rock. Maybe rocks had their own sort of eyes. Or maybe it's related to the soul. People always say the eyes are the gateway to the soul.

I think.

Ezelion and my body continued their conversation after their heated kiss, but thanks to the fact that rocks don't have ears, I couldn't hear anything. Moreover, I was surprised the moracer hadn't taken over Ezelion. At least, I don't think it had. Then again, parasites were dependent on hosts. Given the choice of being a host or a parasite when there were no other possible hosts around, I'd also choose the host. Perhaps it's just biding its time waiting until another moracer comes by. Or maybe it was still tired from swapping with me.

Suddenly, Ezelion disappeared, and my body stormed off in my direction. My hand picked up the rock I was in before giving me a small knowing smile. With the other hand, it grabbed the orb.

"I have a deal to make with you, parasite." My body smirked. Wait, I could hear that? Maybe rocks had very limited hearing ranges.

Ezelion appeared again in front of my body, his expression blank. "And what would that be?"

"Put us in our correct bodies and I will take you to a realm with countless beings to swap with." My hand held up the orb in front of Ezelion who tried to reach for it, but my body was much quicker.

"Or I can just swap with you and take the portal for myself!" Ezelion shouted. Wait, that couldn't be Ezelion. Then... Was Ezelion in my body?! So, they really did swap...

"But you don't know how it works." My hand twisted the orb back in forth in front of the parasite's face in a taunting manner.

"And you do?" Ezelion's eyebrows narrowed.

"I have a theory." My body shrugged.

"How can I trust you to keep your word?" Ezelion's hands clenched into fists.

"What's the harm otherwise? Surely, you'd grow bored of playing with mine and my host's bodies. Why settle when you have the chance to embody so many more?"

The parasite paused, seemingly thinking over the proposal. "Your logic is sound. I will do as you say, but keep in mind it will take some time."

"Fine by me." I smiled, placing the rock and the orb down on the grass.

The two bodies seemingly switched, because Ezelion was now sitting next to me before placing me in my rocky form on his lap. "It won't be much longer now."

I wanted to reply, but I was a rock.

Several minutes later, my body's eyes stared into... stared at me, and I was once again in my body!

"What do we do now?" I asked Ezelion.

"We keep our promise." Ezelion pushed himself off the ground, grabbing both the rock and the orb.

"What?!" I shouted, taking a step forward. "You're going to endanger more people?!"

He paused; his exhale was slightly louder than usual. "I may be a lot of things, but a liar isn't one." He must have seen the look on my face because he immediately followed up with "Relax, I know what I'm doing."

Ezelion held up the orb, showing that the glow had once again returned. Grabbing my hand in his, his eyes remained glued to the orb until a white glow enveloped the three of us.

Before us was a clear blue sky and dirt. Dirt stretched on as far as the eye could see, yet I don't think we were in a desert. It was neither dry nor warm. In fact, the temperature was quite comfortable.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"My home." Ezelion's smile was bittersweet. He sighed as his eyes grazed over the never-ending dirt. It was then that I truly understood the meaning of the word "home." After all, who could have nostalgia for a place like this?

"You mean this is another one of the minor realms?" I asked, though I wasn't particularly surprised. After all, we had just left a minor realm.

"Yeah. You might not know it, but parasites can feed off non-human life too, though it depletes far quicker. We feasted off of the trees, the grass... We'd feast off each other if it were possible. Once our strength was spent, we returned to our natural form."

"Natural form?" My eyebrows narrowed.

Ezelion motioned to the ground where light blue gel slid across the dirt. They almost looked like slugs, but far more liquidy. And thinner.

"Everyone's "body" looks exactly the same, so I doubt they'll mind the switcheroo." He placed the rock down near one of the not-slugs.

"Except the one who gets stuck with the rock." I crossed my arms.

"Hey, it was the best I could do." Ezelion put his hands up defensively.

I must say, I'm impressed he actually thought this through. Not only was he able to keep his promise, but he offered a solution that wouldn't affect the victims much either.

"Parasites can't procreate, right? So, that means you've been here since the banishment," I deduced.

"More or less." Ezelion shrugged. "I still remember the day we came to this realm."

"What was it like?"

"Terrifying. We were desperate to return to our human lives, but it was impossible. Still, we had friends and family we didn't want to be separated from. Yet, had we stayed, we would have ended up devouring them. I made peace with this idea sooner than some of the others, yet it didn't make our banishment any easier. Even though the meteor only hit Caneria, it affected people from all over Eyris."

I nodded, recalling as much from my history books. It was strange to think that the monsters from the scary bedtime stories I grew up with were real people who felt real pain. Part of me had considered telling Alexa and Erika about Ezelion, but I didn't want to scare them. As cool as this all was, it was also terrifying. There's no way I could tell them my days are numbered.

"When did you return to Eyris?" I asked.

"A couple hundred years ago. Remember that voice I mentioned? They gave me one of these orbs." Ezelion held the orb up to my face, causing me to back away just a little.

"Speaking of, how does this work?" I asked, noticing the orb went back to its dull color. "Is it on a timer?"

"You could say that." Ezelion chuckled. "No, it's the sun. It charges with sunlight—"

I quickly covered his mouth with my hand. "You don't want the moracer to hear!"

"Relax, I doubt we'll accidentally make eye contact with it. Just don't look at the ground."

"True..." I mumbled.

"Do you... hate the moracers?" His voice was hesitant, almost as if he was scared to ask.

"Hate's a strong word." I bit my lip thinking carefully over my reply. "Knowing that they were once human, I don't hate them. Part of me considers them evil for what they've done to others and each other. Yet... Can I really blame them? They've turned into something else entirely and have to abide by their own laws now. I guess you could say I'm... scared of them."

"What about parasites?"

"No, I don't hate them. I am scared of what they do to people, though."

"Are you scared of me?" he asked. I studied his expression, but it was completely unreadable. What was he trying to bluff here?

"I'm not scared of you as a person. But to be honest, I'm scared of your nature. I'm scared of when you'll devour me. I'm scared of how many years, months, weeks, I have left— Don't tell me the answer to that, by the way."

"Wasn't planning on it." He smirked before chuckling, finally relaxing into a genuine smile. "I'm glad you aren't scared of me. Well, beyond what I already knew. I'm kind of like a moracer, if you think about it. This isn't my body. This isn't what I looked like before I became a parasite. This is the body of my last victim."

"Your..." I trailed off, not wanting to finish my sentence, nor dwell on what he said.

"Yeah. That means... one day I'll have your body."

I froze, which obviously made him uneasy because he turned away. Instead of changing the subject as I had hoped, he continued.

"I usually leave my host's area and travel far away to find my next host. If there's anything you'd like me to pass on to your family or friends before I leave if you'd like."

"I..." I paused, becoming more and more anxious. "Can we not talk about this right now?"

"Sorry."

"I-I think the orb has finished charging now. We should go back." I paused, realizing there was a question I still hadn't asked. "Did my strong feelings during my exam cause us to end up in another realm in the first place?"

"Yes, that's likely the case. Are you... okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I answered, wanting more than anything to just go back home. I grabbed Ezelion's hand and focused my gaze onto the orb, while thinking about my house. In a matter of seconds, we were back where it all started. In my backyard.

It was nice to finally be home.

"How did this thing even get here?" I asked, staring at the orb wondering what to do with it. It was too dangerous to keep on me in case I accidentally triggered it, but also too dangerous to simply throw it away. I guess I could put it in a drawer away from sunlight. Let's just hope nobody finds it...

"That's exactly what I'd like to know. I'll be taking that back now." A hand palmed the orb that was lazily laying in my palms. My eyes quickly flicked up to the man beside me. Green neck-length hair, a blemish-free face, and Eyris was this guy hot.

"W-Who are you?" I stammered, willing my blush to go down.

"Deymerk," the man smiled not unkindly.

"D-Deymerk?!" I sputtered. "As in the guardian?!"

"No, I—"

"First Minerva and now you! Ugh, is there a rule that all of the guardians have to be hot?!"

"You've met Minerva?" His eyes narrowed.

"Well, only in my dreams..." I scratched the back of my head. Surprisingly, Ezelion wasn't around. Must be hiding from the guardian.

"Perhaps this orb was her doing, then..." He shook his head. "I'll have to ask her about it. Are you... hurt at all?"

"Uh, no, not really." I shook my head.

"Is anyone else hurt? Did you... change anything?"

"Not that I know of." I smiled awkwardly. There was that one moracer in the realm of parasites, but that doesn't count, right?!

This guy was intimidating, and it was hot.

"Good. This is a dimension orb, as I'm sure you're aware. Many of the minor realms would kill to have a way back into the human world, which is why it's so important it's kept out of their reach. I apologize for our carelessness. Should you find yourself suddenly ill from your travels, you may call my name and I will aid you."

"Like... I can call any time?" I asked.

"Yes."

"For any reason...?"

"Yes."

"Including just to hang out—"

He was suddenly done. Crap. I pushed him just a little too far. He better keep his promise!

"Is he gone?" Ezelion appeared before me.

"Sadly." I sighed.

"I thought for sure he'd catch onto me. Guess I'm lucky."

---

"Miya! Are you doing okay?" Alexa pulled me into a hug the next day at school. This was really unlike her.

"Y-Yeah, why?" I asked, gently patting her shoulders to let her know I wanted out.

"You left in the middle of the exam yesterday! Pretty stealthy about it too. Nobody saw you leave. Ms. Gremlin was pissed. Said there's no retakes."

"No retakes?" I paled, feeling the pancake from an hour ago rise in my stomach.

Alexa pinched the bridge of her nose. "Have you talked to the counselor about your math issue? Maybe they can help you talk your way out of this—"

"No. There's no talking my way out of this." I sighed. It wasn't even like I left because of my anxiety, but I couldn't say that.

Maybe I would be needing Deymerk's help after all.