Chickenpox

Walking into class early in the morning, Kyle and Sigmund took a seat at their desk in Professor Flan's class and opened their textbooks. Sigmund quickly noticed that for some reason, the class looked a little emptier than usual. There were more than a few students missing from their assigned seats.

"Where is everyone?" Sigmund asked himself aloud. Professor Flan sighed toward the question.

"It's that time of the year.." He responded. "Students are getting sick left and right. Happens every year in the Autumn season and it's bound to happen with the way you all like to live under one another. I'm not sure what's going around this time, but it's gotta be something."

Kyle grimaced in disgust listening to the professor. Students getting sick again? Not on his watch! He pulled hand sanitizer from his bag and quickly rubbed it into his palms.

"This is why I stay away from you drip nosed, twits.." He scoffed under his breath, mainly in the direction of Sigmund who heard his comment clearly. He'd been rubbing his nose with the sleeve of his Milkweed uniform sweater. "Such a lack of basic hygiene..."

"Who are you talking about?" Sigmund gasped. "I know you couldn't be speaking of me with the way you keep our bathroom!"

"What are you talking about?"

"All that red hair you love to leave in the shower drain! It's disgusting!"

"Oh yeah? Well what about your pretzel crumbs all over the floor? And I saw them on top of my desk too! Why were you even sitting there?"

"I was not!"

Professor Flan held his ears as the boys argued. Before he could scold them both, the argument was interrupted when the school healer walked into the room. Much like a nurse at a normal school, the school healer was a white magic witch that treated the aches, pains and wounds of every wizard and ghoul in the academy. Quickly, she made her way over to Professor Flan, who blushed fiercely towards the young, sweet faced witch.

"Oh, Healer Sage! How can I help you?"

"I'm here with a message for your class." The witch responded. "Is it alright if I speak with them for a moment?"

"Why yes! O-of course! Do whatever you must!" Healer Sage stood at the front of the classroom, holding a poster up telepathically for the students to be able to read from. It was a prevention poster.

"Children, I'm here to let you all know that the chickenpox seem to be going around right now. More known to us as wizardpox." The witch spoke with concern. "As you all know, the first couple of days with the wizard's grade of chickenpox can be very contagious and I'm here to let you know what steps you should take if you come into contact with this illness yourself."

A feeling of panic instantly spread through the room of remaining students. Wizardpox were embarrassing. No one wanted to wake up, turned into a literal chicken. It was no wonder students decided not to show up to class. Last year's virus that spread had been something more mild, the siccups. Every hiccup that escaped came with a wave of sudsy bubbles out of your mouth. It was pretty funny seeing how many people were trying their best to keep their own bubbles from floating in the air in the middle of class. But being a chicken? There was nothing funny about that.

"As long as you keep your spaces sanitized and stay away from others who are infected, you should be just fine!" Healer Sage spoke, giving the children a loving smile. "If you think you've caught the virus, please come to my office and I'll help treat you. Don't be embarrassed to see me if this happens, please. Treatment is the best form of prevention!"

"Thank you for your education and kind words, as always." Professor Flan spoke when the witch headed for the door. She rolled her eyes at the cheesy, crooked toothed grin the professor gave her and started down the hall. With a sigh, he turned to his desk and pulled out disinfecting wipes, quickly cleaning the surface. Kyle did the same, conjuring his own bottle of disinfecting spray to clean his end of the desk.

"Will you move your book for a moment?" He asked Sigmund. Sigmund giggled and pulled a bag of pretzels from his satchel.

"Wait a minute, I'm eating. Don't spray any of that stuff over here, it's too strong."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Kyle yelled. "Did you not hear any of the warnings the healer just gave us? This isn't a joke! We have to take caution!"

"Ja, well take caution after I finish my snack.." Sigmund shrugged, biting down into a pretzel. Kyle couldn't believe what he was hearing. He conjured a plastic barrier between them and crossed his arms.

"Fine, you go on and infect yourself. I refuse!"

"Why are you so weird?" Sigmund laughed to himself. "I'm just not worried. I never get sick."

"Well I do! I'm very much immunocomprimised, and I'm not risking my health just so you can eat pretzels!"

The school day went on as normal. Class after class though, Sigmund found himself feeling more and more itchy. The more the day went on, the itchier he felt. In their broom riding class, he nearly crashed into another one of his classmates when his arm became too itchy to bear. He quickly landed and rolled the sleeve of his sweater up to inspect his arm. He jumped and his eyes grew wide at the sight. Instantly, he pulled the sleeve back down when a white feather had sprung from his arm.

"Nein!" He gasped dramatically. It couldn't be! He excused himself from the class to take a closer look in the restroom. Rushing into a stall, he pulled the sleeve up again and trembled. There were more feathers than he originally noticed. Shiny, platinum colored feathers. Sigmund conjured a book of wizard illnesses quickly and searched the index for symptoms. It was pretty obvious what was happening, but he needed confirmation. Indeed, Wizardpox had the symptoms of a runny nose, irritated skin and ultimately, feathers. If the case wasn't treated, a sneezing spell would turn the sick wizard into a literal chicken.

"AH!" Sigmund screeched in a panic. "No! No! No!"

"Who's in here? Are you okay?"

Hearing the voice of another classmate in the restroom, the sorcerer tensed up, holding his concealed arm to his chest. He rushed out of the stall and just as quickly, dashed out of the broom arena. His whole body itched and as soon as he made it back to his dorm room, he lifted his sweater off and jumped into a frenzy of scratching. The amount of feathers covering his abdomen, back and arms at this point was pretty bad. Catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror that sat in the corner of Kyle's side of the room, Sigmund gasped.

"Mein Gott! Feathers! Feathers everywhere!" The more he scratched, the more feathers seemed to shed and sprout again in their place. There was a sound at the door that sounded like someone unlocking the latch. He heard the sound of keys clinging together. Sigmund flew under the comforter in his bed and pulled the sheets over his head just as Kyle dragged himself in with a sigh. His face was covered in ash.

"All I'm saying is the spell would've gone a lot smoother if you just mixed the potions as instructed!" His Necronomicon laughed. "But nooo, you wanted to do it your way! Who's the book here? Me or you?"

"Will you quit your insufferable speaking already?!" Kyle groaned, setting the book down on his desk as it laughed. He turned away from his desk to get washed up in the bathroom, but paused when he noticed something odd. A feather. Not just one on the floor, but many. "What the-?" The conjurer muttered to himself. Sigmund, making mess in their room as usual. But why so many feathers? Looking over at the sorcerer's side of the room, he noticed the obvious lump under the covers of his expensively made up bed.

"What are you doing under there?" Kyle asked, inching over to the bed. Sigmund felt every bone in his body go tense.

"M-mind your business!" He stammered, clinging to the sheets. His eyes closed tightly in fear. "Leave me alone!"

"Are you crying?"

"No!"

"What are you crying about? I should be the one crying with the way you have this room looking! What's with all the feathers all over the-" Kyle stopped mid sentence when everything suddenly clicked in his mind. A silence fell over the room before Kyle fell back in a panic. "YOU HAVE IT, DON'T YOU?!"

"No!" Sigmund shouted from under the blanket. "I-I mean, I don't know what you're speaking of..."

"GET OUT OF THE ROOM AND SEE THE HEALER AT ONCE!"

"I-I can't..."

"GET OUT BEFORE YOU GET ME SICK TOO!"

"STOP TUGGING ON THE BLANKETS!"

"SIGMUND! GET OUT NOW!"

"A-A-ACHOOOOO!"

Kyle flew back and onto the wood floor with a loud thud. Sigmund's heavy velvet blanket fell over his head and quickly, he untangled himself from it, shivering in disgust from coming in contact with something he deemed contaminated. Looking over at the bed again to scold the sorcerer, Kyle gasp. Chicken. Full on CHICKEN.

"O-oh..." The conjurer struggled to keep a laugh in, but it belted out anyways, much to Sigmund's displeasure. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"I'm suffering!" Sigmund cried, a feathered wing lifting to cover his beak. "This isn't funny!"

"It's hilarious! Just look at you!"

"ACHOOO!"

"Will you please cover your mouth when you sneeze?! O-or should I say...beak? HAHAHAHAHA!" Sigmund had broken down at this point and he wouldn't uncover his face for Kyle to see. He thought about materializing to the healer's office, but in his chicken form, he wasn't able to. He couldn't bear the thought of having to walk himself down the hall this way. He tried his hardest to keep it in, but he couldn't anymore. He cried. It caught Kyle off guard and quieted his laughter almost immediately.

"Sigmund?"

"I'm ugly!" The feathered sorcerer cried. "And I really don't feel well at all and you think it's funny!"

"Ugh..." Why did he always feel bad for Sigmund when he knew for a fact that if he were in his place, Sigmund would leave him to figure things out himself?! On top of that, Sigmund probably would've called their classmates in to see how he looked. But Kyle just couldn't bring himself to be that cruel. "Alright, stop all your blubbering! I don't wanna hear this all night!"

"What am I gonna do?"

"You're gonna see the healer, that's what."

"But I don't want anyone to see me!" Sigmund protested. He thought for a moment before coming up with an idea. "Do you think you could help me materialize there?" Kyle blushed.

"Erm-...we'd surely end up in the middle of nowhere if I tried that. I'm not really good at teleportation yet.." He admitted. Sigmund rolled his eyes.

"Of course you aren't..."

"Hey! Do you want my help or not?!"

"J-ja! Please help me!"

Kyle pulled his wand from his back pocket and waved it dramatically, a red wagon appearing in the middle of the bedroom. He pointed it out to Sigmund.

"Alright, hop in." He instructed the chicken. Sigmund gasped.

"No! This will make it so obvious! Can't you just carry me there and keep me covered?"

"And risk getting sick from touching you? NO! Get in!"

"B-but..."

"I'm two seconds away from calling it a day and getting ready for bed. Either you get in the wagon and I take you to the healer's office, or you stay in your chicken nugget form and wake me up with a yodel in the morning. The choice is yours."

Sigmund sniffed as he climbed into the metal wagon. Kyle pulled rubber gloves and a mask on after he'd conjured them and handed Sigmund his fancy blanket to hide under. The sorcerer only allowed his eyes to peek out from a small space in the blanket. Opening the bedroom door, Kyle started down the hall with the wagon. Sigmund cringed as the wheels seemed to screech and rattle.

"What kind of wagon did you conjure?" Sigmund growled in a whisper from under the blanket. "A used one? Why is it so rickety?!"

"I'll tug that blanket clean off of you!" Kyle threatened. Sigmund seemed to squawk in fear, something that made Kyle giggle. One of Sigmund's friends eyed the conjurer as he pulled the wagon down the corridor and called out to him.

"Hey! Whatcha doing with that wagon?" Sigmund jumped from under the covers, recognizing the voice of one of his friends. He'd be a wreck if they saw him this way. "And what's with the mask?" Kyle narrowed his eyes in the direction of the student.

"What's it to you?" He scoffed. Sigmund gasped.

"N-no!" He whispered. "Don't start any arguments. Just go!" It was a little too late for that advice and Kyle was stopped in his tracks.

"Are you moving Sigmund's stuff out or something?" His friend asked. "That looks like his blanket!"

"No! Now will you get out of my way?"

"I'm telling him that you're stealing his things!"

"Go right ahead then and get out of my way! H-hey!"

Kyle gasped when Sigmund's friend had tried to take hold of the handle of the wagon. The wagon shook as the two fought over control and Sigmund found himself growing nauseous from the back and forth motion. Even worse, he felt like he needed to sneeze. Really badly. He prayed the boys would stop fighting before the sneeze escaped, but it happened anyways.

"ACHOOO!"

The boys paused. Sigmund's friend suddenly reached for the blanket. Kyle tried his best to keep the student away from the wagon and in a desperate effort, using magic, he pulled water from the fountains in the hall and sprayed him till he let the handle go.

"AHHHH!" Sigmund's friend screeched as Kyle took off down the hall. Sigmund nearly flew out from the wagon when it suddenly jerked forward. "GET BACK HERE!" Peeking out from the blanket, Sigmund's eyes grew.

"What's happening?" He asked Kyle, who did his best to keep a pace in the direction of the healer's office. He was quickly running out of steam after that fumble.

"YOUR IDIOTIC FRIEND IS CHASING US!" Kyle wheezed. "YOU PICK THE DUMBEST COMPANY!"

"They're loyal, that's for sure..." Sigmund giggled. Kyle wasn't amused.

"You won't be laughing when he exposes you! You couldn't manage to keep that sneeze in?!"

"What do you want from me? I'm sick!"

Rounding the corner, Kyle smiled when the healer's office was in view. He tried his best to rush, but Sigmund's friend seemed to be more experienced in teleportation than he was. Kyle screamed when he appeared in front of them.

"I KNEW YOU WERE STEALING!" The drenched student accused. "GIVE ME HIS STUFF OR ELSE!"

In a last minute effort, Kyle checked the distance between where they stood and where the healer's office was. It was so close, yet so far away. With all his might, he pushed the wagon down the hall and before Sigmund's friend could go after it, he grabbed hold of him and teleported them both away. Sigmund tumbled from the belly of the wagon when it crashed into a wall. Pulling himself out from under the blanket, his feathers stuck up.

"KYLE, YOU IDIO-!" Sigmund paused when he noticed where he was. The healer's office was right in front of him. And to his surprise, Kyle was nowhere to be seen. In fact, the hall had gone quiet after the argument and it seemed like his friend wasn't around either. "Wow...he actually did it..." Waddling into the healer's office, Sigmund was surprised to see he wasn't the only wizard turned chicken at Milkweed Academy. He was quickly cared for, given medicine to take and before long, he was feeling much more like himself, despite a few feathers that poked from his sweater. He was glad to not be a chicken anymore.

"Don't forget to use your lotion before bed and when you wake up in the morning." Healer Sage instructed softly. "And please, don't wait next time. It's okay to not feel okay." Sigmund blushed when the witch gave him a lollipop and a pat on his head and sent him on his way. Skipping out of the office, he froze when his eyes fell on Kyle. He was covered in seaweed and shivering, soaked down to his sneakers.

"Whoa! What happened to you?" Sigmund laughed. Kyle spat seaweed from his mouth and flashed his signature grumpy expression.

"I saved your tail feathers, that's what!" He spat. "I see you're not a chicken anymore.."

"Ja...um...thanks, I suppose."

"Whatever." Sigmund turned away when he felt a sneeze coming on. Just as quickly as he'd sneezed, Kyle sneezed after him.

"ACHOO! Ugh..."

"Are you itchy?" Sigmund asked. Kyle shook his head.

"No! But thanks to you, I'm coming down with something anyways! Achoo!"

"I mean, that's kinda your fault, isn't it?"

"W-what?"

"You should've taken more precautions to keep yourself healthy, mister immunocomprimised. That's no ones fault but your own."

"WHAT?!" Kyle shook in anger as Sigmund laughed to himself. Turning to the healer's office, he gritted his teeth. "NEVER ASK ME FOR HELP EVER AGAIN!"