Book 7, Chapter Seven – Whiskered Away

Soon, the library was bustling. Healer Sinnett was apparently waiting impatiently in the hall, because Professor Beeswick disappeared and then reappeared almost instantly, holding that gentleman’s hand as he escorted him into the library. As always, Sinnett looked like a dapper gentleman, but had the voice of a gruff Army sergeant who had spent years yelling at raw recruits. He and Thaniel vanished into the Nonfiction section together, and when they returned, the healer looked grim, though he only offered Augustus a small shake of his head in explanation.

The high priest of Ismara was next, turning up about half an hour after Sinnett finished his examination. The round little man, who looked rather like a traditional Santa Claus, sans facial fluff, also examined Thaniel, though he didn’t seem to feel the need for privacy. He passed his hand over the boy’s chest, his neutral expression shifting to deep surprise, then started to say something which Augustus cut off.

“We’ll speak once everyone is here,” the chancellor said, pulling what looked like a timepiece from his cache pocket. Sinnett nodded, while the priest looked briefly impatient, but managed to school his features back to jovial kindness quickly enough. Pandy supposed he hadn’t become the leader of the primary religion in West Altheric by allowing his emotions to get the better of him.

The last group was a surprise to everyone except Pandy, Augustus, and Beeswick. Pandy would have liked to warn Geraldine at least, but if it turned out these people couldn’t or wouldn’t come, she didn’t want the girl’s heart to be broken all over again. Augustus and The Knights probably could have forced the matter, but given who was involved, that seemed… unwise.

So, when the Dragon led Geraldine’s father into the library, the girl visibly short-circuited, giving her mother and sister time to enter as well. Clara’s fingers were barely touching the back of Professor Beeswick’s hand as she stepped through the door, and both she and Beeswick instantly shifted away from each other. The librarian halted just inside the door, while Clara slipped her hand into Lady Reedsley’s grasp. Behind them, Professor Beeswick’s expression was complex as he watched the heroine of Gacha Love and probably-former-Demon Queen walk into his domain.

Then Geraldine’s shocked inertia broke, and she raced across the room, with Miss Cupcakes hot on her heels. The girl balked just before she reached her family, perhaps remembering her fear that they no longer wanted her, but Lord and Lady Reedsley never hesitated, simply wrapping their arms around their daughter. Clara, too, tried to hold back, but Lady Reedsley’s inexorable grasp pulled her in as well, and they all leaned together, emotion overcoming words as they held one another.

Eventually, and with clear reluctance, Lord Reedsley pulled himself from the huddle, unabashedly wiping his eyes and nose. He, Augustus, Sinnett, and the High Priest – who presumably had a name, though Pandy had never heard it – joined the rest of the group, allowing Lady Alice a little more time with her daughters.

Nodding to the boy who was leaning against Pandy’s side, Augustus said, “Thaniel has decided that he’s willing to allow us to attempt to heal him. I want to make certain that everyone understands how this will work, and what we hope to achieve.”

Thaniel looked overwhelmed, but managed to smile weakly back at everyone as they offered him what they probably thought were encouraging and confident nods. With a normal child, it might even have worked, but Thaniel had seen far too much to be fooled by false enthusiasm, and his dimples were firmly in hiding as he gazed around the group.

“Healer Sinnett is here to make certain we have done everything physically possible to support and protect Thaniel,” Augustus said, nodding to the older man, who cleared his throat in turn.

It was obvious that almost everyone there already knew the healer, so he didn’t bother to introduce himself, just started into a no-nonsense checklist that sounded a lot like the kinds of things hospitals in Pandy’s old world did in order to limit the spread of germs, though he called them ‘Dark humors’. Thaniel would lie on a sterile surface, and anything that touched him, especially if he was left with any kind of open wound, must be equally sterile. Sinnett even had a sort of surgical kit with him, in case magical healing was insufficient.

Pandy was surprised at just how comforting she found these precautions, though she didn’t think Thaniel had the same reaction. He undoubtedly wanted a simple, easy fix that left him without anything to recover from, and every mention of bandages or ‘damage’ made him flinch, but to Pandy they were indications that the people of this world understood at least the basics of non-magical healthcare.

“Once the area is prepared to Quinten’s satisfaction, Eurydice will attempt the healing. Now, we anticipate one of four outcomes.” Augustus looked around, seeing that he now had the attention of everyone in the room, which was actually quite a crowd at this point. Holding up a hand, he began to count down.

“First and preferably, Eurydice’s magic is able to heal Thaniel’s heart completely. At this point, the stone will either come free on its own, or Sinnett can remove it.” Thaniel winced at this, and the healer smiled at him reassuringly.

“Don’t worry, lad,” Sinnett said, his growling voice surprisingly gentle. “You won’t feel a bit of it. You wouldn’t believe the things I’ve had to remove from people over the years. I’ve gotten quite good at it.”

Sensing a gory tale, Thaniel actually perked up slightly, his pale cheeks taking on a hint of color. “Like what?”

The healer dropped one eyelid in a conspiratorial wink. “Once, after a particularly, ah, wild night of celebration, one of my patients came to me with a terrible stomachache that wouldn’t go away. I found a spoon and three billiard balls in his belly, and he never could remember how they got there.”

By now he had the attention of all four children, even Geraldine peeking from her mother’s embrace to stare at the man, her eyes enormous. Thaniel started to ask another question, but Sinnett smiled at him and held up a hand. “I’ll tell you all the stories you like once this is over, but for now, let’s focus on getting you better, eh?” Thaniel nodded, but he looked noticeably less nervous now, and his hand stopped trembling in Pandy’s grasp.

“Second,” Augustus went on, his own expression easing slightly at the return of Thaniel’s equilibrium. “The attempt fails entirely. Eurydice’s spell simply isn’t strong enough, and things remain as they are. At that point, we’ll come up with a new plan, and try again at some future point.” Meeting Thaniel’s eyes, he added, “Everyone here wants to help you, Thaniel, and I truly believe we have the best possible team.”

Thaniel gave an involuntary shiver, but nodded, and Augustus folded down the next finger. “Third, we have some partial success. Either the stone is removed or Thaniel’s heart is repaired, but not both.” He saw their expressions and hurried on. “That’s why High Priest Hobart and Lady Clara are here. Right now, the stone is preventing normal Light magic from working on you, Thaniel, but without its influence, we believe there’s an excellent chance you can be healed in the usual way, given sufficient magic. There is no more skilled Light elementalist than High Priest Hobart, and Lady Clara is… quite powerful, even with only low-tier elementals. Between the two of them, they can achieve miracles.”

We hope. The unspoken words hung in the silence. Literal miracles were off the table, given Ismara’s continued absence, which left only mortal power to repair something that presumably even a goddess hadn’t managed. They didn’t know exactly why Ismara had failed, or what had happened to her when she tried, but in Gacha Love Clara’s power had been considered extraordinary, and Augustus assured Pandy that in spite of his gnome-like appearance, no one understood Light magic better than the high priest. If anyone could do it, it was these two.

Closing his hand into a fist, Augustus allowed it to fall to his side. “The last option is one that we will not consider.” Fixing his gaze on Thaniel, he spoke with fierce sincerity. “We will succeed, one way or the other, now or later. You need to believe that, Thaniel. Know that you are safe in our hands.”

Thaniel looked around at all of the people gathered there: brilliant minds, powerful mages, Dragons, and friends who were as close as family. His gaze settled on Pandy, and his fingers tightened in hers. He answered Augustus, but looked straight into Pandy’s soul as he said, “I do know.”

After that, Healer Sinnett took over. He placed two tables together and removed a faintly glowing sheet from his bag. He laid this across the tables, and once it was in place, anyone who even got within a few feet of it was ordered back with a tone of absolute authority that not even Empress Glory dared question.

Instruments were prepared, though most of them were covered by a cloth much like the first one, and Thaniel was told to change into some pants provided by the healer. Sinnett briskly wiped Thaniel’s torso, as well as his own hands and arms, down with some brownish solution, after which the boy climbed onto the tables and his lower half was covered with another blanket. He lay there, shivering even though the library was comfortably warm, blue eyes locked on Pandy, looking terribly small and fragile.

“I wanna hold your hand,” Thaniel whispered when Pandy drew close. Sinnett clucked, but allowed Pandy to wipe down her hand with the brown liquid, then grip Thaniel’s hand firmly. The boy’s body relaxed as soon as they touched.

“I wish Daddy and Lian could be here,” Thaniel said, making Pandy wince. With Bryan unconscious and Lian kidnapped, Thaniel really was alone, other than her and his friends. They just couldn’t afford to wait any longer, not with the elementals in the stone growing weaker by the day and the possibility that Pandy might not make it back in time if they waited. If she returned at all.

With an internal shake of her head, Pandy chased that thought away. She had to make it back. She finally had a home and a family, even though they were almost as weird as she was. She hadn’t even met Augustus’s parents yet, and she desperately wanted to see what happened when Clara met Bastian. That was all part of the backup plan though. Not that anyone except her knew there was a backup plan. Besides, if there was one thing Pandy had learned, it was that plans were just something to keep her brain occupied until the inevitable pugnacious pachyderm peccadillo.

“Me too,” she told him. “But you’re going to have quite a story to tell them when you see them again.”

He managed a feeble grin, knuckling a tear away from the corner of his eye. “Yeah. Lian just has’ta sit in a room with a bunch of books. He does that all the time anyway.”

Pandy nodded and started to lean forward to kiss his temple, only to stop at a warning growl from Sinnett. The healer now stood at one corner of the makeshift bed, while the High Priest and Clara stood off to the side. Clara looked as calm and unperturbable as ever, though High Priest Hobart kept casting confused looks in her direction.

“Whenever you’re ready, milady,” Healer Sinnett said. He was the only person wearing a mask and gloves, which she supposed made sense, since he’d be the one performing what sounded like magically-assisted surgery if things went wrong.

Thaniel smiled up at her, and Pandy swallowed hard. There was no more putting it off. It was time to put her System where her mouth was. Or something.

<Cast Innate Magic. Cast Dark Restoration,> Pandy thought. Then, before the System could respond, she added, <Heal.>

Innate Magic successful.

Dark Restoration fꜲﺁ

ĮĮĮĮƐƐȸ

ἰάομαι

Spell not found

Did you mean Minᵒr Ĥɇӑւ?

From there, the System’s response devolved into gibberish, and Pandy met Keros’s eyes over the table on which Thaniel lay. For the most part, the former god’s expression ranged from irritated to mildly condescending, even when sweaty, but now there was no mistaking it. He looked worried, and his lips moved, though she couldn’t hear him, even if he spoke aloud. Still, she knew what he was saying. This was part of the plan. Watch her Corruption Points, and when they got too low, she was supposed to step back, and allow the others to take over.

<Status,> she thought, finding it strangely difficult to form the simple word even in the roaring silence of her own mind. The edges of her vision were growing dark, and she couldn’t see Healer Sinnett anymore, even though he stood less than two feet to her right. All she could see was Keros’s blue eyes blazing at her from above… above…

Pandy looked down, and fell over the threshold that began in the center of Thaniel’s chest, and ended somewhere no mortal was ever meant to enter.