Did another round of editing for this Chapter. Yikes did it certainly need it!
HEY HEY! I finally got around to doing my editing touches on Chapter 1 here! It's really not much on the whole, just some small error cleaning and adding some description to the Four.
Welcome Reader to "A New Path for History" a full-rewrite AU scenario What if? Jude never met Milla at Fennmont and how things spiraled out of control from there. I have long plans for this, long and crazy plans. So hop on board and enjoy, or not, but hopefully the former.
Tales of Xillia and the Tales of Series are the copyright of Namco Bandai and whoever else owns the rights. I own nothing except for OCs that haven't appeared yet/ever.
Chapter 1: A Different Encounter
Fennmont, the Spirit-lit Seat of Kings. Capital city of the Kingdom of Rashugal. A city cloaked in a perpetual night; the warm glows of the lumen trees that provided illumination to the populace mixed with the eternal darkness to create a blend of light and dark that gave an image of grandiose splendor. Grown out of a series of trees so large they could dwarf some hills, the city rested in the middle of water which quenched the thirst of both the people and the city-trees they resided in. Poets, artists, architects from all lands would all agree that Fennmont was the most gorgeous city in all of the world of Rieze Maxia.
That glorious city, the seat of power for an entire nation was infested. Infested with a dire plague that had already claimed a multitude of lives. All while the populace went about completely ignorant of the scourge claiming lives within the city.
Standing on a cliff that soared higher than the largest of Fennmont's uniquely designed tree-buildings was a young woman. Her hair, with exception to a strand of green, was a radiant gold that fell down to her tiny skirt. Her legs and arms were fully covered, and by contrast she wore a short simple top to cover her chest that connected to a choker around her neck. All in all it was an outfit that no normal person would ever possibly consider. But she wasn't normal, or a person. She was Milla Maxwell. The form of a human woman she had adopted was to allow her to manifest in this physical realm, for she was in truth Maxwell, the Lord of Spirits, guardian of all things.
Beside her, invisible to the eye of any ordinary human, floated the Four Great Spirits that ruled the four primary elements. Efreet, the Greater Spirit of Fire; his head burned with flames in a manner where humans would have hair, as his mighty body, larger than any human flexed. Undine, the Greater Spirit of Water; gazed below to the waterways, as bubbles rose and danced from beneath her blue feet. Sylph, the Greater Spirit of Wind; his child-like green figure, dressed in image of clothes human mechanics might wear with a pair of goggles added as his personal touch, wore a cocky smile as the wind danced by him. Finally Gnome, the Great Spirit of Earth; resembling a simple house animal, he rested atop a brown globe that matched his fur, his eyes closed.
The danger within Fennmont was not to humans, not immediately. It was to the spirits. With each use, this weapon slew a score of Lesser Spirits, and the nature of humans and spirits was one of symbiosis. If either spirits or humans died out, the other would die as well. Maxwell, Guardian of both humans and spirits had come to put a stop to such reckless murder, as she had for twenty years.
She glanced over at Sylph, her own pink eyes looking past his goggles and into his. The Great Spirit nodded, that smug, know-it-all smirk he always had never leaving his face, and Milla leapt off the cliff. For an ordinary human such an act would be seen as suicide. But she was Maxwell, and Sylph carried her aloft with his power and guided her gently to the water. There, Undine crafted her powers, and Milla stood upon the lightly splashing waves.
Maxwell strode ahead confidently, tracking the source of disruption. The gentle green glow of the lumen trees changed over to a sharper cyan blue as she drew closer to her goal. Water drained out of a sewer system covered by metal bars. More than enough to bar simple spies and saboteurs, but a simple use of Gnome's power rent the bars apart. Milla calmly entered into the new entrance. Her mission would be completed shortly and without interruption.
Up above where the Lord of Spirits had just walked, another person was pondering entering into the same research lab she had just infiltrated. Fifteen-year-old Jude Mathis stood on one of the wooden platforms deep in thought. He was a Medical Student at the Talim Medical School there in Fennmont, and he had came rushing over to the Research District, and the Laforte Research Laboratory in particular, for an exciting reason. His mentor, Professor Haus, had just been awarded the Howe Prize, the most distinguished award in the field of spirit arte research and development. The last time Jude had seen the Professor he made mention that he was working on a top secret project at Laforte, so when Jude heard the news he came running over straight away. Well, after changing out of his doctor's outfit of course.
But all that good cheer evaporated when Jude checked in with the sentries on watch. He'd explained to them the situation and tried to weasel his way in, but they wouldn't allow it. He couldn't fault them for doing their job. But, that was when something odd came up. They showed Jude the sign-out sheet for the lab and claimed the Professor had already left, but something was wrong. Jude gripped the note in his pocket as he continued thinking. Back when he last talked to the Professor, Jude had needed an assignment sheet signed, and when Jude checked the sign-out sheet the sentry handed him, the handwriting between the slip and sign-out were different. Wrong. Jude didn't want to make a fuss, so he left quietly, holding unto the slip with a steel grip, which led him to standing on a platform wondering what to do.
He ran a hand through his neat black hair as he pondered his options. There had to be a reason for the handwriting difference right? Were they keeping the Professor inside against his will? It was a silly theory, but what could Jude do in this situation? He couldn't go charging into an army facility shouting "Professor Haus where are you?!". Maybe he could sneak in? No, that sounded just as dumb. Maybe everything was just alright? Maybe he had someone else sign out for him? Jude shook his head as no good answer came to him.
A light breeze blew by and Jude was suddenly glad he'd decided to change his clothes back in school. The doctor scrubs were impractical for just walking around the city, beyond just the lack of pockets they weren't nearly as insulated as what he wore now. His current clothes consisted of leather boats and gloves, with his favored weapon of iron gauntlets handing at his side. His clothes were dark blue, with some white and blues on his tailcoat. He'd spent his savings buying these clothes before he had moved to Fennmont and he never resented that purchase once. Even if the merchant pretty much coerced him into it.
Taking one look back at the Laforte entrance, Jude shook his head in indecisiveness. If he knew someone in the military he could ask them, but he spent so much of his time with the other med students and studying that he didn't get much time to mingle with others beyond that. With a sigh he headed back into the trade center of the city and from there back over to the Talim Medical School. He took in the sight of his school with a deep breath. Both to calm his nerves for what he needed to say soon, and because the splendor of the school deserved it. Talim was a font of knowledge, not just of medicine, but of spirit artes as a whole. Sure, the Research Labs like Laforte led in fields, but even those places took people of prestige from Talim, just like Professor Haus. Jude hoped he would be alright, wherever he was.
Wetness, choking, powerlessness. Milla Maxwell futilely struggled and trashed about underneath the serene waters of the Research District. She desperately, desperately sought out light. But Fennmont was oh so dark. The blue light of the lumen trees were a pale guider to the surface and air.
Milla choked out as she desperately thrust her hand for some measure of safety. She found it, a small dock alongside the platform right outside of the research lab. Calling upon her paltry strength she hauled herself ashore and choked out the water she'd swallowed in her eviction from within the lab. Things had gone wrong, so terribly there was no word in her understanding of human tongue could measure what had just happened. She coughed again, a breaker in the otherwise silence of the area. She had to get up and-"Who are you!" a voice, from above. Milla craned her neck, one of the sentries, like the many she had rendered unconscious inside.
"Halt!" he shouted and descended the little staircase connecting Milla's savior dock to the platform above. "You're the intruder aren't you!" the little man shouted again. Well, it was true. Not that Milla cared about anything else right now. "Disarm and don't resist arrest, I am authorized to use deadly force if I have to."
Milla smirked, she didn't have time for this. She pushed herself back, and the sentry inched himself back. He raised his small, square shield and hoisted the dark pole of his weapon. She had just dealt with a dozen of them, one more wouldn't be an issue. She drew her sword and... what came next? She didn't actually know. All her years of using the sword was really just having the Four guide the blade with their own artes. She didn't know any finesse, any skill, any power.
She clumsily swung the blade, and the sentry deflected it with ease. Suddenly confident, that sentry moved it and thrust with his pole, catching Milla's side and nearly knocking her off the dock and back into the water. "Surrender immediately or the next one goes for your head!" the sentry gave his ultimatum. Milla grimaced as she stared at the guard in dark purple armor before her. She couldn't afford to be stopped. She might have to risk swimming. But she didn't know that either.
"Excuse me!" another voice from above! That came crashing down on the sentry, easily knocking him out. A man stood up, adjusting a large black tie as he did so. He kicked the sentry's weapon into the water as a precaution and looked at her.
"Who're you?" Milla asked, immediately suspicious of someone coming out of nowhere to help her. She readied her unsteady sword in case she needed it, for however little worth it was.
"Whoa there, the usual response to someone saving you is a 'thank you'," the man dripped his words with wry sarcasm.
"This isn't a usual circumstance." Milla said back, quickly and to the point.
"Then usual introductions can wait until a normal situation then, aye?" The man gave a cocky grin as he turned her own words back on her.
"I suppose that's true," Milla relented on that point. This man could easily be playing her, attempting something. But if he hadn't done that it wouldn't have mattered at all.
Aware he'd gotten an in, the man continued with whatever plan he had. "You know, there's a ship leaving the seahaven in oh, about the time it'd take the two of us to get there. Nothing like a safe sailing voyage for everything to be considered normal enough for proper introductions."
It was actually quite brazen the way he was leading her, but she really didn't have a choice did she? With the Four imprisoned she couldn't fly away or force her way out on foot. This ship might be the best option. She'd have to trust him on this, she had no idea where the seahaven even was. "Alright, if you're so confident in this lead on."
"That's the spirit!" the man's voice was so pitched with happiness that it barely avoided being a shout. "Don't worry, I won't even count this plan in my fee."
"Fee?" A hireling of sorts then.
The man dropped his exuberant joy before speaking again. "Well, let's discuss that later, when we're not right where they'll be searching for criminals."
"Agreed, lead on then. I am quite unfamiliar with this city's layout."
"Uh, right?" the man gave an eyebrow raise at the odd truth Milla spoke. "Well, keep up, ain't no slowing down when you're with me." The man edged up the stairs and took a quick look. "All clear for now, let's hurry up."
Milla nodded and followed after the mysterious man in the brown coat. His brown hair bounced as the two ran through the city, and his brown eyes darted to each possible threat posed by the Fennmont sentries as they passed by. But the guard force didn't stop them, didn't give a second look as they kept on going through the trade district, to the medical district, all the way to the Fennmont seahaven.
"There she is," the man said as they arrived. "Our ride out of here."
There was always the possibility this was some form of trap. But security hadn't exactly been stellar, and at the moment she couldn't think of any other exit strategies.
"Alright, we'll just casually walk over to the departures and—" the man stopped mid-sentence. Milla followed his gaze. More soldiers. They'd been hidden by one of the pillars nearby so they hadn't seen them immediately. "Dammit," the man changed the course of his plan. "You slip on board, I'll deal with our bright red friends over there."
"You're not planning to sell me out are you?" Milla asked the most pressing question on her mind at the moment.
In response the man chuckled. "Oh, don't worry, your bounty wouldn't be big enough right now for me to risk upsetting a pretty face."
Thought himself a ladies man did he? Books always said their kind were the slipperiest lot. Well, if he did anything suspicious she'd just sell him out instead. "Alright, I'll head to the ship, you take care of your part."
"I always do," and he slipped off to her right. Milla walked forward once he was far enough away, keeping her sideways glance on the soldiers in the different red armor. They hadn't seemed to notice her yet, maybe she could slip by without the man as well. Either way, she approached the sales clerk. "Next outbound ferry ticket please."
"That'd be the Aladhi Seahaven Miss, leaving in only a minute," the clerk replied. "120 gald." Thankfully the Four had pestered her to, relieve, her defeated foes of currency during her attack on the lab. So she had more than enough to cover the fee.
"Well, make that two tickets." Make that both fees, and she made the finical purchases. She took a step back, glancing at the other issue.
"That's her!"
Dammit! The red guards came running up, surrounding her in a half circle formation. She still had the path on board the ship if it came to it. But the man, she glanced around, was nowhere in sight. So he had sold her out. And after she had bought him a ticket.
"Surrender please," a guard with a more elaborate helmet commanded her. "Or we will use force to subdue you."
"I really don't have time for this," Milla drew her sword and slowly backed away. Even if she couldn't threaten them, they didn't know that. They might take it more cautiously if they couldn't charge her while she wasn't resisting.
"Very well," the commander answered back. He made two hand signs and the soldiers under his command assumed a battle stance. They aimed their spears at her, and the one with a staff began chanting. A spirit channeler! Calling upon the power of the spirits, he summoned forth a fireball and sent it flying at her. Milla dove to the side, and the spirit arte exploded into the clerk booth-now thankfully abandoned. "I second my request. Surrender."
No please this time? Milla wryly thought. But either way-the boarding horn of the ship blared. Milla smiled and ran. She heard the man stuttering in surprise-all departures were supposed to be cancelled! He ordered another attack, but sounds of conflict echoed behind her, and up came the savior man. "Miss me?" he said in that same cocky tone as before.
"Your sense of timing could use some improvements," she got out before the two of them made it on deck.
"Ain't that a start," the man looked back at the seahaven, and Milla followed him in doing so. The entire little crew she didn't stand a chance against were laid out completely on the ground. "Not some of my best work, but considering the circumstances I can't really complain."
"Neither can I, it seems." Milla nodded. Even if his appearance was too convenient, she probably wouldn't have made it this far without him. She'd be wary of anything he'd say or do, but for right now she owed him a great deal.
Jude Mathis stood outside the Talim Medical School with scores of other students, doctors, patients and some of the nurses. There'd been some sort of attack in the city, and the sentries were trying to keep the populace in line so doctors and soldiers could get by. Something of a flaw in Fennmont's design, was that everything was mostly connected by walkways, so in cases of emergency like this, things could get congregated and blocked.
Rumors, of course, were swirling about the nature of the attack. The current beat being that it was the group of Auj Oule spies come to destroy Rashugal! But that was ridiculous, even if the two nations were at odds, they exchanged trade, knowledge and people from time to time. One of the most fascinating reads Jude ever had was on Auj Oule medicine. The kingdom to the north was made up of a series of clans, brought under the rule of a King. Their history, in both the literal sense and in academic pursuits, was a fine contrast to Rashugal's preference to high nobility. Jude didn't know anyone from Auj Oule, but just attacking the capital of another nation like the rumors were whispering just wasn't something he could think anyone would do so brazenly.
Casualties obviously weren't that high since only a few doctors were summoned. So, to him, that meant the fugitives were still on the run, right? Plenty of people had ran right on by, so the sentries obviously hadn't a full handle on things. The normal people getting a bit rowdy didn't help either.
"Doctor Jude?" a voice, a familiar female voice snapped Jude out of his thinking trance. He turned around, well aware of who it was.
"Something you need Nurse Prinn?" he asked. Prinn was a nurse he'd met during his time in school. She was technically Professor Haus' assignment, but the Professor had sometimes thrown his own, responsibilities, on Jude's lap, including today, even though it was against the rules. So even though Jude wasn't a doctor yet, he was treating patients with her help and secrecy, so they'd taken to calling each other Doctor and Nurse like that as a sign of friendship and trust.
"Did you deliver the news about the Howe Prize to Professor Haus yet?" she asked him, unaware he'd gotten absolutely nowhere.
He'd meant to inform her about that, but not long after he got back the sentries and doctors started getting called up and Jude became interested in that issue. Part of him was hoping that maybe the Professor was already helping deal with this and he could wait before worrying. "No, there was something odd over at the Lab and I couldn't get it to him."
"Lab?"
Oh right, he had forgotten that only he knew where Professor Haus had gone. "Yeah, he told me he was working in the Laforte Research Laboratory right before he told me to take care of his patients for the day. With things as they are, I'm worried if he's safe or not. And," Jude wondered, he could trust her right? Ah, of course he could. "Well, when I went to check in at the Lab the Professor's signature had him signed out, but, well I had him sign something earlier in the day and the handwriting doesn't match up."
There was an odd flicker on her face(did she know something?) before she spoke. "That's very peculiar, have you brought it to the attention of the authorities, or anyone else?"
"No," he decided not to ask her if she knew anything. It was Prinn, she was his friend. "You're the first person I've talked to since then."
Prinn dipped her head in thought. She, she wasn't suspicious right? No, no, it was him being overly suspicious. She was just reacting to the news he told her. That was it. If he was told this story he'd probably react the same way. "Well," she finally said, "we, you, I? should check his house first. Maybe he just had someone else sign out for him. After all, he has you cover his patients for him and that's against the rules."
"That does sound like something he'd do", Jude agreed and nodded. "He did have me over for tea that one time, I'll check his place once we're cleared to leave."
"Doctor, someone get a doctor!" a voice shouted from the seahaven direction before Prinn could answer Jude.
Well, he was still a student, but he did want to help, maybe get his mind off the Professor a bit. "I'll uh," well it should be obvious, especially with his pointing.
She understood immediately. "Let's go." The two of them and several other medical practitioners followed the voice. A group of soldiers, dressed in bright red rather than the traditional Fennmont dark purple. Things had to have been serious indeed for a group like theirs to get involved.
"What's the problem?" one of the actual doctors asked.
"We got ambushed pursing the fugitives"—well, that answers that—"they knocked us out clean. Add in all that mana suffering going around and I wanted to get all my guys checked out right away."
"Alright," the doctor threw some orders around and got the gathered healers lined up to do their job. Jude and Prinn got assigned to someone in a far different armor, hands still clutching a staff.
"Actually, could these two take a look at me?" the commander of the red soldiers indicated the surprised Jude and Prinn. He set his weapons aside and removed his helmet. His brown hair was shaven close, his face had years of living etched into it and his eyes knew exactly who he was talking to.
"Mr. Eldin?" Jude exclaimed. He was one of Jude's more frequent patients, and in fact, his last patient before Jude went off looking for Professor Haus. He'd injured himself failing spirit-channeling and had come to the school for treatment. After Jude fixed his injury, he checked to make sure Eldin had a functional mana-lobe, but he insisted it was like the spirits just weren't there. It was odd, but cases like his were getting more frequent too. On Jude's walk to Laforte he overheard two workers talking about failing to channel wind spirits as well. And because of that Jude kept a tighter grip on his class-credit form. Losing that to a gust of wind would have been terrible. Especially with... No, now wasn't the time for that. Or was it? "I never thought you were a soldier Mr. Eldin."
To his credit he laughed. "I know, even my wife says I'm not the soldiering type." He pointed to the back of his head. "I got tripped up real bad, but I don't think there's any lasting damage."
Jude followed Eldin's lead, there was a small bump, but a small use of the Healer spirit arte would stop any swelling or pain from that. Jude recalled today was his wife's birthday. Another twinge of regret hit him for what he was thinking of asking. "Hey, Mr. Eldin, may I ask you a favor?"
"Doctor Jude?" both Prinn and Eldin asked.
"Well, um," don't get cold feet now Jude, "You know Professor Haus right, the doctor who was supposed to be treating you?"
"Yes, what about him?" Eldin was clearly interested. Because Jude helped him? Because it was his job?
"Well, he didn't see you today because he was busy doing lab work at Laforte."
"Laforte, you say?" Eldin said the name with a clear understanding of something Jude didn't.
"Yes, Laforte," Jude didn't want to ask. Everything happening told him that already. "When I went to relay something to him the guards on duty turned me away, saying he'd already left, but," Jude dug out the credit slip. "The handwriting on the sign-out sheet didn't match something he signed for me just right before he left."
"I see," Eldin replied with due concern. Jude felt he'd made the right choice now. "Do you have any ideas what may have happened?"
Prinn stepped in first, "Well, the Professor has been known to delegate tasks he should handle to others, even if it's against the rules. It's possible he just had someone else sign out."
"Well," Mr. Eldin tapped his chin. "Considering the odd circumstances of this attack I think it may bear looking into."
"Really?" Jude exclaimed with hope. "Thanks a lot Mr. Eldin."
"But you should know-"
"-that the Laforte Research Lab was the one attacked right?"
Mr. Eldin was taken aback by Jude's observation, but answered. "Yes, the details and casualty reports are still filtering in, but it's possible the Professor..." he didn't need to finish that sentence.
"I understand," Jude nodded. "It's still, more than we had, you know."
"It is my job," Mr. Eldin nodded back before replacing his helmet. "And speaking of jobs," he pointed behind Jude. The medical student turned, injured were being carried by and into the school. "Looks like we both have work to do."
"Right, take care of yourself, Mr. Eldin, and again, thank you." Prinn added in her own thanks as well after his.
"Stay safe you two," Mr. Eldin said before looking at the other red soldiers. "Alright, back on your feet, we have a job to do and it won't be done laying around here." The troops scrambled up and followed Mr. Eldin as he led them in the direction of the Research District.
"Wow, what a break of luck," Jude claimed. He still could hardly believe Mr. Eldin was a soldier. Though he guessed it did explain the haircut.
"We should head back inside," Prinn suggested, "they'll probably need help with the injured."
Jude nodded and the two of them followed the trail of the carried back inside the school building. Already doctors were beginning to triage patients even if it wasn't exactly necessary. It was still a good skill to learn. The two of them separated, as Prinn was called away and Jude only used to help examine patients instead of treating them outright. Soon the triage ended and the wounded were moved to rooms and Jude and the other students were left waiting for that slim chance they might be called in. Then that hope was dashed as time passed and the groups dispersed. Jude himself took a seat on one of the benches. It would probably be the best place to wait for Mr. Eldin as well.
The time passed, students left, doctors changed shifts. A few more injured were brought in, but without a mock triage the students weren't allowed near them. Jude waited, and waited. He didn't want to call it boring, he was waiting on important information after all. But it really was boring. He took to some old hand exercises to keep himself calm.
"Doctor Jude?"
Jude spun around looking for Mr. Eldin. But it was Prinn? He was really out of it if he confused their voices, wow. "Need something Nurse Prinn?" he asked nicely.
"Yes, actually, if you could follow me." Jude noticed she was being a bit, not herself? Something must have happened with one of the treatments. Jude hurriedly got up to follow her, and she led him, right into the Treatment room from earlier in the day. Laying there on the table, was a girl in a short red dress with a black feather mane, and with long black boots. But more importantly were the burns she was covered in. He rushed over immediately and began diagnosing her. First-degree burns, and a lot of them. Judging by the sheer volume of them, whatever did this could have easily done worse. Frankly the girl was lucky to be alive. And, there was something else, a severe shortage of mana. What happened to her? And why was he the one treating her? The sevarity of these burns required the attention of the full doctors! "Prinn, get another doctor in here, I can't treat these burns on my own."
Prinn didn't respond. What was she doing? He looked up from the patient at the Nurse. She was... unsteady? "Prinn?"
"She," Prinn choked out. "She's a friend of mine." Well that explains that. "You're the only one I trust to treat her Doctor Jude."
"Me?" Jude replied in surprise. That wasn't-he didn't-oh whatever! He began molding his mana into arte and into Healer, slowly relieving pain and healing up the smallest of the burns. "Prinn, get the burn potions, I need to apply those before dealing with the bigger burn spots."
"Yes doctor." He didn't look up but could hear her frantically moving. She came over and began applying it via his instructions.
"Alright," Jude wiped his brow. He should have changed, he wasn't sanitized at all. "Prinn, you can use Healer too correct?" She replied she could. "Alright, follow my path when I use Healer, ok?" Jude moved his hands back into position over the more grievous burns and Prinn followed. Between the two of them they were able to make much faster progress. Jude handling the brunt of each before moving on allowed Prinn's less deft use to matter less. Even still, it took a good amount of time for the burns to be healed up. But that mana drain was still a problem, once they finished up the burns, Jude moved unto ways to get her mana levels back to normal. Best option would to get her awake and making it herself, but that wasn't really reliable. Doing a mana transfer otherwise would be too slow. Maybe trying to get her mana-lobe to produce while she was out? No, if that wasn't handled properly it could lead to side-effects.
Jude took a breath and a step back as his thoughts kept coming up with no real answer. There, had to be something! He tilted his head, tapped his finger against his brow. Think Jude think!
Think, think. Calm down. Her life wasn't in immediate danger. They could wait. Other doctors could handle this. He looked at Prinn, still distraught over her friend's fate. Should he betray that trust by getting another doctor? But the patient came first after all. Jude clenched his teeth in indecisiveness. But something began shining. "Huh?" He reached into his coat. His lilium orb was shining? Something on the girl in red was shining too, another lilium orb.
That was it! The lilium orbs were developed to fight monsters, a person using one was able to more effectively make use of their body and artes. One of the most important abilities though, was Linking between the orbs. This allowed two fighters to "read" each others movements and better support one another. If he linked with her, he could use his own mana-lobe to balance out her levels.
"Prinn, stand aside, I want to try something," Jude told her. She looked at him, and did as asked. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Concentrate. Feel the connection. Two as one. Two as one. Darkness, he felt darkness. But there, a single strand of blue light, so very weak but still enough. He grasped unto that line, he concentrated his thoughts and began pouring in mana through the line. The Orb at the other end began shimmering to life, growing brighter and brighter and then.
The girl in red laughed maniacally as she shot up to a sitting position. She looked around, obviously confused. "Where the hell am I?"
"You're at the Talim Medical School," Prinn replied, all that weight and anguish in her voice was gone the intent the girl was up.
"Huh?" the girl hung her mouth open. Did she not understand? She quickly looked straight at him however. "Who the hell are you?"
"Me? Um, I'm," he couldn't get the words out.
"Whatever don't care." She looked right back over at Prinn. "What were you thinking?"
"Don't worry, I'd trust Doctor Jude with my life." Prinn answered cleanly.
"Doctor?" she looked back at him. "Him? A doctor? He looks younger than me. I'd sooner believe rappigs fly."
"Hey!" Jude stood up. "I just treated you."
"I didn't ask you to." Jude felt a sharp snap as the linking cut off. "Didn't ask you to Link with me either."
"That's..." was she stupid? She probably would have died! "I don't even know how to respond to that. You would have died without treatment!"
Prinn pleaded the two of them to calm down, "Please you two, this isn't the time for this. You need rest, you barely survived this."
The girl in red swung off the bed and stood on her own. "Bah, I'm fit as a fiddle." She took a step forward in smug triumph. "See? I doubt he'd be able to stand after half as much."
Jude shook his head at her antics. "What is wrong with you?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" and then she laughed again. "Whatever, this place is boring me, I'm leaving."
"You can't leave," Jude got up to stop her. "I don't care if you are annoying and you say you're fine, you still just recovered from life-threatening injuries, I won't let you leave without further tests."
"You seem to have gotten the idea you could stop me," the girl stepped forward and twisted her body forward. "Listen up boy, I may have been at death's door a minute ago but I can still take some scrawny little kid playing at doctor with one hand, leg and eye behind my back."
"How are you calling me a kid, you look younger than me!" Sure, she had white hair, but she pretty much looked like a teenager in all other accounts. She even had some freckles below her pink eyes. "And eye behind your back? That doesn't even make sense."
"Neither does a twerp like you being a Doctor."
Jude's eye twitched. How could anyone be friends with this girl? He looked over at a completely distraught Prinn. "Look, I'm just a medical student that gets called a Doctor because I've actually treated patients. Including you. So even if I'm not a full physician I still have medical authority to detain you for health concerns."
The girl split her lips into the most disturbing grin he'd ever seen. "How much you wanna bet if I say you've been treating people you'd get in a hell of a lot more trouble than me?"
"What?" Jude shouted at the sheer vileness behind that threat. "I just saved your life!"
"Oh what, you expect everyone you 'save' to just be all 'oh you're my hero' or something? Sicko." the girl had begun to steadily move her body with some rhythm as she spoke.
"Unbelievable," Jude put all his thoughts and feelings into one apt word. "I don't do this to play Prince to girls or get rewards. I do it to help people. Even if they don't thank me I'm fine as long as they don't threaten me."
The girl laughed that laugh that couldn't help but grow more annoying each time he heard it. "Give me a break Mister-I-Wanna-Save-A-Dude." She pointed at him for some reason. "You could have avoided all this by just letting me walk right away, but you had to play the concerned Not-A-Doctor. So in the end it's all your fault."
Jude couldn't even begin to fathom how anything she said had come as a result of his actions. He honestly just wanted her to go because his head was hurting listening to her. "Fine, you want to leave, do it. When you collapse from exhaustion I'll be here waiting with an 'I told you so'."
"I'm not looking forward to it," she gave a sarcastic wave at him. She looked back at Prinn though, in a much less... grating posture before leaving.
Jude fell back down, completely exhausted from the encounter. "How could you be friends with her?" he asked. He frankly couldn't believe that girl could have friends.
"I'm sorry," Prinn clasped her hands and bowed. "I never thought she would react so terribly. She's usually rowdy, but whatever hurt her must have really gotten her mad."
Jude scratched the back of his head at the awkwardness. Well, if someone did force a link on him, and he was hurt that badly maybe he would be quite a bit less agreeable. But to such a degree? Well, it just happened so... He shook his head. "It's not your fault. You were only trying to help."
"Thank you, Doctor Jude," Prinn straightened herself. She'd been run haggard by the argument as well, her short red hair had been disheveled.
"I suppose if anyone's at fault, it's whoever did that to her," Jude slowly climbed back to standing. He stretched his muscles out. "She was brought in from Laforte right?" Then it hit him. "Oh, you knew she was at Laforte right?"
Prinn reacted with surprise to Jude's deduction. "Yes, it's why I was hoping for the best with Professor Haus. Because if he was in danger she would be too."
"The Professor..." Jude's thoughts drifted back to him. He'd never been brought in among the injured, or as a doctor on standby. Hopefully he was at home, safe.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Prinn averted her eyes in guilt.
"No, no" Jude waved his hands. "It's fine. I forgot." He dropped his gaze. "I forgot." He actually felt himself become more worried. "At least, at least your friend is alright." Jude weakly gave out a bright spot in things.
Prinn took a moment to respond, she was a bit taken aback by his attempt. "You're probably the only person who'd say something like that after getting treated like that."
"Haha, yeah," Jude rubbed the back of his head. He'd always been accused of that kind of thing. Do-gooder they'd call him. Back when he went looking for Professor Haus he needed to stop by something in the study wing first. A couple of the other students and nurses were gossiping about him and his fake do-gooder attitude. It really stung. Even after all this time they kept doing that.
"I do mean that as a compliment," Prinn added, seeing his duress. "If the world had more people like you, then she wouldn't be so... her."
"Oh, um, thanks," Jude felt his face getting hotter at the compliment. "So, who was she anyway? I never got her name."
"It's..." Prinn hesitated. "Nadia."
He chose to ignore that obvious hesitation. "Nadia huh?" He connected that name to her actions. It really didn't fit. But, fifteen-year-old Doctor didn't either. "Well, alright. I'm gonna go wait for Mister Eldin again. He might have already missed me actually."
"Okay," Prinn replied before Jude headed back.
With the night clime blanketing the sky and turning Fennmont into perpetual midnight, it was incredibly difficult to ascertain what time it was. When Jude arrived it took some adjusting from the normal cycle of his hometown. But now, with his body tired as it was from working all day, he could tell it was actually at night. The lack of activity in the central hall led itself to that as well. He'd have to head to his room soon, get ready for tomorrow. Part of him hoped he could hit the pillow, wake up tomorrow and learned Professor Haus was alive and well and had just been home. The other part of him wanted to stay and wait for Mister Eldin. That was the part that won out, at least for now.
Jude took a seat again, stretching his tired and worn muscles out. This was probably the most exhausted he'd been since his move to Fennmont. At least part of it was for the right reasons, even if there were plenty of wrong reasons. He closed his eyes, thinking of the times he's been this drained of energy at home. Leia and her tackles, Master Sonia's harsh martial arts lessons. Dealing with dad. No matter how harsh Nadia was, it still was easier than dealing with his father or Master Sonia's bad side.
"Doctor Jude?" A voice propped Jude awake. Mister Eldin stood before him again, without his helmet.
"Ah, Mister Eldin, hello," Jude rubbed his tiredness away and stood up. This was it, the moment of truth. "What's the news?"
"I'm sorry Doc," Mister Eldin closed his eyes. "Professor Haus is officially listed as dead."
"What?" Jude fell to his knees. He couldn't muster a sentence, only a word. "How?"
"The intruder in the Laforte Research Lab. She's officially listed as the one responsible for every injury and death."
"How, how could this happen?" Jude pouted. He'd, he'd just talked to him today! He'd been alive! He was gonna make Jude his research assistant once the semester was up. How, how, who...
"Again, I'm sorry Doc," his voice was clear, not that Jude noticed. "Oh, it's you."
Prinn's voice came. "What's going on?" a question, but, it had a hint of already knowing the truth.
"The Professor," Jude was the one to get it out. "He's dead."
"Oh no," she was expecting that and already had her hand on Jude's shoulder. "I'm sorry Jude."
"Did you," Jude asked in a blank manner. "Did you catch the intruder?" At least justice could be done, at least that.
But Mister Eldin shook his head. "She had an accomplice, managed to slip out from under us at the seahaven and made it out of Fennmont." Eldin sighed. "That was the reason you had to treat my little head bump."
Jude didn't have anything else to say, and the other two understood that as well. Prinn stayed, but Eldin slipped his helmet back on and turned to leave. "Mister Eldin?" Jude spoke.
"Yes?" he was clearly surprised there was something else.
"Wish your wife a happy birthday for me will you."
That was more surprising and it took him a noticeable length of time to respond. "Uh, yes, I will, I certainly will." He turned towards Prinn. "Take good care of him, will you? The report has already been sent to the Dean's Office so there's no need to trouble yourself about that."
"Ah, yes," she replied. "Thank you for your help."
"Just doing my job," Eldin replied before leaving.
Jude stayed there, on the floor. Despite promptings from Prinn to move, he stayed on that floor. Only when a chill ran through him did they move. She escorted him to his dorm room. And even after all of that, he still thanked her for helping him like that. Prinn's last thought before she left was reminiscing on that do-gooder Jude.
AN: Well, here's Chapter 1 of my ridiculously long-planned fanfic. Future Chapters will be less bulky than this, though when those come around there'll be some fun little End notes like this.
Special Thanks to FlameUser64 for giving me the mental jump-start to finally go through on my edit plan.