Chapter 3
"See, Greta?" Yuuri said gently, pointing down at Wolfram. "We're helping him get better. We're doing all we can."
"Hm," she said back to him with a determined look on her face. Yes, Wolfram was going to get better. She could see it for herself.
"And, he'll be more than happy to spend time with you once he's better," Anissina chimed in, repositioning a tarp over the large machine that she'd stashed in the corner. The blue tarp had slipped a little, which made her suddenly very nervous. She had hoped that the other two had not noticed. Anissina reached up to push the material higher and the whole tarp suddenly fell down and landed on the floor.
Yuuri looked over at her and his eyes bulged.
"Wait! Wait!" he said, staring at her as though she'd gone mad. "What is that thing doing here?" He noticed the slightly guilty look on her face that was now being covered up by a wolfish grin. "That!" Yuuri pointed to the ornately designed gold machine that looked to him like a green loveseat that had been fused with a satellite dish with levers attached and a bowl shaped impression in the front.
"What? This?" She blinked back innocently. "I just thought I'd borrow 'The Dry Wind' for a few weeks."
"Didn't Günter call that 'the forbidden magical device?'" Yuuri said with growing alarm.
"Well…yes…"
"Wolfram and I have been in that thing. Don't you remember? It's not just a fancy chariot or something. It makes you see the future—and a 'fearful' future at that!"
Anissina lost her grin.
Fearful. How much more fearful can anything be than this?
"Fearful…future," he said again, but lamely this time.
The words had barely left him when he felt his heart ache a little. Yuuri's eyes were now downcast and his face in shadow when he added, "At least…well…based on what Wolfram saw..." He laughed to himself but it came out as nothing more than a huffing sound. "I thought he'd kill me for handing out flowers to pretty girls." He cast a side long glance down to Wolfram. "But, you're the one who got those yellow flowers I picked. Okay?" he said. "So, don't complain."
Anissina's smile returned at that. Yuuri saw and felt embarrassed, feeling his cheeks turning pink.
She decided to change the subject a little. "Now, really… Where's the harm in just seeing how the machine works? It really is best to gather information. And, I've been able to analyze some of its mechanisms, and I've made some interesting discoveries." She smoothed out her maroon and white dress a little with her hands.
"No thanks! That thing should go back into the treasure room and be locked up forever! Shut it away…well… as far away from the Demon Mirror as possible so that no one will be tempted to use either one," Yuuri fumed. He didn't like being impolite to an adult in front of Greta, but this just couldn't be said any other way.
"I understand," she said civilly and gave a thin smile back.
Clunk. There was an odd sound in the lab. It didn't feel right. This was followed by a kind of groaning of metal, as though something was trying move, but couldn't. Now, there was a new sound. Her smile faded when she heard the pumping machines on the oak table start to sputter and oscillate out of rhythm. On the floor, the lights in Wolfram's machine dimmed and the pearly mist began to dissipate.
"What's going…?" the double black demanded, eyes now worried.
He saw the figure inside the machine turn his blond head and the chest heaved.
"Anissina? He's not supposed to be able to move! What's going on?"
"Yuuri?" Greta said worriedly. She fidgeted with the large jewel on her white cape, but her eyes were pleading down at Wolfram.
"Hmmm," Anissina said authoritatively, approaching the table with veiled concern in her eyes. She adjusted the two small pumping machines and they hummed back to life. With her back to the maou and his daughter, she breathed a quick sigh of relief.
"I fixed it," she said, turning around to him with arms folded. "I think it just needed some minor adjustments." And I'm sleeping in the lab tonight. I can't have this happening again, she thought.
"Are you sure?" he asked, still uncomfortable with the thought of Wolfram being in jeopardy.
"Yes and Gisela should be here after lunch to continue with the healing treatments even though the antidote to the poison isn't complete just yet. But Günter told me at breakfast that he's working hard on it with her."
She saw that Yuuri's eyes were still fixed on Wolfram.
"And, in the meantime, I'll have the 'Dry Wind' returned to its home," she added just to change the subject.
He nodded absently, his mouth open slightly. Then, he turned his eyes to her. "Well," Yuuri said in a pout-ish voice, "as long as you do it."
The redhead brightened a little. "I suppose, that will give me more time to experiment on the rainbow obsidian arrowhead," she said, going to her desk and pulling out the plastic tray again. She took a pair of tongs, removed the arrowhead from its resting place in the tray, and held the stone up to the light. "They say that these stones can be used in machines, too. And, with rainbow obsidian being so rare…and this one is huge… Of course, I'll have to clean the poison off first without harming the natural, magical properties." She placed the stone on a small examination table next to her desk and went off to fetch her magnifying glasses.
"Well, Greta," Yuuri said, holding his daughter's hand, "I guess, it's time to say 'goodbye' to Wol-"
Both pumping machines died.
The lab grew strangely quiet with the sound of machines grinding to a halt. The two pumping machines on the oak table stopped and slowly eased themselves down. The glowing, blue liquid no longer flowed down the tube into Wolfram's machine. The gears on the wall all came to a sudden stop.
"Anissina?!" Yuuri yelled.
From the deathly quiet in the room, she already knew the situation. "NO!" Anissina cried, grabbing her skirts up high and running across the lab to Wolfram as quickly as she could.
"Anissina?! What's happening?!" Yuuri wailed, kneeling down and watching as the mist began to disappear.
"It stopped! It just stopped! I don't know why. Let me look!" She pulled off a panel on the left side of the machine with her fingernails, splitting two of them painfully, and began to rummage around—checking to see if there was anything amiss.
Inside the machine, Wolfram's body began to convulse. His thin frame began to shake uncontrollably, shifting violently in the machine. His blond head tossed from side to side.
"Anissina! Do something!" Yuuri shouted, staring down in disbelief.
"Wolfram!" Greta cried.
"Greta?" Yuuri said with urgency, "I need you to go and find Gisela as quickly as you can. Do it! Okay?"
The little girl shook her head "yes" bravely and ran off down the hallway with her arms pumping.
The double black took shaky breaths, trying desperately to calm himself. But it didn't work. He was in a controlled panic with Wolfram's body still shaking and, now, he noticed a thin drop of blood coming from his mouth.
"Wolfram, no!" he said, thrusting his hands into the machine. He forced the blond's head to be still long enough to see the damage. Wolf had bitten his lip and the blood was from that. Yuuri pulled his chin forward in the hopes that would keep his tongue from blocking his throat.
"Anissina, my hands should be numb and freezing in this thing, right?"
He got a vague "right" from the other side of the machine. She was working frantically to get everything running again. She checked the lines leading to it and discovered that there was no power.
Yuuri looked down now and saw more blood in the machine.
"He's bleeding from his side now!" Yuri called to her. "His wound has reopened!"
Inside the machine, Yuuri was seeing a sight that he felt would be burned into his memory for the rest of his days. He was doing his best to restrain Wolfram without harming him, but the body was shaking so hard, he didn't know how much pressure to put down on him. The blond angel was bleeding a small, thin line of blood from his mouth. But the head thrashed, sending droplets everywhere. And there was more blood oozing from his side into the cranberry lining of the machine. Red on red.
The blond body arched upwards.
"You've got to stop, Wolfram!" His eyes shined with tears. "Please…stop…please!"
The body arched again.
"Anissina, do something!" He ordered.
"I can't!"
He stared at her, wide eyed. But, he'll die!
"Wait, maybe I can!" She took off to the 'Dry Wind' and pulled out some black cables. "If we hook these up, we can use that machine as a generator for Wolfram's machine." She pulled the heavy black cables as fast as she could. "But, there may be problems. I don't know if this will…" She stopped a foot short of Wolfram.
"No! It's too short. The cables won't reach!" She blinked back tears.
Yuuri felt himself getting angry and desperate. The situation felt hopeless. He lowered his head and the room began to pick up with electricity. Blue sparks began to fly with a prevailing wind that swirled around him. Yuuri felt himself leaving and his hair lengthened—his face becoming stern but with the hints of a wicked smile.
"In the struggles that we must undergo, hope cannot be abandoned," he said dramatically, his deep voice echoing back.
Blue electricity filled the room.
Anissina's jaw dropped. She sat on the floor, almost rooted to the spot, her dress billowing.
"As the 27th Maou of Shin-Makoku, I, Shibuya Yuri, will honor my pledge to preserve that which is most precious." His sharply edged eyes looked from Anissina to Wolfrom. "My judgment for this one," he gestured toward the blond, "is…life."
Blue bolts of light shot from the palms of his hands and the kanji for "judgment" appeared on the stone wall beside the door.
He touched the side of Wolfram's machine and raised his opposite arm in the direction of the 'Dry Wind.' Streams of white energy danced throughout the room—making waves that passed from the Demon King to the Dry Wind. However, in the process, a sudden, stray bolt of energy passed through the rainbow obsidian arrowhead and changed color to a dark red by the time the beam of light hit the Dry Wind and then bounced back at Wolfram himself—hitting him in the chest.
Wolfram's body jolted and a thin tear streaked down the curve of his cheek.
The energy faded. Yuuri quickly transformed back into his fifteen year old "self" and collapsed onto the cool floor.
"Oh!" Anissina said, running to Yuuri's aid. She pushed him up into a seated position. Yuuri put a hand to his head. "What just happened?"
He didn't get an answer. Instead, he heard Anissina whisper horsely, "Wolfram?"
Yuuri followed her gaze into the machine, his heart pounding hard. And, once he saw the sleeping form inside, almost fully healed, it was impossible to take his eyes away.
"Wolf? Is…is that…you?"
Inside the machine, lying on his side, was a blond newborn baby with a grumpy, squished face and a flat little nose. He made slight gurgling sounds and blinked up at them innocently, a cold but chubby fist in his mouth.
Gisela and Greta stumbled into the room, both looking frantic.
"I heard I was needed," the green haired girl said, sounding out of breath. She'd brought her medicine kit with her—knowing, for the most part, it would be useless. But, she had to try something if Wolfram was in distress.
"I…I suppose you are," Yuuri said awkwardly, turning his face up to meet them. "Congratulate us. It's a boy."
