A/N: What's up my readers? Hopefully this chapter finds you having a good day that just got better via the update. I am doing alright, except for the fact that the cottonwood trees have bloomed and I am allergic. The REALLY sucky thing is that we have 4 gigantic ones in the yard. Oh, well; life is full of little ironies and bad coincidences that can severely inconvenience you, but you still fight your way through, don't ya? On the bright side, I did buy new headphones cuz the old ones wore out. $300+ because BOSE are the best and completely worth it, right? No poetry this time. Sorry to anyone that's a fan, but this chapter's been bugging me the last few days, and I wanted to write and send it out ASAP. Well then I don't own Negima?! And Kailor Aurelius rocks!
Let us begin…
Chapter 2
The gates of the castle creaked slowly open to an immaculately well-groomed courtyard. It consisted of a circular drive for the loading and unloading of passengers made of white cobblestone, with a garden of randomly placed, but yet somehow beautifully arranged flowers of all colors within the circle, and bewitchingly elegant cherry blossom trees in each corner. The doors to the keep were of a honey brown finished wood and were attended by doormen dressed in the burgundy and white colors of the royal household. However, they were utterly ignored as Hiroshi quickly dismounted, performing his duty of helping the princess out of the carriage, and proceeding to gently pick up the disheveled form of Setsuna as Konoka strode brusquely forward, barging past the doormen and throwing open the doors so hard there was an audible crack as the hard wood split. The doormen paled when they saw this. How were they ever going to explain that to the king?
The main attendant to the castle, surprised by the disgraceful entrance and unexpectedly quick return of the princess jumped 2 full feet in the air, dropping various documents he was organizing for the king.
"Princess! What brings you back so-"
"Save it Remy! Call Shizuna and have her meet me in the guestroom adjoining my room. Tell her to bring all the medicine she can carry to treat infected wounds. And have her bring a strong painkiller also." Remy was about to jump right on that, when he saw the 'creature' Shizuna would be treating.
"Your highness, I must protest! If your father were to see that, THING, in here, he-"
"Silence, and do as you're ordered!" She'd cut him off again, glaring with a cold hatred reserved only for her worst enemies. When he still, to her well-hidden amazement, hesitated, she flicked her wrist. The guards that had rode with her small caravan marched forward, several of them grabbing the hilts of their swords to 'persuade' him. He turned 6 shades of white before running towards the hall leading to the healer's ward.
"MISS SHIZUNA!"
Satisfied, she thanked and dismissed her guards, beckoning Hiroshi to follow her. They stepped quickly up a grand marble staircase, taking a sharp left to a hall consisting of two ornate doors, and a small broom closet on the other side, further down. Konoka swiftly opened the first door, which led to the guestroom.
"Set her down gently, Hiroshi." The man did as he was bid, making sure not to jostle the awkwardly hanging wing. "Thank you, Hiroshi. Now I need you to do one last thing,"
"Anything you wish, princess."
"I need you to fetch me Tsubasa." Hiroshi immediately understood, and bowed before moving towards the door, closing it quickly, yet quietly. Tusbasa was the caretaker for the royal aviary, taking care of the many different birds who entertained guests with their striking colors and beautiful songs. He mended any injuries the animals might acquire, so she thought that maybe he would be able to fix Setsuna's wing. Shizuna, as far as she knew, had no experience with birds, or in this case bird half-demons, so it was worth a shot.
Konoka turned from the doorway as she heard a groan. Setsuna had begun to writhe in pain, sweating profusely and moaning softly.
That's strange, Konoka thought. That's one of the strongest sleeping spells I know. She shouldn't be awake for a day, at least! Oh, Shizuna, I wish you'd hurry up! A few minutes later, Dr. Shizuna Minamoto walked into the room followed by a frowning Remy, whose arms were overloaded with various medical supplies. He absolutely hated carrying anything for the good doctor. She treated him like an abused pack mule, and loved every minute of it. Shizuna shared the disdain Konoka had for him. She gestured to an empty desk for him to set the supplies on, and then ordered him out abruptly thereafter. She then turned and observed Konoka applying a cool, wet cloth to a seriously injured girl's forehead.
"All right. So what's the story? How in Mundus Magicus did she end up like that?" Konoka began recounting her visit to the farm, as Shizuna forced Setsuna to drink a pain relieving potion and stripped her of her clothes, cutting away the thin, coarse fabric that had been her only protection against many a fierce winter inside the drafty stable, aside from the ragged blanket. The doctor took stock of all the outer injuries, mostly consisting of the lashes received by the whip that had split the skin numerous times, overlapping scars from previous assaults. Before she treated those, she felt around the bones of her arms, legs and chest, finding two broken and three cracked ribs.
"Well, she could use some fattening up, but all-in-all it could be worse. Although I must say I haven't ever seen anyone worse, unless they were dead. But thankfully she isn't. Some of the lashes on her back are infected, which accounts for her fever, but she shouldn't be in this much pain. I wonder why she-"
"It's because of her particular breed. Bless my eyes, she's a real, true half-crow demon!" A short, slightly fat little man, completely bald, with squinting eyes interrupted the puzzled woman in answer to her question.
"A crow half-demon? I didn't think they existed. I heard crows were very strict in keeping their bloodlines pure." The doctor commented. Tsubasa grinned, happy to relate some of his vast avian knowledge to the brilliant woman.
"Yes, it is true crows are very dedicated to preserving their bloodline's purity, but there are a small few that deviate from that tradition. Unfortunately, those who do are condemned to death; for to breed with a human is considered treason. And the children of those ill-fated couples are subjected to torture and ridicule, before ultimately being driven out, or even killed by the clan." At those words, Konoka looked at Setsuna's fever reddened face with tender sympathy. Tsubasa continued. "The poor thing," He said, as if speaking of one of his birds. "I take it I'm here about her wing?" The princess nodded.
"Yes. Shizuna doesn't have any experience with wings, so if you could set it, I would greatly appreciate it. Also, what did you mean about her breed being responsible for her pain?"
"Yes, could you please shed some light on that? Maybe then, we might figure out how to lessen it." Shizuna asked.
"Well," Tsubasa began, "as you know, different types of hanyou possess different powers. Foxes manifest fire. Rabbits possess super speed. Crows have several powers, one of them being a rapid form of self-healing magic. The pain this girl is in is caused by her bones attempting to rapidly knit together. What would take a normal human 6 weeks to heal, takes a crow demon only 2. But there are disadvantages to this power. If the crow cannot set the fractured bone in time, it will heal in the wrong position. In the case of a broken wing, this can hinder the ability to fly, or even render them flightless. But I take it this break was made recently?" A nod from Konoka confirmed his assumption. "Then it shouldn't be a problem. However, there is one thing that might make this difficult. Another downside to their healing magic is that the pain is increased compared to what humans feel. No amount of our pain relievers will help her, and with her constant writhing it is going to be very hard for me to set the bone correctly."
"That's terrible. What can we do?" Konoka exclaimed, once again glancing worriedly at the wounded girl.
"I believe I can help you there." Everyone turned to the voice. A short, blonde haired girl leaned against the door of the room's closet, an evil smirk plastered upon her youthful face. She spoke in a heavy British accent, with an almost constant haughty sarcastic tone. "But as you know with my magic there is always a price to be paid."
"Evangeline, when did you get here?" Konoka questioned. She didn't sound surprised by the girl's sudden appearance, as that was a normal happening. Evangeline strode closer, a dark glint in her eye.
"Oh, just a few seconds ago. Anyway, getting back to what I was saying. A price must be paid. I know a spell that would render her unconscious for a day or so. It also has a paralyzing effect on its victims, so setting her bone should be no problem. The downside is that when she wakes up, any pain that has been caused to her while she was asleep is felt 3-fold. You see, this type of spell is used by dark mages to torture their victims. They knock them out, then proceed to torture them mercilessly, and then they allow them to wake up, writhing in agony. Quite entertaining if you ask me. The king has me do it sometimes and I always enjoy the spectacle. So, do you want my help, or will you risk keeping the bird down permanently?" Evangeline asked, sounding as if she didn't care either way. The other three thought about it for quite some time, weighing the pros and cons. Finally, they looked at each other and nodded.
"Go ahead and do it. She may be in for some serious pain, but I don't think that could ever compare to what she would feel if she could never fly again. But let's just get it over with." Konoka said. She then walked over to the bed, bending down, she whispered, "I'm sorry," to the poor girl, grasping her hand in comfort as Eva came over to the other side.
"Lic lac la lac lilac…" With that her hands turned into claws, and a dark energy surged from her fingertips and into Setsuna's body. The girl suddenly stilled; dead to the world. The mage stepped back then, and Tsubasa went over to the girl' right side, feeling her delicate wing, and locating the break. He then grasped the appendage and twisted sharply, a loud crack reverberating around the room. Everyone winced except Evangeline, who giggled psychotically, tapping her fingers together in pleasure. As the mage had stated, Setsuna showed no reaction to the bone being set, so Shizuna set about the task of treating her other injuries, while Tsubasa wrapped her wing with a splint. All the while the girl lay still, oblivious to everything around her.
But oh, the pain that would await her when she awoke.
Another chapter done. God, but I hated to write this chapter. However, I felt a short background was needed on crow demons, and so the explanations might be tedious, but I felt they were necessary. As you read, Evangeline showed up much the same as she did in Kailor's story, but in this one Eishun is aware of the dark mage. Hopefully it's different enough not to offend any fans, or Kailor. Again, if you catch any mistakes, let me know. I reread the prologue and found two small grammar errors, so I fixed them. I'm a perfectionist when it comes to this stuff. Anyway, I notice I tend to blather on and give you little updates of my life, and I hope nobody's annoyed with them. So, in closing, reviews are always welcome, so please do write them. Every writer is interested in other's opinions of their work. Trust me, I look for new ones every day, so please do write them. Well, again, no promises for updates, but I've kind of written the next 2 chapters in my head for sure, so it shouldn't take too long for me to write them. So with that…Peace out readers!
