Hi everyone! Today is a special day: it's my best friend's birthday. He doesn't know this story exists, nor does he probably care, but I'm still putting this up in honor of him. So, happy birthday!
I don't own neopets. If I did, I would still have the Lisha and Jeran Plushie Set available in the Hidden Tower. D:
After his sisters and their companion were mere dots on the horizon, Gentian headed back into the house. Mote treatment happened to be his sisters' favorite kind, so he knew what he was doing when he headed into Lily's room to administer said treatment on Lady Roberta's arm.
He checked her forehead and sighed with relief when he felt her temperature near normal. Heat was still there, but it was less. He hoped she would wake up and talk to him, at least a little. Perhaps he should wake her up to make her eat something. Having nutrition would help her fight off the poison, even if it happened to be of the magical variety.
Gently he brought his paws, infused with mote magic, onto her wound. She whimpered at the contact, but he ignored it and pressed the motes over her injury. Once he was finished, he sat back and watched to be sure nothing strange happened. What sort of strange, he didn't know, but he decided it was a good idea to be sure the treatment didn't hurt her worse. He doubted it would; after all, his sisters would know if the treatment had the potential to harm her.
To his surprise, her eyes did open. She looked at him, confusion crossing her face. "Tor?" she asked, her voice raspy.
"No, I'm Gentian," he corrected softly. "My lady, please eat something." On her bedside lay a covered tray. He opened it to find hot broth in a bowl with a cup near it. Gentian brought a small cupful to the bed and offered it to her.
Roberta shied away from it. "No, no poison," she insisted. "Tor, where is Tor?"
"Tor's not here right now," Gentian replied gently. He needed to be careful; otherwise her condition could get worse. "It isn't poison. It's broth. It'll make you feel better, at least a little. Please, eat a tiny bit. Just a few mouthfuls," he coaxed.
She was too weak to resist, and he could tell her consciousness was slipping. Quickly he spooned a little of the broth into her mouth, which she dutifully drank. After only four spoonfuls, she sank into the pillows, once more asleep or passed out. Gentian sighed and poured the remaining contents back into the bowl they came from, covering it again and sitting back into the chair. He'd watch for a while longer before heading off to do his paperwork. His sisters ran the house very well in his absence, making him grateful for the minimal amount of work he actually had to do when he got home.
Roberta looked a little better, but the dark magic still subsisted in her arm. Gentian sighed; he knew that more than likely, it would take a miracle for just the motes to cure her. "Sleep well, Lady Roberta," he said, and left the room. Instead of going toward his office, however, he made a split-second decision and went to his library. He knew his sisters looked through some of Lily's books to find an antidote, but he wanted to help as well. Every poison has an antidote, he thought. I just have to help find this one. He pulled down several magic books and began leafing through them.
Brightvale prided itself for its magnificent libraries, not just in the castle but in the homes of the people. Everyone had at least one book; even the peasants. Everyone knew how to read and most knew how to write. Gentian's family had a fairly impressive library, the work of several generations. They organized it by genre and alphabetized from there, and took very good care of their library. He may just be able to find an antidote somewhere in one of the books.
His search took him three days. The third day, as he opened a book on generic antidotes, a yellowed sheet of paper slipped out and fell to the floor. It was tattered, definitely not from a book from their library. Gentian leaned down and picked it up, studying it closer. It was part of a journal, or maybe a letter.
I have been fortunate. I have broken down the poison on the blade of the Black Knight, after extracting the poison from one of his unfortunate victims. It's a complicated mixture, but the antidote is worth it, what with my family full of magicians living so close to Market Town.
A common cure to poison is a baggus plant. That is part of this antidote, but it is not all of it. Most of the ingredients grow in Bogshot and its surrounding swamps. The necessary ingredients are as follows: 3 oozing tulips, 1 purple frillix, 5 red walking flowers, 7 bagguses, and 4 blue health mushrooms. I only hope that such an antidote isn't necessary, but once all the ingredients are found, chop and stir together in a hot broth for a week. During the week with the full moon is the most potent cure, but it works well when brewed in any week.
I pray it will never be needed, but I will place these instructions in a book on antidotes in my library.
Gentian stared at the note. He had found it! He could call his sisters back and he could go to Bogshot instead of them! Their journey was pointless now that he had the antidote in his hands. He got up and headed towards the door to the library.
Wait, he paused. They're three days' distance ahead of me. It's too much of a journey to travel to Market Town myself. I might as well wait and plan. He sat back at the table and pulled a sheet of parchment in front of him, along with a quill and inkwell. "First," he began, dipping the quill into the ink, "we need to speak with the residents of Bogshot about the location of the ingredients." He briefly wondered if the town was healthy enough to enter—he remembered hearing about a plague running through the town while trading in Market Town. Gentian considered travelling there while his sisters were away. It took five days to get there, however, and he wanted to be home when they returned. In addition, he needed to stay behind and treat Lady Roberta. Therefore, travelling to Bogshot was out of the question while they were gone.
Roberta stayed awake for minutes at a time, and she seemed more coherent. At least, that was the previous day. Today, she suffered from a massive fever again, and Gentian feared for her life—he ordered one of his Kau maids to watch over her until he came back for treatment. It wouldn't do to have her die on his watch.
Gentian forced his thoughts to return to the parchment in front of him. "Second," he continued, "we must find the ingredients." He paused, and then added, "Also, discuss who will be finding the ingredients and who will be watching over Lady Roberta." He thought it would be best for his sisters to stay behind and look after the blue Acara while he and the knight went off to Bogshot. After all, they were better magic users than he and while they might agree to walk to Market Town, Gentian didn't truly believe that his sisters would be willing to wade through a swamp. They might try to put aside their disgust, but why not save them the trouble? While he did not particularly relish in the thought of wading through a swamp either, he still remembered his childhood days of frolicking through the woods and coming home covered in mud. He chuckled at the memory. His sisters would always scold him, followed by his mother ordering him to clean himself.
Gentian shook his head. He didn't have the time to be reminiscing. Carefully, he folded the parchment and the note with the antidote on it and slipped them into his pocket, putting the books away and heading out of the library. He decided to begin searching through his closet for suitable clothes and definitely some boots. Then he would return to Lady Roberta's bedside for her treatment. With purpose, he strode into his room to begin packing.
Her fever had indeed gone down, but it didn't seem likely that she would wake up. Gentian considered it a miracle that she had already woken up several times since he had begun treating her a few days ago, and admired her strength in fighting off the poison that was threatening to spread.
His sisters had explained to him about how they had stopped the poison from spreading, but he discovered that the potion had to be reapplied every day. After the first night with his sisters on their journey, Gentian had found that the poison had expanded at least three inches. Worried and trying very hard not to panic, he forced another potion down her throat as soon as he finished the mote treatment. Today, it was not much better as it had not remained completely contained, but not nearly as alarming as three inches. Gentian prayed that the poison would not reach her vitals. If only Violet or Rose was here to do this instead!
Worrying would do him no good, he decided. Once more he placed mote-infused paws on her wound and willed the motes to destroy the poison and heal her. Perhaps he should learn some healing magic—he regretted not taking magic lessons when he had the chance. Maybe if I knew any magic at all, I could help her more.
Treatment completed, he sat into the chair and held her paw. Maybe if she knew a comforting presence was around, she would recover faster. "I don't know what you're up to, Lady Roberta, but I want you to get better," he told her. "I dislike worrying this much and not knowing what I'm doing. And I most certainly don't know what I'm doing, trying to heal you without any real knowledge."
Roberta smiled in her sleep and visibly relaxed. She shifted, and grasped his paw tighter. He took that as a good sign and felt his lips curl upwards. For now, he'd let himself relax and worry about everything else in the morning.
A relatively short chapter, and I apologize. It was a bit difficult to write and finish, so I decided to stop it here. So, we've found the antidote, now to gather everyone back together and head out on this journey!
Thoughts? Questions? Review, please! :D
Next update will be August 27th. Till then guys!