Chapter 7: A Dangerous Crossing
Mia sat on the steps of a passenger ship making its way to Tolbi across the Kargol Sea, vigilant and ready for combat should any more sea monsters attack the ship. There had already been two attacks on the vessel, both repelled with the help of the adepts and a couple of warriors headed for the Colosso tournament due to start in Tolbi, but there was always the possibility of more.
Mia's mace rested between her legs as she sat there, its heavy metal head dirtied by the blood of sea monsters that had previously attacked them. This must be what has been causing issues for the sailors recently that Lady Layana warned us about, Mia thought, not bothering to wipe off her mace since she was expecting another attack at some point.
The wind was strong today, pulling the ship along at a rapid pace and causing Mia's hair to blow from behind her into her face. Though she did it up in a ponytail to prevent it from causing visibility issues, the hair from the side of her head still blew into her eyes on occasion and forced her to clear it away.
The creaking of the wooden ship could be heard clearly as they moved through the water thanks to the crew being quieter and apprehensive about the monster attacks so far. Glancing around the deck, Mia spotted Garet pacing back and forth along the railing of the ship, looking out into the waves for incoming monsters. Isaac was standing, his sword still drawn, with one of the crew members of the ship, talking back and forth. Ivan was leaning against the mast heading up to the crow's nest, seemingly relaxed, but his eyes were alert and wary. Catching Mia's eye when she looked over his way, Ivan nodded at her in greeting.
Returning Ivan's greeting with a smile, Mia leaned back on the stairs and raised her arms above her head to stretch out her muscles after their last battle. She felt tired and her body was already sore from the training she had undergone with Isaac just the day before. Combat like this clearly uses different muscles than I've used in the past, Mia mused, contorting her body to try to work the kinks out..
Isaac's training had really helped her figure out the basics of melee combat and allow her the baseline needed to improve her efficiency with melee weapons. Mia was surprised to find she actually quite enjoyed the training session. I...did enjoy that for more than just learning about the mace though, Mia thought, the embarrassment of the other day coming back to her mind.
She had not had a chance to work through her feelings about that particular situation yet. The short rests between the creatures attacking them on the boat was the only downtime Mia had since last night, and she kept finding her thoughts ending back up on the blonde boy. This is really not the time for this... Mia thought, but she knew that with the journey she was on, it would never really be the right time to stop and consider external matters such as the feelings she was experiencing around Isaac more and more often. Tapping her foot on the deck in tune to music in her own mind, Mia distracted herself to prevent herself from dwelling on her thoughts.
"Nervous?" A familiar voice asked calmly from Mia's left. Startled by the sudden comment, Mia jumped slightly and turned toward the sound to see that Isaac had quietly made his way over and was standing on the deck above her to the left. The blonde boy was leaning forward against the wooden railing, resting his head on his arms, yellow scarf twitching slightly in the wind every time a breeze passed by. Given her spot in the middle of the stairs, Mia could stand up and be nearly eye level with him, easily within a comfortable distance to hold a conversation.
"You surprised me," Mia answered him simply, noting that he too was relaxed despite the recent attacks by sea monsters. Isaac chuckled at her answer, but offered nothing further as he awaited a real reply. "Do I look nervous?" Mia asked, answering Isaac's question with another question.
Isaac indicated her knee, which was still bouncing up and down without Mia noticing. "I don't know," he replied. "That just looked like a nervous habit to me," Isaac explained.
Forcing herself to stop out of self consciousness, Mia denied it. "No...not nerves...more like a distraction I suppose…" she stated, looking across the deck of the ship and beyond. The sound of gentle waves breaking against the ship filled the silence between the pair as they let the conversation drift away like a piece of wood in the open sea.
It felt weird to sit there on the deck of the ship amid the tranquility of the moment when it wasn't that long ago chaos and the sounds of battle rang out from monster attacks. "It's always like this, isn't it?" Mia commented, not bothering to look up at blonde boy glanced over to see her looking off into the distance, the calm look on her face and slightly swaying hair contrasting sharply with the mace sitting between her legs. It was the perfect analogy for their journey.
"What do you mean?" Isaac asked, trying to confirm what the Mercury adept was thinking.
Looking over to Isaac at last, Mia tucked some stray strands of hair behind her ear before replying. "It just seems so calm and peaceful right now…" Mia answered. "It never lasts though. We are constantly in conflict after conflict on this journey and it sometimes seems like these rare moments of relaxation are just a prelude to the next conflict we get involved in," she explained.
Isaac stayed silent instead of replying, but the reaction said more about his thoughts than words would. He knows it too, Mia could tell. The world has just been turned upside down recently. Nothing is the same as it was, and it seems like everything has changed to make life harder on people.
"It was especially difficult to see Kalay like that," Isaac finally said, recalling their reaction to Ivan's return home. "I think he's accepted the fact that it's been hit hard and there's not much we can do about it," Isaac explained. Mia looked over at the blonde boy again as Isaac stared off into the distance, wondering if he could find a reason for the madness among the waves. "I spoke to him about it," Isaac added, keeping Mia's attention despite the lack of eye contact. "There's nothing to be done except continue with our quest and put an end to all the madness. Ivan understands this and he seems even more motivated to end things quickly now," Isaac finished.
Sparing a glance in the Jupiter adept's direction, Mia was glad to know he was doing all right after the shock of seeing his home change so much. "Seeing that does make me wonder about Imil as well…" Mia said, voicing her thoughts aloud. "I mean...we aren't exactly a trade town or anything, but it does make me think about what changes might happen back home too," she added. Turning to Isaac, she asked the same question to him. "What about Vale? What kind of effect do you think all this will have there?"
Isaac just shook his head. "Vale is very traditional. They are generally slow to react to events so I doubt much will really change there," he answered.
The conversation was cut short by a cry from the other end of the ship. "Monsters on deck!"
Isaac and Mia sprung into action instantly, mace and sword in hand as the pair jumped up from their leisurely positions and ran towards the cry. Mia's grip on her new weapon was strong and confident after having successfully used the mace in live combat scenarios earlier on the trip.
Coming upon the scene on deck, Mia took in their foes. A couple of jellyfish monsters accompanied by a harpy were attacking the crew of the ship as the men desperately tried to defend themselves. The small tentacles of the jellyfish danced in the air, seeking to find an opening to attack the crew as the harpy flew past the distracted crewmen, slashing at them with its sharp talons.
Rushing in to save the men, Isaac succeeded in gaining the attention of the creatures by landing a slash directly onto one of the jellyfish. A sickening squishing sound accompanied the attack as Isaac's blade sank into the jellyfish, splattering water and blood across the deck from the wound.
It was a clean killing blow and the monster sank to the deck lifelessly in an expanding pool of fluids. Letting out a shriek, the Harpy flew toward Isaac, seeing him as the primary threat among the group after witnessing his retaliation.
The harpy was quickly stopped by a sizzling bolt of lightning that flashed past the adepts and struck one of the wings of the feathered creature, causing it to lose balance and fall towards the deck of the ship in pain thanks to Ivan's timely arrival.
Mia kept her attention on the remaining jellyfish, which had backed off from the crew and moved towards Isaac while he was distracted by the harpy. Not giving the monster a chance to strike, Mia raised her mace and judged the swing she would need to make to connect with the creature.
Waiting for the jellyfish to get near striking range of her companion, Mia brought her mace around with a loud thud and smacked the jellyfish with the blunt instrument. It was a strong hit, but the elasticity of the jellyfish's body allowed it to take the hit better than expected instead of being killed outright.
Another bolt of ionized energy flashed across the deck, accompanied by a shriek of pain from the harpy as the bolt scorched its uninjured wing, grounding the monster on the deck of the ship. Isaac and Garet rushed in to finish it off before it could recover.
The slippery floor was hard to gain traction on thanks to the downed jellyfish, and Mia had to move carefully toward the final enemy that was recovering from her previous attack. Getting an idea from the state of the deck, Mia stopped her advance and concentrated on her psynergy instead. Calling upon her powers, Mia concentrated on freezing up the jellyfish, taking advantage of the high concentration of water within the sea creature's body. As her spell continued to take effect, the monster writhed in pain and its movements became more jerky and slowed down.
A film of frost could be seen on the slimy skin of the foe as the jellyfish froze to death under Mia's relentless assault. The mercury adept deemed that she had done enough after the creature stopped moving, lying frozen on the deck.
Looking around to ensure things were safe, Mia let out a sigh at the latest attack. Some of the crew were already dealing with the corpse of the first jellyfish Isaac killed, unceremoniously dumping the body over the side of the boat and back into the sea.
"Miss Mia," The captain called out, as he approached her position on the deck. Assessing her condition to ensure she was okay before continuing, he spoke, "One of my crewmates was hit by the harpy. It doesn't look bad, but could you please take a look if you don't mind?"
Mia acknowledged the captain's request, knowing that they were impressed by her ability to save one of the crew members from poisoning on one of the prior attacks. As she made her way toward the injured man, she glanced back at her other companions, seeing them rid the deck of the harpy with the assistance of some of the other deckhands.
Identifying the injured crew member, Mia walked up to him as the others stepped aside to make room for her. Glancing at the scarf tied over the wound on the man's arm, she addressed him. "How is it?" Mia asked, trying to get a general idea of what she was dealing with.
Though worried about his arm, the man looked relieved at her presence. "Not too bad, I don't think," he replied, allowing Mia to untie the knot on the scarf so she could get a look at the injury.
He must have been one of the witnesses from earlier when I removed that poison, Mia judged based on the sailor's reaction. That's good. That means he should be more trusting of me even though my methods of healing might be something he hasn't witnessed before today…
Pulling the scarf back from the skin, Mia examined the wound. It wasn't too bad. The blood was very visible as it welled up from the loss of pressure, but the gash wasn't too deep and definitely didn't seem to hit anything vital.
"It looks like mostly a surface wound to me," Mia stated to reassure the man that he would be ok. "Just to be sure, go ahead and try to clench your hand into a fist for me okay?" she asked.
The injured man nodded and slowly formed a fist with his hand. The blood flow from the wound increased as he did so, but slowed up again as he relaxed his muscles and laid his hand out flat again.
"Very good. That motion confirms there's nothing seriously injured here, so just try to relax as I heal it up," Mia said to the man's visible relief.
Using the scarf that was tied to the man's arm to wipe away some of the blood so she could better see, Mia called upon her Mercury powers once again, this time to help mend the gash from the harpy. Placing her hand gently near the wound on the crew member's arm, Mia closed her eyes and let her power run into the wound.
The skin on the man started to close up and heal itself as she continued using her psynergy to mend the gash. Though she wasn't paying attention to the chatter that picked up as the crew saw the wound heal before their eyes, Mia could tell they were excited and amazed at the ability.
Completing her spell, Mia opened her eyes again and looked at the man she had healed who had a bewildered expression on his face.
"Just like that?" the man asked, inspecting his arm that looked as good as new.
"Just like that," Mia replied with a smile, confirmed she was done healing it.
"That's absolutely incredible," the sailor said. "Thank you."
Mia was glad to see that the sailors took her powers well and as a benefit instead of being afraid of them. "No problem," she replied. "Just take it bit easy with that arm for now and you should be fine," Mia stated.
Her words couldn't have come at a worse time as the ship suddenly lurched from a massive impact, almost throwing all the crew and Mia to the deck. Using the wall of the stairwell to steady herself after the tremor, Mia looked around alarmed as the crew shifted from relieved to worried and panicked.
"Is it another attack?" One of the sailors speculated glancing around for signs of a battle.
"That was too big an impact for an attack," another crew member replied.
"Did we run aground?" another one spoke up.
"We're in the middle of the sea though," someone else reasoned, trying to think logically.
Mia wasn't sure of what just happened, but it didn't take long for her to find out. Another massive impact sent a couple of crew members to the ground as she continued to hold onto the stairwell railing for support.
"MIA!" Isaac's voice rang out loud and clear after the last tremor. "Get up here! We're going to need you!" he yelled as Mia responded by letting go of the stairwell after the latest shake and ran up toward where Isaac and the other adepts were maintaining balance by holding onto handholds on the mast.
As she moved towards them, Mia stopped in her tracks, taking in the unbelievable sight in front of her. The left side of the ship was badly damaged, missing some pieces of railing and boards on the deck. As her gaze shifted to the three adepts huddled together, Mia could see genuine fear on the face of Isaac and the others, chilling her blood.
I've never seen this face before, Mia's mind raced. Even against the Manticore, he was worried and determined...but not fearful... What could even cause this...?
As if to answer her question, a massive tentacle appeared from behind the wreckage of the railing and lifted high into the air. Following Mia's gaze, Isaac glanced behind him to see the sight of the attack and yelled out. "Hit the deck!" the Venus adept screamed, abandoning his position at the mast as Garet and Ivan braced for impact, favoring running toward Mia in the last few seconds instead.
Reaching her just in time as the tentacle slammed into the side of the ship, Isaac tackled Mia to the ground and the impact caused them to slide toward the far end of the boat as it rocked in the water. The two adepts hit the wall at the edge of the boat with Isaac using his body to absorb most of the blow and protect Mia from injury.
Concerned, Mia immediately turned to check the blonde boy's condition, unsure of how harsh the impact was for him. Isaac picked himself off the wall with a groan, accepting Mia's aid as he got to his feet. Seeing nothing but the beginnings of a bruise, Mia nodded to herself, satisfied Isaac would not need any healing from the hit. "Thanks," she told him gratefully, as the pair tried to find their balance on the unsteady deck.
I could have easily gone over the edge of the ship without Isaac's assistance there, Mia recognized as adrenaline from the moment began pumping in her veins. She had no time for further appreciation as the sea monster took full advantage of their distraction to finish climbing onto the deck of the ship.
"It's….It's a Kraken!" one of the bewildered sailors cried out, unable to believe his own eyes. The massive monster towered over them with tentacles easily many times longer than a man's height. A Kraken? Mia asked herself. I thought they were just a myth...just an embellishment of sailor's stories to make them more dramatic…
The unnerving stare of the Kraken was unsettling to Mia as panic filled the hearts of the sailors beholding the same sight. Tentacles that had already smashed up one side of the ship waved in the air, twitching back and forth as if daring anyone or anything to get in their way.
The tentacles were easy to track as they swayed back and forth, the pink and yellow complexion of the monster easily visible against the background of the deck and sea.
Mia heard a rasp of metal, seeing the boys drawing their swords to confront the threat. Surrounded by open water on all sides, she knew as well as they did that the only option was to fight.
Garet stepped forward to test the might of the Kraken first and was met with a tentacle whipping through the air toward him. Opting to take the blow head on, Garet managed to block, but was knocked backward across the deck in the process.
Water flew off the tip of the tentacle as it cut through the air, splashing Isaac and Mia as they looked on. Though the force behind the attack was stronger than anything the adepts had seen so far, it appeared to Mia that Garet was uninjured and just staggered by the blow.
"Don't...block…" Garet got out between deep breaths as he recovered from the strike. "Got it," he added as an afterthought.
Ivan pulled attention away from Garet by unleashing a torrent of lightning right at the Kraken, causing some of its tentacles to convulse from the electricity. The Kraken made an ungodly noise and retaliated with a tentacle that Ivan barely dodged away from. Unfortunately, Ivan's prior position by the mast caused the tentacle originally aimed for him to slam into the wooden shaft with a loud cracking noise.
Though the mast did not completely splinter, there was a visible fracture where the tentacle had hit it and the structural integrity of it was suspect at best. Isaac cursed when seeing the damage, knowing that any more force would topple the mast completely. Leaving Mia's side, Isaac rushed into the fray with his sword drawn in an attempt to save the ship.
"We need to lure it someplace safer!" Isaac yelled out to his companions, sinking the sharp edge of his blade into one of the tentacles with a slashing attack. The Kraken recoiled from the injury and angrily lashed out at Isaac with an uninjured tentacle.
Mia spared the blonde boy with a well timed shard of ice, sent at high speed to impale the tentacle whipping through the air and knock it off course. The sea monster recoiled again with a shrieking sound and thought better than to retaliate with its tentacle again.
As the adepts gained their footing once more, they defensively crept toward the bow of the ship to try to draw the Kraken towards them and away from the damaged mast. The Kraken had other plans for the group however and spewed a black substance at them, reminiscent of how a squid would shoot out ink.
Despite the comparison, Mia soon found out the thick, gaseous cloud was anything but ink as she was enveloped in it along with her friends. Her senses tingled from a strange sensation and sudden intuition told Mia she was walking the boundary between life and death.
It was strange to think about, but Mia could "see" her surroundings, even in the darkness. The gas formed into twisted, disturbing shapes as it swirled around her, rushing towards and past her in the gloom.
Mia's ears were assaulted with the wailing of thousands of lost souls, drowning endlessly in the darky depths, whispers of their last thoughts trapped in the breath of the entity responsible for their demise. She felt as if she was drowning with them too, suffocated by the misery and anguish of the dead.
As soon as the voices began to get more intense, they were gone, blown away by a wind dispersing the thick cloud of evil. Mia could see the light again and it nearly blinded her after being thrown into that unnatural darkness.
A shaken Ivan was channeling a whirlwind to rid the deck of the blackness, and Isaac and Garet had hardened expressions on their faces after the harrowing incident. Mia felt almost paralyzed by the experience, having trouble as she stiffly attempted to stand again, propping herself up with her mace.
What was that? Mia's mind raced to comprehend the experience she was never meant to have. It's like the line between life and death became blurred…
She didn't have the luxury of time to dwell on the otherworldly experience because the Kraken noticed that the adepts were still standing, although shakily.
The sea monster seemed confused by the situation, perplexed that it's breath of darkness had not been enough to completely incapacitate its prey. Almost unsure of its own actions, the Kraken once again sent a probing tentacle toward one of the adepts, lashing out at Garet, who was the closest.
The strike hit the redhead hard, knocking him to the deck again since he was not back to his senses enough to dodge. Mia forced her legs to move despite how heavy and weighed down they felt as she moved towards Garet to heal him after the blow.
Ivan stood winded after ending his spell, the effort of fighting through the cloud of darkness hitting him as he took a moment to recover. Isaac moved to cover Mia so she could take care of Garet's injuries. With a flash of psynergy, Isaac went on the offensive against the Kraken.
Mia reached Garet and quickly examined his injuries. There was a small wound on his arm where the tentacle hit him and some swelling and bruising from the impact was showing up as well. Swiftly calling upon her Mercury powers, Mia directed healing energy to the swelling with a light touch as Garet stayed still on the deck allowing her to work.
Pulling her hand away, satisfied that there would be no lasting damage, Mia worriedly looked over her shoulder back at the fight behind them where Isaac and Ivan were engaging the Kraken. "Thanks," Garet said simply as Mia helped him back to his feet, mind already refocused on the fight.
Acknowledging his appreciation with a nod, Mia saw the Kraken notice them. With two more adversaries to contend with, the sea monster did not look pleased and unleashed a torrent of water across the deck to separate itself from them. The force of the wave hit the group, shoving them backward once more. Though strong enough to delay their advance, the watery attack was unable to knock anyone down.
Repositioning to attack again, Mia met an oncoming tentacle with her mace, not trusting herself to move properly on the deck that was covered in water. Ivan slipped as he moved but quickly caught himself with his staff before falling down completely.
Flames roared to life in Garet's hands forming massive fireballs that he launched at the Kraken to retaliate. Though keeping their footing was harder on the slick floor, Isaac and Ivan both readied their blades and dashed into the fray.
Mia knew she was starting to feel exhaustion creeping into her as combat continued, but the adepts weren't the only one tiring out. The exertion of fighting four adepts at once seemed to be getting to the Kraken as well, Mia noticed. It seems that this thing is used to leisurely destroying ships at its own pace and has never really been tested before, she thought with a hint of a smile.
Garet followed up his attack by joining Ivan and Isaac in melee combat, flanking the creature so it could not use another breath attack to incapacitate all of them. Seeing that the three boys were fine, Mia elected to join the fray as well, shooting spears of ice into the eyes of the beast in an attempt to damage its vision before running up with the others.
Dodging out of the way of the tentacles seemed easier than before due to the sluggish movements of Kraken, but it was still difficult to do flawlessly. Isaac and Garet had to block the occasional whip with their swords, staggering them but not causing as much of an issue as before.
Mia swung her mace in a wide arc, smashing it into one of the tentacles that was aiming for Ivan and the Jupiter adept used the chance to back off and call on his psynergy again. The blonde boy glowed a purplish hue as his power built up before unleashing a stream of electricity directly at an open side of the Kraken's body.
The sea monster let out a guttural cry, instinctively flailing its tentacles around in and attempt to defend itself. Isaac, Garet, and Mia managed to dodge out of the way of the blows and used the opportunity to land a few more hits against the creature, putting it in a critical condition.
That's when things suddenly took a turn for the worse. The adepts were caught out of position and got punished for it as the Kraken landed a glancing blow on Garet, forcing him backward. Though not heavily injured, the Mars adept was winded and couldn't help as the Kraken unleashed bolts of green energy on Isaac before hitting the blonde boy directly with a tentacle.
Mia's heart skipped a beat at the site of Isaac slamming into the side of the ship and crumpling to the floor unconscious. That looked like poison too! Her mind raced, torn between helping Isaac and finishing the fight with the Kraken. With Garet winded and out of the way Mia knew that helping Isaac left Ivan to fight the Kraken alone, something that she couldn't do. Ivan could….Ivan could hold it off…. She thought desperately, trying to come up with an excuse that would allow her to tend to Isaac faster.
Not reaching her desired conclusion, Mia steeled herself and tried to block the thought of Isaac out of her mind. The only way to help him is to finish the Kraken.
With renewed energy, Mia called upon her psynergy again, praying that it would be enough to finish off their heavily injured foe. A brilliant glow surrounded her as her psynergy materialized in visible form before shaping into giant spears of ice. At Mia's command, the massive icicles launched toward the Kraken in the blink of an eye, impaling it and managing to knock it back to the edge of the ship.
The sea monster began to convulse, obviously close to death. Ivan took the opportunity to follow up on Mia's powerful attack and rushed in closer with his sword at the ready just in case, calling upon his lightning powers to pour a torrent of bolts into the gaping wounds left by the ice spears.
With the massive, exposed wounds, the thick outer skin of the Kraken could not protect it from the full fury of Ivan's assault. Electricity arced across the monster's body, but also penetrated directly into heart of the creature, causing it to collapse to the deck, finally lifeless.
There was no time for relief as Mia looked around at the wreckage of the ship. The mast had a massive crack running through it, ready to topple at any moment and the sides of the ship, especially near the sea monster had been destroyed, with holes in the deck where tentacles had shattered the thick wood.
Somehow the ship was still afloat however, and she was thankful for that as she saw Garet get to his feet and flash an "okay" symbol her way to indicate he would be fine. Turning her attention back to Isaac on the far side of the ship, Mia felt anxiety rise within her chest.
Running over to the blonde boy, she could tell something was seriously wrong by his shallow breathing and pale complexion. Remembering the green attack that hit Isaac before he was knocked away, Mia considered her options.
A toxin? She asked herself, calling upon her psynergy in an attempt to purge any traces of poison from Isaac's body. Mia couldn't really tell if her spell had any effect or not and the feeling of worry grew within her, clouding her mind from what she had to do as her fear tightened its grip.
"Let's move him inside," a voice said next to Mia, providing a brief respite from her oncoming thoughts. Looking over at the owner of the voice, Mia saw the ship's captain with an expression of concern on his face.
"We can use the captain's quarters. It should be easier to work there," he elaborated, prompting Mia to nod her okay to the suggestion.
"You two! Get over here and help," The captain called out to two of the crew standing nearby. At the captain's words, they quickly ran over and help him pick up Isaac and begin carrying the still unconscious adept toward the cabin.
Mia followed quickly behind, ready to get back to healing the blonde boy as soon as possible. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Garet and Ivan double checking that the Kraken was indeed dead, trusting Mia to take care of Isaac's injuries.
The captain and two crew members entered the cabin and laid Isaac on a bed in the captain's quarters before backing off to let Mia through. Immediately getting back to work, Mia placed a hand on the blonde boy's chest and called upon another healing spell to help stabilize his vitals.
The two crew members scampered off to help with the rest of the ship and the captain walked out as well with a few last words to tell Mia. "I'll make sure nobody bothers you," he told her before closing the door behind him and allowing Mia's focus to fully return to Isaac.
"Focus," Mia whispered under her breath as she looked over the blonde boy once more. The Mercury adept pushed her fear and anxiety away, locking it away in a dark corner of her mind, knowing she could not afford any distractions.
Checking Isaac's vital signs, Mia grabbed his hand and felt for a pulse while simultaneously resting her head against his chest to monitor his heartbeat and breathing. What she heard she didn't like.
Isaac's heartbeat fluttered as if it was struggling to beat and his breaths were short and ragged. Calling upon her strongest psynergy, Mia used another healing spell, surrounding the two of them in a cerulean glow as the energy she used poured into Isaac.
This time she saw some improvement as Isaac's breaths evened out and his heartbeat began to beat more regularly. I can do this, Mia told herself, relieved to see some effect at least, even if the ordeal was far from over.
Next came the toxins still running through Isaac's body. Mia knew that despite some success at stabilizing the boy, his condition would only deteriorate again as the toxins continued to take control. Unfortunately, Mia knew she had already tried one of her spells to deal with the poison, and it hadn't worked quite as well as she would have liked.
Sweat was forming in small beads on Isaac's forehead as his body attempted to fight off the lingering effects of the attack. Mia raised a hand and gently held it to his head to feel his temperature. He's burning up! Mia noted, quickly conjuring a small amount of ice to place on Isaac to cool him down a bit.
I have to find the source of the poison and do something about it, Mia knew. Removing Isaac's shirt, Mia found two gashes in Isaac's abdomen where the poison bolt attack had hit him. Without any time to feel embarrassment from noticing how well built Isaac was, Mia closed her eyes to concentrate and brought her hand to one of the gashes. Trying to feel the presence of the toxins, Mia let her consciousness meld with her psynergy to better detect what was wrong with her fellow adept.
The poison coursing through Isaac hit Mia like a brick wall, shocking her senses with the intensity of the toxin. With a gasp, Mia let the spell go. That explains why my cleansing spell didn't help, Mia mused silently, trying to determine what to do. Utilizing another healing spell for good measure, she leaned forward and rested her head in her hand, propped upright by her arm on the bed.
Think….Think! Mia told herself, wracking her brain for any possible solution to the situation. Herbs won't work...this toxin is far beyond anything I can do with those and besides...even my psynergy is having little to no impact… Mia could feel the dark recesses of her mind beginning to expand, the feelings of fear and death that she had tucked away, itching to escape and control her emotions.
I have to try something...something different than before… Mia drew upon her psynergy in another futile effort to cleanse the poison that was slowly killing Isaac. What if...What if I tried to draw the poison out and dilute it instead of eliminate it altogether? She asked herself. If I could do that then maybe it would be enough to help him survive…
Mia sat up again and opened her eyes to look at her friend in front of her. Pulling the toxins out of someone wasn't something she had ever tried before, but she knew there were stories of Mercury Clan members being able to do something similar in the past.
Well, I may as well try… Mia concluded, trying to determine how she would pull it off. Calling on her psynergy, Mia began to form the spell she wanted to cast. It was an experimental thing, and she kept her mind firmly on the objective in order to ignore the potential consequences of failure.
As the spell began to take shape in Mia's mind, she once again placed her hand over the wounds from where the toxins entered Isaac's body. Releasing her psynergy, Mia could feel the poison attracted to the spell. As the psynergy she had crafted began to take effect, Mia could feel the pain Isaac was going through and grit her teeth as she forced herself to continue the spell.
Eventually breaking it off, Mia withdrew her hand and noted that there was a burning sensation and she could still feel the lingering pain from her connection with the blonde boy. Breathing heavily from the taxing effects of her psynergy, Mia wiped away the cold sweat the had broken out on her forehead.
Chalking it up to the exertion of her newly created spell, Mia ignored the symptoms and checked again on Isaac's condition. This time, she was half surprised and half relieved to find his breathing much more steady with none of the irregularity to his heartbeat or pulse that she was concerned about earlier.
Despite it all, Mia frowned. He's still not regaining consciousness though, she thought. I know my spell is probably imperfect...but it definitely did something at least. Maybe if I continue to use it, I can bring him back?
Following her line of reasoning, Mia again glanced at her patient and decided to give it another shot. Calling upon her powers once more, Mia tried to improve her spell to be more effective than the last one. Confident that she at least held some control over Isaac's overall fate, Mia once again attempted to draw the poison away from Isaac's body.
This time the Mercury adept felt the burning sensation in her hand more intensely and the pain made her mind reel as she continued to heal Issac. Determined, Mia kept herself going, ignoring the agony she felt as she drew the toxins out of Isaac's body.
At last, unable to take any more, Mia pulled away, dizzy with pain. It was in that state that she finally realized that she had misunderstood the nature of the psynergy she had come up with. It definitely pulls the poison out of Isaac...but it does it by drawing it into my own body! Mia understood. It dilutes the toxin...separates it into smaller doses and relies on the body's natural defenses to fight off what remains…
Mia cast another quick spell to check her theory and sure enough, could feel the poison in her own body as she tried to fight it off. With the lower concentration of poison in both adepts, Mia called upon a cleansing spell in an attempt to purge the less potent effects from herself. At least this way we can both survive this though... Mia thought as she continued to work, accepting the effects of the poison as her own in order to save Isaac.
Though it seemed to help, and the pain subsided as she did so, it was still unable to completely remove the side effects. The dizziness remained and in the absence of the intense pain she was previously drawing in, Mia could feel her exhaustion catching up with her after both the fight with the Kraken and her efforts to heal the leader of their party.
Still refusing to give in, Mia turned once again back to Isaac and began attempts to cleanse the lessened poison from him as well, purging the toxins and reducing the blonde boy's pain. As she did so, she could feel Isaac's life force strengthening and finally let a small dose of relief out of the cage in her mind.
I can still do this... Mia thought to herself, fatigued, but hopeful. Using her remaining psynergy, Mia once again placed her hands on Isaac and healed his wound, slowly sealing it up to prevent any complications from infection.
Her efforts had been successful and Mia was rewarded when Isaac stirred from his unconscious state, opening his eyes slowly to his surroundings. In that moment all the negative thoughts and emotions Mia had bottled up vanished, but a fleeting memory in her mind.
"Thank goodness…" Mia was barely able to say as Isaac's eyes caught her own, attempting to make sense of the new situation he was in.
"Mia…" Isaac stated, still delirious from his injuries and the effects of his body attempting to fight the remaining poison within.
Hearing the blonde boy speak caused the adrenaline rush keeping Mia going to dissipate as a flood of emotion she was holding back finally caught up with her.
"Issac...I thought I…..the poison..." Mia could feel herself tearing up slightly, unable to maintain her composure any longer as she attempted to to voice her concerns.
Fortunately it seemed like Isaac understood what she was saying as he responded in kind. "Thank you Mia," he said simply, wincing as he tried to sit up and felt the pain in his abdomen. Deciding against it, Isaac lay there while Mia dried her eyes out, not having noticed the attempt to move.
Mia became conscious of the fact she was clutching Isaac's hand in her own, and felt a flush in her face, but elected to ignore that particular situation. Right now she just wanted to be with him, to know he was there, no matter what.
He's going to be okay, Mia knew as she flashed Isaac a smile even while her eyes drooped from exhaustion. Isaac's expression became more concerned as he looked on, wondering if she had pushed herself too hard.
"Mia?" Isaac asked inquisitively, jerking the cerulean haired girl out of the stupor that was overtaking her. "Are you okay?" he asked, seeing if he could get a reply.
Squeezing her eyes and shaking her head in an attempt to not collapse, Mia answered. "I...I'm just exhausted…" she told Isaac, giving him the truth but neglecting to mention the way she had dealt with most of the poison within him. He will only worry if I bring that up now… Mia mused ceeding her mind to the comforting embrace of sleep as she leaned forward from where she was sitting at Isaac's side.
Surprised to see Mia's head come to rest on his shoulder, Isaac didn't know how to react. Her steady, even breathing indicated that she was indeed tired beyond words and was finally succumbing to the events of the past couple hours.
As her cerulean hair spilled out across the bed and his shoulder, Isaac froze from surprise, but then smiled at the girl next to him. "You always give it your all don't you," he whispered to Mia's sleeping form, appreciative of the effort she had put in to keep him alive.
Hesitating for a moment, Isaac shifted himself slightly to move his arm around the sleeping Mercury adept that had collapsed on top of him, gently holding her in place as she continued to doze off, a smile gracing his face.
Despite the pain and the obviously worn down state of his own body trying to fight off the remnants of the poison Mia worked so hard to cure, Isaac felt content and comforted by having the Mercury adept at his side.
