Firo sat across the kitchen table for Czes, a chess board between the two. At first Firo had thought it's be a good idea to play against Czes even though he himself had never much been one for the game. Firo's reasoning being that he might be able to learn a thing or two from the boy, who happened to have about a hundred years more experience that Firo himself.
It quickly proved to be a terrible idea. Firo could already tell he was losing, he didn't need the slightly smug look on Czes face to tell him that. Firo was regretting his decision but he wouldn't dare quit. By now it had almost become a matter of pride. If he was going to lose he would lose like a man.
Right when Firo was about to resign himself to losing to someone who was even more baby-faced than himself, a welcomed distraction came from the hall. There was a loud series of thumps followed by Firo's name being shouted in the hall by a very familiar voice.
Firo let out an annoyed sigh. He was grateful for the interruption, but wished she would just knock on the door like a normal person. At this rate she would wake up the whole floor. Firo pushed his chair back and made his way to the door.
"Checkmate in three," Czes called from his seat, reminding Firo that he wouldn't get out of his ass beating so easily.
"Right, right…" Firo sighed as he opened the door. "Hey Star, what'd you think-"
Firo fell into stunned silence at the sight before his eyes. Star had managed to struggle up the stairs while supporting Maiza and now stood on the landing a few feet from the door. Saying Star looked like a drowned rat would be a compliment. She was completely soaked and shivering. Her wet hair was plastered to her skull with wet lanky strands dripping into her eyes. Firo could also see splashes of dirty water on her shirt and a hole in the knee of one pant leg, her skinned leg showing threw the tear. But it was the sight of Maiza that truly stunned Firo. He had never though he would see the Conte D'Oro of the Martillo family, not to mention the best knife fighter, in such a state. His body sagged against Star's, making her look that much smaller. He was completely soaked and his shirt, jacket and pants were stained with mud. Maiza's head lolled against Star's shoulder and at some point he had lost his glasses. They looked like two characters from one of Grimm's fairytales, not a powerful magician and a high ranking member of a Camorra family.
"Don't stand there, help me!"
Star's words broke Firo out of his stunned disbelief. He rushed from the door over to Star and Maiza. Firo threw Maiza's other arm over his shoulders and help to carry the man inside of the apartment.
"What happened?" Firo asked, still shocked.
"Explanations later," Star grunted.
"Firo, what-?" Ennis began but froze when she saw the two of them supporting Maiza.
"Clear off a table," Star shouted at her.
Ennis didn't ask any questions, she simply turned and cleared the chessboard off of the kitchen table.
Czes had gotten to his feet to see what the commotion was about, but now he stood rooted to the spot, his face pale. Ennis needed to grab him by the shoulders and gently steer him out of the way of Firo and Star.
"What…?" Czes said vaguely.
"Maiza's been injured," Star replied.
"Injured?!" Firo cried in surprise, nearly letting Maiza fall. "How?"
"Explanations later!" Star snapped back. "Get him on the table. I need all the light you can get me and two bowls, one filled with water and the other empty."
With Czes successfully moved out of the way Ennis turned to the cupboard and pulled out the two largest bowls she could find. One Ennis filled with water at the sink before leaving it on the counter and exiting the room, returning a moment later lugging a large floor lamp. This she placed as close to the kitchen table as she could, and still have the cord reach the outlet.
While Ennis was fulfilling Star's requests, Star and Firo laid Maiza on the table on his back. The man let out an audible groan as they laid him down. The table had not been built to fit a human body and Maiza's legs dangled off the end. Now that he was lying down Firo could see the knife wound and the dark, bloody smudge on Maiza's damp shirt.
Once preparations were complete Star pulled the tails of Maiza's shirt from his pants and ripped the lower half of the shirt open, sending buttons clinking and clattering to the floor.
Firo had seen knife wounds before, but never one that looked like this. It was clear where Maiza's body had begun to try and heal itself, some of the tissue had pulled together leaving something that looked like a drawn-on scar. The edged of the wound were smooth, indicating a sharp blade, but the flesh around the wound looked almost gangrenous. The skin was stained a dark color, like something had splattered against the wound, and the surrounding blood vessels were swollen to the point they were visible underneath the skin.
"What… How…?" Firo couldn't decide what kind of question he should ask first. Nothing had made sense since Star showed up at his door.
"Alright, I'm gonna need you two to help me," Star said, her tone deadly serious. She bent over and reached into her boot, pulling out a small knife. She then turned to face Firo and Ennis, holding the knife so the handle was pointing towards the two of them. "One of you will need to keep the wound open."
Firo and Ennis stood there silently. They knew what Star was asking. One of them needed to use the knife to cut open Maiza's stomach as it tried to heal itself. Star obviously had some sort of plan to save Maiza, even if she hadn't explained anything.
Ennis stared, transfixed, at the knife. Maiza need help desperately, but could she do it? Maiza was like a father to Ennis, could she really open up that wound again and again for as long as Star needed? To be honest, Ennis wasn't sure that she could, but her desire to help Maiza made her reach out a trembling hand for the knife.
Before Ennis could take the knife Firo snatched it from Star's hand. His face was pale and strained, but his eyes were determined. As much as Firo hated what he was about to do, it was ultimately to help Maiza, so Firo would endure his own pain as well.
Seeing Firo's decision, Star turned to Ennis.
"I need you to hold the empty bowl," she said simply.
"R-right," Ennis said, turning to take the empty bowl. As she turned she glanced at Firo out of the corner of her eye. She knew how much this would hurt him, Firo thought of Maiza as a father figure just like Ennis. It would be hard on the both of them, but somehow Ennis felt as though Firo had grabbed the knife first more to spare her the pain of having to keep Maiza's wound open than anything else.
Star grabbed the bowl full of water and turned back to the table. She placed the bowl next to Maiza. Firo was standing on her right, the knife in his hand, and Ennis stood to her left. Star reached into her pocket and pulled out the necklace that she had used to banish the Oschaert. Firo and Ennis couldn't help but stare at it as the silver pendant caught the light.
"What's that?" Firo asked, having never seen a pentagram before.
"A pentagram…?" Ennis said in a slightly breathless tone. She had some knowledge of the symbol from the memories of the alchemist she had consumed, but what good would alchemy do here?
Star dipped the pentagram into the water.
"Bless this water, let it drive out all illness and poison leaving only purity behind."
After the incantation Star pulled the pentagram from the water and dropped it on the table. She lifted the bowl so the edge was near Maiza's wound. She glanced up at Firo to make sure he was ready. Firo gave a slight nod, his face grim and determined. Star then turned to Ennis.
"I'll need you to catch the water in the bowl after it comes out of Maiza's wound," Star instructed. Ennis just nodded like Firo.
Star tipped the bowl towards Maiza's wound. The water flowed into the wound as if directed through a channel. When the bowl was half emptied Star placed it aside before putting her hands on Maiza's stomach. She began murmuring in a low voice. The words sounded strange and foreign. She began to massage the area around the wound, moving her fingers in small circles away from the wound.
Ennis and Firo stood tense and ready for action. Adhering to Star's instructions was going to be awkward. In order for Ennis to get the bowl near Maiza's wound she would need to reach under Star's left arm. And for Firo to use the knife to keep the wound open he would need to reach over Star's right arm. The three of them were going to literally be working on top of each other which would make it easy to get in each other's way.
Star slowly moved her hands away from the wound, continuing to make the same circular motions. She moved her hands out about six inched before pushing back towards the wound. As she did so, dark water began to spill from the wound. Somehow Ennis managed to catch all of it in the bowl. Once the water began to flow out Maiza's wound began to heal itself. Firo bit his lower lip and pressed the knife in to the part of the injury that was still open and drew the blade along the old wound path. Maiza let out a groan of pain that caused Firo to flinch.
"You're doing good, guy," Star said, a faint sheen of sweat on her brow. "Just a bit more…"
Star continued with the same motions three more times until she had worked her way around the circumference of the wound. By now Maiza's skin had resumed its normal hue and his veins were no longer visible. The last of the water that came from the wound was nearly clear. Firo made a move to cut the wound open again but Star stopped him.
"It's alright. We're done," she said.
Ennis and Firo both let out a huge sigh of relief. Firo sagged against the table and needed to prop himself up with his elbow. Even though Firo knew it had been to help Maiza, he had felt his stomach clench painfully every time he had to force Maiza's wound open again.
"Let me see that," Star said, gesturing to the bowl in Ennis's hands.
"Uh… sure…" she said. Ennis had no idea what was in the bowl, or what had happened to Maiza. But she was relieved that he was alright now.
Star took the bowl and moved closer to the light to examine its contents. Her brow was furrowed in concentration.
Although the three of them had been, for the most part, unaware of Czes's continued presence among them, Czes had not been unaware of what was going on. He stood rooted to his little corner of the room. The voices of Star, Ennis and Firo were drowned out by the pounding of his heart. The thing that had terrified Czes the most was being devoured by another immortal. And now, there was someone out there who could seriously harm immortals. Maybe even kill them. Despite being nearly as old as Maiza, Czes couldn't help but find himself shaking like a child at the prospect of there being a non-immortal who could do such damage to another immortal.
"Have a jar or something I can put some of this in?" Star asked, turning back to Ennis and Firo.
"What'd you want to keep that stuff for?" Firo asked. As far as he was concerned it should just be tossed out.
"I need to do some tests to figure out what exactly it is," Star replied as Ennis found a Mason jar and lid for Star.
"Thanks," Star said, taking the jar. She placed it in the sink and poured some of the water inside before she screwed the lid on tightly. After that Star poured the rest of the water down the drain, running the tap along with it to dilute the substance.
"Is the bowl safe… to uh… use?" Ennis asked. It had just dawned on her that whatever was in the water had been what was keeping Maiza from healing.
"Wash it out real good a few times," Star replied, leaving the bowl in the sink. "Whatever it was is in the water, not the bowl."
A groan brought everyone's attention back to the table.
"Maiza!" Firo cried in relief. "How are you feeling?"
"You should go lie down," Ennis suggested, returning to Maiza's side.
"Firo…? Ennis…?" Maiza murmured in surprise. "How'd I get here…?"
"Star dragged you here on her back," Firo said, helping Maiza to sit up. "Ennis is right, you should go lay down."
Maiza couldn't help but grin a little. It had been a very, very long time since someone had treated him like an invalid.
"I appreciate the sentiment, Firo, Ennis, but I'm fine now, really," Maiza assured them.
Firo didn't look quite so sure but instead of arguing back he simply helped Maiza into one of the kitchen chairs.
"What happened?" Maiza asked, turning his attention to Star who was still at the sink.
Star turned around and leaned against the counter, her arms crossed the front of her.
"It was some kind of magic," Star said. "Whatever it was, it stopped your body's regenerative process. Judging by the delivery system it had to be some kind of enchantment. Sorcery and Witchcraft are very hard to transfer through physical objects."
"Well that much is obvious," Firo said, feeling slightly more confident now that Maiza was better. "But what we need to know is why."
Star sighed softly.
"I can take a few guesses, but until I can get a better idea of what the enchantment was supposed to do, it's all just speculation," Star answered.
"What'd you mean speculation?" Firo cried out. "They obviously were trying to kill Maiza!"
"Let's not be so hasty, Firo," Maiza said calmly. "Star could just as well have been the target."
Star gave a slight nod at this possibility. Yes, she could have been the target. But something inside Star was telling her that it wasn't likely.
"As for killing Maiza… I'm not sure if that was the real intent or not," Star began. "Whatever the spell was, it clearly kept Maiza from healing himself. But was it just the affected part? If Maiza had been wounded somewhere else would that wound have healed? Did the spell completely negate his immortality, or only partially negate it? All spells, even enchantments, have a life-span. What would have happened when it wore off? Was the effect meant to be temporary or permanent? I think someone is trying to find a way around your immortality. The most likely scenario is that someone wants to kill you, but it might not be the real reason."
"What do you mean they might not be trying to kill us?" Firo asked, incensed. "Why else would they want to… to find a way around us being immortals?"
Star sighed and rested her head in her hands.
"If I had the answers I would be doing something about it right now!" She replied wearily. "One thing you need to understand about the magical community is that logic does not always apply. For all I know someone might just be trying to kill you just because you exist!"
Firo was about to reply but Maiza held up a hand to stop him.
"Look, we're all tired right now. I suggest we rest and discuss this in the morning… with everyone…" Maiza said, placing an emphasis on 'everyone'.
There were nods of agreement from everyone present.