CH 36
The back door of the Aono mansion burst open. Ruby ran in, followed quickly by a teary-eyed Nana as she carried a limp Chris in her arms. Just above Chris' forehead, her blonde hair was burnt off in a circle, the charred spot in her scalp still wafting off fine tendrils of smoke.
"Put her in her bed!" Ruby commanded, pointing the way. Ruby then bellowed, "YUKARI, TSUKUNE!" as she followed Nana.
The instant Nana had regained her senses from the shock when she tried to touch Chris who was lying on the ground, Nana concentrated on forcing her vectors to work. Not being physically strong enough to lift Chris, Nana needed them to carry the limp form in her arms. Although Nana couldn't stop crying, she focused on getting help. She did her best to concentrate, just as Papa and Lucy had told her to many times before. Nana got Chris inside, and now used a vector to open doors before her, allowing her to walk unhindered as she held what she feared was nothing more than a warm corpse, tight to her.
Chaos erupted in the Aono house as people responded to Ruby's calls. Nana got Chris laid down on her bed, only then noticing the burnt smell coming off Chris' limp form. Nana held Chris' limp, cooling hand in both of hers. Her face crimped up as she looked at Chris' mostly-closed eyes, Nana said in a voice shuddering with fear, "Chris, it's OK now. Ruby is getting Chris help. Chris will be OK ... Chris HAS to be OK."
"Nana, you have to move," Ruby said as she gently made Nana let go and moved her away. Yukari and Angela ran in the room, quickly followed by Apollo and Kahlua.
"What happened?" Yukari asked.
"Lightning strike," Ruby said.
Angela clapped her hands over her mouth in horror at the emaciated form on the bed. "Dear God, is she ..."
"Ohhh no, not Chis!" Kahlua cried in a wail.
Apollo leaned over Chris. Studying her, he said, "There is only one way to save her..."
Nana wandered over to the doll house. Sitting on the floor to lean against it, she watched the group congregating around Chris do what they could to save her. Involuntarily, Nana's limbs twitched in spasms. The shocks were not done yet. Nana winced and shut her eyes, the scene playing in her head again ...
Nana felt bad that Chris was sad. Even though Chris had left for home, Nana loitered near the front door, pondering if she should go after Chris, or talk to Chris tomorrow. Struggling with what to do, Nana heard Chris start yelling. Nana went out onto the porch to see Chris yelling at the sky. As if answering her, a lightning bolt shot down from the sky, striking Chris. Chris fell in a heap.
"Chris!" Nana wailed, and used her vectors to propel herself to the now limp form that had fallen. Dropping down beside Chris, Nana ignored the glow around Chris' body and reached down to lay her flat. Upon contact, Nana saw brief flashes where her hands touched Chris, then what felt like a hammer hit Nana from the inside, slamming her hard.
The next thing Nana knew, she was lying down, staring at the sky. The first thought in her mind was Chris. Nana's whole body felt like there were worm things crawling all through her. Ignoring the creepy worms digging through her feeling and twitches in her muscles, Nana pulled herself up and crawled to Chris, who lay on the ground with thin lines of smoke coming off her.
Finding her voice, Nana screamed for Ruby as tried to get her vectors to come out. Focusing hard, Nana did get them to come out. Blinking away the tears so she could see, Nana carefully picked Chris off the ground as she continued to cry out for help.
Squatting down by the doll house, Nana let out another sob and hugged herself. Ruby wasn't going to let Chris die, Nana had to believe that. Chris was Nana's best friend. Chris wanted to marry Nana, and Nana wanted to marry Chris and be as happy as Lucy was marrying Kouta.
"Nana ... Nana," Ruby said gently as she bent down to get Nana's attention.
Nana looked up expectantly at Ruby. "Is Chris going to be OK?" she asked in a tiny voice.
"We don't know," Ruby said firmly. "Chris is in very bad shape. Would you stay here and watch over Chris?"
Nana nodded and got up, pausing as another wave of twitches ran through her body.
"Nana, are you all right?" Ruby asked with a questioning look.
"Nana is fine. Nana will watch Chris," Nana said firmly.
Ruby nodded and motioned to the bed. "We've done all we can. Do you know how to listen for a heartbeat?"
"Nana knows. You put your ear on their chest and listen for the thumpy-thump."
"Right," Ruby agreed. "We want you to stay with Chris, and listen for the thumpy-thump. It will be slow and not very strong, but listen closely. If you don't hear it, you come get someone right away. Do not hesitate."
"Nana can do that," Nana said, glad she could do something for Chris.
Ruby filed everyone out in the hall, leaving Nana alone with Chris.
Climbing up in the bed, Nana noticed Chris' eyes were closed now. Someone had removed Chris' clothes and covered Chris up with a sheet and blanket. Lying beside Chris, Nana gently laid her head on Chris' chest. Chris felt ... shriveled. Nana swallowed the urge to cry again and listened closely. It took a few seconds, then Nana heard a soft thump, then another softer thump. It didn't sound normal, but strained and weak.
The burnt smell was still on Chris, and Chris was bone-thin from somehow being shriveled. Nana knew none of this was good, but she couldn't cry for Chris now. Nana had to keep listening for the thumpy-thump.
.
In the gathering in the hallway, Tsukune asked his most pressing question. "Was Chris attacked?"
Ruby put a hand to her head. She shook her head and waved a hand, saying, "Chris did this to herself."
"Chris hit herself with lightning?" Yukari asked, not believing it.
Letting out a huff, Ruby explained. "Chris does have great power. Chris also has had no guidance as to how to harness that power. Being religious, Chris believes God guides her life. I heard Chris yelling, blaming God for Nana's condition. Just before the lightning struck, I heard Chris demand to God to do something. Right after that, I felt magic and then the lightning came. Being angry complicated matters. Chris caused the lightning, and brought it down on himself out of agony for Nana."
"Dear God," Angela whispered.
"I was wrong about Chris," Ruby said to herself. "I had thought Chris had no elements to focus her power on. That was a wrong assumption. Chris uses faith to focus ... his power."
Angela eyed Ruby and asked, "His?"
Ruby nodded. Slowly, she said, "The lightning hit Chris on the head. From what I found, the damage from the charge went around his skull, hopefully saving the brain from damage. It passed through the skin and fat of his neck, and along the upper torso the same way, burning away fat and soft tissue under the skin. Upon coming to the abdomen, the damage reached into Chris' guts. Part of Chris' liver was ... burned away, as was the left kidney ... and all of Chris' girl parts. Ovaries, womb, birth canal, were all cindered jerky. I removed all the dead flesh within. Chris is missing parts of his intestines, but there are enough left to work, and Chris still has boy parts, but I have no idea if they are functional."
Looking off at nothing, Ruby said, "From my window, I heard Chris cursing her God for letting Nana have such a short life span. Chris screamed for God to take him instead. Chris sounded nearly insane with rage. Then the lightning struck. I looked out to see Chris fall. Chris ... glowed as he lay there. Nana appeared and tried to help Chris, and was knocked off her feet by a secondary charge. She was up by the time I got to them."
"Is Nana in danger?" Apollo asked.
Ruby shook her head. "Nana is still feeling the effects of being hit, but I have a gut feeling those may be healing charges," she said.
Yukari nodded absently. "Chris caused the lightning to heal Nana, even as it destroyed her... him I mean," she said, slightly confused.
"Is that possible?" Tsukune asked.
Ruby shrugged and said, "So far, that lightning bolt is doing exactly what Chris wanted. With all the internal damage, if Chris survives, he will be very prone to sickness, and quite possibly will have a much shorter life span."
Holding her hands over her mouth, Kaluha whined, "Ohhh, such a brave and noble sacrifice!"
"Is there anything we can do?" Moka asked.
Ruby motioned to Apollo. "Apollo injected some of his blood, with is also part Shinso, into Chris to keep him alive. I removed all the dead tissue so there is little chance of infection. That is all we can do. That and nurse him ... if and when he wakes up," she said.
"If?" Moka asked.
"There is so much damage, Chris may die anyway," Ruby said sadly. "If he's still alive in three days, he should pull through. Nana is with Chris. If he dies, she'll let us know."
"Why Nana?" Tsukune asked.
"Because Nana needs something to do right now," Ruby said. "And if Chris dies, I am sure they would rather spend their last moments together."
"Can't we get him to a hospital?" Kurumu asked. As everyone stared at her, she shrugged and said, "Just asking."
Fifteen minutes later, an ambulance went screaming up Witch Hill to the Aono mansion.
.
Chris felt like someone had tried to crush her. Everything hurt from the feeling on her head and chest of her skin being ripped off, down to the elephant that had to be sitting on her stomach and she swore someone had plugged her legs into a wall socket. Coming to consciousness with a moan, Chris cracked her eyes open to see Nana's blurry face over her. Chris tried to say Nana's name but her throat seemed to be frozen shut.
"Ahhh, finally!" Nana said as she beamed Chris a smile.
Chris tried again, her voice coming our as a gravely croak. "Where ..." she started, but it hurt too much to talk.
"We're in the hospital," Nana explained, "Chris has tubes running in Chris' arms and Nana thinks the ones up Chris' nose don't feel very good either, but the doctor says they have to be there. Nana has got water here for Chris."
A Styrofoam cup with a straw appeared. Nana guided the straw to Chris' lips. Chris tried to suck in some water and winced from the effort. A second try got some water in her mouth, a slight bit trickled down her throat that spasmed as she swallowed. Chris let out another moan.
"Only a bit at a time, that's what the nurse said," Nana explained. "A little more," she coaxed.
Four tries later, Chris managed to get some water all the way down to her stomach. Chris felt very tired. If it wasn't for Nana being right here, she would have allowed herself to pass out again. "How ... what happened?" Chris croaked out.
Nana blinked. "Chris doesn't know Chris got whacked on the head by a lightning bolt?" she asked.
Chris shook her head. Her neck crackled with pain at the motion.
"Yeah, this bolt of lightning came down," Nana said and hit herself on the head, "And popped Chris right on the head! Nana ran to help Chris, but the glowy stuff on Chris whacked Nana. Nana got up and carried Chris to the Aono's house." Pausing, Nana frowned and said, "Chris should probably not yell at that God person. I think God got angry with Chris."
As Nana sketched out the details, Chris began to remember bits of what happened. Yes, she was angry and yelling. Apparently God had given his answer to her ranting. That got her thinking about Nana's curse to die much to soon.
Nana frowned and scolded, "Nana wants Chris to promise Nana to not do that again! Nana wound be very, very sad if Chris dies!"
"I'm so sorry, Nana," Chris said, thinking about Nana's short life.
Nana bobbed her head and said again, "Promise Chris won't do that again."
Chris tried to crack a grin, which ended up in a grimace. "Promise," she croaked out.
The curtain by the bed fluffed out as a nurse came in. "Ahh, he's awake I see," she said happily. Turning briefly to Nana, she asked, "Is he behaving himself?"
Nana nodded.
The nurse checked some clear plastic bags hanging over the bed, and a couple machines on the wall. Casting Chris a smile, the nurse patted Chris on the arm and said, "You are one lucky guy! Not only did you survive a lightning strike to your head, but you also have Nana to watch over you. You better be real nice to her once you're up and around," she said in a good-natured scolding. The nurse wrote something on a chart at the end of the bed and left.
Chris looked at Nana. "Him?" she asked.
Nana cringed as she looked down at her fingers she began playing with. "About that... Ruby said the lightning ... kinda took away all Chris' girl parts. Chris is nothing but a guy now," Nana said with a shrug, then added, "Nana is sorry if Chris really misses the girl parts, but Nana's kinda glad the boy parts are still there," she offered with a half smile.
Chris gapped at Nana and asked in a rough squeak, "How did lightning do that?"
"Nana doesn't know, but Ruby does. Ruby will be here after school lets out," Nana said.
Him. Chris was so used to being a girl, for anyone to say 'he' was a 'guy', felt really strange. Mother Superior had always insisted it was better if Chris took the female role. That was no longer possible now. Suddenly it was all but impossible for Chris to hold 'his' eyes open. "Nana..."
"Chris looks really tired," Nana said. Petting 'his' face, Nana said in her kind tone, "Chris should sleep. Nana will be here when Chris wakes up."
"OK," Chris said softly, and fell back asleep.
.
The new director called Agent Moulden into his office. Moulden went in and sat as the man motioned him too.
"You're the Agent that knows a lot about these monsters in Japan?" he asked.
Moulden shrugged. "I only know what I've found through reports, news items and concert videos."
"Concert videos?"
"Yes, the singer of the band Flying Yokai, Aono Kurumu, is some kind of monster. By studying her and looking up mythical creatures, it is possible that she is a Succubus," Moulden explained. "Although her actions do not track in sync with what legends say."
"I see. This report of yours claims she is the one who hypnotized all our agents that showed up at the site?"
"That's right Sir. All but myself and two other agents. Lord Aono wanted to talk with us, that was why we were not affected."
"And this Lord Aono basically said, back off or else?"
"Yes, Sir."
The Director pulled out a photograph and pushed it over to Agent Moulden. "Here is a man who can most likely tell you the most about these ... people- for lack of a better term. His name is Sir John Smith, he lives very close to the place called Witch Hill, and interacts with these monsters on a daily basis. Go to Japan, talk with Sir Smith, and find out everything you can."
Moulden eyed the picture, then put it in his pocket. "Sir, I don't speak Japanese," he said cautiously.
"Sir Smith does come from England, so that is not a concern. Sir Smith can tell you if these things are, or could become a threat to the US. That is what we desperately need to find out. The man we sent previously has been out of contact for a while now. Find out what happened to him if you can, but the main priority is to find out everything you can from Sir Smith."
"Right, Sir."
"Your plane leaves in seven hours. Someone from the consulate will meet you upon arrival. Good luck, Agent Moulden."
.
Chris awoke this time to hear talking.
"Dear, are you sure you don't want a break? You haven't left this room in five days," Mother Superior's voice said.
"Nana is fine. Besides, Chris hasn't left either."
Chris opened his eyes to see Nana sitting on the foot of the bed, talking to Mother Superior and Ruby.
"All we're saying is you look tired, dear," Ruby said. "Someone else can take care of Chris for a while."
Nana shook her head. "No, Nana wants to take care of Chris. Besides, Nana knows Chris is shy, so who else can give Chris sponge baths?"
Looking past Nana, Mother Superior met Chris' eyes. "Ahh, look who is awake."
"How do you feel?" Ruby asked.
"Better than I did," Chris admitted. Chris' voice no longer had the roughness in it, but it did sound a bit deeper.
Raising an eyebrow, Ruby said, "You are lucky to be alive." Coming over to pull a chair up beside the head of the bed, Ruby sat down and asked, "Chris, do you know what happened?"
"I made God angry at me," Chris stated.
Ruby shook her head. "You brought that lightning bolt down on yourself," Ruby stated.
Nana stared at Ruby and asked, "Why would Chris do that?"
Ruby shifted her eyes briefly to Nana, then returned her gaze to Chris. "Do you remember what you were saying?"
Chris nodded. Feeling embarrassed by her outburst, he said, "I was angry ... I didn't want Nana to die young ..."
"You yelled for God to take you and not Nana," Ruby reminded him.
Chris nodded.
"Your insides are damaged, so much so that you've lost or only have partial use of many organs. A charge stayed on your body until Nana touched you, then in transferred to her. Nana suffered shocks long after any natural charge would have dissipated," Ruby explained. "That bolt did exactly what you wanted it to do. You have weakened your own body, and most likely, healed Nana's."
Chris looked at Nana and said, "If Nana can live a full life, I'm good with that."
Nana gapped at Chris as she touched her stomach. "Chris did that for Nana?" she asked weakly.
"You fool!" Ruby snapped, causing everyone to gape at her. Furrowing her brows, Ruby sternly said, "You do not understand! You have the power, Chris, you could have cured Nana and NOT destroyed yourself! Your God was not to blame for this, YOU are. You used magic when you were angry, not caring about the consequences!" Calming herself, Ruby kept on in a stern tone, "Your magic is based on your faith. You pray hard enough, want it bad enough, and it happens. Not because some deity grants your wish, but because you make it happen."
Chris stared at Ruby, his mind whirling. Chris remembered praying to be someplace safe away from those mean girls at the convent, then he was sent away to Witch Hill. Chris had prayed for Kahlua to be free of having to kill people, and Kahlua arrived, no longer the assassin she had been. "I ... am doing it?"
"Yes. Magic should only be used when you are in control and focused. To do otherwise is to invite disaster," Ruby said firmly.
Chris eyed Ruby warily and asked, "Are you saying God isn't real?"
"I did not say that. What I said was you use your faith as the focal point of your magic." Trying to get Chris to understand, Ruby said, "I use elements of the Earth and the forces of nature to cast my magic, as do most Witches. When I cast, I know what elements I am manipulating, as well as the forces being used to do so. You on the other hand, use your faith and sheer will to make things happen. That means you are powerful, and also unpredictable. In the future, please keep that in mind. When you pray for something, be specific, focused, and calm."
Chris turned to Mother Superior. "Mother ... can that be true?"
Angela let out a sigh and nodded. "Ruby is making much sense, dear. I always knew you had the Gift, and I did my best to protect you from others finding out," she said sadly.
Ruby was on one side of Chris, all the monitors and food tray was on the other, so Nana crawled up on the bed to straddle Chris as she cast Chris a soft gaze as tears formed in her eyes. "Chris did that for Nana?" she asked in a tiny voice.
Looking up into Nana's innocent face, Chris nodded. "For you, Nana."
Nana's face lost the soft look and crimped up in anger. Her right arm came up and cocked back.
CRACK
Stunned by the slap, Chris gapped up at Nana, as did Ruby and Angela.
"Doesn't Chris think Chris is important to Nana?" Nana asked angrily. "Nana wants Chris to live a long time too! Doesn't Chris know that what hurts Chris, hurts Nana? If Chris did this to himself to help Nana then ... Nana doesn't want it! Chris will heal Chris or ... Nana will never speak to Chris again!"
Using her vectors, Nana jumped backwards off the bed to land beside a shocked Angela. Without another word, Nana stormed out of the room.
Dead silence reined for a few minutes. No one had ever seen Nana angry before, let alone mad enough to slap someone.
Angela turned her stare from the door Nana had marched out of and eyed Chris. "I do believe you have been given an ultimatum," she mussed.
"But ..." Chris said weakly.
"I strongly suggest you pray to heal yourself," Ruby said.
"That's a selfish prayer," Chris replied. "Selfish prayers are not answered."
"It's not for you, it's for Nana." Ruby countered.
A nurse came in, looking flustered. "That horned girl that was here, are one of you her relatives?" she asked.
"Yes, I'm her mother," Ruby said.
"Could we have some help, please? She's down the hallway crying, and tearing up a wheelchair."