Six days later
Olisa was pacing in her foyer. After the debacle that was the Noble's latest attempt at righting power a few days ago, Olisa and Cullen had talked excessively due to their respective concerns. Cullen had decided to try and assert himself more as a Templar, in hopes to balance Meredith some and regain more of his old power. And now, he had finally secured a healing session with Orsino for Olisa.
They had spoke about her seeing Orsino months ago, but something had always come up. The mages were under lock-down, Orsino's duties were too pressing, Meredith would change the times and dates, or there was a blood magic scare. Meredith had to be informed, of course, on the nature of the appointment with any of the Circle's healers, and the Knight-Commander seemed to purposefully delay her appointment whenever a disagreement or a slight on her power was made. Even in light of the embarrassment at the public square, with Cullen's insistent pushing, the Knight-Commander had no other excuses she could make on why the Champion couldn't see the Circle's best healer. She certainly had the coin and standing to secure an appointment after all.
When Olisa heard Cullen's unique, resounding knock on the door, she rushed to answer it before Bodan could even set down the books he was carrying to answer it himself. She threw her arms around Cullen's neck, and they staggered as he tried to regain his balance.
"I am so nervous," she said once they were stable. She laughed, but it was mirthless.
Cullen pulled her closer and kissed her lightly on the lips. "You know you shouldn't be." He pulled back a little and quirked his brow, "Why do you have your bow and light leathers on?"
"I always have Walter with me." She looked over her shoulder at her bow, "Should I not bring him?"
Cullen attempted to repress a smirk, "You're going to a healing appointment at the Circle, not a field healer in the middle of a battle."
Olisa jerkily walked back into her home, "See I told you I was nervous."
Once they docked at the Gallows, Cullen offered, the now more sensibly dressed, Olisa his arm as they walked towards the former prison that was now the Circle of the magi. Orsino met them at the entryway to the hall that led to his office.
The mage smiled and bowed his head respectfully, "Good afternoon Champion. I pray that your way here was uneventful?"
She nodded back to him, "Thankfully it was. So..." She barely resisted the urge to fidget, "Will this... be taking place in your office, or..."
The older elven man smiled gently, "I have a chamber for healing appoints attached to my office." He waved his hand in the direction of his office, as he turned and began to lead them towards it, "It's really just a simple cot, a bookshelf, a couple of chairs, and a cabinet full of supplies. Potions and the like."
When they reached the office, Orsino opened his door and turned to raise an eyebrow at Cullen. "Will the Knight-Capitan be staying? Although it is my preference we conduct the healing in private due to its... sensitive nature."
"Oh," Olisa took a step away from Cullen, her hand still on his arm, "Um... I'll stop by your office when we're finished?" She asked.
Cullen looked quickly between the mage and his beloved. He wasn't certain if he should insist on staying or not, but he decided to listen to Orsino. He was the healer after all. He nodded and took her hand as he too took a step away. "If you need anything, do not hesitate to ask." He lifted her hand, kissed the back of it, and walked towards his own office nearby.
Olisa turned to look at Orsino, whose face was carefully blank. She followed him into his office and then into the healing chamber, when he motioned for her to follow his lead. She sat on the cot instead of one of the chairs, having been used to vising Anders's clinic and accustomed to healing. Orsino pulled a basic healing kit from one of the shelves in the cabinet, and sat in the chair beside the cot as he asked, "Have you been magically healed before?"
Olisa couldn't help the amused smile that pulled at her lips, "I have had magical healing since I was a babe."
"Oh?" Both of Orsino's brows rose, "Ah. So it is true then. You are Malcolm Hawke's daughter." He pursed his lips, "The resemblance is striking, I'll admit. But one can never be certain with the rumors that pass about here."
It was Olisa's turn to look shocked, "You knew Father?"
Orsino sat the kit aside as he answered, "Knew of him, more like. I was only in Kirkwall for a few weeks before he escaped. Everyone heard that story, of course." Orsino rubbed his chin as he continued, "If you don't mind my asking, how is it that a mage's daughter and a woman who... hmm... seems so sensitive towards mages comes to be involved with the Knight-Capitan of the Templar Order?"
Olisa blinked a few times at the man, "That... is a bit personal, and not really relevant to my appointment."
Orsino straighted, "You're right. I apologize Champion. Please forgive my curiosity." He stood to bring his chair towards the nearby table, where he picked up the quill, "I've been informed that you're here due to an injury you received on a wyvern hunt several months ago. Why don't you describe your injury in more detail? What happened at the hunt?"
Olisa tensed a bit more, but tried to keep herself calm as the memory of the hunt came to her mind's eye. "My companions and I had cornered a large wyvern. I went in close once I ran out of arrows, in an attempt to retrieve a few and possibly use my knives. The wyvern focused on me as I got closer. It wouldn't get off my back, and before I knew it, I was in its jaws. I must've passed-out, because when I came to, the wyvern was down and a potion was being shoved down my throat as my sister tried to heal me."
Orsino turned his head, "Your sister? The one in the Guard?"
Olisa shook her head, "My youngest sister, Lizbeth. She's a mage of the Grey Wardens." She swallowed, "She prefers elemental magic over creation, and she is no spirit healer. She tried her best, and with the wyvern antidote, I was as whole as I could be. She said... I had internal scarring. My... womb was severely damaged." She decided to leave out Anders's efforts, as she wasn't sure how much Orsino knew or could be trusted. "And that's why I'm here. To see if the scarring could be corrected, and my womb... made healthy."
Orsino nodded, and made a few notes before he brought his chair back towards the cot. "Superficial scars are easy to heal," he started. "Subcutaneous take more work. And old scars even more. It largely depends on how much was damaged, and how much healthy tissue remains. Typically, a spirit healer will try to promote the healthy tissue to grow and replace the damaged with an internal injury. An untrained healer will more often than not only be able to seal the wounds, and prevent organ failure. Even a well trained Spirit Healer may not be able to prevent scarring if the injury is quite severe."
Olisa nodded at his words, feeling even more nervous, and listened as he continued, "Wyvern venom is a toxic substance that attacks its victims living tissues, specifically those associated with the body's natural defenses. It effectively prevents the victim from defending against the toxin, by destroying its immunity. This would interfere with a healer's abilities when trying to seal wounds and prevent infection too. It would take days, possibly weeks, for a person's body to right itself on its own, even after an antidote was administered and the poison neutralized."
"I did have an infection for a few days afterwards. So..." Olisa began to ask, "you can't do anything about it then?"
Orsino shook his head and smiled, "The infection likely interfered with any efforts your sister made to promote healthy regrowth, and based on what you said, the scarring is probably deep and severe. I won't know what I can do about it unless I take a look at it." Orsino directed Olisa to lay on the cot, and asked her to pull up her tunic to expose her midsection, "Healing of this kind works best with direct contact." He looked at the crosshatching of scars on her skin critically, "I wonder why these are so puckered." His hands started to glow a faint blue color, and he settled them on her skin. His eyes lost focus as he concentrated and probed the area with his magic.
After a few moments of silence as Orsino moved his hands along her skin, he finally removed his hands. He looked at her with a serious expression, "The wyvern... it was an alpha, wasn't it?" Olisa nodded, too concerned and confused to speak. The mage exhaled slowly and rubbed at his face with one of his hands, "An alpha wyvern's poison is more potent. It can be cured with the same antidote as any other, but it does far more damage far more quickly." He clasped his hands in front of him, "I'm afraid I cannot correct the scarring. I am truly sorry Champion."
Olisa's eyes widened, and she gapped at him for a moment. Anders had at least been able to do a little to help. He'd reduced her visible scars to thinner, puckered marks, and correct roughly a quarter of the damage done to her internally – for her womb and other damaged organs. But for Orsino to be able to do nothing? Perhaps the man isn't as good of a healer as Cullen had claimed him to be.
Olisa adopted a mask of indifference, sat up, straightened her tunic and stood. She thanked Orsino for his time and explanations, and left the office promptly. She entered Cullen's office without knocking. Cullen, knowing Olisa as well as he did, noticed right away the tears shining in her eyes. He stood and comforted her as best as he could as she cried into his shoulder.
A bit after Olisa's appointment, Meredith entered Orsino's office upon reading his report on the Champion's health as she had instructed him to do.
"Nothing?" She hissed at the mage as she dropped the few papers of his report onto his desk and slammed her palm on top of them. "You can do nothing to correct a little scar?"
Orsino stood and crossed his arms defensively, "Nearly all of the tissue is damaged beyond repair. There isn't enough healthy tissue to manipulate and replace the damaged. Her own system won't even allow it, as the poison damaged her own body's natural abilities to promote tissue regeneration."
"I do not care for your reasons mage. You are a healer."
Orsino scoffed, "Why do you care about the Champion's health? One would think you would be indifferent if the Champion had the ability to have children or not."
Meredith bristled, "I'm done with you mage. You are useless." She left the office, stomping loudly with her heavy armored boots. This leaves me with one less advantage.
…...
Note: I'm back! :D Oh, and I've updated my profile. So if you want to learn more about your dear author, take a look! Also, I've decided that the 100th reviewer will get a gift! (It's a surprise) So keep on reviewing, and we'll see who gets it! And there'll be a surprise next chapter in the story! *cough* Olisa and Cullen *cough*
P.S. Much of this chapter was inspired by the comments/reviews of csorciere! Thanks! :D
