Chapter 22 "Healing at Home"

~ SOLLERTA ~

"Gad…" Chief Reynold was speechless after Nia and I told him about our adventure. He looked like he was going to fall out of his chair.

"Yeah. It's not something I'd wish on anybody." I sat in the waiting area while Nia meandered around. "I know I said this before, but that was the most scared I'd ever been in my life… when Uraya swallowed us."

"I… would imagine so, yes!" he stuttered in agreement. "You're so young, yet you've experienced enough for a hundred lives!"

"We knew that civilization existed inside Uraya, but… I mean… getting eaten alive is… not an easy thing to comprehend." I shivered just thinking about it.

"After what you went through, I wouldn't have blamed you for staying home longer." The chief eyed us with pity.

"I'm bound to have nightmares again," I bemoaned. "It's going to take some time to get reacclimated to normal life."

"Well, it's a good thing you've got the therapy center at your disposal," he reminded me. "And I'm sure they can help you out, too, Nia."

"Huh? Oh, I don't usually get nightmares," she claimed unconfidently.

"I was talking about your loss of power," he clarified. "It's not just for humans. Our doctors specialize in Blades as well."

"You think they can resurrect my power?" She looked skeptical.

"No, but they can put you on the right track. I'm sure it's just a disruption in the flow of ether." His confidence was comforting.

"You sound like you speak from experience, chief," I presumed. "Have you ever seen a Blade lose power before?"

"Yeah, some Blade overdid it in a Cloud Sea Championship many years ago." His eyes lit up as he remembered something else. "Oh! Speaking of which, did you hear the Ardainian bloke talk about last year's championship on the radio?"

"The Special Inquisitor? Yes, we heard." I knew that we'd eventually talk about the big confession that was broadcasted last night.

"What on Alrest is Mor Ardain up to? Why would they cover-up for Uraya of all nations? Everybody knows that they both attacked Regideria after the championship." The chief leaned on his desk and rubbed his forehead. "Politics haven't ever been this confusing before."

"You heard him. It was in exchange for the release of my crew," I reiterated. "Earlier, they were gossiping about a cover-up. I'm just surprised that the Special Inquisitor used it as a bartering tool."

"Wait a minute…" The chief waved his hands around. "Those 'trespassers' he was talkin' about were you and your lot?"

"Yes, although I don't think it was fair to call it trespassing. It was probably another part of the deal that the Urayans squeezed in." The more I thought about it, the more I realized what a big political ballyhoo it turned out to be, and we were right in the middle of it. "They were such wretched people. We'll never go back to Uraya." (Something tells me we'll be back there in the future… somehow…)

"If you ask me, I think you ought to avoid Mor Ardain, too," the chief added. "Seems like you're on death's trail every time you help them out."

"They lured me with money," I confessed. "I won't make that mistake again."

"I'll say. You've made enough to retire already." Chief Reynold pushed his desk aside to reveal a metal safe buried in the ground. He opened it and pulled out two briefcases full of gold and handed them to me. "Right… here's what they left for ya." My jaw dropped.

"Whoa…" Nia started paying attention again.

"Okay then…" I took out a few gold coins and handed them to the chief. "First thing I'm going to do is request for a safe like yours to be installed in my house." He laughed as he accepted the early payment. "There's no way that I'm leaving all this gold unprotected."

"Good idea." He opened to a fresh page in the logbook. "I reckon it'll take a few days to get one from the locksmith."

"That's fine. We have some things to do today, anyway." I looked at Nia who returned a mischievous smile. "We still haven't celebrated our anniversary yet, and I'd like to start by revisiting Dosilla where we first met. The armu-taxis run service there, right?"

"Yeah, but Dosilla isn't the same anymore," he warned. "Renovations commenced a few days ago."

"That's not surprising." I slumped my shoulders in regret. "I knew we shouldn't have left Prudentia last week."

"Queen Sophia officially announced the return of the Blade Pageant," the chief informed us. "It's scheduled for early next year, so they're hustling over there."

"Really? Maybe they haven't touched the Kolier Manor yet," I hoped. "That's where I want to go, specifically."

"You sure you've got the energy for it?" He closed the logbook and put the coins away. "Like I said, I'm surprised that you're here today. You should still be home in bed."

"Oh, we will be," Nia chimed in.

"Ahem… okay, I think we ought to head out to Dosilla now," I steered us away from an awkward turn. "I want to return before sunset."

"Please don't strain yourself," Chief Reynold implored. "You two are important to the Solly Mercs."

"Aw, thanks." I felt a little embarrassed, although it was nice to be appreciated. "We'll see you in a few days." I grabbed one briefcase and handed the other to Nia. As we left camp, we watched Chief Reynold join the gathering of mercs to hand out the morning assignments. (They'd probably riot if they knew how much gold we're carrying.)

~ THERAPY CENTER ~

After dropping off the briefcases at home, Nia and I rode an armu-taxi through the mountains to the 'other side' of the Titan. Our first stop was the therapy center where I set up appointments. Fortunately, Dr. Tenner, their Blade Specialist, was readily available, so we told her about Nia's loss of power.

"So, what happens when you try to draw ether? Do you feel anything?" The doctor studied Nia's ether markings and took notes.

"Nothing. I feel empty, inside and out," Nia described as she held her hands outward. "They don't even glow anymore."

"And you say you were over the Cloud Sea when you exhausted your power?" the doctor asked next. Nia nodded. "I see. What's likely happened is a disruption in the flow of ether." (That's exactly what the chief said, word-for-word.)

"What does that mean?" Nia gave the doc a quizzical look. "Did I… break something important?"

"No, not to worry," Dr. Tenner reassured as she suppressed a chuckle. "It means that you reached your limit when you had no source of ether. All Blades need a constant flow of ether from full-size Titans in order to use their powers, or else they'll run empty and suffer extreme fatigue."

"Yes, I was… definitely used up," Nia recalled from our struggle at sea. "But shouldn't I have recovered by now? It happened one week ago."

"That depends on how long you've been on a Titan since your incident," the doctor explained. "Any Titan will do, as long as it's a big one like ours."

"We were inside Uraya," Nia pointed out. "Can't be any closer to a Titan than that."

"You're probably not far from reaching equilibrium again. There's nothing that I can prescribe for this. The recovery happens naturally." Dr. Tenner clicked her pen and set down her notes. "It may take longer for healer Blades. My field of study hasn't had many cases like this."

"Are healers rarer than most Blades?" I asked, thinking back to when my Ardainian crew resonated with several core crystals in an exhaustive search for an extra healer Blade.

"A lot of Blades can heal, but rarely are there Blades whose main purpose is to heal." The doctor turned her attention back to Nia. "It's truly extraordinary what you were able to do out there."

"See, Nia? I told you that you're special!" I gave her a playful push.

"Oh?" she acted coyly. "And when have you said that?"

"Every time I…" I stopped short of saying something romantic with the doctor still in the room. "Ahem… I've said it a lot."

"There is something I wish to advocate," Dr. Tenner added. "It's not a proven theory, but I've heard that a strong bond between driver and Blade speeds up any sort of recovery process, whether it's a driver's injury or in your case, a Blade's loss of power." Regardless of evidence, it made sense to us.

"Anyway, thanks for taking time out of your day to help us," I shook the doc's hand.

"Yeah, thanks." Nia did the same. "A little peace of mind goes a long way."

"No problem. You two take it easy." Dr. Tenner opened the door and let us out.

"Rem…" Nia tugged at my shirt. "Before we go, there's something that I want to see." We waved to the rest of the staff in the lobby before she led me outside through the back way.

In no time at all, Nia was over by her favorite lake. A couple of harmless flamii birds were situated nearby and didn't mind her presence. This was a picturesque moment that I'd witnessed before. She stood by the water gracefully like a professional model. I almost didn't want to join her and risk ruining her moment alone. Eventually, she noticed my absence and glanced back at me.

"It's so peaceful out here. No wonder they use it for therapy." She breathed in deeply and stretched her arms out as if she were beckoning the wind to whisk her away. "What took you so long? I was waitin' for you to come and…"

"And… what?" I got no answer. Instead, she grabbed me by the hand and pulled us away from the lake.

"C'mon, let's get this trip over with so we can go back home." She noticed the perplexity on my face. "Sorry. I know it's important to you. I'm just…"

"Moody?" I guessed, callously. By now, we'd returned to the main road where another armu-taxi was stationed.

"Sure. We'll go with that." She knew that I was paraphrasing for her.

"Is everything alright? I would've figured that Dr. Tenner's prognosis would make you happy." I started to feel a little concerned.

"I'm fine," she insisted. "I guess being away from home bothered me more than I thought. I just need to feel good about everything again."

"I think you said it best, earlier. Healing begins with a little peace of mind." I called the armu-taxi over and soon we were back on our way to Dosilla.

~ FROUSER'S BRIDGE ~

The armu-taxi dropped us off at the bridge formerly occupied by Frouser the troll who was nowhere to be found. The bridge itself wasn't the same as we remembered it. In fact, it appeared to have been replaced completely. (If they've changed the bridge, then I wonder what they've done inside the city itself?)

~ DOSILLA, old aristocratic city under reconstruction ~

I was shocked to find the whole city in chaos. Men were on both sides of the river, taking down or reinforcing all of the old structures.

"The queen's really serious about reviving this place." There were so many projects happening simultaneously that I started to question if this was a good use of government funds.

"Rem, look!" Nia pointed up towards the country club. The front wall had been knocked down while a new stage was being installed inside. All of the old champion banners bearing the names of past pageant winners were gone.

"And I see that the queen's really serious about bringing back the Blade Pageant as well. They're building that stage out of musclewood." I felt Nia's eyes on me immediately. "What? I happen to know that it's a very rare and valuable wood found only on Gormott."

"Right…" she played along. "I'll give you ten seconds before I call you a nerd again."

"I read a lot of books before I met you," I tried to defend myself. "What's wrong with knowing different things?"

"Fair enough," she backed off. "Since we're here, we may as well check it out…"

"Hey, you two!" One of the men stopped us. "No civilians are allowed here 'til the city's complete. Please leave and stay out of our way!" I was about to argue, but I decided to let it go.

"It's fine." I started to walk away. "We'll be back for the pageant, anyway."

"We will?" Nia thought to herself for a moment. "Oh… don't tell me you want me to enter the pageant…"

"Why not? You're a past champion," I lobbied, but she wasn't having it. "If your beauty was good enough to win back then, then it's good enough to win again."

"My past self can have all the glory she deserves, but right now I don't like the idea of a thousand people judging me for my looks." She crossed her arms and leaned forward like she was embarrassed to be seen.

"The Nia I know doesn't care what people think of her," I reminded her.

"The Nia… you know?" she repeated mysteriously. "Rem, sometimes I think you care too much about me."

"What do you mean by that?" I was genuinely confused.

"You care about where I should be, how I should act, or feel…" She paused to think of more things to list.

"If I ever told you to feel a certain way, then I'm sorry." Truthfully, I couldn't recall any instance of that. "As for caring about where you should be, I thought we already agreed with the Echells that you'll return to them if I die with no family of my own."

"We did agree to that," she admitted, "but sometimes I feel like you don't want to have a child in order for that to happen."

"Now who's caring too much?" I retorted. "Also, assuming I make it into old age, you'll probably be passed down two generations, not one. Neither of us care to plan that far ahead."

"Alright, I'll make a compromise with you," she offered. "We'll enter the pageant, but just this once."

"It's a deal." By now, we'd begun walking upstream towards my final destination on this trip. "Come on, let's see if the old Kolier Manor is still standing."

When we reached the edge of the city, we found the old building intact, but the whole property was fenced off. From what we saw through the chain-links, men had gutted the place in preparation for total restoration.

"Imagine if I hadn't found you," I said as I stared at piles of rubble from inside. "Your core might've been discovered by someone else."

"Maybe…" She covered her mouth as the wind kicked up dust from the construction site. "It'd be better than getting buried in that rubbish."

"Can you tell if a core crystal's in there?" I wondered. "Akebono, the common Blade who helped me, said that he sensed you before I started digging."

"Did he, really?" She looked at me in fascination. "If there are any other cores, then I'm not sensing them. It's easier to track Blades than cores."

"I learn something new every day," I said as I turned to leave. "Anyway, if this is as close as we'll get, then let's go home."

"I'm sorry, Rem," she sympathized. "I know you really wanted to see that ballroom again."

"It's too bad," although I wasn't super disappointed. "We'll probably be able to see it later. There's no way that they'd want to get rid of it!"

"Sure…" she humored me. "You keep on hopin'." With one final glance around, we left Dosilla and rode an armu-taxi all the way back to Hagan Village.

~ HAGAN ~

Our day's journey ended with a romantic dinner by candlelight at our favorite restaurant. Afterwards, we sat near her favorite fountain in the village square and let the evening hours pass by. The gentle splashing of water seemed to wash all our cares away. At one point, she held her hand next to my arm before pulling away to study her palm. Although I didn't feel anything, I got the impression that she did.

Back home, Nia prepared tea while I cleaned up for the night. I stepped out of the bathroom and into the closet where I pulled out a large suitcase which served as a crude bank for all the gold that we'd accumulated. I dug around and retrieved the small jar that I'd bought from Leftheria. Before pushing the suitcase back, I looked at the floor and decided to have the new safe installed there. The Solly Mercs were due to arrive for the task in a few days. In the meantime…

"Hey, Nia." I entered the living room with the jar behind my back. "Have a seat. I want to show you something."

"Oh?" She set down her cup of tea and giddily hopped over to the couch. "What've you got?"

"Just a little something for you, for our anniversary as driver and Blade." I placed the jar on the table. "Check it out."

"Is… that the jar you got from…" She became distracted by its contents. Layers of sand and dirt filled half of the jar. Planted in the top layer was a sprig of saffronia. It no longer glowed like the tree from which it was cut, but it remained beautiful, nonetheless.

"Allow me to get poetic for a moment," I prepared to explain. "There are several layers of soil in there, each from every Titan that we've visited in the past two months. Obviously, you know where the sprig came from." Nia nodded curiously. "We've been through a lot in our first year together. I've endured more than my share of hardships, but none of it matters when I'm with you. This represents all the corners of Alrest that I'd walk… just to see you again, and again, and again." She leaned forward to get a closer view, then she looked back up and smirked. (Is she about to laugh at me?)

"This is so… corny," she responded uninhibitedly, "but it's so you, and I like it."

"I'm glad." I sat down next to her and admired my little science project. "Originally, I planned to use a normal flower, but the saffronia…"

"That's enough talking," she interrupted with a finger to my lips before she pulled me in for a kiss on hers. It felt like it lasted forever.

"Happy belated anniversary, Nia." I was quite satisfied with her reaction.

"Better late than never." She leaned against me with a tired sigh.

"Yeah…" I began to rub her shoulders which elicited a purr from her. "I'm sorry I made a big deal about it when we were stuck in Uraya."

"It's understandable, but speaking of Uraya…" She licked my cheek like a cat. "How 'bout another massage? We are home, after all."

"Indeed, although I know what you really want." I couldn't deny that I wanted it as well. "You go on ahead. I'll be right in." I took the jar and found a spot for it in the bookshelf. By the time I walked into the bedroom, she'd already disrobed and seated herself on the edge of the bed with the blankets thrown off. Seeing her like that made my mouth dry, even though this was nothing new between us.

"Ready when you are." Nia looked at me expectantly.

"Thanks for waiting." I sat behind her and swept her hair away. "My conscience wouldn't let me enjoy this until now."

"We wouldn't have had privacy during our travels, anyway." She glanced back and smiled. "I need to be in a happy place."

"And I know just the place." I returned my hands to her shoulders and gave them a gentle squeeze. "Imagine you're still at that beach in Leftheria, where you sat on the sand with your knees up and arms around your legs." She mimicked the position as I described it. "The cloud tide started to come and brush against you."

"It felt nice," she recalled fondly.

"I bet." I finished with her shoulders and started on her back. "Now imagine that it's water instead of clouds." She moaned ever so softly. "Let the water come in." I applied more pressure as she dropped her arms to her sides. The heat was turning up, and we'd only just begun. I continued to massage her for a few more minutes until she shrugged me off.

"You really can get poetic, y'know?" She turned around and got on her hands and knees. Her excitement was palpable. I was sure of it as I saw it slowly drip down her thigh. She pushed me back onto the bed and helped me remove my nightclothes. Until this point, I hadn't realized how ready I was, myself. She went down to observe me closely before she returned the favor directly.

"Nia…" My voice was shaky. "I think you'd better come up. I'm already close."

"Yeah…" She slid up to kiss me, and I cared not for where her lips had just been. Once we were together, the incredible ride began, but it wouldn't last long. She thrust only a few times before I lost it. The feeling was so rapid and intense that I might've blacked out, but I wasn't sure. When I came to my senses, I felt her shuddering on top of me as she was finishing hers. A minute later, she opened her eyes and looked straight into mine. "Well… is that all you've got?"

"Hold on…" Clumsily, I rolled us over. Before reengaging, I gazed down to appreciate every curve of her body, and she did the same to me. I rubbed her tummy and watched her chest rise with every breath. "Ready?" She responded by reaching up and pulling me back in. It took a moment for the feeling to return in full, but soon we were at it again. Despite being on top this time, I felt like she was still in control with the way her eyes intoxicated me in a look of desire. As the next one was building inside, I felt another tingle on my back where her hands were holding on. The room glowed in a dim blue light, and I stopped moving when I realized what it was.

"Rem?" she whimpered. "Wh… why'd you stop?"

"Sorry…" Before I could explain, she clamped her legs and dug her heels into me. The grand finale had begun, and there was no stopping it.

We lost track of time. The glow diminished. I waited for both of us to catch our breaths, but I couldn't think of anything to say. No words could describe how good I felt. I assumed she felt the same. With the celebration complete, I pulled a blanket over us and kissed her goodnight.

It was a night to remember, for sure.

When I awoke the next morning, she was still beside me, looking positively radiant.

"Mornin', Rem." She gave me a smile that could only mean good news. "My power's back."

"I know." I noticed that the scratches on my arm were gone. "Thanks."

"My pleasure." She sat up and let her hair fall over me. "The doc was right. Being with you was all I needed."

"Healing at home was all we needed," I harmonized, "both mentally and physically." The sun was up, the temperature was just right, and I was more than ready to live a normal life again.

It took us a week to get back into routine. Our missions with the Solly Mercs resumed, and we made sure to keep them local, too. Every so often, we'd see an ad for the Blade Pageant. With the queen's revival plans already in motion, a new era for our Titan was imminent.