Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable in this story. They are owned by Kore Yamazaki. I just play with her characters. Skele-Gro is owned by J.K. Rowling; I'm just borrowing it.

Author's Notes: If you've reached this far, thank you for still continuing to read this story! :)

Chapter 8: A Salve for the Scars of the Past

It was on a Sunday night when Chise sat on the grass in the hill in the gardens, looking at her watch from time to time. She had been there for more than three hours now, and though the moon was a brilliant crescent and the stars were sparkling before her, she let out a heavy sigh. Professor Ainsworth—no, he was Elias to her now—was nowhere. It was the first time that he was absent ever since they had started their daily nighttime rendezvous, and though she knew that he wasn't obligated to, the fact that he didn't let her know that he would not come tonight somehow bothered her.

She was torn with two different kinds of worry. The first was of how he perceived what happened between them last night. She called him a friend, and though it seemed so forward of her, remembering that he didn't seem disturbed by it—and even welcomed it—calmed this worry. The second was about what he was doing by being bound to the College. Was the reason for his absence tonight because of his inescapable enslavement to this certain magical institution? Was he out there somewhere fighting magical creatures, hunting Sorcery materials, or doing whatever his taskmaster bid him to do? She shivered as a chill went up to her spine. Whatever Elias was doing, she hoped that he was alright.

Chise sighed again as she looked at her watch once more. It was now 11:07 pm. She should really head back to her dormitory now. She reluctantly got up, straightened her legs, and dusted off her khaki pants. Musing that Elias would explain to her his absence tonight once she met him again, she started her trek back down the hill. She was already halfway down her descent, however, when she heard a loud thunderclap. She looked back to the top of the hill, and her eyes widened in shock at what she saw. There, lying on the ground near the lone tree, was Elias's unconscious form. She rushed to it as quickly as she could.

"Elias!" She called out frantically, as she kneeled down near him. He was lying on his torso, with foot-long, thick stings sticking out of him, straight through his chest and shoulders. Blood was quickly pooling on the ground before them, staining the blades of grass red. "Elias!" Chise called out again to wake him, while trying to move him from his prone position. She could only lift him a small fraction, and she reached underneath him to find that it was his abdomen that was bleeding badly. She thought hard at what she needed to do. For sure, she had to get him to the infirmary. But how? She didn't have enough strength to carry him, and she could barely even move him. She looked around for any sign of Fae, but even Bael was nowhere. And even if she was here, what could a fire sprite do?

You can do anything with magic, Ms. Hatori. Keep crops from ever rotting. Turn stones into gold. Anything. Such is the beauty of Magecraft.

Elias's words resounded in her ears from a conversation they had once in their daily nighttime rendezvous before she declared that he was her friend. She closed her eyes as she remembered that moment. She had asked what to him was the main difference between Sorcery and Magecraft, and that was his answer. Magic was always free—something you can shape into anything you want. And she herself was brimming with it as a Sleigh Beggy. She could do this. With magic she could carry Elias to the infirmary to get him healed. So she concentrated with all her might, willing all the magical energy she could muster to take shape into the form she wanted: Gravity. With magic she could defy the laws of gravity around Elias, and she could carry him.

He didn't have to float high up, maybe just a few feet from the ground, just enough for her to move him and transport him. She felt magical energy flowing out of her as she focused on lifting Elias. She was able to for a few seconds, however, she felt Elias's natural weight counteracting with her that she unfortunately lost her hold of him. She would need more magical energy, more than what her magical bindings would allow her to generate and release. But only the Reasearch Labs knew how to deactivate them. So she gritted her teeth, and with sheer willpower, disregarded the suffocating obstruction she felt at the very core of her being. Instead, she imagined her magical energy like a sudden surge of water breaking through a dam's walls.

She would save Elias. She would save her friend even if it kills her.

xxxx

Elias woke up with mental confusion as he took in his surroundings. The last thing he remembered was lying on the ground in the dense woods of Calf Hey after he ate the Manticore's life force. He knew there was poison in his blood, and that he had injuries major enough to lose his life. But where he was right now didn't seem to be the afterlife. He surmised that that didn't include a single bed, a side table, and a white curtain upon entry. Ah, he was in the infirmary, lying on his torso. How he got there from Calf Hey though was a mystery. He did feel a vague sensation of floating in between though. Why?

"Are you awake now? You've really done it this time, Ainsworth. I don't know if you just trust that I could always heal your injuries, or you are just plain suicidal, but I have my limits, you know." Alexandra chided with utmost seriousness as she came to his view on his left, and Elias tilted his head to her direction. He knew that if her eyes weren't covered by her caterpillar head, she would be giving him the glare of doom right now.

"Wha di…" Elias stopped for a moment as he noticed something wrapped on his jaws and fangs preventing him from speaking clearly. "Wha ish dis? Wha di du do?"

"See, even your fangs and jaws were fractured by the way." Alexandra shook her head in dismay. Then one of her four hands pointed to the bandage covering each of his upper and lower jaws. "I applied Skele-Gro on them so they would heal. That will stay there for at least three days."

Elias touched each of his upper and lower jaws with his left hand, and sure enough he felt two thick cloths wrapping around them. He also moved his tongue inside his skeletal mouth and tasted bitter medicine between his fangs.

"Anyway, to further answer your question, I filtered the Manticore poison in your blood—it's gone now, but you will still feel like hell for some time. I also patched up the bites on your abdomen; that wound was so severe it's a good thing you don't have innards. Then I took out all the venomous spines that were lodged in you, especially on your chest and shoulder. Honestly, an inch higher and the spines would have reached your heart. You could've died, Ainsworth."

"Mayt hab bin beter…"

Alexandra smacked his skeletal head with her medical clipboard. "Don't insult the person who saved you. Yes, you told me before that you want to die and leave this place, I get it, but right now it would be the same as saying that the effort of the person who saved you was worthless."

"Sshaved? Peson?" Elias asked, confused. Alexandra pointed to his right, and he noticed Chise sleeping at the end of his hospital bed, leaning forward with her head placed on her arms.

"She said she found you on the hill in the gardens almost dead. She even carried you here alone with all her strength and magic. I've never seen someone struggle so hard to release magic from their bindings. The air crackled so much it sent shivers down my spine. She even helped me with my medical procedures with you. She never left your side since then. So, do yourself a favor and thank her when she wakes up."

Elias eyes widened in shock after he listened to Alexandra recount the events of the night before. How could he have forgotten? Chise was the sole reason he fought his impending death as he was lying on the ground in Calf Hey. She was the only reason he wanted to return to the College and not succumb to the temptation of freedom physical demise would have given him. He didn't know why he teleported to the hill in the gardens instead of the infirmary, maybe because he badly wanted to see her. Still, he was grateful for her, for she cared enough about him to get him medical care and save him.

As he recalled his fight with the Manticore, Elias suddenly remembered something he wanted to ask the College's physician. "Ren…red?"

"Oh, him. Stubborn as always. The bite was a clean cut, so I just patched up his shoulder by disinfecting it and stemming the bleeding. He didn't even want to spend a night here. But he was the one who told me in advance about the Manticore, and that you might need help afterwards. I just didn't know your injuries would be this extensive. Still, a Manticore is a Manticore. You two are probably the only people I know who survived an encounter with one." Alexandra said, while fiddling with the IV drip beside Elias.

Elias exhaled a breath through his open mouth. He couldn't do it with his snout for it was also unfortunately covered by the bandage on his upper jaw. He was relieved though, knowing that Renfred was alright. It meant that his sacrifice of fighting the Manticore alone was not for nothing.

"So, since you can't use both your jaws right now, your food for three days will be through here, ok?" Alexandra took the IV drip and showed it to Elias. Then she gestured to Chise who was still sleeping soundly. "Oh, and when you're finally feeling brave, do wake up your hero, ok?"

xxxx

Chise opened her eyes and found herself somewhere else. She was lying on a deck in front of what looked like a cabin. How she got there, she didn't know. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep by leaning on her arms at the end of Elias's bed in the infirmary. Had she unintentionally transported herself somewhere? She stood up and took stock of her situation. She seemed fine and well, noting that nothing was different. But as she looked at her hands, she was shocked to see that they were slightly transparent. Wondering how it happened, she rushed to the wooden fence of the deck in front of her and tried to touch it. Her hand slipped through the wood. She was about to mutter to herself about how surreal it was when she heard a woman's voice call out from within the cabin.

"Elias!" The woman, an olive-skinned, black haired one wearing a white lab coat and a monocle, came out of the cabin door. Chise stilled herself, bracing for the instant surprise of being found standing at the deck of the woman's cabin. Yet the woman didn't even notice her. It was as if the Sleigh Beggy was invisible. The woman then rounded the deck and gazed over the water and the jetty beyond searching for—the name suddenly registered to Chise's head. Elias. Did they know the same Elias? What was happening?

"Elias, where are you? Lunch is ready!" The woman called out again and, finding that no one answered, she shook her head. "Oh, where could he be? At the greenhouse perhaps…" The woman turned and headed to the right side of her cabin. Not knowing what to do, Chise followed the woman, determined to find out if the Elias she knew and the woman knew were the same person. They treaded a grassy path that stretched along the side of the cabin. Then after walking around fifty meters, Chise saw a small greenhouse. To its right was a tree standing on top of a little mound, and beside it, reading a book while sitting on the grass, was Elias. Wolf-skull and two ochre horns and all. The very same Elias Chise knew, except he was without his black embroidered robe. He was still wearing a white oxford shirt, a black waistcoat, and black trousers though.

"There you are, Elias! I've been looking for you. Lunch is ready. Come, let's eat." The woman smiled as she regarded Elias, bending down while placing her hands on her thighs so both of them were eye-level. Elias though only lowered his hold of his book, not even shutting it close. His crimson eyes were troubled, and the woman noticed it immediately. "What's wrong, Elias?"

"Rahab, how do I smile? How do I frown?" Elias hesitantly asked. His voice filled with utter confusion. Even Chise struggled to answer his question as she heard it. How would someone like Elias smile, when his whole head was a wolf-skull?

The woman—now Rahab to Chise as she heard Elias address her—didn't even flinch or struggle to answer. Within a heartbeat she said, "Well, smiling is easy. For humans, you just open your mouth slightly and stretch its muscles from side to side, as if trying to reach both of your ears. But then again…"

"I don't have facial muscles." Elias shut his book and placed it on his side on the grass. "But… like this?" He turned and looked at Rahab, opening his jaws lightly which ultimately bared his sharp fangs. It was no different from a small, normal parting of his skeletal mouth, but Chise saw that his eyes sparkled, as if all the lack of facial expression was made up by the intensity of emotion in his two crimson orbs.

Rahab too noticed it, and she held the sides of Elias's wolf-skull face tenderly. "Yes, yes. Like that. You know, you have a beautiful smile, Elias."

"Thank you." Elias glowed at Rahab's compliment. After a moment, he tilted his head to the side and asked again. "How does one frown then?"

"Hmm, one usually frowns when one is sad, but that is something I wish I would never see on your face. Because I'll always wish that you are happy, Elias." Rahab answered him sincerely, and Elias only nodded his head. Then Rahab smiled sweetly and took his hand helping him to stand up. "Come, it's time for lunch."

The two then headed back to the cabin, with Elias letting himself be led by Rahab. Chise stood rooted to her spot. She felt something indescribable from watching their conversation. She didn't know who Rahab was to Elias, but the Sleigh Beggy was somewhat amazed at their short, familiar exchange. The Elias here though seemed a little different. He looked slightly the same, but his overall aura seemed more innocent, as if he was younger and more inexperienced with the world. Were these Elias's memories then? She absolutely didn't know if they were. And if they were, how was she able to see them? But gradually, everything around her started to shift and fade. The little mound she was standing on, the lone tree on top of it, the greenhouse, the grassy path, and the cabin, they all started to dissolve. And as they vanished into blackness, she heard a woman's anguished cry.

"NO!—"

"Shishe… Shishe…"

Chise woke up and found herself back in the infirmary, a warm hand patting her head softly. "W-What?" She wondered why she was at the infirmary suddenly, and then she remembered the events of the night before. Elias. Almost dying. Her struggle of releasing magic from her bindings. The medical procedures with Alexandra. She straightened her back abruptly and turned her head to find Elias sitting upright on his bed and gazing at her curiously.

"You're alright! I found you on the hill unconscious and there was so much blood and… and…" Chise stammered as her worry and relief seemed to have mixed together. In an instant she flung an embrace to his lap, mindful of not hitting his injuries.

"Cant shpeak well. But shenk yu. Shenk yu, Shishe…" Elias looked down at her and placed a hand on her head, brushing her strawberry-colored hair. This was the third time that she embraced him, and he found that he will never get tired of it. After a few seconds, he heard a sniffle from the Sleigh Beggy. Concerned, he placed both of his arms around her and comforted his one and only friend. "Shishe… dont cry."

After she had calmed down, Chise drew back from their embrace. She wiped her eyes and nose with the back of her hands. "Oh… it's just that… I was so worried. So worried that you wouldn't make it… but now I'm glad that—"

"Ainsworth, I informed Renfred that you are now awake. He said he'll come by today and—" Alexandra announced as she parted the white curtain near Elias. Then she paused, and a smile unintentionally formed on her face as she saw Chise. "Chise. Glad you're awake. It's still 7:35 am. If you hurry, you can still attend your classes."

"Yes, but after class, can I come back here and… " Chise eyes darted from the College physician to Elias.

"Yer welkam tu." The Magus answered back, his voice gentle and his heart feeling warm at Chise's concern for him.

Chise smiled brightly at him in return. "I'll be back then. I'll see you later." She said, and then she took her leave.

xxxx

Chise sat in her seat beside Lian fidgeting uneasily. She was in her History of Magic and Sorcery class, and though it was the first class of the day, she kept looking at the classroom clock and couldn't wait for all her class periods to be over. There was only one thing on her mind: visiting Elias again in the infirmary. She knew that his condition was no longer in danger and was fine now, but she couldn't help but worry about him still. She wondered what he was doing. Did the prospect of recovering in bed all day also fill him with boredom? Perhaps she should have asked him if there was a book he wanted to read—

"Chise?" Lian called her out of her reverie. She suddenly looked at him and noticed that his hand was extended and holding a slip of paper. Inferring from her confused expression, Lian knew that she was not listening to Professor Blake and was unaware of the current activity. So he explained in a hushed tone, "This is for the mentorship program."

"Mentor…ship?" She repeated, dumbfounded as she took the slip of paper Lian was handing to her. She suddenly felt regret at not listening to Professor Blake earlier.

"Yes. Kind of like having a personal coach. You choose from any member of the staff, and they will help you and give you advice on any difficulty you might have in your studies."

Chise looked at the paper. It was a short form which had two lines to indicate the student's name and the proposed mentor's name. "Any member of the staff will do?" She asked Lian again because her mind was already immediately set on the mentor she wanted to choose.

"Yes. But you need to have them sign the paper too. It has to be a mutual agreement."

Chise nodded, understanding what he meant. For some reason, only one name floated on her mind. She only hoped that the person she wanted to be a mentee of would agree.

xxxx

Elias sat on his bed in the infirmary feeling bored out of his mind. There was just nothing to do other than let his body recover from his injuries. And since that was solely an involuntary process and something he couldn't control, he sighed in defeat. Sleeping could help, but he didn't feel particularly sleepy at the moment. So his thoughts wandered at the recent events that happened to him.

He fought a Manticore to the death. And when he too was on the verge of dying, the thought of Chise spurred him to fight to live that he unintentionally teleported himself to the hill in the gardens. And true to her promise of being a friend to him, she helped him get medical care by transporting him to the infirmary. And she stayed the night, never leaving his side just so she could be sure that he was completely alright. Then today she looked so relieved to see him awake and stated her desire to come visit him again. He didn't know what an ideal friend was, but to him, she was everything that he could ask for.

"Goodness! What a sight you are."

Renfred parted the white curtain near Elias's bed and sat down on a chair, interrupting the Magus's thoughts. Elias eyed him up and down, and though he had lost his left arm and quite a lot of blood, his countenance didn't seem to have a pale appearance. If anything, it was as if nothing happened to him at all. Yet the empty left sleeve of his new trench coat said it all.

"Shame to yu." Elias muttered, careful not to stare too much at Renfred's left side.

"Shame to me? Or same to me?" The Sorcery professor teased, undeniably poking fun at Elias's inability to speak clearly at the moment.

Elias didn't mind though. Finally, he pointed at Renfred's left side, his concern he could no longer hide. "How ish…?"

"Fine. My apprentice was shocked though when I came home. Can't even sleep too, as this is the side I sleep on. I'm also starting to feel the beginnings of a phantom limb now." Renfred answered, though a little stiffly. Perhaps there was something in talking about his injury that he equated with showing weakness. "Anyway, the reason I came to visit you was to ask what happened."

"I kild it. Ash promishd." Elias answered and though he couldn't speak that clearly, he showed the intensity of the truth he wanted to convey through his crimson eyes.

"I knew you would. But the thing is, I called the Haslingden police station to report to them and to make them survey that area around Calf Hey and…" Renfred paused, brushing a hand through his black hair. For the longest time that Elias knew him, the Magus knew it was his habit when he became nervous or unsure. "They found no remains, Ainsworth. So tell me just what you did, or I would assume that we have an even bigger problem in our hands."

"I… ate it." Elias admitted, the memory of him draining the life force out of the Manticore still fresh on his mind.

"Everything?"

"No, jusht its life forsh. But I shwear it wash ded. I shwear da body wash der…" Elias tried to explain, but Renfred just let out a heavy sigh, as if a dark rain cloud hovered over him.

"Then someone cleaned it up then. Someone who didn't want to leave traces." He said, not wanting to draw conclusions but still incapable of helping it. "Well, it is safe to say that this isn't finished. That someone will show up at some point. So I guess we just have to wait."

Elias bowed his wolf-skull head in dismay at Renfred's possible theory. If it was true that someone orchestrated the events in Haslingden, then the whole case they had right now felt like a complete conspiracy. He didn't think Renfred was being paranoid. The Sorcery professor was smart and deductive in his own way. But if there was indeed someone pulling strings, why use a Manticore? What would they need dismembered body parts of human beings for? Was it simply a case of serial killing by some powerful Mage or Sorcerer?

"Anyway, that's all for today, Ainsworth. Get well soon." Renfred said his goodbye as he stood up immediately. He was about to motion to leave when Elias called out to him.

"Are yu not…?" The Magus left his question hanging in the air, but he had pulled his blanket, bunching it up towards his middle to reveal the magical bindings wrapped around both of his ankles.

Renfred's eyes darted from the magical bindings to the Magus, understanding its meaning. He was still at Level 5, his magical energy was still flowing freely. Nonetheless, it was then that the Sorcery professor really took in the sight of him: a poisoned body, skeletal jaws and fangs fractured, punctured lungs, a badly bitten abdomen, and severe blood loss. When Alexandra had called him yesterday night to inform him that Ainsworth was now in the infirmary, he had not felt anything—even dismissed it as something regular and inevitable. Now though, as he looked at the badly beaten Magus and realized the cost of his sacrifice, he couldn't help but feel compassion. "You need all your magical energy to properly heal yourself."

"Lebel 3 ish fine…" Elias managed to say, hiding the shock from his voice at the meaning of Renfred's unusual decision. No other warden he had in his seventy-five years of incarceration in the College did this. The Magus was surprised by this.

"No, it's alright. Besides, what can you do? Can you escape in that state? Where can you go where I cannot track you? So I'll just come back in two days to lock them again." Renfred replied, trying to put some rationality behind his decision. The protocol was to always lock the Magus's magical bindings after every mission, no matter the circumstances. The Sorcery professor knew he was breaking the rules, but he just couldn't make himself do it. His conscience wouldn't let him.

"…Shenk yu." Elias said in return, hiding his ankles under the blankets once again.

Upon hearing his charge say his gratitude, Renfred turned around and was about to leave again when he remembered something that he needed to do. "I never said…" He began, unsure of how to continue, but he forced himself to say the words. "I never said 'thank you'."

Elias blinked. "Yu jusht did now."

"You didn't have to fight that Manticore alone. You didn't have to risk your life just to keep me safe." Renfred clenched his right fist, remembering his carelessness and how he made Ainsworth unintentionally suffer from it. He once again turned to the Magus to lock his brown eyes to his crimson ones. "Thank you, Ainsworth."

"I wash jusht doing—" Elias paused before continuing. What was on his mind when he made the decision to keep Renfred away from harm? What made him fight the Manticore by himself even with all the risk and danger it entailed? Was he just obeying his sentence? Was he doing his so-called 'job'? Or… "Da right shing." Elias breathed out, having found the proper words to say. "I jusht wish it wash enuf to not hab yer arm get taken."

Renfred looked at the Magus then, surprised and as if he was seeing the real Ainsworth for the first time in the twenty years he had known him. Though the Sorcery professor always acted civil and polite, he didn't know why, but he had always kept his distance. Maybe because deep inside, he too feared the criminal Magus and was disgusted by his rumored atrocity. Yet now, he finally understood that there was more to Ainsworth. Though trapped in the College's cage, the Magus was still fiercely loyal, upright, and virtuous. Realizing this now, Renfred hung his head low in slight shame. Then finally being mindful of the time, he muttered a quick excuse and a soft goodbye and took his leave.

Elias just raised his hand in silent acknowledgement, watching the retreating form of the Sorcery professor. He blinked his eyes, wanting to make sure he was not dreaming about what had just transpired between them. This was the first time he heard gratitude from Renfred. A sincere one at that, not something akin to sarcasm like the other wardens he had before him. He didn't know what to make of it. Their association with each other had always been professional, like a business transaction. But today, the Sorcery professor looked at him, really looked at him, at the character Elias always wanted to show. Only, he didn't know if he should be offended that it took Renfred twenty years and a lost arm to be aware of this. Humans. Would he ever understand their complexities?

Not knowing the answer to his own question, the Magus then glanced at the clock hanging on the wall in the infirmary after the Sorcery professor left. It was 11:37 am. There were still around four hours and a half before classes end for the middle school level. For some reason, he wanted to will the hands of the clock to move faster. He just couldn't wait for Chise to come back and visit him again. Maybe he could ask her later something about humanity, and she could explain it to him.

xxxx

"Hey, Chise. Want to hang out at the library today?" Lian asked her as they were packing up their things at the end of their Magical Creatures class period. The school bell just rang a few seconds ago, and Professor Nile Walker just dismissed their class after assigning them an essay homework on werewolves.

"I'm sorry, Lian. I've got to do something." Chise answered back, trying not to feel guilty as Lian's expectant face suddenly turned sad at her refusal. Now that Chise no longer needed tutorials for her Sorcery subjects, the times they had hung out at the library became gradually infrequent. She knew this, and so she placed a hand on her friend's shoulder and squeezed, attempting to convey her apology more sincerely. "I promise I'll hang out with you tomorrow."

"It's ok. I was just thinking of getting a head start on that essay." Lian replied, forcing a smile to appear on his face. "I'll let you know tomorrow about the books I found."

Chise nodded in agreement and smiled again at her friend's thoughtfulness. Then she said her goodbye, picked up her bag, and exited the classroom. Now that her time was free again, she couldn't help but feel relieved. She could immediately head back to the infirmary to visit Elias, but a thought crossed her mind. She wanted to bring something for him, something that would at least brighten his day. But what? She couldn't bring him food, because he couldn't eat at the moment. And though she knew that he liked reading books, she didn't particularly know if something she picked would be of interest to him.

Chise wandered around the College grounds trying to think of something. When she found herself standing in front of the greenhouse, she finally thought of a few things she could bring to him. She entered the glasshouse, marveling at the rows of various flora that greeted her. As she walked through the aisles, she saw herbs—both medicinal and magical, vegetables, and ornamental plants. What caught her eye though was a row of different kinds of flowers at the back. She motioned towards it, unaware of the presence of another person walking up to her at that very moment.

"Can I help you?" A lady addressed Chise, and the Sleigh Beggy quickly turned around in surprise. The lady was dressed in a red flannel shirt and black jumpers, with a blue apron tied around her waist. She also wore a white hat and was holding a green water sprinkler in her left hand.

"I… I just wondered if I could get some f-flowers." Chise stammered, unsure if her request was permissible at all. It didn't help that she didn't know the lady before her.

"Hmm. Name and year?" The lady asked, smiling kindly.

"C-Chise Hatori. Third year, middle school."

"Ah, that's why you don't look familiar." The lady beamed, understanding dawning on her. And then she stretched her gloved hand for a handshake. "Professor Rosa Wellington. Of Herbology. You'll be in my class once you start high school."

Chise took the professor's hand and shook it, the teacher's warm hospitality somehow easing her nervousness. Afterwards, Professor Wellington continued, "So, flowers, eh? It's normally male students who ask me for that…"

"I-It's for a friend! H-He's in the infirmary and…" Chise blushed, red as a ripe tomato.

Professor Wellington let out a hearty laugh and patted Chise's back to soothe the Sleigh Beggy's sudden embarrassment. "Don't be so flustered, Ms. Hatori. As far as I know, girls can give flowers too. For a friend in the infirmary, you say? You're so very thoughtful." Then Professor Wellington started walking, and Chise followed after her. They passed by a row of roses in different shades. On her right were a set of poppies in various colors too. "Do you know that all flowers have meaning? What do you want to convey to your friend, Ms. Hatori?"

"I..." Chise thought hard at Professor Wellington's question. What did she want Elias to feel with the gift she wanted to bring him? She locked her green eyes with the Herbology professor's brown ones, and with determination she said, "I want him to be happy."

"Happy, huh? Hmm. I think I've got the right flowers for you." Professor Wellington walked again through the aisles of the greenhouse, and Chise went after her. They reached the very end of the flowers section, and Chise's eyes widened in wonder at what she saw. There, planted on a raised flower bed, were many full-grown sunflowers, brightly standing tall and teeming with life.

"H-Himawari..." Chise muttered the Japanese name of the flowers to herself. It had been so long since she had seen one, and she couldn't help but admire how majestic they looked.

"They mean loyalty and adoration, but their yellow color also means friendship and happiness. In some countries, they also symbolize vitality and long life—perfect for a friend in an infirmary, don't you think?" Professor Wellington explained enthusiastically. Then noticing how entranced Chise was with the flowers, she asked, "I take it you approve?"

Chise nodded with a smile as bright as the sunflowers before her.

xxxx

Elias let out another sigh as he tapped his pen against the folded newspaper he was holding. He had been so bored sitting in his bed in the infirmary that he repeatedly pestered Alexandra for something, anything, to do whenever she passed by his bed. This annoyed the College physician so much that she threw him a newspaper and a pen. Though it was a mediocre distraction, he was nonetheless pleased, and so he read the newspaper front to back. It took him about an hour or less, and so with nothing else to do again, he tried his hand at the crossword puzzle on the page at the back. But the questions all referenced to pop culture to which he knew nothing about, so he gave up after a few minutes. He then settled to doodling at the newspaper with odd shapes and lines.

He was making swirls and circles when he heard the door at the infirmary open, and the familiar scent of sunshine and summer flowers filled his snout. He put his newspaper and pen on the side table and composed himself, wanting to be at his best behavior. It didn't matter to him that he felt like an eager puppy awaiting his beloved master's return, because it was the truth after all. He had been waiting all day for her return. And she didn't disappoint him. She never did.

He heard her talking to Alexandra in the physician's office first, something about a pudding she brought from one of the College's many cafeterias. The College physician said her thanks, and after a few seconds he heard the sound of her footsteps coming closer to his hospital bed. He unintentionally held his breath. The white curtain parted, and her head poked through. And then she gave him one of the warmest smiles he had ever seen on her face. It was the kind that he imagined when he was lying dying in Calf Hey and willing himself to survive and live.

"How are you, Elias?" Chise asked with her soft, caring voice. Elias just continued to stare at her and didn't even blink as she sat on the chair beside his bed. Concerned for his condition, she then added, "Are you feeling any pain?"

It was then that Elias realized that he was staring at her. He blinked and then shook his wolf-skull head. "I… uh… no." His abdomen hurt whenever he twisted the muscle, but since he didn't do that often, he deemed it insignificant.

"Good." Chise remarked with relief as she settled her school backpack on the floor. "How was your day then?"

"Unebentful. Unintereshting. Unbealable." He eyed a brown paper bag she carried with her and wondered what it was.

Chise laughed at his seemingly childish complaints. But she knew how terribly boring staying in the infirmary could be sometimes, and she couldn't help but sympathize with him. "Those are a lot of un's. I hope to remedy that somehow. I brought you something—well, a few things actually." She suddenly blushed, feeling heat go straight to her cheeks. Well, she and Professor Wellington already took the time to make it presentable, so she might as well give it to him.

Elias watched her take something out of the brown paper bag, and he swore his heart skipped a beat when she gave it to him. It was a bouquet of sunflowers, all neatly cut and placed into a glass vase. His hands trembled as he took hold of it. The flowers seemed so filled with life, with its big, bright yellow petals and brown disc florets. He had never seen something so simple yet elegant at the same time. And it was the first gift he had ever received ever since coming to the College.

"Do you like it?" Chise asked, unsure of how to take in Elias's reaction. He was silent and contemplative after all.

He nodded his head absentmindedly, becoming aware of how his quietness might be perceived. "It ish the most butiful shing I'b seen in a long while." He finally said, his voice unusually reverent and his hold on the vase extra careful. He deduced that she may have just gotten the sunflowers from the greenhouse, but he didn't mind. She gave them to him, and the fact that she did made it all the more beautiful.

"Well, I'm glad. But you have to put it on the side table first, as I have more to give you." Chise replied, pleased that Elias was delighted with the sunflowers, judging by the way his crimson eyes sparkled while looking at them. Then he heeded her request, and she watched him place the bouquet on the side table as if he didn't want to let go of it yet. She rummaged through her backpack and fished out the next things she wanted to give him. They were the two Sudoku puzzle books she owned, the first one a beginner level and the other an intermediate. She handed them to Elias, and he held them with his two hands, a look of wonder reflecting in his crimson eyes.

"They're puzzle books. I figured you might be bored here, so I'm giving them to you. The goal is simple. You just need to fill th grid with digits so that each column, each row, and eac grid is filled with digits from 1 to 9. It is really popular in my country, Japan. Here let me show you how." Chise flipped the beginner book to a page where she already solved an answer. She then explained to Elias how she came up with what numbers to put into the empty boxes. Afterwards, she let him try to solve one and was not at all surprised at how quick he was able to understand and apply the puzzle mechanics.

They solved four more puzzles together, and at the last two, they even competed with each other to see who would have a better time in solving. Chise was faster by three seconds, and she giggled and commented her amazement that she was finally able to be better than him at something. Though she knew secretly that he had just let her win. Still, she looked at him with a warm smile, appreciating his gentleman manners. He returned a smile of his own, parting his bandaged jaws slightly with his crimson eyes sparkling. A flash of the same image floated on her mind, of him showing the same smile to a dark-haired, olive-skinned woman. She was about to tell him this, but he suddenly spoke.

"Shishe, shenk yu. For all dees." Elias looked at the bouquet of sunflowers at his side table and at the puzzle books placed on his lap, and he couldn't help but feel touched by all her efforts to make him happy.

"It's nothing. I just… I want to help you. I'm your friend, remember?" Chise said, her smile never wavering. That was all she wanted, and she felt glad that she succeeded. Then she remembered about the mentorship program, and she finally plucked the courage to tell him about it. "There's one more thing." She mentioned as she rummaged in her backpack for that piece of paper she wanted him to sign. "I was told that there's this mentorship program, and I am hoping that you'd be my… m-mentor." Her voice and hand trembled in nervousness as she handed him the form.

Elias's eyes were filled with surprise, but he took the form gently from Chise's hand and looked at it. There were two lines: the first one, the student's name and the second one, the staff member's name. And there on that line, his full name, 'Prof. Elias Ainsworth', was already written. He just had to sign it. He looked back at her, uncertain if he would be up to the task. "Shishe… I'b neber… no one had eber ashked me dis…"

Knowing things about him now, Chise understood what he wanted to say: that no one had ever asked him to be a mentor of anything because people were scared of him and that he feared he would not be competent enough. So she shook her head and adamantly said, "I don't care. You've already taught me everything I know about Magecraft and Sorcery. In a way, I'd like to think you're already my mentor. This just makes it official. There's no one else I want, so please sign it." Then she paused, as if suddenly astonished by her own bold and audacious plea. Remembering Lian's words that it had to be a mutual agreement, she looked away from him and in a soft voice laced with her own fear she said, "Unless… unless you don't want to."

"I want to." His voice was clear this time, as if his skeletal jaws didn't have bandages wrapped around them. Elias looked at Chise's green eyes, and he saw them glow with happiness at his answer. He then took the pen from the side table and signed the form, his former hesitation gone. How could he ever deny her anything? His one and only friend, and now his mentee. It was the truth. There was nothing more he wanted than to spend more time with her. And if she wanted a piece of him, he would give it willingly again and again. He handed her the form, and she took it with both hands and marveled at it as if it was a golden ticket to an enchanted place.

"Thank you." Chise breathed out and smiled, and then she carefully placed the form inside her bag. Afterwards, both their eyes locked together, and then her eyebrows furrowed with concern. "Tell me." She said, a gentle command passing through her lips. He froze, still looking at her, uncertain of what she was talking about. "You want to say something. Tell it to me please, and I'll listen." She told him, and he wondered how she could read him at that very moment when he never had any facial expressions in the first place.

Well, she asked and he supposed it would not be polite to stay silent. So Elias took a deep breath and hesitantly he said, "I want to ashk a fabor…" He paused, and Chise nodded, indicating that she was intently listening. "I…" He began, and then he shook his head, wanting the words to come out of his mouth in a clearer way. "Can't shpeak well… I… want…" He tried again, and then he sighed in defeat, frustrated that he couldn't find the words and that his throat felt like there was a huge lump inside it.

"Write it then." Chise coaxed, turned to her side, and picked up the pen they had used earlier. She also spotted one of the Sudoku puzzle books and flipped it to its last page, blank and unused. Then she handed both to him. Elias took them, wary at first, but then after having more courage, he quietly wrote what was on his mind. When he was through, he handed the pen and book to Chise.

The first thing she noticed was his handwriting. They were in cursive, very neat and in a uniform size with its gentle strokes and swirls, as if they were a passage from an ancient text. She smiled at that, realizing that his penmanship reflected him. Constant, tender, and clean. Then she proceeded to silently read what he wrote.

I am not fully human. I don't even know what I am. I have lived a long, long time and seen many humans, but I still can't understand them. I can understand the reason behind human emotions—why people laugh, cry, or get angry—but I can never feel them. I was hoping if you could teach me… what human emotions are, what being a human is, and how to make them my own.

Chise looked at him after reading what he wrote. His head was bowed, and he was looking at his blanket, his plum-colored fingers absently playing with its edges. Nervous and expecting to be turned down. Embarrassed that he bared something personal and intimate. He wrote that he could not feel any emotion, but she knew he could. The sight of him right now just told her so. Perhaps he was not just aware that he did then. Sometimes to her, he seemed like a living oxymoron. She had seen him in his ferocious, shadowy form that night he almost ate her, but she had also seen him with his eyes filled with childlike innocence when she declared him a friend. She wondered if there were many more sides of him that she hadn't seen yet, and she thought that she wanted to see all of them. With a smile, she wrote her reply just under his, and then she handed the book back to him.

Elias took the Sudoku puzzle book from Chise sluggishly, part of him afraid of her refusal. He didn't dare look at her face when she was reading what he wrote, expecting that she would find him crazy for asking such a thing. Nonetheless, his eyes widened when he saw her reply, just one simple sentence in a sloppy print handwriting, and yet it bloomed a simple promise of hope in his heart, as alive as the sunflowers placed near his bed.

It would be my joy to teach you.

He looked at her and smiled, in the clumsy way he only knew how. She reached out and kindly held his wolf-skull of a face and smiled back.

xxxx

Additional Notes: The plot is thickening, and it is getting harder and harder to write the chapters. Do forgive me if it takes more than a fortnight to update next time. :)

If you had trouble understanding Elias's dialogue in this chapter, I just changed the 's', 'th', and 'ch' to 'sh', 'v' to 'b', and 'r' to 'l'. I had to do it like that to really make him sound like he has bandages on both his jaws.

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to drop a review to share your thoughts.

AL-AB93, BlueNachturne: Thank you again for constantly reviewing. They mean a lot to me. :)