HI GUYS! Sorry about that TERRIBLE cliff hanger! But what's a good story without a chapter ending in a good cliff hanger that has you wanting more? I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter!
Seto had been the one to bring the medic over to Jono. He then proceeded to stay to comprehend what was going on, seeing his brother's distraught expression. "What's going on Mokuba? Father?" He looked between the both of them. The medic went to work on bandaging the open wounds, putting ointments on small cuts here and there and so on and so forth.
Mokuba just shook his head and cried out, "It's not FAIR!"
The king nodded. His expression remaining distant and sad as he looked down at Jono in his arms. "Seto..." his voice was grave.
"Yes father?" hearing the serious tone he answered urgently.
"Do you really hate her?" he looks up at his eldest son with a cold questioning gaze.
Seto stared for a moment, not really understanding the question. "Why wouldn't I? She's a nymph, our enemy."
Lycus shook his head, "I mean do you hate her as in herself? What I mean is if her species didn't matter, say she was an elf instead, would you hate her?" He tried to bring his son's reasonable side, before he made anymore regrets with his words to the beautiful young lady in his arms. 'Please understand what I'm saying my dear son, before it's too late to make amends.'
The blue-eyed young man simply stared at his father. 'What does he mean if she was an elf? She's not an elf and even if she was, she wouldn't be able to help at all...' he paused his train of thought.'...it's because she's a nymph that she was able to heal my father...' realization hitting at the the last second.
Before he could say anything back the medic spoke up first. "Your majesty, there's nothing more I can do for her. She's lost too much blood, at this rate, she won't make it another hour."
Seto gasped at the news that was laid before him. 'She's dying... she's dying...' he let it repeat for a minute in his head. 'This selfless, reckless, understanding, thoughtful, beautiful woman is going to die...*heavy pause*...no...I won't allow that to happen.' He took a step forward and stared at the healer with eyes so fierce with determination it looked like lightning was going to shoot out of them any second. "There HAS to be something we can do for her."
"Well there is, however, I can't perform such a task as it won't work with me without my life being taken in the process." he replies matter-of-factually, Not afraid to admit he wouldn't give his life up for the dying nymph.
"Well explain!" crystal eyes turning even colder because the stupid medic was WASTING her time that she had left, maker knows how long that was!
The medic rushed his explanation seeing the elder prince getting more and more pissed off with him. "All creatures have a life-source. All creatures also have the ability to give said life-source to another being to heal them if necessary; however, you need an extreme amount of will for them to live to be able to give it without losing your life entirely. Should you live after it is done, it replenishes itself to its original state." he paused a bit and then continued, "You also have to be within a year or two of the person you are trying to save given that they will live roughly as long as you, so it shouldn't damage your life expectancy. To be honest, the only viable person to do the job would be you, Prince Seto." He looked toward Mokuba and the king before going to look back at Seto again. "Prince Mokuba is too young. And his highness, King Lycus, is too old and would probably end up losing his life in the process, no matter how strong his will is."
Mokuba just gasped at his brother at what he said next. "Tell me how to do it." with all seriousness layered in his voice. It took every ounce of self-control for the king to not smirk at his son.
The healer coughed apprehensively, "My prince, need I remind you that you could DIE doing this. And for what? A pathetic nymph? Who obviously couldn't handle the task that SHE took upon herself? She is replaceable, you are not." he didn't understand why the prince even asked.
That struck a raw nerve in the entire royal family, Seto especially, "Need I remind you that refusing to answer a member of the royal family, whom of which you are dutifully sworn your loyalty to, is punishable by a lashing of 20 times, and up to a public execution of the member's choice?" his sharp blue eyes striking a deadly glare at the healer.
'If looks could kill, I'd die over a 100 times over.' The healer blanched right then and there and looked at his king with frightened eyes, "Your majesty...?" his voice quivered from fear.
King Lycus merely smirked at him before replying, "It is true, you might want to get on with your explanation. Because if you refuse, you'll wish it had been me who was punishing you for your actions."
The man turned even paler at the thought, turned back toward Seto, and then began to explain immediately. "Y-yes my prince! First she must be placed flat on the ground." Lycus put her down on the ground as gently as he could to try and not hurt her further. "Second, Prince Seto you have to place one hand on her abdomen and the other on her chest." He did so at once, trying not to think of all her blood on his hands as it would make him queasy. "Thirdly, you must close your eyes and start thinking of all the reasons she should live. 'She should live because...', repeat that phrase over and over with a different answer, by the time you reach the last reason, your life-source should start flowing to her and when it does you must concentrate on that feeling and nothing else. This is where your strong will comes to play. If you have a strong enough will and want for her to live then you won't stray away from that feeling with different thoughts." He desperately hoped his prince wouldn't die from this. 'I mostly don't want the blame to be put on me in the end if he does.' He got up and left the castle hoping all goes well as he heads back home.
Seto took a deep breath and closed his eyes. 'Okay, I just have to think of reasons why she should live, shouldn't be too hard, right?' He mentally rolled his eyes at the previous thought. 'She should live because (the … is the repetition of the phrase, I didn't want to rewrite it every time, 'cause I'm lazy, lol) ...she is selfless. ...she is brave. ...she is kind. ...she is thoughtful. ...she saved my brother's life. ...she saved my father's life. ...she healed me even after I was blatantly aggressive toward her. ...she is forgiving. ...she is understanding. ...she is beautiful both inside and out.' He had a mental pause before continuing the rest. 'She should live because she deserves it.' At the last thought, he felt a surge of energy run through his entire body. 'This is it, this is the life-source within me. It's like lightning coursing through my veins. My hands feel tingly.'
To the outside world watching him perform this life-threatening procedure, it was like watching the clock slowly click to reach 12. Anticipation so thick it could be cut with a knife through the air. They all watched Seto, seeing him close his eyes and his expression change from distraught [furrowed eyebrows and deep frown] to calm and composed [resting eyebrows and thin frown] and then to determined [furrowed eyebrows and a smirk] (typical Seto...). Then right after that, a light blue aura surrounded him. The aura then slowly encompassed his extended arms and began to gravitate to both hands, seemingly streamlined into Jono.
'OH MY MAKER, he's really DOING IT!' Mokuba inwardly screamed for joy.
Throughout his entire life, he has never been more proud of his eldest son than he was in this moment. He knew Seto would pull through. He could see that his son was at least physically attracted to Jono. When he picked her up yesterday after she fell unconscious he stared at her in curious but flustered manner. After all, he has known his son since birth, to the king, he was as easy to read as a picture book. He gave a warm, proud, satisfying smile towards him and then to his wife, who gave a knowing smile back at him.
Seto kept concentrating on the feeling itself. Just letting it gently flow like a steady river. After what felt like hours, even though it was only a couple of minutes, he felt the fatigue hit him like a crashing wave onto a beach. He refused to let it get to him. He just kept going, wanting, no, needing her to live... For the family and friends she left behind to save the enemy king. For his brother, because he'd be sad if she was gone. For his father who wanted to show his gratitude from her saving his life. 'I need her to live...' he fully smiled at his finishing sentence, 'for me.' and at that last thought, the aura fully flowed into Jono and then engulfed her body in a semitransparent bright golden color. At the lost of the feeling from before, he dared to open his eyes, and removed his hands. He watched in amazement as he saw the blood from each wound stop streaming and slowly close up.
Everyone observed the scene laid out before them in bewilderment. After about five or so minutes, all the previous wounds had by now all been healed up, not even leaving a mark of where they once were. The golden aura dissipated within Jono's body. Her dress still tattered and ripped giving an onlooker an idea of what had happened earlier on. Her eyes long closed after she asked Mokuba about her eye color. At first everyone was scared because it looked like she wasn't breathing, but then Jono took in a big gulp of air. Her eyes fluttering open to reveal them to shift from a bright ruby red, to her normal honey brown color and just as quick as she opened them, they slid back closed again. She then began to breathe steadily like she was just sleeping.
Relief washed over the royal familys' faces. Now that he saw she was okay, Seto gave in to his weariness and then promptly fell to the side and passed out from sheer exhaustion. Landing right beside Jono's right side, on the dark grey titles of the throne room. His right hand falling on top of hers and unconsciously intertwining his fingers with hers. A small smile appeared and then disappeared just as quickly as his face became fully content.
Lycus, Mikuro, and Mokuba all give a knowing smile down at the hopefully-soon-to-be couple.
I feel here is a good ending spot as well. I hope you guys enjoyed this ridiculously long chapter of a scene that in real time only took about 15 – 20 minutes to perform. LOL. Please leave reviews they make me happy! And much more willing to write.
