Author's note: Thank you to all those who reviewed this 'fic!
2. Containment
The girl had fallen asleep again, too exhausted to do anything else. Rezo carefully pulled the covers over her once more, praying she would stay in bed this time. At least when she was asleep, he didn't have to worry that she'd do something else that was utterly foolish. The child seemed to have no idea of what was best for her. He supposed he ought to check on her every once in a while, just to make sure she hadn't killed herself. He chuckled on his way out the door. Within a few hours, she'd probably be up and about again, no matter what he said, so maybe it would be better if he didn't even try. She would find out how to get around without him knowing somehow, he had no doubt about that. This girl had a stubborn streak that matched his own. Once she was better and had her voice back, this could result in some spectacular arguments, to say the least.
What would happen once she was better? She probably had some relatives somewhere who were looking for her, or a home of her own. Perhaps she was a temple ward. But how would he find her real home. She certainly couldn't stay with him, he had nowhere for her. Even if she could stay here, I have no need for a amnesia-stricken child who probably has no magical train-
He paused in his thoughts. That would be interesting to find out. She did have a fairly strong aura, perhaps she knew some spells. Of course, since her voice was gone, it was a moot point at best - she couldn't cast anything. However. . . He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. There was a chance that she could be able to cast spells within her mind. Though not the rarest of magical abilities, it was one that did not come naturally. Teaching her how would take time - time that would keep her in bed where she belonged, instead of traipsing about the house, causing even more damage to herself and her general surroundings. Although, giving her the training to use magic may be like adding fuel to the fire. That was a daunting thought. She could certainly add much more force to her arguments if she could use magic. It could turn out to be, at the least, a very painful tutoring job. On the other hand, if he could teach her to develop her mind, perhaps they could create a spell to let her talk. It would probably be a mind-to-mind contact, but that was better than nothing.
As he continued to think, he made his way down the stairs, into one of his many laboratories. This one, like most of the others, was underground. As a result, it was rather cold and damp, especially when there was a raging snowstorm overhead. Like now, he thought with a touch of dry humor. Though this laboratory was not as well stocked as the one in Sairaag, he had quite a lot of magical equipment lying about, ranging from spell books and vials, to a large magic circle and a few nurturing tanks for growing chimeras. His wandering attention finally rested on one of these. Perhaps . . . His mysterious guest still had a few wounds that just wouldn't heal, refusing to let him remove whatever was in them. Though it wasn't the best of solutions, if he could immerse the girl in one of these tanks, perhaps, just perhaps, the wounds would finally close up. She really wouldn't like that, but it would have to be done, soon, before infection set in. Also, when she would be in there, her mind would be open. He could begin laying down the spells to allow her to speak with him, and search for clues to her identity. Anything that wasn't shielded, he could read, and he might be able to find something she couldn't in her befuddled state. It would take him the rest of the day to prepare the solution, but the girl would sleep, and he would hopefully have no interruptions. He rested his hand on the smooth, cool glass of the tank and nodded. He would begin at once.
Back upstairs, the white-haired girl was sleeping soundly once more, wrapped in warm covers as the storm raged outside. Strange figures scuttled through her dreams as she slept, whispering secrets of her past that slipped through her fingers like water. She moaned and shivered. As a particularly horrifying shade slipped past her mind's eye, her body spasmed involuntarily.
YEEOOUUCH!!!
Her eyes snapped open and she jerked the covers off her prone body. Staring down at herself, she saw a red stain slowly spreading under her ribs. The violent twitch must have caused some of her wounds to open up again. Heal naturally, huh? How kind of him . .
She sat up, every muscle in her body protesting. Rubbing her eyes, she looked thoughtfully at the door. I'm really sick of being in this bed. I want to get up and move around. Maybe if I wait until he's asleep, I won't get caught this time.
What time was it anyway? All that she could tell was that it was dark outside. Good. Dark meant night, and night usually did mean sleep. Maybe she could get up and move around without Rezo catching her and returning her to the confining bed. And maybe she could snoop a bit in the bargain.
Carefully, and very slowly, she disentangled herself from the sheets and placed her feet on the floor. She was pleased to note that she was slightly stronger than before. Perhaps she would soon be able to walk without support. Ignoring the twinges from her newly opened wound, she managed to pull the blanket over her shoulders in an effort to cover herself. That done, she made her way to the door. She peeked through, making sure she wasn't being watched. The hall beyond was dark and still, nothing moved that she could tell. With one hand on the wall to support her, she began to investigate, peering into room after room. Most of the them held only large amounts of dust, nothing of any real interest. The rest were locked and, try as she might, she couldn't find the keys. She didn't try to force them because, other than the fact she didn't have anywhere near the strength needed, Rezo could be in any one of them, and she didn't want to risk alerting him to her presence.
When she got to the stairs, she was faced with a problem. She wasn't getting anywhere up here, but if she went down the stairs, she was pretty sure she didn't have the strength to come back up. So what now? She clutched her makeshift clothing to her. It was rather chilly too. It would be easiest; and most likely wisest, since there was a chance Rezo was still awake; to simply return to her bed and pretend she had never left it. She looked over her shoulder at the long hallway behind her. I don't think I have enough strength left to go back either. Might as well go forward then, and hope I don't trip. Okay then. She took a deep breath, and carefully made her way down. The way was hard and long, but she had nearly made it to the bottom when a dry voice observed;
"I'm going to have to tie you to that bed, aren't I?"
She nearly jumped out of her skin, but managed to hang on to her shattered nerves (and the blanket) as she ignored the man leaning against the banister, and eased herself down the rest of the way. However, once there, her body decided that it had had enough, and, despite her mental protests, sank down to the bottom step. She looked up at Rezo, who was regarding her (more or less) with calm amusement. Oh well, she thought, nothing else for it; and held out her hand to him in a gesture that plainly said: If you're just going to stand there smiling, make yourself useful and help me up!
"Not the least bit repentant, hmm?" commented the Red Priest as he got her to her feet again. He glanced out the window. "I see, you saw it was dark, so, hoping that I was asleep, you decided to do some exploring, right?" He chuckled. "Well, it's actually early morning, and I was just coming up to check on you." He sensed her surprise, and added, "In the winter here, it takes a while for the sun to come up. And, with this storm outside, I would be very surprised if it got beyond a twilight today. Are you hungry at all?"
She started at the sudden change of subject, then shook her head. Frowning, she remembered that he couldn't see. She opened her mouth, closed it again, and looked up at Rezo helplessly. Why couldn't he at least act blind so that she didn't feel quite so stupid!
He chuckled again. "That's right. You can't talk. This puts us in a pretty predicament, since I won't be able to understand you even if you sign. Well, I have been working on a solution for that, but it would require you to stay still for about a day, without complaining, and now I seriously doubt you have the patience to do that."
Insulted, she opened her mouth again, took a deep breath, . . . and let out what could only be called a squeak of indignation. Whatever effect she had been hoping for she certainly didn't get. Rezo nearly lost his balance as he began laughing hysterically. Her jaw dropped. How dare he! I . . He . . . That . . . Unable to think up anything sufficiently dirty to call him, she could only glare helplessly as he continued to laugh. After a while, however, she could stand it no longer. Not realizing what she was doing, she yanked back her hand and swung at him with all her might. Abruptly, his laughter stopped. Several quick motions later, she found herself dangling in the air as his fingers tightened around her wrist. She stared in disbelief. Somehow he had managed to catch her hand in mid-swing and pull her off her feet. She gaped at the ground which lay a good foot below her dangling toes, and then back up at the man in front of her.
"My dear, I apologize, but you must realize; I have taken you in from the snow, I have cared for you like you were my own child, my life for the last few days has been revolving completely around you, and yet you still seem to believe that you deserve more. I don't know how you thank people, but around here we certainly do not do it by trying to hit our saviors." His voice was frighteningly calm and controlled, but the fingers on her wrist belied his anger by tightening ever so slightly. "Perhaps you've never been laughed at before, I can understand that. You been through enough lately that your nerves are frayed, I can understand that too." His face hardened, "But if you display another fit of temper like this without a very good reason, child, I can assure you, it will not be tolerated."
With that, he lowered her to the ground. She stumbled back, rubbing her wrist, trying to force feeling back into it. With a swish of fabric, he turned his back on her and curtly ordered, "Follow me."
Eyes downcast, she obeyed his order. This was the second time now she had made him angry, she should be sorry. However, her penitent mood lasted all of another five seconds before her temper began to consider jumping ship as well. But he laughed at you, didn't he? argued another part of her brain, He made you angry. Shouldn't you retaliate? She stumbled suddenly, caught herself, and added another complaint to her list of woes. And now he's forcing me to walk just to be spiteful. She glared daggers at the red-robed back in front of her, further vengeful thoughts flitting through her mind. She was beginning to work herself up into yet another towering rage when her legs once more decided to give up the ghost.
At the strangled almost-noise of surprise behind him, Rezo spun around just in time to grab her around the waist before she hit the ground. Silently, he once more scooped her up into his arms and continued to walk. The girl glanced at the surroundings moving past her and realized with a sudden twinge of guilt exactly how much slower he had been walking earlier so as not to lose her.
As if sensing her sudden change of emotion, Rezo said quietly, "Since you were so upset with me before, I thought you would have felt insulted if I didn't let you walk on your own. I apologize. I did not realize how weak you were." The girl ducked her head in embarrassment, suddenly understanding that she had been acting like a brat.
Rezo smiled. "Child, there is no need for you to feel ashamed. You have not yet learned to control your temper. Everyone, even I, has urges to do such things. You are just too young to know how to restrain yourself." He squeezed her shoulder. "Apology accepted by the way." The girl smiled uncertainly and nodded.
They continued on in silence. After a few minutes, the girl stopped trying to look at everything they passed. She leaned her head against his chest and closed her eyes, the rhythmic movement of his walking lulling her to sleep. Suddenly he halted and shook her arm. "Child, we're here."
The girl glanced up, startled. They were in a large stone room absolutely stuffed with shelves, tables, glassware, and other, rather unidentifiable, things. Rezo set her down in front of a large glass tank filled to the brim with some kind of liquid. Curious, she gently touched the glass. It felt warm and . . comforting almost. She leaned forward and placed her cheek against it. Compared to the cold drafty lab, it felt wonderful. She closed her eyes.
"Child." Rezo's voice interrupted her reverie. She looked up expectantly. He was standing at one of the many tables, measuring strangely colored liquids into a large vat. "Come over here for a moment."
She obeyed, moving over to the table and standing on her tiptoes to peer into the vat. Rezo laid a hand on her shoulder and pointed back to the tank. "The solution I spoke of earlier, do you remember?" When she nodded he continued. "That large glass container is called a chimera tank. They are used to create living tissue for experiments. However, in your case, I believe it can be used to finish your healing process. And in order to do that I need you to sleep."
At that last word, the soothing energy of the spell rushed from his hand into her body. Her eyes rolled up into her head and her legs buckled. Rezo gently propped her up against the table leg. He didn't like having to trick her like that, but he doubted she would enjoy what would happen next. He pulled a slim dagger from his belt and, carefully holding her hand over the vat, made two shallow slices in her palm. He would need her blood in the solution to help her heal. He counted ten drops hitting the fluid in the vat and then quickly bound up her hand. He then lifted her again and carried her over to an empty tank. He levitated her into it and sealed the lid. Pulling a lever nearby, he nodded in satisfaction as it began to fill with a pinkish liquid. As soon as her lungs got used to the base fluid, he could add the mixture he had prepared. That would start accelerated tissue growth inside her wounds, sealing them. More complex than a healing spell, but less of a chance of infection.
He stretched and yawned. It would be a while before he could start the needed spells, he might as well make himself comfortable. Pulling a book off of one of his many shelves, he settled back to wait.