Chapter 19
"Come on...come on..." Kento kept bowing into his mouth, Rowen kept pumping...Mia stood, "Stop guys, stop. He's gone... He's gone."
"No!" Rowen shook his head, "We can't give up now...we've still got 2 minutes before it's been too long. We're gonna keep trying until then!"
"Damn right..." Kento uttered, giving Sage another breath. Mia covered her face with her hands...fine... she'd let them be. She'd let them do what they felt they had to, to ease their consciences for later. They would be able to say that they had done all they could.
"1...2....3...." Rowen was giving the counts, "1....2...."
Kento jumped back, when Sage began to cough and sputter, "B..Blondie?" He rolled the boy onto his side and rubbed his back as he continued to choke. Mia let out a hysterical little laugh of happiness, rushing forward and falling to her knees by Kento and Rowen.
They let the blond get his bearings, before questioning him of his welfare, "Are you ok? Are you alright? You feeling ok?" Rowen placed himself on the couch beside the blond instead of kneeling on the floor just before him. He pulled the boy to his chest, and hugged him tight when the blond let his head rest on him. His body was warm, and Rowen could feel his chest expanding and contracting with each breath he took. He was alive!
Kento still rubbed the Sage's back, even after Rowen had pulled him into a sitting position. He couldn't speak, and felt he had to touch Sage to let him feel his presence. Mia laid a hand on Sage's forehead, frowning, "You've still got a fever honey....but not as bad as before. Do you feel ok?"
Sage looked drowsy, his large grey eyes were heavy, "I still don't feel good... but..."
"But?"
"I think it's over..."
"It's over..." Mia stood to her feet going to the nearest window to open a blind. It was evening, so the sky was still dark..but not unusually so. The various blends of blue painting the night sky were clearly visible. "It's over."
"Sage?" Rowen whispered, as the blond fell asleep against his chest. "Poor guy."
Kento covered him with a blanket, and placed a hand on his cheek, "He is still too warm."
"Warm is good for now," Rowen sighed, nuzzling his face in Sage's hair.
A bright flare of light nearly blinded them all, and in the midst of it suddenly appeared Shivoni, Ryo, and Cye. "Sage!" both Cye and Ryo cried, starting to rush forward, but both Rowen and Kento glared at them in warning, Rowen holding a finger to his lips to silence them. With his head he gestured to the blond, his eyes telling them, He's sleeping.
"Is he ok?" Cye lowered his voice immediately, ashamed. "I felt…we felt…"
The still sickly tone of Kento's flesh, the wild look in Rowen's eyes, and the tear trails on Mia's cheeks let Ryo and Cye know what they had felt hadn't been wrong. "My gods…"
"Thought he was dead for a good minute there," Kento breathed with a tiny laugh. "Should have known this son-of-a-bitch is too stubborn to die on us. But he sure scared the hell out of me… I'm gonna kick his ass when he gets better.."
Shivoni moved silkily to take her place beside Sage, placing a hand on his brow. Her eyes looked far away for a moment before she smiled, "He's going to be fine."
"Good…good," Rowen murmured. "How long's he gonna be sick like this?"
Shivoni gazed at Rowen, her odd silver eyes drinking him in, "The fever will subside in a day or two, the other symptoms will have to run their course. The Witch had somehow contracted a human case of pneumonia, and it of course mutated in her inhuman body. Her immune system was not accustomed to such things. That is why Sage got so ill. Through the link, the virus was transferred, as was the inability to fight it; but now that it has been severed his normal immunities will begin to fight off the infection."
"Translation, we still need to see that he gets to a doctor to be checked over," Rowen said to Kento and Ryo who looked lost.
"Oh."
"Are you staying Shivoni? What about his… his powers? We've gotten to see a little of his ability, are we to have more surprises?" Mia away from the window and joined the group in their huddle around Sage.
"No, I'm not staying. I have other work to do. I've rebound him."
"But…"
"It's not permanent, this bind is meant to break…bit by bit, so that he may adjust to his power."
"You think he'll be ok like that? I mean I saw him just an hour ago with his power released. He was going crazy…"
Shivoni smiled then, stroking Sage's golden hair, "He'll have a teacher."
"And will he be like you?" Cye asked curiously.
"What do you mean like me? A Silver One, of course,…"
"No, someone like you, scouting between the worlds finding Others…"
"No, not like me," Shivoni chuckled. "One like me never rests, never settles. I'll never have time to be a proper teacher. The one who will come will be someone who will have time for it all."
"And once Sage is ready…once he's learned, will he have to go away?" Ryo watched the woman nervously.
Shivoni sighed, "It is what usually happens…but he his destiny here will delay his homecoming."
"The armors will keep him here with us?"
"Yes."
"And after all of that…?"
"He will join us then."
"And if he doesn't want to…?"
"By that time, he will want to. It is extremely difficult for one of us to survive for very long here once we've fully extended our senses and have actualized our potential. The ones who've foolishly stayed have long gone insane, and were beyond all rescue attempts on our part. He will want to depart…sooner than you wish to believe. You will not see me again, until then."
Mia and the four boys were quiet, pondering what Shivoni had said. "So, you're saying he's going to want to leave us?"
"Yes."
"I won't believe that," Rowen shook his head, "Its crap. Sage will never want to leave us or his family behind."
Shivoni looked a trifle sad, she removed her hand from Sage's hair and rose to her full height, which wasn't impressive. "His teacher will arrive in a few days when the first of the bind begins to break."
"But you said he…" Cye's voice trailed off, as the strange woman disappeared, "won't be better for at least a week…"
"How rude," Kento huffed. "I hate when people disappear when you're talking to them; it's annoying as hell."
"How many people have you had do it to you?" Ryo questioned.
Kento made a face, "The Warlords for one."
"They don't count."
"Well… how come they don't count? They would count if you were trying to say the same thing!"
Ryo smirked, "I wonder what this teacher of Sage's will be like?"
"I don't know," Rowen muttered, still looking sour on the whole idea. He shifted Sage a bit so he could peer into his sleeping face, "Come on, we gotta get this guy to a doctor. We can think about weird disappearing ladies later."
