Creature Changers

Sorry for the VERY late update... As said in my previous Lighthouseshipping oneshot, I have been away at in Olomouc, Prague, competing with my school choir. I promised to write on the trip, but... let's just say many many things cooped up.

Garet: Liar. You were just too lazy.

Hey! That's not true! No one can prove that! ...Anyway... though we performed not to our best... the result was...

GOLD!

Disclaimer: GOOOOOOLD!

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Chapter 21: Explanations By a Few

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Tearfilled blue eyes looked back at him intently. Isaac blinked slowly, before he registered the face into his mind.

"M-Mia?"

The mermaid smiled, and the song stopped.

"How are you feeling?"

"Sore," Isaac admitted. Mia's healing had done a bit of good, and at least the headache was nearly gone. Mia continued her song, and Isaac laid back, closing his eyes.

He felt extremely comfortable, and her voice soothed his wounds gently, both physically and emotionally. It was like a lullaby, telling him it was safe to rest. For a long while, all was quiet except for Mia's voice, and minutes ticked by.

Then his eyes opened.

"Wait, stop!" Isaac pulled his hand away. "You can't spend your energy healing me! You'll tire yourself out again!"

He was already feeling much better. The sore aches had gone, and all was left was a bit of stiffness around his joints. Mia's healing powers seemed to have improved. Exactly how much energy had Mia put in?

"Don't worry about me," Mia said quickly, seeing his worried look. "I'll be fine. Nothing a bit of rest can't-"

"Do not sing again. I'm fine already," Isaac said. "Anything else left on me can recover on its own."

"But-" Wonderful. He was worried about her using too much energy, and she was worried about his injuries. Joy.

"No buts. If you tire yourself unconscious, I'll be accused of assault," Isaac joked. To his surprise, Mia's face fell.

"You already are accused of assault," she said quietly. Looking backwards, Mia motioned to a sleeping man dressed in the blue uniform of the Crystalia police. He was slouching on a chair snoring away. Only then did Isaac look around him, and realise that 'heaven' was nothing but a white hospital room, where several other beds held lumps of people on them.

Where a policeman was placed to guard him.

"Mia... what happened? Why are you here? Why am I here?" Isaac demanded, sitting up. The bandages that were bound around his previously swollen arms fell away.

"You were knocked out by those changers last night. I met with Jenna, Felix and Garet, and we managed to defeat them. But you didn't wake... we were all worried that you would die..." Mia bit her lip. "I tried to heal you, but it seemed as if you weren't recovering..."

No wonder he felt sore. If he nearly died, and yet now felt fine, Mia must have spent much of her energy healing him. Isaac felt pangs of guilt strike him. "And then...?"

"Just as you began recovering, a group of people began to shoot at us. I thought we were all doomed for, and everyone was shot once..."

"Shot!"

"I woke up this morning, and listened to the conversation of several nurses. Apparently, those were tranquilisers to knock us out," Mia said. "The rangers thought we were dangerous, and knocked everyone out before they brought us all here, and placed us under watches."

"So... Garet, Jenna and Felix are here too?"

Mia pointed to three sleeping changers opposite them. "I sang to Felix a little just now. He should be all right."

"Jenna and Garet?"

"They weren't hurt much in the first place."

Isaac turned to stare at the policeman. "And him?"

"He was already tired, so I sang him to sleep," Mia giggled slightly. "And I did it before I changed."

"Mia, promise me that in the future, you will not sing unless you really have to," Isaac said. "The truth is, all of us probably need you to keep us from dying, but even so, you must not exert yourself. Look after yourself, all right? Heal us enough to make sure we'll survive, and leave the rest."

"... I promise..." Mia replied with a sigh. "I just don't like to see any of you hurt."

"Just as we don't like to see you tired," Isaac countered with a grin.

"I can't believe you're still looking out for her."

Both changers turned in surprise. Jenna sat up on her white bed.

"Isaac, do you know what she did last night?"

"Huh?"

"You nearly died last night, Isaac. And she refused to heal you!" Jenna's eyes flashed angrily at Mia.

"Hey!" A loud, unfamiliar voice boomed out.

All three changers froze as a gun was readied. They turned to look at the guard. He stood awake in front of his chair.

"All of you, go back to your beds and lie down," he ordered. His eyes glanced at Mia. "You, change back."

Silently, the changers obeyed. None of them wanted each other to be shot. Even with a tranquiliser.

"You will not change. You will lie quietly on your beds until further instructions are given. Am I clear?"

"I'm afraid not, sir!" The door was pushed open, and Dr. Martin entered. "I'm afraid I need to take several patients out for a checkup.

"We have orders to keep these changers under our watch," the policeman protested. Dr. Martin turned to him, and Isaac could see his knees shaking. But his voice rang out confidently and loudly.

"And when they're dead, will they be under your watch? I need to treat them right away!"Grumbling, the policeman nodded. Two nurses pulled Jenna onto a stretcher, despite her struggles. Three carried Felix onto another. Five nurses and the doctor exited. A huge sigh exploded when the doors closed.

Isaac smiled gratefully. Dr. Martin had even stood up to a policeman to help them. What an achievement.

He rolled to a side, glancing at Mia. She stared back at him.

"I did want to heal you," she whispered. "I did..."

"I know you did." Truth be told, Isaac couldn't understand Jenna's words. Mia had healed him, hadn't she?

"Jenna meant the immortality."

The what?

"When you didn't respond to my song, Jenna asked me to give you my immortality so that you would live," Mia whispered quickly. "I refused, but not because I was selfish! I have my reasons!"

Isaac didn't know what to make of it. Never in his life had he come across a situation where someone refused to give him long life.

"Er..."

"Do you remember the day when I ran out of the library?" Mia shivered under her blanket. "That's when I read in a book... about a mermaid. She fell in love with a mortal. But the man died. The mermaid had to bear with the pain of losing him, and her children, for they were not immortal like her. Slowly, year by year, she had to watch them leave her, as well as all her mortal friends."

There was silence again.

"The pain of losing everyone... watching everyone you care for leave... being left alone... Even the thought of it scares me..." Mia wiped a tear from her cheek. "If I had given you my immortality, you would have been saddled with that fate... I don't want you to experience that pain for the rest of your life!"

To be alone forever...

To watch everyone you care for disappear, one by one...

Through the many years, maybe new friends could be made... but they would leave one day, and the feeling would return once more...

"I understand. And I thank you." Having heard what Mia had described, Isaac felt really grateful that he didn't have to live forever. The thought of Mia possibly going through all that in the future made his heart contort with sympathy and anxiety. "I... don't know what else to say, but... I know you truly wanted to help me. And that's all that matters."

Mia smiled slightly. "But Jenna..."

"Jenna didn't understand; she was just worried about me. I'm sure if you explained everything to her, she'd understand," Isaac replied. "She's not an unreasonable girl, really."

"Quiet over there!"

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Isaac was bored to the marrow of his bones. He had been lying on his bed in the same position for the past many hours; if his body wasn't already stiff, it would have been from not moving a muscle for a long period of time. Looking to his right, he noticed the guard dozing off on his chair.

Apparently Mr. Watch was bored too.

Mia had fallen asleep, and Isaac didn't blame her. That much healing to a person who was, apparently, half dead...

The room was totally silent. Even the drop of a pin would have been heard.

Except no pin dropped. Only a door opened, creaking softly. Isaac looked up as a blue haired person peered intently at the guard, then turned around and showed his face.

"Piers!"

Two voices had rung out. Two changers sat up. Isaac stared across at Garet, who stared back.

"Well, heya, both of you," Piers greeted. "You'd better lower your volume unless you want this one to wake up too."

"You were awake?" Isaac asked quietly.

"Just woke up," Garet said. "Piers, whaddaya doing here?"

"Visiting you. Is that a crime?" Piers asked, raising an eyebrow.

"But... how did you know about what happened?" Isaac asked.

"I was attracted by the Changertract potion too," Piers replied. "The only difference is that I didn't get caught. I beat up a dugong-"

"A what?" Garet interrupted. Piers ignored him.

"And didn't meet anyone else. I wandered around until the rangers showed up, and then I hid, so they didn't find me. I followed the ambulance here."

"The rangers of that forest were the ones who shot us with tranquilisers, right?" Isaac questioned.

"We were shot with tranquilisers?" Garet asked.

"Yeah. The paramedics came to take over, and they had to comb the forest for other injured changers," Piers again ignored Garet.

So did Isaac "Others?"

"About thirty or so changers were found in the forest, injured," Piers replied. Isaac gasped.

"Thirty?"

"Apparently the potion can attract a lot of people," Garet commented. "What's a dugong?"

"Just about everyone was injured. They also brought in the dugong I attacked, but I was probably the only one not caught. What happened to you guys?" Piers asked. "I nearly cried out when I saw you and Felix bleeding nonstop, Isaac."

"Actually..."

"What's a DUGONG!"

"Snorfasgottamah..."

There was silence. The three boys stared at the guard, who was rubbing his middle. His eyelids fluttered.

"Darn it! I can't be caught now! Listen, I'll be back later," Piers muttered. Quickly, he ran to the window and leaped out. Alarmed, Isaac ran after him. His eyes followed the elder changer as he leaped down, landing neatly on the roofs of balconies and porches below them. Surefooted, Piers ended up safely on the ground and ran off into a bush.

Great acrobat.

"Garet, what creature is Piers?"

"Two of you, into bed! NOW!"

The guard was awake. Grumbling inwardly, Isaac returned to his bed.

This was going to be a long day.

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The next day was pretty much the same, until the afternoon, when checkups were ran on them. Isaac got his body probed and knocked and scanned by different doctors, nurses and scientists until he felt like a guinea pig.

"Well... the progress made is impossible, but... since there are still several unhealed cuts and the like, we'll ask you to stay for a while," Dr. Ferdinand announced. "And no complaints; I'm not the one who wants to keep you here."

He nodded to the policeman, who nodded back.

"All three of you will follow me," he said. "Put your hands up, and walk in front of me in a straight row."

Isaac, Garet and Mia stood up and obeyed. The man ushered them out of the door and down a long corridor, his tranquiliser gun poking Garet in the back every now and then, much to his annoyance. The four moved on until they reached the conference room of the hospital, labelled in big letters with a signboard. The same signboard had a time period and 'Do Not Disturb' written on it. Two policemen dressed in the same stiff blue uniform opened the doors, and the three changers were pushed inside.

The large conference room was decorated with red drapes, and the small stage had several dark blue chairs on it. Green chairs were arranged neatly in rows before the stage, and some of these were filled with unfamiliar faces. Jenna and Felix were sitting quietly side by side in the second row, whispering to each other. Around the perimeter of the room, tranquiliser shooters stood in position, each wearing dark shades that were no doubt equipped with scanners.

"Sit down and keep quiet," the policeman behind them ordered. Trying not to attract any attention, the three changers sat down in the last row. As Isaac scanned through the room with his eyes, there were about thirty two chairs filled.

Were these the changers that had been fighting in the forest the previous night?

None of them moved, none of them spoke. Some were as young as seven or eight; those were trembling in fear. Some were as old as forty plus; they were trembling too.

"Everyone has been gathered, sir!" one of the Tranqui-Shooters mumbled into his walkie-talkie. "Will you come down now?"

Feedback blared out.

"Understood. Open the doors!" the policeman yelled. The doors were pulled open at once. A group of blue men marched in, assembling quickly on the small stage. Forming a square, they turned to face the changers. Then one of them stepped out.

Isaac's eye twitched.

No... it can't be... not him...

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Yes... this was certainly a short chapter... because on Saturday, I'm heading out of town again... this time to Malaysia, to watch fireflies!

But not to worry, since this has been short, I'll update again once I return! This time I promise to write on the trip!

Sheba: mutters You had BETTER.

Until next time! The fireflies are waiting!

Daidairo