Chapter Twenty-Six:
A/N: There is a lot going on in this chapter, some beyond belief, but it should give some insight into the characters' minds, especially Tessa's. I'm finally revealing just why she hates men. I've hinted at it on the train, but now the whole story comes out. I do get a little graphic in some parts, so this isn't for the weak-stomached.
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Coughing as she pushed a piece of fuselage aside, Tessa dug out of the wreckage of the airship. She had no idea how she survived, but she couldn't feel her left leg.
The sky was a dark shadow that covered the moon and stars, but she could see small fires surrounding her where pieces of the airship had caught fire. Pillars of smoke drifted into the air and disappeared as they dispersed with the wind.
"Anyone?" she rasped as she pulled herself onto the top of the pile of metal she had been trapped in. "Hello?"
When she received no response, Tessa raised her right hand and shot a bolt of lighting into the sky. Hoping that someone would see her distress signal, she then lowered her right hand and a small flame appeared in it. Crackling as it rested on her palm, Tessa shined the flamed onto her leg, which was covered in blood and twisted in the wrong direction.
I hate to do it, Tessa thought as she placed her left hand on the leg. A green light shot out of her hand and a warm feeling spread through body. Her leg snapped back into place with a loud CRACK and she shuddered. When she took her hand away, Tessa's leg was completely healed, with the tendons and bones repaired, realigned, and reattached.
"Is there anyone here?" Tessa yelled again as she slowly crawled down the side of the wreckage. "Is anyone else alive?"
"Tessa? Is that you?" someone else yelled. "Where are you?"
"Over here!" she yelled back. She raised her right hand over her head again and sent another Thunder spell into the sky. "Follow my signal!"
A few moments later Adette fell into Tessa's line of sight. Her shoulder was covered in blood and her face was dirty with a long, deep cut running from the base of her neck to her right temple. "Finally, I found you."
"You need to be treated!" Tessa said looking around for her pack. Miraculously, it lay at the bottom of the pile of fuselage, undamaged. "Don't move!"
Tessa jumped to the ground, her left leg giving out because it was still numb from the Curaga spell she had used. She grabbed the bag and squatted beside Adette. Her hand traced the cut as Adette winced.
"Have you seen anyone else?" Tessa asked as she pulled a plastic baggie out of the pack. "Do you know if the others are okay?"
"Yeah, they're all fine. Miss Rinoa's Protect spell blocked a lot of the damage, though some did slip through," Adette said through gritted teeth. Tessa ripped open a small package and pulled out a moist, white strip of cloth-like paper. She pressed it against Adette's neck, causing the other teen to cry out. "What are you doing?"
"I'm disinfecting it," Tessa said simply as she rubbed the swab up and down Adette's neck. "If I don't, it'll get infected."
"Adette, are you okay?" someone else yelled. Phelan, Rinoa, and Xu soon stumbled up to the two girls, dragging Zell between the three of them.
"I'm fine, Mr. Zell," Adette said as she winced again. "Tessa's healing me."
"I guess it's a good thing you came after all," Xu said as she collapsed next to the pile of fuselage. "Nobody else here knows anything about medicine."
"I do know some things from my travels," Rinoa said as she sat beside Xu, still not looking at Tessa. "I wouldn't have survived too long if I were incompetent."
"How are you?" Phelan asked Tessa as he held a hand to his bleeding side. "It seems like the ladies made out better than us guys."
"Tell me about it," Zell wheezed as he pressed a hand to his chest, which was seeping a large amount of blood.
"Shut up and stop moving!" Tessa yelled at her companions. She turned to Adette and sighed. "I'll be back, hold this to your neck."
"But it burns," Adette whined as she placed her hand on the alcohol swab.
"Do I look like I care?" Tessa snapped as he stood up and grabbed her pack. Her eyes traveled from injured person to injured person."
"How are you guys?" Tessa asked Xu and Rinoa as she knelt by them, but she couldn't at either of them. "Anything I need to look at before I take care of the guys? Any sharp pains or severe bleeding?"
"We're fine," Xu said with a thankful tone that almost drew Tessa's gaze. "They need your help more than we do."
Tessa was glad when she stood up and walked away from the two older women. She got down onto her knees and lifted Phelan's shirt so she could see his side. She wiped away a large amount of blood as he grimaced.
"Relax, it'll hurt less," Tessa told him.
"How am I supposed to relax?" Phelan asked as Tessa put her left hand against his wound. "I have a hole in my body!"
"Quit whining," Tessa said as she felt Phelan's skin reattach underneath her hand. "I broke my leg."
"Really?" Phelan said. "It doesn't look like it, you must be tough."
"I healed myself, you idiot," she said as stood up. "There, you're fine. It was only a flesh wound, so it didn't take that much to heal."
"What about me?" Zell croaked. Tessa looked at him and fought to keep from rolling her eyes.
"Move your hand and let me see just what I'm dealing with," she said. Zell lifted his hand and Tessa saw something she had never seen before. "What is that?"
"Look at his back!" Xu yelled from her perch. "Is it serious?"
"The man has a pole coming out his chest!" Tessa yelled when she saw him. "You could've told me sooner!"
"Is it serious?" Zell asked with a cough. He kept coughing and soon threw up on Tessa's pants. She took her shirt off, ignoring the gasps of everyone else, and wrapped it around her right hand.
"You have a pole in your chest," she repeated. "Of course it's serious. I need to know something, how did it go in?"
"Through his chest," Xu said irritably. "How could someone so stupid have gotten into medicine?"
Tessa whirled around and glared at Xu. "I meant, how did the pole go through his chest so I can best remove it, you stupid bitch! If I leave it in or take it out in the wrong way it'll cause even worse damage."
"He fell forward and landed on it," Adette said as she stood up and walked to Tessa. "I remember because I'm the one that pushed him onto it. Sorry, Mr. Zell."
"Fine, whatever," Tessa said as she shook her head.
"It's okay," Zell said as he gasped for breath.
"Shut up, you're only making things worse!" Tessa said as she stood behind Zell. "Phelan, grab his arms and hold him steady."
"Why?"
"Don't make me say it," Tessa said as she spat on the ground. Phelan grabbed Zells's arms and looked as apologetic as he could. Tessa placed her hands on the small bit of pole sticking out of Zell's back and steadied her feet. "This going to hurt, and I didn't bring any morphine."
She tugged on the pole and Zell screamed. Tessa stopped and realized she wasn't strong enough to pull the bar out. Not wanting to admit defeat, she tossed the shirt to the side and grabbed the bar again. She placed one foot on Zell's butt and steadied herself with the other.
"Hold on!" she yelled as she pulled with her hands and pushed with her foot. The pole slid a few inches but didn't come out. Zell was clearly in pain, and she wasn't doing him any favours. "Phelan, you pull this damn thing out, I'll hold him in place."
"What?" Phelan asked, not understanding what was going on. "You're having me do it?"
"I'm not strong enough, okay?" Tessa said angrily. "Now pull the pole out before I shove one in you."
"Heh, hold on, Man," Phelan said as he slapped Zell on the shoulder.
"Are you stupid?" Tessa yelled as she took Zell's hands and held him up. "You're just adding more trauma and stress to the body. It may be macho, but I take it being macho is a sign of stupidity."
"You just wish you were as strong as me," Phelan said with a laugh as he gripped the pole. "Hang on man, you have to finish telling me about that Undersea Lab."
"Just pull the pole out!" Tessa yelled. Phelan grunted a response as he pulled on the pole. After a few seconds of Zell's screaming, Phelan fell back with the pole in his hand. Zell fell to the ground, dragging Tessa down with him.
"Ow," Phelan said as he stood up. "Are you okay?"
"Grab my pack!" Tessa yelled at him as she struggled to get Zell to sit up. "Pull out a clean shirt!"
"How's this?" Phelan asked when he re-emerged with Tessa's uniform top.
"Not my uniform! I only brought one!" Tessa yelled back.
"This is the only one there is," Phelan replied as he threw the uniform to Tessa. She gritted her teeth as she caught it and pressed it against Zell's chest, soaking up a large amount of blood.
After a few seconds of Zell not breathing, Tessa dropped him to the ground and slapped her left hand on his chest, right over his wound. A green light slipped from her fingertips and into his body, illuminating him from the inside out. When she pulled her hand away, there was no more wound on his chest, but he still wasn't breathing.
"Shit! Not again!" Tessa screamed as she began pushing on Zell's chest. When she couldn't feel a heartbeat, she pushed Zell's shirt up, exposing his chest. Tessa put her left hand on his chest, warm blood still marking where his wound had been only seconds before.
She thought back on her discussion with Aili the day before she received her exam assignment, and placed her right hand on Zell's chest. A small bolt flew out of it and into Zell, causing his muscles to jerk. She then felt for another heartbeat and found a weak one.
Tessa pushed down on his chest again and breathed into his mouth, trying her best to stabilize his pulse. If only she had better medical supplies at her disposal. However, she didn't; nobody had anticipated a thing such as an airship crash to happen. When she thought she could do no more, Tessa sat back and sighed out of frustration and exhaustion.
"Amazing," Xu said as she placed a hand on Tessa's shoulder, causing her to involuntarily flinch. Xu didn't notice, but instead leaned on Tessa. "I didn't know you'd mastered Curaga."
"I haven't" Tessa admitted as she jerked her shoulder from Xu's clasp. Xu almost fell, but caught herself. "I'm only in Advanced White Magic, not Master White Magic."
"I think you should put a shirt on," Rinoa said out of he blue as stood on Tessa's other side. "It's improper for a girl to go around topless."
Tessa closed her eyes, trying to abate her irritation. It had been a trying few days, and she was desperately in need of a release, so she lost it when Rinoa told her how a girl should act. She stood up and began screaming. "There is nothing wrong with a girl showing her body!"
"I didn't mean…" Rinoa started to say, but Tessa was starting a rampage that had been building since the beginning of her exam.
"No," Tessa screamed as she jabbed a finger in Rinoa's chest. "I have put up with your sweetness and moral superiority as long as I can! I just saved a man's life, and all you can tell me is that I need to put a shirt on because it's improper!
"I am not ashamed of my body! In fact, why don't I get rid of this, too?" She screamed as she ripped off her bra. She held it over her head with her right hand, and within moments, she had set it on fire with a spell. "There! Now how improper am I?"
"Not bad," Phelan said after whistling. Tessa whirled around, her nostrils flared. He immediately realized his folly and tried to apologize, to no avail.
"Is this all I am to you?" Tessa screamed as she grabbed her breasts. "Just a pair of boobs? A couple of knockers? I may be a woman, but I am far more than that!"
"Calm down," Phelan said as he leapt forward and grabbed Tessa's arms, trying to restrain her. In her continuing fit of rage, Tessa reared back and head-butted him as hard as she could. Phelan let go and doubled over in pain. Tessa jerked her foot up, hitting him in the chin and knocking him to the ground. She kicked him in the stomach for good measure before sneering in his face.
"I warned you!" she screamed in his face, which was wracked with pain. "I told you that I was going to kick your ass, you stupid man!"
"Stop right now!" Xu yelled at Tessa. "If you hit him again, I'll fail you here and now! You have been nothing but an annoying pain in the ass since the first moment I met you!"
Tessa got her breathing under control and stormed away, out of the light of the airship's fire. On the horizon, she saw several bright lights, Galbadia City. She fell to her knees, tears filling her eyes and she tried to hold back the memories flooding into her mind.
"Please! Let me go!" a younger Tessa cried as she was drug into a dense forest by a man whose face she couldn't see. Rocks and branched dug into her back, which only increased her fear. "Please, don't hurt me!"
"I won't hurt you," the man leered as he threw Tessa onto the ground. "At least, not too much."
Tessa screamed at the top of her lungs, but the man punched her in the face. She stopped screaming and began sobbing as he tore her pants off. He grabbed at her breasts with one hand as he held her down with the other, preventing her escape. She scratched at his strong, hairy arms, but he only laughed as she fought back.
He stood up and she started to crawl away, but he kicked her in the ribs, knocking her to the ground. She curled up in pain as he dropped his pants and stepped out of them. His strong hands grabbed her and pulled her back to him. She scratched at the ground trying to get away.
The man grabbed her underwear and pulled them down, then flipped her over. He pressed himself against her thighs, laughing as she sobbed, revelling in her fear and despair. Then he thrust into her, and she screamed out in pain. In retaliation, he punched her again as he raped her, then slammed his hand down on her mouth. She tasted salt as muffled sobs escaped between her attackers fingers.
Then, over as soon as it had begun, he pulled out of her and stood up. He pulled on his pants and walked away, leaving the young girl crying and holding her vagina as blood ran down her legs.
"Are you okay?" Adette asked as she sat down beside Tessa. She handed her the jacket she had been wearing. "Here, it's cold out."
"Thanks," Tessa said as she wiped her nose with the back of her hand. She slipped the jacket on and zipped it up. "I'm fine, you can go away."
"You're not fine," Adette said. She grabbed Tessa's face and turned it in her direction. "What's wrong, tell me."
"I don't do heart-to-hearts, I don't do girl talk," Tessa said as she looked back at the city. "There are things that only I can deal with, okay?"
"It must not be fun to be you," Adette said with a wince as she laid her head on Tessa's shoulder.
"Hasn't been so far," Tessa said with an exhausted sigh as she rubbed her bleary eyes and leaned against Adette. Within minutes, Tessa was asleep and Adette was stroking her hair.