Cleanse:
"You have your scarf, Storm?" Juvia asked as she and Storm arrived outside the Redfox house.
"Yes," Storm nodded as he pulled it out of his coat to show his mother. Juvia set the pot of stew she'd fixed down as she reached to tie the scarf around Storm's face.
"Mommy, this is making my nose itchy," Storm whined.
"I'm sorry, darling, but I don't want you catching what Persephone has," Juvia said as she finised tying the scarf off.
It had been nearly two weeks since Gajeel had told Natsu that Levy and the twins were sick. Naturally word spread around the guild like wildfire. Everyone was eagerly awaiting the Redfox girl's return. Koree recovered first and was back to her normal cheery self. Levy was next. Persephone, though, was a different story. After about five days since Gajeel's return it looked like she was on the mend. She even came by the hall for an hour or so that day. But the next morning she relapsed. Three days later it looked like she was getting well again, but then the fever came back. Now word had just been sent out that Persephone had taken a turn for the worse.
Not only was she burning up with a fever, unable to keep any food or fluids down, but blotchy red rashes had begun appearing all over her frail body. To say everyone was concerned was an understatement. Juvia had fixed some beef and vegetable stew for the Redfox family. Storm had insisted on going with her, wanting to check in on his sick playmate. Juvia was hesitant to let him go, until Gray suggested he wear a scarf around his mouth to keep him from breathing in whatever it was Persephone had.
Juvia knocked on the door and a very downcast looking Gajeel answered.
"Oh, hey," he grumbled as he opened the door.
"How is she?" Juvia asked as she and Storm stepped inside.
"Bad," Gajeel answered as he closed the door behind them.
Levy was seated in the livingroom floor, wind-reader glasses on, flipping through stacks of books.
"I don't understand," she grumbled. "We gave her all the medicine Porlyusica prescribed, we made sure to keep her warm and dry, we've done everything right! Why isn't she getting better?"
"Is it still the flu?" Juvia asked as she set the pot of stew on the table.
"No, that's how it started," Gajeel grumbled. "Now she's got pneumonia a sinus infection, and a skin infection."
"Oh!" Juvia gasped. "The poor little thing!"
"Her immune system is just so worn out," Levy said as she set a book down and picked up another, bottom lip trembling slightly. "Before we can heal one of her illnesses she catches another. I just don't know what to do! It seems like everything we try she just gets worse!"
"Have you called Porlyusica back?" Juvia asked.
"Yeah, she's on her way," Gajeel sighed. "Dunno what she can do, though, she already gave us a whole drugstore."
Levy slammed another book closed and reached for a new stack. "There's gottabe something we're missing."
"Where are Persephone and Koree?" Storm asked.
"We sent Koree to stay with the Fernandezes until Persephone gets better," Levy answered absent-mindedly. "Persephone's in her bedroom."
"Maybe you need to take her to someone in Crocus," Juvia said as Storm slipped away from the adults and down the hall. "I'm sure there are plenty of experience healers in the capital who could help."
Storm ignored the grown-ups conversations as he pushed the door to the twins' bedroom open. Persephone laid in her bed, cruled up in a tight ball. She shook violently, her breath coming in shuddering gasps. Storm frowned as he drew closer, making sure to keep his scarf in place as he reached Persephone's bedside. Hes skin was white and cracked, red blotches marring her face. She looked thin and frail.
"Persephone?" Storm called.
She didn't respond, she just kept shivered. Strom reached out and set his hand on her forehead. Despite her shivering she was burning up to the touch. Strom's brow furrowed as he conjured an orb of water and placed it against her forehead, trying to cool her down. He studied her face, she had a rather large and puffy looking sore on her cheek. He moved his hand and placed his water right over. Maybe if he could atleast clean these wounds off it would help. He concentrated hard as he gently churned the water against her cheek, willing it to wash away any germs or sickness lingering inside the rash away.
As he did so the orb began to spread over Persephone's face, except around her mouth and nose to allow her to breathe. Storm didn't pay it any mind. Though it wasn't exactly what he'd meant to do, no doubt the rest of her face needed cleaning too. If she was this sick she had to have had germs everywhere. He held out his other hand as he continued working his magic over her. He wasn't quite sure what he was doing, he just hoped it was helping.
Suddenly, he sensed something. Something dark and ugly. Something that made his skin crawl. He didn't know what it was, he just knew it was coming off of Persephone.
What was this gross feeling he was getting? Was it her sickness? He'd never felt someone's sickness before. Then again he'd never seen someone as sick as Persephone was now before.
Wait.
If he could feel her sickness, if he could sense it, did that mean he could fight it.
No, you can't fight sickness! Storm thought to himself. It's not a person! Yeesh, I'm starting to sound like Nashi!
Still, this presence wouldn't go away. It wasn't getting stronger or weaker, it was just lingering over Persephone. Even after Storm had sent his water away he still felt it.
"Hm…" he thought as he stared at the gasping and shuddering girl. Why was he feeling like this? He couldn't remember a time he'd felt this way before-
Actually, no, that was a lie. He had felt this before. This feeling of something...off. When the Twilight Ogre boys had put Nashi under a spell he'd felt this feeling. The uneasy sensation had crept over his skin the minute he'd snatched Nashi out of the boy's grasp and had lingered the whole time he'd carried her through his wave to safety. The longer he carried her through the water though, the smaller the feeling got. By the time he'd gotten her a safe distance from the boys she'd woken up from the sleep spell.
Storm cocked his head to one side. He'd never thought much about it before. After all, you splash water on a sleeping person's face and they wake up. That's just how things worked. He didn't think there was anything special about his water. But...maybe there was.
Storm reached over and gently pulled Persephone's blanket off her.
She shuddered and moaned, whimpered slightly.
"Sh," Storm whispered as he gently rolled Persephone onto her back. "It's okay, Persephone, I'm going to help you."
He arranged her arms to where they were lying by her sides, parallel to her body, and set her legs close together. He then lifted his hands and summoned an orb of water. He placed it first of Persephone's chest, letting it spread over her torso. He closed his eyes as he concentrated. He could still feel this gross and slimy presence radiating off his friend. His frown deepened as he willed his water to fight it…
...somehow. He still wasn't quite sure what he was doing, he was just following his gut. Still, even with his eyes closed, he could feel his water beginning to churn, creating small, gentle waves that rolled over Persephone's torso. As the waves began to climax and fall, they crashed against Persephone's pale and blistered skin.
No, not against it.
Into it.
Storm opened his eyes. As these small waves he was creating fell against Persephone's chest they appeared to seap into her pores. He gasped, and was about to stop whatever spell he was casting for fear of drowning her when he felt something else. The water pulsating through Persephone's body.
That dark, grimy, sickening feeling he'd felt before began to slowly disappear as his water slowly worked it's way through Persephone's body, almost as if it was swallowing up whatever was causing this dark energy Storm had felt.
Still not sure what was happening, but feeling hopeful, Storm continued casting the spell. His waved continued to build, starting near Persephone's waist before climaxing and falling against her shuddering chest that rose with each shaky breath she took. With each wave a little more water seaped into her pores and began pulsating through her, swallowing up the grossness that had been squirming through her. After a little while the water began to slowly disappear as more and more of it seaped into Persephone.
Storm began to feel a little dizzy, but he kept the spell going. He wasn't sure what it was doing, but it was definately doing something as it made it's way through her torso, up her limbs, and into her head. Suddenly it all began to make it's way back to her torso and slowly began rising out of her. Storm let out a small shriek of fear as he saw it reappearing over her.
It was no longer the crystal blue it had been before, but a sickly dark, almost black, green. The noise caused all the adults to rush to the room.
Levy let out a shriek at the sight of the green blob floating over her daughter.
"Hey, what you think you're-" Gajeel started, but Juvia held up an arm to shush him.
"No, let him work," she said, eyes wide as Storm turned to her, eyes wide with fear.
Juvia smiled reassuringly at him. "Keep going, darling."
Storm nodded, his heart still beating rapidly out of shock and fear, but he turned his attention back to the dark water floating above his friend. He wasn't sure what to do now. He hadn't been sure what it was he was doing from the get go. He was just following a hunch, and instinct. Well, that instinct had brought him this far, so he assumed it could carry him further. He closed his eyes and focused. That grimy feeling he'd felt earlier wasn't as strong withint Persephone. A lot of it was now inside his water. Okay, he'd taken some of it out of her, but now what? How was he going to get rid of it?
...Wash it away maybe? His frown deepened as he opened mouth and said:
"Clean."
He wasn't sure why he said it. Even if it was what he technically wanted to do, clean his water of whatever this green gunk was, he didn't know what saying it would do.
Suddenly all the adults gasped. Storm opened his eyes. His water was glowing! A bright, royal blue light began emitting from the orb. As it shown the dark green gunk began to shrink and shrivel away until it finally disappeared. The orb flashed from existence along with it.
Storm just stared at where the water had just vanished.
What the heck did he just do?
"Okay! Someone want to fill me in!" Gajeel shouted as he turned to Juvia. "Rain-for-brains, what did your kid just do to my Sephy?"
Juvia didn't answer right away. Instead she just beamed at Storm, her hands held to her mouth as she smiled and raced to her son, hugging him tight.
"Oh, I'm so proud of you!" she cheered.
"You...you are?" Storm asked.
"Of course!" Juvia said as she let him go and cupped his face in her hands. "Do you have any idea waht you've done?"
Storm flinched. "No…"
"You just performed and Cleansing Spell!"
"A what?" Storm asked, cocking his head to one side.
"A what?" Gajeel repeated.
"A cleansing spell," Juvia repeated. "It's a type of water magic spell that can dispel a person of illness, poisons, or even dark energy or dark magical spells and curses."
"Never heard of it," Gajeel shrugged.
"It's not a very common spell," Juvia explained. "It's incredibly difficult to cast. It requires a great deal of concentration and focus. As well as a heightened sense of empathy and strong nurturing instincts. I've tried to cast it several times in the past but I never could get the hang of it."
She smiled as she turned back to Storm and pulled him in for another tight hug. "And look at my little boy! He was able to perfrom it perfectly! Oh, I knew you were going to be a strong and powerful wizard from the moment you were bron, my darling little Storm!"
"I didn't do it perfect," Storm said as he squirmed out of Juvia's arms and walked back to Persephone's side. "I missed some, she's still got some inside her."
He raised his hands and called the water back. As he worked Levy walked to Persephone's side and placed a hand to her forehead.
"It's working!" she gasped, tears brimming her eyes. "Her fever's gone down!"
"Well, then, keep it up, kid!" Gajeel said as Storm began creating the waves once more. He cast the spell over her whole body one more, pulling out another orb of blackish-green muck.
"Clean," he ordered. As the orb glowed into nonexistance Storm felt his legs buckle underneath him and he fell to his knees.
"Storm!" Juvia raced to her son's side, setting a hand on his back. "Oh, you sweet thing, you've used up all your magic energy, haven't you?"
She stood, gathering her son into her arms, which was a bit difficult. Though he was only seven, he was starting to get a bit too heavy for her. Still, she figured she could manage just this once.
"Come on, let's get you home," she said.
"Uh-uh," Storm shook his head, pointing back to Persephone. "She's still got some in her."
Levy wiped at her teary eyes as she stroked Persephone's hair.
The little girl was no longer gasping for breath, but breathing evenly and regularly. Some of her color had returned. Her sores and rashes were no longer swollen, and she'd stopped shaking.
"I think you've done enough, Storm," Levy smiled as she kissed her daughter's forehead. "Persephone can take it from here."
As if on cue, Persephone slowly opened her eyes and looked up at her mother.
"Mommy?" she asked weakly.
"Sephy!" Gajeel sighed in relief as he fell at her bedside, taking her hand in his.
Persephone turned to him. "Daddy? Who...What…"
"Persephone?" Storm lifted his head from where it had been resting against his mother's shoulder.
Persephone turned to him. "Oh, hey, Storm."
"How you feeling?" Storm asked.
"Better," Persephone answered before smiling weakly. "Thanks."