Chapter 67
"Martin, how's he doing now?" Noire asks me from across the room.
"His pulse is steady and he isn't bleeding anymore, I'd say our best bet is to give him some rest." That's all there is to say on the matter.
After Jack's incident in the living room, we decided to drag him back to Nepgear's room to work on him and try to fix the damage. I did what I could with what knowledge I have.
It came as a surprise to most of my friends, but I used to watch a lot of medical programs as a kid, as well as read up on medical procedures. I never thought I would have to put them to use this early.
The first step was identifying the problem, which surprise, was magic related. Apparently due to the injuries his avatar sustained, it caused his sharicite to leak massive amounts of energy into his body.
Which naturally, wasn't used to holding any magic at all. However, Rom and Ram were able to channel it back into his sharicite and close it up to prevent more magic leaks.
After that it was simple, just clean up the blood and monitor him. Well it was a bit more than that but I don't think anyone wants to hear about it.
"Thank you Martin, he owes his life to you." Noire says to cheer me up.
"He's in this situation because of me… I couldn't help him very much, and we lost because of that."
"You helped us get away, if all of us stayed we might've been in trouble with how damaged we were from the previous fight." Noire puts a hand on my shoulder and looks me in the eyes.
"Noire's right, it couldn't have been helped. We'll have to prepare better for the next battle I guess." Vert chimes in to reassure me as well.
I take a deep breath and exhale in the same manner. "Nothing could've been done, you're right." Ultimately there is nothing more we can do about the situation but wait it out.
But there are more questions that I have that relate to this in some way shape or form. "What is Sharicite exactly?" I ask to the entirety of the room.
"Sharicite is the crystallization of a nation's faith in its Goddess. It's also the life source for a Goddess, fueling them and being a part of them," Blanc gives a quick explanation.
"So inside of Jack is…" I'm cut off by Neptune.
"A piece of my little sister." Neptune states in an unhappy tone.
There really is no separating those two now is there? That's a joke I'll keep to myself for now. But in all reality it's fascinating to see how this works.
It's a shame that all of this information is coming at the price of Jack suffering. I won't let it go to waste though, I'll use it in any way that I can for the future.
"Anyways, I think we should give Jack some space to rest up for the time being." Neptune comments her thoughts.
"I… think I'll stay with him." Nepgear replies back. That's only natural due to their relationship.
We nod and leave Nepgear and Jack alone. Standing out in the hall now as a result.
"Well now what?" Ram asks the question on all of our minds.
Blanc walks up to her twin sisters and puts a hand on their shoulders. "Rom, Ram, I think you should go to sleep for the night."
Naturally, Ram protests while Rom stands near her, not voicing her own opinion. "How do you expect us to sleep when there's so much stuff going on?" Blanc is starting to look irritated.
"Just do as you're told…" She's sounding angrier as well.
I'm almost afraid of what will happen if Blanc is allowed to go off on one of her anger sprees. I can't imagine it would be good for the building or any of us.
"No! I'm not sleeping until Jack is alright!" Ram yells at her older sister.
Blanc clenches her fists and looks like she's about to blow. Her faces gets red and her eyes become covered up by her hair. It's as I feared.
"Ram… we should just… sleep…" Rom of all people speaks up now.
"What do you mean? How can you sleep right now?" Her twin responds back.
"Is being restless… what Mister Jack would want for us right now…" She's taking fewer pauses than she usually does. Well this is an interesting development.
Ram pauses for a moment, shocked by her sisters sudden questioning. She must not be used to being questioned by Rom, it's unnatural for her. That's why she's reacting so harshly.
"What? What are you saying? He'd want us to be worried about him!" I'm surprised that no one is stepping up to stop the twins dispute. Then again, it's not everyday you see Rom act like this.
"If its one thing he hates… it's when people worry. I learned that… when he stayed with me… for the weekend…" She blushes at that memory for reasons that none of us know.
"So… if you're going to keep being like this… you can sleep by yourself tonight…" Rom walks away from the group, with the majority of us being awestruck.
Never in a million years would I have thought that Rom would do that to Ram, the person she loves more than almost everyone, and everything in the world. Could it be… she's coming out of her shell?
"R-Rom… wait up you dummy!" Ram runs after her a solid thirty seconds after her words. With a delay like that you know it hit her hard.
"Uni, go make sure they're alright. Everyone else and I will go to the kitchen, there's something we need to talk about." Noire gives orders to everyone and no one questions them.
Uni nods and goes to the living room to watch the twins. While the rest of us walk to the kitchen and take a seat at the table.
"Before we begin I have a question. Martin, do you still want to be here?" Noire asks me out of the blue.
I hadn't really thought of it much since this drama began. I guess it must've slipped my mind. She does raise a point though…
I'm in no way a part of this fight. I don't have to be here because there's nothing on either side that I have to gain or to lose. I could walk out with what I already have and be alright with that.
Except I can't… I just can't…
"Do I want to be here? No, I don't. I need to be here."
Noire… and the rest of the Major Goddesses shoot me a curious look. "I need to be here because before I knew you all as supernatural beings of divine power, you were my friends. And yes it might seem like I was in the background for most of the time, but it still meant a great deal to me that I could call you my companions. And…"
I look to Noire when I trail off and place a hand over hers. "It wouldn't be right to just walk out on someone I care deeply about." Noire blushes intensely at me.
"Hmph, even in the time of crisis she's still the same old Noire." Vert chuckles a bit.
"Shut up! I… I can't even… Just shut up!" Noire's embarrassment levels go through the roof. It's honestly kind of adorable in a sense, but it must be hell on her. Now she's lost her concentration.
Despite the serious aura around this day, none of us can help but laugh at our own pace. Even Noire's laughing slightly now that I look at it.
"You know what? Screw it, I can't even think about what I was going to talk about. It was probably something we all knew anyways. Let's all just call it a night." Noire smiles with a certain gleam to her.
"Way ahead of you, there's plenty of space in the living room, and there's even, my own chamber." Neptune sounds a little too playful on the chamber part of that but whatever.
Vert stands up. "I think I'll take Neptune up on that, lead the way." With that Vert and Neptune walk away back to Neptune's Room, leaving the three of us remaining.
"Might as well get some shut-eye." Blanc smiles in the small sense, well, the only smile she can give off.
Noire takes my hand fully and pulls me up. Dang she's strong, she must take vitamins. "Come Martin, we're going to the living room."
"If you say so." Those words are the wisest thing a man can say.
When we arrive in the living room Rom Ram and Uni are already situated on the main couch with a large quilt covering them. Blanc is on the recliner with a blanket covering her.
That leaves the loveseat for Noire and I.
We lay down with her in front of me but then realize that there are no blankets left. Noire presses into me and forces my arms around her.
"Keep me warm, and that's it." With that, I remain silent and do as she tells me.
It's not long before I can hear the peaceful sound of light snoring from multiple people, including Noire. I guess that means despite everything, no matter how dark a day can get, people can realize that it'll be alright in the end.
A/N: I'm honestly unhappy with this chapter and how long it took to get out but it had to be done. That's right, this chapter to me is just something to advance the plot. I'm sorry if I'm droning on, but work has really started to take its toll on me. And as I mentioned last time, coworkers are a bitch. Nevertheless, I'm sorry that this took so long.
I can assure you however that the next chapter will come out in a timely fashion, and will be much better. But on the bright side, I feel like this is a good reflection of how people would react. Just laughing for no reason because they know it'll be alright in the end. Or am I just high? I'll leave that up to you. But only in the next update.