The Heart's Truth
.
...
for ML Staff Appreciation Week: Day Four
...
.
Chapter Four
Marineith liked to think she did a pretty good job of keeping herself together, for a girl with a broken heart.
She threw herself into her studies with renewed vigor, determined to still follow through with her dream of traveling the world as a physician. Merit Ptah praised her for her hard work, and when her master presented her with a sick, young patient the day after her conversation with Cat, Marineith took in the little girl's appearance and symptoms and declared she had a simple seasonal fever. It was nothing new to Marineith; it was something she'd seen growing up near the Nile. As the seasons changed, people tended to fall ill, particularly children and the elderly. She herself had gotten sick quite a few times as a child before the Nile floodings that sustained the crops, and it was approaching that time of year. So she recognized the sound of the girl's cough, and combined with her low fever and sluggish movements, she realized what had caused the girl's illness.
Merit Ptah said nothing as Marineith explained the sickness to the little girl's parents, advising them to give her lots of fluids and a bit of broth, because the illness would pass within a week or two, and when she and Marineith left the girl to rest, she told Marineith she had done well. So well, in fact, that she assigned Marineith a whole new slew of new duties: traveling throughout the Pharaoh's connected palaces to treat mild cases of fevers and aches, working with herbalists to learn to concoct poultices and medicines to treat those cases, and conducting routine follow-ups on already-treated patients to see if they were healing properly.
Marineith didn't complain. It meant that her instructor was confident she could handle common cases, and more importantly, it kept her extremely busy, not letting her mind wander for more than a few seconds at a time.
There were fewer Akuma than usual, too, and Marineith was grateful for that, because she could barely handle seeing Cat, let alone accidentally meeting his eyes. She would look away quickly, blink back the tears, and summon a Lucky Charm. The sooner she beat the Akuma, the sooner she could leave, and the less likely Cat would see her crying.
She didn't like seeing the pity and guilt flashing across his face when he looked at her.
One time, after an Akuma battle that lasted longer than it should have because of her distracted-ness, she ran into Adrestus on her way back to her room. He looked stunned to see her holding back tears. She couldn't hold them any longer when she saw the genuine concern in his bright green eyes; and so she somehow found herself crying into his chest, her shoulders shaking violently, and Adrestus rubbing his hands soothingly on her back, his chin tucked comfortingly in the crook of her neck. She could hear his heartbeat, beating fast at first but gradually slowing as time passed, and she felt her own heart slow down to match his pace.
She felt safe with Adrestus. It was a fact that alarmed her. She felt safe with Adrestus, and it absolutely terrified her, because she felt the same way around Cat. She fought back so many words, so many feelings, that threatened to bubble all the way to the surface, because she was in love with Cat, so she shouldn't feel this way around Adrestus, even if her heart was broken, even if Cat loved someone else – but then Adrestus whispered something gently in her ear, something kind and soothing and warm, and suddenly, she didn't feel so horribly sad anymore.
"Your heart bears the truth, your heart holds no lies. You hold power in your heart." He said it low in his voice, and softly, and Marineith thought it held the same breathy quality that his laughter did.
In spite of her tears, she choked back a giggle.
"I don't need a healing spell," she mumbled. She sniffed loudly, hoping it came across as confident rather than pathetic.
"If you didn't, you wouldn't be crying," Adrestus replied, his breath warm against her ear and neck. It was as if he'd put a fire too close to her skin, and suddenly she was very aware of how close they were to one another, of the way his arms were wrapped delicately around her, the way his chest rose and fell beneath her hands.
She took a deep breath, pulled back, and wiped away her tears. Then she smiled thankfully at him.
"See?" she said. "I'm fine."
He looked down with concern, clearly not convinced, but then he nodded, smiling softly back at her.
"You're perfect," he assured her quietly. Something in his eyes compelled her to reach out and cup his cheek with her hand, but she refrained from doing so, remembering again how intimately close they were, even with her standing farther away from him than before. She licked her lips, looked down at her feet, excused herself, and hurried to her room, almost missing the soft way he bid her goodbye in her rush.
Aria was surprised she wasn't in tears when she arrived, but didn't pry when Marineith lay on her bed for hours afterwards, absently stroking Tikki's head as she tried not to think about blond hair and gold-flecked eyes.
Marineith woke up two days later with too little sleep and a bad feeling hovering over her.
She glanced around; it was still early morning, and Aria, ever the heavy sleeper, was snoring contentedly in her bed tucked into the left side of their shared room. Marineith hesitated as she moved to stand; she didn't want to wake her friend up because of her unrest. But when Tikki fluttered over to her side and sleepily mumbled something about danger in the air, she disregarded her reluctance, moving quickly to her friend's side and shaking her awake as gently but firmly as she could. It worked; Aria's eyes blinked open after a moment or so.
She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes tiredly as she squinted at her friend.
"Wha?" she managed groggily. "Why so early?" Marineith pursed her lips.
"Tikki says something's dangerous out there," she said.
Aria's Kwami flew to land on her partner's head.
"I feel it, too," she told them. "Something bad is out there."
Aria blinked away her sleepiness and stood. The two girls shared looks of concern before getting dressed quickly, Marineith throwing on Aria's gift to her hastily as a last-minute touch. She forego-ed sandals, instead hurrying outside barefoot with Aria. Together, they made their way out of the palace and onto the streets to look with concern at the sky, their Kwami tucked safely inside their clothes.
"It doesn't look that bad," Aria said. "Maybe a little rainy."
"I don't think it's the weather that's the problem," Marineith responded. Still, she couldn't deny that the clouds hovering above them and stretching all the way to the horizon promised a rainy day ahead of them. It also felt like an omen to further confirm her unsettling feeling.
"What are you girls doing awake?"
They turned to see a tired Adrestus make his way towards them. He looked exhausted, as if he'd spent most of the night awake; large bags stood out prominently against his skin, which was paler than usual. Marineith wondered if he'd had as rough a night as she had.
"I had a bad feeling," Marineith answered quickly, sharing a quick glance with Aria.
Adrestus nodded, stretching his arms upwards before rolling his shoulders.
"You're not the only one," he replied.
His actions did nothing to settle either the butterflies twirling in her stomach or the worry pressing at her mind. She looked away from him, her eyes scanning the still-dark eastern horizon.
"I just get the feeling something's..."
"Off," Aria finished for her. "I feel it, too, now."
Adrestus huffed. It drew Marineith's attention, and she looked at him with concern.
"Did you not sleep well?" she asked. He shook his head, golden hair swaying slightly from the movement.
"No, I didn't. But it's not that," he said, the downturn of his lips drawing Marineith's attention. He turned around. "I'll be back. Give me a minute." He went back inside the palace. Aria and Marineith shared perplexed glances, but once he disappeared inside the building, Aria shrugged.
"He's just being himself," she said by way of explanation.
"You mean weird?"
Aria sighed. "I think helpful is a better word for it," she said.
Marineith thought back to the other day, when he chanted a healing spell into her ear. It, particularly, was a chant she was very familiar with.
It was the first spell Merit Ptah had taught her after taking her on as a pupil.
"Remember this spell above all others," her instructor had impressed upon her. "Every word. It was taught to the first healers by Sekhmet herself. If you say this spell, no harm will come to you or your patient, if that is what Sekhmet wills."
"Why would Sekhmet will anything besides pain?" Marineith asked.
"What makes you think she would will pain upon people?" Merit Ptah replied.
"Well..." Marineith fumbled with her words under the pressure of her new instructor's gaze. "At least, where I grew up, all she ever did was burn us."
Merit Ptah had chuckled, a breathy tone that grew into a clear, piercing laugh.(Marineith would come to recognize the same sounds in Adrestus' laughter.)
"The same light that burned your skin also fed your plants, and made them grow healthily enough to sell at market and put food on your table." Merit Ptah nodded to the middle-aged man laying on his bed in front of them, holding back a cough. "The Gods have many sides to them, just as we humans do. But Sekhmet will not hurt those she holds in her favor." Then Merit Ptah had nodded to the man. "Now, repeat the words after me, slowly, and do not forget them."
Marineith did as she was told.
"Yes," she said softly. "I guess that is a better word when it comes to him."
Aria caught the change in her tone.
"Does this have anything to do with two days ago?" she asked gently.
Marineith nodded slowly.
"Spill."
Marineith opened her mouth to speak, but then she heard sandals clacking against stone, and she turned around in time to see Adrestus sprint back outside to join them.
His ever-present grin was nowhere in sight.
"My mother didn't come home last night," he said.
Marineith's eyes widened, and she met his gaze.
"You don't think...?" She trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.
"I don't know," he answered her, frustration and worry on his face and in his voice and posture.
Aria looked back and forth between them, but said nothing when they both took off at a run, instead following silently behind them.
Marineith followed her instincts, turning corners and hurtling down the empty streets, her heart beating quickly in her chest. Above them, thunder rumbled through the gray clouds, a low grumbling that fast crescendo-ed into a booming sound that resonated all throughout Marineith's body.
It almost made her forget the pounding of her own heart, and the sand caught between her naked toes.
When they finally reached the Pharaoh's palace, she knew what was awaiting them inside, even though she hoped against hope that she was wrong. The answer lingered between the three friends, unspoken, but recognized by all. Adrestus' relationship to his mother granted him and the girls easy access past the palace guards and into the Pharaoh's home.
Marineith led the way after that, retracing her steps from when she visited Merit Ptah here earlier that month. Instinct and memory guided her. She climbed up the narrow staircase and walked down the sharply-veering hallway; once again, her eyes were drawn to the blood-red sun in Sekhmet's name inscribed on the wall. She sent a prayer to Anuket that Merit Ptah's most important patient might find herself well.
But when they reached Queen Ankhesenamun's room, the bed was empty, and the candles extinguished.
Almost done! uwu Updates on all stories are slow rn because finals. But expect more later this month! Holidays are coming, after all~!
xoxoPigTails