Thanks to: Meg, Spongey and Kira, my Three Musketeerettes (couldn't think of anything better - heh). Hmmm, Musketeerettes? Sounds like a bunch of soldiers from 17th century France who can't stop cursing. Ah well...
Random Quote: Well it's perfectly simple. When I asked you to build me a wall I was rather hoping that instead of just dumping the bricks in a pile you might have found time to cement them together... you know, one on top of another, in the traditional fashion. (Basil Fawlty, from Fawlty Towers)
The atmosphere in the room, which for the last twenty minutes or so had been the scene for a trio of frenzied, fearsome and devastating battles, was now replaced by an atmosphere of sombre silence. Rocks and chunks of ice lay strewn about the place, with craters and scorch marks littering the floor and walls. And in the middle of the gathered crowd lay Tegryn with his left leg busted wide open and his shinbones peering cruelly at the outside world. He was held lovingly by Musa - she was trying her darndest to hide the fact that she was breaking up inside, but inside she knew she simply had to keep it together, if only for her lover's sake if not her own.
Irma knelt quietly beside them, barely noticing the fact that the ever-increasing puddle of blood which surrounded Tegryn was now just a few millimetres away from touching her knees. On the other hand, Taranee couldn't bear to look at this scene any longer and so she buried herself into the bosoms of Mimi and Nini, who comforted her in an almost motherly fashion along with Hay Lin and Cornelia. Likewise, Flora clung to Helia for dear life, with Delphi putting her arm around her for support. Many of the others stood around quietly in groups, all barely able to comprehend quite how this could have happened.
Anyuna in particular was particularly distraught at the sight of her dear friend in so much pain and discomfort. Although the initial shock had passed, he was still in a very real world of hurt - in fact, it wasn't just a world of hurt, it was a whole bloody galaxy of the stuff. This was all too much for her - she wasn't prepared to do nothing, there must be something she could do to help. Tentatively, she stepped forward, knelt at his head and signalled for Musa to lift him up.
"Put his head on my lap." Anyuna spoke softly. "I think I can make him a bit more comfortable."
"Why?" Musa asked.
"Look, it's bad enough that this has happened, but I don't want him having to rest his head on this hard floor!" she snapped before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. It's just... I want to try something. If I'm right, I may be able to transfer some of his pain into me."
Musa eyebrows shot upwards at this suggestion, as did most of the others.
"How on Magix can you do that?!"
"Well, I'm able to see into people's dreams and relive those dreams along with them, right?"
"Right... but I don't see how that'll help my Teggy. He's still awake."
"Let's face it Musie, this is a living nightmare for him. The way I see it, it's the same principle." Anyuna paused for a moment, letting her words sink in. "I think it could work. I think I can do this. Please Musie, let me try."
Musa looked at her for a second. She thought this idea was crazy with no chance of working whatsoever, but she was too numb to argue and so she nodded. Gently, she lifted Tegryn's head and shoulders as Anyuna shuffled forward until her thighs were directly underneath him before they lay him down. Anyuna placed a hand on his forehead and looked at him. His eyes were still clamped shut and his face was still locked in a grimace - it was doubtful the fact that he had just been moved had even registered.
Anyuna closed her eyes and concentrated. Nothing seemed to happen at first, but just as everyone was giving up on her plan, her breathing started to become just that little bit quicker and small beads of sweat started to appear on the temples of her head. Suddenly, she grunted and doubled up as though she had just been punched in the stomach, her face screwed up in pain. She let out a little scream as she struggled to maintain her focus on Tegryn, momentarily reaching out to Musa for support before quickly withdrawing her hand and placing it back on Tegryn's forehead.
"Anyuna! Are you...?"
"So... so much. I didn't expect... so much... paiAAAH!" she yelled, arcing her head backwards and screaming up at the ceiling.
"Yuni! Stop it!" Charlotte shouted frantically as she went to pull her away.
"No!" Anyuna replied, holding out her free hand to stop Charlotte in her tracks. Her breathing slowly became slower and easier as finally she was able to get on top of the shared pain. "It's okay Charlotte - I think I'm getting it now. It's... it's okay."
Tegryn's breathing had also become easier, and Anyuna smiled as she sensed it. Her idea was working.
"Thank you Yuni." Musa said with some relief, laying a hand on her shoulder. "You don't know how much this means to me."
"I'm sorry Musa, but he's not out of the woods yet." Prince Sky said in a very serious tone of voice.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Musa replied, turning her head to look at him. Sky nodded down at the ground, towards the small river of blood which was still gushing from his wound.
"His leg. We have to fix it somehow."
"He's right," Timmy said as he scanned the fracture zone with his medi-comp. "A major artery's been ruptured. He's already lost a lot of blood. We need to repair it, and quick."
"Well, why don't you?" Musa asked.
"We can, but not yet. We need to reset the bones first - if we leave resetting the bone until after the artery has been repaired, the artery could rupture again and then we'll be back to where we started."
A short silence fell upon the group.
"Reset the bones?" Musa gulped. "You mean...?"
Timmy nodded. "Manually."
Riven cupped his face in his hands. "Advanced Battlefield First Aid 301 - the one class I was hoping we'd never have to use."
"Well, it looks like we have no choice." Sky said as he knelt down beside Irma on Tegryn's right-hand side and placed his hands under his calf and ankle. "And what's more, you probably have to take the lead. After all, you were the only one to ace that class."
Riven's face paled when he heard this, but he knew full well that Sky was right - unfortunately, he WAS the best man for the job. He knelt down and slit the fabric of Tegryn's trouser to expose the full extent of the injury. The jagged lower ends of his tibia and fibia jutted out in a most grotesque fashion, coated in a shimmering red gloss like the teeth of some savage predator that had just eaten its fill. The upper ends of the two bones were just visible, nestled within the flesh of his lower leg. The skin around them was tattered and shredded in places with an ugly red chasm running a few inches either side of the protuding bones, and rivulets of blood periodically overflowed out of the wound and dripped down the sides of his leg onto the floor.
Riven reached forward and gingerly touched one of the bones before stopping and turning to Tegryn.
"Teggy? Can you hear me?"
After a few anxious seconds, Tegryn made a whispered gasping noise, which Riven took to mean yes.
"Teggy... I'm so sorry about this, but this is really gonna hurt. You ready?" he asked, looking first at Tegryn, who didn't answer, then Anyuna and Musa, who each gave him a nod.
"Please Riven, make it quick. Just get it over and done with." Musa pleaded.
He nodded solemnly, then turned to Sky and Timmy, who stood over them prepared to monitor their progress.
"Do it bro."
Riven took one last deep breath then pressed against one end of the tibia, easing it back into the flesh as gently as he possibly could. Tegryn let out a sharp breath, quickly followed by Anyuna as she bravely continued to channel his pain into herself.
So far, so good.
But things soon became a lot more difficult when the time came to attempt joining the two broken ends. As Riven tried desperately to find the exact right angle to slot the two halves together, Tegryn's body arched up as new waves of pain shot up his spine. Eeven with all the pain he was experiencing, nothing could have prepared him for the sensation of the two bones scraping against each other - it felt like a million nails being scraped down a million blackboards all at once. Anyuna's body stiffened and she screamed as this terrible new sensation threatened to overwhelm the two of them. Instictively, Tegryn pulled Musa towards him and he clung onto her tight.
"It's okay baby, it'll be over soon. Just hang in there." she whispered as soothingly as she could into his ear. But he just couldn't take any more punishment. As he nestled his head into Musa's shoulder, he let out a loud sob as his resistance was finally broken. This was quickly followed by Anyuna, who also burst into tears.
"I can't... take..." she cried, her whole body quivering, her knuckles turning white as she clenched her free hand into a tight fist. Meanwhile, Musa was hugging and carressing Tegryn as hard as she could, just to let him that she was there for him, whilst barely able to stop herself from crying.
'Be strong Musa. Be strong. He needs you to be strong. It'll soon be over. Be strong.'
"It'll be alright baby. I'm here. We're all here. We're gonna get you through this."
"Sorry..." Tegryn whispered in reply as he found just a tiny fragment of inner strength from somewhere. "Shouldn't... cry..."
"Oh Teggy, it doesn't matter. You bawl your eyes out - nobody here will mind."
"Gotta be... a man... your man."
"You'll always be my man... always."
As quickly as the pain had increased a thousand-fold, it soon subsided so that the pure and terrifying agony that had wracked his body had died down to the intense but endorphin-dulled stinging in his leg. Tegryn relaxed, loosening his grip on Musa and resting back into Anyuna's lap, panting. Anyuna herself briefly slumped forward across Musa before sitting herself up straight again.
Finally, the torture was over. Riven had done his job, and done it well. Both of the shinbones were more or less in place, and Timmy set to work repairing the damage to his artery using the small medi-laser he religiously kept in his utility belt - like any good hero, he came prepared for the worst.
"Hey Timmy? Couldn't you use that to repair his leg too?" Bloom asked.
Timmy shook his head. "It wouldn't work on an injury this severe. Perhaps on your broken ribs - those are just bad cracks - but definately not here. This needs specialist medical attention" he answered as he busied himself repairing the gashes in Tegryn's leg until they were fully sealed, before getting Irma to clean it off with a gentle stream of water. "We need to get him back to Alfea, quick."
"No," Tegryn croaked. "Not without our friend."
"Teggy, you can't be serious." Musa protested. "You can't stay with us. You have to go back home."
"Musa..."
"I mean, it's good that you want to help us rescue Will, but how on Magix can you even think about fighting Darkar? You're still hurting bad."
"I'm not..."
Musa looked at Anyuna, who gently shook her head. "Musa's right Teggy. I can still feel it, and believe me, it's gonna take a lot more than an aspirin to fix that. We're talking some major industrial-strength painkillers here."
Through all of this ordeal, Flora had still been holding on to Helia and not daring to look at what had just gone before, but when she heard this she turned and looked at Delphi.
"Painkillers?" she murmured as she wiped her eyes. "Hey Delphinia, I think I know a spell that might help... the one we practised back in high school, but it'll take both of us to make it work."
"It's..." Delphi started before biting her lip - this really wasn't the time or the place to get pedantic over her name. "It's a good idea, if you're thinking what I'm thinking."
Flora nodded, and they walked over together and sat either side of Tegryn. Flora placed a soft hand directly over the injury. Tegryn took a sharp intake of breath and winced - even though the wound was patched up, it was still extremely tender and swollen, and the area all around his calf and shin area was now heavily bruised. Delphi followed suit, placing hers next to her sister before they lay their other hands on either side.
"You ready?"
Delphi nodded. The two of them both closed their eyes and said together "Touch of Feverfew" (1). Their entire bodies glowed a warm shade of yellow, and almost immediately Tegryn could feel the spell's effects. The extreme pain in his leg was quickly replaced by a warm tingling sensation that seemed to wash all the way up his body in pleasant, soothing waves. Tegryn let out a loud sigh of relief - this felt as close to heavenly as he was gonna get, especially when compared to what he was feeling just a minute before.
He opened his eyes, as though he was waking from a deep sleep, and the first thing he saw was his darling Musa. She looked down at him, her beautiful dark eyes still beaded with water but now containing a glint of hope as she glimpsed the return of that old spark of his. He craned his head a bit further up to see Anyuna looking completely drained, smiling tiredly back at him with her hand still placed on his forehead.
"Hello up there." he said to them, mustering the best cheeky grin he could manage.
"How are you feeling babe?" Musa asked.
He looked down at his leg, with a somewhat relieved Flora and Delphi still sat on either side working their magic.
"Oh man... if I had known I was gonna get my leg busted open... I'd never have worn my best trousers." he said wearily.
Musa let out a little giggle and wiped the corner of her eye - her Teggy was back.
"Yeah. Tune won't be happy with you. Who's she gonna have a waltz with now?"
"Viennese Waltz, Musie" he sighed. "It's Viennese."
1. Feverfew - a medicinal herb reknowned for its painkilling properties. It's especially useful at treating migraines.