Her eyes' water as she studies the look of pain on her Prince's features with a heaviness in her heart.
They'd almost lost him.
She almost lost him.
The realization was terrifying.
She wasn't sure she'd ever been so-
So-
Overwhelmed with such turbulent emotions.
That night had been a success in so many ways but-
She closes her eyes.
-the cost nearly broke her.
Nearly broke T.
She wasn't sure she'd ever felt such panic-
Terror.
Harrowing, so disquieting she'd lost it…
She closes her eyes to block out the image of Deez and Gil valiantly protecting him.
Their Pretty Boy.
She swallows the sob threatening to escape.
She should be sleeping.
Uma ordered it.
They needed it.
But-
T had been too restless and she-?
She just couldn't.
Not when she understood the principles.
The theories.
How intensely intent mattered when it came to casting.
How apprentices, using the word lightly, needed to speak them out loud.
She had it.
Had a natural affinity, according to Yensid.
Magic.
Specifically, the healing variety.
She was just missing the practical application-
Or, at least, the conscious kind.
She'd never considered that her affinity with flora, poisonous though it was, stemmed from magic.
Something she'd found ludicrous when Yensid told her she possessed it.
Now though?
She was just grateful at the possibility of its potential.
But-
She bites her lip, would they be upset by her boldness?
She'd never cast before.
She swallows the lump in her throat.
But he was in pain.
The wound too grievous to fully use her ointment.
She closes her eyes when a pained whine leaves him.
She couldn't not try.
She takes a deep breath before she pulls herself to her feet.
Her fists curl at her side.
She could do this.
Would do this.
For her family.
For her Prince.
She just needed to find the right words-
Something she excelled at.
She takes a deep breath before she quietly lowers herself next to Harry. Her touch as light as it was gentle as she places a cupped hand over the bandages.
She breathes out slowly as she centers herself.
Focused solely on her task.
"Hear me now, hear me well
Take heed to do as I compel
For my need cannot be quelled
Undo the damage done that night
Surround this wound in healing light
Weave it well, weave it tight
Leave, but not a trace
Mend him with your healing grace
There will be no mistake"
She watches in fascination as a dark green light flairs under the bandages, the edges shimmering for a moment before the light slowly fades.
She gasps at a sudden pain, immediately clutching her head in a feeble attempt to stop the throbbing pulse emanating there.
The world spins, but before she topples over, she hears the faintest sigh of relief.
Even in his sleep, her Prince knew he was better.
And that was worth any and all pain.
A soft touch across his face.
Warmth.
Faustina's voice singing pleasantly.
Before he even opens his eye, he smiles, glad to know she and T were safe and well.
"Hey Love," he whispers as he looks around, only to frown.
Had it been a dream?
His brow furrows in confusion before he freezes.
What-
He gingerly presses his fingers to the bandages.
No pain.
Was he still dreaming?
He presses harder, but when it doesn't hurt, he reaches down to pinch his leg before he yelps.
That hurt. That definitely hurt.
"Faustina?!" He calls out as he starts unwrapping his bandages, grimacing at the red stains.
He'd been hurt. Could remember sweating because of the pain. The blood-
He looks down at the bandages in his hands.
He was holding proof that he'd been hurt pretty bad.
But, he was also able to see out of both eyes.
What the-
He presses fingers against his jaw where he was certain the blade hit, but there was nothing, not even a scab or the strange feeling skin that happened when you scarred.
He follows the path he thought the blade traveled, but there was no sign he'd been injured, until he gets to his eyebrow.
It felt different as he ran his finger along it, like a small patch of the hair was gone.
As he rolls to his knees to find something reflective, he instead discovers Faustina.
"Love?" He asks as he moves her hair out of her face.
Her very pale face.
Was something wrong?
"Hello!" He calls out in a panic as he pulls Faustina into his lap, "what be happenin'!"
"Harry!" Deez calls out a few seconds later before she blurs into the room, "what's wrong? Are you-" She blinks, "your eye is- What happened?"
"That be what I be ah wantin' ta know." He frowns before he looks down, "it weren'nah hurtin' when I be ah wakin', but I be thinkin' I heard Faustina singin', then I be ah findin' her like this."
Deez looks from him to Faustina and back, so quickly her hair flies before she rushes from the room, "I'll get Yensid."
He'd known from the moment Deez knocked on his door and said Harry was fine, but Fasustina wasn't, what happened.
He'd gone through the motions, mostly for their benefit, but also to survey the efficiency of the spell Faustina must have cast.
It was marvelous.
Fascinating.
The level of healing certainly did not read as work done by a novice.
The intention she had poured into the spell had been of impeccable focus.
In fact, the only reason he wouldn't label this work as Mastery was because she'd fainted, having drained herself completely to perform the spell.
Harry would bear no scar from the injury.
Even the hair missing in his eyebrow was already growing back.
So, as dangerous as it had been for the girl to risk the invocation-
He found the idea of scolding her for being remiss difficult.
He would simply have to provide her with more study materials, and more hands-on opportunities.
"So?" Uma frowns impatiently.
"It would seem Faustina is more capable of magic than she wanted to let on." He nods, "as she was the only healer in the room, and Harry woke up immediately after hearing her say the incantation. She simply pushed herself a little too hard." He explains as he packs up his bag, "I recommend rest, and a hearty meal when she awakens."
Uma's brow furrows as she turns her gaze to Faustina, "she…"
"I didn't know magic could do that." Gil states in awe.
His lip twitches.
The boy hadn't been able to pull his eyes from Harry since he'd entered.
"I mean-" Gil blinks, "it's gone. Like, gone gone."
"The skill Faustina has with healing is the only reason this was possible." He explains, "were I to have attempted a spell such as this, it would have drained me, most likely just as much if not more, and there would no doubt have still been a scar."
Uma turns to study him skeptically.
"I assure you, Captain, my skills fall into a different school of weaving. If I had an affinity for healing, I would be capable of doing much more than I am now. However, if I had the proficiency in this particular art I wouldn't have been so educated in more standard means of healing which would have been-." He grimaces, "unfortunate to say the least."
He watches as one after the other they turn to Faustina as the weight of his words settle upon them with looks of concern and fear.
"You probably wouldn't have been interested in the other schools if you were a healer, so," Deez nods before she turns to him with a smile, "I'm glad you're pure arcane."
"As am I."
He groans as he comes to. Not sure whether his pounding head or the growling in his stomach had woken him.
"Jes-"
His mouth snaps shut as the arms wrapped around him tighten.
What the fuck?
His eyes fly open as he finds himself pressed to a familiar bare chest.
How the-
"What the actual fuck?" He scowls, "Hook. Off. Now."
"Huh?" Harry asks groggily as he pushes himself up with one arm before he turns to fully face him, "what ya be goin' on' 'bout?"
"Me. Hurting you. If. You. Don't. Get. Off." He glares.
Harry blinks in confusion before he rolls to his knees, "what I be ah doin'?" He asks as he stares at him through sleep filled eyes.
He rolls to his feet, "nothin'. Go back ta sleep."
Harry snorts, "fuck that." He runs his hands over his face before he stands, "Yensid said ya need ta eat."
"Hence the I will hurt-" He pauses.
Why would Yensid state the obvious?
"Why the hell did I wake up with you?" He crosses his arms, "the fuck is-"
He blinks before he steps forward and grabs Harry's face in confusion.
"Cause yer sister be passin' out after she be ah fixin' me up, 'parrently."
His frown deepens as he stares at Harry, stupidly trying to string his words together.
That didn't sound like Faustina. In fact, none of this felt like her.
He would put his life on her, keeping vigil over the pirate-
His eyes sweep over Harry's unmarred features as he grows more annoyed.
Nothing was adding up. At all.
"Be coming on," Harry takes his hand, "Uma be huntin' special like for the two o' ya."
He scowls as he plants his feet on the ground, "what the fuck is going on?"
"I be ah tellin' ya." Harry turns back and gestures to his face, "Faustina be spellin' me whole, she be ah faintin', an Yensid be sayin' she be fine, but be needin' rest an' food."
He stares at the pirate blankly.
Faustina had-
He rubs his aching temple.
Nope.
Tina! Tina, get your ass out here!
His scowl deepens at the silence.
Seriously, Tina, the fuck is goin' on? This ain't funny.
More silence follows.
Harry lets his hand go as he folds his arms over his chest, "she ain'nah answerin'?"
He shakes his head, disturbed by the silence and the observation.
"I were wonderin' why it be you who be wakin' up."
"Me. Fucking. Too." He frowns.
If she wasn't answering-
Harry said she fainted.
"Wanna be askin' the Ol' Man?"
"Why? So then we can all be fuckin' confused?"
Harry frowns, "I dunna be knowin' T, when we first be ah meetin' her it were bein' when ya be sick an' hurt, mayhaps she be too tired ta be wakin' up like you were back then. She were seemin' confused too."
He blinks, "huh."
Faustina was too weak to-
His brow furrows as he looks at Harry's flawless face again.
She'd fixed him with a spell-
That's what he'd said.
But since when the fuck did Faustina fucking weave?
He blushes when his stomach growls.
"Be ah comin' on." Harry chuckles softly, "food be fixin' that right quick."
"Kay," He nods dumbly before he follows behind Harry.
Last night was a fucking blur-
Assuming-
"How long've I been out?"
"We be hitting the camps, I be injured. Then a day, an' now it be the middle of the night."
"Cool," He nods, "so when we headin' out?"
"Uma-" Harry sighs, "Uma were wantin' ta take another day, then we can be ah headin' out tomorrow."
"Tch, why?" He crosses his arms, "to give 'em time to send word about our raids to Yu? We need ta get this done now, the longer we wait, the harder shits gonna be. An' after the last-" He shuts his mouth.
What the fuck was he doing?
If the others needed a break-
Then it would be stupid to push them out again. It was bad enough that one of them had been so badly injured.
He lets out a slow breath.
They needed more information and understanding of how the bases worked anyways. Who was he to complain if they needed a break when he had other shit he could do?
"She seriously did that?" He asks as he waves a hand over his eye.
"Aye, the Ol' Man be right proud o' her," Harry grins as he runs a hand over his smooth face, "said he could'nah been doin' any better."
His lip twitched, even he couldn't miss the relief in the other boy's eyes.
Or the pride.
"Bet he wouldn't have knocked himself out."
"He did'nah be ah seemin' ta think that," Harry shrugs, "an' the Ol' Man ain'nah bein' one ta lie."
He stops mid-nod when his eyes land on food.
His mouth waters as he makes a mad dash to the tray to pick up a bowl before he starts slurping it down.
Part of him was hoping to elicit a reaction.
Faustina hated when he ate like a 'heathen'.
"Freddie be ah likin' it when people be eatin' her cookin'," Harry grins as he sits beside him, "guess I can be ah tellin' her this be ah hit then."
"She does love attention in all its forms," He shrugs around a mouthful of stew.
"Aye," Harry nods before he turns to face him and leans an elbow against the table, "so then, what ya be ah plannin'?"
"No idea what you're talkin' bout."
"Can't raid the camps tonight, but everyone be ah sleepin'?" Harry tuts, "ya be thinkin' I be ah idiot?"
"I mean, not the biggest on the Isle, but-" He grins.
"Ya don'nah need ta be finishin' that," Harry glares, "we headin' out?"
"No, we're goin' back ta sleep. Ya nearly got your face split in two."
"But it be healed," Harry runs a hand over his face, "cause yer sister be pourin' energy like into it."
"Yeah, an she'll be pissed if-"
"T. If ya ain'nah wantin' ta get in trouble with Uma, be ah lettin' number one go with ya. Aye?"
He scowls.
It wasn't Uma's ire he was worried about.
"Look-it, you an' I both be ah knowin' we be feelin' better with more info 'bout the other camps."
"Even if I was thinkin' bout it-"
"An' I be bein' the one ta always be havin' yer back an' lettin' ya be ah doin' things yer way."
He pauses.
"An' with Faustina sleepin', who else can be ah keepin' Uma updated?"
He lets out a heavy sigh. "Eat."
"Aye aye." Harry salutes as he pulls another tray towards himself.
"Don't be smug."
"But I ain'nah ever gettin' ta point out three things that be ah makin' me right," Harry wines as he breaks the hard hunk of bread apart, "be ah lettin' me have this."
"Fine," he groans as he throws his hands in the air, "but if she goes off, I don't wanna hear 'bout it."
"That be ah deal, Mate."
She closes her eyes and sighs as she sets the letter back on the map.
Maybe if she just left, she could pretend she hadn't seen it.
Uma typically wasn't one to shoot the messenger-
But she wasn't going to be happy when she found out they were gone.
She sighs again.
At least T'd taken Harry with him-
She hadn't been too bad when he'd left with Yensid, so hopefully she'd take this news as well too.
Hopefully.
But after last night-
What was Harry thinking? Letting T, who she was surprised was even awake after Faustina fainted from healing Harry-
Which was wicked.
She hadn't even considered magic being useful like that.
She knew Yensid was powerful, ancient, and powerful, but he hadn't mended any of them with magic.
She didn't even know something like that was possible. She should have, though. Everything in life was about balance.
So if magic could hurt and kill-
Why couldn't it heal?
It was surreal. Going to assist with the newcomers with Harry's eye-
She shudders.
It looked so bad, painful.
She knew mortal head wounds always looked worse than they were, but-
It had been so scary to see him with that slice across his eye. She'd been so terrified he was going to lose it-
So panicked
So singularly focused on making sure he was okay-
Her chest tightens.
The moment she saw the blood-
She hadn't been able to focus on anything else.
-she'd completely abandoned her flames to keep pressure on Harry's eye.
She could have just wiped everyone around them out.
Could have killed to save her family and those they had rescued.
But in that moment, when she should have done so, it hadn't even crossed her mind.
Why hadn't that even crossed her mind? The fact she could do both-
She sighs.
Because despite her control-
She still hated the thought of killing people with her flames. She'd done it so much as a child. Had so many instances that she hadn't meant too…
She'd told her family she would fight.
She believed in what they were doing.
But she'd-
She shakes her head.
Gil hadn't liked it either.
A short hollow laugh escapes her.
They were the strongest on their side, and yet-
She sighs.
Neither of them liked it.
She stops dead as her heart slams against her ribs.
Now that the thought was there, she couldn't shake it-
Could Gil-
Her Night-
Their gentle giant.
Actually kill someone, and live with it?
A shiver runs down her spine when ice floods her veins.
Father, she hoped so-
But after the first camp, T asked if Gil would stay with her instead-
And they both knew it wasn't for her protection.
T, more than anyone else, trusted her to protect herself-
She sighs.
-except with her father. Which she couldn't really argue.
Maybe she should ask that they continue to only take out the ammunition.
They could even target other buildings.
She doubted Faustina would object-
She pauses.
Why was she worried more about Faustina's objection than Uma or Beam's?
She shakes her head.
Something to contemplate later, or at least pay more attention to.
Besides, more people repairing buildings meant fewer people taking shots at them, right?
Her lips twitch, she knew at least T would agree with her.
Pyro.
She frowns.
T-
In all the time she'd known him, she couldn't recall a time she had ever been afraid of him-
For him, absolutely. T was a very easy person to worry about.
But last night-
It was hard to think of T's grinning face so darkened with-
Rage?
It certainly looked like rage.
Which was surreal to her because T rarely ever got angry. At least that she'd seen or felt-
And there had been no missing how T felt last night. It radiated.
Rage or not, something dark came over him at the sight of Harry injured.
So-
She jumps and lets out a short gasping squeak when arms wrap around her.
"What'cha thinkin' 'bout?" Gil's rumbling chuckle reverberates through her chest,
She tilts her head up with a sheepish smile, "what am I not thinking about?"
Gil narrows his eyes and looks around before his gaze settles on the letter, "'least tell me Harry's with'im," he asks with a sigh.
She nods, unable to stop a sigh of relief.
She hadn't expected him to be so receptive when she'd lost it on him and went off about T-
God, that felt like forever ago, but it couldn't possibly have been more than a week or two.
She blinks before pulling Gil's arms closer to her, needing the comfort.
She hadn't expected him to change his view so quickly. It made her chest warm, knowing he'd listened so openly that it shifted his perspective.
Made her happy, he considered her feelings and thoughts, valued them enough to change his whole stance.
She'd hated how strained his and T's relationship had become.
"He did," she continues as she smiles up at him.
"Did what?"
She feels Gil still behind her as she swallows.
Uma however-
Gil sighs, "T and Harry left th-"
"They did fucking what!?" Uma demands as she stomps to them and snatches the letter off the table.
She holds her breath as Gil pulls her closer.
Part of her really wished it had been Harry to write the letter, at least then Uma would have been a little more understanding.
Or at least happier because there would be an explanation in any letter written by Harry.
Unlike T's, which per usual was vague, nondescript, and gave them little to work with.
Uma growls as she crumples the note in her fist, "I'mma kill'im."
"T-"
"No, not him. Harry." Uma huffs, "T? I expect him to do this kinda stupid shit. Harry fuckin' knows better," she crosses her arms.
Oh.
She hadn't expected that.
The anger? Absolutely.
The direction, not so much.
She tugs the ends of her hair, searching for the right words to assuage Uma.
"That isn't fair," Gil frowns, "T would'ah left either way, 'least this way he ain't alone."
A small smile curls her lips as she looks up at her Night.
Not necessarily the direction she would have gone with that, but progress, not perfection.
Also, it wasn't a lie. T would have just left.
Uma's mouth snaps shut as she turns with an aggravated growl and walks out of the room.
"Well…" Gil sighs, "that went better than I expected."
She nods silently.
"Still wish T hadn't done it." He frowns.
"But would he really be T if he didn't?" She offers as she stands on the tips of her toes and twists to press a finger to his lips, "don't answer that. Work, or talk with Uma?"
Gil purses his lips, "we should probably give her a minute, but it's probably best to try an' get her to focus on something else…"
She bites her lip as she tilts her head back. What could they do to distract Uma?
She suddenly grins, "does she know I made you another flute yet?"
Gil's eyes brighten. "It's a start."
Yo,
So… Who saw that coming?
Faustina being able to weave healing spells?
It certainly didn't happen in the first several drafts of this book-
But then Dark offered the idea that Tina should have magic and boom-
Healing Tina.
Mad, sad, or glad about it? I'd love to know.
Were any of you surprised by how efficiently she was able to cast the spell?
Cause, it doesn't seem Yensid was-
Like at all.
Poor Harry btw, talk about weird ways of waking up-
One time with Tina passed out, another with T being a hangry cunt.
Fun times.
And, poor D, always finding T's letters…
Much love and appreciation
-Twisted