"You know, the field of pharmacology is still very much developing. It's not impossible that a drug with these unknown side effects has been created. In other words, we should look at this from both possible angles: an issue with the nervous system and a side-effect of a drug," Joachim said to Elie and Lloyd.
The two were at the St. Ursula Hospital. At first, they went to the Guild to ask for their help. A talk with Joshua directed them to the Church. But the Church also couldn't do anything, and then Sister Marble told them that maybe the hospital could help. Once they arrived, Cecile pointed them to Joachim, who they had met at the anniversary festival a week ago. Long story short, Joachim mentioned that KeA's amnesia might be the side effect of some kind of drug.
Lloyd closed his eyes. A side effect of drugs...
Find me.
Would that explain the mysterious voice that he pointed out to Juna? She might not have explained it, but Lloyd could read between the lines and conclude that whatever that KeA's voice was, it was important and could not be ignored.
"How about it? We have the equipment for a test to see if KeA's been exposed to a drug. But there's no guarantee that her memories can even be recovered at this point. Do you want me to schedule it?"
"Exactly how long would it be?" Elie questioned, to which Joachim answered.
"Hmm Probably around three days. But, if possible, I would like to run tests on her here for at least a week."
"Three days at the minimum..."
"That's how long it will take for the test pursuing the drug possibility to finish. It involves analyzing what's excreted from one's body using certain chemicals. Now, this is usually a costly examination, but we can lower the medical fees, given how unusual this case is. How does that sound? Do you want me to take it?" Joachim elaborated more clearly.
Leaving KeA for three days here...
"I need more information before I can form the complete picture, but... guard her with everything you have, Lloyd. I have no doubt that she's important for Crossbell... or potentially the world."
Could he leave KeA here for three days? Sure, he'd visit every day, but... he couldn't get Juna's words out of his mind.
"Just... protect her, please."
Right now, he was standing at a crossroads. Juna's words had never been wrong so far, especially last week. He did not want to take the risk of leaving KeA out of his sight when Juna had just asked him to protect the green-haired amnesiac.
What should he do?
"Lloyd?"
"As I thought. I can't do it. I'm sorry, Dr. Guenter. But I don't think I can leave KeA here alone," Lloyd finally answered with an exhale of breath he didn't realize he held. It wasn't like he didn't trust the hospital. He knew they would treat KeA like any other patient. But it was exactly because of that that Lloyd couldn't leave her alone. Even if he visited every day, there would be a time when he or the other SSS member did not have their sight on KeA. And Lloyd couldn't take that risk. Not when Juna had specifically warned him just before this.
"I see... nothing I can do without the consent of a guardian," Joachim shrugged, a smile on his face. "Waiting for her memories to return naturally might be a good plan, too. If you ever need advice on the matter, don't hesitate to give me a call. In the meantime, I'll look into some of these amnesia cases during my free time."
"Thanks a lot, Doctor," Lloyd replied.
And the three left the research ward.
Just outside the ward, Elie questioned Lloyd's decision. "Lloyd? I was surprised when you rejected Dr. Guenter's offer. Why?"
Lloyd let out a breath.
"Juna told me to protect KeA with everything I have."
"Juna did?" Elie asked in surprise.
"I know. I was surprised too," Lloyd nodded. "Leaving KeA here is something that I deem we can't do if we want to protect her. It's not that I don't trust the staff..."
"I understand," Elie nodded. "If KeA doesn't need to stay here, then I'm sure you'd agree to the treatment."
"Yes," Lloyd said, patting KeA's head.
"Lloyd. Does that mean I won't be getting my memories back?" KeA
Lloyd smiled at the green-haired girl. "Memories or not, you're our precious KeA. Never forget that, okay?"
KeA gave a beaming smile. "Yes!"
"So, are we going home?"
Lloyd shook his head. "There is one more place I want KeA to go to."
Two minutes later, the three of them stood in front of Shizuku's room. Lloyd didn't waste any second knocking on the door.
"Enter!" came a familiar voice from inside. Lloyd opened the door to see Shizuku sitting on the bed, with Juna at the bedside, telling Shizuku about the outside.
"...when your father take a break from his job and your condition are better, let's go see the world!"
Juna's enthusiastic voice reached their ears.
"Oh, hello, Lloyd, Elie, and KeA!"
"Hello, Juna, Shizuku," Elie greeted back.
"It's rare for you to visit the hospital. What seems to be the matter?" Shizuku asked.
"We're here to consult about KeA's condition. She has amnesia, and we want them recovered."
"Hey, hey, why are your eyes closed?"
Elie winced. "Please forgive her, Shizuku. She doesn't know anything."
"It's fine," Shizuku replied before elaborating. "My eyes are like this because I'm blind. I can't see."
"Is that why Big Sis Juna wants to take you to see the world?"
Lloyd saw that Juna clutched her heart.
"Juna? What's wrong?"
"Big Sis... Juna... help me, Lloyd! I'm dying from cuteness! Aaah, if only Ken and Nana keep calling me that. Why do they have to discard the Big Sis?!"
"Ahaha..." Lloyd could only laugh awkwardly at the situation.
As KeA and Shizuku talked, familiarizing themselves with each other, Lloyd and Elie sat near Juna and explained their situation.
"...and I don't want to leave KeA alone without supervision from us. After all, I considered what you said and can't take the risk," Lloyd finished explaining what happened today.
"I see... Dr. Guenter, huh... good thing you didn't take the offer," Juna said ominously.
"Huh? What's wrong with Dr. Guenter?" Elie asked in confusion.
"He's an unprofessional piece of..." Juna shook her head, not wanting to use profanities around children. "Anyway, if you take his offer, KeA will probably be left alone while he goes fishing somewhere. That's not how a doctor should act."
Juna finished with a huff. It seemed that she had a personal vendetta against the blue-haired doctor.
"Haha... I'm sure he's not that bad," Lloyd tried to pacify the pink-haired girl.
Juna scowled at Lloyd's attempt. "Oh, he's that bad, alright."
The door was opened, and Cecile entered with a tray of food. "Shizuku. Here's your lunch."
"Ah! Let me feed her! It's been a while since I did it!" Juna immediately stood up and approached Cecile to relieve her of the tray. She then went back to Shizuku's side and started feeding the younger girl.
"Cecile."
"Ah, Lloyd. How was the meeting with Dr Guenter?" Cecile took a seat previously occupied by Juna.
"It's somewhat fruitful, but we have to drop it. I don't want to leave KeA alone here, and now that I think about it again, I'm not sure if KeA would even agree," Lloyd revealed to his older sister figure.
"Hmm, I'm a little disappointed that I won't get the chance to take care of KeA. But only you know her best, Lloyd," Cecile smiled.
Their attention then was taken by Juna, playing around with the spoon, making sounds as if it was an airship to KeA, before deceiving her and feeding the spoon to Shizuku.
"Cute~," Elie remarked, seeing the pout on KeA's face.
"Yeah~," Cecile also gushed at the three of them.
"Speaking of, Cecile. Does Juna have some history with Dr. Guenter?" Lloyd couldn't help but attempt to satiate his curiosity by asking Cecile, who most likely had more insight into the relationship between Juna and Joachim.
Cecile's smile turned into a sigh when Lloyd mentioned Juna and Joachim. "Those two... what did Juna say?"
Elie and Lloyd looked at each other before Lloyd elaborated, "That if I left KeA in his care, then he'd probably neglect her and goes fishing."
Cecile frowned.
"So Juna still held a grudge from that time, then. Long story short, Juna interacted with Dr. Guenter amicably when she had her internship here. That is until a patient who needed his expertise came in, and he was nowhere to be found," she started explaining the history between the two. "Now, Dr. Guenter and his fishing hobby are quite well-known in this hospital. Everyone here had gotten used to his antics and left him alone because he had never neglected his duty. He always made sure to finish his workload before going fishing. But that one time, an emergency required him, but he had been out fishing. Juna, in anger at the situation, ran around to some fishing spots around the city and finally found him. But as she arrived here with Dr. Guenter in tow, it was too late. The patient lost her life."
Elie gasped at the story while Lloyd closed his eyes, imagining the situation.
"Juna blew up at the doctor, and one week later, she resigned from her internship. It looks like she still couldn't quite forgive Dr. Guenter for his 'inappropriate behavior as a professional medic,'" Cecile finished telling her story.
"That's..." Elie trailed off, speechless at the story.
Lloyd opened his eyes. "If there is such a case, why isn't Dr. Guenter held in contempt by the rest of the staff?"
It made no sense for Cecile and even the receptionist to speak nice of him. At least, his professionality would be questioned. But the fact was, both of them did.
"Juna immediately resigned, but after that, Dr. Guenter cut his fishing time to make up for his misdemeanor. There was also some penalty, I believe. Anyway, it's not like Dr. Guenter came out unscathed from that mess. But I guess Juna really can't forgive him," Cecile answered.
"I see..."
"I don't see why they haven't fired him yet," Juna scoffed with an empty plate in her hands. Shizuku had finished her lunch, and it looked like Juna overheard Cecile's explanation. "A professional should be a professional on and off the clock. If you want to rest, you can take a leave."
Hm? That was a somewhat mature view from Juna. Lloyd didn't really expect her to hold such an opinion on the working environment. Then again, Juna was once labeled as a genius. A mature perspective shouldn't surprise him.
"Are you perhaps a workaholic, Juna?" Elie asked her. Considering Mayor MacDowell's penchant for working until it was late, Elie probably held a distaste for people who overworked themselves.
Juna shook her head. "Not really. I just value professionalism, and Dr. Guenter doesn't have any. I know there are jobs where you can just switch off after hours, but being a medical professional isn't one of them. If we're talking about a workaholic, there's someone else better fit for that description. That's right, Arios! Can you believe that he was working on something and delegating his duty to attend Shizuku to me today?"
"Juna... it's okay. I know that Father is busy."
"No, it's not okay," Juna frowned. "Ugh, I wish I was stronger and older so I could take some of that job from Arios, and he can spend time with you. But the Crossbell branch is really busy. Scott can't even spend time with his girlfriend."
She then glanced at the two of them. "In a way, the SSS's existence is somewhat helpful for the Crossbell Branch of the Bracer Guild. For that, I thank you, Lloyd, Elie. Please give my thanks to Tio and Randy as well."
"You're welcome, Juna," Lloyd replied with a smile.
"We'll relay your message to Randy and Tio. Don't worry," Elie gave her assurance.
After that, Cecile took the tray from Juna and went back. Lloyd, Elie, and Juna continued observing KeA and Shizuku's interaction, which made Elie and Juna coo over their cuteness.
Five minutes later, Juna stood up. "Shizuku. I'm off for now. I'll visit you again later if I still have the time today, okay?"
"It's fine, Juna. You don't need to spend more of your time today with me."
"No! I refuse! I won't let you be lonely!" Juna grabbed Shikuzu's hand and squeezed it to give her reassurance. "I promised you, didn't I?"
"Juna..."
"Shizuku. Are you lonely?" KeA suddenly joined the conversation.
"KeA..."
"Then I'll visit you again tomorrow! And the day after! And the day after! So that you won't be lonely anymore," KeA declared with a big grin "Can I, Lloyd?"
Lloyd looked at the situation. Certainly, the SSS wouldn't be able to escort KeA every day to the hospital to visit Shizuku. But he didn't want to deny KeA.
Was this how it feels to be a parent?
Closing his eyes, Lloyd sighed. "Yes, you can."
"Lloyd..." Elie trailed off in concern. Most probably, the two of them were on the same wavelength. The SSS couldn't spare the manpower to be with KeA for an entire day.
Actually, there was one solution, but... Lloyd glanced at the pink-haired Bracer-to-be. He didn't want to bother Juna with something trivial like this.
Hmm. Wait. Juna was one curious girl. If he somehow framed this not as her helping the SSS babysit KeA, but as a chance for Juna to know KeA better, would she accept it? After all, KeA has a 'mysterious origin,' according to Juna.
"Juna," he decided to try. "The SSS can't always be with KeA, especially when we're handling a request. Is it too much if we ask you to help us keep an eye on her?"
He was prepared to sell the pitch, but Juna quickly answered. "Sure. Arios said I don't really need more supervision until I master the motion for the sixth form now that I got the second form in my grasp."
Lloyd's lips turned into a smile. "Thank you, Juna. So that means you've talked with Arios, then? I remember you said that he's becoming a little distant."
Juna nodded. "Yeah. Arios is busy, so he couldn't oversee my training much. But he also said that I'm well on my way to learn the sixth form. And even then I still have the second form to master. Still, while I'm progressing well, doing it in the heat of battle is another thing. I'm still a little clumsy just fighting the monsters on the outskirt of the city."
"Applying your knowledge on the battlefield is another matter indeed," Elie agreed with Juna. "I remember that it was a little hard for me to adjust myself to shoot the monsters. Pressures, non-stable forms, and allies positions made it hard for me at first. But like everything, you can be better at it with enough training."
"Understood," Juna gave Elie a playful salute. "Anyway, time for me to go, everyone."
"One last thing, Juna," Lloyd stopped her again. "If you want to investigate something, please go to the SSS building first. I'll ask Randy or Tio to accompany you."
"Ahaha... what are you talking about, Lloyd?"
"Well, am I wrong?" Lloyd smiled. "I don't know what you are trying to dig up, but I'm sure you are going to investigate something. I couldn't in my conscience leave you alone." Especially since she was threatened with Renne's scythe once. With Randy or Tio with her, at least Juna would be safer than doing it alone.
"Ugh, you know me so well. Sure, I'll wait for them."
With that, Juna left the hospital.
A/N If you didn't notice there's a small bit of change on Juna's backstory with Arios. It's a retcon in the main JesSIca thread but since I can edit this I'll put the backstory I decided later down earlier, such as Juna learning the sixth and second form. Anyway, Juna and Joachim doesn't get along. As I put it before, I hate it when an antagonist never showed anything suspicious but some 'mary sue' in other fic always had 'bad feelings' about them somehow. So I kind of played around that and made Juna avoid him because of his non suspicious behavior: his quirky persona. Of course, if Juna pay more attention, a doctor accomplished in many things and had quirky personality would trigger her jrpg/anime tropes, but she was too biased to see the obvious.
And so the SSS avoided one of the bad ends because of Juna's warning! Yay! In canon they were bailed by KeA's divine instinct even when she lost her memories, so it's not really a canon bad end, just a potential one. But well, this time, Juna gave enough warning and coincidentally (not really), Lloyd really trusted Juna's gut feelings. Congrats, Juna. You(r deductions) are living rent free in Lloyd's head.
Oh and I put KeA's sprite there so you can see why Lloyd can't deny the cute girl her beaming smile.
