I hope that you will have as much fun reading as I had writing this chapter!

Chapter 24: The aftermath

The two opponents rushed at her. The scalpel fit better in her hand, somehow. It was an odd feeling, the dark magic intertwining with her own, almost transparent mana. Still, it didn't feel menacing. It didn't feel foreign, like it had before. There was no voice in her head. There was no attempt of the magic tool to overpower her own will.

Nova sliced through the water spell aimed at her, getting soaked, and then closed in on the two men, evading a punch and stabbing the other mage in the thigh. He screamed, stumbling away from her, attempting to get the blade out of his flesh. But, it was too late. The scalpel sunk into his skin, vanishing deep inside the leg, leaving a bloody wound in its wake.

"What devilry is this?" The man asked, watching his leg in horror, clawing at it. Nova grinned, extending her right hand towards the man she hadn't injured, making the Assistant Hand slam into his chest. She was careful to avoid serious injuries, such as flail chest or the area around the heart, which could prove fatal. Instead, her aim had been a bit higher up, proving fruitful immediately. The man coughed, the air from his lungs expelled forcefully. Nova's other hand rose to the man still struggling to get her scalpel out of his flesh. The muscles in her fingers went taunt, grabbing onto the mana tendrils and controlling them.

"You're about to find out," she told the man, watching his face go from anger to horror as all fight left him and he went almost limp, but still standing.

"Jonas!" The other one yelled, finally getting his breath back. "What did you do to him, you witch?!"

"On the authority of the Wizard King," Nova repeated her warning. "Cease fighting and submit to a cargo inspe-"

"You bit-" Nova's fingers folded into a tight fist, the magic controlling the other man acting immediately. Before her winded opponent could finish his words, or fire a spell, his companion was on him, tackling him to the ground. "Jonas!" The man yelped, before he got knocked out. Nova turned around, doing her best to make sense of the messy battle. Magna was chasing rodents, burning them alive as they squealed. The silk-clad merchant was on his knees, hands raised protectively above his head. Luck, though, was likely having the time of his life.

He was quickly exchanging blows with all three of his opponents, seemingly unperturbed by the different spells they kept firing at him. The smile on his face was wide, and Nova knew that any interruption would cause an even bigger scene. She didn't order the man under her control to do anything. Instead, she beckoned him towards her, taking his grimoire and then inspecting him for signs of infection. Sure enough, there was a rash along his arm and he seemed too flushed for it to simply be caused by the fight.

"Magna," she called out, getting the Knight's attention. "Do you have any protective gear with you?" He fired off a scattering spell, burning at least ten rodents in one go.

"Only the goggles," he replied. Nova sighed, reaching into her back pocket and pulling out a spare mask and some gloves.

"Get this on and don't touch those things," she instructed him. "We're dealing with the plague." Magna's eyes went wide as he caught the items.

"Plague? As in the Black Death?" He asked, tying the mask tightly around his face and then slipping on the gloves.

"The one and only," Nova replied and then walked closer to the merchant. "I'm under the authority of the Wizard King. Anything you say or do right now will be directly relayed to him," she warned the man. "Did you know that you were bringing infected rodents into the country?" Slowly, the merchant's hands came down, terrified eyes looking up at Nova. She found herself hating the way the man was looking at her. Like she was some kind of a demon. Slowly, he nodded shakily. "That is considered treason and is punishable by death," she informed him. "Why did you do it?" The merchant shook even more, if that was possible. Despite Luck's battle cry in the background, she heard her reply.

"They made me," the man said in a shaky voice. "They have my family. They made me. Oh, by the Wizard King, they made me." Nova frowned. She did feel sympathy for the man. He'd been forced into the terrible situation. But, still, he'd committed a grave act and caused deaths in potentially uncountable numbers. It was above her pay grade to consider what Julius would do to him.

"Are there any other crates of those creatures?" She asked. The merchant nodded.

"Two more on my colleagues' carts." Dread pooled in her stomach once more.

"Colleagues?"

"Three carts were sent out, in case one of us failed…" The merchant looked at the ground, going quiet.

"And are there other members of your group? Ones who aren't here right now?" She asked, looking the man over. He didn't have any signs of the disease, but he still could've been infected.

"Only those on the ship which brought us in," he replied, hands lowering to the ground. "Please, I'll tell you everything. Have mercy!" He begged. Nova grit her teeth, considering the problems. Three shipments, only one neutralized, and not fully. A ship full of potentially infected people. The whole situation was giving her a headache.

"Where is the ship docked?" She asked, glancing back to see Luck in the zone, still, beating his last opponent now.

"Silver Harbor," the man replied, not looking at her. Nova nodded.

"Since you've been cooperative," she sighed, "-let's get the primary treatment underway and then we will handle everything else." Then, the merchant looked up at her, eyes wide.

"You're not going to execute me?" He asked.

"The Wizard King will decide on the punishment," Nova replied. "I will simply be delivering you to him. Alive." The man slumped down, losing whatever will he had left in him.

"Here, take this," Nova walked over to Luck, extending medicine to him. It was neatly packaged into a paper dosage, secure and ready for use. The Magic Knight looked at it curiously, but took it.

"What for? I'm fine," he replied, opening the paper and peering inside.

"You might be fine now, but you were fighting potentially infected individuals without proper protection," she told him. "This medicine is a precaution, though we will likely be stuck in quarantine for a while to see if we've been infected." She watched him take it, then nodded in satisfaction. "What were you thinking? Going after a potentially infected person without proper gear?" Luck grinned at her.

"It's stuffy and hard to fight in," he simply replied, making the girl want to smack her forehead. Or his. Probably his.

"I swear, Luck, you take years off my life," Nova grumbled, walking back towards the now quiet camp. Loud booms could be heard in the distance, where Magna was still hunting albino flying squirrels and something called a chinchilla. Nova was partially worried about them spreading to neighboring villages, but that would have to wait. First, she had to keep everyone alive and well, and also inform Will of the situation. Without words, she distributed medicine among the merchant's party, ignoring their shocked looks at her actions.

"W-why?" The man whom she had used in order to fight asked when she helped him swallow the medicine. Nova smiled at him, crouching down and inspecting the rashes she'd spotted on his arms and legs.

"Nobody should be denied medical care," she told them. "I'm furious that you endangered and took so many lives, but that and this has nothing to do with one another. You will face the punishment as the Wizard King sees fit. I'm a healer, so I will make sure you reach him alive and well." The man's head went low as he looked away from her.

"Thank you," he murmured. Nova turned to see Luck inspecting the rest of the cargo curiously, poking at it, peering inside jars.

"Don't touch it," she instructed immediately. "Toss those gloves and put new ones on." She didn't wait for his response, but came over and helped him safely switch protective gear. Luck seemed annoyed, but didn't comment.

"You're awfully tense about this," he finally said after she made sure his fresh pair of gloves was on securely. Nova looked at him straight in the eyes, ignoring the way her heart jumped at the action. Those baby blues really were a weapon of nature.

"The people in Varisa, over half of them are either dying or dead," she scolded. "The plague isn't incurable any longer, but it's still very dangerous. If you get infected, I don't know if you can be saved. I don't want to lose you, especially to a contagious illness, Luck." He didn't poke fun at her. He didn't tease her. Didn't make light of the situation. Instead, he nodded, hands reaching up to her shoulders.

"I won't get sick, Nova," he promised. "I won't get sick, so don't cry, okay?" Nova reached up to her eyes, the coolness on her gloves telling her that she'd been crying, just hadn't noticed. She quickly wiped her tears away, the gloves leaving her skin red in the wake of their rough fabric.

"I'm fine," she nodded to the boy. "Just… be careful, okay?" Luck nodded with his usual cheery expression in place.

"Should I go update Walt?"

"Will, it's Will," Nova sighed, a smile of exasperation on her face. "Yeah, go tell him we've got one down, two to go. And ask him to organize a retrieval for this lot and arrange for them to be quarantined safely." Luck nodded and then hopped away to find his broom. Soon enough, she was watching him fly off into the distance. The tension of the chase and the fight left her body trembling. The adrenaline rush was gone and her fatigue quickly caught up with her. Nova sank to her knees, then completely dropped to the ground, her vision swimming. The earth underneath her seemed pleasantly warm.

"Healer girl!" Someone shouted, but it was far away. Like a distant call, when her father would yell for her when she was messing around in farmer Tuck's fields or apple orchards. "Hey, hey! Someone! She's down! Hey!" Nova tried to tell whoever was so worried that if it was her they were yelling about, she was fine. But, her mouth seemed like glued. Her lips just wouldn't separate. With a final sigh, she couldn't see the river next to her anymore.

"Is Luck back yet?" A familiar voice, accompanied by the scent of gunpowder and apples asked from next to her head. She sighed, breathing the smell in, content. She was safe, she immediately knew that.

"He should be back in range tomorrow evening or so," another voice replied. It was familiar, but not as much as the first one. "We got another letter, this time from Elizabeth. Appears that they caught one merchant a little ways to the west and neutralized the cargo. They've set up quarantine."

"Has Mr. Will taken any breaks?" A new voice yet again.

"No," gunpowder and apples replied. "You know, Theo, yall can say whatever you wanna about our Squad being nuts, but the real insanity seems to thrive at that Healing Tower," the same voice said in a joking tone, a rumble going through Nova's warm pillow.

"Indeed," the second voice replied. "They don't know the meaning of exhausted, I swear." The three men laughed then. Slowly, Nova opened her eyes, blinking in the dim light.

"Good morning, Miss Nova," the voice she recognized as Finral's said, his face appearing in her field of vision. He was smiling softly at her. "How are you feeling? Any pain?" Nova shook her head groggily, pushing herself up. There were two hands on her waist immediately, helping her. Then, her warm pillow pressed against her back. She turned around only to see Magna's grinning face a little bit closer to her than she'd expected it to be. He'd apparently been acting as her pillow, and how held her in a secure embrace.

"You gave us a good scare, fainting back there," he said, but Nova felt his words more than she heard them. Her hands came up to grasp the blanket which had been thrown over her, only to realize that it was one of their travelling cloaks.

"What happened?" She asked, but didn't leave the safety of Magna's warm embrace and the much welcome support. Her limbs still felt like jelly. She leaned back into him with a soft sigh.

"Will said mana exhaustion," Theo supplied. "The flight here, then all the samples and finally the flight to the pass and the fight apparently drained you quite a bit." That made sense. Nova had felt a bit tired after her fight, but it wasn't too bad. When had all the magic left her? When she used the scalpel? Or when she was flying? She didn't know. But, she had certainly pushed past her limits for a bit there.

"What is the situation? The quarantine?" At that question, the men exchanged silent looks. "Give it to me straight, I can handle it."

"It's not good-"

"Magna!" Finral interrupted, but Magna argued right back.

"She said the truth, the truth she'll get!" The Fire Mage pushed back against his senpai. Finral's hands shot up in defense, but he didn't stop Magna when the boy spoke again. "A lot of the villagers in Varisa are dead. Nicholas is in critical condition. Will is doing everything he possibly can, but he's exhausted himself. It's a waiting game at this point."

"And the merchant?" Nova asked, biting her lip.

"One of the guards passed this morning," Theo said somberly. "The rest are recovering nicely."

"And Mary and Elizabeth? And Luck and Leo? And you guys?" Nova finally managed to clear her head of the wooziness and ask the important questions. "Any of our party got infected?" Finral shook his head.

"No, thank the Wizard King," the Mage replied. "Luck has gone to help Miss Elizabeth's group, along with Mr. Leo," he explained. "They're chasing after the last cart with infected cargo, which seems to have made it almost halfway to the Capital, according to our speculations. Other than that, there were some infected villagers in Miss Mary's area, but that's it. No fatalities there yet." Nova went silent for a moment. Then, she pushed herself away from Magna and struggled onto her feet.

"Woah, woah, you need more rest," the Fire Mage instantly reached out to steady her, but Nova caught his hand gently.

"I'm fine," she told them. "If Will's been working this whole time, I have to help him. He needs a break and I can handle the aftermath." Again, the Knights exchanged glances. Then, Theo sighed.

"There's no stopping you, I know," the Mage said. "At least eat some soup before you go." At the mention of that, Nova's stomach growled and she looked away in embarrassment. The three chuckled at her, but allowed her to get some food into her belly and rush towards the village church, where Will was treating the critical patients.

Nova stretched her legs as far as they could go under the desk and her arms as far as they could go above her head, feeling her tired muscles pop and twist. Then, she relaxed onto the table and over her paperwork like a limp, overcooked noodle. Almost done. Almost there.

A week had passed since their mission in Varisa. Luckily for their group, none of the healers or Magic Knights had been infected. Unfortunately, a lot of the villagers had lost their lives in the process, as well as one of the merchants carrying infected squirrels. She'd heard from the group sent to investigate the ship at Silver Harbor that all the sailors had died on board. It was found floating aimlessly, a little ways off from the docking area. Logically, their vessel had sunk the ghost ship, burying the infection there safely. On the other hand, the healers had all managed to stop the outbreaks in their assigned areas.

Will and Nova had worked in shifts for three days, before Owen arrived and took over for them. But, at that point, it was simple daily checks and regular medicine distribution which was left to be done. Some of the villagers had had their limbs amputated, due to infection. However, the majority of the sick had survived after the team arrived at Varisa. Mary had managed only to lose ten out of the over hundred infected, which appeared almost miraculous. Elizabeth hadn't lost a single life, but there had only been a few infected people in her area, and only in the early stages of the disease. Luckily for them, it had been only plain plague, no connection to curses or cursed objects involved. The critical time had passed and they had gotten rather lucky with the whole situation.

Nova and Will spent three days recovering from their mana loss, wobbling around the Tower. There, they had been joined by Luck, Leo, Theo and Finral, who had all been in poor shape after using too much of their magic. A team was sent out to liberate the families of the blackmailed merchants and guards, which had been a mostly successful mission. Mary and Owen had been in charge of their treatment. In the wake of the attempted epidemic, golden stars were awarded to the Crimson Lions, the Black Bulls and the Azure Deers for their assistance on the important mission. Luck and Magna wouldn't stop talking about that.

Nova smiled to herself, remembering how eagerly the two boys had barged into her room, talking over each other in order to tell her everything about their rewards and the bonus in their pay. Then, as had become customary for the odd trio, they'd gone out for a celebratory dinner together, and Nova had bought Luck three crepes, with whatever ingredients he asked for. She didn't mind spending the money. After all, his face as he held two crepes, one in each hand, while picking out the toppings for the third, would likely be forever ingrained into her memory.

"Almost done?" Mary entered the records room, standing in the doorway. Nova looked up from where she hadn't really been completing the necessary paperwork. She dropped her pen and sighed.

"The end of this is a mysterious promised land which I shall, one day, some day, reach," Nova told the woman, her voice dripping in sarcasm. Mary giggled, walking over and pulling up a chair.

"Figured that would be the case," she motioned for Nova to scoot over and the girl did, giving Mary enough room to sit at the same desk as her. "I'll take half and ask you for details which I don't know, kay?"

"You have no idea how much I appreciate the help," Nova immediately divided the workload and gave Mary the smaller pile. The healer took it, picking up a pen from a random drawer.

"These forms are killer," she noted, flicking through the pages. "But, the more you do, the faster you get." Then, she offered a knowing grin to Nova. "Why do you think Will and I avoid most missions like the plague?" Nova giggled at the reference.

"I remember how you were all too happy to have me gather materials for the whole Tower when I went to the Gold Tips," the girl remarked. It really seemed like ages ago that she'd gone to seek out mana quartz as a solution to one of Will's many teaching riddles.

"Welcome to the world of record-keeping," Mary sighed with a smile. For a moment, they worked in silence. Then, Nova couldn't help herself. She asked.

"Mary, why did you choose to become a Magic Knight?" The older healer turned her head towards Nova, the look on her face pensive.

"There was nothing else for me at home, I suppose," she shrugged. "I joined when I was about your age, so some seven years ago, and back then getting into the Tower was really difficult." Nova perked up, abandoning her paperwork. She was more interested in the story, anyways.

"I thought that Julius was eager to collect all the good healers here?" She asked. Mary nodded.

"He was doing his best," the healer agreed. "But there were too many potential healers to choose from. In the end, he employed Owen first, and then Timothy." Mary's face made an amazing expression at the latter name. "Then came Will and me, almost around the same time, and Elizabeth, and now, you."

"I thought Liz had been here longer than you two?" Nova wondered. There was just something about the way Elizabeth behaved at the Tower, as if she'd grown up there. Hearing that she was one of the last to be recruited was intriguing. Mary giggled.

"She does have a lot of confidence," she commented. "Liz was actually a famous inventor before she joined our ranks. She started out with creating numerous irrigation systems around the country. She was on the path to becoming a Master Librarian, studying at the college and all that. Then, she got involved during an outbreak of smallpox, and the rest is history."

"And you and Will?" Nova asked away, propping her head up with her hand, leaning onto the table. Mary sighed, relaxing in her seat as she looked up, remembering.

"You should really ask Will directly about how he joined," she smiled. "He loves telling that story. As for me, I have many siblings. Huge family, really. My family is in the silk business, so we're mostly merchants or silk farmers. However, my father and mother both worked as merchants for a very long time," she grinned at Nova, "-they're retired now, because of my siblings' work and my own, but back when I joined, they were still operating our company. I always felt, like I didn't belong, I guess," Mary said, looking down at her hands.

"Because of the work?" Nova asked. Mary shook her head.

"No, I was quite capable," the woman replied. "It was the atmosphere which I didn't like. In the merchant world it was always tricking your competition, outperforming and outmaneuvering them in order to get the highest profits. I didn't like that. I wanted a place which I could call home. Somewhere where I knew my colleagues had my back, not that they were plotting how to outdo me."

"Cutthroat family?" Mary laughed, nodding.

"My siblings are very clever, the lot of them," she agreed. "While I'm fond of them all, I don't miss working with them." She paused, inspecting her short nails for a moment in the dim light. "The first time I helped the local healer set a bone I knew that I would be doing that for the rest of my life, you know?" She met Nova's eyes, and the girl thought that she finally understood Mary a bit better. While most of her work centered around Will and Elizabeth, she loved Mary dearly. But, now that she knew a bit more about her, Nova felt like she properly understood the woman.

"I knew I would be a surgeon the first time I cut my dad open," she told the woman.

"Your first patient was your dad?"

"Go big or go home, right?" Nova shrugged with a smile. Mary nodded, grinning.

"Ballsy, I'd say," the woman agreed. Nova noticed the way Mary looked at her hands again, her fingers intertwining together. She was holding back something, the girl knew. She probably wanted to ask something, but she was hesitant.

"You can ask me anything, you know? I'm not one for secrets," Nova said, making Mary smile softly.

"You're too perceptive sometimes, for a kid," the woman sighed. "I was worried that we'd thrust you into our world without enough guidance. That it was too much. It certainly was too much for me in the beginning, and I hadn't been active on missions for the whole first year of my stay here." Mary looked away from Nova then, glancing at the paperwork. "We aren't being too rough on you, are we?" Nova reached over, taking one of Mary's hands into hers, squeezing it gently.

"There is no other place in the world I'd rather be at, than here," she told the woman, making her smile widen.

"Good," Mary said with a nod. "Good." And with that, something which hadn't been put to rest between the two of them, some kind of an apprehensiveness which Mary always had to her when interacting with Nova, completely went away. "Now, let's power through this and get to bed. We have rounds in the morning."

"Yes, ma'am," Nova agreed sullenly, taking up her pen again.

That's all for now folks!

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Thanks so much the review! I'm glad that you enjoyed the last update and I'm hoping you'll like the new one, too :D