There was no use in trying to sleep that night. Everyone’s thoughts were too scattered, too loud, and the amount of bloodshed mere miles away had his skin practically burning from how badly his daemon was trying to get out and add to it all. Hands cupping over his ears did nothing; meditation did nothing; even submerging himself in the bath did absolutely nothing.
Just when he thought his body was going to give up and pass out he heard the main entrance door open, soon followed by the irritated below of the owner. Why…? He was so tired. Two months had gone by without an attack, without Minasé escaping from within him, but each day was wearing on him to the point that he was about ready to just release him so that he could have some peace. It would never happen.
Minutes turned to an hour and he found he could no longer stand it. Maybe it was time to invest in a more physical remedy, though elixirs and herbs hardly worked on him due to his metabolism, he was starting to grow too desperate to wave them off. He sat up on the edge of his bed, his hair sticking to the back of his neck from sleep deprived perspiration, and he peeled his shirt of and let it fall to the floor with an unenthusiastic thud.
The darkness around him waned slightly from the soft glow that came from his eyes and he moved up from the bed and left his room, trying his best to ignore the growing volume of chatter as he moved down the stairs. His nose wrinkled: something was off. That smell, he recognized the sour scent of a body in distress far too well. Someone was sick, sick with something awful. Minasé’s interest piqued and he quickly quashed it back down as he moved into the tavern. Alcohol made normal people pass out, maybe if he had enough of it he’d drift off for a few hours.
Just as he sat at one of the stools, hand poised in the air to call the tender over, the owner moved into the space. Her head was bent, muttering something to herself in irritation that he tried to ignore but found himself unable to. A cleric had been sent for, but had still yet to make it. Immediately his thoughts turned to the violence that had been tempting his daemon so.
“Oi!”
He nearly jerked off of the stool, not only from how sharp her call had been, but from how it managed to lower everyone’s speaking to a dullness that couldn’t be overlooked. It would have been impressive had it not sent his heart racing. She had his attention,
“A girl’s been brought ‘en. Real sick.” She spoke in a tone so direct you’d think everyone in her establishment was under employment by her, “Cleric’s been sent for, but seein’ as he’s yet tah come by, time to show yer hand if yeh’ve any trainin’ in healin’.”
Her eyes narrowed as she walked slowly around the room, eyeing each person as if they had reason to be suspicious of. His own eyes moved down. He had the training, more than enough to help with illnesses, but his own energy was so low that he doubted his own abilities at the moment. Still, with his supernatural affinity it would probably still be better than the average healer, should there be one here. When she was only a few paces from him he resigned himself to his decision and barely turned his hand from its beckon to the tender, and instead rose it up to offer himself.
She stopped in front of him, her hands moving to her hips, “Yeh can heal?”
He hesitated only for a heartbeat before nodding wordlessly, feeling guilty for a crime he hadn’t even committed as her eyes narrowed on him. For just a moment she stared him down, what she might be judging him for he wasn’t sure, “Well don’ just stand there!” Her hand moved out and grabbed him by the back of his neck, pulling him off of the stool and leading him.
His eyes widened and he hunched himself so as not to be taller than her as she did so, ignoring the laughter that followed them and trying to convince himself that the only reason she did so was because he had no shirt to grip and drag him by. Somehow he couldn’t help but think he’d just made a huge mistake.
When they got to the room his lips parted. He hadn’t expected someone so young, well…not too young, close to his own age it seemed, but still. She was buried under blankets and even from here he could hear the faint flutter of her heart and the strain of her breathing. His eyes weakened and he moved towards the bed she was on when his neck was let go, “Showed up on tha doorstep she did. Dun know who she is, but yeh’d prob’ly need to start sooner rath’r than later. And eh,” She tapped the back of his head lightly, “Nothin’ funny.”
His cheeks warmed immediately and he shook his head. He would never. She was right though: he needed to get started soon. Where to start though…? Whatever it was she had, he had yet to see it before, and as far as he knew there wasn’t a sickness spreading around. With the upmost gentleness he drew back the layers of blanket to her hips and paid no mind to the state of her clothing. This wasn’t good…Best to just cleanse her completely rather than try to figure out what was causing it.
Rubbing his hands together, he closed his eyes and tried his best to concentrate and build his energy. It flowed through him, as constant as water, but his well was nearly running on empty due to his lack of sleep, even for something this simple. All of it gathered down to his hands, filling them with warmth, concentrated health. When he had brought as much of it as he could muster his eyes opened, shining brighter; the usual emerald having shifted to a soft lit white as he rested his hands over her chest.
He could feel the energy leave himself, flow into her…yet nothing happened. The white of his eyes flickered for a moment of doubt. No, he’d done everything the way he was meant to, so why wasn’t it working…? There was nothing unholy surrounding her: no dark aura radiating from her body…so what was this? In vain, he brought his hands together and tried again, pulling from his gut’s chakra where the highest level of soul rested…but even then when he laid his hands on her heated skin, nothing changed.
What was going on? A low chuckle whispered in the back of his head and his jaw locked against it. Something was wrong. This was new, something he’d never seen before, never experienced. Whatever was happening to this girl he was unable to fix.
And worst of all, he’d spent almost all of his energy on it. Minasé had every right to gently rejoice.