Promise (40)

"What did I tell you? Before you even went in?", Syll said, her tapping foot would have seemed much more comedic had she not had a certain kings strangling on her mind.

"It's alright Syll, I am alright.", Coruscare replied, mistaking her words for concern. He groaned as he slowly stretched out of the position he had been in. He must not have moved all night to creak this way.

"Of course you are. Thanks to me. I've lost count of how many times I've saved your life, but out of all of those instances, this is the time I should not have. Maybe only then would you learn your lesson.", she replied more calmly, setting aside the bucket. Without another word she turned to the girl and watched as her underlings tended her wounds.

"Any change?", Coruscare asked as he snatched a towel from one of the infirmary carts and started drying himself off. He came to stand behind Syll and watched the girl writhing on the bed. Her hair was almost entirely white now but the wild brows that reminded him of Folk, were dark as night, just as they had been before. The silky tendrils of her hair clung wetly to the sweat on her brow and neck. The muscles and tendons flexing and stretching as she fought pain.

"We found the spell used to attack her. Midnight magic. A spell of darkness and pain, not seen for years now since the galaxians isolated themselves along with their master. Reports are that the pain persists like an iron hot rod searing the flesh. It will be a long healing process but she should be able to do it with our help. I always knew our advancements in medicine were a wonder, but without those salves and pain medications, she would surely have felt this way all along. Although the information helps us understand what she is going through better, there was no information about how to heal the wound entirely, without that knowledge I have concerns of whether or not the limb will resume usefulness even after recovery.", Syll said, silently covering her mouth as the wound was exposed, the grove members pulling the spider silk cotton off of her to replace the dressings.

A raw hole with fire red edges gaped just under her clavicle on the right side of her chest.

"I am shocked that we've kept it from getting infected for as long as we have. It's filled with her blood and is mending well, all things considered.", she said grabbing the discarded dressings and taking them to a bin of dirty linens. "If she survives this she will likely experience weakness in that arm due to the loss of muscle, that would be best case scenario. Well, quite frankly she will be weak in general. We've started moving her limbs trying to combat any atrophy she may experience."

"Syll, I saw Ventus. Not a whimsical dream creation of Ventus, it was truly her.", he said, knowing how he sounded.

She leaned herself on the edge of the basket. She stood silent for a handful of seconds before turning to Coruscare.

"Ventus, the greatest sorceress of her time?", she asked.

He nodded in reply.

She nodded slowly in return and looked about the room.

"This is her daughter.", she said, a statement, not a question.

Another nod from Coruscare.

"Did you get her help?", she asked, as though they were talking about the weather.

The tone disoriented him. He watched Syll quietly, unsure of how she was taking the news.

After a few minutes, she heaved a heavy sigh and took a seat.

"Caeli's spirit is visiting her isn't it? This girl is the daughter of Ventus and Faron?", she said expectantly.

"Yes Syll, the daughter of Ausia's greatest warriors. This is their daughter, and she has somehow found out how to travel to see Ventus in the past. Not only that but she has assumed a child form.", he responded. "I should not of been able to tell you that….", he added, confused.

Ventus had said that he wouldn't be able to tell anyone of Caeli's lineage.

"Her comatose state… her soul is so far from her body. How she is still connected to it I do not know. She is trying to heal.", Syll said, thoughtfully. "She must be very powerful indeed."

"Why would you say something like that?", Coruscare asked, recalling Ventus's story of "self sickness".

"How else would she be able to be in two distant places at once? Not only that, but she is offspring to some of the most powerful and resilient people in existence during their time. I miscalculated earlier, it's not the medicine that's bringing her this much comfort, it helps, yes. But if Caeli were not powerful, she would have succumbed to her wound and her illness days ago.", she said in wonder, watching as the grove collected their things, having finished their treatments.

"Syll, there's something you must know. Something I cannot say, I am bound by powerful magic. Just know that Ventus revealed to me what could possibly be making her so ill. In short, I need her to wake up. Enough for me to talk to her.", he said urgently.

"It's not possible Coruscare. Nothing rouses her. She will swallow the medicine and broths we give her but she is unresponsive. Even when in the clawed grip of pain, her conscious is lost to us. And if what you say is true about her visiting Ventus, she is too far to reach.", she said plainly.

She stared hard at him until she realized what he was thinking.

"Absolutely not, if it weren't for me, you would not of pulled yourself out in time. We almost lost you. I told you once and I will tell you again, I cannot repair the soul, once shattered or lost it is in the hands of the goddesses.", she said sternly, already knowing the futility.

"Syll, you cannot expect me to abandon this girl. Not after what I've found out. Faron was a dear friend, as was Ventus. I owe them this.", he said softly, feeling the tender wound on his heart that he thought had healed over, a rough edged and puckered scar, torn asunder again. Caeli would still have parents if not for him.

She heaved a sigh.

"No, of course I do not. But you must promise me, you will try to find another way than the Dream Catcher. We look for the next few days, if we cannot find a compromise, a way to do it WITHOUT the Catcher, then we will use it.", she said, determined. If he was to push her hand she would do the same, if not only to keep him from diving head long into a disaster, then at least to keep him alive. There was no sensible reason to risk his life if there was a more reasonable option out there. But she agreed, something needed to be done. Syll had known Ventus well, they had even became friends. Her loss had impacted Syll greatly. She had known, once she had seen the girl, white-haired and fighting off pain, she had seen Ventus for just a moment. If Coruscare says that the girl is Ventus's daughter, she believed even more so for the fact that she could see Ventus in the girl. As she fought off the fever in the infirmary, her determination and her strength had shocked Syll. She had even had Ventus enter her thoughts at the sight, likely the first time in many many years.

"Deal.", Coruscare smiled as charmingly as possible at Syll, to which she rolled her eyes.

"Do not weedle, I see that you are weedling Coruscare and I will not have it. I've been around too long to allow your charms to soften me. You have officially used up all of your get away cards. You will assist me in the academic research finding a different solution will require.", she said the last part happily.

Coruscare's broad grin slowly melted into a stunned open mouthed stare. His shoulders softened with resignation.

"As you please. I will lend a hand.", he sighed.

She gave a curt nod.

"First you will rest, then we will start. Find me in the archive first thing in the morning.", she said, promptly leaving the infirmary without waiting for a response.

"And they call me king.", he huffed to himself. But he knew that Syll was right, two sets of eyes would be better than one, and if there was another option that would not require that he put his soul at risk, it was worth a try.

He turned once more to the girl, the sweat on her brow drying and her breathes came more slowly.

He could see her as a little girl, reaching for tarts in windows, and it pained him to know that such a charmed and loving life had been taken from her.

And it was his fault.

He stood beside her bed and gently used his claw to free a thick tendril of damp hair from her face.

He turned to the basin and wrung a towel out, using it to wipe away the dried sweat from her face.

After he finished he stood arms at his sides and thought to himself, *I will help you Eli, I swear it. For your parents, for you. I will reconcile the mistakes I have made that brought you here in such a sorry state.*