Episode Thirty One - Open Wounds

Chapter Song Suggestion "Burning Embers by Chris Egan and Andrew Cooksley"

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THE PAST | Anaelle

"Oh, Anaelle you've really done it this time," she muttered to herself, forcing down the rush of panic. Grabbing the fire extinguisher, she hurried to put out the flames before it consumed the entire lab. She was in deep shit. There was no way the Chief would overlook this accident. Spilling and breaking things were nothing compared to destroying a lab.

"Is everything alright in here?" A man entered the scene, waving off the heavy smoke.

"Everything's fine!" she called out, hoping he would just mind his own business and leave.

"I don't think so," he disagreed. "It seems you've blown up the lab."

"How nice of you to notice," she bit out sarcastically, extinguishing the last patch of fire. Anaelle turned to look at the newcomer. "And who are you?"

"Captain Lars Verhelst, at your service."

Her blue eyes widened. "C-Captain?" She swallowed hard, her hands shooting out in defense. "I can explain. This isn't what it looks like!"

"No, I'm sure you've ruined the lab." He openly glanced around the scorched walls and broken furniture. His boots crunched on broken glass. "I don't think Chief Grigore is going to be happy about this."

Her heart plummeted. "Are you going to report this to him?"

Dark brows drew together. "I don't make it a habit of making other's people problem mine but, if you're willing to hear me out, then I can help you with Chief Grigore."

Her eyes narrowed with suspicion, and she folded her arms. "Go ahead. I'm listening."

He bared what she assumed was a smile. "How do you feel about joining unit six?"

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PRESENT DAY

Eira woke with a sharp gasp, bouncing onto her feet in search of Anaelle. She found the scientist watering her nocturnal plants in the back of the lab.

"How could you!" she demanded furiously. "You had no right to sedate me!"

"You were on the verge of harming yourself, you left me no choice," Anaelle returned calmly as if she had expected this tirade.

Eira admired Anaelle's composed elegance but, not today. Right now, she wanted to rip off her blonde tresses. "What time is it? Where's Lars?"

"It has been two days. The Captain is recovering in his quarters."

"Two days!" Eira was dismayed. Now she was truly mad. "What if something had happened to him! You stopped me from seeing Lars."

"The Captain never intended for you to know, Eira." Anaelle set her watering pot down with a hard thud, spinning around to face her. Blue flames in her eyes matched Eira's level of anger. "Amongst everyone in this unit, you are the one who has the least rights to be angry, Eira Ulva. You are the very reason our Captain is hurt and the reason why his enemy took advantage of this blunder like a bloodthirsty scavenger."

Anaelle marched into her face, the words dripping off her tongue like blades of ice. "You are selfish and irresponsible. If you loved the Captain at all, you would never have risked your life, betrayed him and endangered this unit. I am disappointed in your actions and if it weren't for the Captain's feelings for you, I would have cared less if you came back dead or alive."

Hurt flashed in Eira's eyes and Anaelle realized what she had done. Regret swamped her and she took a faltering step back. "What I meant was–"

"Vi. No, you're right," Eira interrupted, feeling the sting of desperate tears. She swallowed convulsively. "It's true that I acted selfishly. But you shouldn't judge a person based on their actions without knowing their motivations. I welcome your anger. I deserve it." Eira retreated a step, her breath shivering in her throat. "But I thought you were my friend. I thought you would try to understand…but maybe I was wrong."

Anaelle squeezed her eyes shut, hiding her pain.

"Haqan. I am sorry from the bottom of my heart for causing you trouble, Anaelle." Eira hammered the final nail of dread into Anaelle's heart. "It was never my intention. Let it never be said that an Ulva doesn't own up to their mistakes."

The doors to the lab slid open. "Hey, Anaelle I brought the…" Koga trailed off as he walked in, sensing the palpable tension between the two. "What's going on here? Holy crap! Eira, your hair is red!"

Florian entered behind him and Eira stalked over to seize his wrist, pulling him outside. "Come with me."

"Where are you going?" Koga shouted.

"Let them go." Anaelle sank to the ground, startling him.

He dashed to her side; concern etched onto his face. "What happened? Are you hurt?"

She surprised him by bursting into tears, openly bawling like a baby.

He fumbled distractedly, torn between wiping her tears and pulling her into his arms. "Why are you crying? This isn't like you."

"I've gone and done it!" she cried miserably.

Koga didn't understand but, it must be affecting her deeply for her to wail uncontrollably. Fuck it, he thought. He would take her beatings later if it meant comforting her now. Hesitantly, he guided her face into his neck and made soft, soothing noises while his other hand rubbed circles on her back. "It's going to be alright," he assured. "I'm here, Anaelle."

Outside the lab, Florian dug his heels in. "Eira, stop it." He grabbed her arms. "You're not allowed to go above ground right now."

"Nienh? And why not? No one knows that I was gone, am I right? I'm not stupid. If Lars hadn't tried to cover up the fact, then he wouldn't have needed to be punished! It's my fault!" Her voice cracked. "I should have been the one who was punished, not him!"

"Calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down when the man I love might be dying!"

Florian stiffened, his heart constricting. "You…love the Captain?"

"I never stopped," she clarified, too worried about Lars to notice Florian's poignance. "I need to see him, Florian. What is his condition? Is he alright?"

The finality of Eira's feelings was a hole in his chest, as if he had lost something important. Florian was amazed by how calm he sounded. "The Captain's in his quarters but, it's going to take time for him to heal. I won't lie. The damage is…bad."

"Take me to him." When he didn't answer, she marched on ahead. "You can either escort me or I'll go on my own."

"I'll take you," he yielded. "On the condition that you return after you see him."

"Deal," she nodded. Eira wasn't unreasonable, she just needed to know that Lars was going to pull through.

Bundling her in a hooded robe, Florian led them through the main lab where the other scientists barely spared them a second glance. In order to reach their unit's dormitory, they had to cross Ataxia's belly that bustled with life.

"What is with the commotion? I've never seen so many people in Ataxia before." Eira couldn't help staring at some of the different uniformed kill hunters and their prominent weapons.

"It's the Annual Kill Hunter Championship. The first battle starts tomorrow."

"It's already that time of year? Is our unit participating?"

Florian didn't blame the skepticism in her tone. Given their unit's current condition, and with their Captain out of commission…it made better sense to withdraw from the competition. "If Lars doesn't recover soon, I will be forced to submit an official withdrawal."

The guilt inside her continued to fester. It was her fault. Once again, she had troubled those around her, just like how she had caused her parents' death. "Haqan. I'm so sorry, Florian." The words escaped her. "I never meant for this to happen."

Florian knew there was more to her story than she let on, and being judged all his life, he didn't want to jump to conclusions. "You probably had your reasons, Eira. I'm not saying it was the right thing to do but, you never struck me as an impulsive, reckless person."

Her eyes stung and she nodded once. She didn't deserve his understanding but, she was also grateful for it. If only Anaelle could have done the same.

When they arrived at the dormitory, Eira ran across the hallway to Lars's quarters. Hastily, she keyed in the passcode and entered his loft. A horrified cry tore from her lips at the sight of Lars equipped with life support, lying on his stomach with his flayed back exposed. Her throat convulsed at the sickening stench of disinfectant and decomposing flesh. "Florian!" She felt him behind her. "What's wrong with Lars?" she sobbed. "Why isn't he healing?"

"He is," Florian insisted grimly. "The damage's so bad that it's taking everything his body has to heal itself. Honestly, I'm amazed he even withstood one hundred lashes. Not only did Lars collapsed but, the soldier who doled out his punishment injured his own arm."

Moving to the bed, Eira's hands shook as she attempted to touch Lars. She was afraid it would inflict more pain on his raw back. "H-how did this happen? Why would he be punished this severely for what I have done?"

"It's not that. For a Captain to miss a first-tier meeting when the championship is around the corner is an insult to the higher ups. But Lars also has enemies within that circle, one man in particular."

"Peki? Who is it?"

"Lieutenant General Novak Levente."

The name was familiar. "I've met him once."

"I don't know what's between them but, I know they hate each other. The Lieutenant General will take advantage of the Captain's weaknesses and mistakes to get rid of him. It has been a tug of war for years."

"A-and the Colonel permitted this?" Disbelief strangled her.

"I doubt he has a say in the matter," Florian said wryly. "After all, the Lieutenant General is his superior."

Eira stared at the lines of pain and anguish chasing across Lars's features. Even in sleep, he appeared as if he were fighting a demon and his breathing was too shallow for her liking. Touching his forehead, she drew back in surprise. "He's scorching!"

"Without Cell II to aid his recovery, his body's burning up." Florian's hands fisted. "He's suffering and all we can do is watch. I wish we could do something — anything to help. This was intentional. The Lieutenant General meant for the Captain to perish. No one can survive this, Eira. As strong as Lars is, his body is all too human."

"Vi. No." She shook her head, drying her tears. "This was my fault, I'll fix it. I won't let him die because of me, or for any reason." Her mind raced. Lars needed to heal. He had found her on the bay, on the brink of death but the clawtail cub had saved her life – miraculously regenerated her arm. Could it heal Lars too? But the cub was down at the lab. Frustration ate at her.

Wait a minute. Anaelle had mentioned she shared the same blood with clawtail.

Did that mean —

She ran to the pantry and grabbed a fruit knife, charging back to Lars's side, holding her wrist above his damaged flesh.

"Eira, what are you doing!" Panic gripped Florian and he attempted to wrestle the blade from her. "Give me the knife."

She wrenched it out of his grasp. "This might save him!"

"By killing yourself?" His tone incredulous.

"What? Vi. No, I'm not! I don't have time to explain, just watch." She counted to three and made a quick but precise cut over her wrist, allowing enough blood to drip onto Lar's wound.

Seconds later, Florian reared back in shock as that small patch began to regenerate – knit and weave – the cells multiplied to form new flesh and skin. "Wha— what the hell is this, Eira?"

Eira barked with success. "I knew it! Hurry, get Anaelle here. She would know what to do next. Tell her that my blood can heal him. Oh, and bring the clawtail too, just in case."

Florian blinked in stupor. Most of what she said might as well have been gibberish to him.

"Florian, stop dawdling!" Eira scolded. "Get Anaelle!"

Snapping out of it, he nodded like an idiot. "I-I'm on it!"

The moment Florian relayed everything he had witnessed to Anaelle, she spurred into action, grabbing several glass vials, syringes, and empty fluid bags.

"What are you planning to do?" Koga asked, helping her to pack her equipment.

Anaelle scooped the clawtail from its resting place, tucking the cub inside her own bag. "We're going to give Lars a blood transfusion using Eira's blood."

"Won't that be a problem for people with different blood types?"

"Didn't you know?" Anaelle headed for the exit. "Once you're injected with Cell II, it automatically changes your blood type to 'O'. There were disputes claiming the original scientists wanted Cell to be compatible with its human host and was engineered to mimic as a universal donor."

They hurried back to their dormitory and Anaelle proceeded to extract a bagful of Eira's blood. "If this works, then you are going to be a walking miracle, Eira."

"I don't think anyone should know about this," Koga strictly declared. "It would endanger Eira's life. The fact that she can communicate with predators makes her a target and if the truth about her blood gets out, it would be…extremely dangerous – for everyone in this room."

"Koga's right," Florian agreed.

All eyes turned to Anaelle.

"Why is everyone looking at me like that?" she demanded nervously. "Of course, I won't tell a soul. Do you know how valuable Eira is to a scientist like me?" Then, she blushed hard, realizing how her words sounded. "I-I mean from a research perspective."

"Kaaqa. Thank you," Eira said earnestly. "I don't deserve your kindness after causing the unit this much trouble. I would like to apologize to everyone, and I hope you can hear me out."

Koga shrugged. "Sure, I'm willing. We have nothing but time anyway."

Florian took a seat and Anaelle listened from where she monitored Lars's condition. Inhaling deeply, Eira began to tell her story from her life in the Qeathan tribe and her parents' death.