Mistwoven Healer

My headaches something fierce when I wake up once more, and I find myself feeling weak and disoriented. I know that something's wrong, but my head is swimming too much to remember what. That is, of course, until I take the time to feel for my power within myself and find it… distant. Still there, still potent, but when I grasp at it for support, I find it slipping away as if covered in oil.

That feeling triggers a memory within me, and I sit bolt upright in an instant, terror gripping my heart as memories burn through my mind. The overlord! The Reaver ambush! Where-

"Serena?" asks Akari's voice, the sound of it instantly soothing me.

I look around frantically and find her sitting beside me against a smooth concrete wall. One glance at her face and I find her looking more distraught than I've ever seen her before, even including when we spoke behind the school. It isn't hard to tell why…

Akari and I sit alone in a small prison cell. No cot, no toilet, nothing that could offer us any reprieve from the hard concrete of the floor and walls. The only relief from the relentless gray stone is a single wall open to the air save for the iron bars running up from the floor to the ceiling and an intimidating metal door. For a moment, I look at the cell bars with apprehension and a touch of annoyance. If I could use my powers, then escaping from this cell would be trivial — Astral Veil would get me away in mere moments. Without it, though…

I find myself turning back toward Akari, looking over her dirty, grief-stricken face. Tear tracks cut clean lines from her eyes down her cheeks, and a glance at her life force finds it dwindling as much as it ever has. Akari's red eyes meet mine for only a moment before she looks away with sorrow.

Despite still feeling faint, I scoot my way over until I sit directly beside Akari. She doesn't look at me, her head turned away and fresh tears carving new tracks down her dusty features. She doesn't look hurt, but she definitely doesn't look good.

"A-Akari," I start, startled by the weak shakiness of my own voice. "Do you know where we are?"

Akari just shakes her head, not responding and turning further away from me. Her posture is hunched, and she clutches her knees to her chest, breathing heavily. A panic attack? It definitely could be, given the circumstances.

Making my unsteady voice as gentle as I can manage, I start attempting to soothe my girlfriend. "I-It's okay, Akari," I say softly. "I'm here. Everything's g-going to be okay."

Akari shakes her head again, still not looking at me. "No… it's not," she whispers, her body and voice wracked by silent sobs. "This is my fault. The only reason my uncle committed so much to go after us was to act on his personal vendetta against me. I…" her voice breaks. "I-If I wasn't there… y-you would all be fine right now. Not… not about to…"

"We're going to be okay," I repeat, ignoring the clear signs that she wants to be left alone in order to wrap my arms around the sentinel's back. "I-I don't know how yet, Akari. But we're going to be okay."

After a long moment of tension, Akari turns into my embrace, squeezing me hard and tight against her chest. "They're going to take you," she whispers. "They're going to hurt you, and there's nothing I can do to stop it."

The mere idea of what's coming seems agonizing for Akari, and I understand why. Seeing the person you love turn into the kind of monster Candice was when we found her is a horrifying concept. To me, though, if that does happen to me… then well, I need to make sure Akari knows how I feel first.

"No matter what happens to me," I tell Akari, straightening with resolve. "Just know that I… I love you. Whatever happens, any version of me who doesn't… that's not me anymore."

The taller woman shudders in my arms, and she squeezes me all the tighter as if never wanting to let me go. "I love you, too, Serena." Her words are soft but firm as she speaks with certainty. "Please," she murmurs, "you can't leave me. Promise."

My mind flickers back to the incursion zone, to the feeling of Stygian Mana all around me, ready to empower me if only I was willing to draw it in. I remember how the two mana types felt together when I was helping Candice, like two puzzle pieces just waiting to click together. Celestial Equilibrium is meant to help me control the mana in my body, and despite the overlord's suppression, I can still feel the ability lurking within me — waiting to be useful.

"I won't," I say, giving the other sentinel a squeeze. My voice lowers to a whisper, "If they think they can do to me what they did to Candice, they have another thing coming."

As minutes pass, Akari and I just keep embracing each other, neither speaking but both taking comfort in the presence of the other. As moments extend into an infinite blur, we find sanctuary in each other's touch, even as our world crumbles around us. Nothing matters in that time, nothing except the infinite knowledge that, so long as we both live, neither will ever have to be alone.

Eventually, it's Celeste's consciousness stirring within me that causes me to break away. As soon as she comes fully awake, I feel a tugging at my core as I feel her attempt to use our power to form a body for herself. Sadly for her, she can't reach our power any more than I can.

[W-What?] she asks in my mind, her voice groggy.

I smile and finally pull back from Akari, whose life force is already looking orders of magnitude better.

"We were kind of having a moment here," I tell my familiar with amusement before the sight of my surroundings kills any joy I might have felt.

For a moment, Akari matches my smile as she pulls back as well.

Deciding that it's a good time to start focusing, I push myself unsteadily to my feet in order to peer through the bars at our surroundings. From what I can see, we're in a cell block of some kind of prison. Barred cells line the walls as far as I can see — which isn't too far, given the angle I'm forced to look from. Surprisingly, all of them appear to be empty, save for ours.

"Any idea where the others are?" I ask, finding Akari moving up behind me. She wraps a protective arm around my waist as we peer out into the empty cell block together.

"They're here somewhere, but everyone else was separated but us," she says, sounding a lot steadier than before. "Uncle said that he only put us together because he thought it would hurt me more if I had one last conversation with you before…" She turns her head away.

"Fucking asshole," I swear, trying to crane my neck to look further down the hallway.

That, somehow, startles a laugh from Akari. "We need to get you away from Audrey. You're picking up bad habits."

I just shrug, finding myself smiling again — even in times like this, Akari can always find a way to make me smile. "If I can't curse when talking about your uncle, when can I? Personally, I think that's about the only time it's allowed."

"I suppose so," the taller girl says with a chuckle.

[Serena, if I wasn't an incorporeal spirit in your head right now, I would be gagging. You two are just insufferable,] Celeste complains in my mind, but even she sounds more jovial. She likes Akari, and she really likes Liora. I'm not sure if they're doing whatever Centurions do in place of dating, but they sure do like hanging out together.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

My familiar's comment only makes me smile more… until I see someone coming, and my smile dies on my lips.

"Akari!" I exclaim, stepping back from the bars rapidly as her uncle, flanked by two large, tattooed men, strides into view.

Akari's eyes go wide, and she instantly pulls me to the back of the cell and gently moves me behind her. I can feel her frantic heartbeat through her skin, and her breathing instantly becomes harsh once more. My own heart thunders a complementary rhythm as we both stare out at the doom that has arrived.

Hikaru Kimura's smile belonged on the face of a demon as he strode out of the gloom to stand before our cell, and his dead eyes made me wonder how anyone could ever consider this creature human. While his face showed a perverse glee, his eyes showed… nothing. None of the light or warmth that his niece had, none of the love. No, Hikaru's eyes were as black as his life force.

Before me, Akari set her jaw and glared up at the monster who still stood over her despite her recent increase in height. Even with the suppression of her magic, I swear I could see small sparks of black lightning building around Akari. More than anyone before, Akari wants this man dead.

"Oh, Akari," Hikaru says, his features dripping with malicious. "You're always trying to play the hero, aren't you. Sadly, you never did end up on the right side of things."

"The right side!?" Akari demands, her body shaking with fury. "You work with the Volcora, hurt innocent people, and leave a wake of destruction everywhere you go! And even still, you have the nerve to tell us that we're on the wrong side of things?! Well, open your fucking eyes, uncle! You are evil!"

Hikaru shakes his head, a flash of what looks to be genuine sadness crossing his face. "Call me what you will, niece. It won't change anything."

His dead, calculating eyes landed on me, and I couldn't repress a shudder. "Now, Serena, was it? It's time for you to meet the good doctor. He's excited to help you start embracing your true nature."

With that, the two guards open the cell door and start marching toward us menacingly. Akari looks ready to fight in order to protect me, but I could see the malicious intent behind these men's eyes. They wanted her to fight; they wanted an excuse to hurt her. And so, I straighten my spine and step out from behind Akari.

Almost immediately, she tries to move me behind her again, to protect me as she's always so keen to do, but I lay a gentle hand on Akari's shoulder. "I won't let them hurt you," I whisper. Then, I force a smile, "I'll be okay. Trust me."

For the briefest moment, our eyes meet, and our souls seem to connect. I can see it there, in Akari's beautiful eyes. She does trust me, just as I trust her. Now, I just have to find a way to earn that trust one more time.

I don't resist as the two Reaver goons grab me by either arm or begin dragging me out of the cell. Akari doesn't fight back either, although I can tell that seeing me in the hands of the Reavers is killing her inside. Her eyes are wide with deep concern, mixing with complete trust. She knows that I'll do everything in my power to get back to her, but I know she worries that my best efforts won't be enough.

I sit alone in a dark room full of various surgical equipment. The two men Hikaru sent to fetch me dragged me here, bound me to this chair, and then left without a word. I'm just thankful that no one has tried hurting me yet, though I can only imagine that it's coming soon.

The chair I'm bound to is an awful leather thing with thick straps for my hands and feet as well as my chest, neck, and knees. And, sitting there helpless to move, I found my previous confidence slowly starting to slip. It's a lot easier to be confident and caviler when you aren't trapped in a dark room full of tools that should only exist in horror movies. In my case, it's taking all of my mental fortitude to keep the tears from my eyes, although having something to do helps.

Together, Celeste and I have been shoving against the barrier that the overlord is maintaining around our magic. As a D Rank sentinel trying to directly combat the working of an A Rank, we don't have much of a chance. But for now, it's the only thing either of us could think of to get out of this was to somehow regain our powers.

The only other possibility we considered, Althia, has been non-responsive in our attempts to communicate with her. Either she isn't listening, or, as Celeste thinks is most likely, she's being blocked from communicating with us either by the overlord or by some inscription set on this location. And, if even Althia can't see this place, it makes a lot more sense as to why Nightsong hasn't found it after clearly attempting to locate every Reaver base. That, however, just leaves me and Celeste alone in the dark, strapped to a chair and waiting for the end.

"My plan of manipulating the Stygian Mana inside my body…" I thought to Celeste, taking a break from the exhausting task of shoving against the overlord's barrier. "Do you think it will work? Even with this suppression still intact?"

[It will work,] Celeste says, although she sounds uncertain. [We can manipulate the mana in our body right now; we just can't access it in a way that pushes it out of our body in the form of an ability. So, theoretically, we should be able to at least partially manipulate Stygian Mana. I just… I don't know how effective that will be. Stygian Mana in our body will be incredibly toxic, and if we can't force it out… It will become a permanent part of us, Serena.]

I close my eyes, attempting to calm my breathing. "So… even if we can manipulate it. What they're going to do to us might work?"

[The only way to tell is to try,] Celeste responds, although even her voice is a quiet, frightful whisper in my mind. [Serena… if Stygian Mana reaches our soul gem… you can't let it in. It will corrupt our very souls, and there will be no coming back from that. I know what you told Akari, but we have to resist. Nothing can enter our soul gem unless we allow it in.]

"And, if we don't?" I ask the question even though I already know the answer.

[If it's trying to force its way in with enough pressure and we don't allow it to enter… our soul gem will shatter, and we'll die,] Celeste says what I've been too frightened to think.

Still, I found myself nodding — although that pulled the leather strap tight against my throat. "Better to die as us than become their monster."

I can feel Celeste's agreement, but before she can speak, both of our attentions lock on the large steel door to the room as it's pushed open on well-oiled hinges. The man who enters the room is a tall, wire-thin man with a nearly bald head. His eyes, upon meeting mine, are cold and calculating, without a hint of emotion, and his life force burns as black as Hikaru's in his chest.

"Hello, Miss Solace," the man says, flicking on the light in the room and momentarily blinding me. "I do apologize for your still being awake. Mr. Kimura was insistent that you feel all the pain for when he brings his niece word of your fate."

I swallow, although I note that this is actually a good thing for me. If I was sedated, then there would be nothing I could do to resist anything this man did to me. Still, this doctor was talking instead of trying to warp me into a monster, and I decided to try and stall him as long as I could. Not out of any thought that someone might save me but out of a desperate desire to stay myself as long as possible.

"I-I have to admit, I don't know how you intend to introduce Stygian Mana into my body without just killing me," I told the doctor. I tried to sound confident, but my voice came out sounding small and meek.

The horrible doctor smiles ever so faintly, still moving around his counter and gathering up various different tools. "Ah, I forgot that you were a healer. It's rare one of my subjects understands the theory."

"As for your question," the doctor says, producing a small vile from a drawer and filling a syringe with its contents. "We don't actually mind if the process kills you eventually. Your soul gem of Tributary Mana can never support a Stygian Mana-fueled body for long. However, by using tattoos specifically designed to capture the power of the chaotic interactions between the two mana types, we can supercharge their effects. Yes, you will die in a few months, but you will be a powerful berserker until that time is up."

With those words, the tall man strides over to my chair and, before I can react, stabs the syringe into the base of my neck. I yelp, tensing against the straps that hold me still until the doctor finishes emptying all of the pale fluid into me.

Oddly, instead of spiking with my panic, my heart rate begins to slow, as do my breaths. "What? What was… that?" I manage to ask, though my body is becoming hard to control.

"A paralyzing agent," the doctor says, returning the syringe to the counter. "It won't put you to sleep or stop you from feeling pain, but it will stop you from being able to move."

My eyes widen as I realize that what he's saying is true. I try to jerk against the straps holding me down once more, but my arm does little more than flop around. My limbs are getting harder to control by the second, and I already feel as if I could no longer speak coherently.

I can do nothing to resist as the doctor flicks a switch on my chair, and the whole thing begins to move with an electric whine, the straps spreading my body out on what is now a large, padded table.

Once more, I try to speak, to keep this horrible man talking, but the only thing that escapes my lips is a fearful whimper. I can feel my fear thrumming through my entire being despite the fact that my body feels calm. My breathing is sluggish, and my heart rate is slow... even though I'm terrified down to the very core of my being. The only thing I can do is blink, although even that motion is lethargic.

Standing over me, the doctor rubs his hands together, his lips twisting into a rictus grin. "I've been waiting to get my hands on a sentinel for a long time, Miss Solace. Now, I'm afraid it's the end of the road for you."