Mistwoven Healer

"-over seventy confirmed deaths from the brutal skirmish on the streets of Nagnao last night and an estimated five-hundred-thousand yen in property damage alone. While GDF sources confirm that this was not a sanctioned military operation, eyewitnesses claim to have seen sentinels on the scene. As of now, citizens of Nagano are still wondering who is responsible for this ruthless act."

My eyes are firmly fixed on the news screen as camera footage pans over the sheer devastation of the fight that took place last night. It's been days since I've seen Akari, but the text I received from her last night more or less confirms that she was present for this fight. The only reason I haven't rushed off to Nagano yet is the repeated texts from Akari promising that she's fine and coming home with Candice.

I hug myself as I look over the battlefield, worry for Akari burning bright in my chest. Also, I'm more than a little annoyed that she relegated me to the role of the superhero's girlfriend! Like, come on! I could have helped!

Sighing, I look down at my texts once more, reading and rereading the messages telling me that Akari is fine and on her way home. Right now, they're the only thing keeping me from tearing my hair out with nerves.

After a few more minutes of fretting over the news footage, I eventually stand and go to find Baylee and Hayley in their second tour of my new home.

Having tasked Kiley to help me find furniture and an interior decorator, the space actually looks a lot better than it did previously. Rather than empty room after empty room, each space now has a specific purpose and is designed as such. Now that things are finally done, though, I find myself quite pleased with the outcome.

Still, I feel the need to consult with my resident style expert instead of just blindly trusting some interior decorator that Kiley found. And so, having nothing better to do with my afternoon, I invited Baylee and Hayley over to assess.

"Serena," Hayley says, looking around in awe as I walk in on them in the master bedroom, "you realize how insane all this is, right? When I first met you, you could barely afford school lunches. How did you end up here?"

"Blind luck," I say with a smile, wrapping my friend in a hug.

Hayley is looking much improved from the day of her bonding. Spending time with Baylee seems to be helping her confidence a great deal, and not having an assigned team with the theft of so many soul gems, she's unofficially joined ours — at least for things like working out at the gym and team discussions. I'm honestly not sure that she's ready to come anywhere near one of our missions, but knowing Hayley, she'll want to come anyway. The girl has been obsessed with finding ways to rank up quickly.

Baylee laughs at my statement, turning to smile down at me. "I'd say you did more than a little hard work as well. Still, Hayley's right, this place is damned impressive. Never thought you'd pass up my apartment in terms of style, but that decorator you got is good."

I nod, smiling as I look around.

Upon meeting the interior decorator, I told the stylish-looking man that I wanted everything to feel homey, much like it did in my old apartment. And, after walking me through dozens upon dozens of different styling options that match my criteria, we settled on a sort of cozy cottage vibe for the compound.

As such, all the windows now have large draping curtains, carved wooden furniture adorns every room, and many are centered with beautiful but modest heavy rugs. Honestly, I still don't know how he did such a good job or how he did it so quickly, but walking through the compound now feels like walking through a cozy little cottage in a forest somewhere. Well… as long as you ignore the windows and the massive security features.

Security was handled by Lina, and she didn't have aesthetics in mind when making changes to the compound. The entry way is now bristling with metallic security sensors ranging from face scanners, motion sensors, heat sensors, and even rare mana sensors, all tuned to set off alarms if someone unauthorized entered our space. Not to mention the numerous cameras and sensors placed in nearly every room.

The entryway now acts as a kind of security checkpoint. To get in, you have to pass through the main door, get verified by one of our guards and all of the security devices, and only then can you pass through the newly installed second door into the compound at large.

Ultimately, this entire venture has cost me literally all of my money, between the furniture and the security features. While the GDF was willing to cover some security enhancements, Karma apparently told Audrey off upon her asking for even more money for the project.

Even so, if this is the price of safety, then I'm more than willing to pay it. Whatever it takes to keep Dad and Akari safe, and everything would have been perfect if Akari actually stayed in the freaking building!

Eventually, after their second tour and hanging out for a few hours, night falls, and my friends bid me goodbye as they head home to go to sleep. I, however, know that sleep will once again be alluding me, at least until Akari gets home.

So, with Dad grading papers in his study — which he converted one of the rooms on the first level into — I find myself with nothing to do. Well, nothing to do but wait and hope.

After sitting in the living room just beyond the entryway, staring at the closed door for over an hour, Lucas, who has been my constant protective shadow, gently lays a hand on my shoulder.

"Miss Serena," he says, his voice gentle, "perhaps it's time for you to prepare for bed. You still aren't sure if you'll have a mission tomorrow or if that will be moved to next week to give you more time to rest."

I sigh, closing my eyes. "Time is something my team will never get, Lucas. Anyway, I don't think I'll be able to sleep with her still out there. You're right about it getting late, though, you should head home. Ren and Endo are supposed to be on the night shift, and you've stayed too late already. You'll be tired tomorrow."

Lucas shrugs, "If it's alright with you, Miss Serena, I'd like to see this through. Your worrying has rubbed off on me over the last few days."

Looking up at Lucas, I offer him a tired, gentle smile. "You're wasted here, you know that? You should be protecting the mayor or something instead of me."

Lucas just laughs, "Maybe, but I like it here anyway."

And so, we continue waiting as one hour passes into two and then three. As we wait, my exhaustion continues pressing down on me. After watching news story after news story on the happenings in Nagano over the past few days, I've found it impossible to rest without worrying about Akari. During the day, I'm able to distract myself with the million little things I have going on, but at night, my constant worries chase me constantly, even into my dreams.

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By the time the clock strikes 1:00 AM, my eyes are half closed, and I'm slumped to the side in the large chair I curled up in, wrapped in a large blanket. My hands loosely hold a cup of hot chocolate I made for myself a while ago, and the only thing keeping me awake at the moment is the knowledge that if I fall asleep, the cup will spill into my lap.

Sighing, I wonder if Lucas was right; maybe I should just try to sleep. Surely exhaustion will win out at some point, right? Surely, I can…

I jerk awake at another gentle hand on my shoulder, looking around to see my cup of hot chocolate — well, now it's cold chocolate, I suppose — sitting on a side table.

Groaning I rub at my head and look at the clock. 4:36 AM, I must have fallen asleep. "Lucas?" I ask, still partly asleep and a touch confused. "What's happening?"

"Voices in the entryway," Lucas says, gesturing to the door. "I thought I should wake you before they come in."

"They?" I ask, slowly coming more awake.

Realization hits me, and I sit bolt upright in my chair, adrenaline pushing away my exhaustion. "She's here?" I ask, surging to my feet but being stopped as a massive wave of dizziness slams into me, and I'm forced to brace myself against the chair. Oh stars, stood up too fast…

When the world stops spinning, and I stand up straight once more, Lucas responds. "Endo and Ren haven't sounded an alarm, so I'm assuming so."

Moments later, the door to the living room opens, and I have my answer. My eyes go wide with horror as I see Akari and a young woman who I assume to be Candice.

Akari is in her assault state, her samurai esc armor covered in fresh blood with Candice draped unconsciously over one shoulder. Oddly, Candice's hands are tied behind her back.

My eyes go wide as I take in the scene, feeling very discordant standing there in my pajamas with my hair down. In a daze, I watch Akari place Candice unceremoniously on the floor, then I burst into action.

Dashing up to Akari, I look her up and down, "What happened?" I ask, finding tears of fear in my eyes, "Where are you hurt?"

"Serena," Akari starts, but I don't stop checking her for wounds.

I can't find any breaks in her armor, and her life force still looks strong in her chest, but she has to be injured, right?! This isn't the black blood of volcora, so it has to have come from a person!

"Serena," Akari states more firmly, she reaches forward and places her hands on my shoulders — the strength of her assault state forcing me into stillness.

"I'm okay," Akari says, meeting my eyes, "this isn't my blood."

My breathing is still ragged as I look over her, fear a tight knot in my chest. "But… what happened, Akari? Why didn't you explain over text? I could have helped; I wanted to help!"

There are still tears in my eyes as I look up at her, demanding an explanation.

Akari lowers her eyes, not meeting mine. "I considered calling you in before I knew that the Reavers had Candice. Before then, I really thought this whole trip to Nagano wouldn't be too risky. Once I knew, though… just the thought of them hurting you in the same way they did her… the way they did me… I couldn't, Serena. The thought of you in that kind of situation…"

Gently, I reach out and take Akari's chin in my hand, lifting her eyes to meet mine again. "Akari… I'm not some damsel in distress from the stories. I know we kissed and have this thing between us, but I'm a sentinel in my own right, and I can fight hard battles. Do you know how scared I was for you? Do you know how I would have felt if you died and I wasn't there for you? It would have torn me apart, Akari."

At that, Akari surges forward and wraps me in a tight hug — although I note that she's careful to check her strength. Outside of my assault state, she could seriously hurt me by squeezing too hard.

"I know, Serena, I just… I've almost lost you twice now, and… I'm sorry," Akari says, murmuring the words into the crook of my neck as she holds me tight.

"You're not going to lose me," I say, gently returning her hug — despite how my pajamas are getting soaked in blood. "Just don't make me lose you either… okay?"

"Okay," she whispers.

It takes me and Akari a while to calm down, something we only manage with significant effort. Once we have, though, I immediately turn my attention to Candice, who I have to admit doesn't look good. Her life force is sputtering and weak while also holding that greasy taint I've come to associate with the Reavers.

"What happened to her?" I ask, bending down in an attempt to start removing the restraints from around the other girl's arms — her wrists look bloody and raw.

"That's not a good idea," Akari says, moving to block my access to Candice's hands. "Whatever the Reavers did to her after they kidnapped her… it made her half rabid. In our entire trip back to Shinara, she hasn't said a word but has tried to kill me four times. I was hoping there might be something you can do for her?"

I frown, bending down and letting my hand rest on Candice's shoulder. Even outside of my assault state, the now familiar network of lights spreads out beneath me. I've learned that it's fine to take a look while outside my assault state and even do a touch of healing here and there, but anything major will require me to shift.

Despite clearly having once been blue, Candice's lights seem tainted — like clear water tarnished by an oil spill. In various places across her body, I can see where Stygian Mana was forcibly injected into her in the form of tattoos. The taint spreading through Candice's body is clearly coming from the Stygian Mana in those tattoos but is actually independent of the mana itself.

Blinking, I release Candice's shoulder and step back to look at Akari. "It's hard to say whether I can help her, but I think I can see what's wrong."

Akari nods, "Yeah, the tattoos force Stygian Mana into people, which drives them mad. Like volcora."

I bite my lip for a moment, considering. "Not all the volcora are mad, and neither are all of the Reavers with these tattoos. It's about earning the mana," I say, looking at Candice curiously.

"I see," Akari says, frowning. "I suppose I can take her to the Sanctum Collective when they open tomorrow, but I'm afraid they'll just tell me the same thing the GDF did. She's not a sentinel or even a soldier, and they can't waste resources trying to heal her. They told me to come back when they weren't stretched so thin, and they might be able to assign a blue sentinel to help."

I run a hand through my hair, trying to find a workaround for this problem. I was ordered not to use any magic for a week, and it hasn't been quite that long yet, but I've felt fine today, and my mana toxicity has been hovering around five percent. It's probably safe to use my magic, although waiting the full week would probably be better. Also, with Celestial Equilibrium, I'm likely uniquely qualified to help someone dealing with this kind of Stygian Mana corruption.

"I… I can see what I can do for her," I tell Akari, who has been watching me with hopeful eyes. "Just know that I'm not certain of actually being able to help her; physical injuries are one thing, but this…"

Akari lowers her eyes, "I knew it was a long shot, but… if you think you can try, that's enough for me.

I nod and am about to shift when Lucas steps forward to once more place a hand on my shoulder. "Miss Serena, I feel compelled to remind you that you aren't supposed to be switching to your assault state for at least two, perhaps three more days. In the interest of your health, wouldn't it be better to wait a few days to perform this operation?"

At this, Akari nods her agreement. "I don't want you doing anything that will compromise your health, Serena. Besides, you look exhausted. This can wait a few days."

Narrowing my eyes, I bend down and touch Candice's shoulder again. Taking a moment to look at the Stygian Mana in her system, I see it still leaking more greasy corruption into her. However, the process is going extremely slow and must have been happening for a month or more already. Studying it a bit longer, I eventually nod.

"I agree that we can leave her a bit longer, but I need to find a way to get the Stygian Mana out of her system so she stops building up corruption. Only once we've done that will we be able to start trying to deal with the corruption itself," I tell Akari.

She nods, and in a flash of light, she shifts out of her assault state and into regular street clothes. Clothes that, I note with a tinge of annoyance, aren't covered in blood. Couldn't she have done that before she gave me a hug? I mean… the hug was great, but now I have to go take a shower. Stars, I never thought I would have learn how to get blood out of clothing, but I liked these pajamas.

As if noticing the same thing, Akari looks over my now bloody pajamas and hair with a wince. "Sorry," she murmurs, "I can figure out where to put Candice for a few days while you take a shower. Then I think we should both see if we can get a few hours of sleep."

I nod, yawning. "Yeah, I think that's a good idea," I say, before turning to head back up to my bedroom. As I walk away, I briefly pause and look back. "And Akari… I'm really glad you're home."