by Halle Dean
Thirty Two
Healer
James would have complained about the amount of pain he was in, but knew he wasn't the worst off, so he kept quiet. Warner was in a separate room from the rest of them. Only Sophie, Melody, Petunia, and the healer were allowed in. Layla was busy trying to comfort a distraught Ella. Mason was asleep in another bed in the room. James was left with no one to talk to but the remaining person in the room—a young, black-haired boy. The boy couldn't have been older than ten and he was watching Ella with great interest.
"I'd be careful, if I were you," James teased. "Once her father heals up, he can kill you with a single look."
The boy flushed and looked petrified. "No! Eh! I not—"
"Oh, no! Don't fret," James interrupted, laughing. "He most likely won't kill you."
"Leave him be, James," Layla reprimanded. She turned to the boy. "He's only fooling," she assured him. "No need to worry."
"O-oh," the boy said, looking relieved and inclining his head in thanks.
"I am Layla," she said. "What's your name?"
"Jace," he answered. "A pleasure to meet Miss Layla. Little girl is like brother, Li." The boy had a thick accent of some sort, but he was not too difficult to understand.
"Is he also a four year old with terrifying magic ability?" James asked under his breath.
"No, sir," Jace said. "Five. His magic not here yet."
"You think he'll have magic?" James inquired.
Jace shrugged. "All family have magic."
James looked closer at the boy. His eyes were green, but were a much darker shade than Warner's.
"Are you a sorcerer?" James asked.
"No," Jace said.
"You don't have another voice in your head?" Layla said.
"Not understand," Jace said confusedly.
"Does someone else talk to you in your mind?" James asked.
"No," Jace said slowly. "Only me."
"Where did you live five years ago?" James asked.
"We live very far," Jace answered. "Notatsu."
"Hmm. Perhaps Melody's spell didn't reach that far," James mused. "The other side of the world."
"Amazing! How did you get here?" Layla asked. "It's so far."
"Long travel," Jace said. "Leave Notatsu year ago and arrive this month."
"That must have been a difficult journey," she remarked.
He shook his head. "No," he said. "Magic help."
"Oh," James mused. "How is life with a family full of sorcerers?"
"We not sorcerer," Jace said. "Sorcerer have many magic. We have one kind each."
"Is that so?" James asked, sitting up in his bed and leaning towards Jace in interest. "I've never heard of that before. What do you call it?"
Jace thought for a moment before responding. "Mage."
"Wow!" James said excitedly. "A type of magic even the Magics Society hasn't heard of. How does it work? Must you learn it, the same as magicians? Or do you suddenly know it one day, as sorcerers and royal magic users do? If that's it, when do you learn it? Is it difficult? Do you—"
"Too much," Jace interrupted, looking overwhelmed.
James grinned sheepishly. "Sorry," he said. "Can you explain how your magic works?"
"We are born with different magic," Jace said. "When five or seven, we learn control. Very hard. Uncle burn house."
"What kind of magic do you do?" Layla asked.
"Healer mage," Jace said proudly.
"Healer?" James repeated. "Then… why are you in the hospital?"
"This isn't a hospital, James," Layla said. "This is Petunia's house."
"Petunia lives here?" he asked incredulously. "This place is enormous!"
Layla nodded. "Her entire family lives here. And they let people stay here when the inn overflows. Or," she continued glumly, "when it is destroyed."
"We lived at inn before," Jace said, nodding in agreement. "Now live here until we build house."
"So, why are you in this room with us?" James asked.
"This my room," Jace said.
"Thank you for sharing," Layla said.
"Welcome," he said, politely bowing his head again. "I volunteer for injured so I may practice magic."
"You can practice on me, if you wish," James said, excited to see a new type of magic. "No, wait... Will it hurt?"
"No worry," Jace said, standing up from his chair and approaching James. "You feel pressure."
"That's what they all say," James grumbled.
"I say too," Jace smiled. "I will be good healer."
Before James could make another sarcastic remark, the boy spread his hands out over him. He began speaking in a language James didn't understand. He assumed it was whatever language they spoke in Notatsu. He was soon distracted from thinking about that too much. He definitely felt pressure—he felt as though he was being compressed from all angles.
"What is— Ah!" he gasped.
"No move," Jace warned. "I nearly finish." The compression lessened somewhat and James realized that he was feeling much better. Not only were his wounds closed, he wasn't even feeling sore. When Jace stepped back and lowered his hands, James felt as good as new. "How you feel?" Jace asked, looking a bit nervous.
"Wow!" James exclaimed, getting to his feet. "That is amazing! Try it on Layla! Layla, give him your wrist!"
"I don't want him to run out of magic energy," Layla said. "What about Warner?"
"Mister Warner is hurt man in other room?" Jace asked. "I heal you and sleeping man and Mister Warner. But no one else get hurt or I am not helpful."
"We'll try to keep that in mind," James said. "No promises though."
For being a ten year old, Jace was remarkably skilled in his magic. He had said that it developed when he was seven. That was the earliest James had heard of people learning magic. He wanted to learn more about mages, but it wasn't the time for that. Healing Layla took no time at all, but healing Mason seemed to take a bit more work.
"The more injured, the more difficult to heal," Jace said. "But I not met someone I not fix."
Mason didn't wake up, even after he was healed, but Jace didn't seem worried. James followed Jace out of the room, leaving Layla to look after Mason and Ella, who had fallen asleep again. It occurred to James that Ella's feat at the Magics Society had likely been due to compulsion magic. When a sorcerer's magic would begin to manifest, the magic would sometimes leak out. Since the sorcerer couldn't control it, the magic would pick up on emotions and try to go along with them.
Usually the effects would be minor. The temperature would shift or people would be kinder. In rare cases, weather would change drastically or something would materialize from nothing. Ella's case was very strange. She was far too young for her magic to be leaking. Even accepting that, she would have needed a good deal of magic energy to throw Barry back that hard.
James' thoughts were cut short when they reached the room Warner was in. Jace knocked politely and waited more patiently than James. The door opened slightly to reveal Petunia's concerned face. She looked at Jace in confusion, and then saw James. She opened the door a little wider.
"James?" she asked. "What are this? You no longer will be dying?"
"I certainly hope not," James smiled. "May we come in? This boy can heal Warner."
Petunia looked down at Jace again. "This boy is healer?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Yes," James said. "He's very good."
At once, the door opened wide and two pairs of arms reached out and grabbed Jace. The boy looked terrified as he was dragged into the room. James followed, unsure if he should laugh. He followed Petunia into the room and looked around. Sophie and Melody had pulled Jace to Warner's bedside. Warner appeared to be asleep, though he didn't look peaceful. He had gone very pale and had a sheen of sweat covering his wounded skin. James, for the thousandth time, felt extremely thankful that there was such a thing as magic.
"He not well," Jace said. "Lot of pressure."
"Can you save him?" So
phie demanded.
"Yes, Miss," Jace said, nodding.
"Then do it," Melody prompted. "I don't know how much longer he has. I already gave him as much blood as the other healer would allow."
Jace held his hands out and started speaking in his language again to begin the healing process. Warner gasped and an agonized expression took over his face. Sophie yelped and tried to move forward, but Melody held her back.
"He's in pain," Sophie whimpered.
"That comes along with nearly dying," Melody said, hugging her and looking just as worried.
"I sorry," Jace said, beginning to sweat slightly as he concentrated on healing Warner. "He badly hurt, so hurt more to heal. But he feel better soon."
"How soon?" Sophie asked.
"Be calm, Sophie," James said. "He healed me, Layla, and Mason. He can heal Warner too."
"Lane is healed?" Melody asked, distracted. "Where is he? Can I speak with him?"
"He's sleeping," James said. "In the room down the hall. Not to worry. Layla is watching over him."
Suddenly, Warner sat up. His color had returned and his wounds were far less prominent, but he still had many scars. "Did I die?" he asked, looking down at himself. He felt the diagonal scar across his chest. "Am I dead? No, I don't think—" He was cut off by Sophie throwing her arms around him, tearfully. "Sophie?"
"I thought you were going to die!" she shouted at him.
"Not dead then," he said, gently patting her back. He pushed her off of himself and looked down at her. "Are you all right? Where are we? What happened to Barry?"
"I'm all right now that you are," she said. "We're at Petunia's house. And I don't know where Barry is. Ella attacked him, but then he vanished. Remember?"
"Yes," Warner said slowly. "That sounds familiar. Is everyone alive? Am I alive? Do I have blood now? I'm not on fire."
"You're alive," she said, smiling. "Everything is all right now."
James hoped that everything would stay all right, but he knew there was much more they needed to do.
Thirty Three
A Family of Mages
Lane made his way down the hall, following the sound of Melody's voice. "This boy healed you," she was saying as he came upon the doorway.
A young boy, likely Notatsuese, judging by his complexion, bowed to Warner. "You very injured, Mister Warner," he said. "I hope you not injured now."
"I feel better than ever," Warner said, climbing out of the bed he had been lying in. Lane noticed many of his wounds had faded. "You have some powerful magic, don't you?"
"He and his family are a different type of magic user than everyone else," James said excitedly. Lane wondered why James was so intrigued by magical things. "They're called mages. And they each—"
"Do we really have the time to be discussing this?" Lane interrupted. Everyone turned to him and he continued. "Shouldn't we be trying to find Barry?"
"Lane!" Melody exclaimed. She ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. He smiled and returned her embrace, glad to be able to move enough to hug her. "Promise me you will never get so badly injured again!"
"I cannot make such a promise." His smile dropped back to his usual, somber expression. It wasn't as though he was planning to get hurt, but recent events made a pattern of dangerous situations.
"Come now, it's simple," James grinned at him. "Say it with me: 'I promise I won't die.'"
Lane rolled his eyes.
"I'll hold you to that," Layla told James as she entered the room behind Lane.
Ella followed her inside, her face lighting up when she saw Warner. "Daddy!" she shrieked, running right past everyone else, straight for her father. She grabbed his arm and held on tight, grinning up at him with all her teeth showing. "Are you better now?" she asked. She pointed at the old scars on his chest. "You're still hurt."
"No, it's all better," he assured her with a smile. "These are only scars."
"Oh! Like Momma has?"
Some of the color drained from Warner's face and his smile dropped. He glanced at Sophie, who didn't make eye contact. Lane knew they were both thinking of the reason she had her scars. He wondered if anyone else but he and Melody knew the full story. They all seemed a bit confused by the reaction to Ella's question.
"Yes," Warner said, voice low. "Like those."
"So, it hurts sometimes?" Ella asked, patting his arm comfortingly. "It's okay to cry."
"Ella, sweetheart," Sophie said quickly. "Let's speak of this at another time." Lane was glad that Sophie had interrupted. It was strange to see Warner looking so distraught. "Why don't we come up with a plan?" Sophie continued with a falsely bright smile. "What shall we do, now that everyone is healed?"
After a short moment, Warner composed himself and looked around. "We shall rest for a little while longer, until everyone's magic energy is replenished."
"Do we have the luxury of waiting?" Lane asked.
"We need time to decide what it is we should do," Warner said. "We can only get so far proceeding recklessly."
"Is that not what you always do?" James asked, smirking.
"No!" Warner protested. "I think things through on occasion!"
"Sure, sure," James said, holding his hands up in surrender. "So, what is your plan?"
"Uhh… I don't… have one..." Warner mumbled. "Yet," he added with determination.
"At some point, we must track Barry down, mustn't we?" Layla asked.
James looked at her and narrowed his eyes. "We?" he repeated.
"Yes," she said firmly. "The last time you went off without me, I was captured and tortured. And then you were as well. And then Mason was. And then we got tied up with plants and nearly died."
"Plants?" Warner repeated.
James shrugged. "They used Lethargy and some other magic vine on us," he explained. "But we got free."
"Only because he cut us free so he could fight you," Layla said, outrage in her tone. "And you would have given up if I hadn't been there."
"I was under the effect of the Lethargy!" he defended. "It's not my fault."
"But it will be your fault if you make me stay behind again," she said, crossing her arms.
"Very well!" he exclaimed. "You can come. But you must do as I say."
"We shall see."
Warner rolled his eyes. "I don't see how you coming along is a good idea," he said. "But I suppose you'll likely follow us either way." He turned to the rest of the group. "Is there anyone who actually wishes to stay behind?" he asked. "For safety?"
"Safety," Petunia said, nodding. "I do not go to danger with crazy magic people and Layla."
Lane wished he could stay behind as well, but he also wished to help.
"Sir?" Jace said, inclining his head to Warner. Warner looked down at him. "Where do you go?"
"To fight a sorcerer," Warner said.
"This is why you almost die?" Jace asked.
Warner nodded. "Uh, yes," he said.
"I go with you," Jace said, nodding decisively. "You no die."
"I can't put yet another person in danger," Warner said, shaking his head. "Especially a child."
"I help," Jace said. "I go."
"Perhaps you should speak with your father and mother first," Sophie suggested.
"Ah, yes!" Jace said. "I tell them how I find good use for magic."
"There are other good uses," Warner pointed out.
"This good for world?" Jace asked. "Fight evil?"
"Well, yes, but—"
"I apologize," Jace said quickly, bowing his head. "But I help even if not wanted."
"You're quite tenacious for a ten year-old," James remarked.
"I not know that word," Jace said. "But I hope I go with you."
"I have no issue with it," James said. "We need as much healing as we can get."
"He's only a child," Lane said, shaking his head. "His healing magic may be amazing, but what else can he do? What if he is attacked? I don't need a child's death on my conscience."
"We'll have t
o protect him then," James said.
"We already have plenty of people to protect," Lane said. "Do we need another one?"
"First of all," James said. "Ella can apparently protect herself. Second, yes. We do need another one if it means having the ability to keep ourselves from dying."
"I go," Jace said, looking a little confused. "Why still say I not?"
"Let us speak to his father and mother," Melody said. "It's their decision, is it not?"
Warner sighed and covered his face with his hand. "Very well." He looked down at Jace. "Where are they?"
* * *
Jace led everyone to another room. The people inside were very obviously his family. They all had the same dark green eyes that didn't match their Notatsuese complexion. They were all very polite as Jace introduced them as the Moto family. His father's name was Taiki; his mother was Jun; his uncle was Tatsuo; and his younger brother was Li.
Li seemed very excited by all the new people in the room. He seemed particularly interested in Ella, who shyly hid behind her father's legs. Jace spoke to his family rapidly in their native language. By the time he was finished, Li had managed to drag Ella from her hiding place and over to the window. It was the first time Lane had the chance to see outside since they had arrived; they were very high up.
This is quite a house, he thought.
"You take our son with you?" Taiki Moto asked with a very thick accent. "Jace say he go."
"Only if you will allow us," Warner said.
"Yes," Jace said. "I go." He turned to his father and said something else in Notatsuese. Lane guessed it was some sort of polite farewell or thanks, because it was accompanied by a bow. "Li!" Jace called to his brother, who was leading Ella around the room by the hand and showing her things. The little boy looked around and Jace beckoned to him, speaking in his language again.
Li spoke back, sounding annoyed. The brothers talked back and forth for a moment before their mother stepped in to scold them. Lane wished he could understand what they were saying. He looked around to see that most of the others also looked uncomfortable. Petunia was laughing quietly as she watched the Motos' exchange.
