Arriving at the hospital, Carolyn quickly switches her get up and begins to undress me.
"How are you feeling?"
"I... I don't know actually."
"Does it hurt?"
"Not really?"
"Probably adrenaline still hasn't worn off... Let me patch you up real quick." She begins to disinfect the wound by applying purifying salt first. I yelp, but try to keep calm. "Does it hurt?" She asks and I nod.
"Strange... It's the first time I see blood boiling like that. And purifying salt doesn't hurt that much. I'll go for a more targeted approach, but I'm afraid it'll take a while. Is that good with you?"
"Yeah..."
"Here, that'll make you a little bit better." She gives me some candy and she begins to carefully sprinkle salt in more murky areas. It hurts like hell, yet I feel like I'm zoning out...
"Alright, it seems like all the worrisome areas are dealt with. Let me clean you up; you look quite dirty here."
Carolyn brings over a metal basin with water and some towels. First of all, she presses gauze on top of my wounds to stop bleeding.
"Geez... It's a miracle that you're alive... How could anyone bring their child to... This."
After the bleeding has stopped, she begins to clean the wounds throughly and gently, muttering something about the absurdity of this whole situation and how barbaric it is. I can see the towel becoming more red and red as she cleans me.
"Now for regular disinfection."
"Kkhhh!!!"
"Shh... It's alright... It'll pinch, but it's for the greater good. Infections are no joke."
Breathing steadily to lessen the pain, Carolyn applies the disinfectant. It really hurts. Perhaps more than the purifying salt. But eventually it all comes to a close and Carolyn begins to wrap bandages around my body.
"It's good that the wounds aren't as deep as they could've been. Stitching without anesthetics... Brr!"
"Y-Yeah... I was actually treated that way in the mines."
"The what?"
...
"And here's a bandage. Almost good as new!"
"Thank you, ma'am."
"I can't seem to stop you, huh? Anyway, Fortune: now that I saw you with your... Dad, let's just say - I'm not afraid I won't allow you to go home. Not yet anyway."
"Wha? Why?"
"Isn't it obvious? After everything: I can't in good conscience let you go back home like this."
"... But..."
"No buts!" Carolyn shuts me down "While you ran away, I saw him clock a man in the face before kicking him in the stomach. People tried to break off the fight, but that... Person was terrifying. Just as I tried to help the man, he grabbed me - and that man punched him instead. It was awful."
"... I'm sorry."
"Please don't apologise on behalf of that... Being. I know it's not your fault. I knew how awful he could be, but I never imagined HOW exactly."
She then begins to take off her emergency attire "Would you like to have some lunch? Not to brag, but I've been a better cook of the two."
As she cooks the lunch, I ask about how Cathy's doing and she smiles "Oh, she's doing alright. She does miss you though, so I guess you could use this moment to catch up. It's been a while since I saw her being needy like that."
"Hmm..."
"I would advise you to rest for today. While your injuries aren't as serious as I feared they would be: they're still serious enough for you to require some rest."
"Alright..."
"Come on, you're still young: you can't just overwork yourself like that. You will thank yourself later and say "Miss Carolyn was right all along, haha!""
"Yeah, right."
She turns off the stove and puts the stew on the table "Here you go, I'll go call Cathy and lock the door so that people won't come bothering you guys. She needs to eat too."
Carolyn brings Cathy and she rushes towards me, hugging me tightly "Fortune!"
"Oi-oi! Fortune is currently hurt! Be gentle with him, alright Cathy?"
"M'kaaaay!" Cathy smiles and eases the pressure. Cute.
"Now, Cathy, eat. I'll be off working, alright?"
"Alright!" She smiles and gets on the table as Carolyn disappears behind the door. Cathy then whispers to me "It's been a while since Cathy dined on the table. Usually she eats in her room."
"Mhm..."
I take the bite off the stew... Wow... It's so good.
"Woah! Fortune, you eat so fast!"
"Nom-nom-nom... Mmph!"
"Hee-hee, so funny!"
"Hweey!!"
We both finish eating and Cathy goes to wash the dishes "Cathy's a big girl! She can do it!"
"Hey, Cathy, auntie mentioned that you were missing me. How did you spend time without me?"
"Mmm~... Well, like always playing with plushies and reading books... Oh! And learning from my auntie! She started teaching me how to become a nurse!
It was empty without you, Fortune."
"Sorry, I had my friends as well."
"Oh! Friends? Wow!"
Such an excitable girl. She finishes washing the dishes and asks if I want to go to sleep.
"Well, I do, I have to rest. And you... You're quite a snoozer, hm?"
"... Sorry, it's just... Uh... Cathy will learn how to not snooze when she grows up!"
"He-he. My sister used to say that you grow taller when you sleep. Maybe one day you'll outgrow everyone with how much you sleep."
"Uwah... Being a giant is scary."
We knock on the door and Carolyn opens "Finished eating?" and we nod.
"I see dishes are done already, that's good! You can go back to your room. And, um, Fortune, please don't worry about me! I'll manage myself."
"Alright. The stew's good by the way." I compliment and Carolyn blushes.
"Oh... Wow. Thanks!" She smiles and she leads us to the private quarters "Be good, alright?"
""Alright!""
Entering the room, I try to slump onto the bed, but then I feel the pain shoot up as soon as I plop and Cathy carefully lies me down "Dummy!"
"Sorry. Your friend is just got too sure of himself, haha..."
"What happened though? You look pretty rough."
"Lay down and I'll tell you... As a bedtime story..."
I tell her about my fight against the beast and how everything around me... Changed. When that beast was in the air, I felt like the world changed around me. It felt like there was nothing I couldn't do. In that time... I felt like I was someone else entirely.
"Cool... You're awesome, Fortune. I wish... Cathy was too... A magician..."
Equally sweet girls, yet... I feel so different about them.
With Sol, she feels like a ray of sunshine that broke through the cracks.
With Cathy, she feels like a warm kindle amidst the bonfire.
One makes me feel like I'm being protected.
And the other makes me feel like I'm protecting someone.
I don't know her all too well. If anything, it feels like there's a lot of stuff I still don't know about: but... She truly feels like a--
... Little sister.
I wonder if Mallow was alive, she would be just like Cathy in a way. Her sleeping expression reminds me a lot of hers.
With Sol, I don't feel that way. To me, she's just a young girl who I met in my life... Yet perhaps it's the most important girl I've met in my life.
Ah...
It's way too complicated for me to think about right now.
Yeah I'll take a nice nap... Hwaah...
---
"Alright, you better not report this alright? She's way too special to me."
"Of course, miss. Your niece will not be documented. Besides, I have an interest in Fortune at the end of the day. That magic... It's quite unique not to go unnoticed."
"Hmm?" I mumble as I see Oswald talking to Carolyn. He noticed that I'm now awake and he zooms into me
"Oh, hello there Fortune. How are we feeling?"
"Umm... Alright I suppose?"
"Great. Now, voila! While you guys were away yesterday, I managed to make a quick MEO detector with the resources I have in hand. It's not as good as the real thing, but that should do the job. At first I just wanted to confirm if you were a magician or not - but with today's... Events, I just need to confirm some things."
He begins to scan my body around, with the detector clicking ominously. When he reaches my right eye however, it begins to click REALLY rapidly.
"Oh! Found the sore spot! Quite lucky actually. Having your magic concentrated in your eyes makes the whole casting thing much easier, even if it's brain intensive." He smiles and begins scribbling in his notebook. "What a rare curse indeed! I think I should document this... I haven't seen anything like this before!"
"... I sure hope you won't be taking him to experimentation..." Carolyn hisses and Oswald nervously smiles "No-no! I won't. I promise."
Carolyn stays silent and Oswald looks at me with excitement "Truly I'm witnessing such an interesting specimen! And in such a village as well! You know what? I would like to organize a duel between you and Sol. I really need to document your existence as much as possible!"
"Oh... Kay..."
"I mean, Sol too wants to duel, she's quite excited to meet a fellow magician, but still."
He puts the device in his pocket "You know, I would've interrupted your fight with the beast. I was on the brink of doing that, you know? I don't like flaunting my magic around, but it seemed like a serious situation, so I wanted to act upon it in spite of my better judgement. But I suppose your survival instincts have spurred your magical abilities to fully materialize. Truly."
He then leans to whisper "If it wasn't for that lady, I would've invited you to our laboratories."
"Ahem!"
"Sorry-sorry! Well, see you then!" Oswald rushes away and Carolyn sighs.
"What's wrong with him?... Urgh. Fortune, are you alright?"
"Yeah."
"... Good. I don't trust this man. He seems to mean well, but... I don't know... He definitely is the "unfettered" type of individual. Please be careful, alright?"
"Okay..."
"And well, in spite of everything - you're still a child, okay? Just an ordinary child. Please don't forget that..."
"Okay, miss..."
"Sorry for my outburst. It's just I had... Rather unfortunate experience with individuals like these - but well, hopefully he means well at the end of the day - he genuinely seems like a good person deep down..."
She tucks me back in and she kisses both me and Cathy on the forehead. "You did well, Fortune. Rest up."
"Thank you..."
"Take care."