damned_institute | Night 41: M-A Block Hallway

"It's nice to meet you, Celes," Claude said with a slight bow. For some reason, he really felt like he ought to be on his best behavior. He couldn't but frown a little when Dias insisted on being healed last, though. His leg injury was going to hinder him in battle if he didn't get it tended to, wasn't it? But it sounded like he and Celes had reached an agreement, and he'd already let Dias know how he felt about it.

Like Dias, she seemed ready to get down to business. When she asked who the most wounded was, he hesitated a moment. Technically, he'd been the one who'd gotten the raw end of the deal last night, but...

"I'm wounded in my leg kind of like Dias is," he explained. "I was poisoned, too, but the venom seems to be out of my system now, so..."

The cooking club, huh? Guy briefly wondered how Dias and Celes had met, though it easily could have been by chance rather than due to any sort of circumstances. Either way, the fact that she was willing to help them out made more sense now that Guy knew that Dias was sharing information with her. He didn't really mind, seeing how keeping secrets didn't seem like the best way to do things in the first place.

He didn't really think Dias being last was the wisest choice either, since Guy would bet that he could move around with his wound easier than the older man. He wasn't going to waste their time by arguing about it, though. Dias knew that he would have to keep up with them if he had to go without healing, Guy was sure.

Guy was glad that Claude chose to speak up about his wound of his own volition, and he nodded once his friend was done speaking. "Yeah, you should probably take care of Claude first," he added in.

Dias didn't say anything, simply standing back and listening to the others make their decision. Objectively, he'd have called Guy's wound the worst; in his book, an injury to the torso trumped one to the leg. However, even if he'd felt that he could dictate priority any further without getting yelled at - which he didn't - he was more personally inclined to see Claude get healed anyway, so he couldn't complain.

Celes raised an eyebrow, looking between both men as if judging which of them had the more dire injury. Still, they'd made their choice. She hoped his wound was worth it. "Very well, then. I've not tried to cast Poisona, so we'll only start with Cure." Celes put down her torch. "I'm not sure how bright this will be, so you may wish to cover your eyes."

That was as much warning they got as Celes took a breath and started casting, her tongue tumbling over the divine spell that would heal Claude first. The glow of her body at first was minimal, the light faintly pink as the words stacked atop of each other.

It was horrible to reach this hard for something that had once been dancing on the surface, an automatic reflex. But finally, the glow heightened to hot white as it came off her fingers, swirling around Claude's body in a mass of bright green sparks, sinking into the young man's clothing. She was glad she was near the wall. Her ears rang and her head throbbed painfully, and Celes called up her military training to will it from being a distraction.

There were still others to heal, yet. "How do you feel?" she managed smoothly.

Claude hadn't necessarily meant to imply he ought to go first. More than anything, he was just clarifying that his wound was about the same as Dias', and that the poison from yesterday was more than likely gone by now. He'd been hoping Guy would have explained his own injuries, and then they could have allowed Celes to choose from there. It looked like his friend had made the decision first, though.

"Guy..." he said with a frown, but he fell silent when the healer warned him that her spell was going to be bright. They didn't really have time to argue about all this, did they? He just hoped Guy would have spoken up if he'd needed to be healed first.

Initially, Claude didn't shield his eyes, but as the glow from Celes' spell grew more intense, he instinctively squinted against the light, as if he were staring into the sun. As the sparks settled over his body, however, he was forced to close them. The incantation and the spell itself was a bit different from the heraldry back home, but the warm sensation of his flesh mending was one he was intimately familiar with. For a moment, he couldn't help but think of Rena, and something a little sad welled up inside of him.

All of that faded along with the spell's light. Claude opened his eyes, feeling more refreshed than he had in awhile. He shifted his weight to his previously injured leg, testing it.

"Fit as a fiddle," he replied with a quick smile, though he did pause long enough to look Celes over. "But what about you? Are you holding up all right?"

Even with Celes' warning, Guy did his best to watch the spell for as long as he could manage. He was curious to see how people who came from other worlds did it. In the end, it was pretty similar to the First Aid or Cure spells that his friends could cast, so he felt more comfortable about getting healed. He hadn't been too nervous to start with, but at least he knew he wouldn't be making any sort of scene now.

It looked like Celes was good at what she did if she was able to heal Claude completely, though he guessed it was different from trying to repair a broken arm or something like that.

It was hard to tell how much that had taken out of the woman, but he couldn't imagine she was feeling too great. Claude had asked after her, though, so Guy would just have to wait and see if he would be next or not. He didn't want Celes to push herself too hard, but it was her choice in the end.

Dias didn't watch the casting; partially it was because he didn't see the point(he certainly wasn't going to learn anything useful to him by doing so), but mostly it was to preserve what night vision he had. He even held up a hand to block the majority of the light, only lowering it once the glow had faded to look over Claude.

Celes' healing magic seemed no less effective than Rena's abilities, even if Celes' use of it was just as restricted as Leon's in this place. That was impressive, and useful.

Dias didn't bother asking how Celes was managing, but he did silently take a step closer to her. She seemed like a woman with her own degree of pride; if she needed to lean surreptitiously against him after she worked her magic on Guy, he wouldn't stop her.

Celes closed her eyes for a moment and nodded in response to Claude's question. "I'm fine; it won't stop me from casting again," she replied and affixed her attention on Guy. "I'm ready to attend to you now."

If one had been poisoned, what exactly had happened to this man? she wondered, assuming the position she'd used for Claude's spell. Now that she knew how much magical force she needed to call from her body, Celes' words chained themselves together much more securely. But she could still feel that abrupt weakening it had taken with only one spell. Even her magic's glow seemed dimmer (though it could just as easily have been the last of her night vision deteriorating), the sparks of green leaving her open palm and dancing about Guy's body. Hopefully, it would be enough for him.

The young general was thankful the hall was so dark, as she could feel the blood draining from her face, and her vision bursting into oddly colored sparks of black and orange. No. No. she cursed silently as she felt herself sway and took a small step back in attempt to conceal her weakening, finding a body behind her.

Well, this is somewhat awkward. Celes thought, and didn't dare raise her head to look at Dias. "Has it improved any, Master Guy?" Her voice was softer than it had been before and Celes mentally kicked herself. Dias certainly was going to dig his heels in now, and he be well in the right, too. She still had at least one more in her, though. At least that.

Claude was glad Celes didn't have to touch Guy to heal him. Not that he didn't think Guy could handle it, but it was better not to put him in that kind of position if they could help it, and he doubted Guy would want to explain his condition to Celes.

It looked like she was going to cast again, which was good. He had to wonder if she was being truthful, though. Would she have said something if she was pushing herself too hard?

He shielded his eyes this time, so he didn't make much note over how bright or dim the spell itself was. Still, healing two people was bound to take a bunch of energy from anyone stuck here. As he lowered his hand from his face, he heard the softer quality her voice had taken and frowned a little to himself in concern.

While it was good that Celes was being so quick about it, Guy hadn't expected her to start casting again so soon. The light hurt his eyes more this time, seeing how it was right in front of him (on him, rather), and so he closed them for the duration of the spell, focusing instead on the feeling of his wound patching up under the bandages that were still there.

Once it was done, he let out a sigh of relief and then lowered his hand down to where the gash had been, feeling over the area with his fingers. The tightness of the stitches was gone, and while it was still slightly tender, it was hardly noticeable.

While he was feeling better, the same couldn't be said for Celes. "Just Guy is fine," he said out of reflex (he hadn't been called master in years). "And yes, I'm feeling great. Thank you."

He didn't really think that she should be healing any more people, though it was really between Celes and Dias at this point. He didn't know what sort of arrangement they had made, but he was willing to wait and see how things panned out.

Hidden by Celes' own body from Guy and Claude, Dias carefully steadied Celes a bit with a hand on the hollow of her back, and was equally careful not to move his own body at all so that she had something solid to lean against. "You've done enough," he informed her, his voice low. He suspected if he said it any louder, he'd get objections from three corners rather than just one.

"I'm fine," Celes hissed quietly in reply. "I've at least enough for you." She straightened minutely and brushed a lock of hair from her shoulders. "And Hughes' room is only a few steps away." Long ones, according to her assessment of her body. This was one of the nights she'd be walking over and limping back.

"In short, I am healing you." With his permission or not. It wasn't as if she could be Silenced, after all.

Claude wasn't so sure if she'd have enough in her for a third person or not, especially considering the limitations a lot of people here seemed to have. But if she insisted she had the energy to heal Dias, he sure as hell wasn't going to argue with her. For one, she knew her limits better than anyone else. For another, he didn't want to see his rival endure injuries when he and Guy were able to get healed.

Dias could be extremely stubborn about these things, it was true. But Claude had to wonder what would happen if he ran into someone equally stubborn. Part of him wanted to sit back and watch, as if this were some kind of fascinating experiment. Of course, this was pretty serious, too, so he wasn't about to forget that.

Either way, he hoped they wouldn't go back and forth for too long. No one here had the time to argue too much when it came down to it.

Like Claude, Guy knew that his opinion had nothing to do with this, and so he stood by quietly as he watched this battle of wills unfold. He got the feeling that Celes would win out in the end, if only because there wasn't much Dias could do to stop her. Not to mention getting healed was in his best interest.

Guy felt a little better about the whole thing after he heard that the healer would be retiring to someone's room once this was all over with. It was too bad that she had to waste her night, but maybe there was something important she had to do that didn't require wandering the halls.

Either way, the blond crossed his arms over his chest, appreciating the fact that he was more or less completely healed as he waited.

Dias raised a skeptical eyebrow. "You can barely stand, much less walk, no matter how few steps it is. If you heal me, I'll be carrying you there." It was a little vague whether Dias was making an assessment of the condition she'd be in, or an actual threat of him slinging her over his shoulder and taking her to Hughes bodily, and he'd meant it that way - he wasn't entirely sure which it was himself. Quite likely it'd have to be both.

"I can stand," she argued, half petulant and half serious. Celes turned on heel to face him and immediately regretted the motion, closing her eyes to stop the movement of her head. One of her hands found the wall and splayed there, keeping her upright. "And therefore, I am still strong enough to heal you." Stop arguing with me and accept it, you're holding up your companions she wanted to shout.

Still, there was a little voice in the back of her mind that argued, Just stop now and go rest. Of course, Celes reasoned, that was the same voice that warned her to do lots of things that had turned out victorious for her in the end. She ignored it. "You are not carrying me anywhere, Dias," she added and started to cast. The chant and the previously white-hot glow were both more subdued, and Celes had to work even harder to scrape together the last of her magic and form it into the healing sparks that she sent Dias' way. The light faded, the sparks of green sank into his clothes and Celes straightened up to look him in the eye.

"You see, I told you I could," she told him imperiously and immediately after that, swayed dangerously and lost her balance. Her entire body felt disconnected and strange, as if she were being pulled through herself by the pit of her stomach.

He couldn't believe it. Celes had won out over Dias and healed him anyway. He knew plenty of people who would have relented at his rival's insistence, but she was obviously someone who liked to do things her own way. He knew he shouldn't have been surprised when the glow of her spell was considerably dimmer than her previous ones. But as soon as she stood up straight, Claude thought that maybe she was all right after all.

And that was about the time she began to fall over.

"Celes!"

Claude anxiously started forward to catch her. He'd been glad to see Dias healed, but now he was worried that she'd pushed herself too far on their account.

Guy wasn't sure how smart it had been on Celes' part, but she had gone ahead and healed Dias up anyway. Guy knew it would be to their advantage so he couldn't complain too much, but he still felt guilty when he saw that the woman was on the verge of collapsing.

It didn't help that there wasn't much he could do about it. She was in danger, yes, but he didn't know if it was bad enough danger that his phobia would temporarily disappear for the sake of helping her.

Besides, Claude and Dias were right there to take care of her if she needed it, and so Guy continued to watch in concern. They needed to get her to a place where she could lay down (Hughes' room, had she said?).

Dias had grit his teeth - purely in annoyance; the pain he could already feel fading into next to nothing - and closed his eyes when Celes cast, although compared to the glow when she'd healed Claude he hardly needed to have bothered, given how dim the light had become. So, when he opened his eyes to see Celes wobble and fall, it hardly took him by surprise.

Claude's intentions were good, but Dias was right next to Celes; he'd caught her and lifted her before his rival could even cover the distance. "I think I'm the one entitled to say 'I told you so'," he informed her, quirking an eyebrow as he looked down at her. Nonetheless, he had to admit - privately - that she'd been at least half right; he was able to stand easily now. A good thing, since he was apparently going to have to make good on his threat.

"I hope you don't mind waiting for me until I've taken her to Hughes' room," he remarked, glancing over at Guy and Claude. He doubted they'd protest; entirely aside from their gratitude and concern for Celes, he'd been the one who'd found her and arranged this. Certainly they'd spare him a few minutes.

"Very funny." If she'd been more aware of herself, Celes would've responded quickly that he wouldn't have had to if this were any other circumstance. As it was, she felt like the proverbial sack of potatoes in Dias' arms. "At least we know three is my limit," she muttered back and laced her fingers around her flashlight.

Weak as a newborn kitten, Celes thought darkly to herself. Hopefully, she would be better in the morning, for now, she'd just have to muddle through the rest of her night and hope that Hughes wouldn't mind his second knocked out of commission.

Dias had reached Celes before Claude, so all he could do was hang back as his rival lifted her into his arms. He couldn't help but frown, though. If only there was more he could do instead of just letting Dias carry her to Hughes' room...

But there wasn't, really. If he tagged along, he'd likely just get in the way. Claude tried to take some comfort in the fact that Celes had likely known what the risk of healing all three of them would be, but that only made him feel worse in the end. He'd have to think of some way to repay her for everything she'd done for them.

"I don't mind at all," he replied after a moment. "I'm just sorry we caused so much trouble for Celes. Will she...be okay?" It'd be awful if the side effects from this followed her into the next day.

At least Dias had been able to catch Celes without a problem. The image wasn't quite as dashing as people always imagined it would be if they fainted in someone's arms, but at least it meant that she hadn't fallen to the hard ground. She was at least still conscious, if only barely, and a bed was waiting for her nearby.

As Dias asked their permission to go drop her off, Guy quickly waved his hand at him. "Go right ahead," he said. "We can wait." He doubted it would take all that long, anyway.

Even though Claude seemed concerned, Guy got the feeling Celes would be fine. She seemed tougher than nails, and really, it could have been worse. At least she wasn't bleeding out of her nose or hyperventilating or anything like that, right? She probably just needed a place to lay down for a bit. In a way, witnessing this kind of made Guy happy that he really couldn't perform his Artes at all here. It meant he was limited in how he could attack, but at least he tired out at a normal rate.

"She'd better be," Dias replied to Claude, while giving Celes a hard look that...probably wasn't as hard as he was capable of making it, under the circumstances. But he hadn't wanted her to do this to begin with; if there were any lasting detrimental effects as her reward for helping them, he'd never let her forget it...or forgive himself for going along with the idea. It wasn't as though their wounds wouldn't have healed well enough on their own, given time.

Still, Claude and Guy were willing to wait, which meant there was no need to delay any longer. "What room am I taking you to?" he asked her, shifting her weight slightly in his arms to carry her more comfortably.

"I will be," Celes groused quietly to her 'rescuer'. She certainly could pick them, couldn't she? "This is only temporary." She took a moment to collect herself, trying to find the cold, dark place within that was best for reflection.

"Hughes is in M3, currently."

Edited 2009-06-09 04:49 (UTC)

"Then that's where we're going." Dias nodded slightly to Guy and Claude, then turned. Celes had been right about one other thing, at least - they didn't have far to go.

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/629437.html?thread=53434557#t53434557).]

Night 41: M-A Block Hallway

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