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Under the Knife
Day 2, Night-time
Shaylee was nervous as she wrung her hands looking at the space Lazarus had made her prepare over the phone. He had a student with him that was infected by a demon and apparently she was going to be able to help the young man. Looking at Khepri she bit her lip. The Khopesh frightened her; it was power in its most frightening form. It was what she needed to do everything Lazarus had taught her but it was also License to do them. Wringing her hands again she bit her lip and realized that her wrist was covered in slight nail marks.
Taking her hand off her wrist she looked up at the footsteps on the stairs down to the upper basement. The man she’d seen Lazarus with earlier poked his head in and Shay realized she had her hand on the gun tucked in the back of her waist band. Looking around he focused on her for a moment. “Sorry to disturb you I thought Lazarus might be home.”
Shaylee scowled before schooling her face away from the look she knew was on her face. Ian had consumed a fair bit of Lazarus time and she wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about the man’s presence. The musician was part of the world that Lazarus had lived in before her. He trusted Ian more than Shay given how she’d been left to her own devices. Admittedly she was now about to be in the middle of something that required the use of Khepri… Shaylee’s thoughts trailed as she looked at Ian. Why did she know that face and why was he so darn attractive. Suddenly Shay’s face went pink as she realized who Ian was. Ian’s portrait was hung up in Lazarus office and in it was Lazarus’ daughter. Tucking her hair she suddenly realized she was back on the thought of Lazarus.
“Uh.”
Was all she got out before Ian quirked an eyebrow at her. “Sorry Lazarus’ out but he’s on his way in. He has a student with him; something happened.” The furrows appeared immediately in Ian’s face; with that he nodded and started back you the stairs. “Thanks Shay.” The young girl bit her lip as he started walking up the stairs. “Damn...I need a boyfriend. This sucks”
Minutes later a potential candidate was presented to her although it was somewhat likely that if they did have a romance, that it would only last a few moments and end up with a terminal outcome.
Andri was scrutinising her after a mere glance at the tools she had prepared and it was impossible to tell if it was because he found her more interesting or if he was just avoiding looking at the instruments. Likely it was both.
It was undeniable that he found her attractive but that in itself presented a whole new problem. So many people, of all races, used beauty as camouflage. And so many fell for it.
“Are you really that skilled?” He asked bluntly but with curiosity rather than malice. She didn’t look it, stylish and manicured. She looked like she spent much more time on her appearance than on her skill. Of course, Lazarus had vouched for her. But she was a young attractive girl so he couldn’t help but doubt the man’s judgment.
Shay blinked at the blunt comment from the cute boy Lazarus had brought home. At Least he used his brain. “No I’m not that skilled. I’m talented. Besides that you don’t exactly have lots of options.” A smile curled the edge of her mouth as Shay hooked a chair and pulled it over to her with her leg. It dawned on her that it was a habit Lazarus had and she broke into a full smile.
Focusing she pulled her essence sigh into focus. It was way harder than Lazarus made it look and her eyes always showed a strange green when she did it. “Oh my. I see what he meant..” Shay trailed off as she looked a Andri. The infect was nasty and it made her pause. Could she really help him?
Andri’s eyelids dropped to give his eyes a half-closed and his face – a fully annoyed appearance. Trying to compose himself he averted his gaze to the ceiling and then back to the girl. “I suppose that whatever you do, you can hardly make it worse.” He forced a smile and rubbed his forehead. “If he’s passed his habits onto you, then we can only hope he’s done so with some of his knowledge as well.” He couldn’t help the sly comment that quirked his smile to a smirk.
Shay rolled her eyes as Lazarus came down the stairs. “He’s all yours Shaylee. We just need to remove the Hellhound infection.” The look on Shay’s face was priceless as Lazarus set his sword on the bench along side Khepri. “I’ll anchor him so that we don’t accidentally kill thim and then you can start pulling out the demon essence. Same as you always do”
Looking at Andri Shay gave a brief smile. “This shouldn’t be too bad. Have a seat and we can start trying to help you.”
‘What happens if you fail?’ was the obvious question but Andri simply strolled to the chair and took a seat. He didn’t want to know. He also didn’t want to know if it was going to work. He just wanted everything to be over with.
A stray thought struck him and he looked back at Shaylee and her master.
“If you are successful…. Could you help somebody else as well?”
The two necromancers exchanged a look. Lazarus was about to respond when Shaylee spoke for the two of them. “Of Course we will.” A look rippled across Lazarus face before it settled into the shadow of a smile. If he’d done one thing right it had been to teach Shay to be a better human than he’d ever been.
With long delicate fingers Shay reached out for Khepri’s well and stepped up to Andri as Lazarus secured the anchors in Andri’s soul with his own magic. Leaning in Shaylee did her best to put on a brave face and smile. “This shouldn’t hurt but if it does tell me because it means I’m unraveling something I shouldn’t be or the demon is fighting back. Either way I need to know so that I can adjust what I’m doing.” With that Shaylee took her left hand and pressed it firmly to Andri’s chest; the young woman’s eyes rolled back in her head as though possessed and Andri could feel her magic begin the work of disentangling the demons infection.
“Ɛvɹiˌθɪŋ wɪl bi oʊˈkeɪ”
With a chuckle Lazarus smiled as Shaylee slipped in Coptic. It had been her choice for magic and now it was showing as she started into her spell. The double tone that her voice had when she was using essence was far more melodic than his and it certainly was of a higher pitch. Watching Andri carefully he noted as Shay began to unravel the infection. It was slow but she was doing a decent job.
For a long time, nothing happened. Not in Andri’s opinion anyway, who was surprised to find that he didn’t really feel anything, even though his soul was currently being unraveled. The young woman’s chanting, although somewhat unsettling at first, actually started relaxing him. Her hand on his chest was warm and he concentrated on that warmth, feeling his shoulders relax and his eyelids grow heavy. He let them shut and for a moment he imagined that everything will be alright.
But then something twisted deep inside his chest and before he knew it his body had doubled over, a wet, bloody cough erupting from his mouth and splashing over Shaylee’s stomach. “I’m so--” he attempted to say but what came out of his mouth instead was a black smoke thick enough to choke on. It smelled of fire and coal and kept blocking his airways even after he grit his teeth shut.
Lazarus eyes flicked to the young man. Not good the demon was fighting back. With a flick of his hands Lazarus drew the breath from Andri clearing his lungs before slowly circling both hands and driving air back into the young man's lungs. “Nice try you damn bastard.”
Shaylee looked down at Andri her eyes focusing on the young man who was struggling to breath. Taking her right hand she gently pressed her fingers against his throat and began unraveling the demon's essence as it tried to strangulate him. Switching back to english Shay whispered to him. “It's okay. I’m here I won’t let it harm you.” Driving her own essence into the gaps between the demon’s essence and Andri’s she drew on Khepri to pull the two apart. “Stay with me handsome” After Shay was sure that he wasn’t going to choke she went back to plucking apart the essence surrounding his instrument trying to free the angel.
Andri could still feel a very unpleasant burning sensation in his throat but luckily there were people around to force air in his lungs while the demon tried to force it out. He could taste ashes and magma in his mouth and his chest was on fire but the pain was manageable. A twitch quirked his lip but he didn’t dare open his mouth lest something else burst out of it.
Frowning Shaylee realized that there was no way to untangle the infection. It was too deep… With that she wove essence tightly round the fragment and stalled the infection. Giving Lazarus a look the older mage shook his head. With a nod Shay turned back to the young man; returning to her work on his soul. With gentle hands and careful plucking of his essence with hers she slowly balled up the demon's essence completely isolating it from Andri and severing it from the essence twinned through Andri’s instrument. Tilting her head she studied the young man’s essence; there was so much pain and it clearly bled through into his body.
With a heavy sigh Shay put her hand on his shoulder and pushed him back into the chair climbing onto his lap. “Don’t get use to this. And keep your hands to yourself” Pressing her hands into Andri’s shoulders and collar. Rubbing the knots out of his shoulders Shay leaned in her lips inches from his as she inhaled drawing the demon's essence out of him as she pressed soothing essence into the channels of his soul where the demon’s essence had damaged it. What the hell? Andri thought as the woman climbed on top of him and got in his face. He desperately wanted to let out a chuckle but was too scared to unclench his jaw so he just stared at Shay, wondering if he was expected to do anything other than sit quietly and take it. Strangely she didn’t seem to care for his confusion leading him to believe she probably knew what she was doing. Hopefully he added to himself. Slowly he could feel the scorching sensation recede from his throat which was reassuring if nothing else. Giving a final soothing push of essence from her skin and hands directed at the aches in his body Shay stood up and carefully unstraddled him. Licking her lips she blinked a few times to clear up her essence sight. Wavering a little she collapsed back and Lazarus caught her.
“Draw on Khepri.” Lazarus supported his apprentice against his chest as she tried to stay upright.
Shay reached out and drew energy and essence up from the khopesh replacing her lost reserves from the sword. Turing into his arms she blinked more and looked up at him. “Fuck….what is up with you all.” Ears red Shay pushed back from Lazarus standing up from his arms. In a huff she headed for the stairs; Andri was right in front of her and for a minute she met his eyes and turned redder. As she made the stairs Ian bumped right into her and that was the nail in the coffin as her ears turned bright red with his arms on her shoulders to steady her.
“Damn it!” Shay pushed past and took the stairs two at a time. As Ian stepped into the room he looked at Lazarus whose eyebrows were raised in surprise. “Well that went well.” Shaking his head Ian chuckled “You realize you’re in the body of a man only a couple years older than the young woman living with you, right?” The look on Lazarus face was priceless and Ian chuckled. Putting his hand on Andri’s shoulder he gave the younger musician a patient look. “Good luck with these two.”
Once when he was young, Andri had fallen off his bike and hit his head on a sharp rock. He didn’t know how long he’d been out but when he came to the world was veiled in a dark mist and his hands, head and chest were soaked in blood. When he’d tried to get up the world defied him and tilted dangerously to the side, then to the other. He was shivery and sweaty and he felt like he was going to vomit his guts out. His head was still wet and hot despite the winter chill but he had to get home because he knew that if he didn’t, he might well die.
By the time he reached the village he couldn’t feel his limbs, or his head for that matter. Luckily a passerby had noticed him staggering and called an ambulance immediately. In the hospital they diagnosed him with hypovolemic shock and had to transfuse at least three blood banks into him before they released him.
This felt very much the same. The chill, the uncontrollable shaking, the frantic heartbeat. But his vision was fine and he knew that whatever the young woman had done would keep him alive. Now it was just a matter of time for his body to catch up on the news.
Andri lifted his head and tried to thank her but his voice didn’t reach her in time. Gingerly he pulled his shirt up and checked stomach, convinced that he’d see clawmarks protruding from the inside. Nothing. Just old scars and the stench of fresh sweat. Gross.
The hand that landed on his shoulder startled him and made him look up. He stared at Ian and it took him a few moments to remember who he was. Once he did, he grinned at the man and joked in a sore voice.
“I think Hazumi really ought to come home soon.” Straightening slightly he felt his heart speed up yet more in protest and leaned against the backrest. “Thank you for that.” He addressed Lazarus. “You’ve taught her well. I think… I mean, I have no clue what just happened but it felt like an exorcism so I bloody hope it was one.” He grinned.
Nodding Lazarus sat down across from Andri to take a look. “Looks like she got it all except the infection in your instrument but that’s not too big of a surprise. Hazumi doesn’t like people touching her without her permission.” The double entendre was so obvious Ian made a gagging noise from behind them. Tugging on essence strands which permeated the below floor lab he grinned mischievously. “So speaking of Hazumi...” He let the sentence trail off.
“I don’t think you should mistake the two.” Andri decided to play along. “It’s probably illegal on some level or another.” There was a slight blush to his face - nobody could argue with Hazumi’s allure but it really didn’t feel appropriate discussing her like this. Part of him wondered if she wouldn’t overhear him somehow and strike him with lightning. He checked his hand but it was still trembling so he didn’t risk trying to get up just yet. “I suppose you want to try looking for her now? But… would you mind giving me a few moments to regain my bearings?”
Lazarus nodded looking at his watch. “Take as much time as you need I think I need to go and feed myself. You’re free to stay here for now. Although I’d advise against going through any of the girls’ rooms. Shay Probably went to hide in hers and she might notice and then you’d be in trouble. You’re free to snoop but be warned some of the things living in this house don’t like strangers very much.” With that Lazarus stood up and looked at Ian. “You’re welcome to join me or stay here. Up to you. Same goes for you Andri.”
“Girls?” Whispered Andri, shooting Ian a quick glance before gulping and nodding to Lazarus. He wasn’t quite steady on his feet yet but he pushed himself up anyway - the man’s words suddenly made staying down here by himself very unappealing.
Ian chuckled while he waited on Lazarus to ascend the stairs. “Mary used to live here, Iris used to live here, Shay lives here and Hazumi used to live here when Mary and Iris moved out. It was apparently less conspicuous than her office.”
“Sorry for asking.” Andri smiled as they both followed Lazarus.
Collab with Merlin
Under the Needle
Day 2, Afternoon
Toki didn’t know how that kind of thing always happened to her. Back in Heaven, she remembered, Mirria and Jiro used to talk about ‘Karma’ a lot, the notion that the actions you took in your past lives somehow affected your current one. She tried to challenge them sometimes - “so what about accidents?”, “so what about murderers running free?” but eventually she gave up.
Today she had the nagging feeling she’d been wrong. And it hadn’t been self-reflection that gave her that suspicion, it was an event. And she really didn’t know how it happened but it felt like a good idea at first, before she went out on the street and realised people were staring. Defiantly, she stuck her nose up and decided she wouldn’t care. She wouldn’t care if people were staring, if any babies fell on her or if her wings swept the pavement, collecting dirt, sticks and fishbones. She had bought a “high performance, ultra-lightweight breathable costume” and she would wear it proudly.
That was for the first half-hour. Now she wasn’t sure if she was angry at herself or everyone else but she really felt like punching someone. Ot crying. Both were equally tempting.
And then she got the text. And it was from someone she really admired and hadn’t seen in forever. It was also someone who happened to be quite close nearby so when she set off immediately, she arrived mere minutes after she’d got called. Well, flying might have contributed as well.
The angel squeezed through the door of Darlyn's Cafe and tried not to look at anyone but make her way straight for a seat. She also tried not to knock anything over with her wings, keeping them as close to her body as possible. She flipped the menu open in front of her face, just in case anyone had seen the news yesterday, and cheated a little in learning when Roanne’s gaze would wash over her. At the right moment she lowered the menu and gave the woman a smile and a wave. She knew it would be at least another 15 minutes until her shift was over but she didn’t mind waiting.