Chapter 35: Chapter 35
"Are you leaving?" Aster asks him, picking at a loose thread on the couch's armrest.
They're still sitting in the living room, a mug of rapidly cooling tea sitting between them on the coffee table. Aster has already finished xeir own, and the empty mug is placed next to Kit's, which is still half full. He has no idea what kind of tea it is supposed to be, but the bitter taste hadn't let him drink more than a few sips of it.
Outside, the rain has started coming down stronger than ever. The sound of raindrops hitting against the window sounds like small rocks being thrown at them, and it makes the almost empty apartment seem even more hollow.
"You don't have to, you know," Aster says. The thread has come loose, and now xe is rolling the short string between xeir fingers. "You could stay here. I don't mind."
"I don't know…" he answers truthfully. He doesn't particularly feel like walking the long way home under this storm, but he also doesn't want to impose. He doubts Aster has enough space or a proper place to put up a guest.
"I have a spare mattress lying around somewhere. And I could take the couch. It wouldn't be a problem."
He considers it for a few moments. If Aster is offering, it should be alright, no? But then he thinks about going to sleep in his clothes, and waking up tomorrow, and finally decides against it. "Thank you. But I think I might wait for the storm to calm down a bit and then I'll head home."
Aster shrugs. "It's your choice. I can lend you the umbrella then."
"Then I'll be in your debt."
"Well," xe huffs, "don't mention it."
They fall back into silence, the sound of the pouring rain the only sound in the room. The atmosphere in the room is not awkward, per say, but it was definitely strained. After a conversation like that, could they be expected to just return to normal? Could they be expected to just act as if nothing had happened?
The air between them is heavy, neither of them knowing how to proceed. In different ways, but both Aster and Kit had never been good with words, too comfortable in being in their own little shells to open up to others. With Kit, it was like trying to open up an oyster; one would have to fight against it, prying it open little by little until one was finally able to see the soft inside. Meanwhile, Aster was a bit more like a porcupine, with a more prickly personality and not letting anyone get too close. In much the same way, xe had to be coaxed until the spikes were retracted and xe was comfortable showing xeir soft bits. Even with people they had known for a long time, they would still need to be prompted to open up, never being the one to initiate an interaction. So when it was just the two of them, they would spend the time in simply amicable silence, just sharing each other's company. Usually, that's why they always had Baz around to keep the conversation going. In almost every way, he was the complete opposite of the two of them, and so they relied on him to be the one to put himself out there.
But Baz… Baz wasn't here now. His thoughts turning to Baz, Kit can't help but to start worrying again. He itches to go back to the office, to find Baz and ask him again what's wrong. He wishes he could do something for Baz, even if it's just to be able to be by his side.
Lost in his thoughts as he is, he doesn't realise the rain has stopped. With all the noises outside having ceased, the following silence sounds absolute. Even the wind has stopped blowing, and a stillness has descended over the entire town.
The silence is suddenly broken by screams coming from the bedroom. Aster bolts up from xeir seat and rushes towards the door, throwing it open. Kit follows close behind xem.
Inside, Valentine is sitting upright in bed, the sheets bunched up around her lower body. Her fingers are clutching the edges of the sheets so hard her hands are shaking. Her gaze is vacant, staring forward as if seeing some invisible object in the distance.
"Leave me alone!" she screams, "Leave! Just leave, please!" Her voice is utterly terrified, but she's shouting at empty space. It's as if there were another presence in the room only she is aware of.
Aster rushes to her side, grabbing her shoulders. When Aster's hands land on her shoulders she flinches, and covers her face, wailing.
"Valentine?" Aster shakes her lightly, trying to get her to react. "What's wrong?"
Valentine just shakes her head, whimpering.
"Valentine?!"
Finally, she looks up at Aster, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I want to go home," she cries.
"Home? Do you want me to call Baz?"
She shakes her head again. "I want to go home," she sobs.
"But you…" Aster frowns. "What are you talking about?"
"I want to go home! Please, just let me go home!"
"Valentine, you have to calm down!" Aster shakes her more roughly this time. "Wake up! Wake up, will you!"
But Valentine just keeps crying, repeating the same phrase over and over between sobs.
Aster pulls her into a hug, but almost as soon as xe does, xe releases her. Aster places a hand on her forehead, and xeir frown deepens. "You're burning up," xe mutters under xeir breath. "This isn't good…"
A dragon, specifically a fire dragon, running a fever shouldn't be possible. Or if it is, it's something extremely unlikely. Their bodies are built to sustain extreme temperatures; a fever should not manifest unless their body's defence system has completely broken down. Perhaps the shock of whatever it was that happened today was so strong that Valentine's body couldn't handle it and overheated, causing the fever.
Valentine's cries have slowly been getting weaker, her face flushed from both crying and the fever. Suddenly, her eyes roll back into her head and her body goes limp in Aster's arms.
Alarm spreads through Aster's face. Xe shakes her body, trying to rouse her, but she is completely unresponsive. The panic on xeir face only grows. Turning to look at Kit who has been standing by the doorway, "Kit! Don't just stand there, do something!" xe almost shouts.
He doesn't make a move, too shocked to even take a step forward. What should he do? His brain seems to have been submerged under water, his thoughts coming through distorted and sluggish. He doesn't know how to react in these types of situations, always staying frozen to the spot. Even if he could, what use would it be? He doubts dragons could be treated the same way as humans. He knows for a fact human medicine doesn't have any effect on Valentine. But she needs treatment; this looks like it's serious.
Unbidden, the thought comes to him: what if Valentine were to die? He doesn't want to think about it, but his brain, as treacherous as ever, keeps bombarding him with scenarios. Just imagining it, he feels an acute pain in his chest. What would he do if that were to happen?
Worse still, what would Baz do? How would he react? Kit doesn't think Baz could bear it. It would be too much…
"Kit!" Aster startles him out of his thoughts. "Stop spacing out and help me!"
"What do you want me to do then?"
"Get over here first!" Xe has arranged Valentine back on the bed. Obediently, Kit makes his way over. On the bed, Valentine is lying completely still. Her breathing is almost imperceptible, only noticeable from the slight rising and falling of her chest, and her cheeks are flushed an unnatural shade of red. If it weren't for that, one could almost think they were dead.
Aster gently dabs at her forehead, getting rid of the sweat that has accumulated there. "We need to lower her body temperature." Xeir voice is steady, not wavering in the slightest bit. "Do you think you could do that?"
"I… I don't know." How should he go about that?
"Do you have a seal? A spell? Something?"
"There's an ice summoning array… But I don't know if that would be useful."
"Hm… It's definitely not ideal, but it's worth a shot. If we manage to lower the temperature of the room, it should serve for something." Aster gets up. "Do you have a way to regulate it? We don't actually want to freeze her."
"I can modify how much ice is summoned."
"Great. Ah, right. Do you have ink?" Kit nods. "Thank god. Otherwise I don't know what we'd do. I don't keep any of it around. Would you rather draw on the wall or the floor?"
"I…" Kit's mind is still reeling a bit. "O-on the floor, I think."
Aster hums. Xe pulls away a carpet in the middle of the room, exposing the hardwood floor underneath and leaving a circular empty space surrounded by other carpets. "This enough space?"
Kit tries to conduct the mental maths. "I think so…"
"Well, if there's a need, you can draw over the carpets. So get on with it now." Aster gestures for him to start.
Somewhat awkwardly, Kit crouches down, taking out a brush and ink bottle from the bag he carries around everywhere. The ice summoning is one he is familiar with, and his brushstrokes are quick and without hesitance. This, he remembers, was the array he had been asked to draw during his exam to obtain his licence.
The exam would consist of both a written and practical part, the latter of which an exam proctor would oversee. The proctors were Bureau workers from any branch, and were chosen at random every year, changing every time. The practical part would also change every year, so as not to have people cheating on it. The person taking the exam would be called into a room alone where the proctor would ask them to perform certain spells, seals, and potions to judge their abilities in all areas of magic, and based on what they had observed, so would be the score given. Afterwards, this score would be added to the written test's part, and an average would be obtained.
All these years later, Kit is barely able to remember the face of the person who had been in charge of overseeing his exam, but he can clearly remember every single task he was asked to perform; the ice summoning array being the one he remembers the clearest. The reason being, it was the one and only part he messed up. A wrong brushstroke somewhere, and the array had been completely useless; as soon as it was imbued with magical energy, it had only glowed for a couple of seconds before it had sizzled out like a light. He had managed to pass (it had only been one mistake after all), but he can still recall the intense feeling of shame he had felt at the moment, and when he had left the BMA building where the exam had taken place, he had gone home to perfect his ice summoning array. It was a foolproof method so that he would never, for as long as he lived, forget how to draw this very specific array.
He's done with it in only a few seconds, and as soon as the array has been activated, a thin layer of frost starts spreading out from the array across the floor. Slowly, it covers the entire surface of the room, climbing up the walls and even covering the ceiling, where ice crystals start to form and hang down. Soon, the temperature in the room drops, and Kit can see his breaths coming out in clear puffs in front of him.
Aster gives his work an appraising look. "Not bad," xe says. "Hopefully this will work…" Xe makes their way back to Valentine's side, placing a hand on her forehead. "Kit," xe speaks up after a few seconds, "could you look over them for a bit? I'll be right back."
Kit blinks a couple of times. "...Sure." He goes to take Aster's place, pulling a chair next to the bed.
Aster leaves the room, leaving Kit with a still unresponsive Valentine alone. Looking at her more closely, he's thankful to see her breaths have evened out a bit, her face no longer scrunched up in discomfort. Like this, it looks more like they're just peacefully sleeping. Kit lets out a relieved sigh. Maybe she's going to be alright after all.
He doesn't know what he would have done otherwise. How could he ever have faced Baz again? He knows it's all thanks to Aster. If it had been just him, Valentine would have definitely died. Once again, he's amazed at Aster's ability to keep a cool head during critical situations. How could xe stay so calm?
Soon, Aster is back with a bowl of water and a rag. Xe makes a shooing gesture at Kit, "You can leave now. I'll take care of everything from here."
"You sure?" He feels hesitant about doing so.
"Yes, yes. If I remember correctly, you were frozen solid and couldn't do anything. I had to be the one to drag you back down to Earth."
"I don't know, Aster…"
"Are you going to start arguing with me?"
"Well, no, but–"
"Who's the one whose parent is a Healer here?"
"Well…" he scratches the side of his face, "you…"
"Exactly. Now leave. You're getting in the way." Aster shoos them out of the room. "Oh," xe says right before xe closes the door, "and try to contact Baz if you can." With that, xe shuts the door in his face.
…He doesn't think he wants to be the one to deliver the news to Baz. Somehow, he gets the feeling that would go down really badly. But what else is he going to do? It's not like he can not do something Aster told him to.
Thinking about it, he realises that either way, he's screwed.
He… He'll wait for Valentine to wake up first, and then he'll call Baz.
~~~
Valentine doesn't wake up until the sun is breaking on the horizon. Despite saying he wouldn't stay over at Aster's, he ends up doing so. All night, he sat in the living room, waiting anxiously for Aster to come out and give him some news. Needless to say, he did not sleep a wink.
It isn't until the next morning, when he's dozing off, that Aster finally comes out of the room.
As soon as he hears the door open, he's wide awake, jumping to his feet. "How are they? Are they awake? Did they–"
"Hey. Calm down," Aster cuts him off. "They're going to be okay."
"Really? So are they awake?" He tries to peer past Aster into the room.
"They woke up for a bit, yes, but now she's asleep again."
Kit can feel his body going weak with relief.
"Uh… Kit? You alright?"
"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine." He rubs his eyes. "Why do you ask?"
"You look terrible. Like, truly terrible. Sheesh. You would think it was you the one who had to stay up taking care of her all night," Aster poked him in the forehead a bit too forcefully.
"Ow," he complains.
"Go wash your face or something. You're making me feel pity just looking at you." Aster clicks xeir tongue. "Oh, by the way, did you call Baz?"
"Um… About that…"
~~~
Half an hour later, with definitely a few more bruises and perhaps a bald spot, Kit is opening the door to Aster's apartment to a very dishevelled looking Baz.
As soon as the door is opened, Baz pushes Kit out of the way, not even acknowledging his presence. Baz makes a beeline for the bedroom, not bothering to knock on the door before throwing it open.
"Valentine?!" Kit can hear him exclaim, his voice carrying all the way to where Kit is.
"Keep your voice down!" comes Aster's answering shout. "Can't you see the poor kid's sick?!"
"Don't shout at me!" Baz keeps using the same voice level. "You have no right to– Ow!" There's a dull thud. No doubt Aster threw something at Baz.
"I told you to keep your voice down, you absolute idiot!"
A person coughs, and immediately both Aster and Baz stop arguing.
"Ugh, can you two just leave?" Valentine's voice, sounding more hoarse than usual, joins in. "I just want to sleep, but you keep making so much noise..."
"Ah, of course," Baz's tone changes to something sweet. "Whatever you'd like. Let's leave, Aster."
"...Right." Even Aster sounds more subdued. Xe obediently heads out, Baz following behind.
But before Baz steps out of the doorway, Valentine's voice calls out to him. "Ah… um… Baz…"
Baz freezes in his tracks. Whipping around to look at her, "What is it? Is something wrong?"
"No… Just…" Valentine's voice sounds very small. "Come here for a second, okay?"
Whatever Valentine tells him is too soft for Kit to make out, but when Baz comes out of the room, his expression is a lot more relaxed than when he arrived. Softly, he closes the door behind him, a hint of a smile on his lips.
Now that he's not breezing past him, Kit can get a better look at his appearance. Baz looks to be in an even worse state than Kit had originally thought. He is wearing the same clothes as yesterday, but more wrinkled and torn than they had been, with the entire bottom of his robe caked with dried mud. There's a piece of gauze covering almost the entirety of his right cheek, and another bandage that peeks out of his left sleeve.
"What happened to you?" Kit blurts out.
"Huh?" Baz turns to look at him, as if only just noticing Kit was here. Which he probably is. Aster had been the one to call him after all, and when he had come in, Kit's presence must have not registered in his mind. "Kit? When did you get here?"
"I– Never mind." Kit doesn't feel like explaining it. "What's wrong with your face?"
"My face?!" Baz exclaims in a mock hurt tone. "Just what are you implying? You hurt me, you know."
"No, I– I mean…" He points at the right side of Baz's face. "I was just…"
"Oh. This, you mean." Baz gingerly touches the right side of his face. "It's just a scratch." He tries to flash Kit a grin, but halfway through it turns into a grimace. "Ow, ow. Okay, maybe it's not just a scratch."
"Yeah, we can see that," Aster snorts from where xe is sitting on a couch.
Baz pouts. "Rude."
"Don't call me rude when I just saved your child's life." Baz makes a noise of protest at the comment, but Aster continues, "Don't give me that. She is your kid; not in the biological sense but she is your responsibility. But seriously," Aster sits on the edge of xeir seat, "what happened to you? And don't try to evade the question."
Baz pulls a face. "I got into a fight with Fluorite."
"WHAT?!" Kit and Aster exclaim at the same time.
"For as much as I would love to tell you all about it," Baz says sarcastically, rolling his eyes, "it kinda hurts to speak, so I'll refrain myself from giving out all the details."
"Fluorite did that to you?" Kit points at Baz's face again. Kit had heard them arguing before he had left the office, but he had no idea it had escalated to the level where they had physically fought.
"And more," Baz quips. "I actually had to go get stitches at the hospital afterwards. But so did Fluorite, so I say we're even."
"You're insane," Aster mutters. "Did you two destroy the office then?"
"Hmmm. Surprisingly, no. But close."
"What did you two even fight about?" Kit asks.
"Ah, well… That… That's a longer, more complicated matter…" Baz scratches the back of his head.
"Mhm. Obviously," Aster gives a small nod. "But we have time."
"Ah, well…" Baz coughs once. "It's a bit too embarrassing…"
"Out with it," Aster mercilessly says.
Baz wrings his hands, trying to stall the inevitable. "It was a fight."
"No shit." Aster rolls xeir eyes. "Elaborate. Or I'm kicking you out."
"Fine," Baz huffs, "if you must know… I told her she wasn't doing her job properly, and she got mad, so she said I had no right to criticise her when I was a lazy good for , nothing, and it only escalated from there," Baz says through gritted teeth..
Kit can't help but feel like all the events leading up to this, all the crucial information, has been left out. They're almost in the same spot they were before; the cause for the fight is still very unclear. Baz has always had the bad habit of trying to worm himself out of uncomfortable situations, never outright talking about them if he can afford it. It's a horrible habit, and one has to poke and prod him until he's at his limit to get him to spill the beans.
"That literally didn't tell me shit," Aster voices Kit's thoughts out loud.
"What do you want me to say? We both said things we shouldn't have in the heat of the moment, but we later regretted them and said we were sorry, etcetera, etcetera. You know the drill." Baz shrugs. "There's nothing else to tell."
"Don't try to pretend as if nothing happened!" Aster points an accusatory finger at him. "You may want to think so, but I won't let you!"
Baz puts on his best innocent expression. "I'm telling you, there's nothing to say–"
"Liar!" Aster stands up. "I can understand if you don't want to talk about it right now, but don't lie to me! Do you think I'm an idiot?! So stop pretending that everything's fine, because it's not! It's not fine! None of this," xe waves a hand around, "situation, or whatever, is fine, and I can't stand you acting as if you're blind to everything going on around! You can't just pretend like it doesn't exist, you have to do something!"
Baz's face goes completely serious, his features hardening. "How do you want me to act then? Do you want me to break down and start crying? You want me to tell you about how out there, the entire town is in a complete state of chaos? That since yesterday, more people have gone missing and more have turned up dead, but no one's doing anything because there is nothing to be done! No one knows what is going on, I have no idea what is going on, so how do you expect me to say anything about it, much less do something?!" His hands are clenched into fists, and they're shaking slightly. His voice goes quiet, "It's not worth it. None of this is. What the hell are we doing? We're all going to be dead in a few days, so why bother? Why bother even trying to do anything about it?"
"Shut up!" Aster shouts. "Don't say that! I refuse to give up just like that!"
"I'm telling you it's not worth it!" Baz finally gets angry, "No one gives a shit about this place anymore; we're going to die, and it's only a matter of time before it happens! There! Is that what you wanted to hear? Are you happy now?!"
"What…" Valentine is standing in the doorway. With all the shouting, no one had noticed when she had come out of the bedroom.
"Valentine?" Baz turns to look at her. Regret flashes across his face. "How long have you been there?"
She doesn't answer his question. "Is it true then?" Her eyes are shining with unspilled tears, and her lower lip trembles the slightest bit. "Everyone will die?"
"I–" Baz seems at a loss for words. "No, I– I didn't mean it like that. Don't… I was just saying stuff without thinking."
"You're lying!" she cries. "I can tell you're just trying to stop me from worrying! But I know! I know what is happening, I can feel it!"
"What…" Baz frowns. "What are you talking about?"
"I…" Valentine's face pales. "The evil energy… It-it's all over the place. Since yesterday–" she stops suddenly, her expression full of terror at remembering the events of the day before. Her eyes glaze over, her gaze becoming unfocused, lost in some place only she knows. Her mouth hangs open, open as if in a silent scream.
Kit recognises that look. It's the same one the young woman he had encountered surrounded by the dead birds had been wearing. This is not an expression of just sheer horror, it's something more, the terror so extreme that one is left unable to act, speak or think. For a moment, Kit thinks Valentine will start screaming, until Baz is kneeling in front of her, grabbing her by the shoulders.
"Valentine," he says in an urgent tone, "look at me. Look at me, will you? Don't go away. Come back!" He grips Valentine's shoulders tightly, his fingers digging into her skin.
As if waking from a dream, Valentine's eyes snap back into focus. "Baz…" A stray tear runs down her cheek. "I–" she gets cut off by Baz pulling her tightly into a hug.
"You have to stay here. You can't go away like that again, you hear me?" He releases her from the embrace, and she nods her head slowly. "You can't leave. You can't scare me like that again." He pats her head, and Valentine nods again.
Again? Kit thinks. So this… They must be talking about whatever happened yesterday. Whatever it was, now would be the perfect moment to ask. Aster seems to read Kit's thoughts.
"Baz, Valentine…" Aster shares a look with Kit. "Could you tell us what happened?"
Instantly, Valentine is on edge again. "I…I…" she looks around, her eyes flitting all over the room as if there were a presence hidden in the shadows she was trying to spot.
"Only if you're ready," Aster hurries to say. "Don't push yourself, okay."
"I don't…" Valentine is still looking around, her pupils blown wide. "I don't know…" she whispers.
Baz lays a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, Valentine. You can tell them. You're safe here."
Valentine takes a deep breath. "O-okay. I…" She takes another breath, trying to calm herself. "I'll do it."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
ghostcat
ghostcat i can't help but feel like everyone is gone............
(is anyone still there? any sign of human life?! QAQ )
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone