Chapter 44: Mana Poisoning

Jessica grabbed a slip of paper from her pocket and stood in front of a girl who had been pushed against a wall.

“S-stop. P-please. I don’t want to use this.” Jessica said, holding the talisman in front of herself.

“Use what? A slip of paper? How the heck would that stupid thing help you?” A girl asked.

Jessica shook her head.

“My Dad gave me this for protection, I-I’m not afraid to use it.” Jessica stuttered.

“Oh boy, your dad made you a good luck talisman. So scary. Just move out of the way, Jessica. We don’t have problems with you, and I’d rather not hurt you.” The girl said.

“P-please, Monica. I-I don’t know why you’re d-doing this, b-but…. Can’t you j-just let her go?” Jessica pleaded.

Monica sighed.

“Jessica, this doesn't concern you. So move.” Monica said.

Jessica shook her head.

“Look, Jessica, you really aren’t cut out for protecting someone.” Monica said

“I-I’ll use this!” Jessica said.

“I really didn’t expect our top student to believe in some kinda magic charm. Monica, what do we do? She doesn’t look like she wants to leave.” A girl said.

“What the heck do you mean, Sam? Look at her! She’s a nervous wreck!” Another girl replied, laughing.

“Dim, don’t be rude. I’m sure Jessica is just trying to help out a stra-” Monica started.

“Hmph! Weak!” The girl behind Jessica said, spitting out blood and wiping her mouth.

“Girl, I don’t know who you are, but this is my fight. I appreciate the thought, but I can handle myself. Move outta the way.” The girl said.

“N-no! I w-want you to s-stop fighting. E-entirely!” Jessica said

The girl frowned.

“This isn’t something a goody two-shoes like you should get involved with. Go away.” The girl said.

Jessica shook her head again.

“F-fighting is bad!” Jessica insisted.

“If you won’t move, I’ll move you.” The girl said, moving towards Jessica.

“N-no. J-just stop it!” Jessica shouted, throwing the talisman into the air.

It hovered there, encapsulated in a nearly invisible wall.

The girl walked into it, face first.

“Ow! Jeez. What the hell is this thing? Magic? This is magic, right?” The girl asked, pressing her hand against the wall quizzically.

Jessica nodded.

“I-it’s a wall made of mana. C-can you p-please calm down?” Jessica asked.

The girl smiled.

“Considering I don’t have a reason to fight anymore, yeah. Hey, Monica, I’ll return the stupid things if you let me keep the girl.” The girl said.

Monica groaned.

“Jessica is a person, Vera. It’s up to her. But you’re going to return the supplies to the occult club and apologize either way. So it doesn’t really matter.” Monica said.

“Yeah, yeah. Fine. I got what I needed. But those idiots started the fight with me.” Vera said.

“You stole from the club, what do you expect them to do? leave you alone?” Monica asked

“Well, no. I figured they would tell the teachers or something. They don’t exactly look like the fighting type.” Vera said.

“Wouldn’t you get caught if they informed the teachers?” Sam asked.

Vera frowned.

“Yeah….But I was going to give it back. I would have already done what I needed to do at that point anyway.” Vera said.

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“And what the hell do you need something like occult supplies for?” Monica asked.

“That...That’s my own business. I just needed them for something.” Vera said.

Monica sighed.

“Jessica, if she agrees to return the supplies, and apologize to the members, we’ll have no reason to fight. I’m guessing she wants you for something. Do you mind helping her for me?” Monica asked.

“I-it depends…” Jessica muttered.

“Hey, Vera. Are you not able to ask someone for something yourself?” Dim said mockingly.

Vera flinched.

“...I-I’m not all that good at this. Ugh. Jessica, could you please help me out with something?” Vera stammered.

“As I said, it depends. What in the world would you need magic f-for?” Jessica asked.

Vera looked at Monica.

“It’s important, but I’d rather not talk about it with other people around,” Vera said.

“We’ll leave once we get the supplies back,” Monica said.

“They’re in the bushes under the tree,” Vera said.

“...Fine. That’s good enough for now, I guess. We’ll leave, but you’re going to apologize later, got it? And if the supplies aren’t under the tree, you’re going to get beaten ten times worse.” Monica said.

Vera nodded.

“Let’s go. Jessica, you can get rid of this….thing? We aren’t going to fight anymore.” Monica said.

“Recall” Jessica whispered.

The talisman flew into her pocket as the wall shattered, the shards dissipating quickly.

Monica whistled.

“So it really is magic. Interesting.” Monica said

“Hah. If it was the guys from the club, they’d be freaking out over this!” Dim laughed as they left.

Vera looked at Jessica and her eyes sparkled.

“W-what?” Jessica asked.

Vera shook it off, once again adopting her smug attitude.

“Nothing. So you’re gonna help me, right?” Vera asked.

“I-I said that it d-depends,” Jessica said.

“Oh, right..Um. Fuck. I really don’t wanna talk about this out loud. Can you just follow me so I can show you?” Vera asked.

Jessica shook her head.

Vera sighed.

“Fine…..” Vera said.

She took a deep breath

“My mom’s sick. They said that nothing short of sorcery could cure her. I know they didn’t mean it literally, but I want to at least try... Would you mind coming with me to see if there’s anything you can do to help her?... Please?” Vera asked.

“Y-yes. B-but I’m not particularly good at healing magic. I just learned it r-recently from my uncle. What do you m-mean by sick? What kind of illness?” Jessica asked.

“....I’m not sure. Nobody is. I mean, almost every disease was cured, so it should be easy to identify, right? But it isn’t one of the few that wasn’t cured. It’s apparently an illness that popped up within the last 4 centuries, but it’s incredibly rare, so it isn’t very well known or well documented. But it’s deadly. I don’t know how much longer she can live. The doctors say it’s not long, but I don’t know what that means.” Vera said.

“T-then let’s see her r-right now,” Jessica said.

Vera’s eyes widened.

“Right now? That’s okay with you? Don’t you need to study or something first?” Vera asked.

“I-I’d say a life is more important than my homework. L-let’s not waste time.” Jessica said.

Vera nodded.

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“Who’s this, Vera? It’s not like you to bring others, is it?” A nurse asked.

“She’s a visitor, she came with me to see my mother. How is she?” Vera asked.

“Hm. Well, a few other visitors came just before you arrived. Health-wise she hasn’t gotten any worse, but I found it odd. I thought you were her only family.” The nurse said.

“Other visitors? That’s strange. There shouldn’t be anyone else except doctors that would visit her. Did they check in as family?” Vera asked.

The nurse shook her head.

“I’m not sure. I wasn’t the one who handled it.” The nurse said.

“I...see. Thank you, Nancy. I’ll go see what’s going on right now.” Vera said, rushing off.

“Wait, you didn’t…” The nurse said.

She sighed.

“Damn kid with her stubborn attitude and tunnel vision... I guess you can just go, I’ll put you down as a visitor like Vera said. I’m not supposed to do this, so don’t make too much trouble, okay?” The nurse said.

Jessica nodded.

“Alright. She rushed off to room 334, by the way. It’s right down that hallway.” The nurse said.

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*Slam!*

“Who the heck are you? Why are you in my mother's room, and how do you know her?” Vera asked, slamming open the hospital room door. She scowled, menacingly.

“Vera, darling. Calm down, they aren’t here to hurt me.” Vera’s mother said.

“Then why are they here?” Vera asked.

Jessica ran into the room, out of breath, and froze.

She shook her head.

“Mom? Uncle? W-what are you doing here?” Jessica asked.

Evan smiled.

"Hello, Jessica. How are you?" Evan asked.

Anne twirled, surprised.

“Jessica?! What in the world are you doing here!” Anne wondered.

“Delayed reaction,” Evan muttered.

“I was in the middle of checking Kay over. Which, by the way, you were completely right about.” Anne sighed

“Told you,” Evan said.

“U-uncle, that didn’t explain m-much,” Jessica said.

“Huh? Oh, right. Why I’m here. Well, I heard about a strange disease from your mother, so I looked it up. To my surprise, I found out there’s someone who has it. But as for why I actually came down here with your mother?... It's probably better to show you. Jessica, come over here.” Evan said.

“Alright. Can you see her properly?” Evan asked.

Jessica nodded and widened her eyes.

“W-what? What is t-this?” Jessica asked, reeling.

“That’s violent mana. Most people can store mana, but they can’t release it. Depending on what happens, mana can grow agitated from being trapped. If it gets bad enough someone might feel a little sick. But in this case, the mana became corrupted. I don’t really want to go into how exactly it happens, but I’ll tell you that corrupt mana isn’t a natural occurrence.” Evan said.

“What do you mean?” Jessica asked.

“Someone did this on purpose. And that someone knows about magic.” Evan said.