"He's… He's healing. Oh shit… Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! He's actually healing!!" Shaula cries in joy.
She had not seen Ajax’s jaw healing, but she had felt it change shape while holding his head in her hands. Her ability to enhance her senses also applies to her sense of touch. She felt the slight shift of Ajax's jaw as it restored itself. A part of his lower jawbone that was cracked, exposing the marrow within, had sealed itself.
Shaula had been holding onto the sides and back of Ajax's head this whole time. Those were the parts that were nearly undamaged and the least likely to change in any way because of needed regeneration. Maybe if she was holding onto his head by his broken jaw the whole time she would have felt his body slowly and nearly imperceptibly restoring itself earlier.
Nevertheless, better to notice it now than never.
Ajax is alive. She's sure of it. But, he is still unconscious.
He's also healing so slowly.
If he's alive, then why? Why wasn't he absorbing the heat I used to speed up his healing? What the fuck is with… Wait. Wait, wait, wait! Oh shit, is that how it works?
Shaula realizes her mistake, rather, her misconception. There were relatively few times over the past few weeks where she or Ajax reached anywhere close to unconsciousness.
The closest either of them got was when experimenting with their spatial power which had the odd effect of sapping away their healing factor's efficacy. Then, through the use of alcohol, they were able to force themselves asleep (or unconscious), at least briefly.
Perhaps it is something they should have experimented with earlier but either way, she only realizes it now. Neither Ajax nor she can in any way use their powers when fully unconscious. They cannot absorb the energy in their surroundings, amplify their healing factor, or do any of the impressive and destructive things they do so naturally while conscious.
"It's such a simple thing, huh…"
With her biggest fear quashed, she breathes several deep sighs of relief. Though, things aren't particularly safe just yet. After all, Ajax has lost so much blood from his head and is still unconscious.
There is no way for him to consciously accelerate his healing by absorbing heat energy and at the rate he is healing, he might only regenerate his body and wake up in several hours. There is also the possibility that his healing factor does have a limit especially when he is healing this slowly.
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The small chance that his meager healing right now will not be able to stave off death by itself.
How did you get like this, Ajax? Was your enemy really that much of a threat?
She knows from spending time with Ajax that he has control over his powers. He trains hard, though he isn't as dedicated to progressing in their use as she is either. Still, he was eager to get home to his family and he knew that mastering the powers he was given was an easy way, really the only way, to both protect both of themselves here on Omicron and aid in their return home.
The enemy he faced… he must have been a monster. Or lucky. Maybe both. No, I guess the real lucky one was you, Ajax. If the enemy had cut through your head and brain directly instead of your neck, maybe you would really be…
Shaula discards those frustrating what-if scenarios. It is of no help in this situation. What is important is the fact that there truly are some special people in this world who can contend with superhumans like the two of them. People that Shaula has to be cautious of, at least if she plans to stay this weak during her stay on this planet.
Hearing about powerful mages and the heroic nobility was one thing, but to be brought concrete evidence in the form of Ajax's head separated from its body…
It is quite the wake up call.
As her worries abate slightly, Shaula's view shifts away from Ajax for the first time since she saw him in his current state. She finally notices the excess natural light filling the hallway.
She stands up with Ajax's head in hand while staring at the fire slowly engulfing the walls of her surroundings. She had almost forgotten about it. Rather, she had only really acknowledged it at this moment.
She has the impulse to leave immediately with Ajax's head as well as his body. There was still a real possibility that she could reattach Ajax’s head to his lower body. Maybe she could stitch his head to his neck with a needle, some thread and… Actually, maybe she could find someone to do it for her, someone with the basic ability to knit flesh together.
If reattaching his head to his body ended up failing, Shaula still had to take Ajax’s body with her away from here. It could not be left as evidence.
Neither of hers or Ajax’s body parts cut off from their main bodies evaporate, rot away or otherwise disappear once disconnected. In earlier experiments when she had cut off a finger or a hand to test out her healing factor, she had to literally bury the appendage to deal with its existence. It would not burn and evaporate into ash, nor would it freeze, shatter and crumble into dust.
Shaula would have to literally bury Ajax's mangled body in order to remove traces of its presence in this world.
Yet, there is the issue of the flames which is why Shaula cannot leave the area with Ajax just yet. This fire is already at the point where it would get out of control and harm a lot of the people living in this apartment building. She can't leave without extinguishing the fire. Ajax wouldn't forgive her if she wasn't able to do that much after what he had already gone through to help the people living here.
Yet, she has no simple ability to extinguish fire like Ajax does. Furthermore, the flames have already gotten to a point where regular methods back on Earth, like fire extinguishers or large buckets of water or whatever else, would not be enough to deal with their spread.