It’s been 2 hours since their brush with the shade but Mel could still feel the smallest tremors of fear in her heart as she stared at the malnourished young girl in the infirmary bed. Since they arrive on the ship Fenton had been examining her, checking for any other issues she might have. The younger child had already been cleared, with Fenton even declaring she was healthier than a normal child had any right to be, but since they didn't know their race they couldn't completely be sure about anything so they left the other sleeping child in the care of Anita as they attended to the older girl.
“Well, I honestly have no idea how this girl is even alive right now. She’s way below the threshold for starvation yet I can't seem to find any negative influences because of it. Her breathing's stable but during my examination, I tried injecting some of my mana into her to catch a reaction from her body, but then something odd happened.” Turning away from the child Fenton showed Mel a face she rarely got the chance to see. A clueless frown filled his face making his soft face feel somewhat childish.
Containing a small laugh at Fenton’s perturbed state, Mel felt more of the fear evaporate, and a light smile blossom on her face. As long as the children were safe, oddities could be dealt with later on.
“So what exactly happened then Fen? Or are you trying to build suspense again?” Mel knew that Fenton was serious this time but since he always seemed to like make jokes during similar situations, she decided to take a jab at him in revenge.
“What?! NO!” Face being dyed a light scarlet Fenton realized what Mel was doing, and changed the focus back to the girl.
“My mana hit a wall and bounced right back at me. The only reason I was able to diagnose her partially was because of how thin she is. Though I do recommend a shower for her, she’s covered in dried blood but I can't seem to find the wounds that might have caused it, so I'll have Anita do a full body search on her after everyone cleans up. Then maybe we could get some answers to this strange incident.”
This rare serious side was nice Mel thought, if only he acted like this 10% of the time, she could tolerate his wild antics with less stress.
Nodding to his words Mel then froze a new thought shoved itself into her recently relaxed mind.
“So I understand that they aren't Sarvi, but how did they evade the Guardian?... Did the Guardian even notice their intrusion?..... I find it hard to believe that 2 children did what thousands of powerful experts have tried in the past.” Mel’s face grew solemn as her thoughts started taking a turn for the worse.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
“How are we going to explain their existence to the Council Fen?” Mel began to realize they might be entering a dark hole.
Being as smart as he was Fen easily picked up on what Mel meant and boy it wasn't good. Face turning somber, It felt to Mel that his antler horns were drooping, azure even eyes losing some of their brightness.
“While the Council of Elders might be a bunch of asshats, they aren’t truly cruel otherwise they would never have made it into the council in the first place. But the Five Noble families? Some wouldn't hesitate to torture these children if it meant learning how they evaded the guardian’s notice. Some might even keep them as pets simply because they were of a different race making them the rarest pets you could ever acquire on the island.”
The dark thoughts came without end as Mel began to realize their worries were actually still very present, but now they were being caused by their own people instead of a demonic shade.
At every word, Fenton's face seemed to grow darker and darker until eventually, in an act of defiance he erupted with emotion!
“NO! THESE INNOCENT CHILDREN DON'T DESERVE SUCH A FATE! The dimness in his eyes was snuffed out as a burning Azure blaze shone brightly. He looked so heroic for once, his posture straight as an arrow, a huge difference to his normally slouched self, but it seemed to come at a cost as blood began to leak from his mouth.
Feeling the vibrations in the air Mel could instantly tell Fenton had destabilized his Dantian as the mana began to leak from his in large waves.
Rising quickly Mel smacked him in the back of the head to calm him down. While she was proud of his words, he couldn't allow his cultivation to suffer a backlash because of his sentiments. If he was lucky the backlash would only leave him bedridden for a month, anything worse could possibly leave him crippled or dead.
“CALM DOWN IDIOT!” Hell now even she was yelling. “Don't destabilize your Dantian just because you got angry. Let’s calm down and try to figure out a solution. Though I think it would be better if we were all present. The more minds we have tackling this problem the faster we can find a solution.
Wiping the blood from his mouth, His eyes still shone with vigor but he nodded softly.
“Thanks, Mel. Who knows what would happen to me if you weren't always there for me. Blushing lightly he turned his mind inward towards his soul to stabilize himself.
The path of cultivation was a dangerous one with the possibility of powerful emotions regardless of their origin being strong catalysts for disturbing the inner peace of the soul. To control oneself even in such a situation was one of the many things they were taught as children when the first began cultivating.
“Probably dead in the middle of nowhere idiot.” Mel couldn't help but mumble back as she turned her gaze towards the child only to find herself staring at a pair of Ghostly Violet eyes. She shivered lightly and “Oh.." was all she got out of her mouth before the child burst out of the bed.