When Skan awoke, he lay in bed, with Thom sitting close by on a small stool. He hadn't noticed Skan's shifting, his attention was focused on scribbling in a small book. Raptor, perched nervously on Thom's shoudler, let out an enjoyed suqeek at seeing Skan awake.
Thom looked up from his book and blinked at Skan. His eyes were red, from lack of sleep, and heavy bags hung underneath them. Skan groaned in pain as he tried to move. His head, arm, and stomach all hurt. And he felt like he was going to vomit any minute. His stomach was bandaged, and the strip of white cloth ran up diagonally to his right shoulder, where he was struck by the spike. The bandages seemed to be recently changed; they were clean. He wore only his baggy black pants, so tried to reach for his trench coat, laying on the floor. He didn't succeed.
"You should thank Kitra," said Thom, handing him the coat. Skan tugged it on painfully, but not in his right arm, he just tied it over with his hand and teeth. "If she hadn't used her healing magic on you so quickly, you wouldn't be here." Thom chewed his lower lip. "That poison... I swear, it's twice as deadly as my own, which is legally the most leathal on Earth!"
Skan tried to sit up, but ended up groaning and clutching his head. "How....how's everyone else?"
"Well, Tad and Deric suffered some serious lacerations, and you saw what happened to both of them. Tad and Teron, they were infected with a disease Kitra could only called 'evil'. She cured it, though. And Nisemeisho and Deric were hit with a spell called 'Dark Holy'. It was a counterpart to Holy Magic. Their damage was only physical, no diseases or poisons. Nisemeisho was ticked off that he was defeated, but has a slight concusion. Deric needs to talk with a crutch now, but will be off of them in a day or two. And Kitra, she is exhausted. She dished out some serious magic at the Zodaic Monster, and used the last of her magic energy to heal us all. She only got up enough to eat what Nisemeisho made these few days. He's been serving as a cook."
"Past few days? How long have I been out?"
"Um, about four now. Maybe five, it depends on the time." Thom handed Skan a plate of something that smelled warm and wonderful.
"I'm not hungry," Skan protested, but his stomach growled, giving away the lie. What's in the book?"
Thom blinked, stifled a yawn, and looked down. "Ah, I decided to write something about this. You told me about, and lended me, a few books called 'The Germonick Scriptures', and 'The Zodiac Brave Stones', and 'The Durai Writing', so I figured I'd keep the tradition going. I'm titling it, 'The Engineers Guild'."
Skan grinned weakly. "The Engineers Guild...I like it!" Skan reached int his coat and pulled out Aqaurius. As he did so, Thom pulled out Pisces. Skan raised a questioning eyebrow.
"Well," said Thom, looking slightly abashed, "you're Aquarius, and get the Aquarius Zodiac Stone, so I figured I could get Pisces! Since I AM Pisces. Besides, Lucavi is dead! At least, Pisces is."
Skan looked at his own stone and sighed. "Thom, I can control it. Just enough that it doesn't make the machines go off. But. . . what if, one day, when my defenses are down, the stone takes over? Maybe Lucavi, a devil, will wake over me!"
Thom also sighed. "You can always give it to someone else, who isn't Aquarius, and therefore immune to it's calling..."
"No," said Skan, "It's too dangerous. But Thom....? If I'm ever tempted to use the stone....kill me. As a human. I don't want to die as a demon possessing my body!" Thom nodded. "Bart's Company is gone. Luren is gone. Ixtchil, one more Lucavi Zodiac Stone, is gone. Pisces has been cleansed. Why doesn't this feel like a happy ending?"
"I don't know, Skan," said Thom. "I don't know."
"Well, we HAVE won." said Skan. He struggled, and managed to sit up. The empty plate fell to the floor with a clang, and Skan stared at it for a moment. He hadn't even remembered eating at all. Raptor lepaed to Skan's shoudler and peered at the Aquarius Stone curiously. Skan also did. "At least, for now."
Previous Chapter
Back to the FanFics page