The Grand Weave

Isaac snarled as he stared at the wall.

Surprisingly, seeing his anger elicited the opposite reaction in me. Now that I did the dirty work and was relaxing in a chair, the more I felt a headache come on.

I did my part, helped figure out where the boy was held, and that he was alive.

But I didn't feel content. A small part of me raged at the knowledge, while another wanted nothing more than to desperately take a nice hot bath.

"Isaac," I said, drawing the rogue's attention.

"Don't even think about it. I'll handle it from here. You are not allowed inside the Underground," he growled.

I shrugged. "Works for me."

He stopped, as did Igas. The pair looked at each other and then frowned.

"It does?" Igas questioned.

"I got the information and lost nothing in return. I trust in your judgment," I stated.

Again, they shared a look and the headache worsened.

Screw this.

"Galarion?"

He bubbled to life, begrudgingly tearing himself away from his feast. "Yes?"

"Here, can you take my headache away?"

Galarion spread his tentacles throughout my head? Mind? One of the two. He grabbed something and he paused.

"I can, you sure?"

"Go ahead. Don't take away any memories, though."

He bubbled happily and went devouring. The headache disappeared and I sighed in relief.

A hand clasped my shoulder and I looked up. Isaac stared at me strangely.

"Cyrus?" he asked.

"Yeah?" I said as I slowly leaned away.

"Are you okay?"

"Peachy. Oh, I guess Igas told me to tell you about my latest summon."

Galarion hopped out and waved as he bounced down to my nose before snapping back into my head.

Isaac's eye twitched, but he remained silent until he looked at Igas.

"Strange, but not that insane. What am I missing?" he asked.

I tapped my chin, pretending to think, finding myself enjoying the teasing. "It's probably the fact that Galarion is an astral familiar. Oh, and the information I acquired was because I used him to copy the forgemaster's memories."

Isaac's jaw dropped.

I stood up and patted his shoulder. "Don't worry. I'm off to do nice things at the healer's guild. Teddy's parents hooked me up, so I guess I'll go repent or something along the lines."

"But-"

"And thanks for agreeing to handle the kidnapping problem. Whatever you can find out by tomorrow would be helpful. I promised to return to his family if I discovered anything so..."

"Cyrus?" Igas said as he stood up and tapped Isaac's chin, forcing him to close his jaw. "Are you sure? No more illegal activities?"

"I just said I'm going to the healer's guild. So don't worry."

They didn’t look satisfied with my answer, but I didn’t stick around to assuage their concerns. I waved and exited the manor for the second time.

Isaac would likely blab about Galarion, but that was fine. He was never meant to be a secret.

Still, I kept my face neutral as I parsed through my emotions. They felt weird but not wrong. I worried for Lezka, but until Isaac did whatever he was supposed to do, there wasn't much room for me to help.

At least I can finally sit down and learn from somebody powerful again.

I made my way down the mountain and enjoyed the sights. I was technically already late for the meeting, so being a little more late wouldn't hurt things.

----------

"You're late," Syrreisha said.

She drummed her fingers along the nearby desk and frowned.

"Sorry. I was caught up helping somebody," I apologized.

She lost some of her sternness and stopped the drumming. "That's a better excuse than most. Was it worth it?"

Syrreisha led me into a different room that I hadn't been in before and closed the door. The room was divided into three parts. One part was a small lounge with a comfortable couch and a few chairs. The other third was positioned near a window large enough to expose the outside gardens and let in the daylight. The last was a partition near the lounge, hiding a desk and a large chair fit for a king.

"I found out somebody was kidnapped through some potentially unethical ways, but at least someone can plan a rescue mission now."

She froze and let the curtain she was drawing slip. As she turned around I tested the cushioning of the couch.

Nowhere near as nice as Cal's.

"You certainly live an adventurer's life, don't you."

I smiled mirthlessly. "Whether I want to or not."

Syrreisha cleared her throat and finished closing the blinds. "Normally, we'd prefer leaving the curtains open. Most patients found the daylight soothing, as well as the sight of the flowerbeds. But for today, we'll keep them closed."

"Will it affect the patient's outcome?"

"No. If this was an extended session for one to work out their feelings and memories, perhaps. But for today, I lined up a string of veteran adventurers who would love nothing more than to rid themselves of foul memories."

"And that's okay? It's not better for them to work it out themselves?"

She smiled as she summoned a tea set and a tray of cookies. "I'm glad you are asking these questions. But to answer you, I'd normally never allow it. The only reason I am is to help train you and because of your summon's gentleness. As for the patients themselves, most have lived their lives. They have long since returned to normal function, but like a bad scar, it's always there. For them, it would not hinder them from removing the memories."

It made sense. I wasn't about to judge someone for what they did. Assuming what Syrreisha said was true, the people would be adults, fully capable of making their own choices.

"So, how will this go?"

"Usually, I'd take on someone steeped in medical knowledge, preferably a decade's worth of anatomical knowledge along with medicinal alchemy. But for what we are doing, it'll be unneeded."

I stood up and walked over to the tea cups she had poured. It smelled fruity, like a warm apple mixed with peach and cinnamon.

"You know. I only showed you Galarion, but he isn't my only summon."

She raised her teacup and inhaled deeply before quirking her eyebrow. "Impressive. But I take it that Galarion is your only astral familiar?"

I nodded. "Yeah. But I do have a healing skill, and while Galarion is happy to devour anything I can feed him, he's not a healing type of spirit."

"You have me intrigued," she said after sipping at the tea.

I tasted my own. Sweet. It wasn't my favorite blend, but it was damn good. And just perfect for a certain little fairy.

Mana thrummed to life, and I sent the threads into Verdant Healer. Áine appeared and booped my nose. I chuckled and held up the cup and saucer, letting her sit on the rim to dip her fingers into the golden liquid.

"Good," she whispered.

I raised the cup and presented her to the head healer. "This is Áine. A nature spirit connected to my healing skill, Verdant Healer."

Syrreisha leaned forward and waved. "Is the tea to your liking, little spirit?"

To my surprise, Áine stood up and hovered in front of the woman. She slowly turned and spun around her head until she landed on the saucer. I watched and blinked in surprise as Syrreisha's eyes widened.

"I thank you for the compliment. I do enjoy the smell. If you prefer, I have juice, it's usually favored by younger patients of mine."

Áine nodded, and a new cup was produced with a liquid far too neon to find appetizing. The purple liquid sloshed, and Áine reached a hand into the cold cup.

"Truly?" Syrreisha beamed. "I'm glad you like it. I can give your master a bottle before we finish."

I sat the cup down and watched Áine straddle both cups as she dipped a hand into each.

"Did I miss something?"

Syrreisha straightened out and fixed her collar. "Nothing of interest. But if you want to branch into normal healing, we run a charity day on the weekends. For those who can't afford higher healing costs, come here to fix their ailments or relieve them of troubles."

"How busy is it usually?"

"Very," she said sternly. "There are never enough healers for the problems people encounter. And while there are a few generous souls who work for free, it's exhausting work."

"I see."

She smiled and waved to the fairy before sipping the rest of her tea. "And healing people can be a tricky thing. Most who come on those days are too malnourished to afford to rebuild their body. Skills take their toll, and it isn't just the user who pays the price."

I waited until she finished her cup before summoning a carving knife I kept on hand for cooking food. She cocked her head and I raised my arm.

Áine glared from across the room.

"Sorry, but it’s the easiest way to prove your effectiveness."

She crossed her arms and I could feel disapproval dripping through the link, but she didn't disagree.

With a shrug, I stabbed into my arm and sliced downward, exposing my flesh. Blood gushed as I nicked the artery and ground my teeth to distract from the pain.

It was a clean cut, and a really sharp knife. But it still stung.

Áine flew over and landed on my bicep as she slapped her hands down. The scent of flowers filled my nose and I moved my arm slowly as the skin repaired itself and the bleeding stopped.

When it was finished, she hopped off and went back to her drinks.

"Thank you," I sent the fairy.

I flexed my repaired arm and waited.

Syrreisha approached and held out her palm. "May I?"

"Go ahead," I shrugged.

She gripped my arm and felt around, tracing the cut. When she closed her eyes, mana pulsed in a wave that sharpened into a fine needle that pierced my arm. It didn't hurt, as the skill wasn't an attack, but she pulled away a moment later and smiled.

"Remarkable skill. Not only did it heal your wound, it did so flawlessly. And it generated new blood. Not all of it, not enough to replace what you lost, but that's more than most."

"As far as I know, Áine's healing has never inflicted the same problems you run into using health potions. And she sometimes helps me in training to remove the wear and tear from training."

Syrreisha shook her head. "Usually a bad thing. You want your muscles to regrow and adapt. Magically healing them can remove that process and skip repairing them or returning your body to a past state where you were whole."

"Yeah. She doesn't do that. I wasn't this muscular a few months ago."

Granted, I had abs and was pretty lean when I got my new body, but I wouldn't have been able to keep up with Eodyne in running practice if I hadn't built myself up.

"Truly?"

I nodded.

"Then we can set up time for working with that skill as well. Not today, as I have already selected what can fit into my schedule, but I'd be more than happy to work with you."

"Sounds perfect. So what happens now? If we're skipping the knowledge and getting to work, are we diving straight into taking someone's memories?"

"We are helping someone who is seeking aid. But no, we have something else important to do first. You especially."

"Uh, what's that?"

She went to the desk and waved her hand. A steaming metal bucket, a rag, and a bar of soap that smelled like antiseptics dropped onto the tabletop.

Syrreisha pointed to the pool of pinkish blood by my feet.

"First things first. You are to clean the mess you made."

I sighed and got to scrubbing. At least the soap made cleaning things up easy.