by J. X. Evans
“Meaning?”
“I would guess a month or two until you have regained normal range of motion, another one or two until the strength has returned and maybe a little more for the aesthetical deficiency to be repaired.”
“I can live with that.”
“Enjoy it while it lasts. Women love a man with scars.”
“Personal experience?”
“Not really… Men do, and that’s certifiable. Maybe it’s just my other good characteristics though.”
“I see… well I don’t much care for any random woman at the moment.”
Perry succumbed to a rolling laugh. “Ah, that’s so corny of you.” He said trying to contain himself. “She came by yesterday. Brought you flowers and waited a bit by your side. I think I made her uncomfortable.”
Mark glanced at Perry. “What did you tell her?”
“Oh, nothing much. Idle chit-chat mostly.”
“Perry…?”
“Really!”
Mark glanced at the bouquet of flowers next to his bed. “I see. I should probably talk to her.”
“I think so too.”
“Anyway, how come I am not missing the arm? I thought they would have cut it off.” Mark said, gesturing to his left hand.
“They wanted to, but Orpheus called in every favor that he could, made a couple of scenes and tried to explain some stuff. In the end they agreed not to cut it off unless your condition started worsening. Which of course it didn’t. And they did not want to reattach Rob’s arm at first either. They said that the edges were not clean, the tendons and muscles were… ropey and mushy I think the words were? And his general condition too grave.”
“I…see.”
“Yes, Orpheus threatened that he would do it himself if the orthopedic surgeon did not reattach it… I don’t know how he still has his license after all that. Maybe the world is in too much of a disarray for them to bother about it at the moment. Too many things are happening right now. The conflict is escalating quickly and almost no one in the mortal world knows what exactly is happening. It’s kind of a mess. We should watch the news in the evening if you are awake. It’s funny…in a sad kind of way.”
“Is that why I am not yet in chains?”
“The Order finally came through for you. You are an innocent man again.”
“I see…do you know what happened in the mansion afterwards?”
Perry sighed in a breath before continuing. “Zora explained the situation and called in for backup. There were fifty Knights in the scene in less than three hours. It is kind of top secret but I believe they contained the child and it is arranged to be transported to Paris for evaluation. There were no other survivors at the scene. Except for us that is.”
“I saw her, right before the lights turned off. My lights that is.”
“Yeah… much good she did us. She was commemorated for her bravery and her part in all this.”
“What about us?”
“We did too.”
“Ok then… I think I feel better already.” Mark looked at his hands for a bit before he talked, “What was all that about?”
“Nobody knows yet. Do you know what happened?”
Mark told him about how he ‘rescued’ the child and how she tore open the noctis gem and the explosion ensued.
“It is weird… The noctis gem sucks in free roaming magical energy, stores it and nullifies it. You said that you tried to overcharge it and a moment later she turned it into a bomb. Maybe she overcharged it herself? Or maybe she did something else entirely. We can’t know for sure… I don’t think that anyone can at this point. What we can be fairly sure about is that she has magical energies inside her, hence the violet eyes. Children don’t change and neither do Knights or magi. It’s weird…you should write a report as should as you are able to.”
“I will… is Rob going to be ok?”
“He will too. Don’t worry about him. His pride is more injured than his body. He woke up yesterday for a bit. We talked, he ate and went back to sleep. He can even feel his fingers and he can move the thumb already.”
Mark’s stomach growled in the mention of food. He patted his belly with his right arm and looked at Perry with puppy eyes.