Single post in Shedding Strength: Lucille Aftermath -- [COMPLETED]

Good question. Before today, Lucille had only healed herself once with Minva’s mist. And that time was by complete accident. But now, through conscious effort, she could control the liquid at will. It almost felt like a second nature. Maybe she and Rondrio could help all the patients admitted to the hospital. “Guess we’re about to find out.” “Uh, no we’re not,” Rondrio quickly interrupted. With an unusually stern gaze fixed upon Lucille, he continued, “I’m not even convinced we can heal all our friends.” Meeting him with a steeled resolve of her own, she huffed, “Why not?” Holding up the fiery orb in front of his face, Rondrio’s face became slightly distorted due to the dancing flame within. “We’re not emhumans. We only borrow the orbs’ powers.” Candice belched, interrupting his speech and allowing the last wisps of blue sparkles to exit her mouth as well as her eyes. After she flashed a sheepish grin, he continued. “If we use the powers too much too fast, we give up control. Trust me… not a good thing. Found that out the hard way a couple years back.” His voice strangely lost its edge. His eyes couldn’t meet Lucille’s anymore as he quickly handed the orb back to Kaname. Lucille noticed the flames quickly calmed down when the orb exchanged hands. But what had happened back then that Rondrio never told her about? “That’s why I used to tell you to lock the orb away when you’re not using it.” Kaname plunged the orb into her jacket pocket and nodded in Lucille’s direction. “He’s right. Flooding the hospital wouldn’t be in anyone’s best interests.” Flooding? Could the Minva Orb really get that far out of control? “Neither would burning this place to ash,” Rondrio muttered, now deeply interested in the floor. But a second later, he shook himself out of the funk and placed his hand on top of Candice’s. “That’s why I need you to go back in and stop the giant monster I think is causing this mess. I tried to kill it, but…” He glanced around the room at his still unconscious, bed-ridden friends. “…guess I screwed up… again.” Her eyes flooding with remorse, Kaname knelt behind him, rested her head on his back and wrapped her arms around his chest. She whispered something Lucille couldn’t catch, but her mind raced to put together what had happened. Candice, however, had other interests. “Uh… what? You say ‘giant monster’?” During the question, she peeked under one of the bloody bandages wrapping her left arm. Lucille careened her neck and caught a glimpse of the smooth skin beneath it. Relieved, she managed a weak smile. Holding Kaname’s hands against his chest, Rondrio regained some of the light in his eyes as he answered Candice. “If I didn’t kill it, you can’t miss it.” His eyes widened. “Oh, and be careful,” he warned. “The thing can shoot a huge beam of energy out of its mouth.” “Oh, that’s fun,” Candice muttered as she rolled her eyes, “but it’s gonna take a minute for me to doze.”