Shedding Strength: Lucille Aftermath -- [COMPLETED]

Gasping heavily, Lucille’s eyes jerked open to blended bright colors. Making sense of the mixing blurs and deafening sounds seemed impossible with all the pains plaguing her body. Hands pinned her shoulders to barely comfortable cushions as she fought to catch her breath. “…to calm down…” she barely heard a voice shout before a cool, damp air licked the fingers on her right hand. “It’s not…” another voice added as a loud buzzing gradually drowned it and all other sounds. The very familiar buzz explained the damp air working its way around Lucille’s hand. With a little focus, she pushed her fingers through the thick pressure of air into the chilly liquid beyond. She had only done this once before—accidentally—but the shiver that followed was unmistakable. Somehow, the orb was in her hand. Calming herself by envisioning the sea-blue, sparkling mist it contained, Lucille could vividly picture it seeping out of its faux-glass container and snaking up her arm while subduing aches and spiking pains as it crept. She tried keeping as still as possible as the Orb of Minva worked its restorative mojo, but Lucille hadn’t gotten a handle on her labored breathing yet. Parts of her body shuddered uncontrollably. This was worse than before. She couldn’t trick her mind into focusing on anything other than the various pains throughout her body… or why she felt so terribly beaten up. Her head throbbed. Still, the orb pressed on. She would too. She had to remember something that made sense. Through the migraine, she rewound jumbled thoughts and zeroed in on waiting outside the high school. The spotty memories skipped ahead to a brief image of a beach that was quickly replaced by rapidly spiraling greenery and light. Agonizing screams echoed throughout so badly that she couldn’t take it anymore. The orb’s cool mist reached her head, relaxing her frantic thoughts as well as the plaguing migraine. The buzz, now a soothing hum, eased the panic and helped slow her breathing and pounding heart. Lucille parted her eyelids, her vision considerably clearer than before if the fluorescent lights above were any indication. The thin mist swam in and out of view as it worked its way back and forth across the rest of her body. “It’s working!” she heard a feminine voice shout. Lucille rolled her head aside quick enough to glimpse a mop of dark hair flee the room while shouting, “I’ll use the other one on Rondrio!” Rondrio was here too? It probably wasn’t a smart move, but Lucille sat up and wondered aloud, “Was I fighting?” She quickly scanned her mist-covered body before noticing her sister Pilar and a pair of shocked nurses at her hospital bedside. A quick glance and she spotted Valeria and Kaia, unconscious in two of the other three beds in the room, connected to monitors that beeped as loudly and rapidly as hers. Lucille felt a heavy, concerned frown come over her as the words left her lips. “How did we get here?”

“Lie down,” one of the nurses urged. “You shouldn’t try to move with all your injuries.” “Leave her,” Pilar responded. “You better now?” “Some…” Lucille nodded, but refused to lie down again. She was much more interested in the numerous wounds covering her body that the mist worked furiously to repair. She opened her mouth to ask exactly what had happened, but the sparkling blue air drifted up her nose and washed over her tongue. The quick tingling in the back of her throat nearly made her choke. She’d forgotten the healing mist of the orb worked inside the host as well as outside. It did a freaking thorough job too. She could feel it searching down and throughout her body for something to repair, like dozens of tiny worms slithering beneath her skin. It was, hands down, the weirdest thing she’d ever felt, and she doubted she would ever get used to it. After spending a couple minutes near the tail of her spine, the mist climbed its way back up her throat and forced its way out of her mouth with a loud belch. Smaller wisps escaped her nostrils and eyes as well, the latter causing tears to form with momentary burning. In the next breath, the burning vanished, and Lucille wiped her eyes clear. The wisps rejoined the remaining mist that had worked its way down her legs and, with its job completed, dissipated into the air. Lucille exhaled gratefully before catching the astonished looks on the nurses’ faces. “So much better,” she rasped and then cleared her throat. “But seriously, how did I get here? Why was I so banged up?” “You got rammed by a Mack truck!” Pilar shouted. As if remembering where she was, she lowered her voice. “You don’t remember?” Lucille stared blankly at the white sheets covering her legs. She didn’t remember any truck. She didn’t even remember leaving the school’s parking lot. Yet, outside the hospital window, it was dark. She inhaled slowly and felt her bottom lip tremble. “How long was I out?” “Hours,” Pilar answered. “Around seven hours,” one of the nurses clarified while rounding the bed to check on Valeria. “Can that ball thing help heal her too?” At first glance, Lucille feared the worst and wondered if all of them were just as banged up. “Is she okay?!” Pilar carefully grabbed her sister’s arm. “You’re the first one to wake up. Everyone else is still unconscious.” Lucille glanced at the orb. She brought it up to eye level and gazed at the sparkling blue waves swirling within. “Except Rondrio…” she muttered. Her gaze shifted to her sister. “Rondrio’s orb should work for him too!” Lucille quickly peeked under her sheets. “Where are my clothes?” Stepping aside, Pilar nodded over her shoulder at the pile of ripped, bloody material clumped in the brown, leather seat near the bed. Lucille’s eyes widened. She swiftly tossed aside the bed sheet and yanked up her uncomfortable hospital gown. Not a single bruise in sight. She wished she could’ve seen how badly her body had looked before the orb had done its job. Though, staring at Valeria again gave her a good idea of how much trouble they’d been in.

The Minva Orb pulsed. Catching its soft flicker in the corner of her eyes, Lucille gazed upon it for a moment before she understood its reaction. “He’s using it,” she muttered before shouting echoed through the hall outside. To the surprise of the nurses, Lucille hopped out of the bed and raced into the hall. Allowing her pulsing orb and the painful shouts to guide her, she quickly ran to Rondrio’s room as fast as her renewed legs would take her, not knowing her sister closely followed. Four rooms down and across the hall, Lucille ran in to witness a spastic Rondrio struggling against Kaname and a pair of orderlies doing their best to restrain him to the bed. Lucille pushed past a stunned doctor and nurse, giving small notice to Rondrio’s heart monitor that rapidly beeped. “His heart’s gonna give out at this rate,” the doctor warned. “It’s not,” Lucille assured. Despite Rondrio’s violent struggles, Kaname managed to keep the Selco Orb pressed into his palm. Oddly, the flames generated from within it only managed to coil up his right arm. His orb seemed to break his unconscious state, but it wasn’t healing him like Lucille expected. Several wounds still covered his face and arms. She glanced at her own orb. “I hope you can help.” Slipping around the orderly restraining Rondrio’s left side, Lucille forced the orb into Rondrio’s free hand. In tears from fright, Kaname looked up at her in silent hope that something would change fast. Immediately, the flames around his arm flared intensely. The Minva Orb glowed brightly, and Rondrio gradually grew quiet. His body steadily relaxed and fell back against the bed. The flames from the ruby-like orb began to spread across his body. They licked each cut and bruise on his flesh with a quiet hiss. He winced as the flames sterilized the wounds covering his body, causing small wafts of smoke to rise from the stinging spots. Lucille watched in amazement as the flames worked without singeing his hospital gown or the bed linens. Seconds after the flames covered all the wounds, the Minva Orb released its mist. The sparkling blue seeped from its crystal-like orb and drifted into Rondrio’s nostrils and mouth. He inhaled sharply, prompting the orderlies to take a step back while watching the incredible sight. “Your eyes are blue?” Kaname asked, breaking the eerie silence that had fallen upon the room since Rondrio calmed. She stared at Lucille with widened, dark eyes. Lucille blinked. “What?” She didn’t feel any different, but she always imagined the Minva Orb had some effect on her when she used its abilities. Rather focus on that revelation, she concentrated on healing Kaname’s boyfriend… the one who had first told her about sacred orbs in the first place. If nothing else, she owed Rondrio for all the times he’d helped her when they traveled together. “Pull through, Ron.” As the flames finished sterilization, the mist revitalized the flesh around the wounds and repaired his skin as flawlessly as it had done Lucille’s. It had taken a few minutes, but his physical appearance had been restored to its original state. His breathing calmed considerably, and his heart rate steadily dropped back into its normal range. Kaname sighed in relief as she watched the flames retreat back into the orb still held between her hand and Rondrio’s. Minva’s mist dissipated soon after, allowing its orb to return to its normal state. With his breathing steady upon a calm exhale, Rondrio’s eyes parted. The last wisps of sparkling mist exited his mouth and eyes. After a small cough, he muttered, “Wintergreen…”

Tears filling her eyes, Kaname released Rondrio’s hand and whapped him on the shoulder. “Idiot! You had me terrified!” “Can you not hurt him yet?” Lucille asked, holding up the Minva Orb. “We have to heal everybody else.” Rondrio glanced at her before staring at the Selco Orb in his hand. “No, we don’t. Not yet anyway.” He held up the orb. “That really hurt, and I’m the one with a connection to this thing. Who knows how bad the strain would be on the others.” Lucille scoffed. “Then what? We just let our friends suffer?” She refused to just stand by and watch her friends go through agony. Wouldn’t it be worth the risk to use the orbs? They could at least heal them of their wounds if the mist couldn’t stir them awake. For a few seconds, Rondrio just looked at her. Lucille had come to know that look as his thinking face. She had seen it often enough to know that if a good enough idea came to mind, a snap of his fingers would soon follow. Sitting up, Rondrio snapped his fingers. Lucille and Kaname grinned simultaneously, sharing a knowing glance while listening to Rondrio’s idea. “We need Candice first! Where is she? She can go back in and warn the others!” With a confused look, Lucille briefly shook her head. “Go back in?” Rondrio nodded. “You don’t remember?” Wincing, Rondrio frowned at the intravenous needle still plunged into his left arm. Pointing at it, he looked to the nurses and doctor who had been silently watching in amazement. “I promise I don’t need this anymore. Could you please get it out?” “I’ll go see if Candice is awake again.” Kaname kissed his cheek and seemed to whisper something into his ear that caused him to gently reach for her hand. They gazed into each other’s eyes, and for the briefest moment, Lucille thought she caught a slight smile across Rondrio’s lips. Kaname released his hand a second later and left the room without making eye contact with anyone else. As curious as that exchange was, Lucille found her mind drifting back to her question. Rondrio cringed as one of the nurses carefully removed the needle from his arm. Pilar giggled. “You’re afraid of needles.” “Shut up,” Rondrio quickly demanded. The nurse, attending to his arm with gauze in hand, watched closely as the puncture mark immediately closed. With wide eyes, she shot Lucille a look of shock. With a shrug, Lucille smiled innocently. Such a small wound didn’t need the attention of her orb. Ever since they’d come in contact with the orbs, their bodies had been able to heal faster than normal anyway. “Think of this way,” she told the nurse, “at least you won’t waste another band-aid.” Rondrio tilted his head. With a smirk, Lucille silently gestured to her forehead. Frowning, he reached up to his own forehead and soon felt the bandage wrapped tightly around it. Realization settling into his eyes, he muttered, “The headache…” Pushing back the sheet, he gazed at his heavily bandaged legs in disgust. “That must’ve been one heckuva wreck.”

Lucille pointed to her sister. “Pilar said the same thing. What wreck? Why can’t I remember anything after meeting up at the school?” Rondrio told Lucille, Pilar, and interested members of the staff as much as he understood about what had landed him and his friends in the hospital while the nurse unwrapped his bandages. Lucille wasn’t sure what bothered her more; the fact that she had a gaping hole in her memory or that someone was able to trap them all in a fake world. As he finished, Kaname wheeled Candice into the room, covered in nearly as many bandages as Rondrio had been. “Oh my goodness,” Rondrio said, tossing back the sheets and springing out of the bed to the astonishment of the nurse. One of the orderlies, throwing up his hands in disbelief, hurriedly left the room. “You’re like one giant band-aid!” Rondrio shouted through a chuckle. “You should talk,” Candice responded hoarsely, staring at his legs. Rondrio glanced down at the many bandages still covering his legs. With a smirk, he looked up and retorted, “Pfft… I make these look good.” Kaname giggled. Candice just gingerly shook her head. “Shut up and heal me.” “On it.” Rondrio gestured for Lucille to join him as he kneeled next to Candice’s wheelchair and smoothly pushed his fingers through the transparent surface housing Selco’s flame. “It’s gonna sting a bit,” he muttered before the embers seeped out of the orb and fluttered to each wound on Candice’s flesh. Lucille noticed the fires were calmer and controlled this time as they worked. Rondrio’s control over them had grown since the last time she’d seen him actively use Selco’s flame to heal. She guessed the flame’s erratic display minutes ago was a sign of it running on autopilot. “My turn.” Lucille similarly slipped her fingers into the Minva Orb, releasing its cool mist once again. The sparkles trailed behind the flames, washing over each area the flames purified. Candice laughed as her wounds seemed to magically disappear. “It tickles!” Kaname smiled. No matter how much Candice squirmed she couldn’t escape the fire and water swarming around her. Lucille was amazed at how well the two orbs worked together, and wondered if the other three had a similar synergy in or out of battle. Her eyes almost lighting with restored strength, Candice sat up straight in the chair. “Feels like… the pain’s—” In mid-sentence, the mist drifted into her mouth, cutting off her words and forcing a cough. Candice shuddered and hugged her chest. Lucille frowned. Selco’s flame returned to its orb, but the mist hadn’t run its course yet? Candice squirmed and groaned. “Like needles… in my chest.” Lucille crouched on the other side of the wheelchair and held Candice’s hand. “The mist isn’t finished yet. Something’s damaged inside.” “Correct,” the doctor confirmed, drawing all their attention. “She suffered three broken ribs in the accident. Can your… vapor also repair broken bone?”

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.”

With a curious frown, Pilar pointed toward one of the nurses who had found the children more interesting than doing her actual job. “Can’t the doctors give you something?” Candice shook her head. “They won’t work on me.” Careful of her bandages, Candice stood from the wheelchair that Rondrio and Lucille steadied. “All I need is a couple minutes of quiet. I can make myself sleepy like that.” She snapped her fingers, but then shrugged. “Well… somewhat. Something weird happens whenever I try to enter this dream, but I can still do it.” Rondrio clapped his hands together. “Go hit the sheets then.” He gestured to Lucille. “We won’t use the orbs again until the rest are awake.” Lucille didn’t think that was a good idea. She knew the Minva Orb could at least heal their bodies while they were still out. Why wouldn’t Rondrio allow her to do that much? What had happened that would make him so worried? Her gaze drifted as her mind wandered back to a couple years ago. Had something significant happened that she’d forgotten? Once the nurse had helped Candice out of the room, Kaname slinked next to Rondrio and took hold of his arm. “Do you plan on explaining all this to your parents?” she asked, her face showing fear as well as worry. “Every last detail,” he responded in a breath. Lucille scoffed. Her mom didn’t have a clue about the danger her precious daughter had been in the last three years. Telling her at this point would almost guarantee permanent confinement in New Wylden—a seemingly endless routine of home and school until she was thirty-five. Rondrio didn’t know how lucky he was to have such understanding parents. “Even…?” Kaname continued. Rondrio hesitated. “Yeah… No need to wait until you start showing.” Pilar gasped. Lucille, unable to stop the grin spreading across her face, shouted, “You’re lying!” before the sole remaining orderly shushed her. A quick, apologetic nod later, she slipped to Kaname’s side and laid a palm on her belly. “How far along are you?” she asked in a lower, but still excited voice. “A couple months…” Rondrio answered, staring at Kaname with a recalling grin. He pointed to her. “…but when did you know?” Kaname flipped her straight, black hair behind her shoulders, and for a brief moment, Lucille thought she spotted a few dark spots near the back of the girl’s neck. But after blinking, Kaname’s skin held no blemishes. Lucille dismissed it when Kaname answered. “I became curious when I was late a few weeks ago, but after the nausea hit—and hit hard…” “Didja go see a doc?” the orderly immediately asked. After a silent moment and exchanging glance with Rondrio, she shook her head. “Then you oughta come with me, please.” Nodding timidly, Kaname quietly left with the young man. Rondrio watched intently as they exited the room. He hadn’t noticed Lucille basically diving at him until the instant before her arms wrapped around him and nearly tackled him to the floor. “Can’t believe you’re gonna be a dad! Wait ‘til I tell the others! They’re gonna flip!” With a thin smile, he let his head tilt in Lucille’s direction. “Yeah… Wonder how much longer I’ll be able to travel with you guys.” All the excitement drained from her face just that quickly. Rondrio had been with her ever since the beginning of their orb madness. She never considered that one day soon she might be fighting without him by her side. For a moment—only a heartbeat—she started to sink. But in the next instant, she snapped herself out of it with brightness filling her eyes. “Until that time gets here, you still have a lot of work to do, starting with getting our friends out of that dream world.” His smile growing more genuine, Rondrio glanced at their bedridden friends. “Right… Let’s get to work, partner.” Lucille nodded. In this, she was his partner and always would be.