Chapter 3: What is that?

What was it with lungs today? Jun internally grumbled as he assessed the girl. His right hand rested on her arm as he circulated his prayer through her. Her lungs were filled with seawater and were attacking too many things to keep track of. They needed to get it out, now. But how? This wasn’t a combustable like the air was. His mind whirled. Boiling. He could make it into a gas and force it out her throat… but that could harm her.

As he saw her blue lips and pasty complexion, he shook his head. She was also on death’s door. If this could save her, he couldn’t hesitate. Jun gritted his teeth and began muttering a prayer out loud, his right ear tickling as the Silver Flame began to guide him.

‘A little warmer. And hold.’ Her instructions weren’t much, but were just enough that his hands didn’t get clammy. The vapors escaped her nose and Jun inwardly flinched as his prayer conveyed the damage. He squeezed his eyes shut as he concentrated. The cells needed to removed the damaged ones and multiply. He forced them into their ideal states and then panicked. Why wasn’t it working? His eyes flew wide. Her skin was growing gray. She wasn’t breathing and as he circulated the prayer, he noticed the absence of a pulse. Jun’s jaw worked as he tried to process this. Was it the lack of air? The boiling of the water? Was it his fault? His mind flew to his other past’s warnings. He may not control his prayer as well, and could harm others.

Zain looked between them, noticing his stillness. His hand moved to her nose, feeling for a whisper of breath. He shook his head once, a firm frown settling.

“Is the water out of her lungs?” he asked. Jun’s brows knitted.

“Yes?”

What was this boy, no, his son thinking?

Zain shifted her body and then locked his elbows as he began to press on her chest. Jun’s face contorted at the sight. What? His words were stalled in his throat as he watched. Then Zain stopped and shifted. Jun’s eyes widened as Zain forced his lips to hers, then returned to pressing on her chest. Jun blinked rapidly, trying to grasp this.

‘Your prayer.’ The Silver Flame’s tickling in his ear brought him to his senses. He licked at his salted lips and focused on moving his prayer through her, eyes glued to Zain’s actions as he repeated them. Jun’s eyes widened as he felt the air moving through her and the motions starting her heart. He hastily took action, cultivating the stagnating cells. Her head was affected, her limbs were complaining, in this her near deathly state. Zain kept working till Jun called for him to stop. With a steady hand, he made use of this chance and was rewarded with the steady rhythmic movement of her chest rising and falling. He made sure to burn off any strange toxins that had formed, and kept looking to Zain who rose and then left, finding another victim to assist.

What was that? Why had it worked?

As he was prodded by an anxious Kasai, he kept glancing to Zain as he carried some of the afflicted to the ice, sometimes diving into the sea with another victim. Each time he did, Jun watched, distracted. He didn’t do that action again. Was it just-the whole situation kept playing out in his mind.

Mei’s scampering feet and rough shove brought him out of this mental tumble.

“Hurry! It’s - it’s going to blow!” Her desperate cry forced the Kasai to grab the remainder with a strange haste. Jun found himself half dragged upright by her. Amalie waved at the edge of the ice bridge, ushering everyone off.

“What’s going on?” Jun breathlessly asked as he ran.

“Of for the love of- it’s going to explode again!”

Jun shivered, his feet pounding as he found a new burst of speed. His arm still ached from the last one, being closer… he didn’t want to imagine what it would feel like.

As they skid onto the ice bridge, Jun noticed the slow gaits and slipping feet of the injured. The Kasai and the knights who had joined were struggling to assist. Jun hissed through his teeth and forced his prayer to circulate the way Solara did. He moved the hand to reach all those he passed, briefly healing or stimulating them. As the pace began to pick up, Jun froze, the hull starting to groan. His eyes flashed as the ship began to balloon, its center becoming a soft yellow glow. Mei shouted and as he looked to where her hand indicated, his heart stalled.

Zain struggled to balance on the ice as he carried the girl. Was she still unconscious? Jun’s jaw locked and he forced himself into a run, Mei’s cry ringing in his ears. This was stupid, it didn’t make sense. He should be running the other way, but the words he remembered writing still burned in his mind. He could never abandon them.

He reached out, mind working rapidly. The rain slowed, falling as if caressing the air. Jun felt the growing heat from the hull. His eyes squinted against it. They were too close. As his hand grasped onto Zain, pulling him away, another hand clasped his shoulder and yanked. His eyes barely caught the sight of another person passing them, two people, standing between them and the danger. A chill ran up his spine as time reverted to its proper flow.