A Feeling

At the request of King Harlan, a messenger was sent out to learn more of the medicines that Nahida the golem spoke of.

The messenger is named Sunny. He’s an energetic boy, somewhat of a trickster, but earnest and honest at heart. He has a sandy, strawberry-blonde mop atop his head and tanned olive complexion. His bright green eyes beam at the world from behind a set of large full-moon spectacles.

He wears the uniform of a Conference messenger, a green coat and shorts topped with a green beret. The messengers of King Harlan have their uniforms adorned with the unicorn coat of arms in white embroidery on their chests.

Sunny runs panting down the road with a big grin on his face, showing the rabbity smile he sported. He comes to a stop outside of a clinic in the city and knocks incessantly with a BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG-

“WHAT!?” The door swings open and a grumpy old man leers down at him.

Sunny salutes and stands at attention. “Good afternoon, sir! I come bearing a request from King Harlan himself, he requests medicinal knowledge!”

The old man grumbles and spits aside. “Cheeky brat… You’re lucky I don’t have any patients right now. Get in here and sit down.”

“Thank you, sir!” Sunny steps into the clinic.

The doctor grumbles, even as he boils some tea and sets a mug in front of the boy. “Alright, spit it out, boy, what medicine is the king so desperate for? Is his hair thinning?”

Sunny snorts and laughs a bit. “Not this time, but pretty soon I’d bet.” He reaches into a pocket and pulls out a rolled parchment. He unfurls it and takes a breath. “To all trained medical professionals in the Conference, your expertise on medicines is requested. An individual has come under royal care with need for exotic medicine. The requested medicines are as follows: Angel Tension, Broken Tailors, and Cords Destroyed.”

The old man looks baffled. “He may as well ask for the roots of a mountain and milk of a sparrow…”

Sunny gives a wicked little grin. “Is it hard to milk a sparrow?”

The doctor rolls his eyes. “I don’t have time for your pranks.”

Sunny shows him the letter. “It’s no prank. Not this time.”

The doctor swipes the letter and looks it over. “This is… complete madness. Are the Royal family housing a fae creature?”

Sunny shrugs and sips at his mug.

“Hold a moment… strange medicines we’ve never heard of… for a mysterious guest of the royal family… when there’s a spike of abyssal sickness…”

“Mm!” Sunny sets his mug down. “They must have summoned a hero!”

The doctor inspects the letter one more time as if a second look would reveal the truth. “A hero that needs medicine… what in the depths have they summoned?”

Sunny chugs his tea down. “Ahh… Well, I gotta deliver more messages!” He hops from his stool.

The doctor raises a hand. “Boy, wait. Royal orders or not… you should be very cautious of who you give this letter to.”

Sunny takes the letter back and rolls it up once more. “I’m only telling doctors.”

“Fool of a boy…” the old man grumbles. “Not all who claim to be doctors should be trusted. Anyone who claims to know these medicines is a thief and a liar.”

“You’re not a very trusting man, are you?”

“No sane person is.”

“I prefer being crazy, then. Goodbye, doctor!” Sunny runs off to the next delivery.

While those deliveries took place, Nahida’s battery was drained.

She receives an alarm when her emergency power activates. It snaps her back to attention and allows her to step away from the reanimated entity. Her systems say she has five minutes of emergency power remaining. She felt a stimulus within herself that negatively impacted her.

She… felt it. She had never considered using that word to describe non-tactile stimulus until now. It was… a feeling. She struggles to quantify the concept. She moves more carefully now as the seconds tick down and the reanimates assail her. She would not have the remaining energy to make the return trip. She had little choice but to determine how to utilize the crystal, if possible.

She grips the shard firmly. Recalling how Alfred’s staff seemed to function, she takes up the catalyst and pushes the crystal firmly into it. The crystal is too large for it and sticks out sideways through it.

As she avoids the swipes and lunges of the reanimates, less than three minutes remain. They give her little opportunity to take physical action, and making contact with them drains what precious time is left.

Time was running out. She would have to consider a means of applying the power directly to her battery.

She quickly observes the makeup of the catalyst. The wire that it was held by… she may be able to connect it to her batteries. She reaches back behind herself to where her power supply is stored. She fumbles a moment as she keeps trying to avoid the reanimate attacks. She rips at the cloth of her dress to expose her back, then grips for the release on her back.

One of the reanimates graze her. Her remaining power is reduced to seconds. She feels a sensation, an urgency that surges through her body. The source of it is unknown to her, but it drives her to recall her core directive.

Ensure the sustained health of Isaac.

She tears her back panel off haphazardly and rips out the spent battery. A wire sparks and she feels a sensation, a shock through her system. She holds the end of the catalyst’s wire and taps it to the freshly exposed wire in her back. Another jolt is sent through her.

Every fiber of her body tells her to stop, a foreign and unpleasant idea. She twists the wires together.

As she does this, a word burns itself into her memory.

Pain.

She feels… pain. 

It hurts.