Priorities

Walking was difficult. 

For one thing, Noa had to focus on the spell. It was just one spell, but it was a quick, slipshod thing that he was holding with force of will. The truth was he had no idea what he was doing—just a single shred of certainty. 

As above, so below. 

Form followed function. 

Variation was natural, but so were patterns. 

These were principles of magic that Noa was familiar with practically from birth. Everything he'd seen and felt and known in his bones followed rules he could barely even begin to articulate. But the second he'd been told what these symbols meant, he'd somehow understood. 

He had a healthy leg. Daisuke's was broken. 

His was large, and Daisuke's was small. They were different ages, and there were doubtless other small differences as well. 

But the blood should move down through the arteries and up through the veins. The bones should be aligned in a certain way. That was true in anybody's leg, regardless of the differences. 

If he could just bend his will to remind Daisuke's body how his leg should be, what it should be doing, then maybe it could forget, for a little while, how damaged it was. 

Only for a little while. But that little while would have to be enough. 

The trouble was, walking and holding concentration on this spell—not tightening it enough to shatter or letting it slip loose—was difficult. 

And walking on a leg that he'd just magically tied to a practically severed version was even more difficult. 

It hurt. Noa was trying hard not to think about how much. If he focused too hard on the way his femur strained each time he put weight on it, he thought it might just snap for real. 

Instead, he focused his attention on the symbol on Daisuke's leg, with a little reserved for making sure he followed where Yutaka led and didn't fall over. 

The small weights on his shoulder—Miyori, Daisuke's family members—were also important reminders as to why he was doing this. 

He couldn't have said how long the walk took—just that he eventually came face to face with a door. Thankfully, it slid open without him needing to do anything, and then instead of a dimly-lit street he was in a room full of people. 

He was afraid to lift his gaze from Daisuke's body, so he let Yutaka steer him further into the room. He stopped and Yutaka began talking with someone. 

Trying to listen to the conversation made the spell start to slip from Noa's mind. He bit his lip and ignored it as best he could. 

As above, so below. 

And then he was moving again, from a crowded waiting room into quieter hallways, people buzzing above his head and walking beside him, people ducking out of his way. Good. He didn't know what would happen to the spell if he collided with anyone. 

Inside, he was led up to a large, cushioned examination table. A human hand landed on his free shoulder. 

"Son," said a soft voice, "you can put him down now." 

Noa took a breath and reinforced the spell in his mind, setting Daisuke down as gently as he could. He felt a reflection of the jostle when his leg came to rest on the cushion, jarring through his own leg. 

There were voices above him, but Noa wasn't sure if he could afford to parse them out. 

Then a small hand brushed his leg, and he let his eyes travel to the white-coated pixie touching him. 

The spell wavered, but held. The pixie looked up at him, expression serious. "What did you do?" 

Noa swallowed. Making words was difficult. "I told it to…um…he was bleeding out, so." 

"I can see that. And then?" 

"Then?" 

"After that?" The pixie flew up closer to his face. "What did you do next?" 

Noa shook his head. "Walked here." 

The human was bent over Daisuke's body, blocking Noa's line of sight. "The bleeding's still slowed, but…" She turned to Noa, looking perplexed. "Are you still casting?" 

Noa nodded. What other option was there?

The doctor just stared, and then pulled a chair from the wall. "Sit down before you fall over," she said. "And if you can, keep that spell up for a few more minutes." 

Noa nodded and somehow managed to land in the chair. 

Even with part of Daisuke's body obscured, he could feel it—the blood pumping and trying to drain away, the bone trying to slide out of place. Some of the feeling was in his head, and some in his leg, which pulsed with every beat of Daisuke's heart. 

Or maybe Noa's heart. He wasn't sure of the difference anymore. 

"I'm going to examine him," the human doctor said. "Keep doing what you're doing if you can, but don't push yourself too far." 

"Doctor," the pixie protested, going up to her shoulder. "This is—" 

As they conferred in low voices, Noa absently noticed Miyori flutter down to perch on his good leg. Yuko slid off him as well, though she drifted over to Daisuke's side, out of the way of the examination. 

Noa felt a few ghostly impressions of a leg moving. Most of Daisuke's pant leg was cut away, leaving the worst of the injuries visible. 

Seeing it was...difficult. 

"We need to remove the sigil next," the human doctor said. 

Noa stiffened. That would forcibly end the spell. "You can't—"

"It will be fine, son," she interrupted. "We have our own ways of stabilizing him, remember. I don't want to mix it with whatever you're doing, so get ready to lift the spell on my mark." 

She stepped away, and when she came back, she had a silvery fabric in her hands. The pixie doctor was carrying a stylus similar to the one Daisuke usually used. 

They were getting ready to perform a healing spell. A real spell, not the slapdash enchantment Noa had used. 

When the fabric was hovering over the leg, the doctor gave Noa a glance. "Now. Let it go. Take your time."

At first, Noa wasn't sure how to. But he grasped at the symbol on his leg and imagined a feeling of being done, of stepping back, letting the world return to what it had been. 

He felt the connection snap. It felt horribly, for one moment, like his leg had disappeared. 

But no, he could still feel his fingers digging into his thigh. He was fine. His leg was, and had always been, whole. 

Daisuke was—

The magic circle fell with a glimmer, and the pixie began inscribing around its edges with steady hands. 

Noa felt a wave of dizziness hit him out of nowhere, and slumped forward in his seat. Miyori took off with a sound of alarm. 

The human doctor didn't even turn around. "Put your head between your knees. Breathe. Don't try to move." Then, softer, "You've worked hard." 

Noa obeyed, shoving his head down as far as it would go and just breathing. 

It had worked. 

Maybe it shouldn't have. If you'd asked him before the situation arose, he would have said it was probably a bad idea to try a spell like that. 

But he had managed it. At least for a little while. 

And now fixing Daisuke wasn't his job anymore.