Sick Day

Leon returned after running an errand in town, with Helios greeting him and climbing onto his shoulder. However, Leon kind of shooed him down, he didn't feel right.

Helios listened, even though it upset him to do so, he noticed Leon walking almost in a circle before actually moving forward. He ran off to see if he could find help from someone, anyone.

He rushed his way up to the third floor, finding Leon's door was cracked open. He burst through it, finding Courtney lounging about.

"Friend is bad!"

"Huh? Who's bad? Was Leon being mean to you?" She asked him moving to the bed's edge.

"Friend is bad!" He said again, now pulling at her leg.

"Ok, ok I'll come with."

He raced ahead of her as she stuck close behind him. In the living room, his words were clearer. Leon was on a couch completely twitching as his face was sweat covered.

"Oh no…Leon...can you hear me?"

He just shook, his ears were ringing like a bomb went off next to his head. His unresponsiveness made Courtney heave him up, as she looked at Helios.

"I'm sorry I didn't know what you meant. Thank you, you probably just saved his life. But stay here for now. If anyone asks about him, say hos-pi-tal."

"Hos-pit-al."

"Exactly that!"

Courtney took him to see Remoire, using her vampiric speed without realizing it because of the situation. As soon as they got him in a.bed, Remoire was in the room in a hurry.

"So, what happened here? Did he get hurt again?"

"No. He's really sick. He won't respond to words or anything, it's like he can't hear me." Courtney responded with worry.

"Hmmm. Was he bitten by something venomous?"

"I don't know. Helios was with him, not me. And well..he's not very good with speech."

"Helios?"

"A baby dragon we're taking care of."

"That makes things more difficult here, and an interesting tidbit of news as well. Tell me, with your heightened sense, and ability to feel his pulse, what do you think is a possibility?"

"I think it's poisoning of some sort. He's really chilly but sweating at the same time, it just feels that way to me."

"Ok. I need you to clear out for a while, but as always I'll do my best."

Back at the castle, Serena is frantically searching around for Leon. Another call came in for help, but he wasn't anywhere to be found. When Helios saw her in that state, he stared at her wondering what was wrong. She almost tripped on him in her state, but the sight of him calmed her slightly. "Helios. Where's Leon?" She asked him sweetly.

He didn't really process names but he differentiated people still, though Leon was the only one called Friend. "Friend? Hos...pi...tal." He repeated it in syllables like how Courtney did to simplify it.

"Hospital? What happened to him?" She asked with concern.

"Sick."

"Sick? Oh no, who took him there?"

The small dragon thought for a moment, as if coming up with a name on the spot. "Pillows!"

"Who's..? Wait, I know who you mean. Thank you Helios." She leaned down to pet his head softly.

"Seems we need replacements today." She said to herself as she headed to the hospital. At the gate she ran into Courtney.

"Ah! Courtney! Can you do me a massive favor?"

"Can that wait for a moment? Leon's in the hospital and…"

Serena cut her off. "I know. Helios told me...Pillows." She chuckled to herself. "I need you to take his place for the day. Down south there seems to be some trouble, a group of Gatherers made their nest next to crop fields."

"Gatherers? That's very dangerous, I'm actually glad Leon can sit this one out. But I suppose I'm linking up with Maeva?"

"Indeed, we're a bit behind so we must make haste. And I'm going to sit with Leon in the hospital. Did Remoire say what was wrong with him?"

"Possibly poisoned. It seems the most likely."

"Dammit. Well...good luck Courtney. I hope it goes over well with no surprises."

The two shared a smile going their separate ways.

Serena rushed to the hospital as quickly as possible, and by the time she got to his room, Remoire had a diagnosis.

"Remoire! What's wrong with him?!"

"Well. By the test of his blood, and by his reactions. It was something unavoidable, oxygen poisoning. There was no bite wound from something venomous, nor did he suffer any kind of paralysis. His body hasn't acclimated to the conditions of this planet yet." Remoire explained. "The damage was caught early enough that I'll have him better in a day, but I suggest a controlled environment for a few days after."

"I see...thank you as always Remoire." Serena said in an exasperated sigh.

"My Queen. You seem very tired, if I may ask, have you been sleeping properly?"

"Heh, never getting anything past you is there? No, I've slept pretty badly lately. Especially since taking care of that energetic dragon…" She said with a bit of embarrassment.

"Hmm. Well, I have a bit of reprieve here in a moment, shall we have a cup of tea together?" She asked with a gentle smile.

"Hmm….Katrina should be home. So yes, I'd love that." She smiled back at her.

-

In a village in the South, Maeva patiently waited for what she thought would be Leon coming. But instead was greeted with a surprise guest.

"Courtney?! What are you doing here?"

Courtney sighed a bit as she looked at her. "I'm Leon's replacement, he got very sick all of a sudden, so he's in the hospital."

"Oh...dang. I hope he's ok…" She said with a bit of a sad face. But upon seeing Courtney's expression, she smiled softly and patted her on the arm. "But, I'm going to have a blast with you today, I've never had much one on one with ya. So let's enjoy this!"

Courtney couldn't help but smile warmly with her uplifting mood, not wanting to ruin the time between them. "You're right. Let's go kill a nest of Gatherers!"

Gatherers are a species that are known as Ants on Earth. They're only 3 feet in length with sizable jaws, and while small for the planet of Zeleon, they are only ever in groups up to a couple thousand.

But this nest isn't that large, only housing a couple hundred at most. Giving it only a B Class threat, a full nest is S Class in comparison. They get their name because they gather and deplete anything and everything within a five to thirty mile radius.

As they got to the nest, the Gatherers were already picking crops apart. Courtney made the first move, pulling her Halberd from it's space and cutting down a dozen in a single go. Maeva watched in awe of her, it was like a rookie observing a seasoned vet go to work.

"Damn...do you even need me here Courtney? You made that look like light work!" Her enthusiasm sounded like a cheerleader's.

"Come on, I still need someone watching my back too." She casually killed another without really trying.

Maeva felt extra motivation to show her stuff. She moved through another field and stabbed the heads of one Gatherer after another.

Courtney shook her head and kept working at the main field that she's in.

After finishing up the field, Maeva took a deep sigh. "Sheesh, there had to be about thirty here aloooone. Ugh, pest control is a tiring job."

Meanwhile Courtney had moved to another field killing well over a hundred of them. "Well, that seems to be it over here! I think we might've gotten all of them above ground.

"Then that just leaves the nest!" Maeva called out as she hustled over to Courtney. "But how will we get them out?"

"Easy." Courtney's hand had a black aura created around it, as she moved to the nest mound. She stuck her hand in blasting down more of the aura, causing the other Gatherers to perish down below.

"What...did you just do?"

"I killed them with black magic."

Maeva wasn't very close with Vampires so she had no idea what they were fully capable of. So this news made her kind of nervous to be around Courtney. "Umm...isn't that...like really bad for the users to be doing things like that?"

"Not for vampires, we were initially created from it. And being immortal, means we don't sacrifice souls, lifespan or anything important that Humans desperately need." Courtney giggled. "Are you fretting for my life that much Maeva?"

"Well. You are pretty close with everyone, and I actually like hanging with you myself. It's rare to find people who'll treat you like an equal without saying...oh the Nymph child, you're so special!! Makes me sick.."

"It's hard to meet a human that'll look past the fact I'm a vampire. Seems like that person tethered us together too, and I'm glad. So..I wanted to ask. Do you want to be part of the New Moon mayhem?"

"Courtney. The answer is yes. I'm not backing off, even if I'm not the Guardian."

"I'm glad. I don't know how much help we'll get….and I'm still nervous."

-

Later that evening Leon woke up to Helios sleeping on his arm. Courtney, Serena, Remoire, and Katrina are all there with him.

"To what do I owe this gathering? Actually...why the hell am I here…"

"Welcome back, lazy."

"Thank goodness! You're awake, Leon! You really gave me a scare earlier today."

"Indeed. We need to look after you a bit better as our important centerpiece."

"What happened? Seriously. I remember running an errand at the shop and then just a blank."

"You got oxygen poisoning. Zeleon's oxygen rich atmosphere finally proved too much for you. Which isn't unlikely being from Earth, but you hung in a while before getting it. I'm impressed with your toughness." Remoire patted his shoulder. "You need to relax a bit for a few days."

"That's probably the hundredth time I've heard that…."

"Hmm. You know what'll make you smile Leon. Guess who Helios nicknamed Pillows?"

"Courtney. There's no other answer." He retorted quickly.

"What's that supposed to mean Leon?!" Katrina let out a huff of frustration.

"Yeah...I'm Pillows apparently…" Courtney got bashful in admitting it.

Amongst the commotion Helios woke up. The moment he saw Leon with his eyes open he buried his head into his chest. Leon smiled warmly and hugged him. "Friend is okay!!!!!"

"Yeah buddy. I'm fine."

"He actually saved your life. You passed out in front of him initially."

"Really? You saved me? Well thank you even more! You're a smart dragon for being a little guy! I'm sure it won't be the last time you do either." He pet him softly, giving the little hero his props.