The Heart

Two weeks had passed since the banquet. Sophia sat with Cathie at a small restaurant on her insistence, again. There never was any saying no to the girl. And it was something that Sophia took some enjoyment from. It took her away from the castle and politics, the death and disease of clinics. For Cathie, she was still just Sophy. She didn’t know how much she needed that until she grabbed her for lunch.

Cathie ordered for her, which made it simple. ‘I miss Cathie. When I was in the Academy I could just see her anytime. Even though I didn’t. But I didn’t realize how much her being gone hurts. I can’t see her normally. I have too many responsibilities. Especially right now. But don’t think about it. Henri sent me off as well. Maybe I do need this.’

“You look really tired Sophy! Are you sleeping?”

“I just got back from Nohl and healing three towns of the Blue Dream.”

Her friend munched away on a dessert. “What were you doing there?”

“My duties. I could barely sleep with the knights always watching and thinking about what happened. Last night was the first good sleep I’ve had.” Sophia thought about her future. ‘But tomorrow I have to get back out there and push back the Dream. I wish Master and I were making more progress.’ Efficient healing was challenging as it required targeted forms of purifications and restoration. It had to only target the specific ailments and not do anything extra like an all-purpose healing spell. And Blue Dream attacked the body so deeply it required so many arrays to perfect. It almost made the general spell better. It could take months more from what he said.

“You need a break, Sophy. It’s like you’re wrestling a hog. You’re just tiring yourself out.”

“People are dying when I stop, Cathie. It’s not that easy.” Sophia pushed around the bread roll on her plate. ‘She’s sounding like Henri. I wanted to not think about any of this for a moment. I thought I was supposed to be relaxing.’

“You’re not the Sophy I know anymore. Sophy’s all sad and dreary now. Like you’ve been rolling around in the mud, but not the fun sort. What’s wrong?”

Her head fell back against the chair. It grated against her a little, but she didn’t move. “It feels like I’ve been in the mud for months. This is endless. I’m not going to beat it.”

“Then maybe don’t, Sophy?”

Sophia popped back up. ‘How could she say that? People are dying!’ Her finger crushed the bread. “Nearly everyone will be dead, Cathie. I can’t stop. That’s the problem.”

Cathie downed her whole dessert quickly, still not showing any more care than before. “If the barn’s on fire, you don’t fight it alone. You get the whole family to fight it.”

“There’s only one of me. There are no other Saints. And magic doesn’t work here. If I could have another hand helping me I would accept it immediately.”

“I guess I don’t understand, Sophy. Magic is all fluffy and airy, I’m too dumb to get it. Sorry.”

A sigh came out of her. “No, it’s not your fault. I barely get it and I’m the Saint. There’s just no other way.”

Silence hung for a moment as her friend drank her tea. It was hard to tell if Cathie was thinking or just enjoying her drink. Her face was even harder to read than Henri, which became easier lately. Cathie was a stone wall, like the castle. “Maybe you need to find a different way then?”

“We have been, but it may be too late.”

“It’s never too late to have a new idea, Sophy! You just have to think about it differently.”

Picking the bread, she ate a little bit of it. The sweet warmth of the insides had lost its appeal and novelty for Sophia. She grimly stared at it questioning another bite or not. ‘I wish I had her optimism to just say that. I’ve been trying. We’ve been trying. But time is against us.’

“Think about what Mr. Edward always said. When a problem can’t be solved by yourself, find someone else.”

“That’s what I’ve been doing, Cathie.” The longer that she listened the more her head was starting to ache. It started to make her rub her forehead. ‘I haven’t had a headache in months. Forgot how taxing they are.’

“Then you just need to get a whole bunch more! Lots and lots and just absorb everyone’s ideas until it comes out! Just pop!”

‘Just pop.’ She smiled a little at the simplistic view. But then she turned up looking directly at Cathie. ‘Why is that familiar?’ Sophia stopped rubbing her head.

“Repeat what you said Cathie.”

“About getting friends?”

“After that.”

“You just have to suck up everyone's ideas like water! Fill yourself up with it and get a whole new idea!”

“Suck up… Absorb… Irst Eurten Whelin Catholid.” The Sulish phrase that they had her repeat for the oath came to her. Had it been anything else she wouldn’t have remembered, but Sulish stuck in her. “Is it really so simple? It’s a phrase, not a whole paragraph. It wouldn’t need context.” She went for her bag that she always carried on her, but it wasn’t there. She wasn’t in the Academy anymore. Her notes weren’t on her. ‘I remember seeing Eurten in that book I borrowed from the royal library. But the rest…’

Sophia stood up, making the chair slide back roughly. “Cathie! Can you get me into the library?”

“Yeah…but are you still allowed in?”

“I’m the Saint, why wouldn’t I?”

She leaned over the table. “You haven’t returned the books you borrowed have you?”

“I was turned into the Saint. I’ve been busy.” She hurried over to Cathie’s side. “Can you? I need to check something.”

“Sucked up my ideas?”

“Something like that.” Only two of the words were solved. ‘I don’t like what I’m feeling. I need some answers.’

Bouncing out of the chair, she waved to the baker and grabbed Sophia to charge down the street. They had thankfully paid when they got their food. But left the table with food sitting out. Cathie had a new goal and focused completely on it.

It took a little sneaking and some exercising her Saint status, but they got into the library. It wasn’t quite like the castle with knights everywhere. She wasn’t going to have much threat, but she didn’t want everyone to know. Sophia needed quiet, not attention. For as long as it lasted.

Sophia already dug through the back shelves when Cathie returned. “Mr. Erthin’s doing well! He’s looking a little sick, coughing a lot. Hope, he gets better.”

“Thanks for keeping his eyes off me.” She found the book that she wanted and started flipping through. Ideas already started to form while she was rushing to the Academy. “If I’m right and I’m not sure I want to be. We might be able to help Mr. Erthin.”

“All those ideas coming together.”

“Something is. There! To absorb or contain, I was remembering it right. And the rest.” She hurriedly flipped through the book. ‘I should have looked into it. If I hadn’t just accepted everything at face value, I would have realized sooner. I’ve been in literature for so long, I forgot that simple commands don’t use the same construction.’ Her hand stopped. The book dropped from her hands. “They lied to me. They lied to all of us!”

She fell back against the shelf with the realization. ‘But even knowing this… What can I do?’ Cathie came over and knelt down picking up the book. She tried to return the book back to her. “I learned what I needed. I don’t need it anymore, Cathie.”

“What do you need now? More ideas to suck up?”

Sophia smiled roughly and hugged Cathie. “No, I don’t know. I thought the command did something different. I thought it could fuel a kingdom wide spell, but it won’t work.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s nothing. Better you’re in the dark.” A lie was a lie, just not the one that she hoped for. This wasn’t going to help their plan. But she helped Cathie put the book away and straightened up those that were loosened from her falling backwards.

As they were starting to walk away, Cathie coughed roughly. She paused as it went through her body. Sophia in a panic went to look at her arm. “No blue. Are there any marks on you, Cathie?”

“Marks? Like that Blue Dream disease? I don’t think so. It’s just the usual cough I get every few weeks. I’m fine, Sophy!”

She nodded. ‘Yeah, I had a cough too. And back pain and headaches, my bones ached. I always put most of it on bad sleeping habits and sitting in chairs all day reading. A lot of the professors were suffering similarly. But it’s all gone now. Is it really that simple?’ Sophia still had Cathie’s hand. She focused.

Casting a spell was something that she had already understood well. But transferring mana, that was different. ‘I remember some of Master’s books saying that it could help stabilize patients on the edge of death. But if this is true. Did they know?’ It was a little hard, she knew that she had to be very careful. Too much mana could destroy her body or rupture organs. But it shouldn’t be much that was needed. ‘I’m glad I’ve gotten better with my control. I wouldn’t have been able to do this two months ago. There!’

A momentary glow of blue shined through Cathie’s skin and faded. She nodded and then checked on her friend. “How do you feel?”

“Feel? I’m fine, you don’t have to worry.”

“No, I need a clear answer, Cathie. Physically, are you feeling better? The cough, a fever, whatever you have. How do you feel?”

She blinked and looked away in quiet examination. In a long painful moment, she returned. “It doesn’t feel as itchy or yucky anymore. My belly’s not angry anymore. A little better?”

“It’s not perfect proof, but I think I actually have an idea. And I’m sorry, Cathie. You were right. I can’t do this alone.”

Her friend looked at her confused, but smiled anyway. “I knew you would find an answer, Sophy!”

“I need to see the King immediately. We have a lot to discuss.”