TELOS TOU KOSMOU // Callahan X Reader

5

After getting settled in your new quarters (something that didn't take all that long, considering you only had a few earthly possessions and most things that you would be needing were already provided for you), you took inventory of Ceres, marking down what symptoms were showing already to see how far the illness had progressed.

If Ceres was to be believed, there wasn't too much you could do yet. They only complained of a mild headache, and occasional coughing fits. Nothing too drastic, but still a sure sign that the silver death was already in their veins, just laying in wait. You settled on giving them some of the preventative tea you had been using back at the clinic, telling them to drink the tea and some water, and rest.

Ceres had just waved a bemused hand at you, and rolled over in bed.

You weren't quite sure what sort of patient they would be - their sort of apathetic cynicism so far didn't bode well, but you had seen other people use similar coping mechanisms before. You decided to give them some space for now - they didn't need your immediate attention, after all, and you were sure they were still coming to terms with the fact that this was happening to them.

Plus, the caesar wanted a cure. And the sooner the better, before the symptoms started getting worse.

With that in mind, you slipped out of your quarters and headed back down to the palace doors, stepping out into the now warmer morning. The guard standing nearby to the door seemed mildly surprised when you headed for the woods behind the palace instead of the gardens, but you paid him no mind - you were well within your rights to go for a forage, the woods was no mans land.

And really, you needed to. While the herbs and solutions you had brought from the clinic were going to be useful (it was why you had brought them, after all), they were getting to the point where they were going bad. Around the clinic, there hadn't been much time to gather fresh supplies what with the constant influx of patients, and it would be a nice change not to have to work from the bottom of the bottle every time.

As you plunged into the forest, undergrowth snatching at the bottom of your tunic, you savored the smell of the trees around you. It had been too long since you had had a moment for yourself - and you desperately needed one. It felt strange to be able to go foraging after so long cooped up in the clinic, but the greenery was much needed, your eyes easily finding a trail of thicker brush that would surely lead you to some water source - a place much likelier for herbs to grow.

As you followed along with the leaves, the silence surrounding you was filled with your thoughts. Stress about Ceres condition and the cure was at the forefront of your mind, singing in harmony with the lament of all the people who had already died from this. You had a unique opportunity to do more good than you would have been able to at the clinic here, and you would be a fool to waste it.

Not to mention that you would be failing the caesar if Ceres were to die - and without a cure, surely they would.

The trees around you grew thicker as the ground sloped downward - another sign of a water source nearby. With how the palace had access to running water, you had been sure of at least a few springs around here - it was only a matter of time before you found one, and hopefully, the plant life that thrived around it.

It would be another matter of assessing just what you would be able to use. Your knowledge of herbs and other foliage was exemplary (as most healers were), but your knowledge of the plague was less than satisfactory to say the least. A disease like this, that came out of nowhere and killed so quickly, was hard to study though, meaning a cure would be hard to reach.

Perhaps if you tried for something to stall the symptoms first...

The ground beneath your feet sloped downward more steeply now and you found yourself having to use some of the smaller trees to catch yourself as you stumbled down the bank. The cheery gurgle of a brook was delightful to hear though.

A stream of clear water swirled past you, surrounded by some of the most hearty plant life you had ever seen - probably because it was untouched by men. Exactly what you would need to get to work on a cure.

You didn't even mind that your sandals were getting wet as you examined the plant life around you, pulling your knife from your belt to begin pruning sprigs that you thought could be useful. You were careful not to disturb the plants too much - you would no doubt be coming back here from time to time.

What a wonderful little secret this was though. If you hadn't been able to follow the signs you would have never found it - a real travesty. Everything you could possibly need resided here in some form or another - feverfew sprang up in little bunches from the ground, accompanied by echinacea. Gingko trees around the place offered their leaves down to you in little bundles. If you hadn't known better, you would have thought someone had planted it all here...

A rustle from the bushes behind you stopped your train of thought in its track, sending a shiver of panic down your spine. Your hand withdrawing from the bundle of milk thistle it had been about to grab, you slowly turned, mind filling with all a matter of wild animals that could be lurking in this wood.

A pair of soft brown eyes peered out from one of the clumps of brush, staring directly at you.