Memories of a Puppet

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Hydromancy had numerous properties besides divination, if mastered with absolute precision a whole deck of possibilities opened up in the hands of the caster, from reading memories to manipulating minds, even, as at the time, healing a person from near death.

"Come on, come on..." Muttered the witch.

The Order of the Abyss had taken its anger out on a certain Fatui, who was not in the best physical condition to fight from what Mona had seen when she found him in the woods of the Dawn Winery, full of wounds and weak. She considered leaving him there except that before he fainted he had the ability to put his pride aside and ask for her help, also because she had seen that a powerful poison had been used against him and, as hard as it was to admit, she was not going to let him die when she knew of methods that could save his life. She infused him with her hydro powers and carried him in her arms to her house, where she had the necessary resources. If things got worse she would call in alchemists like Sucrose and Albedo, she might even contact Lisa, but time was against her, she had done enough to get him to safety without complications besides the bad weather.

Mona went around the rooms bringing books and ingredients. The ones she really needed she left near Scaramouche, the others ended up scattered around the room. She was preparing an antidote for the poison, as hydromancy alone would not be enough to cure him completely with it attacking his body, she was also investigating through it what exactly had been used against him.

She made a circle with her hands infused with the element of hydro, she brought one hand under her chin as she quickly deciphered the symbology. Concluding the recent events was no big deal, but she concluded that the antidote alone would not be enough. She put the ingredients ready to be cooked in a cauldron, mixed it all together and let the mixture simmer, then returned to her room with intentions of healing his other wounds and continuing to try to purge the poison.

"You may not be human, but the Abyss has managed to create something that can affect you." She sighed. "You're lucky I have what you need."

Scaramouche was still unconscious, so there was no response from him. She carefully removed the cloth from his arms, locating numerous scratches and dirt on them. She activated her hydro powers again, with an elemental spark she placed her hands on him, concentrating on focusing hydromancy on healing. When she was done with his arms and part of his torso, she healed the ones from his legs. Asleep he seemed so peaceful that Mona wished he was always like that. She averted her light blue eyes to the hourglass and immediately sat up when she saw the few grains remaining, indicating that the antidote should be ready.

"It's a boosted universal antidote." she thought aloud. "This and hydromancy will suffice."

She set the test tube full of liquid on the stand placed on the bedside table next to the bed. She turned the hourglass back over, now marking the time it would take to cool. She had been controlling the poison with hydro spells until then, she activated her hands again to remove them and check his condition. Its vitality was getting weaker and weaker, it couldn't hold out much longer.

Mona took the container in her hands again to check its temperature, it was warm but not as hot as it was fresh from the cauldron. She positioned herself next to Scaramouche in order to have better accessibility, opened his mouth and poured the antidote without hesitation, ready to start the hydromancy session. She closed her eyes and placed her hands on his forehead, concentrating on healing him.However, she was immediately seized by his memories.

She opened her eyes again, aware that her hands were still transmitting elemental magic, but she was in a completely different place. It looked like a ruined blank space of Inazuma, she could tell by the reddish arches floating randomly in the middle of nowhere. Red and grey, those colours dominated the atmosphere, at least until Mona tried to step onto the fine sand. She squinted, two figures appeared in front of her, but she could not touch them, nor could they hear her. It didn't take long for the witch to figure out who the shorter one was....