The Path We Walk

Ch.22 Old Wounds

  I look Error over. He was out cold and was losing a lot of magic. "It's pretty bad. I'm going to get him to the infirmary. You get Wine and Nightmare to meet me there." I order. Dust immediately goes to follow my instructions.

  I carefully pick up the black skeleton and shortcut there. I go over and lay Error down on a bed. He groans. I'm now covered in his dust and magic, but I ignore that. I'm not sure if Error can take my healing magic with his magic specialty being destruction, but he needed immediate healing. I grab a pair of surgical scissors from the side drawer and start cutting off his cloths. They were in the way and in tatters anyway. I do make sure to set his scarf to the side though. Once I could see exactly what I was working with, even in my emotionless state, I had to fight not to throw up. Both legs and arms were broken in several places. His spine was shattered. His ribs were broken and falling apart. His pelvis covered in cracks. His skull was also cracked up and had a stain of red ink that seemed to be burning him. He was littered with cracks and scars, old and new. Everything was coated in his dust and magic.

  I get to work quickly cleaning him and slowly letting my healing magic flow into the wounds. I make sure to keep it localized to not overwhelm his system. I could feel his magic testing my own. I make sure to concentrate my intent on remaining neutral. I couldn't let my will try to overpower his. He needed to accept it on his own. Just then someone comes slamming through the door. By the feel of the negative aura, it must be Nightmare. "What the hell happened! Dust just came running into my office saying Error is in the infirmary! Oh my deities, Error!" Nightmare yells. I ignore him for now, and continue my work.

Wine then runs in with Dust trailing behind him. He abruptly stops when he sees Error's state and what I'm doing. He snaps out of it and starts to help me clean Error's wounds. "How are you healing him?! His body doesn't accept healing magic, because of his destruction magic!" Wine asks confused.

  "Her magic alignment and intent are completely neutral. Error's magic is accepting it and is doing the rest. He can't accept light aligned healing due to his destruction magic." Nightmare says fascinated. I nod my head.

  "Isn't it really rare for a monsters magic to be neutral? I know yours and Error are, but most of the time it leans one way or the other. Even most judges aren't actually neutral. It's even more rare for a healer to have neutral magic alignment, since they lean towards light with their kindness trait." Dust says.

  "Not many have a neutral magic alignment, but anyone who does can train themselves in a multitude of magics. They may lean more towards some, but it's not out of the realm of possibility with hard work and time. Aster actually uses BRAVERY magic all the time to channel her WILL even without it being her main or secondary traits. Now, a neutral/neutral alignment is very rare. Most neutrals don't have the multiple main traits to be true neutrals. Some examples of multiple are you, Classic Sans, and Blue. Blue and Classic have JUSTICE and PATIENCE as main traits. You Dust, have DETERMINATION, PERSEVERANCE, AND PATIENCE as main traits. Classic is actually one of the only other true neutrals I know besides Aster. It's actually extremely uncommon for a true neutral to pick a side in conflicts. If Aster hadn't been in the situation she was, she likely would have remained a neutral party or completely outside the war. We got really lucky. Atlease now we have someone who can heal Error. We've only been able to do the basics of dressing his wounds and I can't use healing magic with my corruption." Nightmare explains.

  "Well it's a good thing I'm here, because I seriously question how Error hasn't died before now. Immortal god or no. All his injuries and a case of serious magic exhaustion, not to mention the old cracks, scars, and incorrectly healed breaks all over him. It's a wonder he can move at all. He's probably in constant agony. He must have some serious pain tolerance, which is concerning in and of itself. That's not getting into any mental and soul damage he must be suffering from. How have none of you taken care of Ink yet?! Errors basically being tortured for doing his job! When I get my hands on the melena stain and the idiot counsel, I'm going to be their torturer after dragging them into hell myself!" I told them.

  "Your going to have to get in line with the rest of us and Reaper. We honestly didn't realize it was this bad. We knew he would fight and disappear into the Anti-Void for a while, but he doesn't usually come here to get healed unless he can't treat it himself. Even then, he's still conscious. He'll only show us what he has to, and nothing else." Nightmare tells me.

  "Well this can't continue. We got lucky. His magic was dangerously low. He would have dusted without me being here to do healing. I'm not going to sugar coat it. It's going to take a while for him to get stable  even with his DETERMINATION. He's been fighting too hard, too long. He won't be able to go destroy until he recovers. He'll also need to go through some physical rehabilitation. I'm sure he's stubborn enough to be able to get around anyways, but it's a miracle he made it here under his own power. I can only imagine what could have happened to him if he didn't." I say as I continue my work.

  "We'll have to come up with a plan to keep the balance from tipping too much until he's back on his feet. We should also inform Reaper of his condition. I know the two of them are dating, so it would be better if we can get Reaper to keep Error from running off. Error wouldn't stay in bed unless Reaper was there holding him. Restraints would be a bad idea, considering some of his experiences in the past." Wine comments.

  "We'll have to call a meeting with everyone in the know. And much as I hate it, I mean EVERYONE. And, we need to take care of this immediately. Whether it's putting Ink out of commission or figuring out how to destroying universes for Error. Fresh can only do so much with his skill set. We don't have Error's ability in destruction magic and code. Dust, call Blue and have him bring Dream. Then, go get the rest of the gang. I'll go call everyone else together. Aster, Wine, keep working on him. Hopefully by the time we get everyone here, he'll be awake. We need to know exactly what happened." Nightmare orders.

  "Yes boss!" "Already on it sir."
"Don't have to tell me twice, Night."

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*Author Note: If you were confused about my insult to Ink, melena is a medical term used for tarry black stool. Sorry to those who use Melena as a name. Its name meaning is pretty. I meant no offense.*