Mirum Reactionem

June 18th, 1349

No, no, no, this is all wrong! Lucas sighed as yet another elixir came to nothing. He shot a dirty look at the Sanguinis Itinera. Some help you are... Looking up as the sunlight started streaming through the window, he realized he'd been up all night with nothing to show for it. There wasn't time for this! Hugo needed help, and he needed help fast! They had been able to hold off the Macula longer than he had anticipated, but it still wasn't enough.

Hearing the lab door open, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was Amicia. Her familiar footsteps approached cautiously as if she were afraid to scare him. Which, to be fair, she had done before. And no amount of soothing had made her feel better after ruining one of his previous concoctions.

"It's alright, Amicia. I hear you."

"How did you know it was me?"

He looked back at that face he knew all too well now and smiled. "I just know."

Those dazzlingly intense eyes looked exhausted and worried, and she asked the question he knew she would. "Any luck?"

Shaking his head, he looked back down at the book and raked his hands through his now excessively long hair. He made a mental note that he needed to cut it. "No, and it's possibly the fact that my laboratory is lacking..."

Her face looked crestfallen and defeated, and he hated feeling responsible for this. Tears were starting to form, and he quickly rushed over to her. "Hey, hey, it's alright! I'm here! We're going to figure this out I'm sure of it!"

Holding her shaking shoulders, he wished he could ease her pain if only for a moment. "What... are we going to do, Lucas? The first threshold is coming! And Mother is still gone! And Hugo thinks she may be dead now... I think that's why he's getting worse..."

"We still have time... If only I had the proper tools..."

Looking up, she looked as if lightning had struck. "What about my mother's tools?"

Beatrice's tools? "Do you know where they are?"

"I.... I think so."

Would she be able to go back to a place that held so many dark memories? He wasn't sure, but it was worth a shot. "Okay, let me get the Sanguinis Itinera and some potions and we can go."

"Please, hurry!"

"Go get what you need. I'll be right there."

He saw her dash out of the room and prepared what he needed as well. Moving as fast as his tired body would allow, he prepared for a long day. But for Amicia and Hugo it would be worth it. He hoped. For their sakes. Grabbing his cloak, he ran out of the room to find Amicia.

Coming to the common room, he saw Amicia bent over Hugo lying on his pallet near the fireplace, whispering words of encouragement to him. Her back was turned to him, and her brown braid laid on her back with her signature red ribbon intertwined. Lucas knelt down next to her and patted her shoulder. "It will be alright, Amicia. We can do this."

Wiping some tears from her eyes, she nodded.

Lucas looked to Hugo who slept fretfully. The ominous black veins were becoming clearer on his face, and Lucas shuddered at how far the Macula had moved in such a short period of time. Apparently when it progressed, it progressed quickly. It's like it didn't want them to have a chance to cure him. It felt as if it had lulled them into a false sense of security. As if it were intelligent, almost vindictive.

"We'll be back, Hugo. We will heal you!" she hugged him one last time, and stood determined.

They proceeded to the courtyard where the other three orphans stood talking in the sunlight of the early morning hours. Stopping mid-conversation, they all watched them concerned.