The Saros Cycle

V - Blood and Flame

V - Blood and Flame

Lily wiped the tears from her face and took the cloth again. She submerged it in the water bucket, wrung it out, and put it back on Touma's forehead. The boy lay on his sleeping bag, his face red, breathing ragged and laborious, with a few sweat drops falling down his face. Occasionally, he moved a bit, his breathing accelerating, but other than that, he gave no more life signs. Steed was floating near its master, scanning him with its sensors.

"His current body temperature is 39.6° C," the Device said. "It seems it has stopped rising."

The girl nodded, sitting next to Touma. Lily glanced at the sky. Night would soon be upon them, and Isis had left just a couple of hours ago. After Touma collapsed, the two of them had tended to him as best as they could. Isis offered to go looking for medicine in a nearby town, and Lily agreed to stay behind. She could not walk that well just yet, and with her faulty memory, she would not even know what to look for. All she could do now was wait.

Lily grabbed the edge of her skirt, clenching her hands around it. She felt useless. This was all her fault, and there was nothing she could do to fix it. She had to depend on others, as usual. Touma had been so kind and good to her, but all she brought him were troubles, and now he might end up hurt for real. Lily's eyes started to burn, but she refused to shed more tears, rubbing her eyes right away.

"Is there something wrong?" Steed asked.

"No, it's nothing. Don't worry," she said quickly, not wanting to concern the Device.

"... I'm sorry. Could you please say something?" Steed sounded apologetic as he pointed to itself with one of his cables. "It seems your telepathy cannot reach me, and I am unable to hear you."

"Sorry, I..." Lily shook her head.

"Apologies, insufficient functions." The little camera did a bow. "I will scout our surroundings. I shall be right back."

"... Thanks, and I am sorry, Steed," Lily said anyway.

Her voice was something she had lost and didn't knew why. The girl let out a sigh and kept her vigil. The wind started to pick up, so she took Touma's coat and put it on top of the blankets they were using to cover him. Lily still felt so powerless and guilty. The people at that strange lab had always refer to her as a 'poison that kills anything it touches' and looking at Touma now she could hardly argue against them. She even told Isis as much when they went for water earlier.

"Don't be so negative Lily!" Isis had said then. The purple haired girl placed her hands on her shoulders "Is not like is proven you caused this. Don't believe what those suspicious people said, ok? I'm sure Touma would say the same thing."

Lily wanted to believe her but... she glanced at her bracelet. She had done something to Touma and that formed a bond between them. She wasn't sure what that meant only that they were linked. What if that bond had left Touma in this state? When he had been fighting at the church Lily had felt his pain and rage, how he was taken her energy to wielded as his own. Was she doing the same now? Lily shook her head. It didn't seem like it was the case and despite previous attempts she couldn't remove the bracelet. It was all too confusing.

'Maybe it would have been better if I stayed in that place' she thought, sadly. The laboratory had been a true hell of pain, death, and suffering, but if she had not escaped Touma would not be in this situation right now.

Lily hugged herself. She was happy to have meet Touma and Isis, but on the other hand she felt terrible for all the troubles she was causing them. If was curious, if she mentioned this both of them would probably scold her for thinking such a thing. It made her smile a bit. A sudden movement in front of her startled her and she felt back.