A Shield of Faith (BOOK 4)

Chapter 36

MARIA

"Taste this." Maria tapped the quill against her clipboard, full of a list of things Yuven required for his specific diet, and with Neven as parental, and moral support, she wanted to get through the first steps while there was yet a downtime within the citadel. Back against the wall of black marble, she readied herself to write down every little reaction, down to the microexpressions — not that Yuven ever tried to hide his exact thoughts.

Yuven gagged the longer the assorted package of curated fruits remained in his mouth. He spit it out into the bin on his bed. "That tastes awful," he complained with a point at the basket of what she compiled together. "I don't remember it tasting like manure."

"Your turn, Neven," Maria said as she wrote down Yuven's negative reaction, with him sticking his tongue out.

Another reason for the older Avaerilian's presence — an unwitting experimental comparison. He chewed at one of the packages, licking his lips with a small shake of his head. "It tastes fine, if a bit bland. What ingredients were used?" He continued to chew on it as he opened one of the packages, before picking at the small parts which made a whole.

Meanwhile, Yuven continued to shake out his head with a tightening grimace as he sipped at the broth Maria left on the alchemy station for his benefit, drawing his thumb over his lip as his expression cooled into his typical annoyance. "I'd take bland than what I think I just tasted."

"I suspect your sense of taste will take some time to adapt, we'll keep an eye on it, Yuven. For now, you're sticking with your diet," Maria said, then answered Neven. "Pieces of watermelon wrapped in a somewhat frozen paste made out of ginger. Helps with digestion, but yes... it's generally bland and fairly watery once bitten into it." Over onto another page when she filled the previous one to its margins. "It's a step up from what you've been eating for the past week, Yuv." Maria smiled when Neven took another one of the packages after a second of thought, chewing on it in thought with a slight shrug. The only other person who refused more rest than she, with him refusing to leave Yuven's bedside. And I know you've been doing that for Turns, Neven. Longer than I have. You were afraid and still held onto that little piece of hope that things could take a different course. Maria shook out her shoulders and smiled at Yuven when he tugged out his feathers, and none fell out with the motion. But we're so close now, and there will be more answers to come. Maria unhooked the piece of paper to wrap it into her personal research tome, an entire compendium of everything she learned up to the present. Every bit and piece of research she scrounged up from the lowest levels of any library she came across.

"Am I to assume we will take steps out of my diet?" Yuven asked when he rested his hands on the edge of the bed.

"Everything is a bunch of small steps," Maria pointed out with a laugh at his return to mental form as Neven continued to eat what Yuven rejected. Violet tides swept over to sapphire beaches when Neven devoured another melon and ginger package. "We still have a lot of work to do... but you get to catch up on your rest." Maria tapped her quill pen against the table, then slipped it into the holder with the others. "You deserve it, Yuven. You've been non-stop since you got the call of an Anima, rushing to Tebora with Fenrer, then bringing Adara back with everything in between."

"Hm." Yuven gave a short huff, then headed to Neven, looking almost like a kicked puppy. "And what have you to comment on, Neven? You usually have some thoughts on things, even if you don't always deign to share them."

"I think you should listen to Maria," Neven said after swallowing the next package, reaching for another one. "I've always taught you that everything can be split into smaller steps, and each one must be treated like the victory it is."