Medics & Outcasts

II Animus

 '...Animus? I highly doubt what's happening is a good thing.'

 I stared at the unfolding spectacle without any notable feeling. I could tell that much, I wasn't stupid.

 'Totally believe you there,' of course, Kastro is always the first to criticize me. I don't mind, Endo can be a little... well, I know he's going to be a nuisance again anyway.

 I pulled Diamond closer to the platform right as a tree sailed over us, instinctively feeling the telltale shiver of one of my barriers stitching itself around both of us. Wait, no no no, I didn't say I wanted to create a barri—

 My vision went white, buzzing for a moment before I ended up in an office; my mind. A flurry of flowy black curls engulfed my field of vision before I felt myself being checked over frettingly, ice-blue eyes assessing me worryingly. I didn't say anything, purposefully turning my gaze away and instead looking at the blond teenager who was also staring right at me, stormy brown eyes glaring at seemingly... nothing? Oh.

 "...Eilenna?" I called out quietly, sighing in relief when she finally backed away. Her concern was overwhelming sometimes.

 Eilenna hummed, inciting me to speak.

 I glanced at Kastro again—the blond teenager—and he shrugged. I sighed and gave Eilenna a small grin, "I need to find something, cover for me."

 It didn't matter that she was in my head, she couldn't tell it was a lie. It just so happens that the one who could was Endo, the shadowy mass also stuck in my head who's apparently hell-bent on ruining my life and mental state; there's not much he can do about that though, so I'm not worried.

Eilenna
~

 The first thing I felt was the wind.

 The wind wasn't a gentle breeze however, it was a harsh cutting gust. I wrinkled my nose—Animus didn't say it was this bad. I thought my teeth would shatter from how hard they were gritted. Did he break his bones?! Since when? I coughed, trying to stay upright; if his body wasn't instinctively taking it, then it must be bad.

 The wind died down, yet at the same time, the shadows grew in strength. I hissed in pain when I felt the bone pieces—oh and apparently, his bones were more than broken, they were literally shattered—piece themselves back into place like a puzzle, moving from wherever they ended up within the leg and back in their original spot. I gasped in pain when the nerves and muscles weaved and reattached themselves.

 I zoned out for a moment, reappearing in the office. Kastro rolled his eyes at me and gestured towards the medic who was speeding around. I waited for a few seconds before I reached out to grab the back of Animus' shirt—I have no idea how this works.

 "Can you tell me how you forgot to tell me your leg bones were shattered?"

 Animus blinked, confusion flickering on his weirdly pretty face, "Last I checked, I only had an abdominal injury, not shattered bones."

 I let go of him, raising my hands in surrender. Was he being serious?

 Bracing myself for the pain, I zoned back in. And of course, that was enough time for me to get another injury. I resisted the urge to yell out in pain while biting my lip. Moments passed in unnecessary physical misery, my mind reeling; Stitch never felt like this usually, I would know. I've never heard any of Animus' patients mention any extreme pain so...

 I frowned at the metallic taste inside my mouth.

 Did the pain only apply to the healer, notably, Animus?

 "Animus!"

 I snapped my head up; it was Diamond, the youngest of the Stone siblings. Yikes, this won't end well.

 'Let's switch.'

 What a relief--at least Kastro is much more willing to throw himself at the sharks. I'm not the fighter type, at all.

 'Don't make me regret this, damn it.'

 I snorted and zoned out, arriving in time to see Kastro fade into consciousness. Operating this body is much too difficult in my opinion; it makes me worry even more, actually. Talking about worry... where did Animus go?

Kastro
~

 I sighed, heaving myself up as the sparkle Stone approached, "I'm fine."

 I've played the owner's role enough times for my somewhat different attitude to pass off as normal to everyone else. It was a good thing Animus usually wore a mask since it hid the fact that his eyes turned brown every time I take control. One of the few who would notice is the goth Stone and she probably did--I'm glad I'm not nefarious, I have no doubt that she'll learn how to exorcise people at some point in her life.

 Whatever.

 Little Lady Sparkle gave me a once-over and nodded, pulling me along to go who knows where. I didn't even ask, just deciding to comply.

 Eventually, we ended up at the entrance of a crystal cave and she let go of my arm, absentmindedly rubbing her hands on her dress; One, rude, two, how did she even manage to go through all of that while wearing a dress? We don't talk about goth queen and her mother who I am fully convinced were wearing heels of all things. Legends, all of them.

 That aside, why was Ms Porcelain so relaxed? Scratch that--why was everything so... calm? Wasn't there a destructive wind going awry at the moment? A bunch of shadows rampaging and destroying everything?

 "Thraxi's here," Princess Prism suddenly spoke up, darting into the cave. I acted like I didn't see her hesitate for a moment, as if she was going into overdrive thinking about what she was doing--fun fact, I used to live in Iceland, and this place seems kind of stuck in a modern Victorian-era or something. Not the point. I followed her in.

 I don't have the energy for this.

 'That's fine, I'll go back now,' Animus' voice rang out in my head. I almost sighed in relief.

 Almost.

Animus~

 Let me be honest here.

 I loved this turn of events.

 I almost cackled, but instead let a grin slip onto my face, hands subconsciously reaching out to take my sister's hands into mine, "He's gone."

 Diamond looked freaked out, eyes flitting toward our joined hands in transparent confusion then at my face. She froze for a moment, eyes slowly taking in my features before she blinked, brows furrowed as she tore her hands away, "What?"

 My grin stayed intact. I gestured for her to pick up Thraxi and to follow me; she did exactly that, expression still wary of me. I didn't care. I watched Diamond lay our sister on a long slate before turning on my heels to look at her, "Father. He's gone!"

 You see, the only ways for Enrage to be deactivated are for the user to retract it or for them to die. I had seen Thraxi's shadows; they wouldn't have stopped until their target was gone, their attacks withdrawn or not. Sure, they weren't powerful enough to kill immediately but there was absolutely no doubt.

 Father will die.