An Immortal's Favour

Gale- Who You Are, Part 3

*

The next morning, I found Karlton in the reception area, wearing an outfit even more unusual than his ensemble the evening before. "Hello, Karl, did you sleep well?"

"I did. And Karl?" He quirked an eyebrow.

"Can I call you Karl?"

"Guess so." Karlton shrugged. ''I got a call from Jacob earlier this morning. He should be here at any moment."

"Oh, that's wonderful! I really can't wait! So are you going anywhere in particular? I'm not sure about your outfit; it looks like it'll rain again." I eyed the bright red knee shorts and floral shirt he had on.

"I'm going to explore the city for a bit more while I have the chance. And I have a coat in my bag. The rain seems a long way off, anyway."

"While you have the chance?"

"I'm going back home tomorrow, Bo. I've done all I've needed to do here."

"Oh...right. How about I join you after I've finished up with this morning's session?"

Karlton smiled a rueful smile and reached down to pat my shoulder. "Don't worry yourself. Get going now, or you'll be late."

Half an hour after the both of us had left The Zendua, after arriving at the correction school, I found only three of the five remaining children in the outdoor enclosure. The light grey clouds that'd loomed overhead earlier looked to be thinning down.

"Where's everyone else?"

"Sekou and Adama are behind in their other sessions, so they won't be coming," Aminata answered.

"Well, they'll just have to catch up. Over here, children."

Nene, Aminata, Hawa, and I sat over one of the tiles and got into practising right away. The children were catching on okay, maybe a little too slowly for my liking in some cases, but there wasn't much I could do about that.

"Nene, could you join us here, please?" She shuffled over obediently.

"It's not hurting you to cast still, is it?"

"No." I wasn't convinced; Nene couldn't even look me in the eye and pursed her lips.

"Let me see your arms."

My fingers brushed against her smooth skin as I checked over her palms, the back of her hands and her forearms.

"Can I finish practising now?"

"Wait." The girl groaned, dropping her head and letting her hair fall over her face. "You don't happen to have any strange bruises anywhere, do you?"

"...On my right shoulder."

"Let me see." Nene pulled back the sleeve of her tunic, revealing a nasty, purple mark no larger than the size of her palm.

"It's nothing," she bit, even though she winced sharply at the touch of my prodding fingers. Tears of frustration welled up in my eyes. She had a stubborn streak, that much was clear, but to have kept something like that from me was undoubtedly foolhardy.

"Is everything alright?" one of the supervisors asked, coming forward.

"There's a problem. Is there anywhere I could take Nene inside? She's hurt." I kept my voice level, feeling the sting of panic slowly rising through me.

"What about the others?" The supervisor inclined his head towards Aminata and Hawa.

"The session's over for today," I decided, helping Nene up. The fact that she'd stopped protesting scared me more than it should have, and, as I moved through the corridors, a pain gripped at my chest. The supervisor led me to the girl's dormitories, into the room that Nene shared with Hawa, and half a dozen others.

"Please, find someone who can keep an eye on her. I need to retrieve a few things." Leaving no room for response, I sprinted away, forgetting even to sign myself out at the reception, which only resulted in me being called back again.

The likelihood of the marketplace having the things I'd need were slim and only the gods knew whether Jacob had made it back yet, with his car, where my plants might've been if had I not forgotten to pack them. At the end of the street, I stood, facing the intersection. One road lead to the nearest tram stop, and the other to the marketplace. Panting, I ran in the direction of the stop.

Upon entering The Zendua, I chased after a figure that'd just started to ascend the stairs to the lodgings above. I grabbed the arm of a startled Jacob.

"Gale? Wha-"

"Car park. Now."

Tugging one of my trunks free from all of the others once Jacob had finally gotten the boot to open, and after a lot of shouting from me, I let my fear cool- though not by much.

I weaved through streets, bouncing on the spot until the arrival of the next tram, and didn't dare allow myself to relax until my red tea had made its way down Nene's throat. I tore, tossed and crushed the other plants with a spoon inside of the cup I'd been provided with, mixing the pasty mess at the bottom with whatever tea was left.

Nene's breaths came in broken, laboured pants and she forced herself to sit up, pressing a hand tentatively against her bruise. "It still hurts."

"Lie back." She did as I asked, and I smoothed my plant mixture over her shoulders.

"Will this stop the pain?"

"It will. But you should've said something. The moment you got the bruise, you should've said."

"I..I-" Nene started to cry, bawling and hiccuping with such energy that I had no hope of understanding her. Reaching forward, I pulled her into a gentle hug, allowing her to cry instead of shushing her.

"I don't want to control it! I want it to go away! Take it away!"

"I'll just wait outside." Somebody holding a first aid box slipped out of the room, leaving only me, Nene and the supervisor from earlier.

"It's a part of who you are, Nene; I can't take it away. Nobody can."

"Grandma called me a cursed child," Nene said, wrapping her arms around herself. She winced, regretting that decision immediately.

"Listen to me."

I moved away to get a better look at her face. "You're not cursed. You have a gift and you're going to learn how to use it. You've already taken the first step by coming to the sessions."

Snivelling, Nene struggled to catch her breath. "I'm so scared."

"That's okay. You're not the first to be."

I spent the next three hours going over the breathing techniques and everything else with her, even leaving the last of my felshiberry leaves for her to make more red tea with. When I'd decided it was time for me to leave, I let Nene hug me one last time, and just as I was about to go, I remembered that there was one person I had yet to see. After a few minutes of persuasion, the supervisor took me to Oumar.

Jacob was still waiting in the reception area by the time I'd finished. His arms were crossed tightly over his chest, and his head lolled to one side. Shaking his shoulder, I called out to him.

"Huh-"

"Jacob?" I whispered. "I'm done. We can go."

"Did you say you're finished?" he drawled, rubbing at his eyes.

"Yes. Let's go, sleepy man."

*

Discussion: Nene and Gale patch things up at last! What do you make of this?

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