Part II: More Magic, More Fantasies

Chapter 22- Healing Wounds

"So, let me get this straight. There were three airships, and two of them got knocked out of the sky?"

"Mm-hmm." Spencer-Lynn nodded as she patched up your knee.

"And some of our friends are, for lack of a better term, stuck in a hole?"

"Yep." She nodded.

"So, the blonde lady-"

"Maceida," Spencer-Lynn interrupted you.

"What?"

"Maceida is her name," replied Spencer-Lynn as she finished wrapping your knee. "She's my sister."

"Oh. Oh, okay." You nodded. "So, what's she do? Why is she here with us?"

"She's in the military, usually in a branch that serves in Bodhum. Lightning is her underling. The two of them were assigned to supervise our group as we headed to Pulse, along with a special agent, Lima Marciano. Our ship got attacked, and it started to fall, but luckily Snow and his cousin broke our fall."

"We intended to come rescue you," Hope continued, "on our ship. But, on our way our ship got attacked by Caius- or what looked like Caius. He seemed to be hallucinating, and somehow he'd gotten over to a rocket launcher. He blew us right out of the sky; most of us are okay, but some aren't doing so well."

"Wait, but..." You sighed. "I'm still confused."

"If it helps, we're all a little confused, and we have all our memories," Spencer-Lynn said as she stood. "Rest. No sneaking off with cute guys again, okay?" She winked.

"Stay put." Hope pointed to your bed. "It's bad enough that you disappeared-"

He began to cough.

"All right, enough out of you, Estheim," Spencer-Lynn said. "You need to be in bed too; that cough sounds terrible. Come on, let's go, I'll bring you some tea to help," she ushered him out of your room, holding him by the shoulders.

You sighed. How could you rest? You still had so many unanswered questions...

~~~~~

"The next crystal we're looking for is in fact on Gran Pulse," Rasa said, pointing to an interactive map. "There are two in the Pangaean countries, but those will be more difficult since no magic can be used."

"Wait, why can't we use magic?" asked Lightning.

"People will freak the fuck out, that's why," replied Maceida. "Don't you remember the rule about that, Farron?"

There was a rule in the military: when in countries that were ignorant to the existence of magic, or where magic was rare, the use of magic was prohibited to prevent mass hysteria. Lightning had never intended to go to such places, so she'd filed that bit in the back of her mind.

"Oh. I apologize for my ignorance, Lieutenant."

"You know, while we're doing this thing, you're allowed to call me Maceida. It's not as if either of our ranks mean a damn thing here, anyway." She flipped her hair aside. "Rasa- that only equals four crystals. What about the other three?"

"Haven't revealed themselves yet." He shrugged.

"I see. Lightning, have you been in contact with Rune and the others recently?"

"Yes, they should be here at around 1600 hours," she replied. "Or would you prefer me to say 4 p.m.?"

Maceida smiled. "There's that sass I've been waiting to hear."

"Uh... yeah..." For a second there, Lightning's face turned the color of her hair.

"Well, at any rate, that's soon. We should be preparing for their arrival. Light, who's on board?"