The house of rhapsody (Book 1 Of The Sanctuary and War Series)

Camaraderie can make for self destructive behaviour

Zane was admittedly not much of a healer. He traversed around the room with the bowl of calming oil. It smelled of fresh herbs, like sage and mint. The blend strengthened spiritual energy. It should help relax and focus the energy of the supernaturals here. Dipping a finger in the dish, he would spread it across the forehead of the injured, moving down the line of the wounded.

One injured supernatural kept calling out for water. Zane looked around the room until he found a canteen. Undoing the cap and taking a sniff, it was indeed water. The vampire carried the drink over to the wounded man, tilting it up and holding it for him as he took his fill. It quieted the man and brought quiet to his restless state.

This attack had been worse than Zane thought. The Sanctuary would have to take steps to prevent an attack from progressing this far in the future. A bit of anger coursed through his body as he wondered why humans have to be such terrible people.

His work in the infirmary was soon interrupted. When screams rang out. Zane turned and saw Lady Noir rushing out of the door towards the sound. As her bodyguard, Zane had to keep an eye on her. He quickly walked out into the hall.

He could see Lady Noir asking if Adelaide was alright. Elias was also nearby.

Zane kept his distance, knowing she wouldn't want him and Lady Noir to get too close. The vampire wished he could reassure her. Certainly she would fight him back. This didn't make things easy. But he stood there in support. The look on his face was calming, free of judgement.

"It is okay... Lady Adelaide. You are among friends." Zane knew she might easily reject his claim that they were friends. They had only spoken for the first time recently. Friends in this sense meant more than buddies. They were compatriots. They were here together in the same situation. He wanted her to know she wasn't alone.

He still carried the bowl of calming oil in his left hand. He held it low and took a step closer. He hoped the scent might relax her from far away.

"I get terrors, as well." Every so often, haunting memories of places and faces past would interrupt Zane's life. It often happened while he rejuvenated. He didn't sleep in a conventional sense, but he slowed down his bodily functions to rest and revamp. Usually he did so while laying in his coffin-like bed, or when hanging upside down from the rafters. "Even an old world vampire like myself cannot escape the pain of the past."

His voice was soothing. Rich. Deep. It spoke in notes of camaraderie and comfort.

Oh the stench... the stench was so bad that even Temin couldn't block any of it out. Why did this have to happen? Why did the hunters have to attack at all? Thoughts swarmed around her head, she couldn't help it- she had never seen such wounds before- or in such abundance. She almost mentally broke down a few times now, but always stilling herself with the thought of reading books afterwards. Book! Yes, yes! Books! The one thing you can count on to save you from dire times. These thoughts saved her multiple times.

Veins visible around her eyes, forehead and her wrist showed her true focus. No one knew why, but when she was really focused, her veins popped out to the point that it looked like she had barely any meat on her. Her breathing was stilled to where she only took breaths every ten seconds, inhales and exhales. On another patient, there were deep cuts, bullet wounds and burn marks. They had done... everything to this person. It irritated, nay- infuriated Temin. Sure, the lesser amount of patients helped calm her down as well, as opposed to prior when she was so focused she never noticed anyone but the patients.

She had to make more and more salves, which wasn't necessarily a problem because old magic that wasn't on the roster of known magic most Kitsune possessed, dwelled within Temin. The reason that Temin never ran out of plants to use for her medicines was because she could make them at the molecular level, making them to their fullest potential easily and quickly. This also strained Temin, though. It put heavy weights on her mind, making it harder to focus and stay awake- one of the unlisted reasons that Temin took the medicine to make sure she didn't fall asleep.

As the smell of blood reached Temin's nostrils in bulk, as she had been breathing in her mouth the entire time to avoid smelling the horrendous air that would plague her mind for days to come, she almost fell backwards, but stayed upright to finish helping the patient she was on. In moments, she placed salves on the patient and stepped away. That should help them She thought as she put her hands to her face, exhausted but not at the same time. I need a damn coffee...

She got back up with difficulty, almost falling over to the side. Catching herself before she fell, Temin went back into her pouch and pulled out another vial of the drug she made. Hesitant, she chugged down another, ignoring the horrendous taste and instead trying to get the full effect of the drug before she worked on another patient. But she wouldn't be able to, because her work was interrupted by... Nefertari- one of the Elders. She waved off her first warning, as she couldn't care less about her own health at the moment.

"I can live with a few bedridden days, Shantellias could easily become the Keeper of Records in my steed. Now if you'll excuse me, Elder Nefertari, I must tend to the people of the house." She told her. "They are my top priority right now, they are my family, as are all of you, and I don't want any more to die." Temin would add. It was true. Everyone in house Rhapsody was like family. Or... a family that Temin wasn't necessarily a part of. It was more like she was assigned a job and that was it. She didn't interact with people unless it was needed after all.

It was when she deigned that she would force them if she had to. There was no way she could fight off her strength, even if Temin wasn't exhausted and Nefertari was. She was furious. Biting her tongue as to silence herself, "Yes... Elder." She said, walking out of the room, distraught before she turned around- looking to them before she stopped as she was about to speak. She grabbed her pouch once more, reaching in and handing a few vials to her. They were small vials, Temin being able to hold around six in one hand. "Please... use these if you need to. They aren't perfect but... they should help you with your exhaustion."

She then turned away again to walk to the nearest sink to wash her hands of all the blood and dead, charred skin. Temin wanted to vomit as she saw everything fall off of her hands and down the drain. When everything was off of her hands, she walked down the halls, going to grab a few books to hand out for people to read. She found where all off the residents resided for the moment, and began passing out books to people. "Everyone, please relax. The hunters are gone for now, so please have a book to read." She said, sitting down on her knees as she had her tails slowly wave about.

There were children there, around ten that she could see at one glance, that found her tails interesting. "Come, little ones." She said in a playful tone, her arms wide open as a few kids walked to her for a small embrace as adults around the room, though still absolutely petrified at what had just taken place, began to smile. She started playing with the children, playing the princess trapped in a tower at some times, and playing with dolls at others. She always did get along with kids, probably because she tried to be motherly when around them.