No Blessed ✓

Realization

Thelma looked up from grinding herbs as Astra entered the Healer's room, walking towards her.

"Finally, the idol comes down from his pedestal. Pray, have you come to see this mortal?" Thelma teased and Astra rubbed his head sheepishly.

"I was busy," he made a weak excuse, peering into the bowl before her. "I've had to help Neil set dislocations back and having multiple students scream at me for helping them is not exactly gratifying."

"How's Mikel?" Astra looked at her stained hands as she wrung out a plant and made a face. "Is that for him?"

Thelma shook her head. "I'm making a balm for the other guy. We need to preserve his body until his family comes for it."

Astra's face fell at the news. "He was alive yesterday, wasn't he?"

"Kicked the bucket in the early hours of the morning," Thelma said grimly as she sniffed the bowl. "This will preserve his body."

"Imogen sent word immediately and we're expecting a reply from his parents in the evening," she continued. "This is the first major death of the session. All others have been just severe injuries."

Astra looked towards the door of an inner room where he knew Thelma stored dead bodies before they were disposed of. "Do you think they will even recognize their son? Mikel's magic has a knack for giving opponents a total make over. This guy had it the worst."

"I'm more worried about Mikel, to be honest," Thelma confessed, dropping her herbs. "These past three days, it's like he has been having visions, I think, and the things he says I've never heard before."

Astra perked up. "Yeah, he sometimes does that when he spaces out."

Thelma did not look relieved. "He talks about dying and No Blessed. Do you think he has had encounters with rogue Blessed before?"

"I don't think either of us know much about Mikel," Astra said thoughtfully as he took a seat.

"It's not only that," Thelma continued persistently, "he constantly mentions the names Sean and Mark. I've had to restrain him when his powers began acting up when mentioning their names."

Astra tapped his forehead. "You can get inside his head, see what's actually wrong, can't you?"

"I've tried," Thelma shuddered. "Something blocks me from seeing his memories and thoughts. I've only glimpsed one before and there he was before a Kakketsehatsu, one bound by chains. The fear I felt from him then... I couldn't continue."

Thelma looked away and Astra reached out, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly. She let him rub soothing circles on her shoulder, guilt ridden at not telling him the complete truth.

It was true that something had blocked her out of Mikel's mind and it was true she had not had access to most of his memories.

But she had seen more than one, she had also seen a memory in his head that foretold the end of their world. It didn't have Mikel in it, but without being told, Thelma knew that, somehow, Mikel was from somewhere else, some other universe.

He would destroy this world, and with all of them in it.

*

It was faint, but Mikel was sure he could hear Jon Bellion's iRobot playing from somewhere. Was he underwater?

No, he could feel cool wind caress his arms. He tried to move his hands and then groaned at the weight of them. Had someone replaced his hands with lead or what?

Okay, baby steps. Eyes first, it always the eyes in movies.

He opened his eyes slowly, his eyelids feeling as heavy as soggy tissue. His vision was blurry but Mikel blinked then did it again until he could recognized the overhead torches that lighted the healing room.
He wanted to call out but his throat felt like it had been through a grating machine, raw and parched.