Saving Soul

(point taken)

Anja still looked bad off, though with the advance healing of being a changeling, her condition was deteriorating much slower.

"Doctor or no doctor, we're still a ways off from the tournament," said Voltaire. Even at Ava's hurried speed it would take at least a half a day to get there, time they may or may not have. "...Hey Adair."

"What?" asked the Hero.

"Kiss her."

"What?"

"She's got internal injuries. Try breathing some white fire down her throat. Maybe it'll heal her some," Voltaire explained. "And the easier way to do that is to kiss her, right? It's not like you haven't done it to her before."

Adair glanced down at Anja in her feeble state. After brief hesitation he leaned down and locked lips with hers, breathing the white flame into her.

Anja's chest expanded visibly. When Adair pulled away, she coughed again, but this time there was no blood.

It seemed to be working. Adair leaned down again.

"Give her some time to breathe," Voltaire advised. "Otherwise this is probably our only option until we get to the demon doctors."

Adair nodded solemnly.

(next post will be at the tournament grounds)

Anja coughed weaker before starting to breath normally. This is how she responded every time he breathed fire into her and each time her breathing got slightly stronger, but she was still bleeding into her abdominal cavity.

A bunch of demons were seen dispersing from the site as they approached it.

Don't tell me we're too late thought Adair. Breathing white fire into her seemed to be helping, but it was far from a cure. She needed serious medical attention.

"Wait a sec. The Dragons were fighting the Cats, right?" said Voltaire, scanning the crowd of monsters passing below them. He spotted what he was looking for. "Raizin!"

The black feline demon was riding upon Curtis's head, which the zombie wasn't too happy about. They as well as Barret glanced up as Ava swooped down.

That's right, Raizin is a doctor thought Adair. A mad doctor in search for the meaning of soul and fate, but a doctor. He should be able to treat Anja. The nekomata had to treat Curtis every day to preserve his state, after all.

Anja seemed no better. Her breathing was only a little stronger and she had stopped coughing up blood, but she was still shaking.

"Whoa, what happened here?" asked Barret as the Phoenixes touched down next to them.

"She got stabbed through with a sword," Voltaire answered. "It's a long story. Anyway, we've been able to heal her external wounds and some of her internal, even turned her changeling, but it's hasn't been enough."

"So you want my assistance?" inferred Raizin coolly, his voice surprisingly deep for such a small creature.

"Please," Adair pleaded, bowing his head forward. "We-We've got to save her."

"Hmm..." mused Raizin. "Alright. For a price."

(you can fast-forward a day or two when ready.)

(Day or two nothing. It'll take a good week for her to be back to normal... I'll go three for her to wake up.)

Anja groaned softly. She was so sore. It must be from sleeping in the dungeon. What day was it? Was it her execution day yet? She couldn't remember anything since the doctor injected her with the sedative.

Her eyes flickered. Once, twice, three times before she finally managed to get them open. She did not see the ceiling of the dungeon.

(ah okay. Point is, fast-froward :P)

At the moment they were a in cave (it seemed caves were the only safe place these days). Anja was in a quick makeshift bed.

"Hey, look who's up," said Voltaire drowsily, beside the bed. He looked somewhat dazed. "Mr. Hero is currently getting some more soul sucked out of him for your sake, so you probably won't be seeing him for a while."

Anja turned her head to look at him in confusion. "How and when did I get here? Last I knew, I was in a dungeon waiting to be put to death." She stated "And now I can't move! What's going on??"

(that sedative works in mysterious ways)

(lol)

"You don't remember anything after that?" asked Voltaire, before sighing. "Well pretty much we came to rescue you because we didn't want you to die, and then we had to fight the Gales to get out. You managed to get yourself stabbed through with Daniel's sword, though you gave him a good punch to the nose after. I bet his nose's broke now. Anyway, an...ally of ours has been treating you to make sure you don't die. That's been going on for about three days now. Welcome back to the world of the living."

Anja tried to sit up, only to hiss in pain. "What kind of moron goes to an execution by the people they're running from?" Anja grumbled, settling for laying down. "And what kind of Ally?" Her eyes narrowed at him. "I want to know about everything that happened since you both decided to be idiots and crash the execution."

"We didn't know the Gales were the ones running it. We just heard that you were going to get your head chopped off and decided to do something about it," Voltaire replied with tired irritation. "And I don't want to hear about us being idiots after you jumped off the stand and tried to attack Gales with your hands tied behind your back. And then going after Daniel after he was in some kind of Chiaroscuro. That's how you got stabbed, by the way. And then you punched him even through you had a damn sword through your gut...Are you sure you don't remember this? You seemed pretty damn awake to me."

"I'm sure." Anja stated dryly. "So if I got run through with a sword, why am I still alive?" she asked. "I should have bled out."

"Adair used his healing firebreath to close the open wounds, and he breathed some healing firebreath into you too to keep you from drowning in your own blood," Voltaire began. "But you still had some nasty internal wounds. Even after you turned changeling it was all we could do just to keep you from dying anyway."

"What??" Anja hissed, sitting bolt straight up in shock. She doubled over with a cry of pain, clutching her stomach.

"Whoa easy," Voltaire replied, helping her lay back down. "You're healed to the point that you'll live, but it'll still be a few days before you're fully healed. Anyway, don't go blaming us for this. Ava wouldn't have been able to take your heart and make you a changeling if you weren't willing to some extent. I think you were more concerned about not dying than not turning changeling."

Anja looked up at Voltaire strangely. "Do you know why they wanted to execute me?" She asked softly.

"Something about you being a demon," Voltaire answered. "I'm guessing it's because you summon demon-looking creatures. Thought you were some demon overlord or something."

"I'm half demon." Anja stated. "I don't even know. But their doctor gave me a shot and it did something funny to me." she sniffled and looked away. "They were horrible. They kidnapped me by drugging my food."

"How heroic," Voltaire replied dryly. "But somehow that doesn't surprise. Ends justify the means according to them. So you're half-demon? How does that even work? Either you're a demon or you're not. Are you possessed or something?"

"I guess it means that one of my parents was a demon and I was born human with some demon attributes." Anja sighed. "I just don't know anymore."

"Well, usually that kind of union doesn't produce anything, but I guess there are exceptions," Voltaire answered. "Like, what happened when they gave you the shot. You turn into a lizard or something?"

"I coughed up clouds." Anja replied. "It felt unpleasant."