Saving Soul

Now that Anja was silent again, Adair soon slipped off to sleep himself.

(fast-forward whenever ready)

Anja sat very still so Raizin could check her again. She hoped that she was well enough so that Voltaire and Adair didn't have to give him anymore soul.

Raizin patiently checked all her vital signs. "How is your abdomen feeling?"

"Fine. A little stiff. Stretchy stiff though." Anja stated. "But I know that that's a sign that the scar tissue is being worked and that the chances of me retaining my flexibility is good. I had something similar with my ankle."

"I see," answered Raizin. "Well, you should be able to go then. At this point it's exercise and natural healing. I wouldn't recommend anything too strenuous though."

"Alright" Anja murmured. "I'll keep that in mind."

Raizin walked out to tell the Phoenixes, his twin tails swishing behind him.

Adair meanwhile was having his overdue talk with Voltaire.

"You sure you don't hate me?" Voltaire asked half-jokingly, leaning against the wall.

"Yes," Adair replied. "You irritate the crap out of me sometimes, but I don't hate you."

Voltaire laughed at the Hero's blunt response. "Fine then. Just don't go blaming me for everything bad that happens."

"You seem to do that just fine yourself," Curtis remarked as he walked by, his nose in a book.

"Shut up Curtis."

Anja laid back down and curled up as soon at the demon was gone.

Adair sighed. "If it weren't for you I'd be dead a hundred times over, and that's not counting Chiaroscuro. You're good luck as far as I'm concerned. Stop blaming yourself for things that aren't your fault."

Voltaire shrugged, but seemed to appreciate the words anyway.

"I'm serious, Taire."

"I know you are."

Raizin walked by. "Anja is healed enough to leave. You may go when you please."

Anja closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep. But she wasn't tired. So she was just laying there awake with her eyes closed.

"You hear that, Mr. Hero?" asked Voltaire with a smirk.

"Yeah," Adair replied with a sigh of relief. "Anja's finally feeling better."

"We can finally leave and not be test subjects," Voltaire added. The Hunter didn't get any response, as Adair was soon off to see her.

Anja was still trying to make herself sleep.

Adair walked in, only to see Anja with her eyes closed. Assuming she was sleeping, Adair sat down and waited to see if she would wake up soon.

"I'm not sleeping" Anja stated quietly.

Adair jumped despite her muted tone.

"Oh, um, okay," he answered. "Raizin told us you're mostly better now. We'll leave whenever you're ready."

"Whatever" Anja murmured. "I don't care. It isn't really up to me."

"Well I'm ready to leave," Voltaire vocalized outside. Adair spat some fire at him but the Hunter stepped back and out of sight.

Anja sighed and sat up. She brushed her tangled and matted hair back out of her face and behind her ears. There was still some blood matted in it towards the bottom.

"I know you don't want to stay here any longer than you have to," stated Adair. "Um, I assume you can walk okay?"

Anja gave a small grunt as an affirmative. She stood up and walked out out of the cavern.

"Hi Anjy!" Ava greeted. She was now larger with more red in her coloring and a longer crest. She had not transformed until a couple of days ago, when Anja's heart was able to produce enough energy to fuel her evolution. "Sorry I didn't come visit more often. I got too big to go into the cave."

"Hi" Anja murmured. She looked over to Voltaire. "Do you have a knife I can use?" She asked.

"Yeah," Voltaire answered, pulling out his hunting knife. "Just so you know, slitting your wrists won't do much as a Phoenix."

This time Adair did nail Voltaire with his firebreath. This only seemed to annoy the Hunter.

"Hey, this is my only knife right now. Don't make me melt it."

Anja accepted the knife from Voltaire. She grabbed her hair in a bundle at the nape of her neck and cut it all off. Then she handed Voltaire his knife back and shoved the hair into Adair's hands. "Burn that." She stated.

Without much thought Adair breathed fire onto the hair and burned it to ashes.

"Why didn't you burn it yourself?" asked Voltaire, as he put away his knife. "You've got fire powers now you know."