"Hold her down!" yelled Blanc at the three as he kept pouring the potion on her wound.
Lune battled her way, struggling, up and down, left to right, but to no avail.
"Lune, please," cried out Kael.
But Lune looked with hatred at Blanc as he kept poring.
He was the source of her pain, and she hated him with all her being.
Whatever that being was at that moment.
But the three held her tight, just enough for Blanc to be able to pour the potion everywhere.
She screamed, tears escaping her eyes as black smoke rose from her skin.
A minute later, as the screams started calming down, her wound became a healed scar from the right side of her hip, going all the way up her belly towards her left shoulder.
The bleeding had stopped.
And Lune, the most gravely wounded, was healed.
As her body calmed and her breathing steadied, Blanc set aside the half-full vial of Vita's Mercy and retrieved another potion from his bag.
Returning to Lune's side, he gently lifted her head.
"Drink this, Little Flower. It will help ease the pain and bring down your fever," he whispered, pressing the vial to her lips.
Through tears and the last traces of hatred washing from her eyes like dirt in a stream, Lune gave a faint nod.
She opened her mouth and drank the bitter potion her brother offered her.
"Good girl," Blanc murmured with a soft smile, lowering her gently onto the bed and brushing a hand through her hair.
He then bandaged her entire upper body.
It was no longer required, but he still did it out of safety.
Before getting back on his feet, he kissed her sweaty forehead, "Rest now."
And as if she had never been awake at all, Lune closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep.
"Let her rest," Blanc said quietly. "She'll need time to recover all the blood and strength she's lost."
He turned toward his little brother. "Kael, come. It's your turn. Let me tend to your wound as well."
"Will it hurt just as bad?" Kael asked as they began walking outside the room.
"I do not think so," Blanc replied, shaking his head, "Lune's wound was deeper."
"Will she be fine now?" Kael wondered, looking back towards the room they had left.
"She will. She is now safe. Exhausted, but safe," nodded Blanc, exhaling deeply out of relief.
One of his worries is gone.
There were three left.
"Sit down and look at the ceiling," Blanc instructed him.
And Kael did just as he was told, letting his head go upward as he closed his eyes tightly, expecting the pain his sister felt earlier.
"I beg of you, Vita," Blanc began, "Remove the curse from my brother."
As he ended his small prayer, a small 'Tch' could be heard again.
Kael grunted.
But no screams left his lips.
He opened his eyes as Blanc poured drop after drop on his small cut on his face.
And it was done as soon as it began.
Though Blanc made sure to bandage him as well, just in case.
"You are done, little Kael. Drink this as well, it will help with the pain and make you sleep," Blanc explained.
"But I am not tired," Kael replied, taking the vial from his brother's hand.
"Perhaps you don't feel tired, but the cursed wound, as small as it was, took a toll on you. You will feel it later if you remain awake. Go, rest, and get better," Blanc explained, a kind smile on his lips.
Kael did not fight it any longer, only nodding along as he brought the vial close to his lips and letting the green, bitter liquid fill his mouth.
He looked more in pain now, as he drank the potion, than when Blanc was removing the curse from his wound that now stood as a bandaged, horizontal scar across his left cheek.
"You did great, now go, sleep," smiled Blanc to him as he shook his hair around.
Kael sighed, getting up from his chair and heading back towards his room, "So should you, brother, you look half dead."
Blanc remained silent as he watched him leave.
It wasn't like Kael told a lie now. He felt half dead, even if he felt physically fit.
But there was still work to be done. Another important person had to be healed.
"My love, I will not be able to hold you back, and it will hurt," said Blanc, turning towards Celine.
"I will be fine," she pushed Blanc's warning aside, "It cannot be that bad."
"Miyanna, you can try holding her in place, but she might just kill you. So do not attempt anything," Blanc muttered as he saw Miyanna getting up from the chair she was standing in.
That warning was enough for her to sit herself back down without saying anything.
"Here goes nothing, then," sighed Blanc, removing the blood-filled bandage that kept Celine's wound clean.
He took the wet cloth and wiped the blood from her foot with precise focus, making sure not to touch the wound directly.
"Are you ready?" he asked her as he grabbed the Vita's Mercy with one hand and held her foot with the other.
"Yes," she nodded.
"Don't pull my hair too hard, please," muttered Blanc as he closed his eyes. "I beg of you, Vita, remove the curse from my fiancée."
And with that, 'Tch', 'Tch', 'Tch'.
Celine's eyes went wide, and she grabbed Blanc's hair with all her might as she held back a scream, as she could only watch the ceiling.
Blanc rushed this one, trying to end both their suffering with haste as he felt his hair slowly giving out to Celine's strength.
But, a minute later, it was done.
And with the last drop of the first Vial, Celine was healed.
As Blanc stopped, Celine also let go of his hair, making him fall on his back, with him muttering 'Shit' over and over under his breath.
"I'm sorry," said Celine, watching Blanc scratching at his hair.
"It's fine," replied Blanc through painful breaths as he got back on his knees and checked her wound.
Both the foot and the sole of her foot had a deep one-inch scar across, but after bandaging the wound, Celine tried to walk.
She had no issues walking. No skipping as she put weight onto her foot.
She was healed.
But an unspoken worry now crept into both her and Blanc's minds.
Was the pregnancy affected by the blood loss she suffered?
They both prayed that it had not.
Hopefully, signs that showed that her pregnancy was progressing would soon start showing up, to put an end to this new worry of theirs.
"You should drink this too," instructed Blanc, "You feel feverish as well."
"Is it really necessary?" Celine asked.
"Yes. You need to rest and allow your body to recover. For you, and your pregnancy," said Blanc, not showing his worry for the pregnancy.
"And when are we to leave then?" Celine asked.
"After everyone is back on their feet. If we leave now, only to have you all falling ill on the road, it is just as bad as fighting the Morois here. Drink and rest, my love," he replied.
Agreeing with his reasoning, she drank the bitter potion, kissed Blanc, and then walked off towards their room to rest.
And in the silence that followed as she left, Blanc and Miyanna were now the only two left.
"I'm curious," said Miyanna.
"About?" asked Blanc as he began washing the cloth of Celine's blood.
"What will you say before you pour the potion on me?" giggled Miyanna before a groan left her lips as a jolt of pain came from her wound.
Blanc looked at her, confused. "What do you mean?"
"Sister, brother, fiancé, and here is me, what am I in this place? In your eyes?" Miyanna asked.
Blanc sighed as he got up with the wet, clean cloth in hand, "Take off your clothes."
"What?" Miyanna's eyes went wide.
"For the wound," Blanc said coldly.
"Oh, yes, haha," she said, laughing awkwardly, removing the clothes she wore, making the bandaged wound on her body visible.
The bandages were fully crimson.
To the point they began to dirty the bandages she used to hold her chest in place.
But Blanc kept that information to himself as he kneeled in front of her and began cleaning around the wound.
"What are you, Miyanna?" Blanc muttered as he wiped away the blood slowly, "An enemy? A friend? A traitor to your own? To the Empire? I had the pleasure of meeting one of your... former colleagues tonight after killing another, and he thought you were dead. Dead, with the rest of your company. Yet, you are not. You are alive, getting cleaned by the son of the Noble Blood you and your men attacked."
"I-" began Miyanna, but Blanc spoke again. His voice was cold. Steady. Tired.
"If you had seen what I have seen tonight. What your friends, your allies, have done to men, women, and children, you would gouge out your own eyes. I've seen girls I grew up with, with their throats slit after they raped them mercilessly and made their mother watch before they killed her too. My family, Miyanna… My family was captured. Which one, or if all of them have been captured, I do not know. But the people you fought with did that. So you tell me, Miyanna. What are you?"
"I… I gave your father all the info I had, and he spared my life and banished me once we got captured. I had no say or doing in what you are speaking of. I fucking showed you I can be trusted," muttered Miyanna, drawing her face closer to his, and staring deep into his gray eyes.
"Then? What are you?" Blanc asked, staring back into her bronze eyes.
She felt her heart in her throat.
Her mind was running amok.
Guilt.
Pain.
Desire.
All blocked by her unmoving lips, who wished they would utter the words she really wanted to say.
Do the things that she really wanted to do.
Yet all that she was able to do was fall back deep into her chair as she muttered, "Not an enemy."
"I see…" sighed Blanc as he got up and grabbed the second vial of Vita's Mercy. "Are you ready?"
"Mhm," she nodded, looking at the ceiling.
"Do not pull too hard," Blanc said, removing the wooden cork from the vial. "I beg of you, Vita, remove the curse from… not my enemy."
After he healed and bandaged her scarred wound, he began preparing to leave again.
"Where are you going again?" Miyanna asked, putting the empty vial of bitter potion back on the table.
"I have a promise to keep," Blanc said, heading towards the door.
"What promise? Who?" Miyanna asked.
"A dead old woman," he replied, showing her the second vial of Vita's Mercy still mostly full.
And with that, he left the cave running once more.