Sickness? No thanks

[Alyssia]

23rd of Cylus 720

Alyssia coughed some as the darkness of Cylus continued on. There was not much to be done against the cold. She had yet to think of something to be done to keep money coming in for a room to stay in. Rubbing her hands together, the teen sneezed again and rubbed her face trying to clean it. There was not much she could do to stop it. The burning in her lungs with each breath was a cause for concern she could not ignore. Most days, she did not want to go anywhere near a doctor or healer. But it seemed her body was not going to let her get away with it that time.

Taking a deep breath like a fool, the girl began coughing as the burning flared up for a moment. With a groan, she prepared herself for the trip that was to be made. The last thing that the girl wanted was to be dead in the streets. If that was to be her fate, there would no reason for her to have come all the way to Scalvoris. The Aukari could have just stayed in the city of Yaralon for that fate. Standing up, the teen peeked out of her hiding spot before running off down the street. She slowed and watched carefully knowing that if too many saw her coughing, there would be no way to find the healers. The sight of an older woman cleaning her door made the girl speed up just a bit.

“Excuse me,” Alyssia said trying to clear her voice, “do you know where I can go to see a healer or a doctor?”

The red head looked in the direction the woman pointed and saw the building she would need to go to. She was quick to thank her before moving on so as to not get her ill as well. Alyssia jogged the tiniest bit not wanting to take too long. The girl stopped and slipped behind some boxes in an alley before coughing as hard as she could. Wincing, she wiped away a few tears and quickly went on her way. Some people had began to stop and stare where she had been. Their gaze had followed when the girl left the alley way with a nod of her head.

It did not take long before the girl made it to the building and opened the front door. She slowly entered making sure the cold of Cylus did not follow her inside. Rubbing her hands together to fight the cold, the teen shivered as her body began to try and warm itself up more than what her “home” provided. A woman came out and spotted the small teen before stopping. A cough made it clear why the girl was there, with a smile she motioned for the teen to follow. Alyssia picked speed enough to catch up to her and sit on a cot where a doctor would come to see her.

[Devin]

The house that the woman directed Alyssia to was exceedingly colourful. In fact, every room – and in some cases every wall – was a different colour, and while the furnishings were quite luxurious as Alyssia could see when she opened the door, they were also somewhat gaudy. There were tables and shelves and chairs made of dark wood and covered with all kinds of elaborate carvings, and there was a lot of silk and velvet, often in gold and dark red; and what more – the house smelled. It smelled of cigar smoke and alcohol and rather expensive perfume and not of disinfectant and such as one would expect.

The cot in the examination room that had been Devin’s second bedroom once was covered with a nice lacy blanket, and there were pictures on the walls – of people that suffered from all kinds of bizarre conditions, victims of magical accidents whose skin had turned green or blue and who sported horns and tails and other appendages that people normally didn’t have. Alyssia would have the opportunity to admire them – or be horrified by them – for approximately five bits before a man walked in, a man that definitely did not look like a doctor.

Devin was in his early twenties, with bright violet eyes, peculiar feather-like markings on his arms, extravagant black nails and a face that was somewhere between pretty and handsome, and he was dressed in a fine and exceedingly fashionable outfit of violet and dark grey rather than a white doctor’s coat.

Upon seeing Alyssia, he cocked his head a little to the side and regarded her with curiosity for a moment before he asked her in a cheerful tone of voice, “What do you think of the pictures? Most doctors seem to have medical drawings on the walls, so I decided to get some as well. Magical accidents are my specialty, you see. I had such an accident myself”, he explained, smiling.

“My eyes used to be brown once”, he continued. “I like my new eyes much better though! They attract a lot of attention, and the color is really nice, don’t you agree?”

“So, what exactly is your problem?” he asked a moment later while he put on a pair of protective gloves in case she was suffering from something contagious and removed a handkerchief from a pocket of his jacket so that he would be able to cover his face in case she started to sneeze, cough or do other unpleasant things that sick people sometimes tended to do.

[Alyssia]

Alyssia waited until the woman left the room before getting up. She walked over to the walls and looked at the strange looking pictures. The teen had never seen anything like what was in the room. From the extravagant furniture to the uh art? Raising an eyebrow, the girl was not completely sure if she was seeing the things right. The people that were blue or green looked dead, while those with the horns seemed almost fake. None of it made sense in her mind, she had never seen anything like those in the pictures. Perhaps there truly were those kinds of races.

She was so wrapped up in looking at the pictures that the girl jumped when the man spoke. Turning around, the teen looked at the very strange man. He did not appear like any kind of doctor that she had ever seen work on other kids or the knights. Of course, everything in Yaralon was so much stranger than in the rest of the world it seemed. Big eyes looked over the man noting the strange color of his eyes. The girl was curious as to how they had become that color. It made no sense the color, the feather markings on his arms caused the girl to shift sideways. She did not want to be rude and ask the man to turn so that she could see better.

“Yes, your eyes are a very interesting color. How did they come to change?” Alyssia asked and returned to the cot.

She covered her mouth and coughed into her sleeve while watching him go for gloves. Taking a deep breath, the girl tried to focus on what was going on with her body. It was hard for her to talk to the man though, she knew she needed some kind of help.

“I have a cough. When my breathing is shallow, I can feel something inside my lungs. If I run the deep breathes, I have to take cause my lungs to feel like they are on fire. Then I would start coughing uncontrollably,” Alyssia stated and covered her mouth coughing very lightly, “sorry, I do not mean to cough in your home. You do not look like a normal doctor. Where did you study?”

The girl was genuinely curious about what made the man choose his profession. He looked more like an escort than anything else.

[Devin]

Devin practically beamed at Alyssia when she agreed that his eyes were a very interesting color, and he didn’t mind that she wanted to know how they had changed either. On the contrary, he looked absolutely excited, and he remarked in a very enthusiastic tone, “I volunteered for an incredibly dangerous mission in the Sweetwine Woods approximately two arcs ago. During that mission, my companions and I stumbled upon a magical tree. There was a door in it. Someone opened it, and a lot of weird, colourful things came out, and everybody mutated. I can also see the future since the encounter with the magical tree!” he told her, smiling brightly.

This was not an actual lie.

He really believed that his ability to see the future was due to the aforementioned magical accident. He didn’t know that his father was not really his father and that he was in fact a Mortalborn. He was incredibly proud of being a mutant though – and having such awesome mutations on top of it. Alyssia had a medical problem though, so he eventually focused on that rather than continuing to be excessively vain and proud of his mutations.

The cycle before, he had somehow managed to con himself into becoming an actual doctor – and a really good one, at that. Since he had worked in the Medicine House in Desnind he regularly entered doctor mode and felt the urge to provide treatment upon being faced with a sick person. He didn’t like it because he didn’t enjoy being nice and helpful, but he couldn’t do anything about it. The urge was simply too strong. It was kind of like an addiction!

So, without further ado, he approached Alyssia. “Could you unbutton your top a bit, please?” he asked, covering his mouth and nose with the handkerchief for a moment when she coughed. “I need to listen to your lungs. When you cough, is it dry or productive, by the way? Do you cough up translucent, yellow or green stuff – or actual blood?” he continued before he paused momentarily and grinned.

“Oh, thank you”, he remarked as if she had just made a huge compliment. “I’m glad that I don’t look like a normal doctor. I don’t want to look like a normal doctor – or a normal person, for that matter. Most people are normal, and being like most people is boring. As for where I studied – I got most of my training in Desnind – although I have some experience with the medical system here as well. The people at the university were so impressed with my knowledge that they allowed me to start my studies at the Diploma level!” he boasted, looking at her as if he expected her to be impressed.

He was not lying this time either.

He had managed to greatly impress people at the university in Scalvoris and been allowed to start with a Diploma rather than a Letter as a consequence, and he had learned a lot in Desnind. What he didn’t tell Alyssia though was the fact that he had started out as a conman who had pretended to be a doctor so that he could steal potions and medical equipment from the Medicine House more easily before he had somehow turned into a real doctor – and one that was more skilled than most professors, at that!

[Alyssia]

Alyssia nodded and moved her shirt so that he could listen to her lungs. She pursed her lips when another cough threatened to come out. Swallowing it the girl shivered feeling the cold metal on her chest. Taking a deep steady breath, or as steady as it could be. A rattling could be heard in her chest proving the heavy congestion. She was shocked to hear of a tree having a door in it. That did not seem very normal in her mind.

“A door?” Alyssia asked with her eyebrow raised, “it feels like something loosens. But nothing comes up. A couple of times a weird mucus has come out. It was white one time and the second it was a clear. My throat has also been a little sore since I got stuffy.”

He did not want to be normal? The teen could not imagine someone purposely trying to be different. Though it did not seem like it would be a hard thing to accomplish. Whoever the “fancy” crowd was in the city was who those without the means wanted to be. Sniffing the girl paid awfully close attention and righted her shirt when he had become happy with his assessment of her lungs. Desnind? Had she heard of that place before? The name seemed so familiar for some reason.

“Desnind, where is that at?” Alyssia inquired and coughed behind her arm some.

A slight wheezing could be heard when she was not speaking as the girl took shallow breaths. Naturally, a stuffy nose was to be expected with any kind of cold or sickness. The young Aukari tried to suppress the yawn threatening to expose her lack of sleep. The young girl needed to focus on the task at hand which was not falling asleep in the man’s house of all places.

[Devin]

Devin listened to Alyssia’s lungs, and then he listened some more in order to make sure that his diagnosis was correct, before he withdrew again and gave her a sign that she could pull her shirt down again. Having done that, he remarked in a very serious tone of voice, “A door. Trees have those sometimes, especially on an island like Scalvoris. Doors, I mean. I’m not sure what was on the other side of the door though, if anything. I never found out as I was rather busy mutating and such”, he remarked, smiling brightly once more as mutating had been quite an interesting experience, everything considered.

“Anyway”, he continued, barely stopping in order to take a breath (he talked quickly at the best of times as he just loved talking so much). “Clear mucus is good – or at least better than green or yellow mucus. You have bronchitis. That’s nothing to worry about though since I have just the medicine that you need here”, he informed her in a very enthusiastic tone of voice because he was happy that he had diagnosed her so quickly. “Something to open up the bronchi, pain relievers, some other stuff – oh, and you should regularly lean over a pot of hot water, with a towel over your head, and inhale as that can open the airways”, he added before he changed the topic again.

“Desnind’s south of here”, he told her and made a step away again as he wasn’t too fond of being coughed at and getting sick (even if it was just bronchitis). “It’s a really weird place where people live in treehouses. I flew there by Flutterbus. When I returned, I teleported though as sitting on a giant moth for trials is not particularly pleasant. It poops”, he told her and made a face.

“And it produces really itchy dust. By the way”, he continued before he changed the topic for the third time in just as many bits. “Do you get enough rest? You look kind of tired. You should take it easy for the next seven-trial or so in order to make sure that your bronchitis heals properly. Stay at home, eat chicken soup and drink lots of hot tea - and take your medicine!” he informed her.

Someone else might have considered a young teen walking into a doctor’s office all by herself to be a bit unusual; Devin didn’t think that it was anything out of the ordinary though. He had been pretty much independent by age ten. His father had always been looking for work (or complained about not having any work), and his mother had been busy cleaning the judge’s house, so he’d pretty much raised himself (and stolen a lot because he didn’t want to end up poor, like his parents, and crime seemed like the fastest way to success).

So, in short, a twelve or thirteen-arc-old going somewhere all by herself was normal to him because he had never known anything else; sick people needed chicken soup though, no matter what their age!

[Alyssia]

Alyssia listened closely when the man instructed her to put her shirt down. It had not been too bad with the cold metal against her skin. Her first reaction had been to jerk back, but she managed to keep herself from doing so. Covering her mouth, the teen fought to keep from coughing but ultimately it did not work. A wet cough could be heard against the clothe of her shirt. Making a face the girl rubbed her chest wishing it would stop burning when she coughed or breathed. Clearing her throat behind her lips, she tried her best to focus on what Devin was telling her. Her first instinct was to ask what had been on the other side of the door, but a giggle came out when he referenced being too busy with a mutation.

“Well I like the mutation, your eyes look really cool,” Alyssia stated.

It was the truth as well. There had not been another person she had met with the same color. Most people or animals had normal colors. But the purple was such a beautiful change that helped him to stand out amongst the crowd. Were there others that had the same kind of mutation? Or did others there get something different? The teen felt the need to ask but reframed while Devin continued to explain what was wrong with her. Bronchitis? She felt her blood run cold for a moment. Could it kill her? When it was clear that Devin was not concerned it helped her to calm down some.

“Thank you for the medicine,” Alyssia stated watching the man move around. The teen shook her head when he asked if she was resting,

“No sir, it has been really cold at night. So I have had a hard time sleeping for long periods where I am right now,” Alyssia explained without clearly saying she was living on the streets, “I will try my best to make sure and get some chicken soup when I can.”

A giggle escaped when he talked about riding a flutter bus. It sounded like it would be fun, but also very scary. It was the description of the city that truly piqued her interest. A city in the trees? Wouldn’t a strong wind knock them down? Perhaps it was her lack of knowledge when it comes to those kinds of structures.

“Tree houses sound like they would fall out when the wind got too strong,” Alyssia stated.

[Devin]

“Thank you!“ Devin replied in a very sincere tone of voice as Alyssia complimented him on his eyes and grinned all over his face. “I think that my eyes look cool as well!” In general, he didn’t like participating in dangerous missions and such because of the risk of getting hurt and maybe even dying, but he was really glad that he had gone to the Sweetwine Woods and met the magical tree. Of course, he had already been quite a good-looking young man before, but his face looked so much more interesting now!

“You’re welcome”, he told her when she thanked him for the medicine and grinned even more if that was at all possible because he really liked it when people thanked him – only to furrow his brow and look kind confused (and concerned!) a moment later.

“What do you mean, it has been really cold cold night?” he wanted to know. “Don’t you have a fireplace? You should keep your home heated! Wait a moment”, he continued before she could say something. “I have a blanket that I could give to you, and there is some chopped wood in the backyard in case you have run out of wood to put into your fireplace”, he offered.

He was not normally that generous – he was a priest of Tarouz and he took stuff rather than giving it away – but if his patient was cold at night, she wouldn’t get better and might actually get worse, and he wanted all of his patients to recover, if possible, thank you very much!

He preferred to have a perfect track record. At least that’s what he told himself!

(It didn’t occur to him that Alyssia was homeless rather than just living in a cold house and lacking firewood; he wasn’t always the best when it came to reading between the lines.)

When she giggled at his mention of the Flutterbus, he giggled with her before he pointed out, “The treehouses in Desnind are pretty big and sturdy. I doubt a strong wind would cause serious damage. Maybe a hurricane, but I don’t think they have those in Desnind”, he murmured and knitted his eyebrows. No, he had definitely never heard of hurricanes taking place in Desnind. The weather was occasionally weird, but not that weird!

“So”, he said a few moments later. “Is there anything else that I can do for you, apart from giving you medicine for your bronchitis? I could give you two blankets!” he offered.

[Alyssia]

Alyssia looked at the young man as he moved around. The girl was becoming more and more concerned with what would happen when he asked for payment. Gulping at the mention of owing him for a blanket as well. Taking a deep breath to try and calm her nerves was a mistake as she quickly covered her mouth and began to cough. Wincing the teen tried to calm down so that Devin would not fear being near her. People had been far more trusting and kind than she had expected. But she was not keen to figure out how long it would last.

“Thank you, but I couldn’t take your blanket. I’ve taken enough from you today. Um… I don’t have money for the medicine. Can I work for you to pay it off?” Alyssia asked.

A part of her kicked herself for not just telling him the truth. After all if he tried to take her away, she could run and lose him in the smaller back streets of the city. The mention of a fire in a home made the girl want to just break down and cry. Could she truly learn to trust adults after everything the knights had done? Could the girl survive if she did not at least try? The only thing she could come up with was to test his answer in a hypocritical question. Or at least that's what she thought the word was.

“I was wondering if it's not too much to ask. What would you do or say if one of your patients was homeless?” Alyssia asked nervously,

She glanced over not moving to leave till he said she was free to go. The last thing the girl wanted was to make him mad at her for some reason. Of course Alyssia did not want to insult the young doctor either. Her mind was running a million miles waiting for the man to answer her question or ignore it and send her on her way. The teen pulled her tattered shirt up and coughed into it covering her mouth as best she could so he would not catch what she had. Bronchitis was contagious from what he had told her. Carefully putting her shirt back down, Alyssia knew she may not get better before the hot cycle arrived. The girl tried to clear her throat with her mouth closed so that it was not loud.

[Devin]

Devin still didn’t have any idea what was really the matter with Alyssia and that she was worried about what would happen when he asked for payment as he could be quite oblivious sometimes. He only winced barely noticeably when she coughed again and held his breath for a moment because he wasn’t terribly fond of falling ill, even if it was just bronchitis (which was something that he would be able to treat with relative ease, being quite a masterful doctor). A moment later, he already grinned at the young girl again, at least until …

… she turned down his offer of a blanket? He looked at Alyssia incredulously, his eyes wide, as he wondered what exactly was going on. Why did she not want his blanket? Was there something wrong with it? Did she have some sort of weird allergy to certain fabrics like cotton or wool?!

He never turned down free stuff so it didn’t occur to him that that might be the problem!

“It’s a really nice blanket”, he assured her. “I just bought it last season. I promise that there is no disgusting stuff on it. It’s completely clean. It’s made of cotton, and it’s filled with feathers for a bit of extra warmth. If you’d rather have something that’s made of a different material, let me know though, please. I have a lot of blankets”, he told her.

“Huh”, he made when Alyssia finally admitted that she didn’t have any money for the medicine. He had never treated a patient that hadn’t been able to pay him before. Had she been an adult, one of those annoying entitled people that thought they could just get stuff for free (like him!), he would immediately have thrown her out. Alyssia was a child though, and thus it was not her fault. There was something about her that he liked, and that reminded him of himself. He had grown up poor as well, although he would never admit it, thank you very much (he usually claimed that he was descended from a wealthy merchant family in the Eastern Settlement as the truth was too embarrassing).

He wanted to help her (which was a feeling that he had hardly ever experienced before).

“Sure”, he said when she asked him if she could work for him to pay it off. He was not just being generous and charitable (he rarely was), he actually needed help. “What do you want to do? You can help me clean up, you can take care of my pets – or be my new receptionist for a bit. My roommate Aidan usually helps me out, but he’s quite busy with university sometimes”, he explained, not caring that having a twelve-arc-old employee might be quite unusual, no matter whether the arrangement was temporary or not.

He had been quite busy and worked a lot when he had been a child as well. Thievery had in fact been incredibly hard work!

When Alyssia asked him what he would do or say if one if his patients were homeless, Devin did a double take, and then he abruptly blurted out, “Do you want me to buy you a house? I can also rent a room at an inn for you, if you want”, he added. He normally didn’t offer to buy people stuff; no child should have to live on the streets though as it was unpleasant and unsafe. Truth to be told, he had almost offered to let her stay in one of his spare rooms, but he had dangerous stuff in his house, so it would not be good, even if the zombie in the basement was gone and thus wouldn’t be able to bite his guests anymore.

A few moments later, when Alyssia began to cough again, he put his handkerchief in front of his face once more so that his nose was covered and waited for her answer. He didn’t want to be rude, but he also really didn’t want to get bronchitis, and he hoped that she wouldn’t mind too much!