Chapter Text
Right after he'd passed the half a year mark working with Enon, Yuder had collected enough money to treat himself with a new bow and quiver set, to replace the gear he'd left back on the mountains. The pharmacist brought him to the Fifth Wall, claiming to cash in a favor with one of his contacts.
He was obviously perturbed that Yuder somehow managed to bump into someone from one of the Orr Empire's unknown duchy houses, but a quick skim over the family tree cemented Lunafreya's claim of coming from the House of Peletta; she is the granddaughter of one of the former Duke of Peletta's mistress, Laflamme la Orr.
“You have the worst luck ever, and I've seen a lot of unlucky fools in my life.” Enon picked at his fingernails with a scowl. “What are the chances that you encountered one of the candidates for the Emperor's adopted Crown Heir, and she happens to be his favored choice too? Did Marka get into a fight with an owl before he left for your grandfather?”
“He was not even there when I woke up,” Yuder pointed out. He had read somewhere that ravens and crows could be considered bad omen as well, but pushed the theory to the side. “And I happen to like Lunafreya as a friend. We’ve found so many new sweets and pastries together since our first meeting at the Fifth Wall. The lemon pie that I brought back is her suggestion for you, too.”
At that revelation, Enon grumbled something along the lines of ‘she has good taste’ and ‘not falling for her tricks’ under his breath.
Enon has a system where he would gather enough errands if he were to travel somewhere he despised going to. The longer the list of errands they would be completing in a location, the more he would rather throttle you than show his face at the place. It gives him the chance to: one, collect everything needed to be done and organize them in an orderly fashion; two, avoid his duty just before it bubbles and tips over; and three, prepare himself for the inevitable trip away from the Seventh Wall. And Yuder could tell that Enon hated travelling deeper into the Walls of Luma more than anything, because the piece of parchment he's using to jot down their errands to complete there was filled to the front and back. Yuder peeked at the list in the cart they're riding past the gate, then up at his guardian.
“I thought we're going to the Fifth Wall for my bow and quivers?” A muscle in Enon's jaw ticked at his question.
“We'll see, kid.” And though he wanted to needle Enon for more than that curt answer, Yuder let him be. The pharmacist is entitled to his secrets, and if it's related to why he hated the magical barriers protecting the deeper Walls, then the least Yuder can do for him is to keep his mouth shut.
A good chunk of the errands on the list were just home visits for people that used to make the trip to Enon's pharmacy themselves, but their ailing body could no longer allow them the freedom. Yuder went around fetching basins of water for Enon to use and explaining the exact dosage of the prescription to consume for the caretakers in the house. While some of their patients were perplexed at the quick-footed teen swiftly sidestepping around the pharmacist they'd thought to hate everyone and everything, the other half was thankful that Enon no longer has to work alone managing his patients. One brave soul even joked that Enon adopted Yuder for his quick thinking and calm behavior compared to his abrasive nature.
(Enon ‘accidentally’ wrapped the coachman's twisted ankle tighter, before fixing his blunder. Yuder berated him for it, possibly making the man's injuries worse just to get back at him, and the pharmacist stayed silent as he was scolded by his teen assistant.)
They both had to rent a room at the Fifth Wall once the sun set, and Enon curled up in his bed with a blanket over his hunched shoulders, pouting. Yuder sighed at his forlorn stare at the wall. “Stop sulking. You couldn't foresee the grandmother's wound having a hidden infection that we had to do an emergency surgery for. It's over now, she's going to heal from it soon.”
“I'm not mad about the surgery, it's just those barriers-” Ruffling his hair with a groan, Enon flopped onto his back, the sheets on his bed inflating from the sudden movement. “It feels suffocating.”
Yuder's fingers stopped sewing his shirt, torn due to the panic caused by Enon slicing open the grandmother's infected wounds without warning. “Enon, are you doing fine? Should we leave for the Seventh Wall tonight-”
“I'm fine, really- it's nothing for you to worry about.”
“It is, if it makes you uncomfortable.” His current task by the opened window temporarily halted, Yuder sat on the edge of the pharmacist's bed, one hand resting on the sheets between them. “You taught me to wield my knowledge as a weapon against the world, like how you tackle complicated ailments and sought the cure for every disease ever known to man. Now I'm just returning the favor, and please be truthful to me. The magical barriers of the Orr Empire and you.”
His hand raises to point right at the pharmacist's chest, Yuder's dark eyes narrowing at his overly composed face (which means he's faking it). “What's the connection between the two of you?”
“We share the same creator.” Enon's calm reply stunned Yuder, and he immediately dropped his hand on the bed. With a sigh, the pharmacist revealed to the young grandson of his friend (his brother now; Melach can go suck it) about his origins and the pact he made with the legendary archmage of the empire hundreds of years ago, bestowing him with a title that he doesn't know what to make of. He opened up on the stories of years living in different Walls of the capital, seeing bloodshed and tragedies happening between the noble families that were once of the same blood, fading in the background of the empire as time marches past him without fail. Yuder fell asleep in the middle of him retelling his ploy of stopping the mages at the Pearl Tower from creating more animals out of Misty Winds like they did with the poor horses, and huffed when the kid struggled to keep his eyes open.
It's rare for him to spend the energy swirling within him for someone else, but Enon reached over with some of it pooling on his fingertips, and tapped Yuder on the forehead. His fluttering eyelids finally shut close with a sigh, and Enon threw the blanket in his lap over Yuder. He's not going to have a good night's sleep tonight, but it's okay- his chest has never felt lighter.
Enon was more quiet in the morning when they set out to finish the rest of the home visits in the Fifth Wall, but he did eat breakfast with Yuder and shared with him the updated list of herbs and materials they will have to restock at the pharmacy when they return. The last house they're visiting for the trip was built facing the entrance to the Fourth Wall, though Enon explained that the magical barriers are placed before the gates.
They haven't even reached the front door yet when it swung open and someone grabbed Yuder by his arm. “The pharmacist's here!” A voice shouted, yanking Yuder inside along with Enon, who clasped a hand around the teen's forearm and allowed them to be dragged inside.
The interior of the house was a wreck, was what Yuder took notice of the moment he could stand upright on his feet. The second thing was that around ten knights wearing emblems he couldn't recognize were standing guard in front of a room, anxiety radiating off of them like heat from a magic stove. Enon took a sweep of everything inside the house, and barked out, “Where is my customer?”
“In our custody,” replied one of the knights. “He was charged with a murder attempt by poison of the heir of the la Orr family-”
Yuder's heart skipped a beat. “Luna is hurt?”
The temperature in the house dropped by a few degrees. Then it was chaos. Some shouted at him, asking how he knew their young lady. One of the knights roared, “How dare you address the Lady only by her name-”
“Stand down, Quill. The young lady told us about his pharmacist friend from the Seventh Wall. So you are that friend.” The one from before said, scrutinizing Yuder with his piercing gaze. Enon sidled closer to Yuder, grasping his trembling shoulders. The knights whispered something to their leader, his gray eyes flicking between the two.
He knew they didn't have much choice in proving their innocence to the group of knights, so Enon stepped forward, partially shielding Yuder from the knights leader’s gaze. “We are supposed to be here for my client's checkup on his peg leg, and a restock of his painkillers. If Neal really did poison my little brother's friend and you have her hiding in that room-” The knights stood up straighter in front of the door, glaring at the gray-haired pharmacist. “The poison could have spread further the longer she went without treatment. Is Neal really as guilty as you framed him to be, or did he tell all of you about our arrival today, hoping the young lady would be cured under our care?”
When the knights didn't say anything, Enon continued. “Let us have a look at the young lady’s condition, and we will do what we can to alleviate her pain. I swore upon my duty as a healer.”
Yuder was ready to bodyslam against the five knights stubbornly standing in front of the door, when the leader of the group gave them a signal, parting them to allow the two to step inside the room. His knees almost buckled when he took the first step, but Enon had an arm wrapped around his shoulder to keep him steady. The door swung open on its creaking hinges, and a blast of concentrated mana chilled Yuder down to his toes.
“The young lady is trained to use spells and charms. The time-lock is her doing,” explained the knight's leader. Enon tugged Yuder next to the bed, and he dug his nails into his palms from touching the girl’s pale fingers on the bed.
While they both took out the necessary ingredients and instrument for a standard detoxification process, Yuder took in Lunafreya's sickly complexion, her pale blond hair fanning across the pillow, eyes closed with the smallest of frown on her face. She looked like she was sleeping, like that night they both snuck out (Enon knew he did, and handed him two bottles of masking potion to hide his scent if they needed a quick getaway) and she nodded off on the rooftop of the tower of the estate she's staying at in the capital, too stubborn to stay cooped in her room after a long, gruelling day besting other candidates vying for the position of the crown heir.
That was when he noticed the darkened veins peeking from under her collar. A cold sense of dread wrapped itself around Yuder’s throat. “Enon- hyung, it's monster poison.”
“Let me see.” Time-manipulation spells can be destroyed if the target came in contact with another living organism, so Enon used a stick to tug Lunafreya's collar lower and growled at the expanse of darkened veins beneath the clothes. “Dammit, with our current equipment, we cannot detoxify her fast enough. And without testing her blood sample, we cannot figure out what kind of poison she's afflicted with-”
“Then let's give her every antidote we could get our hands on while we nullify the poison,” Yuder cuts in. He unclasped his cloak and tossed it to the wall, taking out his dagger made out of monster's byproduct. “Grandfather gifted me this, forged by the remnants of the Plague Dragon of the South.”
Enon took the dagger from his hands, frowning down at it. “How did you-”
“He told me in his letters. I have been nicked and healed over it almost hundreds of times before. The traces from the dart in the forest comes from an aquatic monster from the West, and the needlepoint is a claw from the land burrowers monster found everywhere. I was allergic to it, but not enough to be fatal. You know this.”
The moment he mentioned the allergy reaction was when Enon realized what he's hinting at the moment he showed them the dagger. “You demented fool, you wanted to do a blood transfusion with the young lady?!”
“That's the only method we have now.”
“There's so many things that could go wrong! We don't even know if your blood types are compatible-” He yanked Yuder away from the bed, fingers digging into his bony shoulders in a desperate attempt to discourage the teen. Enon knew it was futile. “I'm not doing it; we can find another way to heal Lady Lunafreya-”
“Hyung.”
“If we upped the dosage for the neutralising draught, theoretically we could stabilize the young lady enough for a priest to heal her-”
“Listen to me, please-”
“If that doesn't work, we can block some channels on her body to prevent the poison from spreading and tackle them from each limbs-”
Two cool hands squeezed Enon's trembling fingers, and his frenzied rambling died on his tongue. He couldn't bear to look the teen in the eye, because Enon knew his resolve would crumble under the indomitable weight of Yuder's will to save the few people in this world that he would gladly call his friend. He couldn't put himself in that position again, witnessing the separation of two people that loved each other beyond words, even after all the years their pain is still vivid in his memories. A tale as old as the Empire, recorded in the barriers protecting the old graveyard of their hopes and dreams.
“You're the best healer I know, of course I want you to do it.” Another squeeze to his hands, and Enon gulped. “I don't think anyone else has the expertise to pull this off successfully as I knew you would.”
“You better,” he muttered, easing out of the teen's grasp. With an annoyed groan, Enon switched a couple of the instruments they had lying around with another from their knapsack. “Oi, knights leader. What's your name?”
He blinked, before replying, “I am Ryan Halberd, of the Peletta Knights.”
“Alright, Sir Ryan Halberd of the Peletta Knights, here's what we are going to do. The procedure will be long and need stability for everyone involved, so please clear out the living room except for a number of able bodied people you can spare. I also need three wooden pails filled with hot water and two more with normal water, as much ginger food you can get and keep them coming, and the young lady's guardian or people I can ask for permission to do this procedure for her. Time is of essence and I need the cooperation of everyone in your platoon to make this easier for the young lady and all of us. Please and thank you.”
He dismissed the knight with a wave of his hands, before turning to Yuder sitting on the floor in front of him. “You, on the other hand, are going to sit next to the bed and sterilize the connector for each of the tubes, like how I taught you to. Now move it, people!”
To everyone's relief (and Enon's secret devastation), Yuder and Lunafreya had matching blood types. With the help of the knights, they create a small flowing pool made out of the water in the pails to keep the blood in the same temperature as the inside of a body before it would enter the young lady through the tube that will be inserted into her arm. After he was done with his own preparation, Yuder explained to the knights why they had to feed him food with ginger in them; the anticoagulant properties in ginger helps promote better blood flow. Along with the flow of the warm water, they are doing everything they can to avoid a blood clot from forming during the procedure.
While they had Yuder eat a plate of gingersnap cookies, an imposing man with warm reddish skin walked into the room. The knights stood to attention at his appearance.
“Sir Nathan!”
“I am told there is a risky procedure that needs my master's permission to be approved.” His icy gaze lingered on Yuder, before landing on the frustrated pharmacist crouched next to him. “Are you Enon, the healer proposing the bloodletting and transfusion for Lady Lunafreya?”
“That'll be that idiot who's giving away his blood for free,” he growled, glaring at Yuder who accepted his ire without complaints. “But yes, I'm the one doing it. And I need explicit permission to continue. Will you be fine having commoner's blood mixed with the ones of la Orr, the bloodline of the Emperor?”
For a few intense moments, Sir Nathan said nothing. He took in the contraption built next to the bed, the clothes blocking the window from letting the chilly winter air inside, Ryan and two men changing the water to keep it at Enon's desired temperature. The snake coiled around Yuder's neck tightened further and further, constricting his breathing, when the man finally nodded. “Proceed with the treatment. Do what you can to save Lady Lunafreya.”
“Very well. Yuder, arms out.” He barely felt the pinch of the needle puncturing his skin, only the relief that his friend now has a chance to be healed. On Enon's signal, he swiftly inserted the tube on the inside of her arm, along with Yuder pouring the neutralizing draught into her mouth. Yuder then was stuck on the chair next to the bed until his next transfusion with the knights, Enon not wanting to risk him accidentally pulling the tube connected to his arm off. The ten minutes everyone waited to see if the transfusion was a success or a failure felt like eons to Yuder, but finally, Enon confirmed it to be a success.
“Yuder would have to get another knight's blood once the hour ends, and we might be here for another couple of days to see if it's working, but the transfusion is progressing smoothly for now.” Everyone sighed in relief at his words. Yuder looked up from the tube in his arms to Nathan giving him an indescribable look. He then turned to Enon before Yuder could thank him for going along with his wishes. With nothing to entertain him, Yuder turned to Lunafreya on the bed, fluffing her pillows and straightening the blanket covering her from the waist down.
Her complexion hadn't changed much since the start of the procedure, but Yuder could already see the darkened veins around her neck receding. Perhaps once they return to the pharmacy, he can ask Enon to check the content of his blood if he really carried antibodies for monster poisons. Yuder wondered what else he could build an immunity to when Enon reached over and pinched him in the cheeks.
“Ow, ow, ow-!”
“Stop whatever you're thinking, I know that face. Don't you dare do whatever you're planning on doing- I'm not letting you!” Enon scolded him. Yuder rubbed his abused cheek, brows furrowed.
“You have no proof I'm planning anything dangerous-”
“And there you go! You just exposed yourself to having thoughts that'll give me headaches just hearing them coming from your mouth! Alright, we're dropping this topic for another time because I'm not supposed to give you high blood pressure during an active blood transfusion-” He said, gesturing to the tube transporting his blood into Lunafreya’s body. “Sir Nathan has asked me about your medical condition and if there's something you wanted to ask, feel free to speak up.”
“I don't really have anything to add-” Yuder then realized something. “Wait, will Lady Lunafreya's body adapt to my immune system with this transfusion?”
Enon frowned, but nodded. “That'll be the end goal, so yeah.”
“Aside from poison of monster origins, I also have immunity in most common plant-based analgesics in the Orr Empire. I probably had consumed a sizable amount of poisonous mushrooms before I even reached ten years of age; my grandfather encouraged me, since he could always nurse me back to health when we lived together.”
“I am kicking him into a rapids once I see him again,” Enon growled low in his throat, clawed fingers twitching at his side. “He told you to eat poisonous mountain mushrooms? And you listened to him?!”
Yuder gave him a shrug, not really seeing the problem. “I'm practically a walking poison tester for him growing up. I think it's a good thing, because now I get to heal Lady Lunafreya with my blood.”
A mumbling to their left caught everyone on guard. Nathan and Enon quickly approached the bed, the pharmacist pressing two fingers to Lunafreya's wrist and checking her breathing. “Lady Lunafreya, can you hear me?”
“... call me…”
“What is it? Can you speak up?”
Her bruised eyelids fluttered open, ruby-red irises blurry before she turned to the side and mumbled, “... told Yuder… to call me… my name…”
Yuder sagged in his chair with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose as Enon bit back a laugh. “Well, it seems like she's slowly getting her strength back. Welcome to the land of the living, my lady.”
“It feels good… to be back,” she smiled at the pharmacist. Lunafreya has her left arm raised, and when Yuder caught it with his right one, she twined their fingers together before squeezing them. “Hello, Yuder. Meeting you here is… an unexpected surprise.”
“One that I hope you're not planning on repeating in the future,” he tacks in with a frown. “You need to take care of yourself better, Lunafreya. I thought monsters-based poison is heavily restricted in the higher districts? What was Neal’s job again?”
“He’s a cook for a count working at the Black Pigeon Building,” Enon answered him. “Neal wrote me a letter asking for advice on different types of painkillers, and you know I work strictly with people using the word of the mouth.” The pharmacist scratched his head, looking utterly confused. “Looks like Sir Nathan and I both have rats to flush out the door- You're not helping, Yuder, sit down and drink your tea.”
Thankfully, Lunafreya let him have his right hand back to pick up the cup of tea, sitting abandoned on the bedside table. It has since cooled down after their little scare with the young lady waking up, but Yuder drank it all anyway. Ryan dutifully refilled the cup with more warm and freshly brewed tea.