Kumori was sitting next to an unconscious Hikari, Kagami on her lap.
The day before, Kaito had come in a smaller car to get them at Richard's house, switching it for the eight seater they originally had. After they reached Bloodmoon about ten minutes later, they were quickly met by a tall, regal woman with greying hair, decked in a polo tee and jeans, who introduced herself as Joanne Hawkes.
Joanne has then quickly bustled Hikari off to the medical wing, where she had performed an array of tests and spells that had, quite frankly, creeped Liam out.
The pain had slowly started to set in, effectively knocking Hikari out. There was no doubt that even the witch was concerned for her, and although she hid it well, this still made Kaito, Kumori, Cole and Liam worry.
After the four of them were kicked out of the room for more tests and magic, Joanne had emerged from the room thirty minutes later.
"I need to discuss some things with you." She told the four of them in a serious voice, and led them to an empty room, as if she were the host and they were the visitors.
Kumori was wondering why this random person was leading her around her home, like she owned the place, but set the thought aside. Temporarily.
Kaito was too mentally exhausted from the Epsilon stuff he had to deal with to object to the treatment Joanne was giving them.
"Hikari is in a lot of pain right now."Joanne stated.
"No shit." Cole muttered, and the witch glared at him coldly.
"If you have nothing better to do than pray she gets better, I know a way to temporarily elevate the pain while I look for something that can do it effectively. It won't be much, but it'll be something." She paused to gauge their reactions. She couldn't guess how they would react.
"Well? Get on with it." Cole demanded.
"You've got to share it."
"Say what?" Liam asked, more than a little confused.
"I'm under orders to not get involved with whatever crazy things you all get into. Which includes getting involved in a witch's spell." Kaito got up. He had a long mental list of things he had to take care of. "I have stuff to do." With that, he was gone.
Kumori didn't even spare her uncle a glance. "So? What do we have to do?"
"It's usually a spell that we use in a fight, a last ditch effort to save ourselves or allies by piling part of the pain on others." She said as she led them back to Hikari's room, where there were five empty beds apart from hers. "Lie down." She told the three of them, and they went to different beds.
She eyed Liam and Cole carefully. "Do you want to do this?"
"The more people the less pain for Hikari, right?" Cole asked. "Is that how it works?"
Joanne nodded.
"Then I'm in."
"I am too," Liam said. Joanne nodded again, this time in acknowledgement, and sat on a nearby bed. She waved her hand and a wand appeared. She proceeded to cast the spell, muttering unintelligible words under her breath. When she finished, black wisps of smoke rose up from Hikari's body, most coming from the wound.
The smoke curled around, separating into four different sections and floating their way to the other inhabitants of the room, three of which were shifting nervously in their beds. Magic was not something a typical shifter would be often exposed to.
The first stab of pain erupted as the first tendrils touched them. The tendrils themselves were of no substance. The pain was small, but it didn't fade, only getting increasingly intense as more of the smoke sunk past their skin. A few seconds later, Liam sucked in a breath as Cole muttered "fuck". Kumori didn't say anything, but the pain was evident in her expression as she chewed on her lower lip, frowning.
A minute later, the last of the smoke had disappeared. Joanne stood up, ignoring the pain wracking her body. This was out of her duty to do, but there was absolutely no way that she would allow anyone to endure the pain that Hikari was facing, without at least trying to help. She smiled slightly at the three teenagers laying on the beds, respecting their solidarity for their friend. "Ring the bell if you can't take it. I'll transfer it to myself then."
"Wait," Liam choked out.
"Hm?" Joanne hummed, turning to glance at the boy frowning up at her.
"You're bearing the same pain as us?" A nod. "Why? You're going to function with it?"
A shrug. "I have to."
"Couldn't you just, like, I don't know, give us what you're feeling so that you don't have to walk around like that?"
Joanne gave a light, tinkling laugh, contrary to the pain she was feeling both physically and mentally. That was refreshing. "I don't think the three of you can bear that much more. Either way, the caster has to bear the consequences of this spell."
"Hold it." Kumori spoke through gritted teeth. "I'm literally the only functioning mediator in this pack. I'm allowed to move about, right?"
"You are, but this is draining. And they've made it quite a while without you, considering you were on that trip and might have still been if not for," she gestured to the room in general, "this. Whatever happens, I'll try to take care of it. If I can't handle it as well as you could in this condition, I'll come to you."
"We were lucky, that's all. Normally, there are fights every few hours and I end up brain dead at the end of every day, so good luck."
"Well, we won't want you to be brain dead in this condition, would we?" Joanne smiled serenely. This pack really had to loosen up a little. "Don't worry. I'll see to it that no fights escalate."
Joanne held back a sigh as she shut the door behind her. "More fun for me, then. Why the hell are they not mature enough to take care of their fights like civil werewolves?"
She then swept through the corridor, casting another spell that would notify her of hostile violence happening in the territory.
"They're so brave." She told herself as she thought of the three teenagers in the room she just left, making her way to a room she had borrowed -demanded- as her lab. She was supposed to be here to investigate the Alpha as her distraction, but that finished extremely quickly, and has possibly led to an even bigger case. She was also hoping to meet two of her favourite people apart from her daughter and son-in-law, but one was on a dangerous road trip, the other missing.
God damnit, she was so tired.
But she couldn't stop doing what she was doing, because she wasn't the only one bearing this pain. If she couldn't take away their pain, the best she could do was share and elevate it. She had dedicated her life to it, and she wasn't giving up now.