Aster and Kat arrive a few minutes later. Probably guided by Dog's presence, it is Aster that finds them; Kit lying semi-unconscious on the floor, Baz's lap serving as a cushion for his head. Kit, doing everything in his power to remain awake. A part of him knows that if he falls asleep right now, he won't be opening his eyes later.
"Aster!" Baz's head shoots up when he hears xeir footsteps. "You're finally here!"
Aster looks around, taking in the surroundings. "What the hell happened?"
"No time for that. I'll explain later. We need to get Kit help. Now."
Aster seems to finally notice the state Kit is in. "What the hell happened to him?"
"Magical exhaustion," Kat says. She's walked up behind Aster, and has quickly assessed Kit's condition, inferring from the array drawn on the floor that is what must have happened.
Just like fuel, magical energy works in much the same way. Magical energy is produced in the body every day, and the body naturally stores up magical energy if it is not being used. The reserves can come in handy during situations when more complex spells are cast, but even then, there will be times when not even the reserves are enough. When the body's magical energy levels reach a critical low point, the body will send warning signs, even shutting off if necessary.
If the signs are ignored, the pathways through which the magical energy flowed would burst, and if that happened, the person would never be able to use magic again. The pathways, like thin pieces of string spreading across the whole body, would snap under too much pressure, and sometimes, when the rupture was violent enough, the body part through which most of the magic was being channelled could also suffer physical damage. Most of the time though, the damage did not reach those levels. Vomiting, bleeding from the facial orifices, intense headaches, dilated pupils, high fevers, tremors or shivering, muscle cramps, and seizures were the common symptoms, usually manifesting in that order. They could still be life threatening if left untreated, with the more advanced they were, the more critical the person's condition was.
Due to the rush of adrenaline, Kit's body didn't send the signs to his body, and he simply powered on. He pushed his body to the limit, the pathways in his body came under too much pressure, and they came close to bursting. To release the abnormal amount of pressure, his body decided to act by itself, and took on some of it. Truth be told, it's almost a miracle he's only bleeding from his nose.
Kat kneels down to examine Kit better. She puts a hand on his forehead, but immediately pulls it back. "He's burning up with fever already." She looks at Baz, the worry clear in her eyes. "We need to get him to a Healer."
Aster gives a small cough to draw her attention. "There are no Healers in this town."
Kat whips around. "What?!" She turns back to Baz. "Is this true?"
Baz nods in confirmation.
"Still," she sighs, "he needs some sort of medical assistance. Even if it is just to get the fever under control and prevent dehydration. We need to at least take him to a normal hospital."
At the sound of that, Kit tries to open his eyes, but the throbbing in his head becomes stronger, accompanied by a sharp buzzing sound in his ears. Even with his fever-addled brain, he can still feel the low rising panic at the mention of the hospital. Mustering up all his remaining strength, he tries to speak. "No hospital." It's barely a whisper. He doubts anyone could even hear him.
"What? What did he say?" Kat asks Baz.
Baz leans down, placing his ear right above Kit's mouth. But only the sound of Kit's shallow breathing can be perceived. "Kit," Baz talks softly, shaking Kit's shoulder gently. "Kit, what did you say?"
"No…" He groans weakly. "...No hospital."
Baz makes eye contact with Kat. "He says… He doesn't want to go to the hospital."
"But you have to go!" Kat cries out in alarm. "You're not thinking straight! You can't possibly be serious!" She stands up. "I'm going to go get the car," she addresses Baz and Aster, already stalking off. "He's going to the hospital whether he wants to or not." Her tone is stern; there is no more arguing left to be done.
Maybe because the adrenaline hasn't worn off completely, Kit manages to sit up. Baz tries to get him to lie down again, but he pushes him away. "Don't." Kit's voice comes out a lot louder than he expected, surprising everyone. "Don't… There's no need to go to the hospital. Just… Just leave me alone."
"We can't! You'll die if you don't get help!" Kat tries to argue with him.
The logical part of him knows this, but right now, his common sense is too far gone, his senses dulled and feeling numb all over. It's too hard to think. He feels himself slipping away, as if he were experiencing everything from underwater. The only thing that remains clear in his brain is fear. Fear of what, he does not know, he can't think that much, but there is this sort of animalistic instinct to simply curl up into himself, to not let anyone get close. Like a wounded animal will bite out to an outstretched hand, not out of aggressiveness, but fear.
"Be rational, will you?" Kat is growing impatient. "You need to at least get out of this place. Won't you at least get in the car?"
"No…" His head is throbbing like crazy, the inside of his head feels as if someone were pounding on it. He can feel all the strength leaving his body; looks like that last burst of adrenaline needed to make him sit up was all that was left over. He clutches his head when a sudden sharp burst of pain pierces his brain. His breathing is coming in ragged bursts. It feels like his skull is being split in half.
"Kit!" Baz rushes to his side again. Baz supports him by the shoulders, preventing Kit's body from hitting the ground.
Kit tries to push him away, but he finds his body isn't responding anymore. His hands are shaking uncontrollably, and the tremors quickly spread to the rest of his body. This isn't the same trembling as before, when he was simply shaking from fear. This time, he's shivering so hard, it feels like his brain is rattling inside his head, and his whole body becomes covered in a cold sweat in seconds.
"Hey! Hey, Kit!" Baz's voice sounds panicked. "Open your eyes! Say something, at least!"
Seeing Kit descending into a worse and worse state, Aster finally decides to intervene. "For fuck's sake," xe says. Xeir tone sounds annoyed on the surface, but there is a hidden layer of worry underneath. "Baz, just pick him up."
"What?!"
"Or I'll do it."
"Okay, okay!" Baz slips one arm underneath Kit's knees to support his legs, while the other one wraps around his arms across his back.
Kit gives a low noise of protest, but he is too weak to put up a fight, and so he can do nothing but let himself be picked up and carried by Baz. He hadn't realised how cold he was, until his body is pressed this close to Baz's, warmth rolling off him in waves. Instinctively, Kit tries to draw closer to the source of heat, nuzzling against the other's chest. Dimly, reluctantly, in the very back of his mind, Kit thinks about how nice this feels.
Immediately, he finds himself blushing. (It's a good thing the fever has already spread a flush across his face, and the heat rising to his cheeks is hidden by it.) It must be because of the fever; he must be half delirious. To let himself be held this close, in such a vulnerable state, if he were not on the brink of death, he couldn't possibly allow it. It's too embarrassing.
Somehow, Kit does not know how, they make their way to the hospital. He is too out of it to remember anything that happens. Even when the nurses come and poke and prod at him, he doesn't react much. His head feels like it had been stuffed with cotton, his thoughts turning sluggish and confusing. At one point, he even starts hallucinating from the fever.
The hours pass by in a blur. He keeps tossing and turning in the narrow hospital bed. The fever doesn't seem like it will be breaking any time soon, so he is forced to deal with the discomfort. Shivering, drenched in sweat and with a skull-splitting headache, Kit spends the rest of the day in this state.
But through it all, he is vaguely aware of another's presence next to him. Sitting on a chair next to the hospital bed is another person. He does not know who it is, but his presence never once vanishes, instead, they seem to be trying to be tuned in to whatever he might need. Tucking in the sheets if they become too messy, or changing the cooling pad on his forehead, even trying to wipe the sweat away from his face. The sweat makes strands of hair stick to his forehead, and he feels a hand brushing the strands away from his face gently, and fingers combing through his hair, their presence acting like soothing balm. Strangely, he is reminded of his mother.
He remembers, though only dimly, the time he got pneumonia. He had always suffered from respiratory conditions, but this had been something completely different. Even though every year he would develop a cough or catch a flu, the spring when he was four, it was a different case. It had started with a cough, followed by fevers and chills. But as time passed, the medicine seemed to have no effect. Instead, he seemed to be getting worse. His breathing would come in wheezes, and a pain in his chest would build every time he inhaled. His mother told him, years later when recounting the story, that he couldn't hold down his food, and his skin became deathly pale. She said, in that moment, she really thought he would die.
His parents had rushed him to the ER, and he had immediately been taken to the ICU. Frankly, most of his hospital stay is a blur to him. Whenever he tries to recall, the image will become distorted in his mind. Only certain sounds, the bright lights and strong smell of disinfectant remain somewhat clear in his memory. But the one thing he remembers most vividly, is his mother sitting next to his hospital bed. Day and night, she would not leave his side, shushing him and threading her fingers to his hair to comfort him if he showed any signs of discomfort. Sometimes, she would even sing to him while gently patting his head. It's one of the few tender memories he has of his mother, and why he treasures it even more.
If he tries hard enough, he can imagine he is back in that same hospital bed, with his mother taking care of him by his side. He can even hear his mother's voice, softly humming the song from back then. But it is all part of his fever-induced delirium. His mother isn't here.
Still, in his confusion, he unconsciously calls out for her. "Mum…" It's the last thing he says before he drifts off into a deep slumber.
~~~
When he wakes up, it's already the next day. He can't recall anything that happened since he collapsed at the slaughterhouse. The last thing Kit remembers is releasing the array activation and his vision going black.
Blearily, he opens his eyes, taking in his surroundings. He's obviously in a hospital room, but he can't, for the life of him, figure out how he got here.
He sighs. What bad luck… It feels as if lately he's been coming in and out of this place repeatedly. Too much, if you ask him. At this rate, he's going to be dead before he turns twenty-eight in a few months.
He turns his head to the side, only to see Baz quietly dozing off in a chair next to him. Kit feels a guilty pang in his chest. He must have spent all night here, by his side. His limbs are arranged awkwardly on the chair, and he looks to be in what cannot possibly be described as other than an uncomfortable position. When he wakes, all his joints will surely be incredibly stiff.
Kit tries to call out to him, but his throat and mouth are too dry, and all that comes out is a raspy sound. He opts to reach out an arm and give Baz a slight shake.
At that, Baz startles, and he almost falls off from his seat. He looks around, confused, his eyes heavy with sleep. It takes a few seconds for him to incorporate, but when he does, he finally notices Kit is awake. "Oh, hey," he stifles a yawn behind his hand, "how are you feeling?"
Kit gives him a small nod.
"Better? That's good. Do you want me to call a nurse?" Kit shakes his head no. "Oh, okay. Do you want anything, though? Bathroom? Food? Water?"
Kit gives another nod at that last option, and Baz helps Kit sit up into a half-sitting position, handing him over a glass of water from the bedside table.
Kit has to stop himself from gulping it all down in one go, only taking small sips. When he's done, Baz takes back the empty glass, setting it back to its previous position.
"What happened?" Kit's voice still comes out slightly hoarse.
"Magical exhaustion," Baz fills him in. Kit grimaces. "But you're fine now. Your body is starting to build up its energy reserves again. You pulled through the night, which was apparently the hardest part. Now you just have to rest for a while and not use any magic for a couple of days."
"How long will I have to stay here?" Right now, that is his main concern.
"Hm. Not long." Baz pats Kit's head consolingly. "I believe by this afternoon you'll be allowed to leave."
Kit lets out a sigh of relief. But his respite is short lived when he remembers the events from yesterday. The demon, for they could now be sure it was a demon, was still out there. The danger had just become much, much more real.
~~~
"The only explanation would be a time loop." Kat says.
Kit had been allowed to go back to work the next day. After having taken such an extensive leave, he could hardly take another one so soon. Besides, this time the damage wasn't severe. As long as he didn't use any magical energy, he could go about normally. Right now, they are discussing the events caused by the demon, the four of them who had been present sitting in the common area around the circular plastic table.
The first subject to be broached is the disappearance of all those people and their subsequent massacre, and how Aster was able to remain unaware of it while it was happening. A time loop barrier is the best they have come up with at the moment.
Aster's hand on top of the table clenches into a fist. "A time loop?"
"A very complex one, if so." Kat hums in contemplation. "You were experiencing the same moment over and over again, but you could still experience the passage of time while at the same time not being able to perceive events happening outside the barrier. Not to mention the fact that you weren't aware of the repetition, so some sort of illusion spell must have also been casted."
"So the sick bastard had me exorcising the same soul over and over again?!" Aster gnashes xeir teeth.
Kit debates whether to tell xem about it, but decides to do it in the end. "There… There might not even have been a ghost in the first place."
"What?! What are you saying?"
"If it has the ability to control the souls of the dead, how hard would it have been for them to simply plant one and make it look like a ghost? If this is true, then…"
"Then I was played for a fool!" Aster punches the table, cracking it down the middle. "I wasn't even exorcising anything! I was sitting there, like an idiot, performing that stupid ritual over and over!"
"Look at the bright side of things," Baz tries to calm xem, "at least you were in a time loop and no one saw you."
"Does it look like that matters to me?!" Aster shouts. "I don't care if a million people saw me or nobody did! What pisses me off is that fucking piece of shit managed to get the better of me!"
"If the demon is truly capable of setting up a time barrier, I'm afraid we have more serious issues on hand than your wounded pride," Kat informs xem dryly.
A barrier capable of distorting time is one only a number of people counted on one hand can perform in the whole country, and one as complex as that… One would be hard pressed to find such a person in the entire continent. Kit starts sweating. Next to him, he can feel Baz also tensing up with apprehension.
Kat pushes up her glasses. "It looks like we are dealing with a way more serious opponent than we thought. He has no intentions to reveal himself openly, yet he has already started acting, something never observed before. Not only is he insanely powerful, he is also cautious and clever. Very clever. This… this is not looking good."
"That would be the understatement of the century," Baz laughs sarcastically. "We're totally fucked."