fumiya & arielle & rin | right after the explosion | pg | complete
With one less problem, Fumiya refocused his efforts toward singing, reminding himself to synchronize with the girl who had joined in rather than straying toward heterophony. As they harmonized, mottled skin smoothed out and the scorched red began to fade to its natural color. At the sight, the knight hovering over the lady sat back and sighed with relief.
Though he continued strumming his biwa, Fumiya stopped singing to tell her, “Take her to the nearest clinic. There’s not much more we can do if she inhaled too much smoke.” Her unconsciousness was telling enough, but Fumiya only said, “Down this road, turn left in three streets. It’s right on the corner.” As per his instructions, the knight stood once more and heaved the lady into her arms, setting off at a slow, labored jog.
The lull gave him enough time to glance over at the two ladies who came to his aid. Recognizing them as part of Miles’ crew, he smiled in greeting and said, “Thank you for your help.” More people were emerging from the tavern, and he brought his plectrum back into position as he turned to the one he knew as Audrey’s friend and asked, “Do you know Soul Etude?”
Ari shook her head with a small frown, said, “Unfortunately not.” It was the next scroll she intended to track down, but for the present moment, she seriously doubted her ability to simply follow him if he played. This was not the place to experiment. “I can sing Angelic Aria, however,” she offered after a moment; the effects of Regen would do more than Life Song could accomplish, though the matter of those who had inhaled too much smoke…
“I am better at assisting those who would go into battle,” she said, wondering whether the fighters who were braving the flames now had thought of Protect, or Bravery, or, perhaps most useful, Haste. “But I will stay out of the way until you have finished your next song.” She would help Rin, who seemed to have the crowd well in hand now. And tomorrow, she would contact Vivi and ask her to acquire the scroll.
“Sing it,” he said, instilling Praise into his undertones, “You’ve already done well, and it’ll be no distraction to me.” Whether it would be for her though was another matter in itself, but there was no time for dawdling. If she could, then she could. Fumiya left their side with a slight bow to them both, and walked over to where the fighters and injured gathered, another song rejoining the crackle of the fire.
The crowd had abated. Some of the onlookers had simply left, tiring of the spectacle. Rin had managed to herd the number that remained out of the way, till they stood in a roughly-ordered line, away from the action. She turned her gaze back toward the burning building as Ari came over. The number of injured civilians had grown in number, soot-covered and coughing. Most of their rescuers had settled them down and plunged back into the fray. Though the older man continued his song, Rin, too, worried about smoke inhalation.
“The clinic?” she asked Ari.
Her second song complete—and some of the injured showing signs of improvement, thankfully—Ari approached her friend and nodded. “We should probably start moving them that way. The white mages will be able to do what we cannot.” She was a healer, but not a doctor. Fortunately, some of the injured parties seemed to be standing unaided now, so between the lot of them, they could probably manage to transport those who could not.
She helped a woman who seemed unsteady on her feet, pulling the woman’s sooty arm over her own shoulder. She was going to earn a massive (if belated) dinner. With dessert.