“What are you getting at?” Jonna wrote.
“No! No no no no no no! I didn’t mean it like that! What I’m talking about it is what if that old man tries to attack you in your sleep. If he’s still as bloodthirsty about killing you again no doubt he’ll try again.” Saul responded.
Jonna wanted to turn down his offer as she finds it a bit unnecessary but he has a valid point. But she doesn’t know where he’s been staying this whole time since they’ve been here. However, this might be a chance to get to know him a little more. Despite the emotional breakdown, he had a few days ago she still knows next to nothing about Saul. She wants to know him more but more important about a closer insight into the Sanstia family who he works for.
“Very well, I shall take you up on your offer then.” She wrote.
Saul smiled when she said but then Jonna frowned as she turns the pages as it reads:
“But try to do anything funny in my sleep or even make a funny move on me and you’re dead.” She wrote.
“Cross my heart I would do no such thing!” Saul shouted.
Jonna then smiled and wanted to chuckle a bit but then remember that she doesn’t have a tongue. Even if she could it would sound weird for Saul. She clenches her fist tightly as she attempts to get up as Saul offers her a hand up. She takes it as they both walked out of the hallway and make their way to the courtyard. Jonna was confused on why they were back in the courtyard when the building was behind them where a majority of the dormitory rooms were there. Saul searches around and sees the magic sigil on the ground but wonders if it’ll be able to transport her with him or it’ll cause one of those weird accidents, he saw in a horror movie where transporting two people at the same time will cause them to merge into an unholy abomination when merging as one being. But regardless of his thoughts of the possibilities, he says the phrase.
“Mitte ergo mihi ad votum debet” he said.
The sigil below their feet began to glow as Jonna was marveled at the magic that was enveloping her as it illuminates them both as they both were transported away from the courtyard and back into Saul’s room of the hospital. Jonna has never once experience magic in her life, let alone one where she can be teleported from one location to another. Saul made sure that all of his body parts were still intact and not connect to Jonna. However, he did notice the blood coming from her forehead. Saul looked closely at his own body as he has could of bruises on him from shielding Jonna. That old man, Hector was on his mind, and wish he could have fought back that would make him look bad at the hospital for beating on an old man even if it was in self-defense. He stopped thinking about it and went through Andrea’s cabinet to find any antibiotics and rubbing alcohol if she had any stored in it.
While Saul was searching through the desk, Jonna was pondering about the room itself. Room? Like more a palace suite. The Bed was unnecessarily huge, the furniture was in good shape despite being a bit outdated and old. Hell, even the wallpaper around the room is still of good quality. She knew Saul was working for the Sanstia family but he’s living more of the highlight compare to the rest of everyone else. But her attention then shifted towards the far west corner of the room where armaments were placed there. She instantly recognized it as it was worn by the one who did save her from being killed during the escape. She had doubts it really was Saul that saved her and thought it was someone else and he happened to wore the same one. But it was torn, burnt even to a crisp. The wool on the gambeson and was torn to shreds and the brigandine was exposing the metal plate on the inside of it.
However, what caught her attention the most of the torn cloak laid in front of the armor. Though it was torn apart, what her eyes were set on was the insignia on the back of it. She had seen once before in a newspaper back in the Eastern City… but from where? Her thoughts were concerning as what if Saul is part of another Mercenary that also profited from slavery and what if everything, he told her was a lie.
“Oh here we go!” Saul shouted.
Jonna then drops the cloak as she returns to Saul's side as he now carries a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a few cotton balls to rub on the wound. Though Saul was holding on to them as best as he could, his arm gave way as they collapse making him drop the bottle of rubbing alcohol. Jonna then jumped and slide across the floor as she catches it before it dropped to the floor. Saul sighed in relief as he didn’t want it to break upon impact. Otherwise, how is he gonna explain a huge stain on the floor to Andrea? Jonna gets back up and helps Saul with the medicine as she sits down on the extra chair in the room and Saul sits across from her. He takes a pair of tweezers and grabs a cotton ball and light dips it in the rubbing alcohol and applies some of it on Jonna’s head. She winces as the alcohol stings so much upon contact but she endures it as best she can. However, she noticed that he’s doing it very slowly as his hands are still shaking. She stops him midway as she writes in her notepad.
“Let me do yours.” She wrote.
“No no, it’s fine.” Saul replied.
Jonna then grabbed his arm by force as she begins to unravel the bandages around his arm. As she removed them, she sees now his wounds hiding under the bandages. Burnt skin, exposed muscles, dried blood, and scabs. His entire arm was damaged beyond her belief and he was walking around acting like this was nothing? He still protected her from an attack of a crazy old man despite how injured he still is? She could hardly imagine how much pain he must have felt just blocking. He was worried about her own well-being without considering his own. The mere thought of it was enough was to drive her mad beyond her own belief.
“Jonna? Are you ok-“
Suddenly, she slapped him across his face as she was filled with anger, knocking him down to the floor as she followed. She grabbed by his shirt as she shakes him furiously about it. She tried to yell at him a few times as she shakes him back and forth, slowly realizing that she can’t speak or yell. She grips her hands tightly as she slams her fists down onto his chest. Saul winced at her strike yet he was amazed at the amount of strength she processes. Jonna hectically grabbed her notepad and furiously wrote on it.
“What was it that I told you about lying to yourself?! How can you be worried about me when you’re the one who was greatly injured than I am?!” She wrote and shows it to Saul.
She then slaps him with her notepad as she was breathing heavily in her anger. Flashback began appearing before her eyes as she begins to remember one time of her little brother Jaune. She was looking for him desperately throughout the streets of the Eastern City until she finally found him in a back alley, along with a group of street thugs lying on the ground covered in bruises. Jaune was on the other side of the alley fighting another thug who was nearly the same age as Jonna while Jaune was only a small child at the time. He was losing at the thug grabbed him as he put Jaune in a chokehold.
“Jaune!” she yells.
Jonna rushes in by grabbing a small pipe that belongs to one of the street thugs who were lying unconscious and swings at the man’s head throwing him off balance letting Jaune go as he backswing the street thug and deliveries a could more swing across his jaw then grabs Jonna’s pipe and swing across the man’s forehead dropping him down to the ground knocked out from the swing. Jaune breathed a heavy sigh of relief as he drops the pipe and grabs a bag that one of the street thugs had.
“Jaune come on let’s get out of here before the guards show up.” She said.
“Not yet…. I need to make a delivery first.” Jaune said as he struggles to stay awake, let alone walk right.
He limbs himself out of the alley and turns a corner as a woman who was standing in front of a bread shop as she was yelling at two guards about what was stolen from her until Jaune walked up holding the bag and speaking up.
“Is this what you were missing Madame?” He asked.
The woman’s attention was drawn not towards the bag but towards Jaune, seeing him battered state as he’s covered in mud, bruises and cuts. The woman slowly takes the bag as her stolen items were in it. She was both surprised and in shock that a small boy who could still be in primary school got her stole items back.
“Oh mon Dieu, what happened to you child?” The woman asked.
Jaune explained the whole situation on how he chased him while he was making his way to the bread shop when he heard her cry for her help. Though he fought most of them he could deal with their leader until his sister came along and finished him off. Both the guards and the baker had no word to described what they did. It was either heroic or stupid of them to do such a thing. But the guard followed the alley and apprehend the street thugs as the baker thanked them for returned her items. She asked if they would like a reward and Jaune pulled out a few copped coins from his pocket and told her.
“Three pieces of bread please for tonight.” He said as gives it to the baker.
She did so and hands him what he requested as Jaune and Jonna make their way back into their own alleyway as they enjoy a soft croissant bread all while Jaune was scolding him for such action.
“What were you thinking!? I told you to not picks fights on the streets! Especially with those hooligans! They could have killed you if I didn’t step in!” she yells.
However, Jaune didn’t respond. He was too heavily focused on his croissant. Even ignoring his untreated cuts which were still bleeding. Jonna sighed in frustration as she eats the rest of her bread and reaches for a second bread but then she noticed there was a bottle underneath it. She picked it up and saw a note attached to it that said “For the wounds. Stay safe.” It surprised that the baker showed her some form of kindness to a couple of street rats. She rips off a piece of her skirt and wets it with the antibiotics that were in the bottle.
“Jaune, hold still.” She said.
She then applies the wet rag onto Jaune who winced and dropped his bread from the sharp pain when the rag made contact with his cut wounds.
“AAhh! That stings!” he yells.
“Hold still will ya!” she yells back at him and continues to apply. “Jaune, listen to me. I know you did for us but, you can’t do something so reckless that could have gotten you killed. Understand?” She asked.
“But, you were hungry too. I didn’t want you to go through another day without food because of me. I wanted to do something for you for once. I didn’t want to be runt anymore…” He said.
“Listen, you’re my little brother. You’re all that I have left. Worry about yourself before me. If anything happened to you…. I don’t know what I do with my life without you. Please, do pull a stunt like that ever again. I mean it Jaune. I can’t….. I can’t lose you…” she said as she slowly hugs Jaune and pulls him closer to her.
Jaune in response did the same as he embraces his sister as well. The memory ends as Jonna still has Saul pinned down on the floor while gripping his shirt. Tears began to swell up in her eyes as she cries. Saul was much like Jaune, reckless and kind. The more she looks at him, the more painful it is to look at him with a straight face.
“I’m sorry but am I interrupting?” A familiar voice came out.
Saul looked behind Jonna and to his surprised, it was Sara as she’s twirling her hair with a death glare in her eyes.
“Uuhh Sara, I can explain.” He said.
“Pray tell.”
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