Challenger
(For @flashfictionfridayofficial‘s prompt: FFF82: The sins of saints. Enjoy!)
They press their fingers to the pulse, eyes already scanning the matrix in place, other hand already manipulating and weaving. They don’t even pause when they nod at their old mentor, just quickly connecting in and sharing the evaluations so far.
Their voice is low and calm as they begin treatment, fingers sure as they manipulate and weave, pressing and retreating so that the magic twists and flows throughout to begin the healing process. They reassure, checking verbally and visually for any other markers that they may have missed.
They finish, tying off the last of their weaving and physically pulling the demon to a position where they can recover. Then, they tag the demon with a burst of colour that only another healer will see and then they move off.
“Where to next?” Their old mentor says calmly, having done nothing more than stabilise the demon.
They check for a moment. Their younger sisters have assessed the situation already so it’s now a matter of just noting where needs their help most.
“North-east wing.”
---
“They have an excuse of being young. You do not.”
The spirit doesn’t deign to respond, not pausing in their weaving and their reading. Their mentee had learned well, which is the best any teacher could say of anyone they taught. The matrixes were stable, more stable than most other faerie trained in healing could boast of. But then, they weren’t a faerie, were they?
“Dyawyn-saki, your mentee is treating demons.”
They look up, noting the undertone of distaste.
“And? Get to the point.”
“This is not what healers trained here do. And you should know that. Have you not told them not to waste resources?”
The spirit just goes back to their weaving. “Their knowledge is for them to use. They do not draw upon anything or anyone apart from those who have willingly agreed. Their matrixes are stable and don’t require external stabilisation. I don’t see any problem with wastage.”
The spirit has to quash a small smile. They’re taking on more habits from humans since they started mentoring this particular mentee.
“They believe they can and should treat all beings. They can’t.”
“And why not?” The spirit asks, still idly checking through the documentation. “Call it pride if you will, but they have certainly shown capability. That’s why you’re here, no?”
“Demons are our enemies.” The other hisses. “We do not treat our enemies. We do not treat beings who would be a waste of our resources.”
“Well, as you said, my mentee seems to think there is value in treating and helping all beings. Call it greed, call it a sin if you will, but they don’t seem to need your help or resources, do they? They seem to be doing plenty well on their own.”
“Under your tutelage.”
The spirit shrugs. “Correct. Under my tutelage. And I have half a mind to follow them out.”
“Dyawyn-saki. You cannot be serious.” The other looks scandalised. “This is perhaps acceptable for a human-born—” they sneer at that term, and the spirit thinks about telling them that their mentee is a better healer than them, but decides not to, “but you are a faerie. You are born and raised faerie.”
“And I have plenty to learn from my student.”
The spirit turns back to their healing and notices a glimmer of their mentee back again. They let out a smile at this, further irritating the other, and rise.
“I believe I have some demons to help stabilise. You can see yourself out.”
The spirit sweeps past, letting a bit of their smile show in their eyes.
It might be greed to try and heal everyone. It might be pride to think you can succeed in something so ambitious.
Somehow, they thought that their mentee would be fine.
