The Raven's Reflection

Chapter 37 - Guardians

"Wow, you look rested," Kurt teased as Cerno walked into the office the next morning dressed sort of business casual. He and Samuel had already been sitting and chit chatting in Cerno's office while waiting for their morning shifts to begin. The office was located inside the City Hall, a building that was definitely bigger inside than it looked outside. It housed everything from business and legal, to registration, and even a prison for any that might ever feel like laws were above them. "How was dinner?"

"Delicious. Kins made a kick-ass strawberry pie for dessert, too," Cerno smirked. "Shouldn't you be up at the house already?" he teased Kurt, noting that it was Kurt's job to observe Kinsley's surroundings, not his.

"Was about to head that way to relieve Zakk," he replied. "Just thought I'd say good morning and see how you were first."

Cerno smiled.

"Hey, Kurt? This afternoon, I'd like most of our current Guardians to meet down here," Samuel started just before Kurt left.

Cerno nodded and continued, "Samuel advised me yesterday that I have new potential Guardians to meet, and I would like as many of our current ones as possible to be present. But I also need Kinsley there when we gather. She'll hear the new recruit's thoughts, Sam will feel their intentions, and if they pass that test, they'll be vetted into Guardianship over the next week."

"Why a week?" Kurt asked.

"I'm still a little too drained from the aunvernt to pact anyone to Guardianship, and my body still won't accept a merge of source from anyone—not even Kinsley at the moment," Cerno sighed, stretching his neck a bit. "Hopefully, if we have newcomers, I can be strong enough again to get them inducted by the end of next week."

"Possibly because your life isn't on the line and she's not in a panic," Samuel said matter-of-factly.

"Wait, if you're still being affected by aunvernt, what happens if you get hurt again?" Kurt asked, suddenly seeming worried for his friend's safety a little more than normal. "Will your body shut down again?"

"Thankfully no," Samuel began to explain, "otherwise we would have definitely lost him again yesterday when he ripped out his IV. He was provided the anti-potion, and thanks to that IV, we know his body won't go into panic mode over even a paper cut. That, and he can be healed. But his body just won't accept an outside source to help his recharge. And honestly, he might not be able to accept someone else's source ever again. For those very rare few who survived, the aftereffects of aunvernt were dirty like that."

"So, if his heart were to ever stop again, that's why he needs a Resurrectionist, not a Healer? A Healer pushes source into the heart to restart it, where a Resurrectionist just flat out...uh...de-deads a heart?"

"For lack of a better term," Samuel teased.

Cerno leaned back in his chair and tilted his face toward the ceiling, closing his eyes. "Thank goodness my fiancé can at least restart my heart then," he smirked in a smart-ass tone. He suddenly let out a soft huff and opened his eyes as a thought came to him. "By the way, I hope you two know that Kinsley almost died saving me."

"We're already aware. I'm the one who approved her to push her source like she did," Samuel admitted. "But only because Caleb was there monitoring her during that push to make sure she was safe," he advised.

"No. I mean, she literally should be dead. She doesn't remember much of the travel and made it sound like her body was completely depleted from the first night."

"I just took her hard demeanor as worry," Kurt said with a quirked brow as he looked at Samuel.

Samuel shrugged. "Caleb verified her vitals were fine any time she used her source."