Faen's Child

Chapter 11

[Chapter 11]

I sat beside the bed, watching the unconscious girl. It was a full week. The nurses and medics had said that what I had done had practically saved her life, but too much smoke inhalation and the force in which had hit into her at the initial explosion had shut off her mind. They weren’t exactly sure how long the coma was going to last, but the only sure gauge was that –with regular treatment –she would wake up within a month.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be happy or saddened by that idea. Happy; because I knew that there was a limit to her ‘eternal sleep’. Sad; because she would lose one month to unconsciousness, unknowing to her surroundings, unknowing to me, her Guardian staying by her side.

“Are you ready?” My father asked, and I turned my head to look at him. I had gotten my blue eyes from him, the blonde crazy hair from Mum. But, for some strange reason, neither my brother nor I had inherited that stubble at our chins.

I nodded seriously, letting my gaze continue to my brother. He grinned at me encouragingly, giving me a thumb up as Dad pulled out the chalk from his bag, getting to the floor to start drawing the circle.

“Hey, Jac,” I called, watching as my brother give me a curious look, “sucks for you. I’ve got my other half now.”

Jacob grinned, flashing me the middle finger quickly before Dad looked up. Off the side, Madame Elvie chuckled at my brother’s amazingly childish behavior. My elder brother –older than me by two years –had made a challenge with me, to see who would get to meet their other half first. I had the advantage, because I knew for sure who my other half was, while Jacob had to go through the relationship cycles over and over again until he found his other half.

Jacob, though not a full Faen, was still engaged to working within the Council. Instead of being part of the Council itself or being part of discussions involving everything Faen, Jacob helped to deal with the human-side of the school and it’s Council. Jacob was something like our spokesperson; our representative. It was not all flowery for him either. Jacob studied about everything Faen despite being a human himself. And, to help out in dealing with the meddling human government officials, Jacob took up studying human laws. It came into good use, as it turned out that my elder brother was as capable as a lawyer as anything else.

One thing Jacob had the blessing to have is his high IQ as well as his remarkable ability to adapt. Jacob was good at everything he did –everything that wasn’t related to being a Faen. It seemed as if though I had taken his gift for holding an element, Jacob was still one with a bagful of tricks.

“Let’s see if she’s going to last you, Mr. I’ve-got-my-other-half.” Jacob retorted cleverly, crossing his arms across his chest, as if pretending to be pissed.

I laughed at him, following Madame Elvie’s chuckle, and turned to look at the motionless girl again. She hadn’t moved a single bit since that day. I hoped she would wake up soon. I was eager to get on with studies. I was eager to go on, to proceed to classes working alongside Ashe; with Ashe. I wasn’t sure how she would view the situation, how she would view me as her Guardian. But if we wanted to be strong, we had to work together. I was sure Ashe would understand.

“I’d wager she’s going to last. She IS my Faen.” I say in a manner that sounded all ‘Professor-Like’. Sometimes, just breathing the same air as my brother made me like a kid all over again. A nineteen-year-old kid, but a kid nonetheless.

“Well, if you say so…” Jacob shrugged, moving across the ward towards where Madame Elvie was sitting on her own in the couch that was placed for visitors to sleep in. Jacob took the seat beside Madame Elvie, slinging his arm over her shoulder like she was his grandmother, like it was natural.