False took out the needle with care once the press had pushed all the way down, the fluid medicine inside having run out. Jimmy would've rubbed his wrist at the odd feeling in his hand the injection gave him, but had to wait before a small drop of blood was wiped away by a cloth and patched with a bandaid. The odd feeling had gone just as quickly as it came.
"Now, we do have to get blood samples as soon as we can, so you'll have to stay in here for at least thirty minutes to let the cure kick in," False explained, "but after that, you should be good to go."
Jimmy nodded. It disturbed him a bit how the researcher kept calling it "the cure," as if this was for sure going to be the end-all be-all, but he figured it was just rubbing him the wrong way. Maybe she liked to stay positive about its success. He knew a few people like that.
What False knew, though, was not what Jimmy was thinking. She knew this wasn't the end-all be-all, not in the slightest. She didn't need it to be. Both her and Iskall, and maybe some of the other researchers if she was lucky, knew the end-all be-all wouldn't be anything physical. It relied on mentality. It relied on life and death. It relied on soul.
The cure for soulboundness was somewhere in the soul. It had to be. And no kind of medication could reach the soul.
Perhaps there was something she could do to reach it, but, as her examined blood samples showed, only 2 of the 7 she'd tested so far actually came up with any results. Technically it was 3, but Grian was a very confusing discussion on his own, so she'd have to do much more research on his behalf, and she didn't find it worth her time.
There was no pattern to who it worked with. She wished there was, because then she wouldn't have to bother with the injections on every single person, but she reminded herself that it was better than nothing. This could've gone much worse, they were lucky it did something.
"I was told you suffer from a Flower Connection, and you have a prescription for medication, right?" False asked, going to her computer to update her notes. She pasted a check by Jimmy, where everyone above him also had checks, and all but Ren and Bdubs were crossed out completely. A few question marks lingered around Grian's name, but he was ultimately scratched out. "While you're here, I can order more for you if you're running low. The pharmacy you get them from should've been notified of your volunteering here, so whatever you need, they'll deliver it directly to us,"
"Oh, thank you, I was just about to ask about that," Jimmy said. "Do they need any info, or?"
"No, just a legal name and ID which we already have in our database, you don't have to do anything," False said, waving her hand dismissively. Jimmy nodded.
"And, by the way, some of the others told me you were all going to the fountain later," False said.
"Yeah, we figured we all lit up the symbols around it, and Doc told us the old story," Jimmy explained. It was False's turn to nod.
"I'll be there, and I know Doc and Zedaph are too, but I'm sure plenty more are gonna show up," she said. "A word of advice, be careful. If there's one thing I find impossible to research without a firsthand account, it's Watcher magic. And Doc is no Watcher, I know that for a fact,"
Jimmy wanted to say something about their fireside talk about that just the night before, but he wasn't sure if it would really add to the conversation at hand, so he just stayed silent. After the thirty minutes passed by, False took the blood sample she needed and sent the blonde on his way. She slid on her purple-tinted goggles, looked closely at the sample and...
Nope. Nothing. So the tally was still at 2 for now, but she also still had 6 more to go. She crossed out Jimmy's name on her digital list.
—
Cleo walked to the centre of town, being the last one on the list for check-ups. Scott noticed her and waved them over to their quartet, small groups of other friends and some staff also together and babbling around the centre. Blackthorns and brugmansias etched around Scott's neck and would've visibly been around his chest had he not decided to wear a baggy shirt to hide said flowers.
"You feelin alright there?" Cleo asked, aware that too many flowers growing at one time could cause some very serious health issues, but Scott just shrugged as he accidentally scratched a petal off of his neck.
"They've been doing this all morning and they won't go away," he said. "I don't know why, and I don't remember what they mean. I'm gonna have to go home right after this..."
As he spoke, a brugmansia grew directly in front of his mouth. He stopped to grab at the stem it was attached to, carefully picking the flower off without disturbing the stem in his skin, effectively keeping the pain to a minimum.
"Just a thought, Scott, but have you ever considered like... weed killers or something?" Pearl asked. Scott looked absolutely baffled, as if she couldn't've said anything dumber in that moment.
"That's the one rule they tell us from the get go with this thing!" He said. "Plant killing chemicals are gonna kill you way before they kill the flowers,"
"OH WAIT, CLEO'S HERE!" Bdubs suddenly called from the crowd, getting everyone's attention. "That means we can start, right?"
The 14 bounds all took their positions, next to each symbol that stood for them. An eye for Grian, a wheel for Scar, a crumbling cookie for BigB, a collar for Ren, a lowercase letter "I" for Impulse, a clock set for 12 for Bdubs, a fire for Tango, a bundle of wheat for Jimmy, a donkey for Joel, a maple leaf for Etho, a flower for Scott, a crescent moon for Pearl, a piece of rotten flesh for Cleo, and a spiral shape for Martyn. Purple, Brown, Dark Blue, Red, Yellow, Blue, Reddish-Orange, Light Blue, Green, Dark Red, Teal, Reddish-Purple, Orange, and Yellowish-Green.
The colors of each of their markings were made apparent to everyone else when, after they all placed their hands down and the symbols took a moment to glow brighter than before, 14 beacons of light shot up into the sky. It wasn't too dark out, but it was dark enough for the light show to seem like late-night fireworks. Even the ones who were skeptical of the idea marveled at the display before them.
Slowly, the colored beams tilted inward, meeting at the dead centre above the fountain. Their continuous lights stopped as they began to form a much brighter ball of pure white light where they met. For a second, it was as if the sun could've disappeared in that moment and no one would've noticed, because the light here was powerful enough to light the sky and make it day all on its own. Then it settled down, pieces of the glorified disco ball chipping off and separating back into the 14, taking on their respective colors as well. The much more miniature balls of light sunk into the rim of the fountain, lighting up the symbols even without the aid of their person. The final nail in the magical coffin was the phrase that was whispered into each of the bound's ears. Not literally, they couldn't quite hear it per say, but it appeared in their minds one way or another.
Ask kindly and you shall receive
Some lost things are painful to heed
Despite this, they are a necessity, do not be afraid
The eyes are a beating sun, and these the shade
And with that and a few seconds break to process what had just happened, the group turned to Bdubs, backing away from the fountain and going somewhat distantly behind him to give him full control of his next step, the symbols not stopping in their glowing glory. He swallowed. With his spit went his fears, and he put his hand back on the fountain.
He wasn't sure if there was supposed to be some specific chant he had to repeat or what, but he looked back at Impulse, who gave his partner an encouraging smile, and with a returning grin of his own, decided to wing it.
"I was told you would return something of ours," Bdubs said, voice loud and proud, as who wouldn't believe they were speaking to a god after a sight like that? "Whatever it is we lost, can you return mine? ...Please?"
No wonder they called it the magic word. As soon as he finished, the blue orb keeping his symbol lit discarded itself from the fountain, making the symbol go back to its bland white marble state. The sphere gently began to fall apart, disintegrating into vines of blue dust and light that wrapped around Bdubs. He heard the whisper of another rhyme in his head, one only he could hear, and his eyes dawned a bright blue as he smiled widely at the mystical wonder he was lucky enough to witness first firsthand.
But as the seconds ticked by, his smile slowly faded. His hands started shaking. His whole body started trembling. He had to hold onto the fountain for support when his legs suddenly wanted to buckle in.
He wasn't seeing all this. He was seeing something else. In his eyes, the magic was showing him something else.
His adrenaline suddenly kicked in, and he shot into overdrive, his body functioning but not in the stable way it had before. The blue faded from his eyes.
He screamed.