Night 55: M11 - M20 Hallway
And there was the evening announcement, timely as always, although he could have done without the noise at the beginning. It was still slightly jarring to not hear those mocking tones that he had grown so accustomed to, but he did prefer the more direct announcements that had been rolling in ever since last evening. No pathetic attempts at creating
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After a little while, Kratos asked her a question, and Rapunzel raised her head. Thankfully, so long as she kept at least part of her mind on the healing process, the magic seemed to flow steadily, allowing her to answer: "I didn't, really. It's been mine since I was born. The only thing I know about it from that time was that someone-" whom, Rapunzel suspected she now knew "-tried to cut a piece of my hair and take it for themselves when I was a baby."
She lifted a section of glowing hair from the back of her neck, revealing one tiny lock of completely normal brown hair. "But if you cut my hair, whatever is cut loses its power and turns brown, like this," she explained before letting her hair back down to cover the lock. "So I don't know. Have you guys ever heard of anything like that?" she asked after a few more moments of focusing on the wound, which was starting to heal more noticeably by that point.
Rapunzel felt herself sway slightly after that. She stopped herself, putting her hands down firmly on the mattress. Was she starting to get tired? She had been pretty awake just a few minutes ago.
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He frowned lightly as he considered the brown lock of hair. "I've also never heard of anyone being able to lose said powers in such a fairly uncomplicated manner." It had to be some sort of accomplishment, lasting through eighteen or how many years old Rapunzel was without anyone cutting her hair save for that first instance. To protect a power like that...what had it taken?
At this point, though, he noticed that Rapunzel was definitely tiring. "Ah--" Kratos nearly got to his feet in order to steady her, but remembered just in time that his ribs were still healing; even though he could hold more of a conversation, he certainly didn't feel as if he'd recovered to the point where he could handle sudden, abrupt movements. "...if you're getting tired, perhaps you should stop. I still have tonight off to rest, and you'll need your energy for later."
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But that explained why Rapunzel hadn't cut her hair yet, even when it seemed like such a burden to carry around. So there was no way to cut it without her losing her powers. That seemed like a significant price to pay for an ability as useful as hers. Perhaps she hadn't done much running about in her world, but in a place like the institute, that healing power might not be worth the extra weight.
Still, that was all up to Rapunzel--who was tiring now, visibly, and Soma took a quick step forward to support her. "How long does it normally take to heal injuries?" she asked. Hopefully if she could keep Rapunzel talking, it'd help her focus.
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She kept her focus for all of about two minutes more before her shoulders sank and her head dropped.
"Okay yeah, never mind. I should stop."
Healing had never been tiring in the slightest for Rapunzel before now, and the idea that it could be was entirely foreign to her. And yet here she was, suddenly feeling like she had walked a few miles on about half a night's sleep. She supposed that a limitation like that was better than having her gift taken away outright, but it was still disappointing to think that she couldn't do as much for people as she was used to anymore.
It was then that Rapunzel realized she hadn't answered Soma's question from earlier. "Oh! Right!" she said as the glow finally faded back into darkness. "Back home, that whole thing would've been cleared up into under a minute, tops. Sorry, I guess whatever they used to shorten my hair without cutting it also put a limit on how fast it can heal."
She started unwinding her hair from around Kratos's ribs. The bruising underneath seemed much less severe than before, by about half. That was something, at least, right?
Something disappointing, she thought with a short sigh.
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As the hair fell away, Kratos tentatively tested the bruise, noting with satisfaction that not only had the color improved, but that it didn't hurt quite as much as before when he touched it. Good. Perhaps by tomorrow night he would be able to get back into things.
"Regardless, it would seem that I am in your debt," he said mildly as he pulled his shirt back on and began doing up the buttons. Kratos paused and then added, bowing his head slightly, "Thank you." It was a rare admission for him, but he knew when thanks was due.
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No matter. Soma had a spare weapon; that was hardly the most important thing at hand. Right now, she had to make sure Rapunzel and Kratos wouldn't be suffering from any long-lasting effects.
"Are you in any pain?" she asked, trying not to hover. It was stupid, but she couldn't help but feel a little useless at the moment. Anything she could do to help would be a welcome change. "Either one of you. Anything besides fatigue?"
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Making sure she took a stretch before they left, Rapunzel turned to answer Soma: "And no, don't worry. Nothing besides the tiredness so far." There was another yawn out of her at that (what was with her and the bad timing on those, she wondered), and she covered her mouth again out of politeness. "I'm okay. If we keep moving, it'll be fine, I'm sure."
After goodbyes and good lucks were all said and done, Rapunzel and Soma moved back out into the hallways.
[To here]
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