Stranger Spirits

Because WE Don't Trust Them [Chapter Nine Part Seven]

This is so demeaning. Ever since we were young I thought of Atticus as this strong astounding individual. He was the son of a Chosen One, he was intelligent, and could fare well in a fight. Time and time again he'd prove how he was worthy of being picked by the Gods. Yet, despite all of that, he could still get hurt. At the moment, he's rendered immobile. He cannot defend himself.

I stepped away from him and looked to the small table beside us; there was a wooden bowl that had a clear green paste in it. "That's the ointment that they used on me yesterday. It feels really good." I moved the bowl closer to us on the bed.

"What I'll do is apply the ointment first on your upper body, let it dry a little before I put a new clean cloth on you and then work on your lower body." I took a scoop of the cream and began to smear it along the irritated areas of his lower neck and upper chest. Atticus let out a shiver and I retracted my hand.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, it's just that one of the girls from yesterday applied it on me and I forgot how cool it was to the touch."

"Oh," My hand hovered above his chest. "Do-do you want me to get one of them?" The next moment felt so long as I waited for his reply.

"No," I silently let out the breath I held. "I actually prefer that it's you."

"Okay," I proceeded with caution slowly spreading the ointment on him for both selfish and selfless reasons.

There were a couple of moments of silence as I proceeded to apply the ointment. "I-I'd prefer if you would do it because I trust you."

My hand rested on his chest. "You shouldn't." I felt Atticus physically tense up.

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Because this is all my fault. I mean, Alfred captured you because he had this-this fixation with me!" I went on to babble about how I had seen the diagrams in his library but since I couldn't read I couldn't figure out what the illustrations meant. "I should have known not to trust him! He poisoned you! He tried to murder you!"

Atticus cupped my chin and lifted to make me look him. "You are NOT at fault. Those men, they were sick and twisted. They were going to hurt those kids. YOU saved us. You were there for us when we needed you. That's what matters."

"What if I hadn't made it in time? You wouldn't be here now." I leaned away from his hands and continued.

"I am though, we're here and still on track to help the Gods because of you. So I need you to get yourself together. We're going to Port Lundy to bring the boys back home and from there we'll be traveling west to Illcryst." Atticus laid his hand on my cheek. "We're going to get through this."

"Yes, we're going to make it through it all." Cupping his hand in my own I gripped it looking at him with a fierce expression. "I vow to you, Atticus Blackwood, that I will help you with your mission. No matter what the Gods request I will help you achieve their goal." Atticus was making a goofy expression halting my speech. "What?" I smiled.

"Your hands are sticky, you know, just like-"

"LA LA LA LA LA!" Hopping off the bed I covered my ears and spun in circles. "Why would you bring that up? I was trying to be serious!" I cried aloud.

"Because I love to see you flustered!" He laughed as my face heated up. "Yeah, we're going to get through this together but for now we need to keep our spirits up and move forward."

"Good, so we're on the same page." Clearing my throat I went on to finish the rest of his upper body. After I wrapped him in the new cloth and set him down on the bed, I grabbed another set of clothes for his legs. Sitting cross-legged at the foot of the bed, I laid Atticus' feet on my lap and I began to work on his legs and feet. I got off the bed once I was done and handed him the bowl. "You'll have to work on the last part of your body cause I'm not doing that." Though I want to. "So I'm going to leave to give you some privacy." I turned and began to walk away when I turned around. "Also," I took a step forward. "Don't have any of these women do it for you 'cause we don't know them!"

Atticus smirked. "I'll make sure they don't."

"Alrighty then," I stepped backward. "I'm going to go now." Turning around I walked directly to the wall and stumbled backward. Glaring back at a snickering Atticus I slid to my right and swiftly exited the room.