It was late in the evening, and all of them waited outside of the operating room. Everyone asked Luna to sleep in order for her to rest her mind, especially after what happened in the meeting, but she refused them all and stared intently at the double doors. With that, everyone surrendered and joined her in waiting.

"Did Doctor Gerwulf come out yet?" Solomon approached them along with Max and Shinaki. Luna just shook her head.

She checked the wall clock and it had been a whole day since both Annie and Elizabeth were inside the operating room. Finally, the double doors opened and Gerwulf came out to meet them. Everyone stood up, while Luna rushed to her.

"They will make it." She said to them.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

"Both of them need constant oxygen and treatment, but they are stable and on the mend."

Luna couldn’t help but hug Gerwulf, while everyone cheered and applauded.

"I will have them transferred to their rooms so everyone can visit them there. However, Solomon, Luna, can I have a word away from everyone?"

When they were far enough, Gerwulf looked at both of them with a grim face. "First off, both of them will make it, but what they went through is no joke. The poison that was used targets the blood with magical properties, so Annie is safe now, but the princess's condition is far worse. Although medical science knows so little regarding the arcana, I have done the best I could. To save Elizabeth’s life, we used a radical new procedure to recycle her blood by purifying it outside the body, removing the toxins and infusing it back into her. It is a very delicate and very precise procedure.

Solomon in regards to your request to transport her immediately out of the hospital, I am against it. The treatment I have provided requires her to be under constant care, and recycling blood cannot be done in motion. Until the princess is stable, we cannot risk it as it risks killing her."

"Doctor Gerwulf, Elizabeth’s powers…" Luna said reluctantly, as this was a secret she should not be sharing. "I have never seen any other mage who can do the things she can. She can heal wounds, even the most grievous ones. She saved my life when I was near death numerous times. She has these capabilities, and yet why couldn’t her own magic save her?"

"As I said, Luna, medical science knows so little regarding the primal and arcanic forces. If I can make a speculation, I guess it is because using her powers requires focus and concentration. And it is hard to do that when you are being burned on the inside. But if what you say is true, if we manage to remove enough of the toxins and she can become coherent enough to use her powers, then she might be able to remove the remaining poisons and heal herself."

"Doctor, how long will she need to stay here for treatment?" Solomon asked.

"Until she wakes up Solomon. That could be a day, a week or even a month."

"A month?! Doctor we cannot stay here! We are sitting ducks!"

"Do not raise your tone at me, Solomon."

Even as Solomon towered over the doctor, with a sharp stare, she managed to make him regret his words. He bowed his head towards her.

"I’m sorry, doctor."

"I understand your concern and apprehension, but it does nothing to change our situation. It all now depends on the princess. You cannot rush into this type of situation, especially hers. As I said, the treatment is fairly new and experimental and one wrong misstep can undo our work and we will be back to where we were before."

"Is there anything we can do to help her then? To speed up her recovery?"

"Doctor, Tinkerton can make an untainted batch of Aerium. Will that help?" Luna added.

"No, there is nothing we can do aside from making sure she gets enough liquids, rest and completes her blood transfusions. We also tried Aerium based treatments, but they made things worse. As I said, it all depends on her now. The transfusions are the only ones she is responding to, so with luck she can be awake in a day or two. But until then, I advise we hunker down as there is nothing more we can do."

=0o0=

When Elizabeth woke up, she was in a hospital room.

The first sight she saw was Luna resting on a chair right beside her while Annie, Willow, and Shiny were sleeping next to her on a bed. It was morning, and Luna’s hand was close to hers, so she gently touched it, which woke her.

When she saw Elizabeth smiling, Luna smiled for the first time in days. "Morning Sunshine."

"Morning."

"How are you feeling?" Luna put her hand on her forehead. Elizabeth’s fever was gone, which relieved her a lot.

"Little better. Where are we?"

"We are in a hospital in Pharc." The door slowly opened and Gerwulf came in. The doctor smiled when she saw Elizabeth was awake.

"Well, I see our fighter is already awake. I greet Princess Elizabeth Balder Van Stahlblut II, the princess of Aspana and the third sun of the Braenarim Republic. I hope you still remember me, your majesty." Gerwulf curtsied towards Elizabeth.

"I do." Elizabeth smiled at her. "Hello, Doctor Gerwulf."

"You gave everyone here quite a scare, your majesty."

At the same moment, Annie and Willow stirred awake. Willow and Shiny immediately jumped off and headed toward Elizabeth and started rubbing themselves all over the child. Annie stood up, approached them and held Elizabeth’s hand.

"So Luna, Annie, they did not have cereal—hey she is awake!" Baldric and Tinkerton-G, riding on his shoulder, came into the room carrying a tray of food for all of them. "Feeling better, sunny?"

"You look better than Luna, so that’s already good." G added. Max and an automaton holding Ada's head came in as well.

"Ahh good she is awake, so I don’t have to be concerned anymore." It was Ada’s consciousness that was in the new automaton.

"Don’t listen to Ada, your Majesty." Max said to Elizabeth. "She likes you the most out of everyone here."

The once silent room was now noisy with everyone checking up on Elizabeth. Baldric and Max gave her a few sweets, which Gerwulf had to take away but Luna managed to take one piece and sneak it to the child while Annie distracted the doctor. There was a knock on the door, and Solomon and Shinaki entered the room as well. Elizabeth suddenly held on to Luna’s sleeve when she saw his towering figure.

"Good morning, your highness. I hope you are feeling much better." Solomon and Shinaki bowed to her.

"You remember Solomon, right?" Luna said to her as Elizabeth was still wary of him. "He helped save you twice now. We can trust him; he is the one who helped us bring you here. And the knight beside her is Shinaki, she is a knight from Riyax."

"Thank you, Sir Solomon and Lady Shinaki." Elizabeth said to them as she also bowed her head.

"Your status is higher, your majesty. You need not bow. But it is a pleasure to finally meet you formally." Solomon nodded.

"Alright, alright, Now that our patient is better, I need you all to leave the room now. It’s time for the princess treatment, and you can all return when we are done."

With everyone happy that Elizabeth was finally awake, they all promised to return, with Max and Baldric promising to bring more sweets. Luna was about to stand up and join them, but Elizabeth did not let go of her sleeve.

"It’s alright, Elizabeth." Luna assured her. "Annie will be with you and I will just be outside the door with everyone." But the child still held on.

"Doctor, can Luna please stay?" Both of them looked at Doctor Gerwulf, who simply smiled as she shook her head.

"Very well, but you have to behave at all times, understood?"

"Yes, Doctor." Both of them replied.

"I was talking to the princess." Gerwulf said to Luna.

"Uhmmm, Doctor, can Willow and Shiny stay too?" Elizabeth stroked Willow, who also gave Gerwulf a whine as if begging to stay. The ball of light just circled around the child.

"Very well." The doctor smiled as she got some liquid in a bottle and put it in a small cup. "Now drink this first, your highness."

Elizabeth drank the liquid, which was sweet and creamy. All of them then watched as Willow rubbed all over Elizabeth while Luna held her hand. Soon the child yawned, then she quietly fell asleep. Gerwulf stood up and left the room, only to return with nurses who brought in large machines with tubes and injected the tubes into Elizabeth’s side and chest.

“Is it safe to put her to sleep doctor?” Luna said not letting go of the child’s hand. Annie took Willow, and the two of them sat on her bed, watching the machine work.

"It is best that she does not thrash around when we are doing this. Also, I imagine the child will have a fear of needles. It’s better to do it this way as to not frighten her."

"She’s braver than you think."

Gerwulf smiled as the nurses left, and soon it was just her, Luna, Annie, Willow, Shiny and Elizabeth left in the room. "Of that I have no doubt, being around you all this time. But I also want to take this opportunity to talk to you." Gerwulf activated the machine, and Luna and the doctor sat on a couch to watch the princess.

"Solomon said you still have not agreed to his proposal. Luna you cannot delay your decision forever."

"I know."

Luna knew this conversation was coming. Everyone spent the whole day yesterday convincing her, but Luna used Elizabeth’s condition to delay her decision, but now that everyone saw the princess was awake, she has to make a choice.

"Will you give him an answer soon?"

Luna did not reply.

"Luna, look at me." The doctor held her hand, and she was forced to look at her. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"I don’t want to." Luna admitted "I don’t want to hand her to anyone else. I need to be the one to do it. I need to be the one to bring her home." She looked away, but Gerwulf squeezed her hand gently.

"Convince me."

"What?"

"Convince me, right here, right now. Why should I let her continue to stay with you?"

Luna had repeated the same question again and again in her mind, but no clear answer came.

"I don’t know what to say, Doctor, but I just feel that I have to do it, that I have to see her safe with my own eyes."

She expected Gerwulf to chastise her just like everyone else, but Luna was surprised when the doctor spoke to her softly.

"Luna I have talked with all of them. And as much as I want to side with you, I can’t. If you do not accept this offer here, how will you bring her to Aspana then? Your Landraider is gone, and you still have a long distance to travel. The land border has all but closed and you will be met with soldiers, bounty hunters, and even the rogue syndicate.

Luna, you will never make it. What if they use more brutal ways to get to you? What if they use a more potent poison next time and you are stuck there in the middle of nowhere with no one to help you? What will you do then?"

Everything Gerwulf said was true, just like what everyone said to her the day before.

"Luna you need to do what is best for the princess. And right now, the best way to help her is to let her separate from you. You need to let her go."

"I know that it is the right thing to do, Doctor. But I promised her. I promised Elizabeth that I would be with her. Doctor I…" Luna did not know what to say. She wanted to win Gerwulf to her side, but she couldn’t even convince herself.

"I know, darling. Doing the right thing is never easy. But we have to." Gerwulf watched Luna’s pained face as she looked at Elizabeth.

{Sis. I love Ely too. But we can’t protect her on our own anymore.} Annie gestured. {Everyone is right. We need help.}

Both of them looked at Luna who just stared at Elizabeth.

"I will escort her personally." Gerwulf said to Luna, and she looked at her. "I am originally from Aspana. I will personally escort her there and throughout the whole trip I will hold her hand the entire time."

Luna felt a little bit relieved. She was still conflicted, but she felt a small knot released from her chest.

"That does sound a little bit better. My mother wolf will have a new cub to watch over." Gerwulf gently squeezed her hand, and Luna rested her head on the doctor’s shoulders. Both of them sat in silence as they watched Elizabeth on the bed.

"You have to tell her when she wakes up." Gerwulf gently rubbed Luna’s hand. "We cannot delay any longer."

"I don’t know how to tell her. What should I tell her?"

"You need to tell her the truth, Luna. Elizabeth deserves that. Tell her that this is what is best."

"I don’t think I can."

Gerwulf gently squeezed her hand.

"You have to little pup. You have to."