Luonim and Fealron stood on the palace balcony, watching their kids play in the courtyard.
They technically did not need to be here. Axel was down there with Liam and Meron, and Axel was certainly old enough to watch both of them. But they could watch their babies, couldn't they?
Meron was Fealron's child, a Numen unlike his mother, and he'd become fast friends with Liam over the last couple of months. Right now they were quite literally wrestling in the mud, which Axel supposedly should have been stopping.
Instead, Axel was sitting at the base of the nearby tree, keeping score. She didn't know how a scoring system would work for wrestling, but based on Alex's movements it appeared quite logical.
Fealron was shaking her head theatrically, mouth taught but with upturned eyes. "He is going to be a nightmare to get clean."
"At least you don't have a full palace for him to run through with muddy feet. Last time mine played out here it took hours to clean."
Fealron genuinely grimaced at that, before asking "Why isn't Axel stopping it then?"
"They think it's worth it to clean up if he gets to have fun. And I'm not stopping it, because Axel will be cleaning it up. Alone."
They both chuckled at the image. Axel did a lot of chores like that, but at least they were fully aware before whatever they did that they'd be doing it. They usually started even before they were told to.
The wrestling match seemed to be over, so now they were climbing a tree.
"Not today!" Axel's shout could be heard from the balcony, as could Liam and Meron's pouts.
They were both standing next to each other, looking up at Axel with soulful eyes. It looked like Axel almost cracked, a slow grin they were trying not to show.
"I know you want to, but you should have before every part of you was slick in mud. You'll fall, if you even get up high enough to at all."
Liam and Meron looked at each other, once.
Luonim and Fealron looked at each other as well, understanding flickering between them. They knew what was about to happen, but this Alex's job now...
Axel was still cross armed staring at them, seemingly unaware.
Meron, furthest from the tree, ran off behind Axel, which gave Liam room to dash for the tree while Axel's back was turned.
Meron ran a large circle around the bushes on the other side of Axel from the tree, before running back around to the tree itself. Liam was already a full foot above Axel's head by the time they noticed.
Axel didn't scream or shout anything, though their mouth moved, and Luonim suddenly realized where Liam had heard that word he'd used about the clippers being too high a few months ago.
Axel darted forward and tried to pull Liam down, but their fingers actually slipped through the mud on his legs, while they were entirely missing Meron climbing one of the other trees.
"Get down! If you fall and get hurt I can't heal you!" Axel was shouting this while jumping up and trying to reach his waist, but it was very clearly too late. Liam wouldn't be coming down from there till he got bored or fell.
Or, if they intervened. This wasn't as dangerous as Axel was making it out to be, since both Luonim and Fealron were there. She had powerful enough healing abilities, as the most they could sustain from a fall would be a broken leg or arm.
Still, better to not have to deal with that, so they spread their wings and jumped the rails. They both flew to their own first, so Luonim was in the tree just next to Liam within a few seconds, while Fealron flew onward.
"You know, mud doesn't belong in trees, Liam." She said this while grabbing onto his shoulders to keep him from going higher.
Unfortunately, he was so startled by her sudden appearance he lost his grip on the tree, and the mud slipped through her fingers just as it had Axel's Liam fell to the ground from around 8 feet, and by the time Luonim had dropped down he was screaming.
Luonim swore, something she almost never did, and dived to the ground next to him.
Axel was already kneeling there, whispering to him and trying to call on the very little amount of healing abilities she had.
The problem with healing magic was that it was really spiritual magic, so the less people you knew or would know, the less it would work. You then also had to pray to their Laynu's properly, which Axel hasn't been instructed well enough on. They would need to fix that.
Liam had blood from his right leg, not a large wound but enough it wouldn't heal on its own. It had been cut on the stone it'd probably fallen directly onto. She was also fairly certain the bone was broken, as Liam was kicking with his other foot but not this one, which was utterly limp below the hip.
Gratefully, one does not need quiet to pray in spiritual magic- one only needs to be able to say the words, or at least think the words if speaking is unavailable. With Liam's screaming, if audibility was a factor this would have been impossible without knocking him out.
Who to pray to first? The Thrinu would be the most powerful Laynu's, but after meeting their Limbos they were significantly less powerful, and she hadn't invoked Freya's name since she had left Blonicku. She had no idea if Freya had entered her Limbo yet.
She risked it.
"Freya Thrinu, hear me, who you once knew."
She felt power in the air, like magic as it flows from the soul.
"Hear me, your friend, and family of your friends."
The power grew, like a light around herself, shining as she spoke.
"Hear me and help me, for my grandson who you do not know has fallen."
...Liam's screaming ebbed.
That should not have been enough to move Freya's Laynu to help. It should have taken more prayer than that. It would have for anyone else she'd known, even people who knew Freya.
These are thoughts for later, though. She still has a hurt grandson.
"I do not know how hurt he is, only that his leg is blooded, and even broke."
She could now visibly see the leg's skin growing back.
She had not seen anyone heal that quickly since Vlorindul had been healing Nrolin, on the journey.
"I ask you, as your friend, heal Liam Lililnu Lyradonnu, of all that I know and whatever hurts besides."
As she spoke, she saw Liam's foot twitching. Vaguely she was aware that he was still crying, but seemingly more out of memory of the pain than active injury. He was completely still, except his face; even his other leg had stilled from where it was writhing.
"Heal my grandson, Freya. I trust you."
The The skin closed up around the wound, and he was moving it around more.
She stopped praying. Freya's Laynu had healed him seemingly entirely.
Coming out of the magic fugue she'd built around herself, she saw Axel was wiping Liam's tears and trying to comfort him. He was only sniffling, by that point, and from his soul she felt only fear- no pain.
Fealron rushed into the room, Vlorindul and Nyra in tow. She'd probably gone to get more healers, since she was herself lousy at it.
Fealron blinked, Vlorindul looked confused, and Nyra rushed to Liam to help Axel calm him down.
Fealron told me it was a larger wound. Vlorindul sent her.
She stood up and dusted off her dress, before replying to all three of them, It was. His leg was broken.
Vlorindul's ear flicked, and walked over to Liam. You could not have healed a broken leg in the time it took for Fealron to reach me.
She was staring down at Liam as well, pure confusion across her face. Apparently, Freya and Liam are going to get along well.
Liam started to stand up, and their conversation was lost as they decided where he should go first- a bath for the mud, or to sleep for the healing. In the end, they decided on the bath, since he was walking around on his own and didn't act tired; only scared.
Later, once the dust had settled, Fealron and Meron had gone home, and Liam went to sleep after his bath, the whole family was gathered to listen- save Nrolin, who was held up in council.
"I have no idea what happened. His entire leg wasn't moving but his other one was kicking, so I am almost sure it was broken, but it healed so quickly. All I did was ask Freya to help, it only took three sentences after I invoked her name, and he was completely fine."
It looked like everyone was trying to do calculations in their head, comparing between the various times they'd seen healing magic used.
Axel, eventually, spoke, "That's. That's not possible, I thought?"
Larsun looked thoughtful, and answered Axel. "It shouldn't be, except that Laynu's are singular across time, at least for as long as the sun remains. You could pray to a Laynu of someone you haven't met before, which would normally result in almost nothing, but if you know them in the future their Laynu will hear and answer."
The shock that echoed around the room from this implication was almost literally suffocating, emanating from so many temporarily unguarded souls.
Vlorindul looked over at her and said "But if he was healed so quickly as Luonim describes, then Liam will one day be more important to Freya than literally any of us."
Larsun nodded, and put her head in her hand, resting on the counter. "Which should be impossible, as Laynus are singular across time only until the sun falls- which the watcher said would be when the limbos end. Freya's Laynu as it is now shouldn't know Liam at all, unless the Watcher was wrong, or Liam is a part of her Limbo."
After she said this, her head jerked up, along with everyone elses. They had all suddenly felt a presense, similar to the sensation of a star watching you, but this one seemed closer, somehow. The strange part was, when a star watched you that was the only sensation, you knew they were watching and nothing else. A star can't communicate to you through the sensation of being watched. This one, though, felt distinctly alive, and jovial, as though they were being laughed at.
It was Liam's Laynu.