Crimson Rebirth

Part 22

 Gene nodded her head at Kaiju, feeling a touch light-headed herself, her wrist starting to ache around where the Keatina was. "Greatly.... Appreciated." She said, her eyes looking around.

 The lights she had grown so accustomed to seeing in such a short time all looked.... Gray. Frozen. They looked nothing like the Bear had shown her, and in that moment, she wished she could see them. A part of her, the part that yearned to be outside in the dirt, toying with the plants, was saddened by the gray-ness. Everything seemed to have lost its vibrancy, and it just felt..... Wrong to her.

 It didn't help that the world itself seemed to groan to a complete stop. It didn't help that it didn't make a sound, but it was the sensation of it that told Gene...

 Terralis was at a stand-still. Time did not move, Magic did not flow.

 Kaiju frowned. Thank the God and Goddess he still radiated heat, as the temperatures were dropping drastically.

 Gene suppressed a shiver, the sense of wrong-ness even stronger now that she could tell how still everything was.

 It sent goosebumps down her arms, and another shiver had to be suppressed. It didn't feel right, not to her, and the cold in the air didn't help matters much. She was thankful for Kaiju's heat, as it kept her from freezing too badly.

 Kaiju turned to Gene and stated, "I hate to ask this of you, but we're going to have to manually deliver the child ourselves."

 He turned to the young man.

 "Jace, see if you can get Catori conscious again. If you can't, Gene and I need to deliver the baby."

 The man called Jace nodded. His eyes crackled a bright blue as his hands went to Catori's head. he focused hard, but shook his own. "He's exhausted," He told the two. "I can try to wake him up but get the baby first. Leave Cato to me."

 Kaiju nodded. He reached to between the Wolf's collapsed legs and felt the baby. He grimaced a little as he had to force his hand through the Wolf's body. He breathed and looked at Gene.

 "On my count, push on the upper part of his belly but mind the head."

 She nodded, getting into position, before blowing a lock of red hair out of her face. "Ready when you are...... This can go in the book for the top five strangest deliveries I've ever been part of."

 Kaiju snorted and told her, "You're lucky I'm not grossed out by this."

 "I'm just surprised you two are even helping at all..." Jace deadpanned.

 Kaiju nodded. "One...two...three!"

 "Addy found us." Gene said, before gently pushing on Catori's belly, careful around the head of the babe's head, helping ease the baby along.

 Kaiju held the child on his end, and with impressive effort, both of them were able to deliver the baby.

 A headful of black hair sprawled in Kaiju's hands, along with a loud and rather very healthy screech of a baby's first breath of air.

 Gene let out a held sigh of relief, moving to help take care of the baby, cutting the cord to the placenta, and cleaning up the little boy to the best of her freezing ability. "Happy, healthy baby boy." She said with a smile, flexing her fingers to keep them from freezing.  

 Kaiju nodded. He then noticed what she had done and whimpered.

"Ah...Gene..." he raised a hand. "Um...if you delay the cord the baby gets the proper..."

He sighed; ah well, too late.

He asked Jace, "Any luck?"

"Force of habit. Can be very detrimental to keep it attached for too long, especially with labors that last longer, and since it was a breech birth." Gene said, the back of her wrist rubbing her head. She nearly hissed in pain, the markings on her wrist a bit too warm to the touch. If it had been a person, she would've sworn it was pouting.

Kaiju nodded. He checked the infant over and told Jace, "Here..."

The mage looked over at the newborn, his concentration broken on the sight of his child...He inhaled slowly and reached out with a shaking hand.

Kaiju smiled. "Don't drop him."

Jace nodded. He carefully picked up the baby and held him in his arms. He smiled. "Micherin...his name will be Micherin, like Catori predicted."

"Beautiful name." Gene said, smiling. "For a very handsome little boy."

She offered a rag to Kaiju, taking one to clean her own hands, and to offer them some sort of warmth.

"Question." She said, quietly as to not disturb the Father-Son bonding that was happening. "Why did everything..... Stop?"

Jace looked at Gene, then at Kaiju, as if asking him if he could explain.

Kaiju nodded. He turned to Gene. "You have a right to know..."

Jace nodded and moved Catori's hair, both eyes closed. He rested a hand over the right eye. He told her, "Catori...controls Time, and due to his bloodline connection to the first Wolf of Terralis, he also controls magic. If he's unconscious, Terralis will be having a long snow day. If he dies...Terralis will fall under an eternal Ice Age."

"That now explains a lot..." She said, blinking. "Even the lights of magic seem to have frozen in place."

For a moment, she realized that, to Jace, she sounded insane, perhaps. But with Kaiju there, she didn't really care. Kaiju knew what she was able to see, the lights connecting to anything that was alive. He believed she could see them, and that was all that mattered.

Jace glanced to Kaiju, and the Dragon remained quiet. He could feel the mage wanting to ask, but he didn't. Instead, Kaiju explained, "We should let him rest, but not too long."

Jace nodded and turned to Genevieve. He swallowed and spoke sheepishly, "...Jace...it's Jace Beleren."

"Genevieve Starglow." Gene introduced herself, bowing her head respectfully. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Addy spoke rather highly of you."

Jace grinned like a goof. He told her, "I admittedly do not deserve any praise for that matter..."

Kaiju shivered and looked around. He noted, "...now that I think on it...just WHERE are we?"

For the first time anyone had a chance to look around, the frosted room looked very normal to that of a traditional, Japanese temple bedroom. However, there was more to the place, a curiosity that nipped at not only the Dragon but the Wolf's mate.

Gene tilted her head, confused. ".....What do you mean by that, Kai?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"This is the first time I've ever come here," Kaiju admitted. "And coming here to actually get Catori for his pups does not count."

Jace nodded. "I haven't been here myself. But...it's a strange vibe."

 "It's the first time I've ever been in this general area entirely, so it's a first time being here for all of us." Gene said, tucking a lock of her red hair back into its braid.

 Kaiju glanced to Gene. He asked, "...perhaps we can explore a little?"

 She wanted to say no.

 She really did.

 It wasn't their home, but the way he spoke sparked curiosity in her eyes, as though her curiosity fed off of the curiosity of others this time.

 "So long as we're respectful?" She offered, knowing that there was no hiding the sparkle in her eyes, the way she sat up a bit straighter, perkier even.

 Jace nodded. "I don't think he'd mind," He agreed. "I'll make sure he knows what's going on."

 Gene smiled, slowly getting to her feet and looking to Kaiju. "I'll let you lead. I'm more likely to get us lost." She giggled.

 Kaiju chuckled, offering her his arm. "But getting lost is part of the adventure."