Chapter Text
The first time Agott saw her Master in the medical spire was after her second test was taken over by the brimmed caps. This time was when Master Qifrey had finally gotten the Silverwood removed.
It was a group effort; Agott, Coco, Richeh, Tetia, and Olruggio, figured out how to burn the Silverwood out safely without using forbidden magic, but in the end, they did take him to the medical spire in Ezrest.
To Qifrey and Olruggio's chagrin, they were treated by King Deanreldy Ezrest, the best doctor on the Zozah peninsula. They tried to take him to the Medical Spire in the Great Hall, but Master Qifrey had panicked too much from the pressure of being underwater.
Watching her Master get burned from the inside out was probably the most traumatic thing that Agott had ever seen, and she watched Euini get turned into a scalewolf. But the person who took the worst of it was Master Olruggio. She watched the man freeze at seeing Master Qifrey burn up and he hasn't left his side since.
The apprentices were allowed to visit once a day, but usually Master Qifrey was sleeping, as he had been for half a week. The doctors only allowed one person to be there at all times, but made the exception for the apprentices due to Sinocia vouching for them. Sinocia had joined them at the hospital in Ezrest, for familiarity, but also because Olruggio didn't feel comfortable with Qifrey being left with the King for long periods of time.
When the apprentices were allowed in, Sinocia would always remind them that Master Qifrey was still sleeping and to not wake him, until today.
"So I have some good news and some bad news."
All of them stopped walking down the hallway as they got to Master Qifrey's door. Looking up to Sinocia with hopeful eyes.
"Qifrey is awake."
They all were about to cheer but she held up her hands.
"He is in a fragile state so no jumping on him. He woke up just a few minutes ago and might go back to sleep quickly. The King and I have been monitoring him closely and he seems to be healing at a good pace."
Agott nodded along, but was eager to finally see her Master, thinking of ways to use magic to help him.
"Also, for the bad news… When you get in there, be prepared, because I will be kicking Olruggio out." All excitement turned to confusion, but Sinocia continued. "He has been in that room since you all got here and he needs sunlight and a bath. So… Would you be able to help me getting him out of here?"
Taken aback by what she said, there was no time to ask questions as Sinocia opened the door. They walked in to see Master Qifrey, bandages around his right eye, laying at an angle so that he was slightly sitting up, and Master Olruggio sitting at his side. This wasn't anything new, but the thing that was new was that they were holding hands.
"MASTER!"
Tetia ran to the end of the bed and was jumping up and down, clearly wanting to jump on him but following what Sinocia had said.
"Oh my girls…"
Agott and the others walked to the bed and stood there with smiles. She was grateful that Qifrey was safe from the tree but still worried. Standing next to Olruggio, she watched how he smiled at the girls but there was hurt in his eyes.
"How are you feeling Master?"
A small, involuntary laugh leaves his throat, but Agott can see the way his smile reaches further than she had ever seen before. "I feel… exhausted."
There was a silence that filled the empty space in the room, and Agott looked down at his hand that Olruggio was holding. Something that she had never really seen after being around them for so long, but she felt it was something that had been missing the whole time.
"But, I am relieved to still be here with you all. Olly has told me about all the things that you did to help me and I cannot be more proud of you all."
Agott looked up at her master, who had let a tear fall from his left eye and smiled. She looked around at the other girls who were rocking on their feet, trying to figure out the best way to be near Qifrey without touching him. Her focus was interrupted by Sinocia, who was still standing in the door way with her arms crossed.
"Apologies girls, but I do believe we had an agreement before I let you in here."
They all tried to remember what she had said and then turned to Master Olruggio. The man looked confused at Sinocia and then even more confused at them.
"Olruggio… you have not left this room since Qifrey got here."
Olruggio looked at the doctor and quickly understood what was going on.
"'m not leavin Sinocia."
Before Sinocia could say anything, Agott watched Master Qifrey squeeze his hand, causing Master Olruggio to whip his head to him.
"Oru, you haven't left me since…" His words trailed off but everyone understood why. He hasn't left since he burned Qifrey alive. "You smell like a campfire and your hair is so oily it could light one, so please… just go take a long bath and get some new clothes."
Olruggio clenched his jaw and nodded, squeezing Master Qifrey's hand. "Fine. But I will have you know I always smell like a campfire."
Master Qifrey giggled but let go of Olruggio's hand, allowing him to stand from the chair he hadn't left in almost a week. As he left, Agott tried to move out of Olly's way, so he wouldn't mess with her hair but failed. He chuckled and squeezed her shoulder, moving down the line of apprentices until he reached the door.
"Keep an eye on 'im will ya? He's a flight risk!"
The girls chuckled, but Agott kept her eyes on Master Qifrey, who seemed to be slightly blushing. They all gather on one side of the bed, allowing Sinocia to do his vitals. The other girls got out their things to show Qifrey but Agott kept an eye on how Sinocia was whispering something that made him laugh. After the vitals were gotten, she watched Sinocia pull back the bandaging slightly and put it back.
"Your eye socket is healing up well and your vitals have been stable since you woke up."
Qifrey nodded and with a small smile. "When do you think I can leave?"
Sinocia gave him a small placating smile and a scoff. "First time awake in a few days and the first thing you want to do is leave. I am not surprised in the slightest."
Qifrey put his head back on the pillow with a smirk. "You know how much I hate being in the hospital."
Sinocia fully laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "That's why I have these four lovelies to make sure you stay put! Besides, you probably wont be awake for much longer. I can already tell you are drifting again."
He tried to wave her away but his hand barely left the bed. "You might be onto something…"
Master Qifrey moved his head to look at them and found Agott just staring at him. "Hello Agott."
She froze under the cold blue stare. "Master."
He patted the bed twice, clearly wanting to comfort her. She looked to Sinocia to see if she was allowed and the woman looked at all of the girls with a tired expression.
"As long as you put no weight on him, you can lay around him…"
As soon as she said that, the others dropped their things, and quickly, but gently, crawled into the bed to surround Master Qifrey. Except for Agott who was still frozen in place. Qifrey was still watching her as the others formed a circle on the bed. Agott looked down at her hands and decided to sit in the chair, where Olruggio was sitting.
They all sit there in silence, and before she knew it, Qifrey's eye closed with a content smile on his face, falling back into a restful sleep. As soon as he did, Sinocia told them to get her when he wakes up again. They all nodded and Agott curled herself into a ball and began to read through her notebook.
A few hours pass and the others have fallen asleep as well, leaving Agott to be the one watching Master Qifrey breathe.
She was working in her ideas notebook. She wanted to make a spell that copied one non- magical thing over to another, as long as you give it the paper and ink to copy. Getting the idea from Coco, who had been complaining about how they couldn't read the same book at once because they read at different paces, and they also didn't want to buy another one.
As she wrote down what signs she would need, the door creaked open and a freshly cleaned Olruggio stepped through the door. He looked tired, which he always looked, but lighter somehow. He came up to her with a small smile and looked down at her notebook.
"Whatareya makin?" He whispered, to not wake anyone.
She lifts the book to him and he takes it. Standing up, Agott lets him take his seat and sits on the arm of the chair.
"It's for copying non- magical things. I wanted to make it for notebooks or tomes so that people could make copies and read the same thing at the same time, without having to buy a whole new tome."
Olruggio chuckled to himself and put an arm around her so she wouldn't fall off the arm of the chair. "Are you trying to backdoor your way to getting research out of the Tower of Tomes?"
She stilled at that, not realizing that she was doing exactly that. She flushed and covered her face with her hands. "It wasn't for that… But I can see where you thought I was going."
He chuckled again and took out his own pen to write some notes. He began to explain some things like sizing and spacing, when Agott lays her head on his shoulder. They take a moment of silence and she watches him lift his head to look at Master Qifrey.
"Master Olly…" he hummed at her in acknowledgement, "are you alright?"
He looked away from Qifrey and looked at her, taking a deep breath. "No… But I will be. And that's all that matters."
She watched his eyes drift back to Qifrey and she looked over to the glacier blue eye of her Master. Jumping slightly, not realizing he was awake, she looked down at his hand that was reaching towards them.
"Agott."
She stood up, taking Qifrey's hand and realizing how much relief and anger that had been lingering for the past few days was about to boil over. She had been holding off, since he was clearly not well. But something in his softness made her break.
The lies, the trickery, the foolishness.
If she were a different apprentice, she would have left. But she is Master Qifrey's apprentice, and she would never leave him or anyone else in the atelier behind.
Tears started to fall from her eyes and she looked away from him, but still holding onto the tether that was their hands.
"What's wrong my dear?"
She thinks about when he first brought her in, how she had just been thrown away by the Arklaums and was rejected from nearly everyone. How he created a place for her to be safe and learn about magic. Keeping her away from the gossip and rumors of the Great Hall. He and Olruggio became her new family and she trusted them more than she should have.
Until that day he walked to the hill with Olruggio and Coco following behind in tears. Then he suddenly turned into a Silverwood tree. And everything she thought she knew about her Master was flipped on its head.
And she was angry. Coco had known since Silver Eve and Olruggio didn't know at all. Everyone was blind sided by what happened and didn't know what to do.
Olruggio immediately went to the Tower of Tomes. Coco went with him. Richeh and Tetia went to the Great Hall to get Lord Beldaruit. And Agott… she was the final piece, even though she felt like she did nothing.
Her interest in unique sigils was the key to getting Master Qifrey back, and with a final stroke, she gave the searneedle to Olruggio to finish the circle. They all watched as he closed it and the tree began to burn. They couldn't exactly test the spell beforehand so they had to watch in horror as Master Qifrey screamed in pain.
She had moved to his atelier to make a new life, not expecting to get close to anyone that would throw her away or she could lose. Keeping her walls up to not get close to anyone, but these people became the family she always wanted, always needed.
Watching him in this bed, she was furious. Rightfully so.
But he was alive.
She tightened her grip on his hand, not enough to hurt him, but enough to make sure he was awake enough to hear her.
"You told me once that if you do anything that hinders my growth to tell you."
She looked into his eye, noticing the sadness and confusion that filled it.
"I did."
"I have lost too much Master Qifrey. I cant lose you too."
Agott watched the confusion turn to a sad smile and she felt a pull from his hand. Letting herself be pulled next to him, she laid her head under his arm, careful not to put any pressure on it,but he moved so she could lightly cling to his arm. She cried into his arm, and felt him pat her with his other hand.
"I'm not going anywhere Agott. Don't worry."
Nodding into his arm, she feels that relief flow through her again, taking over the anger that she felt. She knew once they all got home there would be long conversations, but for now, Master Qifrey was alive and that's all that mattered.
She began to feel the pull of sleep, eyes tired from crying. The small warmth from her Master pulling her into a restful state.
"How are you feelin?"
Agott was thankful that she didn't jump at the sound of Olruggio whispering.
"I feel… safe, but I feel like I don't deserve it."
A low chuckle came from Olruggio.
"You do. I will keep telling you that you do for the rest of our lives."
Sniffles came from Master Qifrey and she felt a presence above her, near Qifrey's head.
"I gotta wake the girls soon. They need to eat dinner and you need rest."
"Could you bring dinner back here? I missed them so much…"
A small laugh came from Olruggio and she tilted her head up, opening her eyes slightly to see what was going on. Qifrey was trying very hard to stay awake while nuzzling into Olruggio's hand that was on his cheek.
Olruggio bent down and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "Go to sleep snowball."
Master Qifrey gave him a happy sigh and closed his eye, falling asleep quickly.
Agott was so aghast at what happened that she almost forgot that she was supposed to be sleeping and quickly closed her eyes. Not a second later, Olruggio began to lightly shake her and the other girls.
"Come on. It's dinner time."
She acted like she was slowly waking up and sat up, watching the others wake up as well. She clearly realized that she was the only one who witnessed that and would have to be the messenger for the others. Getting up, she and the others were careful not to disturb Qifrey, while Olruggio went to find Sinocia.
By the time Sinocia came in to monitor Qifrey, they were all (semi) woken up and were pulled to the nearest tavern by Olruggio. She walked with Coco, who put out her hand to hold for comfort and she took it. Tetia and Richeh both were holding on to Olruggio, swinging his arms around.
"Master Olly? When can we go home with Master Qifrey?" Tetia asked while skipping along the path way, clearly energized from her nap.
Olruggio shrugged and guided the group to a table. "From what Sinocia and the other doctors have said, probably a few more weeks. I will have to ask him if he wants to go to the Great Hall's hospital, but I doubt he will."
They sit down around the table and Richeh speaks up. "I don't think he wants to be around Grand-Master Bel."
"Or underwater." Coco says quietly.
Olruggio looks at them all with a chuckle and a soft smirk. "You all are too insightful for your own good sometimes aren't ya?"
They all laugh and nod at the older witch. A server comes by to get their orders and they all sit in silent relief. When dinner comes by, they eat and chat about plans for when they get home.
"I miss Master Qifrey's cooking." Richeh laid her head on the table, looking at the bar stew that they were all eating.
Olruggio laughs and sets down his spoon. "Well that's why we have to get him back to full health. Nobody can cook like Qifrey."
Everyone hummed in agreement and finished up their food. They got back to the inn and Olruggio told them he was heading back to be with Qifrey. Agott noticed his antsy fidgeting and looked over to the other girls that noticed it as well.
"I'll be back in the mornin. Don't get into too much trouble." He turned to Agott giving her a nod. "Agott's in charge."
The others groaned and she smiled when he gave her a wink. As soon as the door closed, Agott turned to the others and they all looked at her like they were about to dog-pile. She groaned and quickly went to her bunk that had her overnight bag to get out of their arms reach. "We should…"
"Did anyone else notice how they looked at each other?"
Agott immediately turned to Tetia. Coco and Richeh were nodding.
"They were holding hands."
Agott dropped her bag on the bed. "Master Olly kissed him on the head."
Squeals and 'WHAT's were thrown at her. Tetia jumped and threw her arms around her.
"AGOTT TELL US EVERYTHING!"
Agott pushed her off slightly and Tetia jumped on her bed, causing her stuff to fall to the floor. "It was just that. They thought I was asleep and Master Olly kissed him on the forehead as Master Qifrey fell asleep again. Not a moment later, he woke us all up."
Richeh pulled her hair in excitement, and Coco and Tetia were jumping up and down on Agott's bed. Agott rolled her eyes and picked up her things from the floor.
"I think we should start a new section of the notebook. I have a feeling that we will be making some new observations." She went through her bag and realized that she left it at the atelier, letting an idea come to mind. "I also want to try out the spell Master Olly was helping me with."
Turning to Richeh, she saw understanding in the others eyes. "Can you go to your vase and get the notebook? And an empty one as well?"
Richeh pulled out her wand and began to draw on the wall. Small circles connected with lines. As she finished the final circle, the window way opened and Richeh put a blanket on each side. "Anything want something from the atelier?"
Tetia and Coco shook their heads and Agott put her stuff down the bed and pulled out her notebook with the duplication spell. By the time Richeh got everything and came back to the room, Agott had created her spell on a bigger scale. The others were on the bed looking at what she was doing and asking her about the logistics.
Richeh handed over the books and ink, and Agott placed them on one side of the circle and the observation book on the other. After explaining to everyone what Olruggio had helped her create, she finished the circle and they all watched the books open and the ink float out of the ink wells. The pages flipped and the ink copied on each page to show the exact thing in the observation book in a new notebook.
By the time it was done, they now had two books with the same exact things in it. Except one looked brand new.
"If they are supposed to be the same, should we dirty up the new one?"
Agott shook her head and started to pick up everything. "The new one will be ours. We should add more paper to it for more observations but at this point we don't have to worry about them finding it. If they find the old one, we don't have to worry about them confiscating the new one."
She stood up to hand off the old book to Coco. "We should get some rest soon. Master Olruggio told us he would be back in the morning."
Coco took the book and murmured to herself 'Agotta love it' which made her roll her eyes. Agott shooed them off her bed and grabbed her clothes to change into. The others did as well and headed to bed. She opened the new book, pulling out a normal pen and ink.
"What should we title this section?"
Coco gently comes over to her bed and curls next to her. "They both seem lighter."
Agott smiled at her and nodded. "I like that." She wrote it in a curly font, then began to write what they saw in the medical spire. As they finish up, they know they will have more to add throughout the next few weeks. She curls up into Coco and they fall asleep, excited that Master Qifrey was awake again.