Chapter 169 - A Migraine To End All Migraines

It ended in a flash of searing pain that permeated the front of my head. One moment I saw, felt, heard everything—everything in a very straight line—and the next there was nothing but darkness and that sharp ache between my eyes. Darkness and nothingness.

I woke up to the soothing feeling of cold on my forehead. My head pulsed with the migraine to end all migraines, and the cold was like a gift from heavens. For a while, I just let myself enjoy it and bore the pain without thinking anything at all.

Then, as the cold slowly dissipated, I began to remember things. Like where I was and what I was doing before I fainted. The touch on my forehead, I realised, belonged to JJ's hand, and it warmed up from the heat of my body. And, I realised, his other hand was keeping me upright.

"Don't worry, Jean-Jacques, she'll be fine, except for a headache. This is the nice thing about a human brain—it shuts off long for its own safety before you can fry it this way. Oh, look, she's waking up already!" Ghost chirped from above me. His cheerful voice reverberated with sharp needles in my frontal lobe, making me wince.

"Shhhh," I shooed him and dared to open my eyes.

It was good that it was still night around. Even just the light of the street lamp was too bright. I felt oversensitive all over, and my mouth was dry like after a night of heavy drinking. The only thing that didn't bother me right now was my skin.

The first thing I saw with my eyes open was JJ's face, close enough that I could see each individual eyelash on his face. The white gleam of Ghost was also visible on the periphery of my vision, where it wasn't obstructed by the golden waterfall of JJ's hair. I he held me sitting in his lap while he himself sat right on the sidewalk.

"Are you indeed alright, ma chèrie?" he asked and gave me a concerned glance before taking his hand from my forehead. "You shouldn't have had overexerted yourself this much." His voice, low and silky and soothing, was a balm on my ears even now.

I snuggled closer into him, assuming a more comfortable pose and getting a better view of Ghost and Panda, who hovered nearby. "Feels…" I coughed to get rid of the rasping of my voice. Before I could even ask, Ghost passed me a bottle of water, which I accepted with a grateful nod. It was just the oil I needed to grease my throat again. "Fells like a hangover of a century," I said after I finished drinking. "My head is killing me. How long was I out?"

"Less than a minute. Is there a way to help you with it?" JJ raised his eyes to Ghost. "Healing magic, perhaps?"

Ghost hummed. "It's always riskiest to touch the head, and twice as much when you operate on a witch, or I could've taken the pain away. Though, Diana, you can do it yourself! It will be much easier for you than for me, and the operation itself is rudimentary."

"Magic again?" Panda spoke up. "You already burned yourself with it. Why not just pop a painkiller instead? Someone around must have something."

I winced again, shook my head. "Painkillers suck. The simple stuff doesn't do shit anyway, and the stronger ones are all opiates and whatever. Aren't they supposed to make you loopy? I can't be loopy right now."

"Eventually you will grow loopy just out of simple exhaustion, ma chèrie." JJ smiled at me and brushed his nimble, cool fingers through my hair, gently massaging my scalp. I let out a blessed sigh from the simple relief this provided me. "And if you want to continue on this operation, we will need you if not at your best, then not at your worst."

"Oh, right! Operation. I found him, guys… Anon. I remember where he is… But I need a map to tell. It's all muddy a little in my head. I remember the direction and the distance… Somewhat, but not the exact route to it."

"Then we must call Avarice and converse. Do you know if he's alright?"

I began to shake my head, but the motion sent more pain through it. "I was focused only on his fear. He was afraid, but he wasn't alone, and that's all I caught. I should do what Ghost recommends and try to patch myself up, and then I will try to calculate where Anon is held."

"Hmmm." JJ gave me a contemplating stare, but the seriousness of situation was diminished by a curve of his lips. "Can you do this from my lap?"

I huffed. "Can I? The better question is." With a great effort, I moved closer to him and burrowed my head in the nook of his neck. The headache helped a lot in ignoring the fact that I wasn't alone here. "The better question is, JJ, can I move away from here at all? And the answer is, no."

"You two look really cute together like that," Panda commented. "I should make a photo so Rita could have a time of her life gushing about you."

JJ laughed, and I groaned.

"It's against the martial law or whatever to kick the person who's already mortally wounded. Ghost, what I have to do to get rid of this pain?"

"It's simple, very simple, my pupil. You will deal with it even in your current state, I'm sure. Pain is a very simple aspect. Just taking it away won't resolve the root of your headache, but it will be a great relief for a time, and then you can just repeat it! Eventually, your head will heal on its own, and you will be completely fine. Concentrate on your own aura and simply pull the pain out!"

It wasn't really THAT simple. Using my magic sense intensified my headache immediately, and had to focus only on one thing at a time. First, it was my head, from where I drew the pain. Then, it was air-filled space where I stuck it in.

But the relief, indeed, was immense and immediate.