SICKNESS / IRIS
I have no idea how long I was sitting behind that tree but, however long it was, was time well spent. I think I’ll go over the discoveries I’ve made.
The first, and arguably most important discovery is that; the amount of energy that gets used scales with the size of the wound. I tested this by making three pierce wounds very close to one another. I probably wouldn’t be able to heal something like a missing arm, although that’s just logical.
The second thing that I’ve learned is that the more energy I pour into the healing, the faster and stronger it will be. I tested this by making a wound and simply ‘opening the airlock’ a lot more than I had previously, and then making another one and doing the opposite.
The third, and most notable discovery is that I can heal wounds, but I can’t heal the pain. To be more specific, when I heal something, the Injury itself would disappear, however, the pain would only decrease slightly, it seems to fade away on its own. Another strange thing of note is that the blood that escaped my body remained after the Wound was gone.
The fourth discovery is that I have to be precise when I heal, meaning that if I wanted to heal a scar on someone’s leg then I’d have to be right on top of it. I wouldn’t be able to heal anything from a distance.
To put it in short; my healing powers are variable. I could heal as much as I wanted too or as little as I wanted too, it would depend on the situation. But I lacked the bells and whistles that came with most depictions of magical healing powers; I can’t heal from a distance, pain won’t magically disappear, and neither will Blood.
And then there’s that ‘hard limit’: I was testing for… Thankfully I never got a headache, and I didn’t start feeling sick, or anything of that sort. Was my pool of energy massive or something? Or perhaps there were certain ‘requirements’ that had to be filled… I was kind of at a loss on that front. Either way, I planned to keep going until I reached my Limits, or something dire happens.
I grabbed my trusty ‘wooden testing apparatus’, and got in position to Stab my left hand again… but then I looked down at it: The hand itself was fine but it looked bloodier than a trench from world war 1. “Okay… maybe I need to take a break and—”
Before I could finish my sentence, I was interrupted by the sound of footsteps getting closer from the direction of the clearing. I waited a couple of seconds to make sure I wasn’t just imagining the noise, but then something suddenly collided with the right side of my head. Whatever had hit me was something wooden. However, that wasn’t important because as soon as it touched me, a strange feeling washed over my whole body, I started to feel light-headed…
I didn’t have time to process what had just started because there was suddenly someone standing in front of me. He was an Elf, like everyone else I’d seen since waking up and he held a large branch in his hand. He was facing forward in the direction of the forest; I don’t think he noticed I was there. I wanted to ask if he was the one that had hit me a second earlier, but before I could I heard a familiar voice. it was the voice of the girl that had counted the people with Kraig earlier:
She appeared from the other side of the tree I was sitting next to, with urgency in her step. “Hey wait a moment!”
As the elf with the stick turned to face her, I could see the determination in his eyes. “What now?”
I couldn’t see The counting girl’s face but I assumed it matched her urgency. “I-it’s too dangerous to go into the forest by yourself.”
The elf with a sticks face shifted to one full of Irritation. “No one else is going to look for my family but me!” he took a deep breath and looked at the ground for a moment to calm himself down. “Ugh—” he turned to face the forest again. “–fine, if I don’t find anything, I’ll come back.” I could tell from the tone of his voice, and the fact that he had looked away from the girl that he was lying through his teeth.
Anyway, as soon as he finished talking, he started walking deeper into the forest. The counting girl started to follow after him but, there was no way she was going to convince him so I finally decided to speak up. “You’re probably better off not following him you know.”
“uh?!” the girl turned around in surprise, and I finally got a good enough look at her. To get all the boring stuff out of the way: she was an elf, like everyone else, she wore a white dress, etc. she had fiery blonde hair, and deep blue eyes. she was taller than me but shorter than Kraig. To put it short, she was very beautiful… which now that I think about it, wasn’t really an accomplishment since elves are basically just Prettier humans (with magic) in concept.
Her eyes were darting up and down as if she was also reviewing my appearance. She stopped though, gasped, and said something along the lines of ‘Oh my god’ under her breath, before swiftly moving in front of me and crouching down to get a better look at me. “What are you—” I began to object but then I realized what she was looking at; my bloody left hand.
“why in the world are you bleeding so much?” she suddenly grabbed my hand, which not only caused that lightheadedness I was feeling to increase, but made me wince too. She glanced at me with eyes full of sympathy but returned to inspecting my wrist. “phew, at least it was the wrong side…” She let go of my hand and looked at me with that same sympathetic look from earlier.
She looked away and spoke under her breath again, but I was close enough to hear her. “Even someone as small as her can be absorbed by thoughts like those, huh?” She turned to look at me again, her face was a mix between Determination and re-assurance. “U-um, I understand how you must feel but—” I couldn’t help but feel that she was getting the wrong idea but I doubt there was a suitable way I could explain my actions without it backfiring somehow.
I began to stand up but that only increased the dizziness I was feeling by a large margin. “ it’s not what it looks like…” I stood straight for a couple of seconds but I suddenly felt off-balance and started to collapse. “…Crap!” I closed my eyes in anticipation of colliding with the ground but it never happened and instead, I felt the counting girl’s hands hold my body up. I opened my eyes and looked up towards her, she had looked concerned before, but now it looked like that concern had multiplied by 20.
Her face remained locked on mine for a moment before she took a deep breath and looked over my whole body one last time. “Okay, you need help.” She didn’t let go of my body until after she was sure I was stable but then grabbed my right hand before I could even react and started to drag me back into the clearing.
--
I think I’ve made another discovery, or at the very least, a theory that will lead to one. The theory is that unlike how I originally assumed… the aftermath of me using magic will be kind of a buildup, being almost unnoticeable until I start moving around at which point it will rapidly build until I feel like death. I didn’t have time to think about it though, as I was currently being forced around the clearing like the backend of a rollercoaster.
The people must have been confused when they saw the little girl from earlier weakly walking behind the counting girl with a bloodied hand. This was kind of embarrassing; I mean it would be a problem if people started crowding around me in the state I was in. Thankfully, no one decided to care, even if they did see us.
It was becoming increasingly harder to focus on my surroundings, it felt as if I was walking through quicksand but I was finally able to firmly put my feet down long enough for the counting girl to stop moving.
She turned around to check on me with concern and worry still on her face. “are you okay, What’s wrong?” I looked up towards her, her face and body were blurry and I think I was starting to see double.
“where are…” I was rudely cut out of my sentence by my legs deciding they didn’t want to work anymore, and I began to fall again. Surprisingly though, the counting girl was quick with her hands and I never felt the ground, again. I really hope this isn’t starting to become a pattern.
“Ah geez!” After a second of making sure I was fine, she let go of my torso, grabbed my right arm again instead, and sighed. “This is the second time from you! Just stop trying to fight it and let me help you.” I think I was too far gone to fight with her about it at this point.
The counting girl continued to drag me around but I stopped consciously remembering most of it.
--
When I woke up I found myself laying on the ground, much like earlier when I had first found myself in the forest. I spoke in a low-volumed annoyance: “I’m still here?” One would think that a dream would end once the dreamer fell asleep, but I guess that would be too much to ask for. Then again, the only bad thing about this dream so far was the fact that I was an Elf.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
I began to sit up and examine my surroundings: the clearing was gone, at least, it was nowhere near me. To my right was the seemingly endless expanse of the forest and, to my left was… someone's clothes? I sat in confusion as I examined them, they were plain and white like the dress I was wearing but my dress was still on so--
“Ah, you’re finally awake!” I jumped in surprise at the familiar voice and turned further to the left to find the voice's owner. What I saw really surprised me: there was a pond, the counting girl, sitting in the pond, Naked in the middle of a forest. I’ll spare the details since this isn’t that kind of retelling, needless to say though, it was shocking to see her after only being awake for like 30 seconds.
Anyways the counting girl tilted her head slightly and changed her previously happy face into a look of concern. “Wait, are you still dizzy? Don’t move.” after saying that, she suddenly stood up and took a step closer to me. Before she could get any closer I stood up myself at what felt like the speed of light and started to speak in an attempt to get her to stop.
“N-nononono I’m good, sit back down, please.” she stared at me with a surprised look in her eyes before quietly sitting back down and sighing.
“Well that's a relief, I don't have the medical expertise to actually help if your condition got any worse.”
I gave her an annoyed look as I sat back down. “I’m pretty sure I would’ve been fine… probably.”
She countered my annoyed face with her very own skeptical one. “Are you sure? I mean, you could barely walk earlier.”
“I was fine when I was sitting down…” I let my voice trail off in defeat as I noticed that I'd probably end up losing the conversation.
After a second or two of silence, I began to examine my body a little more, all the blood on my left hand was gone! The counting girl must’ve noticed my confusion because she began to speak again:
“I cleaned up your hand for you, I would've covered the wound too but it was gone.”
I sighed and fought over how to reply to her in my head. I wanted to say: ‘Of course it’s gone, you Idiot!’ but decided against it in favor of going for the safer option. “T-thank you, um--”
it dawned on me that I had yet to learn the counting girl's name. She seemed to notice this too and responded how one would expect: “Oh right! I guess I never said my name did I? My names A--” she paused and looked up at the sky for a moment. “--Actually... I think it would be a waste not to enjoy this right?” she looked back towards the ground again but stayed in her thoughts. “Hmm… hey what do you think?”
The counting girl suddenly looked at me with childish excitement on her face. “How should I--” she cut me off before I could even finish my sentence.
“Oh wait, I have an even better idea!” she stood up again and quickly reached over to grab my hands. “Wouldn’t it be fun if we named each other?!” I looked her in the eyes, it was my turn to use ‘the skeptical look.’ I wanted to decline her offer but the way she was acting reminded me of how I was acting earlier when I was creating my character not even maybe 3 hours ago.
“Sure.” at saying that, she let go of my hands and backed up a little, probably to get a better look at my body. I didn’t follow her example and sat still. Foolish girl when you get to be at my level, you wouldn’t even need to look at a character to name them!
I observed her surroundings instead. The tiny clearing in which the pond (and us), could be found was serene and beautiful, it was as if every color on the spectrum shot me in the eyes. The grass was short and shiny, the trees were ancient and regal, the flowers which sat on the tree line were colorful and pretty. The blue yet clear water reflected the sun perfectly which made the sight of the naked girl standing in it even stranger yet… It fit strangly well.
I looked at the counting girl again, and then back towards the rest of the picture. It reminded me of the scenes in a book where the tired main character weakly stumbles upon the guardian of the forest, or a legendary sword, or even the main heroine. I couldn’t help but smile, I don’t think I would mind being an elf for a little longer if it meant that I could see more beautiful places like this. I was pushed away from my thoughts when the soon to be renamed girl started talking again.
“You look happy; did you figure out a name?”
I simply nodded as I responded to her. “Yes.”
If this was some sort of cartoon her eyes would be sparkling, as she once again moved closer to me. “Oooh… what is it?!”
“I—” I was starting to feel a little embarrassed for some reason but ignored it. “The name I came up with is Iris.” I paused again as the counting girl began to repeat it back to herself. “It means ‘rainbow’.”
“I like it, yeah ‘Iris’, I really like it.” The satisfied smile she had on her face made me a little happy for some reason but I managed to keep my poker face going.
After a couple seconds of silence ‘Iris’ looked at me with that same enthusiastic smile from earlier. “I’m sure you want to know what I thought up for you too, right?” I nodded in anticipation, I was sure it wasn’t going to be as fitting as my name for her. She waited a couple of seconds, probably to build the atmosphere, and then burst out with her answer:
“Eliana!” The sudden outburst made me jump a little but the name itself wasn’t bad or anything it was very pretty but I probably would have come up with better though. I must have worn a complicated face because she started to speak again. “Do you not like it?”
I quickly responded to her. “I-I like it… but what does it mean?”
Iris stared at me for a solid ten seconds before answering my question. “no idea.”
“Wha-” I was at a loss for words, I mean how could someone come up with such a good name and not even know if it had any meaning?
Iris was quick to change the subject. “Anyways--” she placed her hands on my shoulders. “--You’re in a much better condition than you were earlier, does your arm or hand hurt anywhere?”
“Oh.” I had honestly completely forgotten about my hand until she mentioned it again. I moved my left hand around a little to test the waters a bit. It still hurt. I winced but managed to recover fast enough to not make any loud noises. I looked towards Iris (who was currently climbing their way out of the pond) “I’m fine, ahahaha...ha”
The girl gave me a disappointed look as she approached me. “You know you don’t have to act all grown up, right? Pain is pain, there's no reason to hide it.” her voice was soft, she spoke as if she was talking to a little kid, which kind of got on my nerves.
“You’re probably only a couple years older than me, you know?” Iris held in a chuckle or two as she responded to me
“Hah if I were only a couple years older than you then I’d be 16!
I gave her a deadpan response. “I’m 22.”
Iris’s voice was a mix between laughter and surprise. “What?! There's no way you’re only a year younger than me, let alone in your 20’s.” Does Iris not know that elves age way slower than humans? I mean, I wasn’t going to be the one to explain it to her, after all, there was no Canon human/elf age ratio I could explain without me going on a sermon on why this version of this terrible race of sucky fantasy people aged slightly different from another version of the same race.
Before I could continue my mental rant, the sound of movement kicked me back into reality. The counting gir-- Iris was currently putting her clothes back on. When she noticed that I was looking at her she smiled. “Well since you’re feeling better there's not really a reason for us to stay here now is there?”
I didn’t respond as I stood up, and allowed her to put the rest of her clothes on. I looked at the rest of the small clearing again and, it was just as lovely as it was earlier. I was taking in the nature when a thought suddenly crossed my mind. “Wait a second, where even is this?” I turned to the counting girl who seemed to have just finished putting everything on.
Iris had a mischievous smile on her face. “This is our special place!" There was an awkward silence as she looked at me to gauge my reaction, I wasn't amused. When she noticed that my expression remained flat she returned to a normal tone of voice. “I’ll tell you on the way back, it shouldn’t take that long.” She had begun walking before I could properly exclaim my annoyance towards her, but I sucked it up and just followed her.
--
Looking at it again, the forest was calm. The feeling of dread and confusion I felt when I first walked through it was still there, but it was way more subdued. I don’t know if it was because I was calmer or because I was with someone, but I was able to ignore my worse thoughts and enjoy myself on the walk back.
Iris once again interrupted my thoughts to speak: “Are you still curious about how you ended up next to that pond?”
My voice was quiet. when I answered her, probably because I was too enveloped in the new atmosphere to properly pay attention. “…Yes.” Perhaps my voice was carried by the wind because she still ended up hearing me somehow, and I heard an equally quiet ‘cool’ in response to me before she started talking.
“Ok so, I don’t know if you were asleep for this part already or not but—” she stopped in her tracks to turn around and look at me, as she continued. “— at first I walked you over to Mark and asked him if there was anything I could do to help your hand…” Hearing Gareth’s fake name made me instantly regret being unconscious, after all, I didn’t trust the man.
I don’t know if I was making a complicated face or not, because Iris ignored it and continued with her explanation anyway. “…And he mentioned using water so I thought—” She stopped mid-sentence when she noticed the annoyed stare I was giving her.
“You know that you could’ve just summoned the water right?”
Iris quickly responded to me, as if she knew that I was going to say what I did. “That’s the thing though, I tried that!” my face instantly became a fusion of Confusion and intrigue. from what I understood, unless Iris had taken a special skill that limited her powers, her ability to use magic should’ve stayed intact. Before I got the chance to properly ask about it she carried on talking.
“I followed the instructions you gave to the best of my ability, but when I started focusing on water there was this sudden feeling in my chest and I knew where the pond was.” That didn’t make any sense, how could you follow my steps to a T but get a completely different result? There were only two possible explanations for this: either A, she didn’t follow my steps and got a completely different result, or B, she does have some strange special skill and it interfered with the process.
“Eliana?” I beckoned away from my thoughts by Iris, I couldn’t properly drown out my ‘new name’ like my old one because I wasn’t used to hearing it yet. “Eliana, you do still want to go back to the clearing right?” I looked at the girl confusedly before letting out a quiet ‘ah’. She was trying to humorously call me out for standing still.
“Sorry.” I started to walk again but made sure to stay directly behind Iris, I needed her in view so I wouldn’t go completely into ‘theorize mode’. “Can we talk about this later though? I’d like to figure out exactly how this magic stuff works.”
Iris didn’t look back or stop walking as she answered my question. “sure, but we’ll do that after making sure everyone is okay. That one guy doesn't seem good at keeping everyone calm.”
It took me a second to register who she was talking about. “Oh, do you mean Kraig?”
“wha— That’s his name?”
“yeah.”
Iris attempted to hold in a laugh; “That doesn’t really fit him at all.”
Unlike Iris, I couldn’t contain my laughter “Hehe, I know right?”