Mysterious Recovery

Frein wasn’t exactly surprised when he saw Ashtine and Smyl both conscious in the Sky Knight Tower infirmary. They were sharing a single recovery room and the half-orc Doctor Jo’war was there, providing the two some final checks. He noticed the Visitor along with Princess Scuti and immediately broke focus.

“Sorry, I didn’t know they’re awake. Please carry on,” Frein said. “We’ll wait outside.”

He closed the door and folded his arms, thinking to himself.

“What’s wrong?” Scuti asked. “Are they…?”

Frein placed a finger in front of his lips and reduced his voice to a whisper. “Their meiyal systems are flowing naturally. It’s like they haven’t gotten sick at all. When your sister recovered from Void Sleep, she—”

“My sister had Void Sleep?” Scuti exclaimed in a hushed tone. “You didn’t mention this in your stories!”

Frein sighed. “She’s alright. She’s fully recovered. Don’t worry about it. My point is, her meiyal system took a few days to properly recover. We made sure she didn’t strain herself for awhile on Atlas Sid. Well, until the Da’bloop happened, that is.

“But she’s all better now. You saw it for yourself, right?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Scuti’s nod was slow and worried. “So what’s the deal with the twins having normal meiyal cycles?”

Frein shrugged at that. “I guess we can ask Jo’war about it.”

“I’m here if you have questions,” the half-doctor said as he emerged from behind the door. He didn’t close it. “But I can only do so with the twins’ consent.”

Frein appreciated that Scuti immediately took action. In that moment, he thought she was the older of the two princesses. Being at least a head taller than Kristel certainly gave him that impression.

“I hope you both don’t mind?” Scuti asked. “Frein needs it for his Visitor responsibilities.”

“What exactly are your responsibilities, Mr. Frein?” Ashtine asked as the entire group entered the recovery room. There wasn’t much to look at. Two beds, a single restroom, a single closet, a table, a window, and a currently folded curtain for separating the twins if needed.

“Dealing with the Void Region, the Nightmare Lands as you now call it,” he answered easily. “Since you both recovered from Void Sleep in a way I’m not familiar with, I would like to know your diagnosis and recovery observations in detail.”

The twins gave each other a look. Frein paid as much attention to the interaction as possible without making himself too suspicious. It was a normal exchange between siblings, even close friends shared that same look. Not to mention that he and Katherine did the same thing from time to time. Too often, actually.

There was nothing wrong with it. A simple, silent gesture that meant they wanted to agree, but only if the other was of the same mind.

“Sure thing,” Smyl said this time. A scar ran down from the top of his right eye, slicing off a large portion of his blond hair. More scars ran from across what’s visible of his body, but he was otherwise uninjured. The power of Samesia. “If you think it’ll help.”

With that, Doctor Jo’war produced his M.O.B.I.L.E.

“Just to make things quicker,” Frein began, “I know about the case regarding the missing officers.”

Jo’war grunted in understanding. “Smyl presents the same pattern as the previous cases. I should preempt that I’ve only heard of this confidential case a few days ago when I was asked to observe the Royal Knights that were abducted before Smyl.”

Frein followed. “Disappeared for a few days, then reappeared somewhere in the High Palace with no memory of what happened.”

“They were found unconscious, yes, near the palace itself. Same as Smyl, here, it took the victims a day or two to regain consciousness.”

Frein saw a hint of speculation on the doctor’s face. “What is it?”

Jo’war gestured to the male twin. “The pattern seemed the same, except that Smyl was significantly more injured when he was found. There were hints of Nightmare on his injuries and it took the Atlas Sid’s intervention to help him recover.”

“And you still don’t recall anything?” Frein asked the General Sky Knight. Kristel had mentioned how Smyl was more riled up compared to the other victims.

“Last I remembered was reading in the library.”

“No flashes of sudden attacks?”

Smyl shook his head.

“What about before the library?”

This time, the Sky Knight thought hard. “I think I had breakfast? Maybe it was lunch, I don’t remember.”

Frein nodded and returned to Jo’war. “How badly was he hurt?”

“The scars you can see are what’s left of his injuries. He lost a lot of blood, but most of his internal organs were intact. The others, compared to him, only suffered minor bruises.”

“Concussion?”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Jo’war gestured with a quick ‘no’. “That’s the first thing I examined.”

“What about the Nightmare Influence?”

“What about it exactly?”

“How intense was it for Smyl compared to the others?”

Jo’war reviewed the notes from his M.O.B.I.L.E. for a moment. “They’re not too far apart.”

“What about Ashtine’s?”

“Why me?” the female twin asked. She realized just as quickly what Frein meant. “Oh…”

Jo’war navigated his device until he found the correct documents. “The Void Sleep was caused by the Nightmare Influence, yes, but it wasn’t as grave compared to Smyl’s case.”

Frein did all he could not to raise his eyebrows. He made a mental note of it. It was an inconsistency to what he knew. Ashtine had an Oblimoth in her Dream Realm. That alone should’ve sent alarms to whatever process or device Jo’war was using to monitor the Nightmare Influence.

He nodded towards the doctor. “Thank you. I have a few more questions for them.”

Jo’war understood the implications. He deposited his M.O.B.I.L.E. and nodded. “Please don’t keep them up for too long. While my professional assessment indicates that they’re ready to return to duty anytime they want, I would still suggest they take at least a day or two off.”

As soon as the doctor left, Frein leaned on the door and waited for him to be completely out of earshot. He tracked him using his enhanced Siffera, waiting for the footsteps to disappear. When he felt Ashtine was about to ask, he lifted his hand to keep her quiet.

“Did you two know, you’re both half-faunels?” he asked without preamble.

“What?” Ashtine asked, a genuine confusion on her face.

Smyl, on the other hand, was a second late. “What do you mean?”

Frein didn’t buy it. The male twin’s reaction was too stiff, as if it took him a second to remember that he was supposed to be surprised by such an absurd claim. While Ashtine’s reaction was a genuine surprise, Smyl’s was caught off guard.

She didn’t know. He did.

Frein suppressed a smile. He turned to Scuti, who had been silent and listening this entire time. She was as surprised as Ashtine. The Second Princess wanted to say something, but she had the mind and awareness to stay on the side, allowing for him to return his attention to the twins.

“After we examined you, Ash, back in Veli Manor, we discovered that your meiyal core has a unique center. Something that could only be found in faunels. And since you two are twins, I can only assume Smyl is the same.”

“Does that have anything to do with her Void Sleep?” Smyl asked. “Or my kidnapping?”

Frein shrugged. He could feel the Sky Knight was trying to maneuver any implications away from him. It only made him stand out more.

“How often are you in the Nightmare Lands, Ash?”

“Never been,” she replied.

“Are you sure?”

Ashtine nodded.

“Do you have any blank spots in your memory? Try to recall what happened a day or two before Smyl disappeared.”

This time, the female Sky Knight thought hard. Her expressions became more and more concerned as she came to a realization.

“I can’t remember anything.”

“So you’re having a similar, yet different, case as your twin. The difference is, nobody kidnapped you.”

Ashtine clutched her head with both hands. “This is frustrating. I can’t remember some things. I know I should know about them, but I can’t recall the details, or they’re different or foreign to me.”

“That’s…” Scuti suppressed her guess.

Time’s Eye.

Frein quickly dismissed the Monarch having to do with Ashtine’s situation. He had studied Denis’ meiyal system. He was no longer capable of using that Blessing. In fact, he was no longer able to emphasize even the simplest Meiyal Art. His Drawing was limited to a subdued Siffera and other basic Arts. It was the reason he studied Meiyal Weaving.

Frein, however, didn’t like this line of thought. The conclusion following this assumption wasn’t simple. He straightened up and began to leave, signaling for Scuti to get out of the door first.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t stress you guys out more than you already are. We’ll leave for now. I think the half-faunel situation or your memory losses are big leads, but we should let you two rest first. I’ll be back tomorrow after Kristel’s birthday party.”

The two perked up, but he shot them both down. “Rest. Kristel’s going to scold all of us if you don’t.”

As soon as they left, Frein headed for the courtyard where Kristel was supposed to be training. Scuti was right behind him.

“Shouldn’t we have brought Katherine?” she asked.

“No need. None of them were lying except for when I pointed out that they’re both half-faunels.”

“What do you mean?”

“Smyl knows about it, but he kept it a secret from Ash.”

“How did you know?”

“The next time you lie, I’ll point it out for you.”

“So that’s it? Smyl’s our suspect? Is he a spy or an agent from the Nightmare, or something like that?” Scuti whispered. No one was around them, and Frein had been closely monitoring their surroundings. “Could he be from the Cult of the Fallen Dragon?”

“No idea,” Frein replied, still walking at a brisk pace. “It’s difficult not to do assumptions, I know, but once you start speculating, you view evidence in a biased way. Smyl knowing that he’s a half-faunel might have nothing to do with the Nightmare Incursion, or it might be the key to everything. This world is still too foreign to me, and I have much to learn. But leaning towards one conclusion isn’t a good thing in general if you want to find out the truth.”

“So what do we do then?”

“Keep investigating.”

“But you left.”

“That’s because Jo’war said so. And because if I keep it up, it’ll be too suspicious, assuming Smyl is really involved with the enemy. We have to make sure and act as if we’re confused.”

They finally reached the courtyard and saw Kristel concentrating as much as she could. Katherine was there with her meiyal core Opened.

“What’s this?” Frein asked, putting all he had learned today into his Mind Palace. Canvases were so hard at work that it stirred Elizzel awake. The faunel started reviewing what she missed through their Tether.

“I’m Nightmaring her,” Katherine said, mimicking quotation marks in the air. “Void Control Technique, Lost In The Darkness. I enveloped Kristel in a small fog of Nightmare that’s a little stronger than the one we encountered in Minaveil Province. Her goal is to break through and dispel it however she can.”

“That sounds like a theme song.” Frein shook his head. “In any case, let me relay what we’ve learned. Is she alright?”

“Yeah, I can hear you,” the First Princess said. “Let me finish this first.”

It took Kristel roughly thirty minutes before she managed to push through Katherine’s Void Control Technique. The secret was in the Milling. She Gathered the surrounding Nightmare and Milled it, filtering the influence out of the meiyal. Without meiyal to hold on, the Nightmare Influence dispersed.

Easier said than done, but with the First Princess’s Destiny tied to Brymeia through Evanclad’s Mind Palace, she managed to do it.

“So,” Kristel began. “Are the twins alright?”

Frein and Scuti looked at each other before they started telling what they’d learned.

----------------------------------------

The Entity stirred due to a great disturbance. Ashtine looked inward into her Mind Palace. Unlike some particularly gifted practitioners, someone of this Sky Knight’s level couldn’t easily manifest themselves within their Dream Realm. It ignored her completely.

Instead, it was more concerned with Ashtine’s shattered and modified memories. True, it was Time’s Eye, like the Visitor had guessed. And he was also correct in assuming that it wasn’t Monarch Denis that did it.

For mortals, he might be quite hard to read, but he couldn’t hide from someone of the Entity’s caliber.

Additionally, unlike Frein, the Entity had direct access to Ashtine’s memories. And as confusing as they were, they all presented something quite clear.

The Entity smiled as the last piece showed the exact same pattern.

“Tryvinal Bree, huh,” it said. “So how did someone with Monarch’s Law manage to possess Time’s Eye as well?”

The Entity smiled not because the discovery was interesting, but because it was impossible in the first place.

“Unless, of course, the Blessing did not come from Brymeia.”