Jake’s POV

My second day in the hospital was slow, mostly waiting and having my blood drawn. They ordered an MRI, and that was sooo fun. If you’ve never had one and want to know what it’s like, go find a drainage pipe just large enough that you can only fit into it if you’re a child or a small dog, then try desperately not to have a panic attack while they shove you in anyway. I was having flashbacks of that horrible cave the whole time while teetering on the edge of freaking out and fainting. And if you want to make your experience as accurate as possible, go find a howler monkey and have him scream in your ear while you’re in that drainage pipe, that should be pretty close to what it’s actually like.

I was in the hospital for quite a while, about a week and half, and in that time, I became so familiar with the inside of those scanning machines that I probably could have built one of them myself. MRIs, PET Scans, even X-rays, and sleep studies. At one point, they attached a punch of electrodes and leads to my head and told me to say the alphabet backwards.

“Hello Mr. Vandal,” the Neurologist said as he walked into the room I was in. Mum was gone right now, she needed to run some errands, so it was just me an him at the moment.

“Hey.” I said.

“I got the results of your tests back last night.” He took a seat in a small rolling chair near by bed.

“Good news or bad?” I asked.

“Both. The good news is we didn’t find anything suspicious from the MRI or the EEG, so it probably wasn’t a seizure.”

“And the bad news?” I asked.

“The bad news is, we still don’t know what caused your hallucinations and fainting. At this point, we are forced to conclude that your symptoms aren’t biological in nature, but are probably psychological.” He pulled out his pen and picked up a clipboard from a nearby table. “You mentioned you were seeing a therapist, correct?”

“Yeah, Dr. Maxwell. She has been my therapist for a while now.”

“Okay, in addition to Dr. Maxwell, I am going to recommend you to a psychiatrist. His name is Dr. William Bartholomew, and he specializes in this type of thing. I’ll give him your number and his office can set you up with an appointment.” With that final meeting, I was released from the hospital. I filled Mum, and later Suma, in on what the Neurologist said. A day later, Suma summoned me so that we could talk about my options.

“I’m sorry, what exactly does a psychiatrist do?” Suma asked from her metal perch. We were in her new room, the one shared by the other recruits, but they were all out at the moment. I was sitting on a chair made of molded rock that Suma taught me how to make.

“They are like healers, but for the mind.” I said.

“And how exactly is that different from what Dr. Maxwell does?” She asked.

“Dr. Maxwell is a therapist. They deal more with trauma and non-medical issues. Psychiatrists deal with medicines, injuries, and diseases that effect the mind.” I told her. “But it doesn’t matter, I don’t think I will be making an appointment with him.”

“Why not? Are you not worried about having more hallucinations?”

“I am, but I don’t think he will be able to help me. We already know what caused them, all I wanted to know was whether or not that flaming figure did any actual physical damage. Since the doctor didn’t see anything on any of the scans, I think that means whatever is happening is magical, not physical.”

“I see,” Suma said, “you do have a point. I may have a suggestion then.”

“Okay.”

“We should perform a memory delve; on both of us.”

“Why?”

“You said that your hallucinations felt as if they were memories, did you not? If they really are, then a delve will help us to understand them.”

“Okay, but why do you need one?” I wondered.

“I… I have also been experiencing strange dreams, not too dissimilar from what you described your visions to be like.” Suma confessed.

“What?! When?!” I shouted.

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“I believe it was around the same time you experienced your first vision.” Suma’s head was hanging slight lower, she was avoiding eye contact too. Even her normal glitter was slightly dulled.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” I asked confused.

“I did not wish to worry you, and at first I thought it was simply a dream. Now, after hearing your descriptions of what you saw, I doubt it was just a coincidence.”

“So, what did you see?”

Suma looked back to me as she explained. “I cannot remember clearly, but I know that there was a Neame called Ambos, and a Viking called Zachariah.”

“The same people I saw, or thought I was anyway.”

“It was the same for me. My dream took place from the perspective of Ambos.”

“Why does that name sound so familiar?” I asked, trying to remember.

“It was the name of the hero mage.” She said.

“RIGHT! The one with the Viking familiar.” I snapped my fingers and shook my hand as I remembered. “So what, the flaming man somehow has their memories?” I asked.

“It is possible he took their memories somehow; spells of that nature have existed for some time. It was thought that our ancestors, before the Ravaging, would have had very advanced and diverse magics, even compared to today.” Suma explained.

“And you think a memory delve will help us sort out what happened?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Okay, so let’s do it.” I said, ready to go.

“We will need to find someone capable of performing the spell.” Suma said. “I do not have the ability to perform one on myself, or at all actually. I have no talent for Mind Magic.”

“So, who do we know who can do it?” I asked.

“I might know one person. She was a Court Mage.”

“Who?” I asked.

“Lieutenant Datahu. She might be able to help us, and if not, we can just ask around the base.”

“She’s a court mage? Aren’t those like the highest-ranking mages or something?”

“She was, but she isn’t any more. You can’t be a court mage and work as a Lieutenant in the King’s Armed Forces.” She explained.

“Okay, but why not?”

“A Court Mage must stand ready in the capital to defend members of the King’s Court, as well as be on standby should they be needed for other matters.”

“Oh, alright then. Do you think she’ll help?”

“… It is possible.” Suma said hesitantly.

“What about likely?”

“That… I cannot say.” Suma and I left the room and went searching for the Lieutenant. We bumped into Nine on the way, and he said he saw her at the pits, which was some kind of fighting arena Suma had told me about a week or so ago. As we neared the pits, we started to hear the sounds of battle.

“She must be training.” I said.

“Indeed. We should wait for her to finish.” I didn’t argue, I wanted to see what a Court Mage’s training looked like; also, the Lieutenant is a little intimidating. We watched from above, Suma was perched on a metal bar, and I leaned over it. The Lieutenant’s training was impressive. She was doing maneuvers jet-fighter pilots must dream about, all while casting spell after spell. Her movements were so quick, I couldn’t even follow them. She would turn on a dime, do a barrel roll, then fire off successive attacks. WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM! Four shots fired of and rang out as they hit their targets. Yeah, that’s targets, plural. She was facing off against three training dummies, like the kind we used back at basic, and one other thing that looked like it was made of living rock.

“Is that some kind of golem?” I asked Suma.

“Do you mean the rock dummy?”

“Yeah.”

“I have never heard its name before, but I can attest that it is quite strong.” She said. “What is a golem?”

“It’s something that isn’t alive, but can move anyway. Usually it’s controlled from a distance by someone too weak to fight for themselves.” I said.

“Ah, then yes, it is a golem.” Suma said. We talked without looking away from the fight, not that it would have made much of a difference for me anyway. The Lieutenant finished the fight with a Nature Spell. Magic circles appeared under each target, and vines shot up from the ground, impaling all four of her targets. The training dummies stopped moving and fell to the ground, while the rock golem shattered and crumbled to dust. For a second, I wondered if I should applaud.

“Are you going to keep perching there like knots on branches, or tell me what you wanted?” Lieutenant Datahu turned to us and called out.

“I- um… yes ma’am.” Suma stuttered nervously. I have to admit, even I was surprised she saw us during all that. “We had a request for you ma’am.”

“A request?” She asked.

“Yes ma’am, but first: do you know how to perform a memory delve?” I asked.

“I do.”

“Can you perform one on Jake and myself?” Suma asked.

She looked confused. “Why?”

“It’s related to my condition. The doctors on my world were able to confirm that there was no physical damage causing my hallucinations, so we think the reason lies in my mind.” I explained.

“What led you to that conclusion?” She wondered.

“Well, we think it was caused by memories that were implanted by that figure in flame.” I said.

“Figure in flame? What are you talking about?” The Lieutenant asked.

“Oh… I knew I was forgetting something.” Suma whispered to herself. We spent the next half an hour explaining everything from the beginning; starting with his first appearance, and all the way to Suma’s own visions.

“So let me get this straight,” Lieutenant Datahu sighed, “you both have been seeing visions of memories you don’t possess, and you are only telling me now, after all this time?”

“That… uh, sums it up, yeah.” I acknowledged.

“Do you two realize how many regulations this violates? Not just keeping medical conditions secret, Lady Suma, but the cause as well? I couldn’t even begin to list them.” She said shaking her head.

“So, can you help us?” Suma asked.

“Yes and no. I cannot perform the memory delve myself, that would violate regulations, but I can put in an official request for one to be performed by our base staff. We have a few members of permanent staff who can perform the spell safely.” She explained.

“Thank you, ma’am.” I said.

“Thank me by reporting for training as soon as you are able, and by reporting any more sighting of this ‘figure in flame’.”

“Yes ma’am.” Suma and I agreed.

“Now, Sentinel, I have a request for you as well.” She said.

“Ma’am?”