You eyes are slightly better, and the painkiller is suppressing your headache. Still you decide that getting your eyes examined would be the best place to start. A quick comm message to XO Ekhi confirms that the Helheim's team is back aboard and settling in. You brace yourself for the brightness of the hallways and glide down the familiar track to the Ignis' Medical Bay, where he had helped your physical therapy along. He'd want to check on your recovery anyway.

Two hours of walking and a half-hour examination later, your eyes are watering and the painkiller is wearing off. Bedard is scratching his chin at a set of readouts, tallying up the signs of your recovery and new damage. "Well, I have good news, bad news, and somewhere in-between news. Worse news first, the light/dark receptors in your eyes are hypersensitive, and as the likely cause is exposure to the warp there isn't anything I can do to correct that."

You nod your head, eyes shut against the bright lights of the examination room. "I was worried about that. What can be done about it?"

"Treating the symptoms is relatively easy: sunshades. Or you can do what Lady Yasha Dannan does, and use a thin veil or other eye-covering. It will limit your vision somewhat in dark or cave-black areas, but you'd be near-blind in those situations anyway. A more invasive approach would be total eye replacement surgery, installing augmetics instead. I'd recommend against that, as the symptoms may spontaneously re-emerge. Also, we'd have to rebuild about half of your face to install them, and that would be a right mess."

You nod again, daring to open your eyes slightly, slitting them against the searing brightness. "I'll stick with the eye protection then, unless something gets worse. Skuld, Urd, or Verdandi probably has aunt Yasha's patterns on file, so that shouldn't be a problem. Now about that good news?"

"Good news is that between the physical therapy and whatever new exercise routines you started, you are more fit than before you would up on the Trophy Room floor. Reaction times, hand-eye coordination, brute force, and intricate fine-motor capabilities are all showing about a three-percent increase over your records from before that Incident. Perceptions and cognitive functions are up as well, by about six percent. Possibly higher on the perception side, given the damage to your eyes. Muscle definition is way up as well, and body fat is nearly non-existent. I expected the later, given how much stored energy your body burned off during the incident despite the nutrient drip. If I may ask, what form of exercise are you using?"

"About an hour of weapons-drill each morning with my staff."

"Staff drill? Those must be some fairly intense forms, for a non-Astartes, to produce such results. Would you care to join me in the sparring chamber tomorrow, so that I can see them?"

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

You don't hesitate. An Astartes' sparring chamber is his sanctum, second only to his sleeping quarters in terms of personal space. Turning down the offer would be an unforgivable insult. "Of course! Hopefully I can get a veil or similar sent up in time, so I won't crash into something."

Bedard nods, though you can only tell this by the movement his shadow makes, given that you are stuck staring at the floor. "Tomorrow afternoon, say at sixteen-hundred ship-time? I'll see you then. Now for the in-between news." He sucks air between his teeth. "The mental health indicators are all over the place, but generally higher than your record would indicate. By a factor of about two. Overall, that's less than good, but you show no signs of new disorders."

"Influence from Miotal Scathanna perhaps?"

"That can't be ruled out, but you also just had a close-and-personal encounter with a daemon, and kicked its ass to boot. That'd leave a mark even on an Astartes, but I'm not the best judge of non-Astartes psychology. I assume you had plans to meet with a confessor or similar?"

You snort. "I don't bother with the minions of the Ecclesiarchy. Rote-learned dogmatics, by and large. I was planning on seeing if Chaplain Danus was available, to get his blessing if at all possible. Any extra ward against Warp-corruption would come in handy."

Bedard pauses. "That could work, but Chaplain Danus wouldn't always be available if you needed to talk to someone. I'll see if Helheim or Wraith know anyone good. Probably wouldn't hurt to get a decent confessor permanently assigned to the Ignis, just in case. I'll also see about getting a regular Medical officer briefed in on your condition and file, in case my services aren't available. But we're all done here, so you're free to go Lady Dannan."

"Thank you Apothecary Bedard. For everything." You make your way out the doorway, brushing against the frame briefly, and make your way back to your quarters.

Once there, you set about working on the little paperwork that has piled up during your rest. Requisition forms, by and large, awaiting your signature. You do note that Canala has slipped a few extra sets of clothing into the list, along with the usual toiletries and essentials. With this in mind, you make a note to get your existing dress and new ones fitted by the three seamstresses. A quick check of your calendar later and you pencil that in for three days from now, to give them time to ruin up the dresses and your new veils.

Paperwork complete, you work out with Miotal Scathanna before taking a bath and having lunch. You have the afternoon to yourself, and a busy few days ahead of yourself. On an impulse, you head down the the Library vaults, to swap out a few read books for new ones. As you are browsing the stacks, you reach into your pocket for the brass key you found last time you were here. Instead, you find a small folded note. You frown and unfold it. The message in side surprises you.

Thanks for keeping my key safe while I was away. -Wraith.

You'll have to ask him how he knew it was you when you see him next. But for now you have a new book, a new schedule, and some time to read before tomorrow morning.