The gravity of her situation finally settling in, Sayko did something that surprised even herself.

She cried.

It had been literal years since she had let a dam of emotions burst, trying not to wail as the nurse wrapped a strong pair of arms around her now frail body, pulling her into an embrace. The last time she had let herself fully break down was over a decade ago, but between burnout and a perpetually growing sense of apathy, she had stopped letting herself feel anything beyond the occasional spike of annoyance or anger.

The nurse was a heavy-set woman with greying hair and striking violet eyes,; unabashed kindness gleaming behind them. Wrinkles at the corners of her mouth hinted at a lifetime of smiles and laughter, trying to bring joy to her patients whenever possible. She whispered gentle affirmations into Sayko’s ear, trying to soothe the upset girl as best she could.

“Let it all out, sunshine. Solaris only knows what yuv been through, six years is a helluva long time to be sleepin’!”

After the nurse managed to calm her down, she rather effortlessly scooped up Sayko’s scarecrow frame and delicately set her down on the bed. The wailing had stopped, and her tears slowed, but her eyes remained puffy and red, silently trying to gather the courage to speak. The adrenaline from waking had already subsided at this point, and now she felt feeling waves of fatigue crashing against her shores.

Ducking away behind the curtains followed by the sounds of someone rummaging through a drawer, the nurse emerged in mere seconds with an empty pewter cup. Holding it out with one hand, she hovered the other hand above it, palm facing downwards, mumbling a few words to herself. A circle of light appeared below the outstretched hand, various runes appearing within its perimeter, water pouring from the light directly into the cup.

Once the vessel filled, she waved her hand and the light instantly flickered out. Kneeling in close to Sayko, she offered the cup of water to her.

“Drink up, darling! There’s no shame in cryin’, but we gotta have yuh replenishin’ that water!”

Nodding, Sayko took the cup and gulped down the water, realizing how thirsty she was. Emptying the cup in nearly a single gulp, she handed it back to the nurse who exchanged it for a handkerchief she had been keeping in a pocket.

Grasping the handkerchief, Sayko wiped her eyes, her vision having grown blurry from the faucet of tears. Her embarrassment rising after having emptied nearly fifteen years of pent-up emotions out all at once, she turned away, scarlet tinges flashing across her cheeks. It was jarring that the woman had reacted so kindly when the last time she had cried in front of anyone she had just been laughed at and made an object of scorn.

As she finished composing herself, the doors to the ward opened. Several pairs of feet rushed into the room. The curtains parted revealing Abby, the nurse that had first found a distraught Sayko, along with a similarly dressed woman she assumed was the “head matron”, as well as an elf man wearing vibrant teal and white robes bringing up the rear of their group.

Striding to the nightstand and opening a diminutive drawer, the head matron withdrew a neat set of papers that were stamped with an elaborate coat of arms. She slid a finger gingerly under a wax seal and opened the documents, her eyes scanning the pages before cleared her throat.

“Do you remember your name, child? Do you remember anything about yourself?” Her voice terse, but not hostile either.

Looking between everyone, Sayko wasn’t sure how honest she should be considering the circumstances, let alone the haze surrounding her memories to begin with. While her brain buffered over what to say, the gray-haired nurse put a hand on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

“It’s okay, dearie. You’re safe here.”

“It’s Sayko. I…” pausing, she took a deep breath. “At least, I dreamt I was a woman named Sayko, but that’s all I really remember.” A white lie, not sure of how they'd react to her answer.

Although none of them seemed particularly surprised by her answer, the elf sighed nonetheless.

“I hope that someday there’s a patient that can fully describe what they experienced while afflicted by Aporis Abjection. Amnesia and the comatose state seem to be the only two universal symptoms thus far we can reliably count on finding.”

The matron lowered herself to nearly eye level with Sayko, trying to muster a meager smile.

“I’m Emma Lowell, head matron and nurse of Euripides Sanatorium. The place you’re in is a hospice for people suffering from chronic magical illness, with this ward being dedicated to those afflicted by the sleeping sickness,” she paused for a moment to ensure Sayko was following her so far.

“The nurses who found you, Abby and Yuna, have been looking over you, as well as the rest of the sleepers in this room, for the last six years.”

She continued as Sayko nodded; confusion painted across her face.

“Although I don’t doubt you dreamt about many things, your real name is Senna Lorenz. You’re the daughter of the heroic adventurers Celica and Petrus Lorenz. We’ve already sent a runner to fetch your mother who lives here in the city, she’ll be overjoyed to see you awake!”

Sayko’s head was spinning, her thoughts swimming for a meaning to everything unfolding around her.

Having waited patiently for matron Emma to finish speaking, the elf spoke once more.

“My apologies for not introducing myself first,” his voice was rather posh, his language formal and reserved, “My name is Artemis Silvervine, I am one of the resident clerics here at Euripides. Anytime a sleeper wakes, I like to ensure that they aren’t at any risk from any underlying conditions before they’re discharged. I’m honestly amazed you were able to walk at all with how few physical stimuli you’ve had for six years.”

Already overwhelmed by everything happening, Sayko hadn’t once thought about that. If this body had been lying limp for six years, shouldn’t her legs be essentially useless? This world was clearly revealing itself to be a fantasy world more and more so maybe there was a component of stasis to the entire affliction. For a woman who ate up fantasy anime, she realized to literally no one’s surprise, it didn’t prepare her for the situation she found herself in.

“I guess I was just so caught up with panic that I was able to push myself to get up…” she nervously chuckled.

"Yes, I suppose so. It’s to be expected for the daughter of notable heroes like your parents, let alone your older sister.”

I have an older sister?!

“That said, you are what we call a ‘low risk’ sleeper. There were no major underlying health conditions to worry about nor any risk factors of Ject Mutatem, so I’m not particularly concerned about discharging you today.”

“Ject…Mutatem?”

“Oh! How foolish of me, of course you wouldn’t know. It’s when a sleeper mutates into an abomination due to Aporis Abjection corrupting the Ject itself: the anchor that ties soul to body. Once mutated, they often go into violent rampages-“

Seeing the immediate horror on Sayko’s face, Emma immediately interrupted.

“Artemis don’t terrify the poor girl! I don’t think she needs the gritty details if it isn’t relevant!”

The realization that his patient was a scared teenage girl, not a fellow scholar, caressed his face like a long-lost lover, as his eyes widened, composing himself as he coughed uncomfortably into a balled fist.

“R-regardless of that! I’ll do one final examination to make sure there are no other lingering maladies or unusual occurrences hiding beneath the surface!”

Extending both palms’ forward, his eyes softly closed as a look of focus brushed over his face mumbling an incantation to himself. A sigil of light appeared in front of him not unlike Yuna’s when she summoned water, although this was a much larger sigil and the intensity of the light seemed more intense. The runes somehow seemed more intricate as well, turning in various clockwork like motions as he recited the incantation.

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Sayko’s heart sped up.

Will this reveal that I’m really some thirty something office worker from another world!?

Several orbs of light no bigger than gumballs emerged from the sigil, playfully dancing back and forth in the air surrounding Artemis. After about six or seven emerged, he stopped his incantation and the sigil disappeared. Waving a hand casually at Sayko, the orbs started flickering rapidly, before hovering around her mostly prone form.

Small rays of light began to radiate off the orbs, the orbs themselves beginning to move around her form almost like some sort of advanced medical scan. They danced around her body flashing their lights as they went, and after about four or five minutes finally stopped, all evaporating out of the air with a small crack!

About five minutes of “hmm’ing” and “oh I see!” passed by before Artemis finally addressed his patient and the three nurses, the latter of whom seemed mildly annoyed at this point.

“Everything checks out! You’re as healthy as the day you fell under the war criminal’s spell!... Well, you know, minus the muscular atrophy!”

Yuna interjected at this point, annoyance at the cleric rising.

“Artemis I’m sure yer a busy man, patients and all down below. We gotta get this little one into a wheelchair and prepped to go home!”

“Osira amongst us, you’re correct! It was lovely to meet you dear girl, I always love seeing someone recover fully from Aporis Abjection! Alas, our celebration must be short lived, I must be off to meet with my other patients!”

Without another word and parting with a satisfied grin, he sauntered off in a relatively carefree manner about him, the door gently thudding behind. Matron Lowell sighed in response, relief evident in her tone, clearly wanting to return to her duties.

“The bedside manner of a cleric is often nonexistent. It takes a kind hand, but they sometimes forget it’s a person in their charge, not a problem from a textbook. I digress,” she turned towards Sayko.

“Senna, I’m honored to have helped watch over Petrus and Celica’s daughter for six years, but alas, this is goodbye. Abby and I must return to our work, but I’ll leave you in Yuna’s care until your mother arrives.”

“Th-thank you… I don’t really know what to say.” Her voice somewhat faltering at the genuine affection in Matron Lowell’s voice for a girl she never actually met until today. Beaming graciously back, Abby piped up as well, clearly the most reserved of the trio.

“You don’t need to say anything at all. We’re just happy to help!”

Sayko tried to turn away to hide the tears in her eyes, the two nurses bowing deeply to her before they turned and left the room. Yuna had already stepped away to fetch a wheelchair which was nearly identical in appearance to one found on Earth, albeit a touch rustic. The grin she bore all the while made the girl’s heart flutter in the strangest ways imaginable.

When’s the other shoe going to drop? People aren’t this kind for no reason.

Gently propping up Sayko into position to transfer her into the wheelchair, Yuna began making chit chat.

“I ‘magine it goes without sayin’, but are yuh ready to leave and start yer life over?”

Not responding right away, grunting softly as she let Yuna move her into the wheelchair, she thought about the question earnestly. Flashes of the life she had lived prior to this rebirth arced like lightning across an ominous sky in her mind’s eye. A world that had left a continually worsening bitter taste in her mouth that never felt like home was seemingly a thing of the past, the clock having reversed maybe as much as twenty years.

“I am… but I’m scared. I don’t know the first thing about being Senna Lorenz.” She admitted, not intending for the latter half to be spoken aloud.

“I spose not, amnesia and all. But that’s okay! Know why, darlin’?”

“No…” Her golden eyes widening.

“Because regardless of who yuh were as a little girl six years ago, yer a teen now and a blank slate. Yuh aren’t set in yer ways, yuh aren’t burdened by the past. Yuh get a new life, not many folk get to experi’nce that!” She hesitated briefly, before chuckling and added, “I mean, even if yer still young enough to not have lived much of a life yet.”

“Yeah… you’re right, though. It’s a fresh start, isn’t it?”

“Course I am, all these grey hairs are a sign of my wisdom!” She fluttered her eyes and made an exaggerated cutesy pose, making Sayko giggle.

“Anyways, yer mum is prolly nearly here, I’m sure. Why don’t we get yuh out of here?”

Anxiety dripped into her veins like a leaking faucet, forcing a pained smile in response. Family was a touchy topic, having been essentially a stranger to her own in the life before. How would the woman react to her ‘daughter’ being a virtual stranger to her? It was also dawning on Sayko how much care she was going to need. Learning to walk again was the least of her worries compared, to catching up on educating herself on the ways of the world in a brand new life.

Despite that, it still somehow felt more hopeful than spending another day in that dreary office building being treated like an object by her peers and management.

As they traversed to the foyer of the sanatorium, she was surprised at the level of development their society had accomplished for what seemed to be a fantasy setting. The building was very well lit inside, fixtures on the ceiling at fixed intervals running off some unknown energy, the building itself was very clean and seemed well cared for as well. The occasional nurse or custodian seemed well groomed and in good spirits.

This doesn’t seem like a medieval setting you’d see on earth. Maybe this city or country is particularly well off?

Another nurse rushed over to push the doors open for them, letting them exit into the main waiting area. They were a set of oaken double doors ahead not unlike the ones in the ward she woke up in. Here there were a handful of people loitering about or speaking to nurses. Not unlike a regular hospital, there was a large reception desk of sorts where a couple of workers seemed to be sorting through parchment and ledgers.

This was the first room that Sayko noticed large glass windows, realizing it was still relatively early in the day due to the amount of sunlight filtering into the room. The room itself wasn’t terribly different than something you’d see on earth, albeit with a lot more wood being used rather than the plastic and metal.

As they approached the desk, someone called out, breaking away from the nurses they were speaking with.

“Senna!”

A woman that looked no older than her mid thirties started running towards the pair. She had shoulder length navy blue hair pulled up into a high ponytail and bright yellow golden eyes that shone to a nearly supernatural degree. She was somewhat slender, but her exposed muscular forearms revealed years of experience wielding swords and bows.

Beneath a white and black jacket, she wore a loose-fitting navy-blue blouse that matched her hair, with tanned leather pants and tall, functional military boots, an air of martial prowess surrounding her. The cherry on top that seemed strangely fitting for her appearance was a diagonal scar that ran down her brow, across the bridge of her nose, and ending on her cheek.

As she ran across the lobby gracefully weaving between visitors and staff, she came to a stop in front of them, immediately kneeling down to eye level with Sayko. Her eyes shone, cautiously extending a slightly shaking hand out to caress the girl’s face.

“It’s really true… you’re awake…” Her voice soft, barely a notch above a whisper.

Unable to explain why, Sayko found herself blushing, and for the first time since arriving in her new body, felt like a child in a way that matched her exterior. Unable to explain why and defying all reason, this woman felt like her mother, even though they were meeting for the very first time.

"I’m your momma, Senna,” her voice cracking, tears filling her eyes.