Dear Diary,

You know, when I was a kid and I was sick, my mom said the days after a fever were the most dangerous. The patient always thinks they’re better and overestimates their abilities. Because of this, they tend to overdo it and end up back on bedrest, sicker than before sometimes.

I guess the same applies to energy body injuries.

With the money from Gallo, I was able to take a breather and really focus on my recovery. I can’t really invest in a lot of spell batteries, not even mob money can pay for the number of those I would need.

I will say I felt better about the money once I paid up for the next month of bills and had a fridge full of food. I did, however, check Elpel’s book on Necromantic Law. There's nothing in there that explicitly states that working with the mob is illegal…I doubt Dad would see that as a solid argument if it ever got back to him who I just did a job for. Lets just hope it was a one-off and never comes up.

I was starting to feel better but I couldn’t really be sure about my abilities until I try things out. In school we had farm animals and bodies that had been donated to science and magical arts. I doubted that the school would let me audit just to stretch much less in such short notice. Besides, I don’t really want to add to my school debt.

I went on the hunt for dead things - which is probably when I should acknowledge that I’m hardly having a normal one.

I found a dead mouse by the apartment dumpsters. It didn’t look too old or injured so I hoped it be the more horrifically painful experience for it. It didn’t work though. As soon as I started channeling energy and trying to form the link, my whole body began to ache and flickers of nerve pain ran through my limbs. I had to back down. I buried the mouse outside the window - Coral can complain to me on a day I’m not feeling like I stuck my tailbone in a light socket.

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Two days later, I saw the nearby boutique tossing out dead potted plants. I waited until the clerk was back inside before I went after them. No one warned me how much dumpster diving necromancy would entail. Then again, I bet no one at Crane had to do this nonsense. They probably had practice labs at the ready. Hell, their employees probably never had to deal with magical burn out for that matter. I shouldn’t dwell on it but it's hard not to be cranky.

The first attempt went about like the mouse, only less painful. Nevermore oversaw it all and tapped the ceramic pot of his aloe when he was getting anxious. I told him to back off unless he had some tips. That was when a niggling little feeling seemed to tug at the back of my mind. My skin felt so raw and dry and I began to think about how good it would feel to slather on some ointment.

My mind wandered to my Resurrection Poultice. I wasn’t dead or anything, obviously...but I wasn’t exactly linked up with my energy body right now. That was one of the symptoms of magical burn out - the energy body being out of sync with the physical one and therefore unable to channel magic. That's the theory anyways. Healers knew more about it but I can't exactly afford one without help from mom and dad. I really can't do that right now.

I eyed Nevermore, then went to the supplies cupboard. After about an hour of mixing, I slathered on some of the poultice - mostly my hands, feet, and chakra points. Almost immediately, I felt a lot better. I let it sit for a bit and, of course, there was a knock at the door. Because, why not?

I didn’t have much of an option. I could ignore it, I guess, but no one ever knocks on my door. I answered with muddy poultice showing on my chest, neck, forehead, and hands. I also got a few footprints across the floor.

The knock came from the landlady. She looked slightly alarmed and I tried not to imagine what I looked like. She just wanted to let me know that maintenance needed to come through and do some work on the heating and air this weekend. I told her that was fine and waved her off. I’m sure she and Coral have lots to talk about.

The second attempt wasn’t painful but also produced no results. I ran through the restoration ritual and necromantic preparations Sulak insisted we used when just starting out. Third time's a charm. The plants shook off their dead leaves and put out new leaf buds.

Thrilled, I got them some water and then crowded the bunch in the window with the aloe. Nevermore almost seemed to beam with pride as I patted his pointe ceramic hat.

Now I need to shower. Sorry for getting a lil poultice on you, diary.