Four months. I had to have lost my job by now. There was no way they would have held my spot for this long. I didn’t have any sort of hospital records, no documentation, and I sure as shit hadn’t called in. I sighed heavily, wondering just how horrible my physical condition had to be. I shifted around as much as I could, feeling even more exhausted by the time I was done, but I had felt enough to know that I was nearly skin and bones. Years and years of muscle growth was now gone. The large and bulky frame I once lamented having was now gone. The strength and power I enjoyed had vanished seemingly overnight. I was merely a fraction of my former self. Silent tears poured down my face, pooling in my ears.

A few minutes later, the door opened, and Katira entered, followed by Robert and Yin, carrying a tray with a bowl of soup and some watered down tea. Katira sat down beside me in the dim light of my room, and shifted us around until she was behind me, holding me close and cradling my head and neck. She then gently put my glasses on my face, and my world snapped into focus once more. Robert sat the tray down on the floor beside the bed, and leaned in to give me a hug, which I weakly returned with just a gentle craning of my neck. He sat in a chair beside my bed, which I assumed by then to have been there the entire time. He had just sat down and picked up the bowl and spoon, when my bedroom door opened once more.

In walked Drake, trailed by eight more people, only two of which I failed to recognize. Drake hopped gingerly up onto my bed and curled up in my lap. I gently lay my hand on his side, feeling his purrbling and his warmth.

“Hey… everyone. How...so fast?” I breathed.

“Shh… Save your voice, Master. I’ll explain. Robert? If you would, please?” Katira said. Robert nodded, and began spoon-feeding me the soup. It was thin, watery, and was the most delicious thing I’d ever eaten.

While Robert fed me, Katira explained the situation. “As I know you’re aware, Your Growth began almost the moment we left our training area. You were lucky in that you were able to eat something substantial before it hit you hard. I carried you in here to your room, and when I laid down to hold you through it, you woke up. I’ve not seen someone wake up so lucidly at the beginning of their Growth before. It only lasted a few minutes, but it was enough for me. I knew you’d be okay, but this was going to be different than anything I’d seen before. How little I knew,” she sighed then, and gently squeezed me.

“Your friends all stayed here to help me. Their own Growth has been staved off by the herbs that I mentioned before. They’ll still experience it, it’s just been…held back, is the best way I can put it. They all stayed to help me take care of you. While your body has been beaten, battered and bruised, they’ve finished the repairs to your house. While I did all I could to help you, they did everything they could to support me. After three weeks, I had Oiwa take over caring for you for a day, while I went to the Guildhall,” she said, motioning over the other four. I recognized Seth, and his familiar, Byron. The other man and his tawny owl were yet unknown to me.

“Seth found me there, alone and afraid. At first, he was his usual asshat self-”

“Hey, now. That’s not-”

“-until I explained the situation. He may be rude and an ass, but he understands when the unprecedented happens. Seth?”

“Thank you, Katira.” He cleared his throat. “Stu, I want to say that I am sorry for the way I treated you those months ago. I was in the middle of an extremely intricate experiment, and having to leave it unattended for any length of time only set off my anxiety. It’s no excuse for my behavior, but it is a reason. Now-”

“How…it go? Suc…cess?” I wheezed, then coughed weakly.

He smiled and shook his head. “They all told me you were like this. Yeah. It was a success. I don’t quite understand what all happened and why, but my experiment worked. I’ll know the rest in time. Now… No more interruptions, Novice. Quiet.

“When your familiar told me what was going on, and explained the entirety of the situation to me, I knew something was happening. The Guild hasn’t had a Growth last more than three weeks for two or three millennia. Not and have the Necromancer live, anyway. Oh, they’ve lasted for months before, but every time, the Necromancer died or was basically a vegetable afterward. When she told me how strong you were, and after experiencing your bullheaded display myself first hand, I was inclined to believe you might actually survive your ordeal. Through sheer goat-like stubbornness, if nothing else. Together, she and I reported to the Guildmaster, Steven” -he indicated the as-yet-unknown man to his side- “and he bade her monitor your situation. When he found out your entire class was asking to stave off their own Growth to help Katira, he immediately agreed to shoulder that particular cost himself. It’s unheard-of, you know. For Necromancers to sacrifice to help another. We tend to be a cutthroat lot.

“Needless to say, he took a special interest in your case. So much so, that he’s been documenting your progress. On standard pen and paper, no less,” Seth said.

Steven’s voice was strong despite his apparent age. “Yes, son. This is remarkable, you know. Only two or three of our number survive a Growth lasting longer than three weeks in a millennium. Most of those are just a few hours to a day longer, and they themselves only last for maybe another week beyond that. To survive four months? Unheard-of. We will know in a few more weeks if you’ve kept your mental faculties or not. And yes, you heard correctly. After reviewing your experiment notes on your message stones and your reanimation, I have decided to grant you Novice status,” he said, and was about to open his mouth to comment further when Seth cut him off in his excitement.

“I’ve never seen such clear images before! And you’re saying it grew to two feet? That’s absurd! I want to see-”

“Seth.” The Guildmaster said sharply, and Seth shut up quickly. “He just woke up, man! Give him time. If he’s up for it in the next few weeks, we can deal with recreating his work, but you’re going to have to be patient. You know the protocol. While we may, with the consent of either the Necromancer or their familiar, view their experiment logs, we are forbidden from recreating them without the originator, as long as they are alive. Now, as I was saying, You are now a Novice. This means that as long as you don’t run afoul of our law, or reveal our existence to the world, you are free to do as you please. Mostly. There will be some things that will be required of you, once you are well, as they are of all Novices, and those duties will increase and change as you rise in the ranks.

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“In your case, a few standard message stone pairs a month is enough. Standard, mind you. None of these perfect stones that you have made. Of course, if those are the only ones you can make, you stand to make more money than you ever dreamed of,” he said, with a bright, mirthful smile.

I shook my head slowly, and coughed again. It was wet, raspy, and rather productive. Robert wordlessly held a washcloth in front of my mouth. I spat the massive gobbet of bloody mucus out, feeling it tear itself free of my lungs as he pulled the cloth away from my face. Robert’s face paled and he began to shake. I began rasping deep breaths of sweet, clean air.

“Gods,” I croaked. “That… feels so much better. I can breathe again. And speak,” I said slowly. My voice sounded nearly an octave deeper than it was before. “No. If the special stones are all I can make, I will find some other way to assist the Guild,” I said. Inclining my head to Robert, I said, “As far as I’m concerned, he can make the best message stones I can think of. He’s an artist in clay, and his essence harmonizes pretty damn well with his sculptures. Custom-shaped message stones, sir. Think of it. He’s good at it,” I said before Robert jammed the final spoonful of soup into my mouth.

“Hush, you.”

The Guildmaster laughed softly. “It seems you’ve embarrassed Initiate Grimes. And Seth and I have likely overstayed our welcome. When you are well” -Seth and the Guildmaster rose- “come see me and we will discuss all that transpired just before and during your training. Be well, son,” he said, and the quartet left my room, and likely to the Guildhall.

I looked around at my friends. The people who stayed by my side while I was down. I smiled gratefully. “Thanks, everyone. Thank you for staying by my side and helping Katira. I appreciate it, and rest assured, I will repay it however I can as soon as I can.”

“Don’t mention it, dude. We’ve all taken our turns sitting in this chair, feeding you. You’ve been more or less an infant the entire time. Mostly screaming and writhing in pain. Or at least moaning. That shit was scary as fuck to watch. And to think it’ll happen to all of us,” Robert said, suppressing a shudder.

“Robert is right, Tio. We have all helped. Hurt our hearts to watch. We know you are strong, and know you will be better soon,” Joaquin said, and I just stared at him. His English had gotten much better, and he seemed much more confident now.

“The boys are right, Senpai. We are here for our friend. Only Robert has many friends outside of us. We know you are the kind of person who would do the same for us,” Morita-san added.

“Thank you guys. I” -my jaw popped as I yawned massively- “think I need to rest, now. Tomorrow, I’ll start building my strength back, but right now, I’m exhausted. One of us will call you if anything happens,” I said and lay my head back on my familiar with a sigh.

“I wonder what my kids and ex-wives have been doing while I was out,” I mused aloud.

Katira laughed softly. “Stacy has called every week. The kids will be ecstatic to know you’re awake and well. Tonya has called or texted almost daily. She seems to truly love you, Master. I’ve not messaged either of them. Not until you’re able to really receive visitors,” she said sweetly.

I nodded. It was good to know that people still cared.

Robert gathered up the bowl and mostly full glass of tea, and made his way out the door, followed by Yin. The others gathered up the chairs and vacated my room. I heard my front door open and shut twice, and sighed once more.

“Master?”

“Mmm?”

“I’m glad you survived. I’ve been so worried about you. I don’t think you need to rush getting stronger. It’ll happen as it happens. We will make baby steps, and get you back to wherever you want to be, okay?”

“Mm-hmm…” I said, and struggled to my side. Katira gently guided me down to lay on the bed, and pulled me into her familiar, warm embrace.

I was asleep in moments.

***************

The next few days went by fairly quickly. I struggled to sit up for long spells, and when I finally could, it was only for a half hour at a time, with a couple of hours’ rest. The real goal was to get to and from the bathroom on my own. I can’t even begin to describe how embarrassing it was for me to have to have assistance in that regard.

However, after about ten weeks of hard work, I was able to get to the bathroom and take care of my business. Getting back, on the other hand, was a different story. Katira would assist me back to the bed, and I would fall asleep for an hour afterwards. I had done it, though.

Learning more about what happened during my Growth was surreal. It seemed I wasn’t simply ‘in a coma’. My mind was trapped in the sensations my body was experiencing, and as a result, I basically regressed mentally to a much earlier state of mind. Namely, that of an infant. My needs were taken care of by my familiar, and I was fed just as if I were a baby. The pain would mount, and I would scream myself hoarse and fight to claw my face off. I remember none of that. The only constant was the timeless pain. The unceasing, unrelenting pain. Like hot iron spikes being driven through my skull, and thousands of jagged crystalline shards piercing through my flesh. The constant waves of fire and ice beating upon the shore of nausea.

“You should not feel embarrassed, Master. It is a duty that I would happily perform for you for as long as I must. I have done so for many of my past Masters. Even Bethany,” Katira said softly as we sat at the table for tea, nearly four months after I awoke.

Those words triggered a memory. Katira must have noticed the faraway look on my face. “What is it? What happened, Master?”

“I’m…remembering something. Something about a nearly infinite forest, and a cabin in a meadow. I remember knocking on the door, and having a woman answer. It started with…” as I went on, continuing my recollection of my dream, Katira sat there, enthralled. When I described the woman, she gasped, and her hands shot to her mouth, tears in her eyes.

“That’s Bethany! That was her on the day she died. What did she say, Master?” she asked, her lower lip quivering as tears slowly ran down her shimmery cheeks.

I reached up and gently wiped the tears from her scaled face. “She said she misses you. That she was honored by our decision to Hallow Rose’s grave. She called me foolish for my Binding promise to you on the matter of immortality. If I fail, the Universe will see to it that I am destroyed. If I succeed, I will be hunted for all time,” I said with a shrug. Reaching out, I cupped her chin, meeting her vibrant eyes. “If I am hunted for the rest of my days just because I have the audacity to try and keep you from crying, then let them hunt me. I say that a gentle soul like yours is worth being hunted over.”

“Master. You shouldn’t say such things,” Katira said, the tears flowing freely. “I am not as gentle and kind as you think,” she said hoarsely.

I took her hand and kissed it softly. “Tell me, then.”