“Is he awake?”
A female voice was over me. A male voice responded.
“Is he alive?”
A third, sterner male voice spoke.
“Are either of them?”
Then the girl again.
“Wait, he’s opening his eyes!”
I opened my eyes and saw Adeline, Brent, and Jones.
“Is everyone okay?”
Brent grimaced.
“Definitely not you two.”
“Two?”
I realized… I couldn’t feel the connection.
“No.”
I sat up, grunting in pain then I saw her.
“Taury?”
She didn’t respond. A massive metal bar impaling her. Her eyes open and blank. Clawmarks stretched across her body. Rips and tears and fangmarks decorated her.
“…Where did he go?”
Brent looked at me.
“We don’t know. We heard his roar and then saw a shadow simply shoot. No one could determine the direction.”
I stretched out my hand and summoned fire.
“Are you sure you sho-“
“Shut up.”
I burnt the pole both over and under her, allowing her to be freed from it.
Then I picked her up.
“Alvane.”
“What?”
“I need to find Alvane.”
Then I bolted, rushing to find her. But… my leg snapped off then, causing me to faceplant into the rubble.
The trio rushed over and saw me.
“No… no…”
She couldn’t be… no… it’s impossible.
She can’t be…
A tear… a single tear…
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH”
I screamed in rage, sadness, and pity. I failed her.
I failed her.
I failed her.
The world shook as I roared. Then, my soul, once again, reached it’s bottom, and I passed out.
_
{Wake up.}
I opened my eyes to see Arty.
“Where am I?”
“In my realm… Taurael is here too.”
“She’s dead…”
“Not yet… she’s severely hurt, but no, she is not yet dead.”
I sat up, as before, my leg was gone, and now I noticed that one of my arms was too.
“Why couldn’t I feel her?”
“Because, just as before, you shattered your magic, and you yourself aren’t better off than she is; in fact, you’re worse off. She’ll need intense bedrest and medication… but you? Even with the Dream you’d be lucky to walk.”
“How didn’t he die?”
“… I can’t tell you that.”
Arty wet a rag and laid it on my head.
“I see…”
I had hope again.
“She’ll live?”
“Yeah, I managed to intervene in time… I broke a rule though… that will result in trouble.”
“Thank you… can you heal her?”
“Heh, you really are like him.”
“What?”
“Never worrying about yourself, you keep worrying about her. Go back to sleep.”
I smiled at her words, and my eyes, once again, shuttered closed.
_
What I heard first, was the beeping.
What I saw first, was Taury, laying on my chest, back in her mini form. I sighed, reaching out with my one charred hand, and put it over her.
“Sleep…”
She softly snored, her lungs too hurt to do the loud snore.
Then I looked around and realized that I was in a hospital room. The white walls, the IVs, and a tv on the wall.
I looked to my left and saw a pot of flowers.
There were various letters and sweets in front of them.
I reached over with my right hand and grabbed one.
It was from Grace.
“Get well soon, if you die, I kill Jones.”
The next was from Brent.
“The doctor said you can’t recover. Pull off some magic.”
Aoi’s letter was a frowny face, and it was somewhat stained by tears.
Everyone in my classes and even some teachers wrote notes. Then I found Gramps’s.
“Stop whining and get up.”
Yep, that was definitely Gramps’s.
“Your magic really is gone.”
I jolted causing me to wince, I turned and saw Morgan.
“How are you...?”
“Here? I have roots stretching throughout the city, I wanted to see if it was true.”
“Well, I’m no longer a threat. Shouldn’t you be happy?”
“I should? That wouldn’t make sense… but you are no more threat to me.”
“Yeah… I burnt him… I burnt him badly.”
“So, I heard, your flame melted a steel building. I’m sure Roman would love to teach you more fire. Speaking of, I have a note from two other councilors.”
I could immediately guess which two wrote which one.
“I hope you two recover, I was hoping to show you my realm, we could run through the forest when you recover, if you want.”
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That was Maven.
“She dies, you die.”
That was Malkek.
“He is worried for you, surprisingly.”
“I’m… touched.”
Morgan nodded.
“He has odd ways to show worry.”
“He does.”
We sat there for a moment, then she spoke again.
“I’m going to remove the collar.”
“…”
“You are no threat, and no use either.”
Then she took it and fell back into the root.
I felt a spark of magic in my blood.
“It was to hold me back…”
Then I felt my power ignite. Like a flame…
Then I heard the Dream.
What was held back by the collar…
I shone and ignited.
Fire spread across me, but not harmfully, it was mending me.
Light shone and beamed into Taury, healing the hole in her stomach.
Then I realized what control could do.
I summoned the earth to form around me. Separating carbon from the rest of the dirt, I formed vessels. Then, I reached and pulled out calcium, forming bones. I added in muscle and others.
Then I attached the leg to my body using flame. Then, with a spark of lightning, I made a working leg.
The flame mending my body cured the burnt arm, so I smiled, putting, the now healed, Taury to the side, I formed more earth, and used the last of the Dream residue to fashion myself an arm.
Then, the extra magic was gone, but I had my limbs back.
“The Dream really is powerful…”
But I still remembered Arty’s words.
“What did she mean, even with the Dream. The Dream just did it… Maybe it’s because I used my own magic in addition?”
Then I realized…
“I should learn more anatomy so I can refine these. Slowly, of course.
I sat up and cradled Taury, who was now fully healed. I stood up and my new leg shook but held.
“Yep, definitely missed a muscle or two… gonna need to refine that.”
I hobbled to the door and it opened, revealing a nurse coming in.
We blinked at each other… she looked at my arm… my leg…
“WHAT THE ****?!!”
She jumped back, dropping the syringe, I caught it with my good arm and handed it back to her.
“Sorry, got to go. I think I’m late for school.”
I rushed past her, hobbling.
I heard the nurse go on the radio.
“The patient is walking away.”
{What do you mean? The patient is missing a leg.}
“Not anymore.”
{The heck you mean, not anymore?}
“I don’t know how, but he has a new leg.”
{HOW THE HECK DOES HE HAVE A NEW LEG?!!}
“I don’t know.”
The nurse was too confused to chase me so I was able to get to the elevator easily.
I descended to floor one and hobbled out, right in front of a doctor spazzing at a radio.
“Patients don’t just grow legs.”
{Sir, he’s gone down the elevator.}
“Oh, well let me-“
He turned and saw me, with my new leg and arm, smirk and shimmy away.
“Um… I see what you mean…”
{Should we call security?}
“And do what?”
I got to the front desk and turned to the receptionist.
“Pardon me, do you know where I could find my stuff?”
She and the rest of the people were gaping at me.
“Is there something on my face?”
Then I saw the reason why. The tv had my face on it.
“The gas explosion at Milton’s science lab is tragic, but the sole survivor, William Cambell is expected to make a recovery. He did tragically lose an arm and a leg, however. Sources say that the gas explosion was caused by a worn pipe breaking, causing the explosion.”
“Oh… do you still know where my stuff is?”
“I-i-it got incinerated in the explosion.”
“Dang it, I guess I just gotta go home then. Goodness, that’s gonna be my third phone.”
I shimmied out of the hospital, finding a few markers to direct me.
I hobbled home and smiled.
“Wait… how am I gonna get in…”
Then I remembered something Grace did.
I hobbled up the stairs and summoned a rock, which I formed into a key, then I unlocked the door, and Aoi’s orange scent radiated, despite her being in college, likely crying or having a panic attack… I hope she’s okay.
I checked and realized that I could still make it if I dressed quickly and sprinted…
Or if I used earth magic to run.
I dressed in a t-shirt and jeans and put on my second pair of shoes, then I ran as fast as possible.
_
When I got to school I was a bit out of breath. No one was in the hallways, which made sense, as class was about to begin.
Then I reached the door as the bell rang.
I opened it.
“*Breathe. Breathe* Am I late?”
Everyone looked at me. They all had an immense look of confusion.
Brent looked at me like he saw a ghost. Amy was blinking around with what looked like dried tears staining her makeup.
Then Aoi…
“WILLIAM!!!”
She tackled me and began sobbing.
“You’re okay… thank goodness.”
I smiled.
“I’m fine, don’t worry.”
The teacher sighed.
“I… am not going to ask, as I doubt I’d get the answer, but… I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Thanks.”
I sighed and went to my seat, hobbling still, Aoi already sleeping in my arms.
I sat down and no one moved their eyes from me.
The teacher sighed, aware that not much would be learnt.
“All right, I’ll try to teach.”
_
“Explain…”
Taury was still asleep in my pocket and the trio was confronting me. Aoi was eating a lot, as usual.
I smiled.
“Magic.”
Grace sighed.
“Not a good enough explanation.”
“Fine, I used earth and fire magic to craft new limbs.”
They blinked. That was not what they were expecting.
Grace raised her brow.
“That… would only work for an atronach.”
“Nope, I used the earth to fashion the limb, which I will refine a bit, and I used a combination of light and fire to craft a spark that both connected it and made it work.”
Grace blinked.
“The amount of magic to fashion it alone…”
“I had a few remnants of the Sylvian Dream from when I was healed in the past, it gave me enough mana.”
“How did it stay?”
“You know that collar that Morgan had on me?”
Grace grimaced.
“Yes?”
“Well, she removed it, and it allowed me to access my magic that was blocked off, including a bit of the Dream.”
“Wow, so you were able to… just make new limbs?”
I nodded,
“And I regained enough magic for my mana reservoir to begin healing.”
Grace sighed.
“You keep doing this, one of these times, you won’t just bounce back, you know.”
“I am aware, and I plan to never do that again.”
Then Brent winced.
“And please don’t shout like you did. I’m pretty sure it caused an earthquake.”
Grace raised a brow.
“It did, I half expected an earth atronach to form. That was an insane amount of release power in a mana fury.”
I frowned.
“I thought Wings was dead… So… I just screamed.”
“Yeah, and your scream was heard across the entire town. It… sounded like a roar, the Order had to cover it a whistling wind through the trees due to the explosion.”
“Jeez, was it that loud?”
“Not only that, but its magical force caused the earthquake. It was explained as an after effect of the explosion, but the Order will definitely keep its eyes on you.”
Brent sighed.
“Actually, me and Jones agreed that the higher ups didn’t need to learn. With most of the staff getting caught in the blast, it was easy to keep quiet.”
“Wait, what?”
Brent sighed.
“Me, Jones, Adeline, and Cina barely got out of the radius before the burst, and we still were launched a few feet. I can just imagine being further in.”
“So… how many survivors were there?”
I was pale.
“Of the 257 employees, only 7 survived.”
“I killed… 250 people...”
“Yeah… not like you had much of a choice though, and I’m pretty sure you did a very big blow against the demon.”
“Not enough of one.”
“That first blast was insane, it was almost like he was angry.”
“He was, that blast would kill any normal demon. But, he seems to not be a normal demon.”
Grace looked at me.
“Where was the demon in the blast?”
I frowned.
“He was in the epicenter.”
Brent gaped.
“The epicenter?! And he survived?! I still have a burn from being outside of the blast. He was in the epicenter… That… doesn’t even make sense.”
“It doesn’t, and Arty can’t tell me why, apparently.”
“That sucks.”
Grace leaned in.
“Is Wings okay?”
I sighed.
“Yeah, I mended her wound, but currently, she’s asleep.”
“Where?”
I picked her out of my pocket and laid her on the table gently.
“See? She’s fine, just tired.”
“I’m just happy that she isn’t snoring.”
I sighed.
“I think her lungs are still a bit damaged.”
“Jeez, so, when’s she gonna wake up?”
“I don’t actually know.”
I reached over to her and let out some light, letting it seep into her. Grace gave a look of confusion,
“What are you doing?”
“I’ve been letting her draw on my mana to increase her regeneration speed.”
“That’s… impressive.”
“Thanks.”
I smiled and it drifted in more and more.
“She’s taking a whole lot more than usual.”
Then light began to fall from her.
“What?”
I frowned.
“That’s not pixie dust.”
Then Grace began shaking.
“What?”
Taury began to vibrate intensely, and the light was becoming brighter and brighter.
Then she opened her eyes, and once again, the Sylvian Dream locked eyes with me.
“William.”
“Taurael.”
“Awakened. You are free. Accept the light.”
She reached out, her hand glowing. Her eyes shining.
I reached and laid my finger in her hand, then light shone brighter and brighter, and I felt pure, raw magic launch through me, each of my veins, even the new ones, filled with mana.
Then, she fell, the glow gone, and she opened her eyes again.
“… Hey, where are we?”
“In school.”
“Dang. I awaken in hell but open my eyes to an angel.”
With the flirt out of the way, she smiled and stood.
“So, what happened to the Hunter?”
“He fled.”
“Darn.”
Grace looked at both of us with a panicked expression.
“Are we just not gonna talk about what we just witnessed?”
Taury tilted her head in confusion, so I explained.
“You became like the Dream again.”
“Oh, cool. Did anything fancy happen?”
“Well, you started emitting pure light, then you grabbed my finger and fell over.”
Taury looked embarrassed.
“I just flat out fell down?”
“Yep.”
“What happened on the magic side?”
“Well, I felt magic run through every vein in my body, so that was cool.”
She smiled.
“Cool.”
Grace sighed,
“Well, that is cool, but I think that we have a few issues if that just happens.”
Taury turned.
“Like what?”
“Well, one problem. If you do that at the wrong time… people may think you’re an anomaly.”
Taury’s eyes widened.
“Yeah, that could be a problem.”
I frowned.
“Yeah, no, it’s more that she’s attuned to the dream. Nothing about her is anomalous.”
Grace sighed.
“That’s why I said, think. I’m pretty sure it would have come up far before now, if she was one.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Well, one of the best examples of an anomaly is Mordred, and you know him.”
I sighed.
“Yeah, that makes sense.”
I sighed.
“By the way, about the explosion, did anyone outside of the facility get hurt?”
Brent sighed.
“No, actually, most debris was vaporized, really all that was left was steel, and even then, they were insanely warped.”
I sighed.
“Good, I don’t want more blood on my hands.”
Taury looked at me.
“What?”
I sighed.
“Most people didn’t escape the facility before I blasted it with that flame vortex.”
“Oh… that sucks…”
“Yeah.”
Then Aoi had a question.
“How’d you get in the apartment, you know, if you melted all metal?”
I smiled,
“Easy, I simply used earth magic to make a new key.”
Grace smiled.
“Nice.”
Then Taury noticed something.
“The collar.”
I smiled.
“Morgan has no more leverage over us.”
She smiled.
“She would not be happy to learn that.”
“She wouldn’t.”
We smiled at each other and Grace facepalmed.
“I understand the idea of not fearing your foe, but you guys take it a little far.”
“Well, why should we fear her? Wings is almost as strong as her, and I’m pretty tough.”
“Yeah, but she still has the council.”
“For now.”
Grace and Brent raised a brow, and Amy asked.
“What are you planning?”
I smiled.
“I already have the Pixie as an ally, Maven trusts me, and Roman somewhat respects me. If I can grow each councilor into an ally I can count on, then Morgan couldn’t hurt me, now could she?”
Grace considered my words.
“I suppose that makes sense.”
“Yeah, so, I already have access to the Pixie’s realm, but if I’m able to gain access to more realms, I can make friends.”
“How are you going to get access to another councilor’s realm?”
I smiled.
“Well, I was already invited to one.”