Dr. Gaia’s POV

Without glow toads everything came to a stand still. Each day felt like another pointless loop of the day before. All I could do was theorize and plan, but what was the point? No one was restocking the critters and it was too much of a risk for me to get them personally.

As I sat staring at the empty tank, I couldn’t help but hear my sister’s scream. She was a mage like me, but she had only just awakened. She was barely able to conjure a barrier when she was calm, but she was helpless in the face of those mindless soldiers.

I could smell the iron stink of her blood, the sweat on his brow when he realized he’d killed an innocent child. I could taste ash in the air and feel the vibrations of distant explosions. Bestial roar’s rose all over the city as buildings toppled and rushed into the front yard.

The boy, a young man with orange eyes and green hair, dropped his book. It fell open with strange runes inscribed inside. “No…” he stumbled back a step. “Why didn’t she…they said these were—” he flinched at the sight of me.

My heart pounded and tears streamed down my cheeks as I took in the sight of her body. I knelt beside my little sister, her dark eyes void and listless. Clutched in her small hands was a charm I’d only just given her. It was a mark she would’ve worn with pride to signal that she was aware now. A frozen bolt stuck in her chest, pierced through her heart. Icy magic spread out from the bolt, freezing her little body.

I wiped my tears on my sleeve and clenched my teeth to stifle the scream I wanted to release. My whole body shook with anger and my fists curled. I looked up at him. He was terrified, trembling and sniffling as tears fell down his face.

It didn't matter why he did it. It didn’t matter who he was, or why he was here. I only needed to make him suffer.

“Gaia.”

I needed him to join my sister so that her journey back to the world heart would not be a lonely one. He would be a bit behind though, because I would show him no mercy.

“Gaia! Where are you? Gaia, it’s the boy! I need you to come now, before they kill him.”

Donovan’s voice snapped me back to reality.

I stood, asking, “Kill him? I thought he was—”

“He has M, Gaia. It manifested as the ranking battle ended. I thought it was strange how he kept healing, seemingly without using any spells, but now it makes sense. He’s like you, I think.”

“No, no he isn’t. If he has M, he’s dead anyway so why do you need me?”

Donovan’s expression twisted with unease. He chewed on his lip for a moment. Then he said, “He had a pill… Val said it came from the founder. She gave it to him and it seems to have helped, but I still don’t think he’ll pass an M screening.”

“A pill that cures M?”

He nodded. “It seems that way, but—”

“Why the hell didn’t he say something before? I could have—” My thoughts ran through so many scenarios, but none of them resulted in anything positive. This was medicine given by a founder… if they wanted M cured, it would have been. Whatever that pill was, I was fairly certain it wasn’t a cure. Still, if it eased the symptoms, even temporarily, then maybe I could use it to create a true cure.

And if Dexter had M, then maybe I could take samples of his blood and use them to find a cure.

I grabbed a needle from my desk, along with two test tubes, and a scalpel. I shoved them all in my pack then motioned for Donovan to lead me to the boy.

Donovan opened his spell tome, quickly reading from it, then a black void opened before him. We stepped inside and were pulled to the boy immediately.

We stepped out into a private box. It was set to display the scene of a bedroom, but I saw through its false reality.

Dexter lay on the floor beside Valentina, his body raging with mana. He was unconscious, sweating and shivering; classic signs of the plague.

“Gaia, there isn’t much time. Everyone saw what happened, so it won’t be long before someone arrives with the screening device.”

If I wanted to get samples from him, I’d have to make sure he passed somehow.

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I sat my bag down, closed my eyes and extended my consciousness through mana. I was careful to avoid touching Val; touching my own spell tome gave me enough of a shock, I didn’t want to find out what would happen if I touched a special tome like Valentina.

Donovan paced behind me, muttering to himself and glancing over every few moments. His constant movement was a distraction, but I forced myself to focus on Dexter.

The boy was in a strange state with mana spilling in an endless stream from his core. It mingled with his blood traveling all throughout his body and filling every organ. It was like a self healing spell, only there was too much mana, and the stream just wouldn’t stop flowing. The mana was too dense around his core for me to inspect it, but given the situation, something had to be wrong.

“Gaia, we have an entry request.” Kaylastal said with a hint of panic in his voice.

I’d have to do a full examination later, for now I needed to clear out all the mana.

As I began trying to direct the flow, I felt his mana pull against me. It was set on a course and refused to be diverted.

Frustrated, I followed the flow until I found a little blue pill. It was drawing the excess mana to itself, but it wasn’t powerful enough to purify his body or absorb all the mana.

The pill wasn’t medicine at all, but seeing how it worked gave me a simpler idea than forcing the excess mana from his body.

I found where the pill’s influence ended, then separated the flow. I couldn’t do anything about what was being drawn to the pill, but I could pull the rest of his mana back to his core and wrap it around like a blanket. That would at least keep mana out of his blood for a while and he should be able to pass a screening.

“Gaia, I can’t dela—”

“Let them in,” I said, standing. “He’ll be fine now.”

Doctor John Zaxxon appeared in the room, followed by an enforcer in a black mask.

I bit my lip, pulling as far into myself as possible and trying not to look at the man in his blue uniform.

The doctor took one look at Dexter, clicking his tongue as he said, “I really hoped it wouldn’t come to this.”

He knelt beside the boy, his lips curved sharply down, as he pulled a prepared syringe from his bag. It was filled with clear fluid, but I didn’t have to ask to know what it was.

“Stop!” Valentina demanded, grabbing the doctor's arm. “Aren’t you going to test him first?”

Dr. Zaxxon looked at Donovan, then at me, before asking, “Who the hell is she, and why is she here?”

“His girlfriend.”

“My errand girl,” Donovan said at the same time as me.

John huffed as he rolled his eyes. He shook Val off then thrust the needle towards me.

I took it. The rumors of his temper and impatience had reached even my quiet enclave, and I didn’t want to frustrate him here.

“Waste of fucking time, this is; but since you ask little miss, we will do it.” He let his bag drop from under his arm then pulled the zipper all the way open.

As the doctor dug around in the bag, Dexter’s trembling began to slow. His breathing was still fast, but I thought it was a good sign anyway. The pill and what I had done provided him relief, but I couldn’t be sure if it would be enough to pass the test. It all depended on how quickly the pill could absorb the mana I couldn’t get.

John shuffled around his bag, mumbling under his breath. “Ah, here,” he said as he pulled out the testing device.

He slid the needle into Dexter’s arm, pressed a button, then we all waited until the device beeped.

Dr. John looked down at Dexter, his expression twisted as if he were watching a hare devour a troll.

He pushed the button again. Then a third time.

His lip twitched. His nostrils flared and his brow creased. He opened his mouth then closed it.

“One more time,” the enforcer said behind him, “to be sure.”

I crossed my arms, feeling my eyes roll, but I held my tongue.

John complied, and when the test completed a fourth time he pulled the needle out, shoving it into his bag. He closed his bag and stood. Then he turned and used the control panel to leave.

The enforcer lingered. I felt his gaze tracing over me, but after John was gone, he vanished like a mirage.

Donovan released a heavy breath, saying, “Thank the gods that worked, and you, you really saved his ass there, Gaia. What exactly did you do? He looks better, almost normal even, and—you aren’t going to answer, are you?”

“Get the boy to my lab, and please tell me you got the votes. He won’t survive a week without someone noticing otherwise.”

Dexter wasn’t aware yet, not fully. But it wouldn’t be long before he started influencing mana unconsciously. I’d have to teach him control and discipline or someone would realize and he’d be executed for being a true mage.

“Well, it didn’t go as planned, but he got the necessary referrals.” Donovan rubbed his temples. “I’ll explain more at the lab, but it boils down to we’ll need to be more careful.”

I glanced at the boy feeling a rush of confusing emotions. In a lot of ways Dexter was like my sister. He was older than her, and born of my enemies, but he still represented everything my sister could have become if the war hadn’t come. He also carried a hint of what she had been.

As much as I wanted to close my heart to him, I felt sorry for the kid.

Valentina stepped between us, glaring with an intensity that jolted me from my thoughts.

“I need to know more about Solari, about me… did I do this to him?” Tears moistened her eyes and her expression softened.

I smiled sympathetically, “No, Val. You didn’t do this.”