Mistwoven Healer

I nearly startle as the voice of the tree speaks out in my mind, only nearly because I can't move my body an inch in whatever frozen time this is. Being frozen like this is an especially odd sensation: my heart doesn't beat, my lungs don't draw in air, and my eyes can't move from where I was looking up at my father. It doesn't feel painful, though, just strange. In my frozen state, I can do little but consider the tree's — no, Florina's — words.

"Do… do you think you can help me?" I ask, my mental voice wavering with weakness. Even in this frozen world, I am not healthy. My mind and soul are weary and battered, and that will show through no matter what state I'm placed in.

[Perhaps,] comes an immediate reply, although it is pensive and curious.

With my eyes frozen open, I find myself looking at the hope on my father's face. I see the bags under his eyes, the gaunt appearance of his features, and… the hope. Hope that I will be restored to him. Hope that what I said earlier will hold true and that this whole nightmare will be over. If I'm honest with myself, I hope for the same thing. I don't want to die… not truly. I want to find a way to bring Akari back. I want to be able to act… to at least try and save her. My greatest fear is being stuck as I am now until I find my way into an early grave, dying without ever getting to at least make an attempt.

[I understand,] Florina whispers in my mind, her words the whisper of leaves blown by a summer breeze. Her energy feels warm and soft as it caresses my broken body. Its light is green and vibrant, so full of life where I am so devoid of it.

Florina's presence, her power, surges around me in greater and greater waves of green light. As her power blooms, I feel it trying to enter me… to guide me into fixing something deeper than what I understand. Hesitantly, I follow her lead. And while the Stygian Mana within my body remains firmly lodged, I feel it shifting around in ways I don't quite understand. It's… being contained… in tattoos that quickly begin to form on my skin. The previous black marks there, the shattered perverse symbols the doctor was trying to force onto my body, start to change.

Under Florina's careful guidance, the dark Stygian Mana under my skin moves into the shapes of beautiful branches, leaves, and symbols that echo with one resounding command… live. Slowly, as I mentally evaluate what Florina is doing to me, I understand my previous mistake in trying to heal myself. Or at least part of it. Once I subverted control of the Stygian Mana, I failed to give it a proper purpose. Oh sure, I'm using my mental energy to keep it away from my soul gem, but it keeps creeping ever closer. Instead of doing that, though, Florina has given the mana a purpose… to keep me alive. Or, more accurately, she's guiding my own soul through the process of doing so; my title would have restricted her if she tried to do this without my consent and aid.

That single frozen moment feels like hours as Florina and I labor. More and more Stygian Mana that has been polluting my body is drawn up and is formed into those strange tattoos. Tattoos that aren't meant to control or empower me but simply to keep the Stygian Mana contained and keep me alive. It… won't work for long. Even now, I can feel the complex weave beginning to break down. However, I do feel much better as Florina finishes her work.

Tattoos depicting scenes of life and life-giving symbols now weave across nearly my entire body, from my feet to my hands and all over my chest and back. Much of the mana is woven in intricate ways that I could never replicate with my own power, and luckily, they stop at my neck instead of covering my face as well. In addition, the tattoos have now shifted in color, going from that awful, oily black color to gentle blues and greens — shades guided by both Florina's soul and my own.

"T-Thank you…" I manage to think to Florina after our work is done. If anything, my mental voice is even weaker than before, but I feel as if a burden has been lifted from my shoulders. More than that… I can feel my mana now flowing within me again. My proper mana, not this new substance now tainting me.

[I know that you are aware, but I feel as if I must warn you. This is not a permanent solution. You must return to me once every day, or you will quickly begin to deteriorate once more,] Florina says, sounding ashamed that she couldn't accomplish better. I, however, am elated.

"A small price to pay," I return, sending all of my gratitude to the great tree.

Florina matches my gratitude with a sensation of love and caring. Like how a mother might care for her child, or two close friends might care for one another. [I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, then. Before I release you, however, allow me to offer you one more piece of advice. Using your natural mana will exacerbate the breakdown of our weave. Using limited mana outside of your assault state should be fine for now. It will still accelerate the breakdown, but not beyond what can be managed if you return here daily. Shifting to your assault state and expressing your full power, however, may cause damage that we cannot repair. If you decide to express that level of power again… make sure it's a cause worth dying for.]

With that, the energy around me starts to fade. However, before this frozen moment ends, I have one last thing to ask of the tree. "M-My friend," I think, sending her a mental image of Akari's soul gem. "Can you-"

Before I can even finish the thought, I feel Florina's answer resounding through me. [I'm sorry, little one. That is beyond even my ability. If you wish, however, I will help you with your research. Perhaps with our minds together, we can find a solution. Speak with Amyia once you are ready to return to this subject. For now, though, your father desperately wishes to see his little girl again. If I may ask this of you… show him the light still within you. He needs to see it.]

"Thank you again," I think to the kind tree. "You have my eternal loyalty. If there's anything you need, just speak it."

Florina's laugh sounds like an earthquake. [My only desire is to see all those sheltering under my branches thrive. If you wish, you may help me with that, little healer. You are a daughter of life, after all — same as me. Now… go and show the world that you are not dead yet. Take care, small one.]

With that, the green light around me vanishes, and all strength leaves my body. I find myself lying on the ground before Florina's trunk, panting heavily as my father rushes over to check on me. My body still feels weak, so incredibly weak. But… I'm better than I was before going to this tree, and I feel that I will recover more as long as I keep seeing Florina. With her help, perhaps I might even be able to recover fully one day.

Almost immediately, I find myself being scooped up into my father's arms and cradled against his chest. I can feel concern and hope radiating from him in waves, and his arms are tense with fear underneath me. I know why he's concerned; unlike the others brought to Florina, I'm still unable to climb to my feet. Although… soon. I can already feel my strength returning.

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"Serena?" he asks, peering down at me with beautiful blue eyes, so full of worry. "Are… are you okay?"

I can feel the weight of meaning behind his question… the crushing despair that Florina might not have been able to help. I'm clearly still not in a good state, after all. This time, though, I do my best to do what Florina said… to show him the light still within me.

"I-I actually feel a lot better," I manage around heavy breaths. That working of willpower took a lot out of me, and I know that my healing will not be a simple thing. However, there is one important difference. I'm no longer dying… and that means there's a chance.

With difficulty, I allow a weak but earnest smile to shine through. "We… we need to confirm with Calan, but… I think the deterioration has stopped." My eyes fall, "I'm not what I was… not by any means. But… Florina thinks that as long as I visit her once a day, I'll be alright."

Dad's arms tremble with emotion under me as his face lights up with an expression of pure joy. It's like watching the sun break through an impenetrable sky of dark clouds. As he looks down upon me, all of the fear and worry that have been slowly destroying the father I love slowly slide away. At least… for a time. They'll be back, I'm certain, but for now… for now, he is happy.

With tears of joy leaking from his eyes, Dad holds me close. "If it means you're safe and healthy, I'd carry you here every hour." His wet eyes turn upward toward the massive tree stretching in an attempt to meet the skyscrapers far above us. Without another word, he simply bows his head in thanks.

As my father holds me, the exhaustion of what just happened washes over me. Changing the Stygian Mana in my body into what it is now took so much out of me, and it takes all of my tattered willpower to stay awake and aware. I find myself leaning against my father's large chest as he holds me, my eyes closing almost of their own accord.

Vaguely, I'm aware that Dad is moving me somewhere… but I'm too far gone to care.

When I wake, it feels like energy is coursing through me. More energy than I've felt since I was injured. I sit bolt upright in bed, looking around to find myself having been returned to the long-term care room that I share with Asumi — who is sitting up in her own bed looking at me curiously. The white-haired young woman is holding a small gaming console in her hands that fills the room with cheerful music, but she quickly pauses it, tossing it to the side.

Amazingly, Asumi, in only a thick, long-sleeved shirt, hops out of bed and moves over toward me. She still looks pale and maybe a bit cold, but she seems to be in a good mood.

I smile at her, delighted to see my friend doing better, even as I look down at my own tattoo-covered hands with curiosity. No tremors run through my body, and I feel… well, not good, but a lot better than before. If I had to gauge my current strength, I'd say I'm somewhere around where I was before becoming a sentinel — meaning only the strength of a small teenage girl, unenhanced by mana. However, I can feel my mana flowing from my soul gem into my body once more, slowly strengthening me.

How strange. I'm willing to bet my strength will wax and wane over the course of a day. Once the Stygian Mana's deteriorating effects start to take hold once again, I'll have to return to Florina in order to get the effects reversed. Once that's done, my mana will start to strengthen me again until the cycle starts to repeat itself. It's a shame that I likely won't get back to my previous rest state strength from before my injury, but that is a solvable problem, especially due to one further fact.

As Asumi moves over to my bed to check on me, I raise my hand, and mist begins to swirl around it, caressing my skin almost lovingly. Like a pet, happy that its master is finally home. Interestingly, threads of green have now intertwined with the blue and gold within the mist. Huh, maybe one day, my mist will have an entire rainbow of threads within it; the thought almost makes me laugh.

"Your magic is back!" Asumi cries cheerfully, leaping onto my bed and wrapping me in a tight hug. Her skin still feels cold to the touch, but not icy like it did before. Clearly, whatever Florina did for her helped at least a little.

"And you're not as cold!" I exclaim, allowing Asumi's infectious excitement to enter me, just for a moment. There will be time for more sulking later; today is a good day. Today, I can finally begin.

Asumi nods frantically, "Yep! Miss Florina basically said the same thing all the doctors do, that I'm perfectly fine. She said that I'm like her and that I just wasn't used to the power now flowing through me."

I bite my lip as I run a finger across my friend's skin. Her life force is certainly blazing brighter than before, but I still have no idea what Florina might have done. Not being a social mastermind like Baylee, I decide to just ask.

"Florina must have done something, though, right?" I ask, confused at what the tree might have done to help my friend. If she just needed to get acclimatized to her magic, what could be done to speed it up?

For a moment, Asumi's shoulders slump. "Well… at first, she said she couldn't do anything for me. But after I insisted, she told me that she could take a portion of my power into herself for a time, and that should lessen the effect. She… she couldn't take it all, and the bit she did take will have to be returned to me eventually. But she promised that this lesser amount of power will be easier for me to get used to, and once I'm ready, she will return the rest of it."

How bizarre! I'm still not entirely sure what is causing people like Asumi and Florina to appear — I've been out of the loop for a while — but I have my suspicions. What feels like ages ago, Althia told me about points of power. I always thought that they would be objects or maybe special locations. Perhaps I was partly right, but I'm increasingly certain that both Florina and Asumi are living points of power. Right now, I'm not entirely certain what that means for them. However, I'm starting to think that, as we get closer and closer to a full convergence, the impossible will start to become commonplace. I'll have to check on Celeste in our soul gem soon to see if she's making any progress on reconnecting to Althia now that our powers have been somewhat restored. Oh! And I bet I could make her a physical body again!

Before I can think on that further, though, Asumi speaks up once more. "So, what on earth is going on with these tattoos? They're beautiful, but are they what is helping you?"

I nod, "In a way. I'm not cured by any means, but Florina found a way to stop my body's degradation so long as I visit her once a day. I have limited access to my magic again and…" my eyes drift down to the now familiar weight of Akari's soul gem against my sternum. "I have a chance now."

Asumi grins and hugs me tightly. "Don't you worry! I'm certain we'll figure it out."

My eyes widen just a fraction as I return my friend's hug. "We?"

It wasn't that I expected Asumi to fully abandon me once she recovers, but… well, she has a life to get back to. I knew how this would go from my experiences with my own teammates. First, they come and stay by your side every day, then it's every other day, then once a week. I know they love me, but they are fighting a full-scale war with the Volcora right now, and they don't have time to come visit. I understand, even if it hurts. Somehow, though, I expected Asumi to be the same way. As long as fate has us together, we could be the best of friends. But… I honestly expected her to just leave me once she managed to recover. To move on with her life and forget about the dying sentinel she once knew.

"Of course," Asumi says, giving me a happy squeeze. "There's no way I'm leaving you alone! If I do, you'll just start sulking again!"

This startles a light laugh from me, "Together, then?"

"Obviously!" she exclaims, then practically bounces out of my bed to move over to her game console. "Now, come and play this with me for a bit! Doctor Hoshi said that he'll be by in an hour or so to check up on us!"

Side-by-side, Asumi and I settle in to play on her game console. She's been playing a strange card game with fighting animations and kind of complex rules. It's not my normal cup of tea as I usually prefer old platformers, but it's impossible not to enjoy myself with the other girl's sheer enthusiasm. As we play, I keep finding my eyes falling to Akari's soul gem, remembering the day we played games together and she told me her story. This time, though, it isn't pain I feel when looking at the soul gem, but hope.

Soon. I think lovingly as I look at the soul gem. There's still a lot of research left to do before I even make an attempt, and I'm certain that I'll need my full power to even try to restore Akari to what she once was. But… for me, at least, this is a cause worth dying for.