The mana crystal in his hand was dark and lifeless when Zack finally stirred with a groan. Everything ached and felt tender. His head, however, felt much better with the fog and pressure from before gone.

Zara was sitting on the bed watching him, Zelda grasped tightly to her chest with George draped across her legs. The swelling around her nose had gone down some, and the skin was beginning to change colors.

“How long have you been awake?” He smacked his lips together, feeling them crack in protest. His mouth was as dry as a desert. “Is there any water in here?”

She climbed off the bed and scurried over to the desk. “Just a little while, I was watching the crystal in your hand change colors as it drained.”

Mana crystals possessed a sort of vibrancy to them. It wasn’t a glow, there was no source of inner light. What they did have was a milky white coloring that would turn dark when it was drained.

She returned a moment later with a glass of water in hand. “How are you feeling?” She touched the area around his eye as he drank the glass down. The severe swelling that had been there previously was almost completely gone. The skin had progressed to a deep, purple-colored bruising, but he could see through that eye again.

“Better, not perfect, but better.” He sat up and placed the empty glass on a nearby nightstand. “The fog in my mind is gone at least.” He swallowed and stared at her. “It’s a good thing I can heal like this, otherwise the repeated concussions could have made that thought slowing fog permanent.”

“I would have taken care of you.” She hugged Zelda tighter. “I’m glad that you are alright though. We need to get our hands on some more crystals.”

“Not from here,” He was quick to say, guessing where her thoughts were going. “I don’t want to steal more from Tessa’s family than we already have with this one.” He flicked the dead crystal into the air and caught it. “They may not have been upfront with their intentions, but to this point, they haven’t hurt us.”

“Fine. How are we going to get them then? We can afford to buy them?”

“We’ll just have to retrieve them ourselves. As soon as possible, I’ll sneak you into the school portal. While we are inside, we’ll grab as many as we can from either mining or the monsters.” Zack slid to the edge of the bed and stood. He needed a moment to steady himself as the room appeared to tilt.

“Come on, let’s go find Tessa.” He said after everything stopped spinning.

Zara handed him George and placed Aisha in the middle of the bed. Zelda was kept in her arms, a place he doubted the bear had left since they returned hours earlier. It just made him want to get her through the portal as soon as possible.

Tucking the bear under his arm, he unlocked the door and stopped, resting his head against the wood. “Do you want to talk about what happened now or later, when we are back at the dorm?”

“I,” She came up behind him and grabbed his shirt. “I can’t right now, it’s all I can do to just ignore it all.” Her soft voice wavered and quaked with every word she uttered. “It brought back so many memories, and then you were gone, and Zelda and George weren’t there to protect me.” She shivered and shook her head. “I can’t, just, please, not right now.”

“That’s fine.” He reached back and smoothed her hair comfortingly. “I get it, you know I do. I just wanted to check. We talked last night about getting therapy, to help us deal with everything. It doesn’t matter if the person you talk to is me or someone else. I just want you to be ready whenever the time for that comes.”

“It will depend on Edith, as long as we aren’t wrong about her, and she is willing to listen to everything that happened.” Zara glanced up at her brother with sad eyes. “It isn’t a fun tale for us to relive. I can only imagine it wouldn’t be pleasant for the listener either.”

“No, you’re probably right.” He held her close, taking a moment to comfort them both before unlocking and opening the bedroom door.

Jean was waiting in the foyer area when they walked down the stairs. She was slowly tapping a foot and looking at a painting on the wall. “I must admit, she comes from a line of good-looking people.” She said in a way of greeting.

The siblings took in the painting and frowned. “How can you tell? I wouldn’t even know that was supposed to be a person if you hadn’t said anything.”

Jean laughed and rolled her eyes. “I’m not talking about the painting; I have no idea what this is supposed to be. I just came from a meeting with Anna, the girl’s mother. She is impressive, to say the least.”

“What’s the plan?” Zara asked, gathering up her courage. “Are you taking us to the institute now?”

“No, that was put on hold after they were informed of how severe Zack’s injuries were, among other factors.” She studied him with a raised brow. “I was honestly expecting you to be in worse condition with how they were describing you.” She shrugged and moved on. “Instead, I’ve been assigned with bringing you both back to the dorm and then with taking Zack into the school portal for a quick round of healing. The Major is even dispatching a healer to meet us there, so it will actually just be a quick visit this time.”

The sudden angry sound of Tessa shouting distracted them from saying any more. The three shared a quick glance and crept quietly past the staircase to a room near the back of the house. It was an area none of them had been in before, but the raised voices kept them from getting lost.

Peeking through the open door, they witnessed Tessa confronting her father. He was sitting next to a window with a book in one hand and a cup of steaming tea in the other.

“Have you been doing experiments with awakening a traveler’s potential in people early or not?” She sucked in a deep breath. “And more than anything else, I want to know why that idiot Dorn knows more about your work than I do?!”

Zara grabbed Zack’s arm; her eyes hard and shaking with a mix of fear and anger.

“I don’t know why the Albright’s have access to my work, but it would certainly explain their sudden interest in us.” Mathew set the book and cup of tea to the side and stood. “Fortunately… or unfortunately depending on how you look at it I suppose, they don’t know as much as they think they do.”

Tessa stepped back, maintaining a cautious distance from her father.

The man winced at her action. “I’m guessing this has something to do with that boy and his sister upstairs? I spoke with your mother in length after seeing how he reacted to me, and I think I know why you are acting this way. I can’t deny that those researcher’s methods were effective. I mean, they got the boy through the portal after all.” He coughed and reached for the tea. “But my research and methods are nothing like theirs.”

“What they did to them is terrible! Have you seen his scars?” Tessa shook her head and took another step back. “No, of course you haven’t.”

“I said their methods were effective, not that I condoned them. Given the opportunity, I would not refuse to use the knowledge they gleamed just because of that. It would make everything those kids went through pointless if we ignored the information. I repeat, however, that the research my team is doing, and our methods have little in common with what that place did.”

Tessa played with a woven strand of her hair, taking a hesitant step forward. “Fine, tell me what you are doing and why the Albright’s thought your methods were so terrible.”

“I can’t say as to why they would ever think our methods were unsavory or cruel in nature. If I had to make a guess, then I would say it has more to do with them and things they have done in the past or are still doing.” The last few wisps of steam from his cup drifted away as the tea finally cooled. “Before you began yelling, you mentioned my research into increasing someone’s compatibility rating. That is true and has proven somewhat effective. It might even be worth it for you to undergo the process before you go through the portal.”

Tessa winced and took several steps back.

“Okay, that was too far, I understand. Sorry, it was just a suggestion.” Matt sighed, realizing his own blunder.