In the end, Farn woke up the next morning. Aurelie and Gallo were in the middle of breakfast (some berries dipped in a liquid that tasted like a combination of honey and maple syrup) when they heard a low groan. Putting their plates down, Aurelie and Gallo walked to where Farn was now sitting up.

“How do you feel?” Gallo asked, the concern in his voice evident. Farn didn’t reply, instead staring at his own hands as though they were alien life forms. Gallo frowned, waving his hand in front of Farn’s face. “Farn?” He asked, the concern in his voice morphing to worry. Farn still didn’t respond.

The words ‘permanent brain damage’ running through her head, Aurelie discreetly took a few steps towards her unresponsive friend, taking back active control of the small ball of Spirit Energy she had left in Farn to monitor his progress with his battle. It was in the same position she had left it.

She quickly took a look around. There wasn’t even a trace of red, the foreign power having been completely eradicated by Farn. There was also a white, shining, swirling fog of Spirit Energy forming a barrier around Farn’s brain. But that wasn’t what she’d come to see.

Looking at Farn’s brain, she quickly scanned it, looking for a chunk of brain missing, scarred tissue, tiny wounds. Even a single injured brain cell. But there was no harm done in Farn’s brain, no indication of the battle she had seen taking place the previous day. She frowned. While it was good that Farn, and his brain, were intact, she felt uneasy. If he was fine, why was he acting this way? Was he harmed in such a subtle way that she hadn’t noticed it? Aurelie immediately scanned him again, searching every nook and cranny of the organ in question. She looked for seemingly unnatural gaps in his neural networks, for cells that looked like they had moved around a bit too much.

Nothing. Physically speaking, there was nothing wrong with Farn’s brain. Aurelie withdrew her Spirit Power back into herself, pondering what could have possibly happened.

“Done with your probing?” Farn’s voice asked, and Aurelie jumped slightly, opening her eyes. She had unconsciously closed her eyes to focus better on her Spirit Power to sensing Farn’s brain, and hadn’t opened them when her focus shifted to alternative answers to the question of Farn’s behavior.

“Are you okay?” She asked, worry quickly overcoming her surprise.

Farn nodded. “I was just… slightly overwhelmed.”

Aurelie resisted the urge to tease him and say “I know I’m pretty, but you aren’t my type.”. Now really wasn’t the best time for jokes, and she was genuinely curious.

“Overwhelmed by what?” Gallo asked, taking advantage of the momentary pause in Aurelie’s response, which she had used to compose herself, to beat her to the punch.

“It’s just… I have no idea how to describe it. I can… remember. Not like I used to, but I can remember… everything. Like, before, there were a few fuzzy memories, and some things I forgot. But now, I remember everything! I even know where the sock I misplaced when I was two is!” Farn said, the excitement in his eyes and voice growing as he spoke, as though saying it out loud made the truth sink in.

Gallo looked amazed, but Aurelie froze. Wasn’t that the description of the eidetic memory she possessed? How did Farn suddenly gain it?

Unbidden, the image of a formless white Spirit Energy slowly seeping into a brain popped into her head. Her eyes flashed in understanding. It had been true that Farn’s brain had taken a much longer time in taking up his Spirit Energy. Could that be because Farn’s Spirit Energy needed to make changes to Farn’s brain, changes which she hadn’t needed because she already had them? That would definitely explain things…

“Aurelie? What’s wrong?” Gallo asked. He had just helped Farn to his feet and turned towards her, about to remark that they go back to their breakfast, when he noticed that the red haired girl was staring at the spot where Farn was sitting, deep in thought.

His voice seemed to break her concentration, though, and she looked up smiling. “Nothing at all.” She sang, then headed back to her food, sitting on a rock as though it were a custom-made chair and digging in.

Farn and Gallo glanced at each other and shrugged, both exasperatedly thinking, ‘Girls.’

~~~~~~~

It was decided that they would enter the cave the next day. The rest of that day was used to stock up on food and water, as well as cultivation and sleep. As such, when they finally entered on their third day in the clearing, the three of them were in their peak state, well rested, and cautiously confident (over confidence was fatal, as they had all learned). Aurelie still felt somewhat nervous, though, as they approached the cave.

She didn’t know why, but she felt as though there were some ancient, powerful force that was watching them, telling them that entering would be a bad idea. But the feeling was slight, and she was barely aware of it. The others didn’t notice it at all.

Despite their obliviousness, there was still a tense atmosphere as they entered the dark depths of the stone cavern…

~~~~~~~

Two hours later

The slow, quiet drip of a drop of water periodically falling and splashing onto a stone on the floor continuously disturbed the darkness and silence. It grated on Farn’s taut nerves, but he was wound up too tight, was far too aware of what the darkness held, to remark. He watched out of the narrow crack in the wall, through which he had squeezed through in order to get to this relatively safe position. Where he was now was between two rock walls, a small pocket of space in the cave. The crack was the only way out. It was also the only way in.

Next to him, a bit further in the pocket, Gallo pressed his set of spare clothes against Aurelie’s midsection. Her shirt was in shreds (though every thing that had to be covered was still covered), and there were huge, gaping wounds across her stomach which had provided a seemingly endless supply of blood. Farn had made the bleeding slow to a trickle, but it was still a very serious wound. Gallo then Aurelie’s face with a wet cloth, both cleaning the blood off of her face, where she had smashed against the cave, and hoping the dampness would rouse the youngest member of their group into consciousness.

It didn’t work, Aurelie’s face remaining a deathly pale. Farn would have wondered if she was still alive, if he couldn’t see the slight movement of her chest which indicated that she was still breathing, no matter how weak that breathing may have been. The blood on the forehead, midsection, and face gleamed in the light of the small fire Gallo had lit, the color darker than that of her hair. Farn sincerely hoped she would wake up soon.

Heaven knew he wouldn’t be able to deal with that- that thing- on his own.