Tessa’s consciousness slowly sunk into a sea of darkness.

Is this… what dying’s like?

She reached her hand towards the flowing surface. Her body was numb and unable to move much. The feeling of pins and needs dancing across every inch of her body as she fell ever deeper.

No! I’m not done yet!

Tessa tried to will her body into moving, but she could do nothing more than struggle. And as she did, she could feel something restraining her. It felt icy, yet thread-like. It was like she’d been caught in a net and was being dragged down.

I can’t die! I’ve worked too hard to stop now!

Giving up on moving her entire body, she put all her strength into her right arm and fought against the threads. It wasn’t easy, but she slipped it out and reached for the surface. Trying to get just a fingertip out of the darkness.

I will be a Hero!

More threads came up and bound her arm, dragging her further from the light. But then a familiar voice rang out in the abyss. Looking around, she couldn’t see anyone else around. Then she looked up and saw something descending into the depths.

It chuckled, “Ve ain’t zhrough vith ya yet…”

The threads tightened and pulled hard on Tessa’s body, nearly strangling her, as if trying to keep her away from the light. But orange wisps of light appeared in droves and set the threads ablaze bit by bit. Burning the threads away and loosening their gasp on Tessa, and she ascended from the depths.

And the moment her head touched the surface, her eyes snapped open, and she sat up in bed gasping for air. Her hand outstretched and reaching for the distant wall.

Huh?! What?! Where… Where am I now?!

Then she remembered what happened.

Right. I’m in Crimsonvale because Hei and Torgrak dragged me here. There was the cult, meeting Tolan, and fighting Korlos. What else…?

The avatar roared out again, still raging in the distance.

The giant monster!

She frantically looked about the room, about to get out of bed and run. Then she spotted Torgrak sitting by a lit fireplace, attending to his gun.

“Glad ta see yer finally avake,” he chuckled, “Nearly lost ya zhat time.”

“Wasn’t I… stabbed?”

“Aye, ya vere. But I patched ya up once Hei brought ya ta me.”

“But… wasn’t I about to die?”

Torgrak shouldered his rifle and laughed.

“Hence me sayin’ ‘nearly’. Ya ain’t in a state for more fighting, and may have some issues breathin’ for a little vhile, but zhat’s about it. Rest for now.”

Torgrak reached into his bag of endless mysteries and pulled out a small white bag. Getting up, he handed it to her. Opening it, Tesa looked inside to see a handful of small red and blue pellets.

“One of your medicines I take it?”

Torgrak laughed heartily, “Aye! Zhat zhey are! Take one vhenever you feel pain in yer chest, but only vonce per day.”

“Will I grow more animal parts?”

“No, no. Not zhis time.”

He handed her his waterskin. Putting two and two together, Tessa took one pill and downed it. Thankfully, Torgrak was telling the truth, and there weren’t any sudden animal ears or such. Though this medicine wasn’t taking immediate effect as compared to previous ones. But she had no reason to doubt him after how effective everything he’d made so far was.

“Where’s Hei?”

“Changin’ armor sets. Vhat ya saw him vearin’ vas barely more zhan cobbled togezher metal plates vith how zhrashed it vas. He’s probably doin’ his hair an’ makeup too, heh heh.”

(Changing armor sets. What you saw him wearing was barely more than cobbled together metal plates with how thrashed it was. He’s probably doing his hair and makeup too, heh heh.)

“That makes sense…”

Then Tessa paused and remembered how badly injured Hei was.

“Wait! Shouldn’t he be getting first aid right now?! I saw him embedded in a wall, he should be barely able to move!”

Torgrak laughed, “Fell for his little show, did ya? If zhat silver tongued snak ain’t da best actor in da vorld, I’ll start ridin’ bears into battle again!”

“What do you mean?”

“After everyzhin’ ya’ve seen, do ya really zhink eizher of us couldn’t take a hit?”

“I’d say you’re closer to a pair of cockroaches with how vehemently you refuse to die.”

“Not a bad comparison.”

Tessa doubted she’d get a solid answer and moved on to a different topic.

“Hei told me you two are only protecting me because it’s your job.” Her voice slowly rose, “But what kind of mentors let their apprentice nearly die on multiple occasions?! With the strength you two posses, you could’ve let me train with little to no risk and everything would’ve turned out the same!”

“Aye, ve could’ve. But if ve did, what vould ya have a ccomplished if ve protected ya da whole time?”

Tessa was confused.

“I don’t follow.”

Then Hei opened the door and entered the room, immediately noticing Tessa.

“Well, good to see you’re awake.”

But she met his smile with a glare.

“When I fought Korlos, were you pretending to be helpless? Was it all an act?”

Hei’s eyes wandered to their upper right corners.

“Partially…”

“Could you please give me a straight answer?!”

“Fine, fine. The avatar did damage me and sent me flying into that crater after defending you. Couldn’t just let my student be turned to dust, now could I?”

“And what of Korlos?! Did you intentionally let me risk my life while you sat there and watched?!”

Hei and Torgrak glanced at each other.

“Well?! Answer me! Or am I just a toy to you two?!”

Hei answered, “You are a toy to us.”

His answer only infuriated her more.

“Then why do you protect me?! Why do you teach me?! Is this whole situation just a means of tormenting me with things I don’t want to do?! If that’s the case, maybe I should’ve just let the cultists kill me!”

Hei responded, “Well…”

Tessa interrupted, “Or was this all within some scope of expectation you two had and none of the things I did mattered?!”

Hei admitted, “Yes, some things went as we expected. But you surprised us with some of your choices.”

“What about my suffering surprised you?!”

Tessa was on the verge of breaking down. She was furious with Hei and Torgrak. From her perspective, they were uncaring torturers hellbent on making her life horrible. Determined to make everything around her into a living hell that she has no choice but to walk through.

“Are you going to answer me?! Or ask me a question to dodge the whole point?!” she demanded.

Hei answered, “You surprised us with how you stopped being naïve.”

“What?! What does that even mean?!”

“You used us as a distraction and joined the Resistance’s forces. When Tolan was fighting, you jumped in to help him and defend him when he was about to be attacked. And you stood your own ground against Korlos and won. It was those actions that surprised us.”

“But I never wanted to get involved in any of those things! And you two damn well know that!”

Tears lightly fell down Tessa’s face.

“And if I’d remembered what you did to me when we first met at the cave, I’d never have become your student.”

Hei turned stern.

“You’re right. But they were necessary to crack you out of the shell you’ve been hiding in. You never would’ve done any of it on your own, which is why we forced you to make your own choices. Otherwise you never would've started walking on your own.”

Tessa was confused.

“What are you talking about?”

“Could we have let you grown in complete safety? Yes. We would’ve always been there to come to your aid at any moment and protect you.”

“So why didn’t you?!”

“Because if we did, you would’ve become dependent on us. Always waiting for us to save you when things got too difficult.”

“But I’m not strong! I don’t have power like you, Torgrak, or Tolan! And I nearly died fighting against Korlos!”

“Yes, but you won. You used what we taught you, fought, and came out the winner. We are your mentors, not your babysitters. As your student, you will learn and struggle. When you fall, we’ll pick you up and set you back on your feet. But it must be you who takes what you want. It must be you that earns your victories no matter how hard things get.”

Tessa looked at them, baffled.

What kind of insane are they?! How are they so paradoxically logical?!

She wiped her tears away and let her anger settle as her experiences started to make sense. Tessa refused to concede and say they were right, but she had fought and she had won. She felt pain and death, and what it meant to survive.

Before, she wasn’t much more than a wallflower who let chances pass her by. Always sticking to her own ways and never branching out or taking risks. Always going along with what everyone else wanted and passively accepting it. But now? For the first time, she raised her voice and said what she wanted. And while going along with things was nice, being herself was invigorating.

“So. You pushed me to do all those hard things just to have me grow as a person?”

Hei put a hand over his face.

“Yes. And it was incredibly entertaining.”

Tessa was about to punch him from the bed.

“Why you…!”

But she let it go. At least for now.