Sechen woke up long before the woman in a white suit set her down on a sterile white table, but she couldn’t breathe right. And she was freezing cold. So she didn’t move or say a thing as the woman ordered around other staff in suits, all with one of three colours of accents stitched onto their clothes. There was the same blue Wix had, though their designs were far less intricate and detailed, the pale yellow of the woman who had carried her to wherever here was, and a silver that barely sparked the idea of green when the light hit it just right. She idly thought that must be one colour for each of Runfree’s Issi types, then gasped for breath as something was shoved into her wound.

“Most people scream their lungs out when we empty blood from their lungs. I commend you for staying comparatively quiet.” The woman said, her eyes unreadable as she looked down at Sechen. “Will your Issi heal this wound, or will you need help?”

“Issi’ll do just fine.” Sechen croaked, scratching at her container and grimacing. “Nevermind; forgot that I’m completely empty.”

The woman gave a shallow nod, pressing the long, hose-like device into Sechen’s hands as she moved away. “Don’t touch any of the buttons, please, and keep an eye on the reservoir. If it fills up to the black line, tell me instantly please.”

Looking around the room, Sechen was surprised to see that it was empty save for the bed, the suited staff, and a single countertop inlaid with a sink. Where the woman helping her had pulled the device currently sucking at her chest wound was a mystery; one that was solved moments later when she blurred with pale yellow Issi and disappeared, reappearing heartbeats later with a silver tray bearing a vial of bright green spheres and a flask of dark pink liquid that didn’t so much as slosh when she ripped the stopper from its neck. The overwhelming scent of blood was mixed with a berry-like sweetness, and Sechen couldn’t help but gag at the clashing scents.

“Sorry; I couldn’t find the unscented recovery balm. I’m going to spread this on your wound, and it will take the Issi from your blood and convert it into healing Issi. It will be quite uncomfortable, and you will feel extremely dizzy from the blood loss, but be assured I will be monitoring your condition throughout.”

Uncomfortable might have been a bit of an overstatement; the balm hissed and bubbled like boiling water, taking on a much darker red as it worked, but it only felt like someone was rubbing Sechen’s chest with sand. It was more annoying than uncomfortable.

“So what’s the green stuff for?” Sechen asked, nodding over at the vial of seven green spheres.

“Sweets for afterwards.” The woman said matter-of-factly. “From my personal collection, as an apology for not intervening sooner. There was an incident in the room, as you might already be aware, and I let my surveillance lapse for the shortest moment. That is no excuse, and as such I ask for your forgiveness for my incompetence.”

The room was where Paui was talking with Runfree. That didn’t bode well. “Is Paui alright?”

“Concern for my fellow apprentice over yourself. Paui has truly found a fine friend. Unfortunately, I don’t think she’s doing fine.” The practitioner shook her head, leaning down to check the reservoir’s level. “Wix and Runfree are fighting something fierce, and Paui has found herself caught in the middle.”

“Damn.” Sechen grunted, letting her head fall to the table with a thunk. There was the blood loss the woman had warned her about. “How long will it take this stuff to work? Paui might need my help.”

“Half a day to fully heal you, six hours followed by a good night’s sleep and a day of inactivity if you wish to leave functional, and three hours if you don’t want to be at risk of death.” The woman listed off, putting a hand on Sechen’s neck to check her pulse. “In good faith, I can’t let you out of here for another three hours. I can assure you neither Wix or Runfree would let any harm come to Paui, so she will be fine until you are recovered enough to live.”

“If you say so.” Sechen said, her words becoming slower and slurred together. “Thsi is alodda bluhdloz, hhnunh?”

“Repairing a vital injury without the aid of Issi is painful and time consuming. The balm has almost reached its consumption point, so hang in there for another minute or so. It will even out from there.”

“Ohkey.” Sechen slurred, closing her eyes as the ceiling got too spinny to look at. She felt at her container, unnaturally empty from whatever she’d done to it with that leaking claw, and tried to connect to the three orbiting rings. She couldn’t muster enough Issi to make the connection, and gave up without trying too hard. “Ahr yu Paui’s mohm?”

“I am not. Paui’s mother is one of Hoalt’s few non-familial apprentices, and as such we do not see much of her around here. Her visits to my brother are few and far between, whereas his visits to her are far more common.” The woman explained. Sechen tried to make the connection as to who that made her, but her brain wasn’t at full power at the moment. The woman must have noticed, as her next words explained exactly that. “I am Wix’s sister, and as he was Runfree’s first fluidity apprentice, I am Runfree’s first speed practitioner.”

“Nayem?” Sechen asked.

The woman paused for a moment for some reason. “My name is Thana.”

“Thangs, Thanana.” Sechen tried to smile, then passed out.

Sechen woke to the sound of scraping and the sight of a ceiling that was too far away. The sterile white material had been stained with old blood, cracks in the ash grey stone crumbling as if they were centuries old. Sechen raised an arm to rub her eyes, her hand cold and numb as it rubbed limply along her face. She growled deep in her throat, enraged at the slight inconvenience, and pushed what little Issi had managed to gather in her container towards the halos that orbited it. Warmth ran along her arm, and she clenched and unclenched her fingers until all feeling had returned to them. She smiled a smile full of teeth, rubbing away at her eyes as the incessant chattering tried fruitlessly to dig into her addled mind.

“That is interesting. I could barely detect any Issi in you, and yet you can produce something like this. Fascinating.” Thana said as Sechen rubbed her eyes, blinking away the dream she barely remembered. “It’s been an hour and fifteen minutes, and yet your Issi seems to be accelerating the balm’s effects, not fighting with it. Another ten minutes and you’ll be well enough to stand on your own.”

“Don’t need ten minutes.” Sechen coughed, turning to the side and spitting a wad of blood onto the floor. “Whoops. I’ll clean that up.”

“No need; this room sterilizes itself when nobody is inside of it. Though if you have to do that again, I’d ask that you use a cup.” Thana handed Sechen a small porcelain teacup that still smelled of citrus. “I’ll direct you to Paui once you can stand and walk on your own, whether that be in ten minutes or thirty seconds.”

It took Sechen one second to sit up, two minutes to deal with the sudden headrush that came with it, and another eight minutes before she was walking comfortably around the sterile room. Thana had been exactly right. Annoyingly right. So annoyingly right that Sechen spent another minute and a half walking around pretending that she was still having trouble.

“I think I’m good now.” Sechen said with a false uncertainty in her voice. “How do we get to Paui?”

“Simple.” Thana turned and reached towards the room’s only door. “I open this door.”

Thana made a grand gesture of opening the door, flourishing it with a bow and a quick step to the side to reveal… nothing.

Sechen pointed at the empty space with a confused smile. “Was Paui supposed to be there?”

“Excuse me?” Thana raised an eyebrow, swiveling to stick her head out into the hallway. “Yes, she was. Where could she have gotten off to? Just a moment, please.”

Pressing a hand to the doorframe, Sechen followed Thana into a wooden hallway. The woman was nowhere to be found among the exactly zero decorations, three other doors that looked to be exactly the same as the one she’d just come out of the only irregularities among the long planks of deep brown timber.

“My apologies, miss Revelation.” Thana bowed as she blurred into view. “Runfree began the trial sooner than I had expected.”

“Please just call me Sechen. And what’s the… oh, no. Is she retaking Runfree’s bonding trial?”

Thana raised both eyebrows in what must have been an expression of extreme surprise. “You were aware of Paui’s situation, miss Sechen? I was not previously made aware myself, so this is quite surprising.”

“Yeah… it’s kinda my fault she’s here doing that in the first place.” Sechen rubbed the back of her head while looking away awkwardly. “To make a long story super short, we’re trying to climb the pillar and Paui’s too weak for us to do it on our own. So she’s here to try and work it out with Runfree.”

“I don’t quite understand, but she has asked for you to watch over her.” Thana offered Sechen a hand, dull yellow Issi lines spinning fractals on her palm. “Would you prefer to be carried, or for me to lead you there?”

Sechen stared down at the offered hand, then back up at Thana. “How long will it take to get there?”

“Five minutes at most, or ten seconds if I carry you. And if I may, Paui seemed quite distressed on her own. She would appreciate your swift arrival more than anything.”

“Hey, you already carried me here before.” Sechen stepped forward and took Thana’s hand. “Do what you gotta do.”

Thana scooped Sechen up into her arms, and everything blurred as lines of dull yellow Issi snaked across Thana’s body. Sechen couldn’t make out much of anything in the handful of seconds she was under the effect of Thana’s Issi, and suddenly she was in a large clearing. Thana bent over to place her feet on the ground, and Sechen stumbled forward for a split second before she realized she wasn’t moving any more. A look around found the back of the cabin, a green field with a carved border of white stone and Issi markings galore that as of now were all glowing a light electric blue. And inside of that field was Paui.