“Wake up!”

*Whap*

Something soft and fuzzy bats against my cheek. However, the nightmarish dream world is hard to shake. I’m so weak. My body feels about as strong as a newborn kitten. The veiled curtain of another reality refuses to part. All I can bring back from that place is a vague sense of panic. Terrible fear, as if I’ve made a grave mistake. And above all, a terrible longing. Something important...I’ve forgotten. But why am I so scared?

“MYRR!”

*Whap*

My head rocks to the side and a bit of light pierces my night. It’s like I just got hit by a giant fuzzball. Gradually, I realize that my eyes have opened, but just barely. Dark...night time? Where am I? Oh...right, Elina was healing me. So, then I must be on her cot. But who’s hitting me? This isn’t how a Healer treats her patients...

“Why won’t you say anything?”

*WHAP*

Stars explode through my vision and my crusty eyelids finally open. For a second, I’m knocked senseless under the covers. When I come to, there’s a very anxious face pressed up against mine. Dead center, right in front of me, it’s familiar. Oh...

“Hi, Natalia.” I tell my little ‘sister’. When she sees that I’m awake, relief washes through her cute half-cat face. She’s slightly transformed, a few whiskers poking through the sides of her cheeks. “Long time no see-”

“Myrr...!” she growls. Nose still pressed up almost touching mine, Natalia bares her teeth and hisses, “Auntie Elina says that you can’t move yet! Which means that you can’t run away!”

Uhm...run away from what exactly?

This doesn’t sound good...

I thought Elina was supposed to be keeping you in the village below the Cliffs? How did you even get here...unless...oh uh...

A certain memory floats through me. Someone’s voice before I fell asleep whispering,

“Maybe I need to have someone slap some sense into you!”

Is this what she meant?

“H-Hey! You’re not still mad about having to stay in the village right? You know it was totally just for the Trials!” I try to squirm away, but Natalia has somehow managed to situate herself firmly on top of me. She has my arms pinned down to my sides under the sheets like a cat holds down its prey. When she glares at me, her little canines are longer like fangs and I feel her warm breath on my face.

*Gulp*

“I’m angry!” She declares. However, when she’s transformed it’s clearly harder for her to speak. So, it kind of sounds like she’s saying,

‘I’m angie!’

“Pfft...err w-wait don’t hit me!” I recoil, and wriggle again. No luck. Bloody hell, I’m caught. Elina...is this your revenge? “I...why are you angry, Natalia? Look, I wanted you to be able to stay up here, but there’s really not a lot of room in this hut and I mean it was dangerous....and...”

“That’s not why I’m mad!” the Demi-Cat girl howls and I grimace. Suddenly, I realize this might be worse than I thought. Natalia is very cute and all...but when we fought she was way stronger than me...if she gets mad and seriously hits me, I might actually die! Trying to find a way out, I take stock of my body. When I try to clench my toes and fingers, they barely move. It’s like my whole body is wrapped in something...bandages. I’m covered in bandages! Like a freaking mummy! ELINA, I swear to God if this is how I die-

“ELINA! GET IN HERE!” I shout. It’s my last hope. “AS YOUR INTERIM SECTHEAD I ORDER YOU TO RELEASE ME AT ONCE!”

*Tap*

“Make sure to explain yourself properly!” Elina’s face peeks in through the cracked door of the hut. A second later, she slams it shut. “You owe her, Myrr!”

Yea but like she’s going to kill me!

Damnit, I thought I was supposed to be stronger after healing. I guess she wasn’t kidding when she said I’d have to restart from the beginning. I feel like a baby.

“Sit still!” Natalia orders. Putting one fuzzy hand on my forehead, she pushes me back down into the bed as I struggle. Against her half-transformation, I’m helpless. “Auntie Elina says that if Myrr doesn’t listen, I can show him the moves she taught me!”

Wait a minute.

“W-What moves?” I nervously look side to side. However, a certain Demi-Cat girl just leans in closer, taking up my whole field of vision. “Elina didn’t teach you anything dangerous...right?”

“Myrr...why won’t you take me seriously?” She whispers sadly. Abruptly, her slitted eyes turn from angry to sad. “Do you really want to leave me behind? I’ve been training everyday, but you never came to see me. And now that I finally get to meet you, you just want me to go away!”

Ahh...this isn’t good.

“Natalia! It’s not like that at all!” I hurriedly try to wave my hands, but then I realize they’re still pinned under the sheets by my sides. So, I do my best to put a contrite and sorry look on my face. “I’ve just been so busy! You know, there’s still a lot of things I need to do as Interim Secthead. I’m sorry I haven’t had time to play lately, but really, I wanted to see you!”

“Really?” Natalia doesn’t sound convinced. I nod my head emphatically, hoping to win her over.

“Really! Look, it’s a bit rough right now, but actually, I really could use some help. You want to be my maid right? Well, I can barely move, so how about you stay with me until I recover? After all, I almost died.” I put some extra emphasis on the dying part. Her eyes look a bit watery and her expression softens. My words are getting through to her, I think. Fortunately, Natalia has always been pretty easy to deal with. This could work out actually. And to be honest...I have been neglecting her. It’s a good idea to spend as much time with her as possible before what comes next. I’ll have to be even more careful though. She won’t like it if she finds out.

“W-e-ll...if Myrr really needs me. Then I suppose I could help!” Her face widening into a smile, she finally stops squeezing my hands to my sides with her legs. And she pats my face with a paw. Wait...hold on, a paw? Smiling, Natalia giggles at my confusion, “Isn’t it cool? I learned how to control it a bit!”

“Yea!” Grinning back, I scoot back to sit up. However, to my surprise, it seems that Natalia wasn’t actually the one holding me back. Wow...I’m really weak. And these bandages are crazy tight. I can’t move. I peek at her with some embarrassment. “Um, could you...help me up?”

“Of course, Master!” Natalia swiftly climbs off of me and puts a paw behind my back. It tickles as she rubs against my bare spine. “One...two...three!” Rising makes me dizzy, and I just breathe for a few seconds. To my surprise, now that my chest is out from under the sheets, I notice that I’m covered in what looks suspiciously like orange fur.

Huh.

“Say Natalia, how long have I been out?” I ask.

“Two weeks!” She replies enthusiastically.

“I see.” Shaking my head, I startle as Natalia throws her arm around me. “Um, and when exactly did you arrive?”

“Auntie Elina came to get me right after you were healed.” Natalia tucks her head on top of my shoulder and stares up at me. Her whiskers twitch and begin to slide back into her cheeks as she thinks, “Mmm, so I’ve been here the whole time!”

“You...wouldn’t happen to have been sleeping with me...for the whole two weeks would you?” I ask her suspiciously. Natalia doesn’t look the least bit guilty as she nods.

“I protected Myrr every day! And I made sure to let Elina know when you were having bad dreams. Or crying. Or in pain...some days, I didn’t even get up except to use the bathroom-“

“Wait! Wait! Okay, that’s enough, I’ve heard enough!” Groaning, I realize that whatever cool older brother image I’ve worked hard at cultivating has been shattered. She’s seen me at my weakest. Hope she didn’t have to change my diapers or something. Wait a minute...if I’ve been out for two whole weeks then who did??!

“Seems like you two are doing well,” a voice cuts in from outside. Elina pops her head through the door. “Myrr, how are you feeling?”

“Fine. But I can barely move,” I studiously refuse to look at my Auntie in the eye. Not only am I cross with her, but the thought of her having to change my diapers is really getting to me. “Did it work? Am I really healed?”

“It should have. I got rid of all the poison I could find. But there’s no way to tell really until you’re well enough to train Qi again,” she tells me. Before I know it, Elina blurs and disappears from the doorway. She arrives in front of me with a smile at my surprise. Wow! Natalia with her head on my chest looks up for a second and then closes her eyes, seemingly at peace. After a moment, I can feel a slight vibration like a cat’s purr. I realize that Natalia is asleep. Elina puts a finger to her lips and bends down to whisper, “She’s been by your side every day for weeks. Let her rest.”

“It’s not like I’m going anywhere,” I can’t help but let a small grin touch my lips as I see Natalia’s cat ears twitching at the sound of my voice. With great effort, I manage to lift a hand. It’s covered in bandages, but the fingertips are bare. Gently, I run them over Natalia’s hair. She shivers in her sleep. Glancing up at Elina, I notice she’s not wearing her mask. “You look...good. Sorry about what I said last time. I wasn’t feeling well.”

“It’s okay,” Elina replies. Reaching over, she puts a hand over my forehead and closes her eyes, humming a chant. While checking on me, the Healer sighs, “As weird as it is to be told these things by a kid, you were right. I was hiding. Whatever else, that much was true. And even if I hate that the other Elders had to die, I can’t deny it. The Sect is feeling much better these days. I feel better. So, thank you.” She takes her hand off my forehead with an approving look. Clearly, there’s nothing amiss with my condition. “I felt so alone. Always watching out for their scheming. Trying to enact the change that Romy wanted without her authority to back my words. Now that they’re gone...and you’re leading the Sect...I almost don’t know what to do with myself.”

“Well, you’re healing me, right?” I wink at her. “Isn’t that what you want to do? Be a Healer?”

“You little!” Elina growls and playfully flicks my forehead. Reaching down, she plays with one of Natalia’s ears. “I only became a Healer to try to save some of these idiots. They never listened to me. But it seems like everyone’s just dying to run around after a few words with you. What in Yuel’s name did you promise them to get such loyalty? None of them will tell me a thing!”

“Do you really want to know?” Suddenly, the mood changes. The smile drops from my face. After a moment, Elina’s hand stops stroking the cat-ear. “I’ll tell you if you do. But I think you should think very carefully if you want to hear certain things.”

“I...” She pauses. Closes her eyes. After some time, Elina shakes her head. “No...you would have told me if you wanted me to know. And I know better than to doubt you now. Just, promise me one thing, Myrr.”

“Yea?”

“Promise me you’ll take care of yourself. I don’t care what happens to me, or even the Sect, but Romy would be devastated if something happened to you,” she tells me. Her eyes shining with tears, Elina reaches over and pokes at my chest, right below my sternum. “Janus almost had you. And don’t tell me you had it all under control, I fought you enough times to know that you were about to give up. If you hadn’t blocked it at the last second...I...I...wouldn’t have been able to save you.”

Can’t deny it.

“Yea...I was out of mana.”

“Is that all you have to say?” Elina seems like she’s looking for something from me. I’m not sure what. “Just, ‘yea, I was out of mana’?”

“You’re right,” I peer at her curiously as she turns away, hiding her face in the shadows of the hut. “What do you want me to say?”

...

A long moment passes without a reply. Elina stands, walking to her chair at the table. Her back slightly hunched, she sits down quietly. Without glancing back my way, she adds more kindling to the fire under the stove.

“You’ve changed, Myrr,” she finally answers, “The boy I knew who came here for the Trials would never have taken a risk like that. He planned everything. Knew everything. And most certainly was not willing to risk his life for the mere sake of a quicker revenge.”

“I needed to take a risk. It could have gone wrong. But it didn’t,” I sigh, still watching her closely. She refuses to meet my gaze. “Is something bothering you, Auntie?”

“You’re going to Merekeep next, right?” she replies. A topic change? Well, I’m fine with it.

“Yes,” I reply.

“Romy wouldn’t want you to go there,” Elina sighs. Sitting on the chair, she puts her head in her hands and rests atop the rickety wooden table. “But I’m not Romy. And you’ve passed the Trials so I have no right to stop you.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

“But!” She looks up at me, and I see a fondness which surpasses that of strangers. In that moment, Elina really does seem like family as she smiles, “As your Healer, I won’t let you go until I’m certain you’re in the best condition possible. So, rest up. After all...the healing returned everything to your original self. We need to retrain your body...from the beginning.”

End of Book Two