With his eyes closed, Ben reflected on how happy Thera had been to get the items he’d worked so hard on, and how comfortable she’d been in showing it right up until her aunt walked in. Even if it was just the night before, it was a pleasant little memory to escape to as they were shooting through the sky at unreasonably high speeds, his hands clenched tight on whatever he could hold onto as she was having the time of her life.

One day, one day I’m really going to get around to working out a safer way to handle fast travel.

It was a promise he made to himself each time they flew what was made to be a cart through the air, and it was a promise that kept ending up on the back burner in favour of other projects that needed to be done, but like so many other things, it was an idea that some of his extra minds could fiddle with in times when he didn’t have much else going on, at least until he felt their speed start to drop as Thera brought them down, landing them outside of the city to drive the rest of the way in normally before entering the gate.

“There, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Thera asked as Ben dove deeper into just how he could get out of a future with that being their best way to get around.

“I’m pretty sure in theory I can severely reduce how the enchantments on the gates work if I can use the blending method with every branch of awakened magic,” He muttered. “If I manage that I could either create a much smaller gate than a normal one to link to Stonewall or instead of using the gate network itself I could create a small two-way one between Stonewall and Anailia we could use and then just go with the regular gate network from there. That seems reasonable, right?”

“Sounds a lot less fun though,” Thera told him as she went through not the gate to the magic towers, but instead to her homeland, taking the detour in the hopes of getting Ben whatever help she could before they were going to put their lives on the line as she made her way to her family's home, getting past the guards and letting themselves in.

Her goal was her aunt Lux. if anyone was going to be able to help Ben with the issues in his brain, she was the best choice short of going to talk to Vividus, but despite all of the work there was to do for war preparations, it was Pelenia who saw then first, locking eyes and running over with her arms open.

Thera held back a sigh, knowing that her mother was going through a lot as each nation in the world worked to prepare the best they could, and she was ready to put up with her need for attention, but it wasn’t her daughter Pelenia grabbed, but Ben as Thera watched blankly from the side.

“...Mom, what the actual hell?”

“Just need to make sure our golden ticket feels appreciated,” She said, giving her daughter a wink before moving to give her a hug as well. “You wouldn’t believe the sort of political power that’s coming to the nation as a whole since we’ve been put in charge of Ben’s little discovery. What do you both say, if we hold a quick ceremony then by the time I’m ready to retire you’ll be in an excellent position to use this cute boy as a tool if you want to be elected in my place. Admittedly, some people have been vocal about you having the right to compete for the throne in any future election, but if you promise to keep your term to only a century or two I think you’ll be a shoo-in to win.”

“Ignoring the fact that I really don’t want to take over your position, me and Ben aren’t getting married so can you drop it?”

She was still keeping their relationship a secret from her parents despite the months it had been going on by now, but it still didn’t stop her mother from asking about it each time they met.

“Mmh, you’ll wear down eventually but fine. So were you here to buy more materials? Your father is out at the moment but as long as it isn’t about anything special I can have someone bring what you need.”

“We’re actually here for aunty Lux if she’s around.”

“Hmm? She should be with Seren in his room right about now I believe, why?”

“Ben’s brain is in the middle of exploding so I wanted to see if there was anything she could do.”

Her mother looked at Ben blankly when she heard that, but he just shrugged. “It sounds worse than it is. It’s not going to kill me.”

“If you say so. I have some time so you both go on ahead and I’ll have someone bring lunch up.”

“Thera, Ben, it’s so nice to see you both!” Lux spoke as soon as they walked in, carrying Seren over and giving Thera a hug.

“Aunty Lux, it’s so much nicer seeing you than mom, you know that?” She said as she hugged the great light spirit back before getting hold of Seren. “And hi Seren, you’ve gotten so big, just look at you!”

Having grown big enough to have a card made for him, they were able to confirm that his dark resistance was high enough that Thera could safely touch him so long as she had her brace, and the toddler’s small horns glowed all the brighter as he reached up to touch Thera’s face.

“Hi.”

It was a single word from the toddler, but it immediately made Thera start to gush. “Oh my gosh, you’re starting to talk too! Has he managed to learn any other words yet Lux?”

“A few, I’m told that after they get the hang of their first couple the effects of world speak really start kicking in so in another month or so I’m hoping he’ll be going on nonstop,” She said as she held out a finger for the child to grab. “So are you both going to be here for a while or is it just another quick visit?”

“Just a quick one for now, sorry,” She said. “I was hoping you’d take a look at Ben if you can, his mind tore itself apart a while ago and he’s still feeling the effects.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Lux asked, looking at Ben in confusion as he shrugged.

“Thera’s making it sound worse than it is,” He told her. “I mean, yes, my minds did tear themselves apart, and yes I’ve had a pretty constant headache for months because of it, but I’ve got it on good authority that it will get better on its own.”

“Yeah, and I just don’t want there to be any permanent damage as we wait for it to get better,” Thera shot back. “Lux, I’m sorry but can you look at this maniac's brain to see if there’s anything you can do about it?”

Even as she was being asked, Lux was already reaching out to Ben, grabbing his head at first before eventually sinking her arms into it, making a shiver go down Ben’s spine as he experienced a strange feeling he couldn’t quite put into words, a feeling of things being touched that normally never would be as Lux spoke up.

“Oh, I really don’t like whatever’s happening here. Why is your brain under so much strain? And why is it compensating by trying to create even more brain tissue?”

“Ah, it’s a bit of a funny story,” He said awkwardly as he explained the side effect of his mind skills pushing what was possibly a little too hard while his soul was busy playing catchup as it tried to compensate, with Lux looking more and more horrified as he spoke.

“Alright, I have absolutely no idea how you’ve managed to keep pushing your brain to the point that you’d get so far in three different skills, but we’re going to brush past that for a moment as we look at the problem. Thera, I take it you’ve been trying to heal him from what I’m seeing?”

“I have, he says it’s helped a bit so I figured you might be able to do a bit more.”

“Mmh, maybe I can, but honestly I’d recommend talking to Vividus, not me,” She told them. “She’ll be far more specialized in this, I’m sure she’d be able to help more than I can.”

“Rather not,” Ben told her. “After what happened last time, I think I’m happier just to wait it out.”

“...Infinite hells, what did she do?” Lux asked, having no idea how their last confrontation with Vividus turned, leaving them both to catch her up as the great light spirit started to swear. “Okay, I’m talking to Abrus and Funa about this when they’re back. You’re right, don’t see her. Gods above I wish I understood what made her like this.”

“So can you do anything aunty?” Thera asked again, willing to seek out Vividus if it really came to it but wanting an alternative.

“Just give me a moment.”

Lux seemed to concentrate as the mana in the room grew thick, prickling at Thera’s sense and Ben’s in particular as most of it was taking place in his head, with the feeling stopping after a few minutes, along with a small but noticeable improvement to his headache.

“Alright, I’ve corrected every bit of minor damage I’ve seen from the strain and have upped your brain's tissue production, so it’s going to be getting denser in there but that shouldn’t have any major impact as things stand. Otherwise, I would just say to come out here again in another month or two and I’ll check you over.”

It wasn’t the instant fix Thera had been hoping for, but Ben was in a brighter mood from the bit of relief it gave him and it left them both slightly more confident for taking on the coming trial, and with Pelenia joining them not too long after they enjoyed the company while they could before finally going through the gate to the magic towers.