In the short time that had passed since he left, three sensors had broken under the strain of the mana in the quarantine room. However, there was a greater problem. When he entered the observation room, Rapture was already there, her hands pressed against the glass as she stared intently at something inside.

"What are you doing?" Carrion asked.

"Look," Rapture said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Carrion walked over to the glass and peered inside. To his horror, he saw that the spiraling pattern on Andromeda's skin had greatly increased in intensity, so much so that it was almost a blur. The alarms in the remaining sensors were blaring; mana levels had risen substantially while he was gone.

"Double the outtake," Carrion commanded to a nearby magister. They swiftly did as he asked, but the rate began to rise violently. The wooden chair on which Andromeda was sitting started changing underneath her; shoots of small branches shot out, and leaves began to form on them. The table in front of her did the same, and even the walls started to shift and grow. Before long, the previously clean room was now lush with various kinds of foliage. Between the situation inside and outside, things were rapidly getting out of hand. He couldn't get help from anyone on the outside without risking a potential information leak.

"She's in pain," Rapture said quietly.

Before Carrion could ask what she meant, something happened inside the room. Andromeda had still not moved, but something was happening to her appearance. The swirling colors on her had accelerated to such a point that they were entirely blurred. Unless you really focused your eyes, you would see nothing but a solid, almost silver, color about her. But not only that, there was a faint glow in her eyes. It was still bright enough to be seen from several feet away, but faint enough that you might miss it if you weren't looking for it.

"Are we in danger?" Carrion asked Rapture. His reasoning was that she seemed to have at least some kind of grasp on the situation that he lacked.

"No," she said, though she said it more sadly than before, disappointed by her own answer.

"What's happening?" he asked.

"She's hurting," Rapture said. Carrion almost rolled his eyes at the answer before he remembered who he was talking to.

"Why is she hurting?" Carrion asked.

"She doesn't know," Rapture said.

Another sensor blew inside the room. The density of the mana inside was now reaching levels only known to occur in the heart of an overcharged mana crystal. To see such levels in an entire room was several orders of magnitude more.

"We need to get to a safer location. If the containment breaks, we'll be dead within hours," Carrion said, but Rapture didn't move.

"No," she said again. Rapture shook her head and looked away from Carrion.

"Rapture, I don't know what has gotten into you since you arrived. But getting yourself killed won't help anything," Carrion said. She remained silent, and Carrion groaned loudly.

"Fine, stay here. You can carry yourself to the grave if it gets out of hand," Carrion said. He manifested four mana void orbs that floated at shoulder height. The room was instantly sapped of all ambient mana, and Carrion's ears popped from the reduction in pressure.

The room that Andromeda was contained in was usually reserved for interrogations and had three layers of security, each reinforced with wards more powerful than the last. This was done to contain the massive quantities of mana that lay inside. If it was left alone with nothing but the bare walls, then it would be very likely that a significant portion of the Aeroaen Peninsula would be bathed in this mana.

It was discovered quickly that the wards they created were being powered by the mana itself, which meant that the only ones capable of passing the thresholds now were himself with the air of his black bile, and Ferdinand with his own means.

Carrion opened the first door and produced enough bile to weaken the barrier to pass. Once inside, he felt the burning nothingness of intense mana. The mana voids worked at an incredible capacity to absorb as much as they could, but he still suffered in their lacking.

This is where Carrion found the first sensor. He repaired it quickly and noted the weak point. The crystal that was the heart of the sensor wasn't broken, but its polarity had changed. Usually, these types of crystals have a clockwise flow, but one had somehow turned around. He applied an arcanistic technique and corrected it. However, if the rest of the sensors had the same issue, it could become a problem.

Carrion hesitated as he passed through the second door. The burn of mana was insidious. It was the kind of pain that tricked you into believing you could live after it burnt you. With fire, you could see the burns on your skin, and with frostbite, you could see the tears. But mana burned you in a way you couldn't know until it was too late. It burned your soul.

So every mage took great care to avoid burning themselves. Every scar fractured their soul, and before long, a fractured soul becomes broken. The body cannot live without a soul, and the soul can't live without the body. Even if all the mana your body created was flushed and made clean, the burn remains---a vicious cycle.

Carrion reached the second threshold and repaired the sensors. The same issue was here: reversed polarity. While it wasn't impossible for this to happen, it usually happened when mana pulsed, but the sensors never indicated such. He conjured four more mana void orbs and continued to the final threshold.

He now stood just beside Andromeda. While he stood there, barely able to survive the pressure of the mana, she sat there perfectly still. He wasn't even entirely sure she was breathing until he came around and saw her while he fixed one of the sensors.

Everything about her was uncanny, not in the way that Rapture was, where she barely seemed human on a bad day. Here it was more like he was looking at something altogether more strange, alien even. A rapidly shifting humanoid person that generated enough mana to drown a city. One that never moved, never spoke, and didn't even eat.

Carrion held none of that against her. He knew as well as anyone else that Arch Mages were as strange as they were unique. Even his own induction was eventful, and he was lucky to have lived through it. But something about her seemed different. Too many different things, all happening at once. He couldn't focus on that now though; every second he spent here meant minutes of recovery outside, and that was with the help of enough mana voids to cleanse a city.

Though it was against his better judgment, he couldn't escape the fact that he was standing next to a living person. He spoke. "I'll be out of your hair in a minute. Excuse me." He said, then he felt foolish. He knew she wouldn't respond, but it-

"Mmm."

A noise he wasn't expecting came from Andromeda. Not a word, barely sound, but something. He wanted to stay and try again, but the mana was now too much for him. Another minute, and he wasn't sure he'd be able to walk the next day. As he left, he said one more thing, just in case she heard him somehow.

"You'd better wake up soon. No man should live to see two miracles die." Carrion said.

Andromeda furrowed her brow. "How?" she asked.

"We're unsure at the moment, but Argram said there is a conspiracy behind your death. According to him, if the attempt on your life fails, it could result in the death of thousands," Ferdinand said.

Andromeda's eyes widened. "Wait, hold on, what the hell? I thought this was just a me thing? How did it suddenly include others?"

"I don't know, and that's the part that bothers me. As far as I know, all you did was go to Cylas for a month or so. Even if you were causing a commotion, it shouldn't have drawn so much attention," Ferdinand said.

Andromeda shook her head. "I definitely didn't do anything but that. The most I did was have a one-sided argument with some ass named Grant. But I can't see him going out of his way that much just to make sure I die."

Ferdinand's expression turned grave. "Let's slow down. We need to talk about this. This is a dangerous situation," he said. "If you die, we risk the aforementioned situation. But there is an even worse outcome."

"I literally cannot possibly see how this could be more complicated," Andromeda said.

Ferdinand's voice was somber. "You are the Arch Mage of King's Grove, my Arch Mage. You've only been in the position for a few months, and if you died now, that would cause the country to implode. The crown would look at it like a targeted attack. I hope I don't need to remind you that the country is preparing for an invasion of Halth. In this eleventh hour, something as monumental as an Arch Mage dying could disrupt the entire project."

Andromeda's tone was incredulous. "I mean, yeah, I get that. But I can't see how it could be worse than a city's worth of people dropping." Andromeda said.

Ferdinand spoke with a sense of urgency, "An invasion has already been planned, but we don't have a reason for it. We also lack enough troops to defend ourselves against it, and if Halth invades, they'll conquer the country, resulting in the deaths of millions."

Andromeda interrupted, "But why would they kill innocent people? It's more efficient to just march through."

Ferdinand explained, "The Medean Church will do everything it can to incite the people of Halth into violence against the Magi. When the counter-attack lands, they won't show mercy to anyone, and the people won't just sit and wait to die."

"Oh god..." Andromeda said.

Ferdinand looked relieved that Andromeda seemed to grasp the seriousness of the situation. "Up until now, we thought this was just a hypothetical scenario. Now I know it's more likely than not, which leads us to the primary issue." Ferdinand said.

"What could possibly be more important than that?" Andromeda asked.

"You." Ferdinand said.

"What about me?" Andromeda said. White shook her head and glared at Ferdinand.

"You're going to suggest we leave." White said.

Andromeda's eyes widened in shock. "What?" she exclaimed.

Ferdinand took a deep breath before continuing, "Here's how I see it. If we leave you here, not only will we lose access to your unique abilities forever, but your death will trigger a chain of events leading to a counter invasion that could kill millions. On the other hand, if we leave, whatever happens locally can't be worse than the consequences of that invasion."

Andromeda's voice rose in disbelief, "So you want me to run away, leaving thousands to die?". As she spoke, the room billowed with each, matching her tone.

Ferdinand sighed, "I know it's a difficult choice, but that's what I'm suggesting."

As Ferdinand finished speaking, the entire room shook. Andromeda put her head in her hands and massaged her temples as though she had a headache.

"I'm trying not to let my emotions get the best of me," she said. "But I can't help feeling angry. This is at the top of my list of things to be furious about."

Ferdinand attempted to reassure her, "Andromeda, I understand it's-"

"No, you don't," she interrupted. "Don't pretend to understand the gravity of what you're asking me." She leaned forward and waved her hand, ending the conversation.

Andromeda let out a deep sigh before she began. "I just happened to be in a building before it exploded, an explosion that killed the king and injured many others. What did I do? I dropped like a rock had to be carried off." she said, her voice dripping with frustration. "Then, after someone threatens to punish the family that saved me, I get enlisted in your damn army, and I meet you. You did some spooky magic shit to me, and less than a month later, I was kidnapped by a psychotic teleporting creep who invaded my mind and called me her sister."

"When you came to see if I was okay, the most you could do was tell me that you had no idea how that happened or why she kidnapped me," Andromeda continued, her tone laced with anger. "Fast forward a few weeks, and I'm tricked by someone I thought I could trust to leave the only safe place I knew again and walk into a death trap. On the way, I nearly get killed three times, one of which involved me washing up on the beach, barely alive."

"Now, I'm trapped in my own mind, while somehow simultaneously hurting people and threatening the lives of thousands more. All the while, I'm dealing with the stress of having thousands of memories of me visceral killing people, WHILE ALSO BEING KILLED MYSELF" she said, stepping forward and poking Ferdinand's chest with her finger. "Do not tell me that you understand, because you don't. Literally no one on this entire planet could possibly be dealing with as much trouble as I am right now besides them" Andromeda said, pointing towards White and Whisper, "And they ARE me!" she snarled.

"One wrong move, and either I die, a city dies, or everyone dies," she said, leaning in even closer until her face was only a few inches from Ferdinand's.

"And do you know what the worst part is?" Andromeda asked.

"What?" Ferdinand said.

"Despite all of that---the attempts on my life, the kidnappings, the pain, suffering, trauma, the scars I'll carry for the rest of my life---despite all of that, I still plan on helping you people," she said before sinking back into her seat. "I've been leaning on so many people since I came here, from Argo to Alice to Gram. All of them helped me without even thinking of me returning the favor. I'd never be able to look any of them in the eye if I went along with any plan that got myself or others killed."

Ferdinand shook his head, and a look of pure shame overcame him.

"Andromeda, no, I suppose what I should say, Arch Mage White. You must understand that your life is too important." Ferdinand said. He said, the world shifted around them, and a strange feeling overcame Andromeda, White, and Whisper all at once.

They couldn't move, or breathe, they couldn't even blink.

"You are a unique being in this world. You possess magical talent that is seen once in a generation, and possess the ability to heal the flesh of the living. A second of your life is worth more than the entire lifetime of a country, let alone a city. I need you to understand this." Ferdinand said. He stood and walked over to her.

"I can respect that fire in your eye, but the only way I can be sure to save you is if we leave now. It will hurt for a long time, but one day I hope you'll understand why I did it." Ferdinand said. He looked for any waver in her look, but still she stared at him. As unchanging as her look in the real world.

"Please..." Ferdinand said.

Then he felt something, a familiar, yet unknowable feeling overwhelmed him. Andromeda struggled to move, with her head turning only slightly to the left, then the right. She blinked, and looked at him, this was followed by both White and Whisper doing the same. Each struggling in a small way to gain some control of their bodies.

In an event that both shocked him, and did not, she spoke.

"If you want to leave, and let these people die, then go ahead. But don't for a second that I will. Do you understand?" She said, each word sounding as though it were taking all her strength to push each syllable. For her to move, in this situation, when he has pressed his connection with her by calling her name... The pain...

He breathed deep, and released them slowly. Ferdinand struggled to keep his composure, as the overwhelming fear of what he was about to do made him struggle to keep it together.

"I-If you won't... then..." He said.

They each looked at him expectantly.

"Then... I will help you, as best I can." Ferdinand said.

"Mmm." Andromeda said.