September 25, 2152
Soren was sleeping calmly when a blinding light pierced the darkness, causing him to sit up suddenly and rub his eyes. As the light dimmed, a taller woman with long blue hair stood in its place and looked around the room. In an instant, Soren had stood up and completely covered his body in magik before balling up his fists.
The woman laughed, "Are you her bodyguard? You have nothing to worry about; my name is Ninian, and I'm here to help this little fire child."
"You're the other Ancient Athos talked about," Soren remarked as he unclenched his fist but didn't drop his magik, "What are you going to do? She has magik poisoning."
"I'm aware, dear boy. I mean to undo it if I can; she's more powerful than anyone I've ever done this to. Though I think with the elixir you've made and the amount of time that's passed that it's possible," Ninian smiled.
"Reverse magik poisoning? Are you serious?" Soren's mouth gaped, "How is such a thing even possible?"
Ninian chuckled, "You Elandrian think you've solved just about all the mysteries of magik, but it's incredibly difficult to solve a mystery that you are a part of, especially when you don't know it exists. Come watch, and I'll show you." With a single finger covered in magik, Ninian cut part of Emory's gown around her stomach and revealed her bare skin. Next, she grabbed her wrist with her other hand while small orbs appeared at her fingertips of her free hand. Each orb had a glyph or rune on top, and Soren recognized the markings as spell work but didn't know what they meant. Slowly, Ninian lowered the orbs and began pressing them into Emory's exposed stomach. As she did, Emory began to shake slightly on the hospital bed as Soren's magik flared once again. After a minute, Ninian removed her hand with the orbs still dangling from her fingertips, yet they had become murky and dark in color.
With a flick of her wrist, Ninian causally extended her fingers and shot the balls into the floor. Surprisingly, when they hit the ground, they splattered like balloons full of black paint. She repeated the process of making orbs, inserting them into Emory's stomach, pulling them out after a few minutes, and splattering them on the ground for half an hour. All the while, Soren stood and watched in amazement at the literal miracle happening in front of him. Each time Ninian pulled out the orbs, they got less and less cloudy; by the end, they were nearly colorless. After the last round, Ninian sighed and let go of her wrist, causing the orbs to disappear. Moments later, Emory's eyelids fluttered slightly.
Ninian grinned, "The spell was successful. I must take my leave now before she fully awakens. She should be up and moving in five to ten minutes. Tell her to speak with me once she's gotten caught up with her work here."
"Don't you want to be here when she wakes up?" Soren asked, "I'm sure she'd like to thank you in person."
"There's no need. Besides, being around her brings up old, painful memories. Just do me a favor and keep her safe," Ninian waved as she faded away into particles of light. Soren plopped back in his chair and slumped into it as his meeting with an Ancient overwhelmed his mind. Still, one thing Ninian said bothered him: what old memories could she be talking about if Emory was only eighteen. Just like Ninian had said, seven minutes passed until Emory slowly opened her eyes as Soren rushed to kneel beside her bed.
"Soren," she whispered in a raspy voice, "Could I get some water please?" He nodded and quickly handed her a glass from a nearby table. She downed the drink immediately as her eyes took in her surroundings. Emory slowly spoke, "How did I end up here? The last thing I remember is you all joining me against Selena and then she retreated back to her ship."
"Well, after you collapsed, we found you had stage four magik poisoning," Soren gently explained, "So, we brought you back here, transfused the medicine, and let you rest. Then one of your friends passed the news of your illness onto your fellow Ancient. She finished the process about ten minutes ago."
"Ninian, huh? How long was I out?" Emory questioned as her vitality had started to return, allowing her to sit up slowly.
"Today is the fifth day," Soren answered, "Can I get you anything? Food? More water? Innes and Nephenee?"
Emory smacked her cheeks a few times to wake up before replying, "What did Ninian say? I should thank her first."
"She said you could get caught up here first," Soren awkwardly stated, "But she did want to talk to you."
"What's wrong? You said that in an odd tone," Emory raised an eyebrow at him.
"She just left before you woke up, on purpose," Soren blurted out, "And she made some comment about thinking of old, painful memories when she's around you. Which doesn't make any sense unless everything you've told me about yourself is fake. I don't understand unless you just deeply remind her of someone in particular."
Emory scowled, "I am only eighteen and have only spoke to Ninian a handful of times. Let me talk to her." In an instant, Emory had conjured a massive magik hand which grabbed Soren and removed him from the room before retreating and slamming the door shut. She was insulted by the very idea that she would lie. After closing her eyes and withdrawing into her subconscious mind, she found herself on the shore of her mana pool. "Ninian!" she yelled out to the sea, "Ninian, I would like to speak with you." Moments later, Ninian appeared on the shore next to Emory.
"Emory! You're up and moving so quickly. Quite remarkable," Ninian remarked with a smile.
"Ninian, I know there's something going on," Emory stared straight at Ninian, "This is the second time you've helped me recover from a big problem. It's rare to find someone as generous as you have been."
Ninian looked confused, "As I told you before, we are the only two of our kind in the entire galaxy. Why wouldn't we help each other?"
"It's more than that. You've showed up at precisely the right time every time you show up," Emory pressed, "Do you know where I am at all times? Are you watching me? What's your end goal?"
"We fire children can locate one another with a little practice by our auras. If you'd like, I can teach you the spell to do so. Otherwise, I only came this time because your friends alerted me to your condition," Ninian explained with a hint of annoyance.
"Okay, say I believe all that. There's still one thing that doesn't add up," Emory narrowed her gaze while a storm brewed over the ocean of magik, "Why did Soren say I brought back old, painful memories by being in your presence? Who do you know that I remind you of?"
Ninian sighed and shook her head, "My twin brother. He was killed about ten years ago."
"Wait. Did you say ten years ago?" Emory stammered slightly, "Who are you, Ninian?"
"As I told you before, when a fire child creates new life, they lose their immortality. Nearly a million years ago, my mother gave birth to twins which was a rarity among our people, and she named the children Marty and Ninian. But the birth took a great toll on her body and caused her to die only twenty years later. My brother and I traveled to this galaxy and found the Elandrian just starting to build a civilization. He helped them for nearly five hundred thousand years before he started helping the creatures on a little planet you call Earth. After millennia trying to help the galaxy, he became disillusioned with the whole system until he met a girl with a fiery attitude and the hair to match. They fell in love and traveled the galaxy together before eventually settling down in the Sol System and having a beautiful little girl with my brother's curls and his wife's fiery hair. This child was already showing signs of magik potential at one year old, so they tried to hide their identity and conceal the true lineage of their darling child. Then the Apleem came and slaughtered my brother and his wife, leaving their baby girl alone in the world. All the while, I stayed away from him, his family, and the chaos he chose to invite into his life. Maybe, if I had helped him then," Ninian's eyes began welling up with tears.
However, Emory didn't hesitate and embraced Ninian firmly as the tears began to roll down both of their cheeks. No words were said, just sobbing, as Emory and Ninian leaned against each other in a tight embrace. Finally, they released each other and stared into the other's eyes.