“Ow”

  Every single pain receptor in my body seems to be in revolt right now. It is not a pleasant feeling. My entire body feels heavy, but I manage to open my eyes slowly.

  I am in a white room. Lots of tubes and such are hooked up all across my body and I am laying in some sort of medical pod. I guess that explains why everything hurts. I must be in the infirmary. I turn my head and through the glass I can see a similar pod, with a girl inside, Violet.

  Violet is very pale, it seems she has even more tubes than me running into her. I guess neither of us got out of that unscathed. Just as I am wondering what happened, a voice pops into my head.

  Maka? Maka? Are you awake? You aren’t dead? Maka?

  Hello Lemon, it would appear that I am not dead. Somehow.

  Oh. Well that is good to hear. All of the humans sounded quite concerned about you. They have been petting me a lot and giving me tons of attention.

  Well, you sound like you have been having a wonderful time. How long have I been out?

  Hmm, I think it has been around eight hours. It seems they just noticed that you are awake, someone is probably on their way.

  Really? Only eight hours for such an experience. That doesn't sound so bad.

  I will let the humans explain. They know more about this stuff. You get well soon, the others are worried about you two.

  Considering the absolute shitstorm I just experienced, eight hours doesn't seem that long of a wake-up time. Maybe I just fell asleep. However, the pain in my entire body tells otherwise.

  Gaema enters the room. “Hmm, the readings were right. Cadet Ilemon, you are one lucky son of a bitch. I mean that in a good way.” He walks over to me and checks a few readouts that are on the pod.

  With a bit of effort, I manage to force my vocal cords to work. “What the fuck happened? Is Violet okay?”

  “That is the question I was hoping you could answer, cadet. Violet’s soul energy is extremely depleted, but she should recover in about a day or so. As for what happened, as it stands, our general assumption is that Violet had a little bit of a fight with the nature of space. But somehow she did not immediately implode, and managed to wrestle with it for control. Which, if you can't tell, is absurdly absolutely absurd.” He takes a deep breath and idly taps his foot. “But what is even stranger is what you did, cadet. We have no clue how, but you managed to end their fight.” Gaema presses a few buttons on the pod and some of the pain starts to fade away. He also removes most of the tubes.

  “Before that, how badly was I hurt?”

  “You were all but dead. Your missing arm caused you to nearly bleed to death before we got to you. If we didn't have a dozen healers on standby, both of you would be dead. Though Cadet Sharpe mostly sustained soul-related injuries, your body was pretty badly beat up.”

  I sit up in the pod, letting my muscles work out some of the pain. “I think that was the ‘exchange’ part of my ability. It must've taken my arm as payment. As for the rest of my body, I think it was when I grabbed that red energy and put it back inside Violet.”

  “Ah yes, the equivalence principle, that makes sense for your arm. But what the fuck do you mean you grabbed the strange red energy and put it back in her? Did that thing screw with your brain?”

  “Well when I activated my own ability the nature of space asked if I wanted to pay the price, and I agreed. Then I went into some weird spectral plane where everything was all greyed out. Violet was also there and I just reached out and all of the energy collected in my hand. She was glowing faintly red, so I just took the energy and placed it in her, then she returned to normal. And that was about it.”

  Gaema furiously types exactly what I said into a data pad. “Hmm… very interesting. But you seriously had a conversation with the nature of space?”

  “I don't know if that was exactly a conversation, but I did talk to it. It didn't really feel real, almost like it was some weird being that isn't a part of this world.”

  “I do not even know how to begin understanding that sentence, let alone the rest of this. You are free to go, but you will be expected to write a full report with every single detail you can remember. I believe you will also be excused from your last class, but your first fissure dive will still be in two days. I believe Cadet Sharpe will wake up sometime tomorrow, depending on how fast her soul regenerates.” Gaema then walks out of the room, mumbling something along the lines of ‘bloody hell I need a raise.’

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  I get up out of the pod and walk over to see Violet. She looks rough. But her hair is still super pretty. Even in her sleep, I can see a bit of that cute scowl of hers. Gaema said she just needs time, so I won't disturb her rest. She would just tell me to fuck off anyways.

  I leave the infirmary and the same two guards are waiting to escort me out of the headquarters. Lemon is also waiting with them, and she jumps up on me like some form of dog. It's quite funny. We take the tube back to the academy and I return to my quarters.

  The moment I open the door I am almost tackled by Liv. But luckily I managed to Blink right through her tackle. Of course, then I am immediately grabbed into a hug by Moxie. My ribs scream out in pain. I just cannot win today, can I? At least I got to hold Violet’s hand.

  “Heya guys, did ya miss me?”

  “Maka! Why must you be so rude.” Liv sounds quite worried, but then immediately tries to grab me again. I manage to sidestep her. “Geez! Your supposed-to-be-dead comrade returns home and won't even let you give them a hug.”

  “I am pretty sure one of your ‘hugs’ might break my ribs again. I have been breaking them far too often enough, so I would rather not break them again. Thanks for the kind thoughts though.”

  “Welcome back, man.” Stephen says, slapping me hard on the back. “Good job at breaking reality, I am sure they can’t wait until the next time.”

  “I don't know, the scholar guy seemed pretty spooked by the whole ordeal.” I take a seat on the couch, it seems I am being held hostage for interrogation.

  Stephen takes the seat next to me, sparing me from Liv. “Well, I wouldn't be surprised. Whatever happened it started shaking the entire station. People all the way out in the fourth ring felt it. Though it was only a bit of movement, they say there was no actual damage to the station.”

  “Woah? We did that much? They had a bunch of super duper complicated inscriptions, I bet those were what prevented any actual damage. The room we were in was absolutely trashed.”

  Moxie’s eyes light up at the mention of inscriptions. Seemingly out of thin air she materializes a data pad and a pen. “Draw them.”

  I take the pad and start scribbling some of the runes out from the best of my memory. As I do it, Moxie looks at the page like it is some sort of holy relic. I hope she can make sense of some of it. Though, should I really give her access to such complicated stuff? Oh well, what could possibly go wrong?

  After about an hour of being interrogated, I am freed. I immediately head into the study and pick up a book. The Equivalence Principle by Leawo Arm. Gaema recommended I check it out.

  It is quite an interesting read. It details various accounts from different dragon guards about their experiences with bargain-based abilities. Apparently they aren't that uncommon at higher levels.

  The general principle is that of equivalence. But not simply of energy, it depends on the specific nature that you are trying to negotiate with. For instance, Vixelos, the nature of space, often demands some sort of matter in exchange. It can range from a bunch of precious metals, to a body part. There are even legends of bargains that consumed entire planets.

  The price of the bargain can vary widely. It can even vary for the same request. However it is always somewhat reasonable. They aren't going to demand your entire soul for a little bit of teleportation. However, there is only one mention of something similar to what I had.

  It is a story supposedly taken from the hero Xenphos, the wanderer of stars. He regularly stated that he was actually able to converse with the nature of space, and was even considered a champion. However no further information is given, and it seems that Xenphos never even participated in the final battle. At some point he just mysteriously disappeared. Most assume he wandered into some far corner of the universe that instantly killed him.

  It all seems very wishy-washy. Which I guess makes sense when you are speaking with the very fabric of reality itself. I am still unsure how that all actually works, but everyone just seems to accept that parts of reality are somewhat sapient. So, I guess I will just roll with it for now.

  Still, I definitely think there was something different about Lemon’s ability. It seemed that my incantation spoke more directly to Vixelos. It's like I asked for a trade. In comparison, Violet’s incantation seemed to be asking for power, without any intention to trade something in return. It is just a hunch, but I feel like the incantations can be changed, if one knows what they are doing.

  Gaema warned heavily not to misspeak them whatsoever because of catastrophic consequences. But I feel like this is an avenue worth exploring in the future.

  However, for today I finish up my studies and take a nice long bath. Lemon insists on soaking with me. She seems a bit clingy as of late. Wait, can dragons even become clingy? I should do some more research on dragons, they seem like quite complicated creatures. They seem quite fascinating. Creatures with abilities to speak to reality itself and gain its power, on top of the system. I am still unsure what the system is, and I do not think anyone really wants to ask or could even ask. It just seems to exist alongside the dragons, some sort of fundamental force.

  It does give me cool abilities and allows me to get a lot stronger. It will be essential for me to fight monsters. So I cannot really complain if it is shrouded in a bit of mystery.

  Before heading to sleep, I take a look in the mirror. It seems I am in perfect condition. Which is quite astounding, considering I was just about dead less than a day ago. The miracles of technology and magic I suppose. To bring a person from the brink of death to fully functioning is an important technique for a military to possess. After all, you can't have soldiers waste time recovering when there are monsters to slay.

  I sink into my bed, and my entire body seems to melt. It might've been straining a bit to keep myself functional. I guess I am not as fully healed as I thought.

  I let out a long sigh as Lemon claims her spot on my legs.

  Before I fall asleep, I swear I hear a voice whisper to me.

  Good work, mortal. You have made good progress in your task, continue onwards.

  Next Chapter: A Fragile Flower, With Thorns

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