She stopped and looked up at the ceiling with a groan. “I’ll do what I can to get Rose to let you through the portal next week with everyone else. You can’t get into any more fights, or rather, I should say you can’t get any more injured than you already are. Is that understood?”

He nodded, and she stomped her way to the door. “I’ll see you in class tomorrow. Zara, make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.” It was a command, not a request.

“How much did they see?” Zack asked his sister once they were alone.

“Just your chest and sides, but it was enough.”

“Yeah,” He agreed. “What do you think the odds are, Tessa, or the Nurse leak info about the scars?”

“I only spoke a few words with Tessa, so I can’t say with her. For the nurse lady, however, I’d say one-hundred percent chance that she has already told at least one other person.”

He chuckled dryly, and using the couch and her arm as support, struggled to stand. It was nearly impossible to complete the simple maneuver without his injured rib protesting.

Edith returned with her arms full of food to find him trembling in pain and his damp uniform shirt hanging from his shoulders. Zara was standing by his side, George held tightly in her arms and a worried look on her face.

“Eat first, and then I’ll help you back to your dorm.” She placed the covered bowls on the table and helped him into a chair. “Honestly, the two of you should learn to rely on people more.” She shook her head as soon as the words left her mouth. “Sorry, I know you have never had anyone in your lives that you could rely on. That has changed. There is me, and Jean,” She looked sideways at Zack. “And maybe even a certain striking red-head?”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, Edith. The only thing she has going for her at the moment is how frank she was with her intentions when she approached me over lunch.”

“What about her staying here waiting for you?” Zara asked, handing out the utensils. Even the worry she felt for her brother did little to dampen her excitement over good food.

“I… admit that does count for something.” He pushed some more food towards his sister's plate, her eyes lighting up at the sudden extra. “I just can’t say for how much at the moment.”

“She seemed nice enough,” Edith quickly joined them in eating before it was all gone. “All I will say on the matter is to be careful. The nobles all view things differently than us common folk. The best of them take a long view on life and work towards increasing their wealth and power. They help those who have helped them. The worst, take a more short-term view on things. They take constantly from everyone and eliminate anyone who gets in their way.”

“What about our work?” Zara asked as the trio walked slowly down the hall to the dorm.

“I left a message at the central admin office while I was out. It shouldn’t be a problem normally, with the headmaster and some of the others going against you. I can’t say for certain what the outcome will be.” Edith kindly explained without judgment.

***

Zack woke to find Zara curled up next to him. The stuffed form of Zelda had been placed between them to protect his injured side and stomach.

She had refused to leave his side after they got back from Edith’s the night before. It had been a few years since she had seen him so visibly injured. The sight had awakened memories better left forgotten.

Laying still on his back, he gently poked at the skin beneath the bandage wrapping his stomach. The swelling had gone down during the night, leaving only the tender, multi-colored skin behind. For the briefest of seconds, he was tempted to just stay in bed for the day, recovering. If he did that, then his chances of going through the portal with everyone else really would be gone.

It was a chance he was unwilling to give up.

Gingerly, and with careful movements, he slid from the bed and made his way into the bathroom. The tall mirror inside giving him his first unobstructed view on the state of his body. Everything had mottled together in different colors that drew the eye.

The scars on his stomach and upper thighs stood out in sharp relief in ugly, jagged red lines. The skin around them was particularly tender as he stood beneath a heated shower. The constant stream of hot water was a luxury both siblings enjoyed indulging in on a daily basis.

The heat helped soothe his aching muscles enough for him to carefully get dressed. He kissed Zara on the cheek and hurried out the door. She needed the extra sleep after staying up so late looking after him.

Zack ignored the looks he got in the cafeteria. The large bruise occupying the entire bottom of his face, and then again by his hairline, had them all gossiping. Each bite was a painful experience, blending in with the agony each movement caused his chest.

His body had grown soft and weak since they were rescued. It was no longer accustomed to the constant pain he had known for years before. Still, a single night of being forced to lie still on his back was enough to remind him of how he had coped before. From there, it was relatively easy to ignore the constant pain. The shooting pain that every breath or movement of his jaw caused was another matter. Those took concentration to ignore.

It was enough for now to keep him functioning and coherent enough for school. Or at least he hoped it was.

Quinn was waiting for him when he reached the otherwise empty classroom.

“I heard from Jean about what happened.” He reached out and tilted Zack’s head, inspecting the visible bruising. “Are you going to be okay for classes today?”

Zack kept his eyes and voice calm while giving a small shrug. “Does it matter? I still have to go to them all anyway.”

“It would certainly be better if you did,” Quinn agreed, pulling his hand. “Just do your best, and feel free to leave if it gets too distracting.”

Nodding, Zack went to his seat and stiffly sat down. He knew he wouldn’t be leaving; it wasn’t an option regardless of what the teacher had said.

Tessa never showed for the morning classes, neither did Spencer, and it passed quickly with Quinn droning on about some general knowledge of the portals. It would have been interesting if he hadn’t already known all of it beforehand.

Rose and Jean were waiting for him by the training fields before the next class. Rose sucked in her breath at the sight of his face and looked sideways at her fellow teacher. “He will still be too injured to safely go through the portal next week.” Her voice was as raspy and rough as ever.

“Regardless, he needs to go through either then, or before, if that is possible,” Jean rebutted without hesitation.

Rose looked at her with searching eyes, and then back at the injured student in front of them. Her lips moved to the side as she bit at the front portion of her cheek in thought. “Go get changed, I can’t make a decision now in any case.”

Zack struggled to put on a strong face throughout the class, taking each movement slow and as precise as he could make them. He failed to fool anyone for longer than a few minutes. The amount of sweat pouring from his training uniform gave away how hard each move was for him.

Jean pulled him to the side near the end of class. “Will going through the portal really make a difference for you? Mage classes don’t have healing abilities at the lower levels, those are restricted to the purely healer-based classes. I doubt I need to tell you how rare those are.”

Zack gratefully took the moment to relax the stressed muscles in his core. “It’s not a matter of my class.” He hesitated, not sure of how much he should reveal, before deciding it didn’t matter. This particular item would get revealed sooner or later regardless. “I have an ability from before. It showed up again when my status came back. It’s called ‘Life Burner’. It burns my life force and turns it into magic I can then use to fuel spells.”

“Okay,” She leaned back in amazement. “That ability sounds incredible, but what does it have to do with healing?”

Zack grimaced. She was right. It was an amazing ability… for any normal class. All aberration classes came with steep limitations, and his came with one that made it almost unusable if it wasn’t for that exact ability.

“The ability comes with a passive healing effect of sorts. Whenever I am on the other side of the portals, I tend to heal faster. It helps to offset the damage the ability does to my body. I know I said it burns my life force, but that isn’t quite right. It’s more like it burns a portion of my soul, or some kind of ghostly, astral version of my body every time. It affects me physically in different ways depending on how much I use the ability.”

She blinked in horrified understanding. “No wonder you can so easily work through the pain of your injuries.”

He snorted and gave her a thin smile. “The two are less related than you would think, and now you know why I want to go through as soon as possible. The sooner I go through, the sooner I will be healed.”

She looked around the training area. “We’re not done with this, but if what you said is the truth, then I may be able to get you through the portal early.”