The three slipped through the portal while Zara stayed back. The scene that greeted them was the same as before, with the only difference being that it was now lit by an unseen sun.

The healer reached out and grabbed Zack. Her hands glowed with an inner light that highlighted the veins beneath the skin as a muttered spell fell from her pale lips.

She frowned and shook her head. “It looks like some of the damage, especially around the inside of your head, has already been healed by something or someone. The swelling inside your brain is almost completely gone, everything else though…” She cast a second spell, the glow extending up her arms till it stretched past her elbows. The light seeping through the loose sleeves of her blouse.

Her eyes flicked towards Jean, a hint of pity flashing through them. “There are a lot of micro-fractures in your ribs, legs, and arms. There are also signs of previously healed damage to your spine, neck, and skull. It looks as though some of the healing was interrupted and then started again at a later time, creating differences in the strength of the healed areas.”

She bit her lips and cast a third spell. This time, the glow went all the way up to her shoulders.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Jean told the woman as the glow faded. “The Major will need to talk to you after this now.”

The healer nodded mutely with a horrified expression. “What happened to you? Who did all this? It’s as though you were dissected, piece by piece, and then put back together again. There is scar tissue inside your body from the remains of improper healing spells. You were literally cut into pieces and then put back together again countless times.”

It was the extreme abuse that had resulted in him having the ‘Life Burner’ ability and the healing effect that came with it. The constant experiments they put him through inside the portal, where they could heal him. The pain they caused, the damage, and the experiences, it all came together to form an ability. One, they then used to their advantage by making the experiments even more extreme.

“Thanks for reminding me,” Zack muttered in a hoarse voice at the sudden surge of memories. There were parts of that time that he didn’t talk about with anyone, even Zara. This healer was treading directly into one of those.

“Just heal him already!” Jean snapped at the woman. “As for you,” She glared at Zack. “I think the Major is going to have some questions when he hears about this.”

He shrugged. “Fine, he knows where to find me, but that doesn’t mean I’ll answer his questions.” Zack flinched as the healer dug her fingers into his flesh, the torn remains of his shirt offering no resistance. “Some things should remain private.”

“Sorry,” The woman muttered, her fingers digging in until her nails drew blood. “If I’m going to fix some of this older, scarred inner tissue, I’ll need a better connection to your body. How have you been living with all of this? Just walking around or moving your arms must be excruciating.”

“Not that I’ve noticed,” Zack denied her claim.

“Then that is even worse!” She retorted, her former annoyance fading away as she began to work on someone who truly needed her help.

He looked away from them and began studying the horizon and the forest in the distance. The mana crystals inside this portal were his best chance of getting any without drawing extra attention. It wasn’t a perfect plan, but it was what they had to work with.

It also gave him something to concentrate on besides what was happening to his body. The injuries to his head were healed first. Removing the last traces of concussion and damage before she moved on to the next item that had caught her attention. The headaches and other pains he had stopped registering years ago flared anew and then vanished as she worked to fix the residual damage.

Sweat quickly formed on her brow as she pushed her healing spells and control to their limits. It was simple for her to fix what Dorn had broken hours before. Just healing those weren’t enough for her. The desire to fix everything she could pervaded her every thought.

It was a herculean task that would have broken any other healer. As it was, in that single session, it was all she could do to fix the tears and excess scar tissue in the cartilage and ligaments around his joints. There was enough existing damage even after she exhausted all her mana, that several more sessions at a minimum would be required.

“That’s as much as I can do for now.” Her blouse had rings of sweat around her neck and armpits as she sagged tiredly.

Jean helped to support the healer, while Zack moved his arms and legs in concerned surprise. Each movement felt strange, foreign, as though the appendages no longer belonged to him. There was something missing, and the sudden lack of whatever it was worried him.

“It’s alright, you already did far more than I was expecting.” Jean was comforting the woman while they walked slowly towards the nearby portal. They had already been inside the portal for far longer than she had originally planned. “Come on Zack, Zara is waiting.”

He nodded dumbly and followed them on shaky legs. It wasn’t difficult for him to understand what was different. It was the size of the change that startled him and kept his limbs from feeling like they belonged. Pain that he had long since stopped mentally registering was missing, and it left each movement feeling easier and freer.

Zara was sitting with her legs swinging against the side of the vehicle with the door open when they returned. Her favorite bear, Zelda, was sitting facing her, while George was squished into the space between her hip and the front seat. She was talking quietly to the bears.

“Anything happen here?” Jean asked her, helping the healer to her own vehicle. “Sorry, it took us longer than expected.”

“No, it was quiet. A couple of people peeked their heads through the entryway a few minutes ago, but that was all.” Zara made no mention of where she had been at the time. “What took so long? Were his injuries that severe?”

Zack shook his head, despite understanding that it wasn’t a serious question. Zara knew about his healing ability and had seen its effects firsthand earlier.

“I was,” The healer cut off when Zack looked at her sharply. “Taking in the view.” She finished in a lame, poor attempt to hide that she had been about to say something else.

“Hmm,” She looked at the woman suspiciously. Her view was cut off suddenly as Jean shoved the healer into her vehicle.

Zack was trailing behind them on shaky, halting legs that he had to keep looking down at. The feeling that they didn’t belong to him was slowly fading with each step. It was a process that was as welcome as it was unsettling.

The healer left without Zack ever having heard her name. She was no longer heading to another portal as originally planned, now she was going to meet with the Major.

Jean pulled him to the side away from where Zara was sitting and spoke to him in a quiet voice. “I have no idea what just happened in there, and to be honest, I don’t think I want to. The parts that I do understand already turn my stomach and make me sick. I had thought you were joking before when you mentioned them dissecting you. The truth is even worse than I thought.”

“That’s fine. There is little I would say on the matter, in any case. Like I said before, some things should remain private. No one needs to know everything that they did to me, especially not Zara.”

Jean hesitated and then nodded at the unspoken demand. None of what she did know would make its way to the young girl’s ears. “Anyway, none of this has anything to do with why I actually pulled you over here. I simply wanted to tell you that you didn’t need to worry about others learning of the damage done to your body in the same way Leigha did.”

“Was that the healer woman’s name? She was never introduced.” He interrupted, looking for clarification.

“Yes, her name is Leigha, and she is the best healer we have, period, full-stop. The strength of her examination spells and the control she has over directing her healing spells are leagues ahead of anyone else. What you saw with her examination spell is, as I’m sure you know from experience, abnormal. Most spells of that nature simply tell the healer where the damage is most severe with no or little specifics. Hers, tell her everything.”

Zack stared at her in puzzlement. “I am indeed aware of how different her examination spell was from normal. However, since I already know that; there was no reason to pull me over here.”