I was always of the belief that there would be consequences, should somebody manage to lobotomize one of the most powerful psions in the system because of the voice in their head shouting magical gibberish at them. Maybe they’d almost immediately be whisked away to be experimented on or put on a very tight leash for some shadowy organization, but really any number of things came to mind. And yet, even after doing just that to Katherine, none of them were coming to the door.

I had no way of knowing that, though, and so the next ten minutes were incredibly tense for me. Every second I kept expecting men in black to bust through the door and drag me away, or even worse, Katherine herself to snap out of whatever fugue the Every-Thing had very aggressively put her in, and every second there was nothing, not even a ‘calming’ word from my companion.

Ten long, long minutes of silence had gone by before the door finally opened again. I was already about halfway out of my bed, surprisingly even less sore after Katherine’s ministrations, before I realized it was Strenns and Marcus, now talking much more freely. The short man had seemingly warmed up to the novice summoner that was my cousin, and they had been discussing something involving suspicious amounts of arcane enhancers and also summoning salts. I wasn’t going to care either way, but I did hope Marcus wasn’t planning to yank something out of a plane like Infernus or, like grandpa, directly from a Hell beneath it, and then stick things into it. I’m sure it’d be more complicated, but before now I never had much of a reason to care about anything beyond theory, and maybe applying it to magitech in a way that wouldn’t rip apart someone who had little to no internal energy.

The two of them weren’t discussing ideas for long, though, because they were quick to spot the obvious as soon as they took a look around the room.

“Where’d Katherine go?” Asked Marcus, a concerned Strenns nodding along. Time to see how well I can put together a story.

“Really? A rank five is just supposed to stick around after getting what she came for? Things were a lot easier without random attacks being thrown at me, and I think you made her shy last time, Doctor.” I mustered up as much confidence as I could while I said it, thankful that I learned how to lie decently enough even if I never wanted to go into the family’s politics. Marcus still seemed a touch hesitant, though, so I continued.

“Oh, you just wanted to get one last try in before she left, huh? She probably saw enough in my head to know not to let that happen.” I shot him a smirk, watching that last bit of uncertainty wash away by his annoyance. Strenns hadn’t needed any extra convincing, thankfully, and even shot Marcus a look.

“That is a shame, though. I had a couple of questions I wanted to ask her about you, especially after everything Marcus here has told me of your gifts and the difficulties you’ve had with them even before this accident, but hopefully, there may be some notes she’s left for later. However, what I have heard has given me some insight into what we might do to get you back on your feet.” I was staring daggers at Marcus; I had no idea what my supposed ‘gifts’ were and that could be an issue. Thankfully the man wasn’t too daft, though, because he turned to Strenns before he could dive into his treatment plans with me and posed a question.

“Hey Strenns, I know you’re eager to really get into it with Vane here, but would you mind letting us have the room for a couple moments? I was called here for something else and I’d like to talk to him a little bit before I’m to be out of here.”

The doctor was very clearly reluctant to comply, but not enough to say no. He gave a short acceptance before turning and walking back out the door. Marcus waited for a few moments after that, speaking about some inanities before he was sure Strenns was gone far enough, before crouching beside me. My glare must have made it abundantly clear what I wanted him to say because he wasted no time in speaking.

“So, I don’t suppose you’ll fill me in on your secret huh?” Silence reigned. “Thought not, not here at least. I know we’ve got to be fast, the doctor is waiting for you, but I already let him know about the two energies you grew up using.” So, he did pick for me, and two. That was actually surprisingly reasonable, since whatever it was I had going on around me couldn’t be explained with just one of the Core Four. I started opening my mouth to speak, but he cut me off.

“It’s okay, save your breath for Strenns. He’s already started designing a treatment to help you get your psionics back in order up there, and we were talking about ways that might help you get back to gathering Prana again, too. I know they can be hard to do together, though, but you’ve gotten through it once before, right?” Good man, I guess maybe he did get a bit better at covering for himself after I left. Still, psionics and prana, those were probably the best choices he could’ve made, but he was lucky that Katherine wasn’t here to call him out on the former.

They were both pretty simple, too, but I guess all of the Core Four were simple. They really only did two things in two ways, body enhancement, and mind enhancement. Qi and prana represented the former, and psionics and mana the latter. They could also be internal, qi and psi, or external, like prana and mana. This meant the two Mark had chosen, psionics and prana, would be almost opposites if there was a proper spectrum.

The first was obviously based on the user’s mind, as Katherine was one of many clear examples. Psionic power grows within the mind, it takes a bit of energy to light the spark, as it were, and then everything comes down to how well someone can stoke those flames further. Of the four, it was one of the most rigid. Being used exclusively through the mind, it wasn’t very receptive to any ‘flavors’ but was exceptional at evading or infiltrating defenses, at creating and destroying mental defenses, both mana and psionic, and at speeding up conscious reaction times; essentially, an all-around increase in mental prowess that can lead to some interesting powers down the line.

The other internal energy, qi, basically acts like psionics for the body; it’s created and used with a wholly internal supply and the only things it can do will strictly affect physical capability in some fashion. That said, with truly experienced users, that can still mean some equally unexpected results. Then, there is prana. As one of the ‘external’ energies, prana can’t be generated in a human’s body and has to be manually collected from the environment. Of course, it is abundant and easy to internalize, as is mana, so it remains an equally viable option.

A good prana practitioner would be in the edges of a large battle, fighting hand-to-hand while casting small scale spell-equivalents without thinking. Just like any other form of muscle memory, casting with prana is drilled constantly until it’s no different than breathing or blinking. It should only take the slightest twitch of a muscle to launch projectiles, form walls, sap someone’s strength, and so much more. Lastly, mana. It acts similar to prana, almost identical even, but it does so with thought and intent. Instead of using the body, a mage builds their spells in their mind and using them repetitively until they can release them in an instant, relying on them just like any other mnemonic.

Marcus had made me out as someone very familiar with my own mind, but with very little control over what happens around my body. I’d be willing to bet that from what I’d currently demonstrated to Strenns, this was probably pretty accurate, especially since ‘eldritch-touched’ psions were notorious for their loss of control in pretty much any department.

Since he seemed so set on not letting me talk, I decided not to do so, meeting his eyes and mouthing a simple thanks to him. I’d make it up to him in the future, but I’d need to get out of here before I could. Marcus gave me one final look before standing up and making his way to the door, and he’d barely even turned the handle before it was yanked open from the outside, Strenns standing about ready to bowl the larger man over. It had become increasingly apparent over the past few days that he was very passionate about his job.

Marcus said a short, cordial goodbye to the doctor, then turned a corner just out of view that finally left me alone once more with Strenns. I had to give credit to the man, though, despite his visible anticipation, his behavior was just as professional as when I met him, so I wasn’t surprised when he spoke up, speaking just softly enough to show some concern for my hearing.

“It seems we can finally speak now, Sylvain. I must apologize for just how hectic the past few days have been. Between your injuries, the stress, the attack, and I’m sure plenty more, you’ve been far too busy for someone as injured as you… were?” His expression had steadily grown more concerned as he spoke, and I was starting to think that he was just now paying attention to the lack of bruising that I had noticed earlier. Then, I took a look down at myself, too, and I realized why the good doctor seemed so befuddled.

I still didn’t feel like it, but the many bruises, contusions, and cuts were still gone, or at least hidden behind my hospital gown. What had changed, though, was the presence of a pair of very obvious, very new birthmarks. One was running the length of my right arm, wrist to elbow, and the other started on the right side of my chest, from what I could see under the gown, and spread at least until my bicep. I had always been a pretty tan man, and never dealt with things like freckles and splotches either, so seeing the brown patch on my chest and the cherry red one on my arm was unnerving, especially since I hadn’t seen them when I looked at myself not five minutes ago.

I looked back at Strenns, met his eyes and gave an exasperated shake of my head. He raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He had been about to, though, before his eyes flicked back to my arm, once more widening in surprise. Expecting the worst, I looked back too.

“I mean, come on…” And the blemishes were gone once again. Lifting my right arm to inspect it revealed no secrets as to what had just happened, no clues to why my skin had just pulled its own magic trick. I did note, with a bit of interest, that my right arm felt even better than it had a couple of minutes ago, and was thankful for whatever it was that kept me healing faster than I rightfully should.

Strenns didn’t let me play with my slightly better arm for long, though, before making a comment of his own. “Well, that was certainly… unusual. I’m aware that prana can have some unusual effects on the body after a negative enlightenment, but I usually only see patients developing new casting habits, maybe picking up some muscle tics or something, in the worst cases we’ll see their control become unstable and their body suffering symptoms similar to mundane strokes. I’ve yet to see something like that, not without qi being involved in some way, but Marcus said you didn’t ignite your core, only your mind. How curious.”

I was glad the man was open-minded at least because that was not the first eerily sharp observation he’s made that by rights should have made him suspicious.

“I suppose it is possible you did ignite your core out there, unconscious awakenings are well-documented, and sometimes an enlightenment can lead to one, but typically they only happen to unawakened or single-awakened. Still, you wouldn’t be the first to do so, and it would explain your fast recovery…” He trailed off there, looking back into my eyes. “Apologies Sylvain, your condition is just so very unusual. But I suppose me telling you that helps you little in your recovery, and conjecture can only do so much until we prove it right or wrong.”

I nodded in relief, or I guess in his eyes, understanding, while he continued. “So, now that you seem a bit more stable, why don’t we start working on returning that stability to your gifts?” Despite the question, his tone left no room for putting it off any further, and I could only hope I could make learning how to use whatever it was that I had taken from The Everything look enough like a ‘natural recovery’ in Strenns’ eyes and also hopefully keep the Every-Thing from coming to light, too. Having no idea in the slightest what I was doing would only add to the challenge, but even with the doubt and fear and unknown variables, I wasn’t truly afraid, hardly even worried actually.

I was giddy, absolutely over-the-moon, despite being on the moon. How could I not be, too? I may not have done it in the ‘conventional’ way, I may not have been supposed to do it at all, but even with all the odds stacked against me, I’d gotten everything I could’ve ever hoped for. Maybe not in the way I had planned, and not nearly as risk-free, pain-free, or problem-free as I’d like, but I wasn’t empty anymore. I had Everything, and that meant all the ups and downs that came with it, sure, but all I cared about right then was that I had magic.