The next few days, Matius and Jayln visited Fenrin every morning. To their surprise, each day seemed to be a repeat of the last. Fenrin's shock and violence towards Matius, his threats at Jayln, and madness that descended when he tried to remember.

He never could recall that they'd visited before, stuck in some sort of loop. Matius studied with the Arch Mage each evening, learning the way to enter the mind and helping him piece Yu'jana's back together.

The First Apprentice was recovering. She grew stronger and brighter every day. First remembering her name, then her friends and family, until finally even her magic returned, something every Azir took as a sign her true self was not lost.

Jayln was beginning to understand magic a bit better herself. Spending each evening alone in Matius's apartment, she'd taken to reading his collection. She learned how there was only a limited amount of magic in the world, that Azir pass their's on to their children at birth and at death. That was why Azir married young and had children as early as possible, to remove the chance of their magic dying with them.

The Arch Mage was somehow special and had no children to make sure he lost no power. Marrying yuji was also taboo. The child of an Azir and yuji only received magic from the Azir parent, essentially meaning each generation of mixed blood had less and less magic.

This knowledge raised as many questions as answers. How did Matius have magic then? And what about the mage's guilds in other countries? Letting the mysteries keep her mind off her other problems, Jayln eagerly dove deeper into the tomes.

She was getting closer to a theory about Matius when the man himself burst through the door. The Arch Mage had given permission. It was time to fix Fenrin's mind.