“When health is absent, wisdom cannot reveal itself, art cannot manifest, strength cannot fight, wealth becomes useless, and intelligence cannot be applied.”

- Herophilus

Alea woke up and felt the sunlight on her skin. After the blessing, it had been calling to her, and even blind as she was she somehow felt the natural light- be it the moon or the sun. Taking Cecily into her arms, mechanical legs scrabbling instinctively, she sat up and regarded her sleeping friends. The wood smell of the parquet floor, the slight herbal scent of the freshly washed linen, nothing hinted as to the catastrophe of yesterday's Exhibition.

The vampire had looked at her and he had known that his life was done. Accepting the cleansing light and the intention of her blessing. Lightbringer. Where there is so much light there cannot be darkness. One dies when the other is ascendant. What about Vanessa? She worried that she had seriously hurt her. The last she had seen was Iseret pulling her limp body towards the Reborn. Seeing her light flaying the skin of a friend made her nauseous just remembering. Yesterday she had simply been too exhausted to really think about it.

A knock sounded from the door and Butler One whirred to life and took several deliberate steps forward before looking at her for approval.

“Please ask who it is,” Alea said.

Obeying he leaned outside and exchanged a few words with Lorelle before shutting the door again and walking up to her bed, “Mylady, your maidservant had a message from princess Lieseleta.”

Alea perked up and jumped down from her bed stumbling a bit before righting herself. “What is it?”

“She just wanted to invite you for tea tomorrow in the afternoon. She also wanted to let you know that classes have been suspended for at least the rest of the week.”

“Not unexpected.” Alea sighed and looked at Mireille and Alyssa who were still sleeping deeply. She shivered as some more of the scenes she witnessed just the night before flashed before her eyes. They had been very lucky to escape without serious injury, or at least not wounds she couldn’t heal. The trembling got worse and she had to sit on the floor shaking with suppressed emotions until she finally got a hold of herself.

‘Yesterday it wasn’t that bad.’ She thought.

When the light magic flowed through her and all was immersed in warmth and brilliance there was simply no place for fear and nervousness. She had heard that most of the more powerful wizards became less emotional the longer they practiced. Perhaps that was the reason?

Then there was another knock on the door.

Alea flinched and looked at Butler One who nodded and went to open the door.

“Are the young ladies awake?” The voice of the dorm mother drifted through the open doorway.

“They are at the moment still indisposed. May I ask what brings you here.” The slightly buzzing voice of the construct inquired.

“I have been asked to look for anyone who has some healing magic. There are still injured students and the healing staff are exhausted.” The redoubtable matron’s voice shook as she said that. “And the city has its own problems...”

Grabbing a table leg near her, Alea stood up and went to stand behind her automaton. “Madam Gosling. Alyssa has some water magic and I have light magic. Would that help?”

“That’s exactly what they are looking for. They mentioned you were quite talented in that regard. I will bring you some breakfast. Please get ready as soon as you can.”

The sound of footsteps faded.

A scratching sound from the window made her raise Cecily for a look. Semiramis pressed against the windowpane and scrabbled with her claws. Groaning she went and let the feline into the room. A gust of cold wind made her shut the window quickly afterward.

Meowing a greeting the hawk-cat jumped onto Mireille and began to rub her wings into the sleeping girls face causing her to splutter from the feathers.

Northern Dockyards

“And as soon as the prince began to organize the defense after killing the assassin that felled his father the ungrateful girl began a struggle for the succession! As her people were dying she was only interested in power!” The old soldier wiped the spittle from his mouth and then continued his diatribe. A group of workers and dockhands stood around the small stone plinth that in earlier years had been used to tie oxen and now was mostly...in the way. It stood before a large building that with the expansion of the docks now served mostly administrative functions.

“My husband lost his hand! Now we face poverty and starvation!” A stout woman in her thirties yelled and tears ran from her eyes. Angry murmurs followed that declaration.

The soldier pointed at her and shouted, “There you have it. Down with the bloodsuckers! We need a governing council. No spoiled princess should decide over our lives! If everything went right she should have been married off years ago!”

An older dockworker furrowed his brow at that and murmured, “I wouldn’t have my daughter marry so young.” Several of the people around him nodded subconsciously.

After spitting his poisoned words the soldier walked away into an alley and then shook his head. His features blurred and became quite a bit younger as his military clothes- without insignia signifying his retired status- became ordinary merchant's robes. With a dissatisfied look at his attire, he quickened his steps. ‘Strike the iron while it is hot but do we really have to be so hasty?’ Musing over his employer's orders he vanished into the cramped alleys of the Northern Dockyards.

The captain sat in the tavern and waved at the barmaid. “Another!” His frizzy greying hair was singed and there was the distinct aroma of burnt wood around him. The nearly empty tavern floor was sparsely lit and the tired-looking older ‘maid’ grunted as she heaved another beer stein on his table. “That will be three coppers, sar.” Her crooked teeth shone as she smiled at him. As he put a silver piece on the table the smile became a tad more real and she lasciviously put the shining coin into her bodice winking at him. Her henna-colored hair swayed with her hips as she walked away from him.

Half-drunk and so soon after having been scared out of his wits he could not say he wasn’t half interested. Sighing he looked after her and drank down the sour-tasting nearly flat beverage. Grimacing he thought, ‘If that was not the only tavern open so early in the morning he wouldn't be caught dead in it!’ He leaned back and lifted the curtain behind him looking into the street of the no-mans-land between the docks and the market ward containing mostly worker's houses. The streets were still relatively empty. Many citizens had remained at home after they had heard of the terrible happenings at the Exhibition. Criers were going around trying to make their own narrative.

‘All lies.’ He thought and wiped the sparse foam from his beard.

Still. He had his payment with him and by a miracle, no one had killed him yet. Things were looking up.

He patted the bag leaning on the side of the chair containing his prized navigational instruments as well as the maps he had painstakingly drawn over the years. The city was a powder keg. People were frightened and he had seen several agitators trying to fish in muddied waters. He was nearly impressed that they did it so soon. The king was dead, and the crown prince and the second prince were gone. The eldest princess could be a figurehead for some of the disgruntled losers of this failed putsch. But what did he know? He was a captain without a ship and the money was enough to live the high life for a month or a frugal one for a few years but not enough to retire.

He sighed. He had his life and his money that was most important for now.

Back in the Wisteria Dorms

Alyssa was woken by a purring form that neatly sat its butt on her face. Frightened she tried to grab the furry menace and only managed a solid hit on Mireille’s leg who grabbed the offending appendage and held on tight. Opening her eyes she saw the hawk-eyes of Semiramis before the cat rubbed her flank against her nose. Sitting up she looked around disorientedly and saw Alea pulling on her school robes. “What….?” She shook her head.

Alea nodded towards her and fastened the ribbon on her chest. “Good morning. Breakfast will be ready soon. Could you wake Mireille?”

Looking to the side she saw her red-headed friend fighting to remain asleep against the assault by the feathered cat. Cyrus had retreated to the side and was snacking on a bit of jerky he had liberated from her backpack. Intelligent familiars were a bane!

“Mireille?” She softly shook her friend's shoulder. “Wake up, it's morning.”

“Mpf. That's the problem!” Mireille grumbled and dug deeper into the blankets.

Alea waited a second then interjected, “Madam Gosling said they urgently need more healers.”

Realization dawned on Alyssa’s and Mireille’s faces as they remembered the night before. “Oh. Certainly! Is it bad?” Alyssa hastily climbed down from the bunk bed.

“I don’t know. I can only surmise that it is more in the line of need than must otherwise we would not have had the leisure to sleep as we did.”

“Mh. Makes sense.” Alyssa yawned and walked into the bath.

Mireille grabbed Semiramis and hugged the protesting cat. Sitting up she looked at Alea and asked, “I simply fell asleep last night. Is everything alright with you? Is there still danger?”

“I have no idea. I will send out Butler One to have a look if you need me to?”

“Mh don't bother we will be outside soon enough ourselves." Rubbing her face with the left hand and holding Semiramis pressed to her chest with her right arm she jumped from the bed. Faint sparks flew around her feet as she lightly stepped on the floor. Yawning she put the protesting cat on the table and grabbed a brush before trying to smooth her recalcitrant locks. Seeing Semiramis’ interested gaze she alternated between brushing the cat and herself.

Alea couldn’t stand to see that and walked over while grabbing her own comb. “Stop that!” She pushed away Mireille's hand and began to smooth her friend's hair.

“Oh. That works too.” Mireille lazily reclined on the chair continuing to brush the cat's lustrous coat while Alea combed her friend's hair.

A short while later they had eaten, washed, and clothed themselves and were led by a younger student with deep dark rings around the eyes toward the academy infirmary. The morning light filtered through a light cloud cover and it was a cold and windy day. The fellow student was a second year by the name of Brian. He had a thin, pale face topped by dark-brown hair and blue eyes. When nervous he tended to stutter. “It..tt.t.s..not far.” He clamped his mouth shut and then walked ahead and stared fixedly towards the front. Having come face to face with the beautiful Alyssa and the pretty Mireille his tolerance for feminine companionship seemed very low.

Alea raised Cecily and tried to see the area where the Exhibition had taken place. There were still columns of smoke rising into the air before being blown apart by the wind. At least they were no longer as dark and oppressive as the night before.

Soldiers and some royal guards were patrolling the grounds and they were inspected twice before they reached the western wing where the infirmary was located. Seeing that Alea seemed to be cold Alyssa concentrated and murmured a small spell reddish light glowed around her hands and warmth infused the cloak thrown around the dark-haired girl's small shoulders. Cyrus looked jealous.

Alea smiled at her gratefully, “When did you learn to do that?”

Alyssa hesitated then said, “Back when I had the problems with void magic…” Alea nodded attentively while listening to her, “...I tried some other magics to compensate. Seems that fire magic could be good but without a lot of training I will probably only manage smaller utility spells.”

“I remember your firebolt spell. That one is really good.” Mireille chewed on a piece of bread before hastily swallowing.

“Asandria helped with that. But I was hesitant to ask her for assistance with a warmth spell.”

Asandria turned and empty eyes looked at her wordlessly.

“Don’t give me that look. I did not want to waste your tutelage on such small things.”

Mireille leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Are you talking to the ghost again? Be careful- the boy does not have much presence but he is just ahead of us.”

Soon they stepped into the entranceway brushing frozen snow from their boots. The empty corridor seemed gloomy in contrast to the morning sunlight outside.

With their steps echoing around them they hurried towards the medical section. Charts and pictures showing the relationship between different sorts of mana and the corresponding organs hung on the walls.

“Why is there no light or void mana in those pictures?” Mireille looked at the charts interestedly. “Look! Air is associated with the brain- I knew it!” She grinned proudly.

Alea answered, “Both are not exactly natural. They are necessary and present in every tissue in a delicate balance. Disturbing that balance leads to undeath on the one side and to unchecked growth and illness on the other.”

“Illness through light magic?” Alyssa asked hesitantly.

The boy that had been near invisible up to now cleared his throat and said, “Not an illness exactly its more like a- mutation? Injecting too much light magic into tissue not ready for it can cause growth and change. Semiramis- you know professor Reneus cat?” As they nodded he continued. “Hybridization is a sub-school of light magic. Even as it borrows from many others as well. But for light magic to be harmful, you would need a whole lot and even then it would probably only lead to a more youthful appearance.”

The corridor became busier the further they went and nurses came and went between the rooms. There were some make-shift beds put on the ground and less-injured soldiers too weak to stand the temperatures outside were resting there. Groans and cries of pain came from the doors lining the walls.

A woman turned and looked at them as they reached the central area and they recognized Sarah, the healer they had spoken to during the Exhibition. Frowning with exhaustion the mage looked them up and down before her face brightened, “Alyssa? And your friends- mh- Alea and...Mireille was it?”

“Yes, I am Alyssa, this is Alea and this here is Mireille.”

“Thank you for coming. Using mana over such a long time is very tiring and I could use a short break. If you are ready please come with me.”

“Certainly.” Alyssa looked at her friends who nodded too. Mireille seemed a bit daunted by the pained cries and stuck close to Alyssa in contrast to her normally cheerful and optimistic demeanor. Alea swallowed nervously before they went into a large room housing a dozen beds, some of them clearly temporary constructions. Brian turned around, a hand clasped to his mouth and his shoulders heaving quickly walked back into the corridor.

Bloody bandages, lost limbs necrotic flesh. The room, despite wind magic continuously renewing the air, smelled of illness. Sarah turned and gestured towards a young student who was heavily bandaged around the stomach area. “Please see what you can do. If you need help call me or one of the nurses. They know what they are doing. This room holds the most serious cases where we have hope of recovery. If you are finished simply find me, I will be outside resting.” She seemed to be dead on her feet and walked outside before collapsing into a chair beside a table overflowing with parchment.

Alea clenched her hands and gritted her teeth before she tapped Alyssa’s shoulder.

The white-haired girl turned around, “Do you need something?”

“Let me try something but it would be better if you and Asandria left the room.”

Understanding flashed in her eyes and Alyssa grabbed Cyrus before saying to Mireille, “Please keep an eye on Alea. I will be outside helping the less injured.”

Mireille nodded and tried to look dependable.

Alea breathed deeply before raising her hands and gesturing. Glyphs sprang into being shining with light. Praying internally she murmured, “Jaros Warder on the Threshold. Help me grant them life.”

The gate inside of her opened and she had the impression of clockwork whirring as a vortex of radiance blossomed on her chest. Infusing the power into her glyphs an octaeder made of light floated towards the ceiling and began to bathe the whole room in brilliance. Flesh grew back together, pale faces regained a bit of color. There were some that screamed in pain as inflamed or corrupted flesh burst into pale flames evaporating into nothingness. But even as blood gushed from reopened wounds the intense healing light began to fuse skin back together.

Mireille shouted, ”Close your eyes!”

As the light further grew in strength everything became white.

Alyssa saw the glow radiating around the edges of the door and underneath with alarm. She ran over to the resting wizardess and shook her shoulder.

Sarah turned unwillingly, “What is it?”

“My friend Alea has a light gate and a blessing. I think she might still be unfamiliar with it. Please have a look.”

Irritated, she turned and saw the wall opposite the door bathed in illumination seeping through cracks in the wood. Exclamations of awe, wonder, and pain came from behind the closed doorway.

Mireille grabbed the smaller girl and shook her. She had her eyes tightly closed and still the light hurt her. “Alea! You can stop now! Alea!”

Coming to her senses Alea stopped the flow of power and the glyphs dimmed to a more normal level of illumination. The walls were devoid of dirt. Blood had evaporated under the blinding glare. Several patients wonderingly looked at their newly healed injuries. Even the nurse looked as if she had just woken from a restful sleep.

“Praise Gesserach!” One of the male students shouted.

“Ielenia.” A brunette girl clasped her hands in prayer.

Alea swayed and leaned against Mireille who murmured, “Please be more careful. I am the reckless one, not you!”

Alea shook her head and somewhat angrily but shyly whispered, “It was Jaros, not the other ones.”

Mireille grinned and stroked her head. “Yes, I know.”

Sarah burst into the room and took a look around raising her eyebrows in astonishment. “Well, well. That does look promising.”

Alea smiled shyly before fainting.