The hospital turned out to be just a house. The section of the volcano where it was located was part of a cluster with many other mid-sized homes. It was nothing like Maya’s villa though it still hung off the sheer wall of the volcano.

“Why are we here?” I asked Maya when we arrived at the cramped entryway.

Maya nodded to the man who stood at the door waiting for us. “As I said, we need to deal with the MTD. Jorvais, I think I have the source here.”

Jorvais appeared to be in his twenties. His slick black hair was pulled back into a ponytail and pockets on his robe were the only thing that set it apart from typical wizard’s attire. When he approached me, he took my hand and pressed two fingers against my wrist. “Hmm. Ah, yes. I see. Come with me, kid.”

Maya’s voice sounded harsh as she scolded him. “Jorvais, he’s my brother. Know your place.”

Jorvais stiffened momentarily as he walked back to the house. “I see. Sorry, My Lord. Please, come this way.”

As we followed, Maya whispered in my ear. “Be patient with him. He is probably the best healer on Gaia. If anyone can sort this out, it will be him.”

The inside of the Jorvias’ home was split between an infirmary and a private home. Just inside the door, a lobby of some sort was set up, complete with rows of hard plastic chairs as well as a receptionist’s desk.

To the right, stood a door leading to a room that looked like a sitting room. We followed Jorvais to the left where low-laying cots lined the walls. Half of them were occupied by people in various states of sickness.

I immediately noticed Scuawk at the back of the room. Her neck was too long for the bed, so they had pushed two of them together. She did not look good.

“I am so sorry, Scuawk,” I said when I made my way over to her.

She gave me a weak smile. “Please take care of my family. I am done for.”

Jorvais stepped past me and leaned over the embattled bird-woman. “Relax, Miss Scuawk. I won’t let you die. Not on my watch. We just need a little time to sort you out.”

Remembering how I cured the plague, I inspected her for any traits that might tell me what ailed her. There was nothing. No traits or abilities. She was newly awakened after all.

I was about to examine her with my mana when Jovial grabbed my arm and marched me over to a bed, making me lay down. “So, Master Murphy. I am told that you are a bit more robust than our fine feathered friend. Please pardon me but you might feel a little pressure.”

I never understood why doctors said that. Pressure was codeword for raging pain. Also, by a little, he meant a lot. As the doctor held his hands high above my body, something emanated from him and into me. It burned as it passed through my skin and interacted with my mana.

Looking down, I saw black streaks visible just under my skin that all seemed to intersect in my chest. A non-magical doctor might think that central location was where my heart resided but I knew better. That was my core.

When whatever it was made contact, it got rejected and everything exploded out of me, throwing Jorvais into the far wall. Kalli, who had been speaking to a child across the room, rushed over, screaming at the doctor. “That hurt! You’re hurting him! Melvin, are you okay?”

That was one of the few times I regretted my connection to Kalli. I was causing her pain and we both knew it.

I can try to block the pain from you if you want.

Don’t you dare! She gave me a glare that was mixed with concern.

“My apologies,” Jorvais said as he made his way back. I noticed blood streaming down his forehead that he seemed to be ignoring.

He gently nudged Kalli out of the way and took a brush from one of his many pockets and proceeded to swab the wall where I noticed a sticky substance. “What’s that?”

Giving me a knowing nod, he explained. “This is the disease. Rather, I should say this is your mana tainted by something. Your regenerative skills are remarkable. You have already returned to full health after taking my probe. Please excuse me while I run some tests.”

Just like that, he swept from the room and was gone. Kalli stayed with me for a few minutes before returning to check on the sick kid.

The fact that I was a carrier of some unknown disease frustrated me. There were people in the room that I could likely have cured if I wasn’t damaged. Maya noticed me looking at the other patients and said, “Don’t worry about them, Melvin. As far as Gaia goes, this is where they can get the very best treatment. We accept patients from all over the world, regardless of status. Jory even travels when the situation calls for it.”

I sat up in the bed and fixed my sister with a hard stare. “Exactly where was he when the entire dark land was infected by the plague? Surely you were aware.”

An uncomfortable look crossed Maya’s face as she hesitantly replied. “You have to understand, there are politics involved. Even here in the high house. We knew that territory was quarantined but our hands were tied. Taking action might have caused a war within the high house.”

“Was Mardella that powerful?” I asked, fidgeting with the ring absentmindedly. “Was the mighty White Lady scared of her?”

Maya scoffed, as she replied in an annoyed tone. “Hardly. We only learned of Mardella’s involvement in the end when you defeated her. A creature known as The Puppetmaster has existed on Gaia for a very long time. He, she, they worked in the shadows and produced dark champion after champion to threaten balance in the world. Some on the council believe it is a necessary evil that exists within the world to prevent any one nation from becoming too strong.”

“So you just let thousands of people die?” Kalli asked with tears forming in her eyes. I could feel that she was upset by the revelation. “How can you be so cruel?”

Maya frowned, turning to face her accuser. “Listen, Kalli. It’s not that simple. We can’t become involved in every war. We don’t have the…”

“Then we will do it,” I spoke over her, nodding to Kalli who beamed at me. “This is going to be a new era where innocent people don’t need to suffer while those with power do nothing. I don’t know how strong I’m going to get but I’m going to do what I can to help people.”

“And I’ll help you do it,” Maya said, folding her arms. “You may think me heartless right now but just wait until you are put in a situation where something truly awful happens in front of you and you are powerless to stop it. Sometimes that very action you wish to take will make something even worse happen.”

“Like what?” Kalli asked, marching over to Maya. “Give us an example.”

Maya sighed and sat on my bed. “Listen, you two. If a war were to erupt in the high house, it would spill out into the rest of the world. Millions of innocent lives would be lost. There is history.”

“Ah hah!” Jorvais announced, running back into the room while holding a vial of red liquid that bubbled menacingly. “You do not, in fact, have a disease.”

“Then what’s wrong with us?” Maya asked with a look of confusion on her face.

“You have all been poisoned,” Jorvais replied.

The good news was that I didn’t have an MTD but the problem was that the poison was unknown and we didn’t have the antidote. We sat around a conference table as Jorvais explained his findings. Kalli voiced the question that was on my mind. “Will Scuawk die?”

He shook his head. “Fortunately, she was brought to me right away. Any longer and I believe she would have succumbed to the poison. However, she will have to remain under my care indefinitely until we can find the antidote. This poison taints your core which causes it to spread throughout your body.”

“Why aren’t we affected by it?” Maya asked.

Jorvais smiled at her. “I am sure you are already aware of the answer to that question. Your bloodline prevents you from taking any lasting damage. While I still don’t fully understand it, your regenerative abilities are significantly more potent than anything I’ve ever heard of. Likely, you’re just out-healing the poison.”

“So, we’re fine?” Kalli asked hopefully.

“Not exactly,” Jorvais replied. “I recommend that none of you touch another living being until you have this poison cleared up.”

Maya looked furious. “Nobody? Not even physical contact?”

I began to laugh as I realized Maya’s dilemma. “Too bad sis. No servants for you for a while.”

She huffed and taunted me back. “It is a shame. You’re fortunate enough to have already infected your partner. You can touch her all you want.”

“No, he can’t!” Kalli replied.

I can’t?

She stuck her tongue out at me. Not all you want! No.

Jorvais cleared his throat to get our attention. “Let’s get back on track here. I am a very busy man. Antidotes are not my specialty. You either need to seek out an alchemist or find the original, provided there is one.”

“When did you first start to feel bad?” Maya asked, clasping her hands on the table.

I had to think about it for a moment. When did I first notice the black specks in my mana? Could it have been some residual corruption from when I dealt with that vampire, Carmilla? No, I had awakened a ton of people since then and none of them dropped dead. It was more recent. Then it hit me.

“Mardella! That blade of hers.” I spat the words out. She had got me after all. “The blade must have been poisoned.”

Everyone was silent until Kalli jumped to her feet. “That’s great!”

“What?” Maya asked, staring at the pyromancer.

“She lived here, right?” Kalli explained. “That means the antidote might be right under our nose.”

“Oh,” Maya replied, rubbing her chin. “That is possible. She does have an estate here. We can look into it but she hasn’t officially been accused of a crime. We can’t simply march in and…”

“What do you mean she isn’t accused of a crime?” I choked out the words. “She nearly killed me. She tried to make me marry her daughter. She kidnapped Wendy. I’m pretty sure she was behind the death of Stephanie. I can go on. Where do I go to press charges?”

Maya just sighed. “Melvin. It isn’t that simple. If you publicly accuse her, there will be an investigation and then a trial. That’s saying she even turns up. Think about the repercussions for her daughter and our sister in the meantime.”

“What if I just make an antidote?” I asked, looking for something to edit. "That way, we won't need to worry about Lady Mardella at all."

Not finding anything, I fished around in my fanny pack and pulled out a small rock. Then I went to edit it into an antidote. The problem was that I knew next to nothing about antidote creation. Did I just call it an antidote and hope for the best? I tried to search for antidotes on the M-Phone and hundreds of different results popped up. All of them had unique names.

Looking up from the phone, I asked, “Would you happen to know the name of the antidote? I can edit one if I know what it’s called.”

Jorvais laughed. “Ah yes. You are the resident manipulator, aren’t you? To be frank, if I knew the name of the poison, I could whip up an antidote myself. This is why we need the cooperation of its creator. It’s difficult to guess if we don’t know the specifics of what went into it.

“Oh wait! What about Kiki?” I thought out loud. “Can’t Alariel let us into her mother’s estate?”

Maya rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Why yes. Yes, she can. I suppose we can send for them. I believe they are enjoying their honeymoon at the summer cabin. If you wish, the two of you can accompany the airship out there and pick them up. There is a chance the antidote could be there too.

“Let’s do that!” I exclaimed. “I always wanted to ride an airship.”

I stood at the front of the ship as it sailed majestically through the clouds.

Come over here Kalli. There’s this scene from a movie I want to reenact.

Kalli stood as far from the side of the airship as she could. I’d rather not. Is there something you can do with your mana to make me less afraid of heights?

I looked at her in confusion.

But you flew on the phoenix all the time.

She shook her head. That’s different. I was in control.

I wasn’t sure what to do, so I walked over to her and hugged her. Kalli was trembling as she nestled into my arms. Just do this until we land and I’ll be fine.

Meanwhile in Poland…

It actually worked. Miss Boszczyk hadn’t expected that. The more elaborate experiments never did. It was her job to test, document, and report. Now she was stuck with a dilemma. The device had punched a hole in the very fabric of the universe. The only problem was that she had dismissed everyone but the worker, Antoni.

Then there was another problem. The portal had let off some kind of a pulse that fried all of her electronics. Not only did she lose all of her precious data but she couldn’t even call the result in or request assistance.

“What do you want to do ma’am?” Antoni spoke, bringing her out of her thoughts.

She looked at the brave worker who stayed. “Well, we succeeded. Do you see the anomaly over there? It’s a door to another world. We are on the brink of changing everything.”

Either that or it was the beginning of a horror film. Miss Boszczyk couldn’t decide which. Antoni motioned toward the Jeep they arrived in. “Would you like me to drive back to town and…”

She looked at the Jeep. It was probably fried too. “There’s no time for that. I need you to test it.”

“What?” Antoni froze, looking at the portal. “How would I do that, ma’am?”

Miss Boszczyk fixed the man with the best smile she could muster. “Consider it like a door. I want you to walk through.”

He took a few steps toward the portal, stopping just short of coming into contact with it. “Is it safe, ma’am?”

She considered how to answer. In theory, it was very safe. Exactly like a door. Of course, she had no clue how long the gate would last once the machine stopped functioning. There was also a myriad of other unknowns.

Miss Boszczyk dug through her duffel bag and pulled out a metallic hazmat suit. “Put this on and it will be perfectly safe.”

Antoni tugged the bulky garment over his worker’s attire. Then he returned to the portal and reached out to touch its shimmery surface. The portal rippled just like a pool of water.

He took his gloved hand back and examined it before waving to Miss Boszczyk. “It didn’t hurt.”

“Very good.” Miss Boszczyk replied, impatient to get results. “Now step through!”

He turned and took one long step. The surface of the portal parted as he passed through it, and then he was gone. Once it had done its job, the portal closed.

“Great.” Miss Boszczyk groaned. “Nów I have to walk back by myself.”