Accepting Reality
Vwyx was rapidly helped back into the same bed she had been left in for the past year. Khyzae ran off to get her parents while Sryine remained at Vwyx’s side.
Khyzae’s parents rushed in soon after to take account of the situation. After a quick inspection, Khyzae’s mother ran off to get some supplies while her father adjusted her rudimentary bandages. It was exemplary of just how far behind the village was, not even having people around skilled with basic first aid, not even having the equipment to deal with basic injuries. But this wasn’t a basic injury, the arm ligament had been severed, even with his equipment he was unsure just how much could be done. Injuries this serious would require some special instruments, things he just did not have, nor was he all that familiar with such procedures. This was quite a cruel twist of fate.
“Is there anything I can help with? I don’t really know this stuff at all, but I want to make sure Vwyx is going to be alright.” “I’m sorry, this might be beyond me. I’ll be able to make sure the wound isn’t infected and that her injury doesn’t get worse, but something this serious isn’t just going to heal by itself.” “But.. but you don’t have ways to make it better? You both took such great care of us for a whole year, clearly this…” “We don’t have the right instruments to deal with something this serious, and there is no way we could get what we need in time. I’m sorry, we really don’t have things quite as advanced as you are thinking. The equipment I had brought was mostly for my own research, not for something like this. Even your own recovery was nothing short of a miracle, the seriousness of the burns you had suffered should have in all accounts been fatal.” Sryine paused in shock at Khyzae’s father’s account of the situation. After all her efforts, was this really the best they could do?
Sryine took account of all of the information presented to her. The biggest issue was that they were cut off from anything the village would require to deal with something like this. The village missed quite a number of things, more than just the books she had always craved, this was only a prime example of how serious of a problem that disconnect could actually be. Even so, watching Khyzae’s father work, she could tell his outside knowledge was more than what anyone else had around here. Even with such knowledge, the rest of the village was outcasting the entire family out of uncertainty. It was such ignorance that had left the village so poorly prepared to deal with such an emergency.
Khyzae was not comfortable with the situation either. Her brilliant father, her own creator, was forced to call surrender in the light of such an injury. Khyzae could still keenly remember her earlier moments of awakening, falling from her chair and suffering her own terrible injury. Vwyx had flown to her side and had quickly dealt with the situation. Now that the table had turned, wasn’t there anything she could do in return? Khyzae looked over her important friend, still keenly sensing her presence and importance in a way she still could not explain. Her friend would have lost a lot of lifeblood at this point, her pale complexion made that all too obvious. The tearing of her friend’s arm ligaments separated her from her own hand, itself looking pale and lifeless. They needed a way to reconnect the broken tissue, then to replace the missing lifeblood from her system.
Khyzae’s mother returned with some supplies, mostly hot water, dry cloth, and some variety of ointments. Clearly stuff good at cleaning the injury, preventing an infection. The ointment would also be capable of making sure her blood would cauterize the wound, ensuring it closed up properly. None of that would repair the broken tissue. As her mother brought the supplies, her father stepped aside to prepare the cloth, Khyzae took her father’s place at Vwyx’s side. She took an opportunity to get a closer look at the situation, unwinding Vwyx’s bandages. Her father finished preparing the cloth and jumped at seeing his daughter already in the situation. In his hesitation, she took the dripping cloth from him, ignoring the ointment. She applied the wet cloth to the injury, focusing on the cloth in her efforts.
First, she needed to ensure that the wound was clean, that there was nothing undesired still in Vwyx’s open wound. Holding the cloth fast to the wound, her eyes closed, she took account of her objective. Her father moved to interfere, only to have the soiled cloth thrust back at him. The wound was thus fully exposed to the air, but seemed to almost glimmer in the air, not a drop of blood escaping from the open wound. Khyzae’s father could tell something was going on, backing off slightly. Getting a bit more free space, Khyzae went to the supplies of cloth, taking two dry sheets and wrapping the first around Vwyx’s wrist and the second around Vwyx’s elbow. This provided a way to focus on the space between, the area of the injury.
Khyzae knew the next step was the most challenging, the very thing her father had surrendered to. The tissue was still viciously torn, even if it was kept in a state of stasis. What she needed was the living tissues from her hand to reconnect to the rest of Vwyx’s body, drawing a connection between the two cloths she had placed. Khyzae visualized exactly what she was trying to achieve, and as she stayed intent on her objective, Vwyx’s injury complied with the same vision. Rapidly, the wound closed up, leaving Vwyx’s arm as if the injury had never happened. However, she was still fairly pale and cold, having lost considerable blood in the process.
“Sryine, please go ask Mother where the nutrient tablets are hiding, along with whatever she might recommend for gradually waking Vwyx up. We need to restore some of Vwyx’s lost blood, and I don’t think I can provide any shortcuts in that process. Father, could you please otherwise help mother with some hearty food to help Vwyx recover, it is almost dinner after all.” Khyzae passed off instructions as she inspected her own work for any errors. Even Vwyx was seeming to subconsciously calm down, the pain subsiding rapidly. A slight twitch of Vwyx’s hand was all Khyzae needed to feel confident about her own success.
Vwyx was successfully awake and quickly recovering after that, though she was still as hungry as Khyzae had predicted. Waking up to see her friends tending to her brought a smile to her face. They shared tales about what had transpired in the meanwhile, Sryine’s efforts to bring Vwyx to some real care using a stealthy illusion, followed by Khyzae managing some impressive healing. The three of them were full of smiles, even Vwyx who was feeling like she had been a burden in the situation. Clearly, she would need to devote time to learning a few tricks for herself. This thought reminded her of her train of thought just before the accident, the struggles with the music box, realizing her regrets in missing opportunities to learn.
“Sryine, you know that musical box book I got you before? Well, being sorta stuck to this bed for now, could you go bring it for me to read? I never did get to look it over myself, and I’m thinking it might be kinda interesting.” Vwyx passed off a weak smile at Sryine’s excited expression. Sryine was gone in an instant, returning with the book in question. Vwyx started looking over the book, skimming through the contents. She might have opted to read such a thing, but she was still not as invested in such details as Sryine was. Instead, she was more interested to find specific details of knowledge, details related to instrumentation itself.
Sryine and Khyzae left the room to give Vwyx some quiet opportunity with her book. They found each other in a quiet living room with a wide open window, the sky outside already gone dark. Khyzae went to the window and looked up at the night sky, appreciating the view beset before her. Sryine went to the window and looked up at the same night sky.
“It’s such a beautiful view. It makes me wonder about just how much is out there that we still don’t understand. Such stars.. glittering every night of our lives.. and yet we know almost nothing about them. It’s not like we’ve managed to reach out and learn anything more, content with just staying in our comfortable world as the days go by.” Khyzae’s words felt very familiar to Sryine, sounding exactly like the sort of ambitions she held that night in the observatory. After everything that had happened, she was starting to understand the depth of such a vision. Their little village was a smaller scale of the same problem, ignoring the world beyond it as the days go by.
“You sound exactly like you did that day we first met you, dreaming big dreams about going to distant places.” “Sorry, I.. don’t have any memories of such things. It wasn’t really me, after all, I’m just a fake. I just have some thoughts and memories that aren’t my own, not even being a real living person.” “What gives you that idea? You are totally a real living person. Only a real living person could question if they were really alive. Even earlier, healing Vwyx, that was the gift. Did you know that the only things that could command and control the gift is a living person? That would have been impossible for you were anything else. Sure, you might not be the exact same Khyzae that we met a year ago, but everyone changes overtime, that’s just a matter of course.” Sryine gave thoughts that Khyzae had yet to even consider, just how significant it was to have commanded the gift like that before. Sryine wasn’t even hesitant in believing Khyzae was anything less than her own person. She had played with her own illusions in depth, knowing just how fake things could get. Khyzae was different, unlike other people, but that didn’t make her worth any less than anyone else.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the front door. Khyzae went to answer the door, finding a familiar face once again on the other side. Sryine’s brother waited impatiently, looking quite irate. “I take it you have a patient once again, and possibly an additional guest. I’ve come to ensure they are both brought back home.” Sryine’s brother used a tone that prompted no ground for compromise, leaving Khyzae feeling quite nervous. Just like last time, this guy was appearing to take her friends away, and she wasn’t certain what she could do to stop that. Sryine however was also getting irate listening within earshot, well aware of what position Vwyx was currently in. Her injuries were healed, but she still needed time to recover from what it took from her. A cost that had nothing to do with her recovery and everything with how such a recovery had been denied to her. Sryine still remembered the promise left to Vwyx’s sister, that resolving this problem was entirely her own responsibility.
“Really, dear brother, you need to relax. Don’t be so irrational.” “You aren’t even supposed to be here. You were instructed to devote time to community events.” “And so I did, I listened to what a great number of people had to say. To think everyone was so resistant to making proper usage of our village’s resources, our parents would throw a fit at the thought of not properly using a village doctor to administer medical aid.” “It was our parents who…” “Oh, I am also well aware of just how much this whole thing was influenced by our parents. Such fear almost cost the working arm of one of our village crafters. Our village can not afford such fear, not if we want to bring it prosperity. As village chief, both you and our parents, it should be your obligation to search for ways to better our village, to bring more resources, and yet all of it has fallen to me. Well, I for one am not afraid to learn about things I do not understand. The stars in the sky bring me inspiration, not fear. So if you will, please return home and let me finish my work, I will be personally making sure that the crafting daughter will be brought back to her family this night after a proper meal, your assistance is not required. Now goodnight.” Sryine slammed the door in her brother’s face, her own having gone completely red. That was the first time her or anyone else had stood up to the authority behind the village. Sryine’s brother did not try to knock again, and left soon after.
“By the divine, what have I done.” “Woah, Sryine, you were awesome. Wow…” Sryine was taking into account just how much responsibility she has just offered to shoulder as Khyzae just heaped on the praise. She was going to be in serious trouble when she got home. Still, her actions had bought the time Vwyx needed, they had best make the most of it. The two of them returned to the room Vwyx was resting in, finding Vwyx had already put the book away after completing what review she wanted from it. Vwyx was also giving Sryine a raised eyebrow, having heard the uproar even from her bed. She was raised to know that one never refuted the words of the Maexiqhezyhr family, let alone slammed a door in their face. It seemed such expectations might not extend to someone actually belonging to the Maexiqhezyhr family.
Seeing everyone staring at her, Sryine playfully threw up her invisibility, vanishing without a trace. Sryine then went to go sit down on her old bed, seeing that Vwyx had lost track of her, and Khyzae was still watching her. Sryine tried to vocalize her questions, only realizing that her illusion was also removing any sound she was making too. Khyzae didn’t seem to react to her questions either, only her presence. Sryine dismissed the illusion and made a second attempt.
“Okay, really, how are you doing that? I might be new to this whole invisibility thing, but you’re like the only one who still seems able to see me. Days ago, you did the same thing too, like you could see Vwyx from an impossible distance through walls. I mean, maybe you might have a gift for it, but the gift is never so selective. You can’t ever seem to see your parents like that, you keep being surprised by my father, that’s not how the gift works. What makes us so special?” “I.. I’m not actually sure. You both seem to have this pale form that I can always just.. feel. It feels like a connection between us, something we share. I don’t know anything beyond that, I’m sorry.” Sryine backed off, realizing that it wasn’t fair for her to get upset with Khyzae for such a thing. If it was something specific to the three of them, it was just as much her own responsibility for not having answers as it was any of the others. Vwyx herself was completely surprised, having not been aware of anything unusual like what was being described. As they pondered the subject, Khyzae’s father interrupted.
“It does answer a few questions I might have had. I’m sorry for jumping into your conversation, but I was also observing some of the same questions. Khyzae had been still and unawakened until you both had came to arrive, and in that moment I noticed she was following what I assumed was your approach, even through solid stone. I expect it was your presence that was responsible for her eventual awakening. Still, the questions never ended there, you both held countless questions as well. While you had managed to avoid the severity of burns that Khyzae had suffered, the sort of unnatural burns you had were clearly fatal, and yet you managed to survive beyond all hope. Something that night happened, something that caused this situation that we still struggle to understand.” Khyzae’s father took the opportunity to share his own findings on the subject, so that at least everyone would be aware of the oddity that surrounded them. Sryine and Khyzae exchanged a silent worried look, only interrupted by Vwyx’s dry laughter.
“Sorry, sorry. Well, by the divine, that’s a sudden twist. Sryine, maybe we’re more similar to Khyzae then we thought. Think about it, she died and still came back to us.. maybe wasn’t the only one. That unnatural purple flame Khyzae.. the other Khyzae I mean… she had that gateway setup and then everything went wrong. A purple flame from beyond our world, something we still don’t understand. I’m sorry, maybe I’m just blowing everything out of proportion, but that flame really was the biggest thing that has connected us like everyone has been saying. Meanwhile, suddenly I find myself surprised by my own ability, pulling off feats with the gift that doesn’t even feel like my own. Repairing materials I hardly understand.. and even Sryine sounds like she’s found the same thing going on. That invisibility trick is even pretty impressive, and you say it’s a brand new experience. I’m seriously questioning how much of me is still me, and what else that flame has done to change who I am.” Vwyx presented yet another side to things, a grim perspective that bespoke how emotionally overwhelmed she was.
Sryine could understand such concerns, taking into account the changes to her own gift, putting the pieces together. Their village was ill-equipped for dealing with life-threatening catastrophes, and yet despite being properly prepared, Sryine and Vwyx were alive but left with considerable changes that they still didn’t understand. She could remember burning, remember being drained of everything she had, there was nothing there that made a natural recovery make sense. There wasn’t enough evidence to support such a wild idea, but there wasn’t enough to deny it either. It was totally possible that the flame had taken their lives, only for them to find a new life sparked in the remains to live in a shell of the old, much the same way Khyzae was. It was a fearsome theory, that was for certain.
It was at this point that Khyzae’s mother showed up, announcing the completion of dinner. The five of them ate in silent contemplation, each then returning to their homes soon after.
Luminaeris 