Altered Destiny

Ch. 16

Did I do some research into the relevant kind of injuries for this chapter? Yes. Did I do much of it? Not really, no. Should the descriptions in this be taken as accurate to such injuries? Absolutely not.

Random science-y time, not really relevant, just me speculating. So, lightning happens when a cloud builds up an electrical charge. That charge wants to equal itself out, and cloud-to-ground lightning happens when the charge does so by jumping between the cloud and the ground. So what would happen if lightning struck Ataraxia? Would the bolt just travel straight through the island and continue to the mainland? Could the charge equalize itself just by striking the island? If that happened, could charge eventually build up on the islands themselves and generate lightning between the islands? Or between the islands and the ground? That would certainly make Ataraxian life more... interesting.

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The first thing Ingressus was aware of was pain. It hovered over him like a layer of fog, its touch feathering over his skin and seeping down into his muscles. The second thing he noticed were the voices, low but nearby. His ear twitched as he tried to listen and ow, why did even that hurt?

"–the best Proteheal user I know," one of them was saying. "And I know a lot. What happened was– bad, it's true, but it's over now. We just have to wait for him to recover."

"What if he doesn't wake up?" the second voice whispered.

"He will."

They were... talking about him, weren't they? Ingressus was awake. But... oh. Oh yeah, his eyes were still closed. He opened them and immediately slammed them shut again, wincing at the bright light that seemed determined to drill its way into his skull.

"I– Ingressus?"

It was okay. He could deal with this. Eyes could adjust to light. He needed to know why he hurt.

He cracked his eyes open again, blinking against the light until he could see without squinting. He heard a gasp and focused his gaze to see Galleous and Luciren staring at him.

"You're awake!" Luciren cheered, jumping up from her chair as though to leap onto the bed beside him. "You're awake and alive!"

She bounced in place, her hands gripping the edge of the bed. "Doctor Meirus told me to give you space but I'd be giving you the biggest hug ever if he'd let me. Oh, I'm so glad you're okay!"

Ingressus did his best to keep up with her words as he looked around, taking in where he was. He was lying on a bed, propped up on his side by a set of pillows and leaving the most painful of– what was it, burns? –exposed to the air. The room he was in was mostly empty– his bed, a few chairs, a chest off to the side, a table by his bed with a bottle of water sitting on its surface. And behind Luciren, Galleous was slumped forward in his chair, staring at Ingressus with a look of pure relief in his eyes.

"You do remember us, right?" Luciren was saying. "The zap didn't fry your brain? You know who we are, right?"

"Yeah," Ingressus said hoarsely. "I remember you." Void, his mouth tasted weird.

Galleous rested a hand on Luciren's arm. "Why don't you go get your mom and brother," he suggested. "Give Ingressus some space to breathe."

Luciren jumped up. "Oh! That's right!"

She bolted out the door. Ingressus swore he could see a trail of dust in her wake.

Galleous pulled his chair closer, sitting beside the bed. "How are you feeling?"

Ingressus lifted his head with a wince, looking down at himself. With relief, he saw he still had all his limbs; whatever had happened to him, it wasn't Selarin's Aggrosphere. But there were faint, dark burns arching around his ribs from his back, leaving his markings paler than normal in their wake.