Lexie stared at the tall golden-haired woman, wondering why she felt the urge to weep for joy in her presence.

  Not just weep. She felt like getting on her knees and thanking her for being alive. And then confessing every bad thought she’d ever had, every naughty thing she’d ever done. She wanted to ask the woman for forgiveness and a hug to make all her guilt go away.

  Which was an odd way to perceive a stranger, but to be fair it wasn’t even the top three oddest things that had happened this week.

  Still, Lexie saw that she wasn’t the only one feeling this effect. Multiple other people in the hospital were silent and slack-jawed at the sight of the woman. Lexie didn’t blame them. The woman was radiant, filled with health and beauty and something else that Lexie couldn’t quite pinpoint.

  Later, she would try to recall exactly what feature made the golden-haired lady so captivating. And it would be incredibly difficult because apart from her hair, there wasn’t anything truly special about her looks. She was of average height and had pleasant unremarkable features. She even looked like her nose had been broken a time or two, but at that moment, Lexie didn’t care about any of that. She thought that the woman was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen in her life.

  “Saintess,” Emma whispered again, addressing the woman. “What are you…I mean...I didn’t think…” She sputtered for a second and shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m sort of at a loss for words. I mean we asked for a healer but I didn’t think they would send you.”

  The Saintess’ smile widened and once again, Lexie thought of the sun. Was there a halo around the woman's head or was it simply her imagination?

  “Well," she said. "I was kinda busy but then someone called in a favor and that put me on this trajectory. Plus I heard some crazy kids needed a healer to save their friend.” She glanced between Lexie and Xena but the smile curling her lips let the young ones know there were no hard feelings. “That would be you two?”

  Lexie and Xena both nodded numbly and the Saintess chuckled.

  “Well, I’m sure greetings are in order, but I heard there was a child in need of saving.”

  “Yes!” That seemed to jog Emma out of her stupor, and she gestured down the hallway starting to walk briskly to lead the Saintess there. “He’s right down here. We’ve kept him stabilized in the meantime but we'll have to move fast since he's already in the final stage."

  Lexie and Xena along with several other nurses followed them in time to hear the Saintess ask, “For how long?”

  “Nearly a week?”

  She raised an eyebrow. “He should be dead then.”

  “He isn't," Emma said. “We created a potion that would keep his body and mind in limbo while we waited for a healer's arrival."

  “Oh? A comatization potion? I didn’t know they started teaching those formulas at mundane clinics.”

  “Yeah me either. But we met a mundane man some time ago who taught us a few things,” Emma's eyes dropped from the Saintess when she uttered the lie. And even then the guilt in her face gave it away.

  Is Emma a bad liar, Lexie wondered, or is it the Saintess' influence messing with her skill?

  "It was necessary," she said as they turned the corner. "The disease moved much faster than anticipated.”

  “A new strain?”

  “Maybe." The voice came from Evan's doorway, and Aiden was standing there. He had shirked his lab coat and his gloves, wearing his normal button down and linen trousers. Apart from the tired eyes, he did not look like he'd been conducting experiments all day. He looked like maybe he was here for a visit.

  The Saintess paused to regard him. She did a good job of hiding her shock, and whatever other emotions she must have been feeling.

  “Archmage,” she finally greeted.

  “Saintess.”

  “I should have known. I assume you're the reason the mundanes have a comatization potion. You are aware it’s dangerous to create it.”

  "Pretty sure leaving Evan to die is more hazardous to his health," Xena quipped but it lacked her usual snarky tone. The Saintess glanced at her.

  "It's not just dangerous for the patient," she said but didn't elaborate before staring straight at Aiden, who met her gaze head-on.

  "I'm not sure what you're talking about," Aiden said and he lied a lot more convincingly than Emma did. Lexie suddenly realized that not only were her father’s experiments risky, but they might be illegal too.

  Probably had to do with the whole ‘ex-villains were not supposed to use magic’ thing. Also the potion itself was clearly a grey area. Lexie wasn’t sure how bad Aiden’s crime was, but with the way the Saintess and Emma were acting, it was clear that he had committed, at the very least, a minor misdemeanor.

  “He informed us of the risks,” Emma assured the Saintess hastily when it was clear the other woman wasn't buying Aiden's non-participation. “And in any case, it worked. And it's the only reason Evan is still alive. We permitted him to do it so if there are any sanctions they should fall on us."

  "No," Aiden said. "I acted on my own. You may sanction me."

  The Saintess looked between them, sighed, and said, "You know what? I suppose I can let this one slide."

  Then she walked into the room.

  Lexie watched from the doorway squatting so she could see in between the legs of the nurses and others that had gathered and pushed ahead of her.

  Rose was already on her feet. She greeted the Saintess enthusiastically, hope and fear still battling in her eyes. Hope that they could somehow save Evan. Fear that it was too late.

  The Saintess walked beside the bed and held out her hand over Evan’s face, palm down. She closed her eyes and hovered it over his whole body, muttering to herself as she did. Lexie couldn't hear the exact words she was saying but her furrowed eyebrows and downturned lip told Lexie that the Saintess didn’t like what she was seeing.

  “There’s a lot of structural damage to his pathways,” she said. “It will take time to heal. Possibly multiple rounds and weeks to get it done completely. And we should start with his mind because that has the most damage, and is the hardest to reset."

  Pathways? Lexie thought. Evan had pathways? But he was a mundane and just a kid? Did he have magic too?

  She decided to ask Aiden about it later.

  “But it can be done?” Rose asked, wringing her fingers. “You can heal him?"

  The Saintess didn’t answer at first. Instead, she did another pass over Evan’s body. And then another.

  “I can," she said and relief flashed through Rose’s face. The atmosphere eased, like the entire room collectively exhaled.

  “Thank you, Saintess,” Rose said. "Thank you." She reached out to touch the woman but Emma immediately intercepted. And a second later, Lexie saw why. The Saintess had already begun work, closing her eyes and muttering to herself once more. She did another pass and this time, her brow furrowed from the concentration. She hesitated around his skull area, and then continued with her hands moving in a circle.

  Evan wasn't moving during all this. In fact, no one in the room was moving, too entranced by the sight of the Saintess performing her magic.

  Although Lexie couldn't really tell what the magic was yet. There was no flashiness to it, no light show or floating glass cards that shattered in the air. But Lexie knew that the golden-haired woman was doing something because her face was increasingly more strained. While it was previously youthful and full of color, it paled rapidly.

  Then she touched Evan’s forehead and emitted a raw bark that was much like the one Evan had ejected when he'd turned.

  Lexie and half the people in the doorway jerked.

  At which point, the Saintess' being seemed to glow just a little.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “Is she healing him?” Lexie whispered to no one in particular.

  "She’s doing even better." It was Godfrey who looked back to answer, smirking when he saw her squatting. “She’s purifying him."

  Lexie wanted to ask what that meant but before she could, someone gasped so loud that it echoed down the hallway.

  And when she turned back to the Saintess, she saw why. Evan was awake.

  Not just awake. He was awake and his face looked as healthy as ever. Color returned to his cheeks, his eyes were bright and he grinned at the woman who still had her hand on his forehead.

  “I have stinky armpits,” were his first words.

  “Oh Evan,” Rose ran to his side and fell to her knees before him. “Oh, my poor baby! You’re okay. Mommy's here”

  “He’s not out of the woods yet,” the Saintess’ voice was slightly hoarse and she looked a little ill but she managed a smile as she stepped back from him. “He might look okay, but I only pushed back the first wave, and the disease will try to come back again in a few hours. I’ll have to purify him multiple times to convince it to leave for good.” She glanced at Emma. “He was close to death so he’ll need a little time and some warm food for his pathways to recover. And I'll visit him tomorrow to continue the healing."

  Emma nodded. “That’s very generous of you. Thank you.”

  “Thank you so much, Saintess.” Rose hugged her son and then turned to Emma, teary-eyed. “Thank you, Emma.”

  “Don’t thank me,” Emma said. “Thank Aiden. He’s the one who created the potion that stopped the spread of the disease.”

  Rose’s gaze turned to Aiden and her face dimmed. She opened her mouth to say something. She didn't manage to get it out and her gaze dropped.

  Finally, she nodded once and muttered unintelligible words, before turning back to her son.

  Despite her sympathy for Rose, Lexie got annoyed. Aiden might not have healed Evan, but he was the one who kept Evan alive this long. And it had cost him a lot of sleepless nights, and endless days spent working. After all Aiden’s hard work, even after Rose accused him of being a murderer, she couldn’t even say thank you? No apology? All she could manage was unheard words?

  Lexie wanted to say something, but Aiden caught her eye and shook his head. Let it go, his expression said. He didn’t want to make a scene.

  It only made Lexie angrier, but she bit her tongue to respect his wishes.

  Apparently, Xena wasn’t so inclined.

  “He’s the only reason Evan’s still alive you know.” She spoke up, facing Rose directly. “You could at least apologize for what you said to him."

  True, although ironic coming from Xena.

  “She’s right,” Riordan said.

  “He was basically killing himself trying to save Evan,” Godrick chimed in, and the other nurses nodded murmuring their ascent. Aiden blushed as one by one they came to his defense, gently asking Rose to make things right.

  Shame took over Rose’s features. She finally looked Aiden in the eye, a mortified blush spreading across her cheeks. “Thank you. I… I’m sorry for what I said, it's just...”

  “I understand,” Aiden said graciously. “Don't worry, talk to your son.”

  Rose’s face reddened even more, and her eyes dropped again. She nodded and murmured more words of gratitude before turning her attention back to Evan.

  The Saintess watched the drama with a keen eye and then refocused on Emma. “You were bitten too?”

  Emma seemed to have forgotten because she looked at the bandage on her arm as though surprised it was still there. “Oh yeah, I guess I was.”

  The Saintess reached out for Emma’s arm but Emma didn't give it right away. Instead, she hung back and said, “Are you sure you’re okay? Mine can wait. You probably need to rest.”

  “Of course not.” The Saintess smiled kindly. “I'll get all the rest I need after I'm done here. But for now, let me look at your arm."

  “But you look a little…”

  “Mom,” Xena said, tugging Emma’s robe. “Just give her your hand.”

  Emma glanced at Xena, still whiffling with her decision, and then bit her lip. She reluctantly held her hand out and the Saintess took it, closing her eyes again. Within a few seconds, the rash on her neck was gone, although the Saintess looked more than a little nauseous.

  “While I’m here,” she said, despite it. “I might as well see your sickest patients. Those whose health bars aren’t refreshing. I heard there were quite a few reports."

  “Yes,” Emma said and then gratitude shone in her face. “Yes, that would be great. Thank you so much, Saintess.”

  “Please. Call me Dee.”

  Dee leveled a final look at Aiden as she followed Emma and the nurses out of the room, flanked by Xena. It was just Aiden, Lexie, Rose and Evan left. The latter two were in their world and barely noticed as Lexie approached Aiden. “Are you okay?”

  “Of course.” He put his hand around her shoulder and dragged her close. His hand shook. “Just a little tired.”

  “You should come home and get some rest. Evan’s fine now. It’s time for you to recuperate.”

  “Yes,” Rose spoke softly, turning to regard them. “Please go and rest. You’ve earned it.”

  Aiden looked like he wanted to argue but he finally sighed wearily. “Fine. Let me just tell Emma that I’m leaving. I’m glad Evan’s okay, Rose.”

  “Thank you for everything, Archmage. I’m…I’m truly sorry about how I acted. I guess I lost my mind a little.”

  “You have nothing to be sorry about,” Aiden said. “All is forgiven.”

  Rose pressed her lip together and nodded. But it was clearly not all resolved.

  There was still a lot of tension between the two, and it was clear that Rose was uncomfortable with them still being here. So they left the room with mumbled goodbyes and went in search of Emma.

  On the way, Lexie asked her father, “What’s the difference between purifying and healing?”

  Luckily, Aiden wasn't too tired to answer. “Purifying is healing with something extra. It’s hard to explain or quantify what that ‘extra’ is but essentially, with Evan purified, he won't get loiter disease any time soon. Probably not for the rest of his life even if he’s bitten. He’ll have some boosts in vitality and strength too, for the next few months at the very least. Any disease or pestilence will literally avoid him.”

  “Ah.” Now Lexie saw why the woman was so revered.

  “Yes. Usually, Saintesses aren't dispatched for single patients. They aren’t used as Healers necessarily, but to purify lands after disease outbreaks. Occasionally they're called for summonings too. But they’re usually reserved for large-scale events. It’s a wonder she’s here.”

  “Yeah,” Lexie responded. She too wondered why the Saintess was here. Who called in the favor?

  On the way home, Lexie had a second question for Aiden. “Oh, by the way, why did she keep talking about Evan’s pathways? I thought only people with magic have pathways."

  Aiden smirked. “No, bumble bee. Everyone has pathways even if they don’t have mana. And there are different types of pathways too."

  At her puzzled look he continued, "All life is simply a series of systems and pathways. It’s how we operate. Mundanes have pathways too, but they’re usually less flexible than the pathways of rankers. It's part of the reason why they have low mana affinity. Because rather than their pathways adjusting to control the mana flow, they would just rupture."

  Ah. So pathways were probably similar to veins and arteries in one’s body. And mundanes had much stiffer arteries, like they had atherosclerosis.

  “Healers are pathway experts,” Aiden continued. “They have to be able to do what they do. Not only that, they have to have the most flexible pathways to direct the disease to an elimination channel in a way that gets rid of it.”

  “Elimination channel?”

  “Yes. Healing isn’t as easy as it looks. A healer links their pathway to the patients through a link channel, and then draws some of the patient’s disease to what we call an elimination channel in their own body. That means they take a sample of the disease into themselves, but contain it in a specific part of their body, as their skill generates an accelerated cure. Then, they direct the cure back to the patient's body. That's how healing works.”

  “Wow, that sounds complex. And painful.”

  “It can be, particularly when the individual is close to death, meaning the healer has to work faster and take on more of the infection.”

  “I see.” No wonder the Saintess had looked so awful after healing Evan. She felt sorry for the woman, and sort of regretted every nasty thing she’d ever thought about the healers from the Hero association.

  Lexie had also briefly, and very briefly, considered being a healer but not anymore. It would undoubtedly be a noble skill, but she wasn’t that sacrificial to put herself in pain every time she had to use her powers.

  Another reason why I'm not hero material.

  But as she thought more about what Aiden said, another realization came to her.

  “Doesn’t the healing mechanism sound a little bit like how cards work." She pointed out. "Activating the card with your mana, and then using a card as a link to external mana. Right? And then drawing the external mana inside to generate a skill. That’s basically what you just said about how healing works.”

  Aiden sighed with a wry smile, but there was that hint of pride on his face again. "Did you get more clever after you lost your memory, or were you just holding back before?"

  Oops. Lexie kept forgetting to act like a ten-year-old. But surely a ten-year-old would probably also notice that parallel. Right?

  Well, whatever. She’d already made the mistake. In for a penny, in for a pound. “If she healed him with a potion, or say a card, or some other magical artifact it wouldn’t be as painful right?”

  “Not this, again.” Aiden’s amusement dropped. “Lex, I don't want you to focus too hard on that, because I don't want you to get disappointed. As I already told you, crafting a healing card would be an extremely difficult, probably pointless endeavor.”

  “Notice you didn't say impossible.”

  He sighed again. “No. I didn’t say it was impossible.”

  Lexie thought about it. "Can you teach me how you created your first card?"

  He glanced up at the sky, hesitation clear in his stance. “Lexie…”

  “You said you weren’t much older than me when you made it. And you didn't have a generational genius father to guide you, did you?” Lexie thought stroking his ego might help her argument.

  But Aiden shook his head. “Making cards at your age is dangerous. I did it because I was young and foolish, and even then I had an appropriate lab at the academy where I could perform experiments. You don’t have that, so it’s even more dangerous for you. And I won’t be able to help you since I can't even visualize mana fields anymore.”

  “Mana fields?”

  “See? You don’t even know what that is. There’s so much you need to learn before you even think about crafting a card.”

  “Then teach me.” Lexie pointed out the simple solution to their predicament. “Or at the very least, teach me proper card activation so I won't waste so much mana. You said you would.”

  “I did say that, didn't I?” He sighed, then ruffled her hair. “Fine. I’m going to go home and we’re both going to take a long nap. And then, I’ll teach you everything you need to know about proper card activation.”

  Lexie grinned and resisted the urge to pump her fist into the air. She would count that one as a win.