The Healer’s Mansion back within the Republic

  Year 2851 | Month 2 | Day 30

  Not long before their call

  Amelia frowns as she sits on a chair in one of the living rooms of the Healer General’s mansion. A mansion that also happens to be the home of one of her friends, who is the daughter of the Healer General. Cyria.

  Something has been bothering Amelia for a while now. Ever since she learned that Nathan was alive.

  She’s seen pictures of him, and while he does look like the same person even if he is clearly no longer human, there’s just something that’s bothering her about it all. Something that’s different about him.

  Although that much is obvious at a glance. Just from her seeing the videos of him running through battlefields without a care as he gets torn to shreds, burnt, blasted, and destroyed in any way imaginable. All without even looking away from his terminal or the results of his spells.

  Spells that are destroying entire swathes of soldiers.

  Now, Amelia is also a soldier. A magician at that. So she’s not shy when it comes to killing on the battlefield.

  But what she was seeing in those videos wasn’t a soldier killing enemy soldiers.

  It looked more like an apathetic creature slaughtering cattle to test something.

  Amelia remembers what Nathan was like the last time she saw him. Back when she and him were best friends. And she remembers their time in school before the academy even more clearly.

  Nathan was never all that expressive, but he was still a kind man who looked out for his friends. Even if he would say that he didn’t really care about much, he’d still step in and help if a friend was in need near him.

  Regardless of his own safety.

  And that was no doubt before he became immortal, since she remembers seeing his injuries staying then. Back when he saved her life all those years ago and ended up in the hospital for it.

  So seeing the videos recorded on the battlefield hurts Amelia more than she cares to admit.

  Just how much have you been through…?

  Amelia grits her teeth at the thought while clenching her fists.

  She’s currently alone at Cyria’s home, since Cyria herself had invited her over for an overnight planning session with Sofia. Only for an emergency to happen before Cyria and Sofia could even get back to the mansion, leading to the two of them having to go handle it.

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  So Amelia’s just left waiting for the two of them to finish with the emergency summons so they can continue the planning session they were going to do.

  One directly involving the very immortal magician she’s been fretting over this entire time.

  Amelia eventually puts her head in her hands and lets out a sigh of frustration. Only for her terminal to suddenly buzz on her arm, making her instantly move to check who is calling.

  But unlike what she was expecting, the call isn’t from Sofia or Cyria.

  It’s from another officer. Her subordinate in fact.

  A subordinate she would normally be leading on a mission right now if not for the Healer General’s order keeping her and her friends off of the frontlines.

  Why’s he calling?

  After a second, Amelia sits back in her chair and takes a deep breath before answering the call.

  Just to be shocked by the sight of the terminal camera being facing someone else rather than her subordinate.

  Someone she has been wanting to see for a while now. Ever since she heard he was still alive.

  Nathan.

  Nathan Fox.

  Amelia feels countless emotions coming over her all at once. But the leading emotion is sadness.

  It’s not anger at how he lied to them all. Or disappointment at how he hid his condition from everyone, even if she doesn’t understand much about how or why he’s immortal. Or even when he became immortal in the first place other than a couple tiny hints.

  She feels sad as she sees the expression on his face. One of complete apathy, albeit with some faint hints of surprise on it.

  Just how much pain…

  Amelia shakes her head before finishing the thought when he says, “Amelia.”

  So she smiles back at him and says, “Nathan.”

  She can tell so much more about his current state from this close up call than the long-distance glimpses she got through those recordings. And what she can tell hurts her more than she can say.

  It’s not even his physical differences that hurt her. Although she’s saddened by those and what pain they may have caused him too.

  It’s that she can see very little feeling anymore inside of the glowing crimson eyes she can see staring back at her through the screen. Almost like Nathan has turned off almost all of his emotions regarding others at this point to focus only on his goals.

  What those goals are, however, Amelia has no clue.

  And that bothers her even more.

  “I’m guessing the Healer General told you about me?” Nathan asks while raising one eyebrow.

  Amelia’s eyes widen a little bit. Both at his words, which imply the Healer General knows more than what he’s told them, and at the familiar habit Nathan has.

  A habit she knows very well.

  “No, he hasn’t,” Amelia says as her smile grows wider and far more genuine and less sad. All because of that one change in Nathan’s expression. Even if his expression is still lacking the same amount of warmth he used to have. “I’ll be sure to ask him the next time I see him.”

  Nathan lowers his brow and stares for a few seconds as Amelia continues smiling at the screen.

  He may be different, and he may have gone through so much on his own, but he’s still Nathan. Those habits don’t lie.

  “No, I’ll just tell you everything myself,” Nathan says with a shake of his head, surprising Amelia. “I might as well now that the Chairman knows about me too. There’s no reason to hide it anymore.”

  And so, Amelia immediately sits up to listen while clenching her fists, feeling nervous about what he’s about to say.

  “I’ll start from the beginning,” Nathan says, his eyes narrowing. “All the way at the mountains near my home.”

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