With the mission fast approaching, I decided that it would be best to work on the last part of my aura pattern so I wouldn’t be going out on a mission with incomplete protection. The reason I had put it off so long is because the head is supposedly the most difficult part of any pattern. If I get it wrong there could be a myriad of effects, the majority of them negative and if it's so bad there's a chance I would need to break the pattern and start again. That would be incredibly frustrating.

  “So,” I started my thought turning to Edwards's floating body, “How do you think we can cheat at finishing my aura pattern, or, option two, do you think we should just do what we've been doing already but just very carefully.”

  He gave me a long flat look, “I think I can see what option you want to pick.”

  “Sooooooo?”

  “What do you even mean by cheating?”

  “You know…” I paused dramatically in my head, “Aura Vision?.”

  “That's not going to be as effective as you think it's going to be,” He flatly replied, “at least not any more than it has been for the previous parts. We’re going to have to stick with option two as we don’t really have a method of cheating even with aura vision.”

  “Even with what?”

  “Aura vision.”

  “What is that? I don’t think I’ve heard of aura vision.”

  “You’re just trying to be annoying to mask your disappointment aren’t you?” Edward mentally sighed and gave in. “Even with… Aura Vision ?. Happy now?”

  “Very,” I replied, before sighing myself, as I had been hoping for an easier time, “well let's do it the boring way then.”

  ***

  I started my meditation as I had practised with my other sections of aura. It had certainly gotten easier as I got back into the flow of moving my aura from the centre into the pattern it needed to be, the rhythm came to me after repeating it however many times I had to repeat the same steps. I could feel Edward slightly behind my pattern, correcting any small mistakes I may have made, making each loop more of a cohesive whole.

  Then I got to my brain.

  The change in feeling almost threw me off, ruining weeks of work but I managed to avoid making a mistake. Despite not wrecking everything the difference certainly made things more difficult. It was like my aura was cleaning my brain pathways but unevenly, like suddenly having a random leg muscle replaced with a professional athlete’s and immediately trying to run.

  I had to slow down and move the aura more methodically otherwise I might overshoot as the tactile feel of my aura became inconsistent. Edward was a lifesaver, fixing what mistakes slipped through with more ease than I could due to the changes in my mental processing speed not affecting him as it did me.

  The process felt like it took hours; it just kept going and going. More and more precise aura loops each connecting with the last. Then finally…

  The loop connected to my centre.

  A moment passed as my body and brain caught up with that fact, and then the pure exhaustion of the process hit me as it was given the reprieve it had been silently screaming for.

  I passed out.

  ***

  I woke to the concerned looks of the rest of my team. My bed seemed like someone had poured a bucket of water on it, and it had seemed as though I’d thrown up some sort of black bile while I slept which had dried into the bed sheet I was on.

  Despite what I probably physically looked like, I felt amazing, like recovering from a bad migraine. I had felt aspects of it during the process but due to how thought intensive the process was I couldn’t appreciate it.

  My team watched as I sat up out of my sweat and bile, I was suddenly far too aware of my smell, my senses seemingly upgraded though being attached to the pattern.

  Mathew was the first to break the silence.

  “I’m guessing you finished your aura pattern?” He asked as more of a statement than a question.

  “No, why?” I lied because I thought it was funny.

  “Because you went ‘I’m going to do the aura thing now’ before sitting in your bed and pulling this face.” Matthew retorted, pulling a face that looked almost constipated, “Then two hours later we found you basically glowing purple before you passed out for nearly a day. Which, to be honest, isn’t really that out of character, we did double check with Keter but he said that the body needs to aluminise itself with being so aligned with its own aura, so it’s expected; plus he forgot to warn you to finish somewhere easier to clean so be grateful that we found your new sheets.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “Ah, well…” I started but I had no retort, “Thanks, I’m going to shower.”

  As I moved out of my bed the feeling was extremely strange as I moved as I thought with no delay in between. Which is great unless you’ve always… not done that. I was going to have to relearn movement, as it was like having a too sensitive game controller.

  Getting to the shower was an ordeal as I kept overshooting my steps. Luckily my balance had also upgraded with the pattern, so I managed to catch myself in time before actually tripping.

  It was going to take time to get used to and I was so glad that I decided to do it with adequate time before the mission, but before I get used to it I guess I’ll have to move like a professional athlete who is also a toddler.

  ***

  I had only really recently gotten used to showering as I needed to take my leg off to do it and manoeuvre using handlebars so I didn’t fall over. Now with my aura pattern complete, it was even weirder as I could balance perfectly standing without my leg so I didn’t actually need to lean on anything.

  It was far easier but came with its own issue of trying to walk on my non-attached limb and smacking my face on the towel rack. I hadn’t done that for months, I think I had been relying on my imbalance as a mental queue that I had it on. Luckily, no one saw that mishap, though they may have heard a thump and a “I’m fine!”.

  Then I got a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I should check on something. I hadn’t heard Edward since waking up, so I mentally checked our link feeling slightly guilty that I hadn’t thought to, when I woke up.

  He was fine; if only still spiritually knocked out from the effort of completing my aura. This makes sense as I did borrow a lot of his energy, I don’t want to know how many mistakes he had to correct.

  With that cleared from my mind, I dressed myself into clean clothes, an action that took far more effort than I was willing to admit with my new fluidity. Now my mind was actually able to keep up, it should have been easier to move without too much difficulty, but evidently not.

  I must have been too busy concentrating on putting on a T-shirt or something, as for some reason, I had a note in my hand telling me to meet Dr Jacq near the dungeon once I’m ready.

  Mathew must have given it to me.

  I had nothing pressing to do so I finished getting dressed and headed to the dungeon entrance.

  ***

  I saw Jacq, who was currently a she, at the entrance. They smiled when they saw me though it didn’t seem to fully reach their eyes.

  “Ah, great I was hoping that would work,” they said, “I had worried I might have had to send someone to actually get you.”

  “Hoping what would work,” I replied confused, “didn’t you just ask one of my team?”

  “Yeah sure, let’s go with that.” They dismissed my question with a hand wave, it wasn’t really important enough to clarify the specifics, so I let it go, “Anyway there’s something I need to show you, something I feel the need to show every leader before their first mission.”

  They made a 'follow me' gesture and we made our way through the dungeon. Lights proceeded our path, as torches lit where we needed to go. This would have set the atmosphere if I hadn’t seen the effect was just different Jacqs lighting them and disappearing just out of view. Just out of view had I not just improved my vision through my completed aura. I chose not to ruin the illusion.

  We walked for a while in silence; the ambient sound of the dungeon around us. The sound of our footsteps rhythmically sounded as we made our way. Until they stopped.

  We stood next to a wall that didn’t stand out unless you were actively looking for differences. It had the vaguest impression of a handprint which Dr Jacq placed theirs onto for ten seconds before it popped open. Jacq stepped back.

  The door opened as another Jacq pushed it from the other side revealing a room.

  “We’re here.”

  They ushered me inside.

  “This is what I believe everyone who leads should know.” Jacqs voice felt accusatory though not solely directed at me, “These missions have a purpose, Mythics have a purpose and this room represents that.”

  The room was massive but seemingly empty, it was a room of interconnecting hallways that seemed to go on and on, most of the walls were rough with small patches of smoothness.

  “This room has all the names I could find of those who have died on missions, because of failure or necessity.”

  Looking closer at the walls I could make out the writing, but the amount of names covered the walls, thousands and thousands littered the walls.

  “Every Mythic, every civilian and every soldier.”

  Each name had an icon next to them to signify who they were, there were so many. Far more than should be possible in a single lifetime.

  “Everyone.” Their olive eyes seemed so old, far too old for their face. “Everyone I knew, and each one I had at least a hand in.”

  There was a moment of silence before they continued.

  “Just don’t unnecessarily risk your or anyone else’s life.” Those old eyes stared directly at my soul, “Heroic sacrifices end up with more blood than they save most of the time. In their unlived future, they bear the cost of what they could have done if they hadn't already spent their life unnecessarily. Be a brave coward and make sure you and your team survive.”

  With that Dr Jacq disappeared leaving me to think about what they said.

  I gained a new kind of respect for Dr Jacq but also far more questions. While there were no dates attached to any of the names that I could see, purely from the wear on some of the writings and some of the spelling, you could tell there was a history to the room.

  Plus they were known as a leading expert in Shades, some of the information in those textbooks has certainly saved lives but how did they gain that information? How powerful was their Legacy? How old were they?

  I stood in that silence until I was made aware of another presence.

  “So," The tone was almost a bitter laugh, "someone did care.”

  I saw Edward floating, his full attention on a section of one of the walls. I moved closer to see what he was looking at, though I feared I already knew.

  Edward Samual Blitz

  ***

  I spent what felt like hours in that room. The air was heavy, and only as I left did I feel the weight of the moment leave me. No one said anything else, as there wasn’t anything else to say.

  Edward had looked through the rooms and I didn’t pry for what he had been looking for, but I felt a wave of relief after a while.

  I just know I would not want to have any reasons to return to that room.