Chapter 32: The Treatment Begins

Cassian led them into the treatment preparation area without wasting a second. Researchers were already moving around the chamber, and Cassian checked the final requirements on his tablet as they walked.

"We’re still waiting on the materials you gathered," he said. "Once they’ve been delivered and verified, we can—"

Reinhard gave him an amused look. "About that."

He opened his Inventory, and a sealed container appeared on the table in front of them. Another appeared beside it, followed by a third and a fourth. Dragonlight, Starfall Crystal, Azure Lifeblood Ore, and Eclipse Glass sat neatly in a row across the preparation table.

The researchers slowly stopped what they were doing. One woman looked at the containers, then at Cassian’s tablet, and then back at the containers as though the list might somehow change if she checked it enough times.

"But... you only gave him the list less than two weeks ago."

"Yes," Cassian said faintly.

He walked down the row and checked each container one by one. Every label matched, every material was authentic, and not a single item was missing.

"He actually found all of them?"

Cassian let out a quiet, disbelieving laugh. "He did."

"Oh, and this."

Reinhard reached into the air again and produced a sealed vial. "Gnosis Recovery Medicine. It’s supposed to support the reconstruction."

He produced a second vial and placed it beside the first. "This one boosts the effectiveness of the treatment when you dissolve it."

Cassian stared at the two vials. "Stop pulling things out of the air."

"Would you like me to put them back?"

"No." Cassian carefully took both vials. "Where did you even get these?"

"I found them."

"You found them?"

"I have a gift."

Lily grinned. "Of course he does."

"Don’t encourage him," Maki said.

Emily had stayed quiet through the entire exchange. She looked at the rare materials lined up across the room, then at Reinhard, knowing what some of them had cost and how difficult they had been to find.

She reached over and took his hand. "Thank you."

He looked down at her. "You don’t have to thank me."

"I know." She squeezed his hand. "I’m going to anyway."

The treatment chamber stood in the center of the next room, and when Emily saw it, the reality of what she was about to do finally settled over her. After all the years she had spent believing this moment would never come, she was actually going to try.

Reinhard crouched beside her wheelchair. "Ready?"

"No," Emily said immediately.

He smiled. "Good."

She looked at him. "Why does everyone keep saying that?"

"Because I’d be more worried if you weren’t nervous."

She stared at him for a moment before giving him a faint smile.

Cassian stepped toward the main display and brought up an image of Emily’s Gnosis. Large sections were still missing despite the progress of the first treatment, and he pointed toward the damaged areas.

"Your Gnosis survived, but barely. The first treatment proved it can still respond. This one is different. We’re going to use that response to push the surviving sections into rebuilding the damaged ones."

Emily swallowed. "Will it heal completely?"

"Not today."

"Then what should I expect?"

"If it works, your Gnosis should be able to continue rebuilding itself after the treatment ends." Cassian paused before continuing. "But your damaged pathways may reject the reconstruction."

Reinhard’s expression tightened. "And if they do?"

"There may be severe pain and instability. We’ll monitor every stage, but once we begin, we can’t simply reverse it."

Emily nodded slowly. "I understand."

Reinhard took her hand. "Still want to do this?"

She looked at the chamber, then back at him, and she didn’t hesitate. "Yes. I want to."

Reinhard lifted her from the wheelchair and carried her into the chamber himself. He lowered her carefully onto the treatment bed and stayed a moment longer than he needed to, adjusting the blanket over her legs out of habit before stepping back as the doors slid shut.

The chamber came to life as several glowing orbs descended from the ceiling, each holding one of the processed materials. The room gradually filled with mana while Reinhard stood behind the barrier with Maki and Lily beside him, Yuna remained with the researchers at the monitors, and Cassian took his place at the main console.

"Begin."

The first orb opened, and Dragonlight poured out in a glowing stream before sinking into Emily’s body. Her fingers twitched, and a moment later, the Starfall Crystal dissolved into fine particles that spread through her body as the mana inside the chamber grew thicker. The Azure Lifeblood Ore activated next, causing the mana density to climb sharply as Emily’s brow furrowed.

"Stable," Cassian said as he watched the readings.

Reinhard didn’t take his eyes off Emily as the final orb opened and the Eclipse Glass began to dissolve. The moment it entered her body, the display changed, and lines that had been dead for years began flickering across the image of her Gnosis.

Cassian leaned closer to the screen. "Gnosis response detected."

Emily felt it too. Something deep inside her was moving, and she could feel her Gnosis beginning to pull itself back together.

For several seconds, everything remained stable, but then her fingers curled tightly around the edge of the bed and her breathing became uneven.

"Pain response," Cassian said.

"Keep going," Emily said through her teeth.

The researchers exchanged glances as Cassian adjusted several controls. "The reconstruction has started."

A faint glow spread across the damaged sections of Emily’s Gnosis, and the pain climbed higher until her entire body went rigid.

"Ah...!"

Reinhard pressed his hand flat against the barrier.

Another spike appeared on the monitor, and Emily cried out again. Reinhard took a step forward, but Maki grabbed his arm.

"Wait."

He stopped.

"We have to maintain the treatment," Cassian said, keeping his eyes on the readings.

Emily’s body shook as the reconstruction continued, and then she screamed.

Reinhard’s ability activated before he had even consciously decided to use it.

[Link Chain.]

A connection snapped into place between them, and the pain hit him all at once. His body went stiff, his vision blurred, and for one terrible instant, he was no longer standing behind the barrier. He was inside Emily, experiencing the pain, pressure, confusion, and horrible sensation of something deep inside her being pulled apart and rebuilt over and over again.

His knees nearly buckled.

"Reinhard?" Lily whispered.

He forced himself upright.

Inside the chamber, Emily’s eyes opened and found him through the glass. "Reinhard...?"

He smiled at her. "I’m fine."

She stared at him, knowing he was lying but lacking the strength to argue.

The connection held, and the pain continued flowing through it. Then something else crossed the Link Chain, something that wasn’t pain.

A memory.

No, not a memory.

A fracture.

A young Emily stood in the middle of an arena while the crowd roared around her. She was smiling proudly as she held a trophy tightly against her chest.

Then the memory shattered.

Emily was lying on the ground, barely moving, while her Gnosis broke apart and fragments of light scattered across the ground around her.

Something was looking down at her.

There were eyes everywhere, too many to count, filling the darkness above her and opening one after another, with every one of them fixed on Emily as though they were watching something they had been waiting a very long time to see.

In front of them stood something enormous. Countless wings stretched into the darkness, layered over one another until they formed a wall of feathers and light. Reinhard couldn’t see its face, and he couldn’t tell where its body ended, but for some reason, that frightened him more than anything else.

This isn’t a memory.

It felt as though he had looked through a crack into something that was never meant to be seen.

The scene shattered again.

Another fragment pulled him somewhere else. Emily sat alone in her wheelchair, staring toward a training ground while people moved in the distance, and a voice spoke from behind her.

"You won’t fight again."

The words settled over her like a weight.

The scene changed again. Emily was on the training grounds, trying to gather mana, but nothing happened. She tried again, and still nothing happened. Her face tightened, but she didn’t leave. She tried a third time.

Another fragment appeared. Emily was crying with her face turned away so nobody would see, and after a moment, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand before looking toward the training grounds again.

Then she went back.

More fragments followed. Emily eating dinner with her family, Emily sitting by a window watching the world outside, and Emily sitting with Reinhard while they talked about the treatment.

Then came the final fragment.

Emily had made her choice.

She was afraid. She knew the treatment could fail, she knew it would hurt, and she knew there was no guarantee she would ever become the person she had once been.

She had chosen to try anyway.

The fragments continued breaking apart around Reinhard, but for the first time, he wasn’t looking at the destruction. He understood what connected all of them.

Emily had lost her strength and her ability to fight, and she had spent years being told that the life she wanted was gone. Yet every time she fell, she had tried again.

Reinhard’s expression softened.

So that’s how you survived.

The memories disappeared, and Reinhard found himself back in the treatment room. Emily was still there, still fighting, and half of her pain continued pouring through the Link Chain as he gritted his teeth and refused to let go.

Then the monitors began to shriek.

Warning lights flashed across the chamber, and Cassian’s face changed.

"Her Gnosis is rejecting the reconstruction!"

Emily’s body arched against the treatment bed as the energy surrounding her became wild and unstable.

"Stop it!" one of the researchers shouted.

Cassian shook his head. "Not yet!"

"Her readings are spiking!"

"I can see that!"

Emily screamed again, and Reinhard moved toward the chamber on instinct.

"Don’t touch her!" Cassian shouted.

Reinhard stopped with his fists clenched at his sides.

For once, there was nothing he could do. Money couldn’t fix this, and neither could strength. Even the Link Chain couldn’t take the problem away. All he could do was carry half of her pain.

The rest was hers.

"Emily."

Her eyes opened and found his through the glass.

"Keep going," she gasped. "Believe in me. I can do this."

Reinhard’s hands trembled.

Then he nodded to Cassian.

The stop control remained untouched.

The Gnosis kept fighting the reconstruction, and the readings continued climbing until, suddenly, they stopped.

The alarms fell silent one by one.

Cassian froze as a single line on the monitor stabilized, followed by another.

"...Wait."

A researcher leaned toward the display. "What happened?"

Cassian didn’t answer. He was staring at one section of Emily’s Gnosis, where something had changed.

A damaged pathway that had been completely disconnected for years had begun to glow, and a faint blue line was slowly spreading across the shattered section.

Cassian’s eyes widened.

"It’s reconnecting."

Reinhard stared through the glass as another blue line appeared, followed by another.

"Can you stop it if something goes wrong?"

Cassian didn’t answer immediately. His eyes remained fixed on the rapidly changing readings.

"We may not have to."

Reinhard watched the blue lines continue spreading through Emily’s damaged Gnosis.

For the first time in years, something inside her was rebuilding itself.

And the treatment wasn’t finished yet.