The Wastelands

"Finally!" Lilia's mind was easing more and more as she walked further away from the group.

"Ha, can you slow down a bit. Geeze!" Terran asked, gasping for breath.

Lilia just rolled her eyes but slowed down a little bit, allowing him to catch up. "You know, you should be in better shape. You're giving all Lumeye a bad name."

"Ha," he gasped out. "I'm not built to catch up to a speed demon."

"Hah, me? I thought Heather was in the speed demon in our group," Lilia widened, looking back at still huffing Terren, and she picked up the pace, teasing a little.

"You know that Heather trips over her own feet." Terran coughed. "Can you stop that."

Lilia laughed, allowing him to catch up. "Sorry about that. I couldn't help myself." There was a pause. "Terran, why did you follow me out here?"

He sighed."You know the rules you can't go deeper in the Wastelands without a partner."

"But I have Sil." Lilia looked up, and there was Sil around, probably chasing something for dinner.

"I don't think Captain Terrance would agree," Terran mused. "Besides, didn't it ever occur to you that I had my own reasons coming out here."

"Ah, hah," Lilia wasn't convinced. "I saw you throwing those puppy dog eyes of yours at Tessa." Lilia winked at Terran, smirking a little. "I thought you want to spend more time with your girlfriend." She finished in a sing-song tone.

Terran just glared. "Are you done yet."

"Hmm," Lilia looked up in thought. 'Should I put him out of his misery?' Lilia glanced at his very red face, and she couldn't help but feel a little pity for him, so very reluctantly, she replied, "Yep, I'm done."

"Good," Terran walked up to the tree, shaking his head, and moved to the next one. "This will do." He placed his hand near the base of the truck and breathed. After a while, a stream of energy was drawn from the ground and into his palm, then debursed throughout his body. Lighting up his eyes for a second. "Thank you," Terran whispered, showing respect to the tree, before turning back to Lilia.

"You had to absorb that much? Your levels must have been dangerously low." Lilia was worried. They, as Lumeye, had to feed regularly from their own element to survive. Still, if Terran had absorbed such a large amount, then he had been overusing his abilities or not getting enough energy. Knowing Terran, probably both. "You're working yourself too hard. No wonder you're exhausted."

"You're one to talk." Terran threw back at Lilia. "You're hiding something too. You always have this vague look; you're talking to Sil a lot, and your slipping. Plus, your movements are a little off. It's not just your mind that's acting up; it's your body as well. Did you think I wouldn't notice? I take pride in my skills as a healer."

Lilia adverted her eyes; she didn't like to discuss this with him; it was an uncomfortable subject for her. "It's nothing, so forget about it."

Terran stood his ground. "Um, no. Lilia, you're not getting away this time. Show it to me!" He ordered. "Now!"

Lilia backed up a little. "Um. I told you I'm fine."

"Yeah, well, you always say that," Lilia whispered back, but she knew that she was going to give in; he had this doctor mode aura that was way more overpowering his usual mild self. "Fine," she g.r.o.a.n.e.d out.

"Now take off your fatigue top, and sit down," he ordered, indicating to a stump nearby. Lilia did as she was told, only wearing a t-shirt for a top. Lilia shivered a little; it was a bit chilly. Lilia looked to the side, trying not to feel too uncomfortable. She trusted Terran with her live, but they were in the little of the Wastelands, anything could happen.

*Sil, can you keep a lookout?* Lilia asked.

*No problem,* Sil flew down to a lower branch.

Terran mumbled in concentration. "You have a big tear here on your back. He touched her on her lower right back. "I see some strain on your left shoulder blade." He continued. "Your left leg has some ligament damage. None of these are recent." Terran leaned back, worried. "What happened?"

"Um, that fight with Shadow had taken a toll," Lilia told him a half-truth. Please, don't pry more.

"Don't bullshit me," Terran called her out. "I saw those injuries, they have scarring, but they were healed. The ones I mentioned they should have been healed already." He sighed. "The tearings looked unnatural like they weren't caused by an external force, but an internal one, it almost looked like…" He shook his head in denial. "No, that's impossible."

Lilia was silent for a moment then asked, vaguely, "What is?"

"Your body couldn't have torn itself apart?" Terran asked, desperately, when Lilia didn't say anything, he took that as a confirmation. "How?"

"How? Do you mean, how I got that way, or how did I hide it for so long?"

"Both."

Lilia rubbed the back of her neck. "Can I put my shirt back on at least."

"No, I want to heal them, at least."

"You shouldn't really…" 'waste your time.' Lilia wanted to say, but he proceeded to try to heal her. However, the frown on his face a couple of seconds later meant that he probably failed. "I told you so."

"What is this?" Terran looked bewildered. "The wounds are laced with power, it kept bouncing me back."

"I thought as much." Lilia sighed. "Probably explains why it's healing so slowly. Now can I put my shirt back on."

"Yes. So…" Terran pressed.

Lilia pulled her fatigues back on, gratefully. "I took in too much power to fight Shadow," Lilia confessed. "And I almost imploded. If it weren't for Sil and Va, it would have been a lot worse."

At that time, they both merged with her, to give her a fighting chance. *Thank you,* Lilia looked up at Sil in gratitude.

"Why didn't you tell us, tell me. I'm supposed to oversee your injuries." Terran pleaded.

Lilia's looked down at her hands. "It wasn't that simple, you all just came out of your tubes, and was going through rehabilitation, trying to learn how to use your mediums again. My problem was minor in comparison."

"Minor? You almost imploded!"

Lilia laughed halfheartedly. "Um, yeah, I didn't, so everything's good." Lilia knew she was shovelling her own hole, but she didn't know what else to do. The fight with Shadow was messy. It could have gone either way. If Lilia didn't fight with her full power, then she would have lost. After that, there would have been no stopping him. Lilia had no doubt that Shadow would have become an unstoppable killing machine, something even Shadow didn't want. As for the rest of them, they might as well be dead. Shadow would have kept them trapped in those tubes for the rest of their very short lives.

At the time, taking the risk was the only option. Keeping the aftermath a secret was Lilia's choice; she simply wasn't ready to tell anyone. Lilia didn't want to see that look that Terran was giving her right now.

'Selfish, I know.'

"How did you hide it from the headmistress?" Terran asked.

Lilia looked away, "I didn't."

"She knew about this?" Terran contemplated. "Of course, she did."

***

"Are you sure about this?" The headmistress asked, sitting behind her desk.

"Yes." Lilia answered, "They don't need to know."

"I have to disagree."

Lilia felt the headmistress's eyes on her. She knew that the woman was accessing the damage Lilia was displaying. Her left arm was in a sling. Her right wasn't much better. The left side of her face was bandaged up, and she was using a cane humble about. In a nutshell, she was a mess.

"It's my decision."

"I think Terran should know. The probability that you will take in too much power is high, and he needs to be on stand by." Headmistress Weatherly advised.

"Please, you know that Terran can't keep a secret from Heather, and if Heather knows, everyone knows." When the headmistress didn't look convinced, Lilia pleaded, "At least until everyone has recuperated."

"Fine." But before Lilia could sigh in relief. "But Mr. Statson and Miss. Andres would have to monitor you."

"But…" Lilia protested.

"No arguments." She ordered. "I would like to have Miss. Liu in the know as well, but I gather you would protest all the more. True?"

"True." Lilia reluctantly conceded.

"And Lilia?"

Lilia turned to look back at the headmistress. "Yes?"

"The you right now is a liability and a dangerous one at that." The headmistress. "If you can't find a solution soon, I have no choice but to remove you from the team and place you under protective custody. Am I clear?"

"Very." Lilia gritted out.

"And please don't wait long, or I will be forced to push, and we both wouldn't want that would we?" Headmistress Weatherly warned, with a hard stare.

***

Present

"I'm surprised that Headmistress Weatherly allowed you to come," Terran continued.

"I'm not," Lilia whispered. 'Was this her idea of a push? No, it felt more like a tap. Maybe a warning? No matter, Terran knows now, nothing can change that.'

"I wish that you could trust us more," Terran stated with sadness.

Lilia opened her mouth. "I..um." She couldn't say anything to refute it. He was right.

There they stood in awkward silence, listening to the Wasteland's song.

"You know," Terran spoke up. "I'm surprised you haven't mentioned that Tower's teacher."

"Who?"

"You know she's kind of cute for an older lady." Terran was blushing a little.

Lilia formed a slow grin, then exclaiming in mock shock. "Terran shame on you, I thought you liked Tessa."

"No! No!" Terran was waving his hands in panic. "I didn't mean me, I meant you might like her. I mean, geez. I mean, you like older women, don't you? You liked Miss. Liu, so I thought…"

Lilia laughed, kind of relieved that Terran was attempting very poorly to change the subject. "Relax, I'm just messing with you a little; besides, there no harm in looking." Lilia's smile turned into a frown. "Who was that teacher again?"

"Really? You haven't noticed her?" Terran asked with shock. "She had glasses and really dark hair. She really stands out."

Lilia frown deepened, then she shook her head to clear out the haze. "Sorry, I have been a little distracted."

"Distracted? With what?"

"I don't know, but I have the feeling that someone is watching us," Lilia confessed, then corrected herself. "Or me, I don't know anymore."

"Watched? Is it Shadow?" Terran asked.

Lilia tilted her head to the side in thought, before slowly shaking her head. "No, I know when Shadow's around. This feels different." Lilia waved her hand in dismissal. "I don't know, I haven't been feeling that great. Maybe I just imagine it."

*I see movement.* Sil interrupted just as Lilia whipped her head to the side. Soon after, she grabbed Terran to take cover behind a tree. She heard the Wasteland's song changed a little, warning her of an intruder. Lilia was confused though, the sound went up sharply, but it wasn't malicious.

'What's going on?'

Lilia placed a finger on her lips, telling Terran to be quiet, and she listened, trying to determine the intruder's position. A rustling of leaves, a snaping of trigs. He wasn't on the ground. Lilia followed the sound up.

Then she heard something a little further to the left. Someone else? No, something much smaller, an animal, sounded like a fox. Lilia turned back to the person up in the branches, then saw a flash of blue.

*He's leaving!* Lilia exclaimed, giving Terran a look.

Terran nodded. *Let's follow.*

They both took off after him.