"Yet I couldn't live with that lie." Lith shook his head. "Wearing a mask for the rest of my life and the constant fear of what might happen if Kami or my family learned the truth was too much. It tainted every moment we spent together."
"What if things went differently?" Nalrond asked. "What if they didn't accept you?
"I would have still had my powers." Lith shrugged. "I would have still had Solus by my side, the tower, and most importantly, I would have been free to look for someone who would accept me. Cutting ties is hard, but it's better than keeping them even when they are strangling you."
"Thanks, Lith." Nalrond's mood was still sour but his heart felt lighter. "I need some time to think. Please, tell the others to not worry about me and that I'll see you all tomorrow."
"Do you want some food?" Lith had a tray filled with steaming dishes appear out of his pocket dimension. "If we want to continue with the research, you need your strength."
"Yes, please." Nalrond's stomach grumbled like a distant storm, the delicious smell triggering the primordial instincts that only cared about survival. "Don't worry about the room. If something stays broken, I'll pay you back."
"You better." Lith nodded. "Here's the bill for the food."
***
"What an ass!" Solus couldn't decide whether to be angry or laugh at Lith's prank. The final result was a sort of joyous scolding. "You didn't even pay for the furniture of the Mansion. The Royals did. Billing him for the dinner was a brilliant move, though."
"Thanks." Lith nodded. "The worst part is that Nalrond thought I was being serious and tried to pay me."
"Really?" Friya asked.
"Really. We almost came to hands due to the lousy tip." At those words, everyone burst into laughter at what they hoped was another joke.
"Moving on, I'd like to review the data collected by the Eyes and compare it with Mogar's vision together with you." Quylla said. "I have a theory that I'd like to share and the images make the explanation easier.
"I want to iron out every detail we can before telling Nalrond that I may have found a solution. I don't want to give him false hopes."
***
After plenty of (free) meals and the first good night's rest in over a week, Nalrond's body was in top shape and his mood was lighter.
He went to the dining room of the Verhen Mansion first thing in the morning to have breakfast with the others and reassure them about his condition.?He found them sitting around the table, engaged in a lively discussion that ended the moment he walked in.
Even weirder, Kamila, Elysia, Valeron, and even Ryla and Garrick were nowhere in sight.
"There's no need for a family intervention." Nalrond raised his hands in apology. "I'm fine now. You can bring the others back. I won't scare the children with my temper, you have my word."
"That's not the issue." Lith shook his head while having a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausages appear in front of Nalrond's chair. "We have to discuss healers' matters and there are things children shouldn't hear."
"I see." The Rezar sat down and tipped a copper coin to Lith who promptly threw it back, hitting Nalrond right in the middle of the forehead. "Jackass."
"Cheapskate."
Many would have liked to point out the glaring "pot calling the kettle black" case, but they assumed it was some weird male bonding and they left it at that.
Once everyone was done eating, Quylla started talking.
"I've thought long and hard about this and I believe to have found a solution."
"You did?" Nalrond was flabbergasted. "Until two days ago, no one had a single clue."
"Yeah, because what made me think was your comment about how any member of the werepeople should be able to solve the problem without so many resources and that Mogar's vision made no sense." She replied.
"After checking the readings of the Eyes and comparing them with our memories from the Fringe, I discovered that the answer was in front of our eyes the whole time."
"Which is?" Nalrond leaned forward, barely containing his excitement.
"Look carefully." Quylla projected the vision belonging to Nalrond's own memories of the Mindscape.
She focused the vision on two moments. As long as the Rezar kept his distance, the embodiments of his life forces lashed at each other. No matter which one delivered a successful strike, a mirroring wound would appear on the aggressor as well.
When Nalrond approached them, however, they had stopped fighting and attacked him like rabid animals.
"The first part is what you understood and tried to replicate until now. The symmetrical wounds are a suggestion to link and weaken the two aspects of your life forces. The second part, instead, you misunderstood like we all did.
"Like it happened with the other vision, the attack isn't just a way to kick you out of the Mindscape, but part of the solution." After noticing his confused expression, she pointed out:
"Look! They are not only attacking you, they also have stopped bickering. The moment your life forces found a common enemy, their base instincts brought them to work together.
"To successfully fuse them, you need to give them something to be worried about. Something so dire that they'll be too busy surviving to waste time with infighting."
Nalrond watched the images over and over until he was sure of it.
"You are right! While fighting with me, the two life forces coordinated their attacks. On top of that, even though they offered each other several openings, they exploited none until they were done with me." He said.
"Still, I don't think I can fight anyone while undergoing a Body Sculpting procedure and I doubt Lith wants to expose the tower to any of our enemies."
"Before moving on to that, there's a matter that we've never considered but that we can't ignore any longer." A snap of Quylla's fingers shattered the hologram, bringing Nalrond's focus back on her.
"Life forces can fuse. We know that. We've seen that." She pointed at Lith and Tista before conjuring images of Elysia, Valeron, and Shargein. "It's possible under the right conditions and by following Dawn's suggestion, once we solve the conflicting cores' issue, merging your life forces should be no problem at all.
"They already want to fuse on their own. We just have to clear the path a bit for them and smoothen the process."
"Okay?" Nalrond tilted his head in confusion.
"Kid, are you dumb or what?" Kalla was annoyed by all that beating around the bush. She had been away from the lab and her specimen for a whole day already. "Solving the conflicting cores issue doesn't solve the cores' issue."
"The what?" Nalrond went from confused to stupefied.
"Mana cores don't merge." Solus rushed to clear up. "At least, not that we know of. Let's assume you get your life forces to fuse. What happens to your cores next? The only reason you are fine is the Forbidden Magic wall keeping them apart."
"What about the Master's hybrids, like Xenagrosh?" He asked.
