Aspen
"I feel very exhausted on all fronts. Not sure if I will be able to handle the rest of the lessons today without a serious nap soon." She moved the headphones enough that she could hear me in one ear while the other kept listening to the recording on repeat.
"I will see if we can rearrange the day to accommodate your request. Now you may not want to answer my next question, but I must insist that you do try to answer it however you can. I have placed you under emotional suppression to help you not spiral so easily while we talk now that I know how….volatile these sensations are for you." I rock a bit as I determine the best way to approach my question.
Opening one eye, she sighs, then sits up, placing the headphones on the table. "Thanks for the recording and the emotional regulation. If I am to guess, you want to talk about the fractured sensations. Well, I don't actively remember anything. I just know how my body feels because of those moments."
She reached out, grasping my hand firmly. Her emotions were tranquil for now, but I guess she wants an anchor so she doesn't feel isolated as we worked through this.
"Things were still fragmented but clearer. This just reinforces that we need an account of what exactly past me had been going through. A lot was hidden by me, Koba, and Minette. Maybe even the Dillard Enclave had a hand in it. Otherwise, how did you all not know the truth? I need to know the truth, Aspen." Moonbeam had such a vise-like grip on my hand that I could feel my bones creak.
If a broken hand will help her feel better, I will endure, but I sure hope it won't come to that. I placed my other hand on top of hers, reassuringly. "Worry not about that, Moonbeam. We are still investigating everyone—and everything. We will soon have more answers for you and us."
"What we have learned recently is that Koba is still hiding out in his apartment. A doctor has visited him a few times, and so has Crown Consort Sullivan, but no one else has been allowed entry. Not his friends, his sister, or other family members. The Matriarch Maeve and 2nd Crown Consort Xerxes are on the East Continent for business and, according to our sources, won't be back for a few more months. They tour their businesses around this time and should be back in time for end-of-the-year gatherings."
Nyx was calm and looked thoughtful as she processed what I said. Then—with a confused expression, she asked, "How many parents do Koba and Minette have?" I took a moment to process the question before coming to the conclusion that no one had given her a family tree of the enclaves and clans yet.
"Ah, well, the core family of the Dillard enclave is Matriarch Maeve, Crown Consort Sullivan, 2nd Crown Consort Xerxes, 3rd Crown Consort Azalea, Scion Koba, 1st Lady Minette, and the adopted son/cousin, Master Noxton." I had to chuckle at Nyx's bugged-out expression.
"From what we have gathered, while Matriarch Maeve is the biological mother of Koba and Minette, 3rd Crown Consort Azalea is the one who carried them. Also, their biological father is 2nd Crown Consort Xerxes. Despite showing a relatively harmonious family front, many of us know that is just a facade.
This is a bonus for us. When we serve the Matriarch, the betrothal dissolution papers, we will initiate a few harmless accidents to help them have less time on their hands to plot against others." Nyx's smile mirrored mine in mischievous satisfaction.
"I was not expecting all that information, but I am looking forward to them being kept busy elsewhere." She took a drink of her still-warm brew as we just let the quiet settle for a while before I spoke up again.
"As far as your body, has it been feeling different physically? I noticed your essence reading was showing there was some pressure building up in your veins." She hesitated. "Hmm…I've been feeling warm. Warmer than usual. It started yesterday. Lima told me to mention it to you because she felt concerned." Well, that is a potential red flag. Let me do a deeper scan on her network.
Now that I was looking for it, I saw what both I and the bands had missed before. Knots in her essence veins had loosened. Some had fully unraveled. Oh my. This is ahead of schedule, and unexpectedly so. This must be the reason behind her 60% sync ratio and why the reading said there was pressure accumulating in her network.
Moonbeam hasn't been expending the excess essence. I will have to inform everyone that we will have to teach her more essencecrafting so she will expend the excess and keep the pressure to a minimum while she is still recovering.
I forced my voice to stay calm even though I now realize what Nyx's instinctive tension was foretelling. "Congratulations, Moonbeam. Some of the blockages have undone themselves. Your network has begun self-correcting." Her brows lifted. "That's…good, right?"
"Yes," I said—and then I had to add the truth. "But it also means more essence is trying to circulate. Any additional stress could overload the still-knotted areas." I reached across the table and took her hands. "Listen to me carefully: if the warmth increases at all, you stop what you're doing, call Lima to stabilize you, and then contact me. Understand?"
She nodded, serious. "Good. This process can't be rushed. Forcing could fracture your network and cores. I'll notify Nimra—we'll need her help with active alignment now. I'll also notify everyone to increase essencecrafting in your lessons to help mitigate the pressure."
Bracing myself for what we must do next, I exhaled then informed Nyx of the next step in her recovery. "Nyx… since the knots have begun loosening naturally, the stasis the nanotech is holding your Velintra symptoms in will turn the support into interference. To truly heal, your body and essence need to process what has been done to it. With your body accelerating its healing, this is a sign that your body is possibly strong enough to handle processing the side effects now. While we don't have to remove the nanotech today, just know the sooner the better." Her eyes went wide then looked thoughtful.
I did not rush her. Because once she decided to remove the nanotech, everything would theoretically progress at an accelerated rate. Just when I thought she was going to wait, she nodded. "I'm ready. My gut says I should do it today."