Chapter 56: Hidden Strains

Now that they were face-to-face, Rachel could feel the woman’s strength—she was at least equal to her, which was saying something when the Marine was very likely lower-leveled. That was, in a fair fight, at least. Then again, it might be just the military training and experience that made her feel that way. Rachel hid a smirk; she was only at 16% capacity, after all.

"I think it is important—even time-sensitive. I’d judge it is worth the risk."

"Right. Well, then, I suppose my superior may choose to contact you sooner than anticipated. For now, relax with your family for a bit. No need to fret while I get things ready. This first session shouldn’t take long; the doctor just needs to get a baseline of who you are."

Rachel smirked, vision shifting to the wall. "Which is why you concentrated on getting my family here to have more insight into my past. I’ll turn that around on you, and say you don’t need to worry; I’ll be entirely transparent and on my best behavior."

"Wonderful. If things work out, I hope to get to know you better," Barbara concluded, opening the door with a cheery tone. Despite her casual movements, [Bestial Instincts] told Rachel this soldier could flip on aggressive mode in an instant if she stepped out of line.

Pausing just outside, the lunar hare half-turned to shoot a curious smile at the red-haired woman. "Does one of these tests end with us in the ring together?"

"Haha. Perhaps! Still, I’m not very...good at keeping my opponents alive," she said with a faltering smile. "I may look like this on the outside, but my unit’s specialty is more of a bomb than a stick to beat someone into their place."

Rachel chuckled as she moved toward the next room to meet with her mother. "Consider me even more interested."

Entering, she updated her mom on the short-term schedule, her stomach growling due to her drained [Lunar Pool]. Her mother was more than happy to cook something, including for Scarlet, since her mom somehow had gotten on the topic of experimenting with blood dishes for the teen.

They found Selvaria and her mom in the cafeteria; the bubbly woman was almost the exact opposite of her dull-toned, generally unenthusiastic-looking daughter, as she waved them over.

The leviathan had shrunk to a more young-teen-like size by expelling a lot of the liquid in her [Water Pool] so she wouldn’t break everything around her; from their conversation, it seemed her mother loved her ability to change ages based on water volume. Selvaria snacked on various foods with a pepper mill nearby, passively listening to their ice-breaking conversation.

Rachel was thrown for a loop when the girl said she planned to make an underwater sea temple with an army of seals and penguins. The girl shyly stated she needed friends first, of course. It was a little sad, but it also told Rachel a lot about her; she talked more about the animals she had back home than people.

Perhaps she was bullied growing up, but the answer came from Selvaria herself when she revealed, before The Oscillation, that she had minor brain damage that had been healed.

Her mother—who insisted she be called Teri over Mrs. Higginbottom—was enthusiastic that her daughter’s path had somehow crossed some new ’friends’ and that she was now trying to learn how to interact with others. Of course, Rachel knew her mother would gobble up such a tale, asking about their plans and what they would do, while her father was more silent in these kinds of discussions, passively listening.

Rachel smiled at Scarlet, giving her a look that said there was no way for them to enter the conversation when her mother got going. Surprisingly, Scarlet appeared totally content just being part of the group, laughing and listening as the mothers went back and forth. At a certain point, she saw Scarlet’s eyes fall to the table in sorrow. She’d lost everything, so Rachel knew times like these were a double-edged sword for the broken vespertine reaper.

She gave the girl an encouraging smile that Scarlet returned; it was relieving to see her able to not break down into tears when thinking about her broken family, despite the immense pain. Though it was probably a lot easier knowing that Veronica was to blame for her father’s death—even though the blood-girl was perhaps unable to control that event from what Rachel had come to believe.

Once the mothers finished noticing they were in their own little bubble, they laughed and shifted focus. Excitement budded in Rachel’s belly when her mom got up to see if she could cook something in the kitchens—unfortunately, the request was denied, making her a tad disappointed.

Her mom said she understood the reasoning behind the decision; there were so many unknown factors in a hospital during even typical times, let alone now. Allowing random people near their food, with hosts of people seeking refuge at the hospital and the possibility of contamination, was reason enough to reject the request.

Eating under the sky to regenerate her energy and finding suitable clothes to change into, Rachel kept track of everyone’s movements around the hospital. A few Green Berets shadowed them undercover, and Barbara met with Anthony to discuss a rather interesting topic about their quests.

According to her, there was a cooldown timer on each one, and certain conditions had to be met in order to advance to the next quest, which might include level, advancing Feats, or performing some other action involving their legend. She asked a lot of questions concerning the inclusion of other changed individuals in his quest, including details regarding the disguised prince who had given him a letter to give to his father—that particular story had yet to conclude.

Maria was fast asleep behind the hospital, resting on the grass with a few of her gang while soaking up lunar rays. It fascinated Rachel that another mythickin was empowered by the moon, but the celestial unicorn also gained power from the sun.

From a few comments that her tilting ears picked up, the woman’s healing and purifying factors were diminished and strengthened by the position of the two. That was why the woman had burned so much energy on her: she wasn’t only restoring her body, but purifying the poison, which was part of her lunar kit.

Maria’s Solar Branch strengthened mending while the Lunar enhanced her sterilizing Feats. It was fascinating that she could do either, yet the price was heavy on the diminishing returns. Some of her gang got calls that made them nervous, but they only spoke about it in Spanish; it was apparent they were split on whether they should wake their ’Block Queen.’