"I didn't know you could do that," Burn said. "I didn't know you could trahe mana you're able to trol through your Foreone else."

  "Normally, you 't. It's just that you two are a good match," Vd replied, knowing that Burn would be able to catch his hint on how to help Man awaken.

  Burn couldn't help but roll his eyes at Vd's cryptic response. "What good match? She doesn't have the same Force affinity as I do. Not to mentioalent in Force is—”

  "Zero, I know," A mischievous grin pyed on Vd's lips, and Burn was sure of its presender those veils. "Now you know why she's dying, right?"

  Bur out an exasperated sigh, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "That's obvious. Her body 't sustain itself without her Vision."

  Vd nodded knowingly, his eyes behind his veil twinkling with a hint of amusement. "But she's alive," he pointed out.

  With a sarcastic quirk of an eyebrow, Bured, "Because she is the Infich? What does that even mean? No, don't tell me to ask her."

  Vd couldn't help but chuckle as he finally finished brewing a cup of sweet milk tea. He turo Burn, holding up the steaming cup. "Why not?" he asked, a note of mischief in his voice. "She's awake now."

  "You address me with such ease now, young man. It pleases me to see you've shed any pretense in front of this old soul," Vd remarked.

  "Given your distinct personality and the isotion that often apanies great strength, I find myself curious about how you i with those under your and."

  "Pying the tyrant wouldn't do me any good, not with you coddling me like this," Bured as the man put the sweet milk tea in front of him.

  “It so happens that you two are the plete opposite,” Vd expined. He leaned ba his chair, the old leather creaking under his weight. “That’s why it worked.”

  Burn crossed his arms defensively, his brows knitting together in a frown. “Not because our souls are ected by the curse?”

  Vd’s smile broadened, and he nodded slowly, aowledging Burn’s point.

  “The curse itself might work in the first pce because you’re a good opposite match,” he ceded, his hands gesturily in the air as if to bahe scales of fate between them.

  Burn was right. The woman nning everything to turn out this way.

  "Fine," Burn decred, abruptly rising from his seat, the untouched milk tea still resting oable. His movements were brisk, almost dismissive as he prepared to leave.

  Vd's eyes lit up with delight. "Bring the cup with you, boy. Drink it on the way."

  "I'm not going t that with me," Burn shot back, his tone firm and final. Without another word, he turned on his heel, the door closing sharply behind him with a resolute click, sealing off the versation.

  Vd sighed. “Sweet boy.”

  ***

  Muscle atrophy.

  After three years lounging in a vegetative state, Man Le Fay found herself in the regrettable position of dealing with muscle atrophy.

  It seemed even the Infich wasn't immuo the whims of biology. There she was, with her muscles, decided to take aended holiday.

  Upon waking, Man discovered that her hysique had dwindled even more to something that would struggle to intimidate a well-fed pigeon.

  Her arms, previously capable of moving elegantly, now seemed challenged by the heft of a teacup. Her legs, which had carried her through dimensions and battles, now wobbled like a novi ice skates.

  “HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

  As Man Le Fay g to the wooden bar provided by the ever-so-aodating vampires of the church—a makeshift gym for the magically incapacitated—she roared with a ferocity that would make a banshee sider a career ge.

  Weirdly, she sounded melodically good.

  “AAAAAAAAAAAAGH!”

  “Why is she singing like that? It sounds good, but isn’t she straining herself?”

  “She’s just screaming.”

  “YAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

  Each pull-up was a battle cry, each squat a decration of war against her rebellious muscles. The air was thick with the sound of her grunts and groans, a symphony of pain aermination that echoed off the a stone walls.

  But everything ing out of her mouth sounded good.

  “Oh, Your Majesty Burn, are you visiting Miss Momo today?” one of the vampires greeted Burn when he approached.

  Momo…

  So the reason no one knew about “Man Le Fay” was because she was known as “Miss Momo” here.

  “HAAAAAAAAAH!”

  Yet, amidst her struggle of rehabilitation, Man's beauty remained ludicrously ued.

  It was almost offensive how, between her gasps for breath and the beads of sweat casg down her forehead, she could look like she had just stepped out of a fairy tale painting.

  Her hair, though tousled, fell around her fa perfect disarray, catg the dim light in a way that seemed purposefully desigo add ahereal glow.

  Her skie the strain, held a luminous quality, as if she were partly made of moonlight.

  The vampires, ever the oisseurs of human suffering ay, couldn't help but pause in their whisperings to admire the absurdness of her charm.

  Simply, Bur Man would look beautiful in the middle of stipated shitting.

  CLATTER! CRASH!

  "Ah!"

  "Miss Momo!"

  "Oh no, are you alright?"

  The vampires quickly gathered around her, visibly worried. They verged on her position as she y on the ground, attempting to gently assist her.

  She gradually got ba her feet, ughing at herself. "Well, what do you know? It's tough."

  "Why don't you just use your Vision to fix yourself up?"

  Burn suddenly inquired from a not-so-safe distance, his voice mildly frosty. He clucked his tongue disdainfully, "Pathetic."

  The vampires bck robes shifted uneasily, their faces a mix of emotions behind their veils as they g Burn.

  Maed, "Oh sure, I could just blow all my little Vision on a self-repair. But then, what kind of guest would I be if I didn’t use the generous 'Force' gift card someone gave me?"

  Forergy works best when you actually move your body, not just think really hard about moving it. Unfortunately for Man, her natural grace with Forergy was on par with a sloth's sprinting skills.

  bihat with her current state of looking like she lost a wrestling match with a tornado, and you've got a recipe for some seriously clumsy energy flow.

  A's be ho, taking this quick route was not just about efficy—it was also about h her Vision like a miser with gold s. After all, why blow through yical reserves when you just limp along with the basics?

  “Why? Are y to threateh my disciple?” Man asked. “You wao hurry and lift your curse, so I’m w hard here.”

  Silenveloped the se.

  “Sisters, Brothers, thank you for w about me. I am alright. I’ll speak with His Majesty, so you give us some space?” Man asked.

  Yep.

  That was one of the reasons Burn couldn’t speak freely with her this couple of days. The vampires were wary of him.

  “Miss Momo…”

  “It’s okay, I promise.”

  With those final words, the vampires cast o look of before they relutly departed.

  Burn sarcastically sneered, “There you go, ‘Miss Momo’.”

  Man chuckled.

  He was about to sit on a nearby chair, but he felt a tug on his sleeve. He turo see Man looking up at him, grasping at both his clothes and the wooden bar.

  “I’ve spent your Forergy for today. Before we talk, please give me more.”