Kaine gripped the edge of the table, the wood digging into his palms.He was dimly aware of Jorik watching him, but couldn't spare the attention to care what his brother might be thinking."Transformations?What kind of transformations?"
Luna spread her hands in a gesture of uncertainty."That depends on the nature of the magic she channeled, which we still don't fully understand.But based on these accounts," she gestured to several open books, "the process typically involves changes to the physical pathways through which magic flows in the body.New channels being created, existing ones being widened or reinforced."
"Is it...painful?"The question slipped out before Kaine could stop it, revealing more of his concern than he'd intended.
Luna's expression softened with sympathy."I don't know.These accounts suggest varying experiences.Some report dreamlike states where the unconscious mind processes the changes through symbolic visions.Others describe more...distressing transitions."
Jorik cleared his throat gently."This friend of yours—Thalia—she activated some kind of defense against the Deep Ones?That's what I'm gathering?"
Kaine nodded, still processing Luna's words."A few years ago, she and I found a chamber beneath the Howling Forge, a place connected to Frostforge's original purpose.There was a mechanism there, something the Founders created.She...she managed to activate it, somehow.Drove the Deep Tide back when nothing else could."
"At great personal risk," Luna added quietly."She knew what she was doing, Kaine.She made that choice with full awareness of the potential consequences."
Kaine closed his eyes briefly, fighting against the wave of guilt that threatened to overwhelm him.He should have been there.Should have realized what she was planning.Should have stopped her, or gone with her, or found some other way to save them all that didn't require such a sacrifice.
"Is there anything we can do?"he asked, opening his eyes to fix Luna with an intent stare."To help her through this...transformation?To wake her?"
Luna hesitated, which told Kaine more than any words could have."I'm still researching that.The accounts vary widely, and none precisely match Thalia's circumstances.Some awoke naturally once the process was complete.Others required specific rituals to guide them back to consciousness."
"How long?"Kaine's voice was rough with emotion he couldn't entirely suppress.
"Days.Weeks."Luna's gaze dropped to the books before her."Some never woke at all."
The silence that followed her words was heavy with implication.Kaine's hands had curled into fists without his conscious direction, nails digging into his palms with sharp clarity.
"There's something else," Luna said softly, as though reluctant to deliver more bad news."Even if—when—she wakes, the magic she channeled...it may still be present in her system."
"Meaning what?"Kaine demanded.
"Meaning that if the transformation isn't complete, or if her body isn't fully compatible with the power she channeled, it could be slowly killing her."Luna met his eyes directly, refusing to soften the harsh truth."The texts describe cases where practitioners woke, seemed recovered, but then deteriorated as the remnant energies continued to affect their physical form."
Kaine swore softly, turning away from the table to pace a few steps, running a hand through his hair.The guilt that had been simmering since Thalia fell unconscious now boiled over into self-recrimination.He'd been so focused on rebuilding walls, on physical defenses that might not even matter in the end, while Thalia lay suspended between life and death, her body struggling to contain power it was never meant to channel.
"This Thalia," Jorik said, his voice careful in a way that suggested he was navigating unfamiliar emotional terrain."She means a great deal to you."
It wasn't a question.Kaine stopped pacing, caught between the habit of guardedness that had protected him for years and the raw emotional state that made dissembling impossible.
"She's a friend," he said finally, the inadequacy of the word hanging in the air between them."One of the few people at Frostforge who saw me as more than my past."
The silence that followed was thick with things unsaid.Luna busied herself with rearranging some papers, clearly uncomfortable with being privy to this moment between the brothers.Jorik studied Kaine's face with the same intensity he'd shown when examining Frostforge's defenses, as though trying to map the unfamiliar territory of his brother's heart.
"A friend," Jorik repeated, the word laden with gentle skepticism."Right."
Kaine felt heat rise to his face, unused to being so easily read by someone who had known him only as a boy, before prison and Frostforge had taught him to guard his expressions.
"It's complicated," he managed, aware of how woefully insufficient the explanation was.
Jorik nodded, mercifully letting the subject drop."Well, then we should find a way to help your...friend.My people have some experience with healing magic—perhaps they might offer insights your books don't contain."
The suggestion, offered without judgment or prying questions, eased something tight in Kaine's chest.The brother he remembered would have peppered him with curious inquiries, would have teased and prodded until Kaine snapped.This adult version of Jorik, who respected boundaries and offered practical solutions instead, was yet another adjustment to make in his understanding of who his brother had become.
"That would be...appreciated," Kaine said, the words inadequate for the gratitude he felt.He turned back to Luna."Will you let me know if you find anything else?Anything that might help her?"
Luna nodded, already turning back to her books."Of course.And Kaine—" She paused, her eyes softening with uncharacteristic gentleness."Don't blame yourself.Thalia knew exactly what she was doing.She always does."
The present tense—she always does, not did—was a small mercy, a refusal to speak of Thalia as though she were already lost.Kaine clung to it, a fragile thread of hope in the growing darkness.
He gestured to Jorik that they should continue their tour, leading him back toward the archive doors.But as they walked away from Luna and her fortress of knowledge, Kaine knew his focus had irrevocably shifted.The walls and barriers he'd been so determinedly rebuilding suddenly seemed less urgent than the invisible battle Thalia was fighting alone, in a place none of them could reach.
