Japlir entered the Inn welcoming himself and saying, “Good morning, Wilpen!”

“Japlir!”

Japlir froze in his steps to see Wilpen run up to him and guide him to the closed bar. “Wilpen, what’s going on?”

Wilpen was stumbling over her words and trying to form sentences despite her nerves. “I-I don’t know what happened! I was just waking her this morning b-but she’s different! Tell me y-you see what I see!”

Wilpen pushed Japlir to the girl sitting at a circle table with a warm bowl of porridge before her. Japlir sat down across from the girl and noticed the slight change.The girl still had those lifeless eyes that stared blankly but she looked healthier. Her hair was neatly brushed and showed that Wilpen took care of her hair when washing it. The dirt and grime that littered her skin was long gone. But something about her skin seemed… different. Healthier, even. Yesterday, her skin was sunken in and dry with plenty of flakes falling, but today… her skin wasn’t as dry and she looked full.

Japlir looked at Wilpen and asked jokingly, “What did you feed her?”

“Nothing! She hasn't eaten ever since I brought her in. I don’t know what’s going on,” Wilpen answered as she stared at the girl who miraculously looked healthier overnight.

“Should I have not taken her in…?” Wilpen mumbled to herself.

“I don’t know what’s happening but you helped her get better… somehow,” Japlir said as he stared at the girl whose head began to slowly drop.

He was quick to catch the girl’s head from falling into her porridge. “I think you should continue taking care of her… maybe she’ll be able to communicate when she gets healthier.”

“But how am I supposed to take care of her when she can’t eat? What do I do?”

“Juices? Water? Maybe if we keep trying we’ll eventually get the hang of it.”

Japlir stared at the girl as he moved around the table to properly hold her head up. What was someone supposed to do in this situation? 

“I’ll ask a doctor I know when I see him… until then, just try as best you can. I have to go, Wilpen, send if you need help,” Japlir said as he carefully balanced the girl’s head straight and left the bar.

Japlir left and completely forgot what he had to do immediately. The only thing on his mind was seeing his doctor friend, Ivors, whose office wasn’t too far from the bar. He ran to the office without noticing the people who greeted him as he passed by.

Ivors practically jumped to the ceiling when Japlir busted down the door shouting Ivors’s name.

“By the Heavens above, Japlir, what has gotten into you?” Ivors asked as he carefully placed his tools down and the cloth he was using to clean.

“A patient–no arms–no tongue–better? In a day?” Japlir spoke in a rushed tone that ended up emitting words.

Ivors was quick to sit Japlir down and give him a cup of water, “Relax and breathe. Drink and tell me again.”

Japlir slapped the cup aside and grabbed Ivors arm. “You’re coming with me, I’ll explain on the way,” Japlir said as he burst out the doors dragging Ivors along.

“Wait, Japlir, I have patients coming in today,” Ivors called out but his voice was ignored by Japlir’s ears.

Japlir ran back to the Inn while Ivors questioned his friendship with the blacksmith. Japlir busted through the doors and exclaimed, “I brought a doctor!”

Wilpen flinched at the loud and sudden entrance as she was wiping the girl’s face of porridge. “J-Japlir? You’re here so soon! What about your errands?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Japlir answered and practically tossed the doctor at the girl. “Here’s your patient.”

The doctor sat across from the girl and flipped to a new page on his clipboard. At the sight of the clipboard, Japlir wondered when Ivors had the time to grab it.

Ivors pulled out a pen then leaned forward to get a closer look at the girl. His eyes widened upon examining the girl and he was taken aback when he noticed her arms. He rounded the table to sit next to her and ask, “What happened?”

He eyed the girl as he carefully raised her severed arm to his sight. He looked at Wilpen for answers but she was too busy covering her mouth in pity. Ivors looked at Japlir who was still trying to catch his breath.

“What happened to her arm…?” Ivors asked but then corrected himself seeing her matching arm, “Arms…?”

“We don’t know,” Japlir managed to say as he leaned over, balancing his hands on his knees.

“You don’t know?” Ivors asked as his attention peaked at the strange response he received.

“I’m going to guess she’s a street rug you picked up,” Ivors said as he picked up his clipboard to write something briefly. He offered his hand for the girl to shake as he said, “Excuse me, do you mind telling me about yourself. Perhaps before Wilpen took you in?”

The girl continued to stare blankly beyond her front. Ivors raised a brow then cleared his throat to repeat himself but was stopped by Japlir. “She won’t answer, Ivors.”

Ivors turned to Japlir to ask, “What do you mean?”

“That’s where we were hoping you’d give us answers,” Japlir responded as he finally relaxed and sat down across from Ivors and the girl.

Wilpen placed a warm cup in front of Ivors as she explained, “When I found her, she was completely unrecognizable as a human. Compared to now, she could’ve passed as a pile of dirt yesterday.”

“Yesterday? What—did you give her a bath and she suddenly transformed?” Ivors asked sarcastically but the looks on Japlir and Wilpen told him he was correct.

“All I did was redress her bandages and give her a bath. We tried feeding her and giving her water, but she wouldn’t take it. She won’t even move a single muscle other than breathe,” Wilpen explained as she referred to the porridge filled cloth in her hand. “Yesterday, she looked seconds from death with much more hollow cheeks than you see now. The most I could do was let her rest and now she looks like she only skipped a week’s amount of meals.”

“So, she miraculously healed overnight? I’m sorry but you realize how ridiculous this sounds? And she still hasn’t eaten? She won’t even take it?”

Wilpen nodded and added, “When we tried, we ended up endangering her life because the food and water would slide into her lungs. Because she wouldn’t warn us, we stopped trying in hopes you can help.”

“Won’t give hints? No coughing or holding her neck? Nothing?” Ivors asked as he wrote a few notes on his clipboard.

“She doesn’t make a peep nor move even the smallest bit if not for us. In fact, she could’ve died drowning in her porridge,” Wilpen said as she jumped into action to catch the girl’s head.

“And you’re sure she’s not dead,” Ivors asked as he leaned forward to smell the girl for any sign of decay.

“She breathes very slowly, like she’s saving each breath,” Wilpen replied as she tried to balance the girl’s head straight.

Ivors checked the girl’s pulse and retreated quickly in shock. “Her pulse is slow…,” he whispered to himself and quickly wrote it down before raising a finger in front of her eyes to follow but she didn’t. “Unresponsive…”

Ivors rearranged the hold on his pen and raised it slightly then brought it down quickly onto the girl’s thigh.

Japlir immediately jumped to action and held the doctor in a chokehold and pulled him away. “What do you think you're doing, Ivors? I’m pretty sure inflicting pain on your patients isn’t what you were taught in med school.”

Ivors repeated the same on Japlir’s forearm which got him the reaction he needed. Japlir let go to hold his injured arm and reached for the doctor but was stopped when the doctor spoke.

“See? That’s the reaction I needed… from her,” Ivors said and referred to the girl who sat at the table like a statue. “I had my suspicions she was a mute but that’s definitely out. Then I thought she was in physical shock but—.”

“Shock? Like electrocuted? How do you know?” Japlir interrupted and was quick to snatch the pen from the doctor.

“No, shock is a condition in which there isn’t blood flowing to the brain. It could be caused by several things but she doesn’t check out any of the causes from what I can see. Let’s not forget that I am not as advanced a doctor as a Palace Physician, but from my knowledge it isn’t physical shock.”

“There’s another type of shock?” Wilpen asked as she held the girl in her embrace away from the doctor.

“Well, with our current knowledge of the human body we aren’t exactly well-versed in matters of the brain—mental illnesses, to be exact. But the most recent study is physical shock’s twin, psychological shock,” the doctor explained but paused for a second to collect his thoughts. “Although, this is an extreme case that doesn’t exactly match our records of psychological shock… I’ll have to look into it.”

“Are you going to explain, Ivors, or do I have to pick up a medical book from your office?” Japlir asked impatiently.

“Psychological shock is a condition in which the body continues its normal functions as in sleeping, breathing, etc.. Except the brain has shut itself down from its five senses: taste, touch, smell, sound, and sight. You see, the main cause of psychological shock is some sort of trauma or a triggering event from past trauma. It’s the brain’s way of protecting the person’s mental health by preventing further damage or reopening old wounds as one would say.”

“So she’s completely shut herself down? Like a lightbulb?” Wilpen asked as she stroked the girl’s hair.

“Yes, but… it’s strange. Usually, someone suffering from shock can move since it’s all just from the brain. Even pain would get a reaction from the brain. The brain would run by itself to give the body what it needs but keeping the person’s mind closed off from the world. Except she isn’t accepting any food or liquids, correct?”

Wilpen and Japlir nodded in agreement to the doctor’s statement. Wilpen’s hand stopped petting the girl’s hair as the doctor spoke.

“Perhaps we still don’t know about psychological shock as much as we thought. Even her pain receptors are off… What’s even more strange are her arms…” The doctor hesitated when he reached for the girl’s arms but continued when Wilpen allowed it.

He unraveled the bandages to see the wounds. His eyes narrowed in confusion as he stared at the dried blood. “How strange… from what I can tell, this wound wasn’t a clean cut. A blunt weapon must have been used on her arms. See how jagged the skin is? And you said that she was covered in filth? Head to toe?”

Wilpen nodded and said, “Yes, it was like she was covered in a thick layer of dirt and grime and heavens know what else.”

“And you cleaned the wounds?”

“All I did was pour water on the wounds then bandaged it up. It was all I could think of at the time. Even then, there was no sign of bleeding other than the bandages she had on her at the time.”

“She wasn’t sick? No fever?” Ivors asked as he checked her temperature.

“No, as I said I found her just yesterday. She was purely skin and bones, if you were to compare her to that of a skeleton you wouldn’t tell the difference.”

Ivors pressed his thumb into the girl’s bicep to see it sink slightly into her arm. That was definitely not the sign of a person who was “skin and bones”. But it didn’t mean she was healthy. There was close to nothing separating her first layer of skin and the bone beneath.

“Her wounds are healing nicely… and in a day?”

“Doctor Ivors… her… her tongue,” Wilpen whimpered out slightly and balanced the girl for the doctor to examine.

“What about her tongue?” The doctor asked and carefully lowered the girl’s jaw to reveal the horrific scene inside. Just as it was the day before, it was chopped off.

“My word…,” the doctor exclaimed in shock. His hands shook as he carefully pulled the corners of her mouth aside to get a better look at her tongue.

“We don’t know how to feed her because of this predicament,” Wilpen voiced her worries as she held the girl sitting up for the doctor.

“You weren’t kidding. I thought it was the body’s way of giving up and didn’t know what to tell you, but this… never would I have ever imagined this. You both don’t know what happened to her?” Ivors said as he carefully released the girl’s lips and closed her mouth.

“We know as much as you about her. I found her yesterday sitting against a building and brought her to my inn. I cleaned her up for the night and woke up this morning to see her looking much better than yesterday.”

Ivors scanned the woman’s body for any signs of her past and even her legs. Even a prisoner from the palace would have some kind of number that signified their crime and time spent in the palace prison. But he found nothing.

“Maybe this isn’t what I thought it was… perhaps this is something beyond medicine,” Ivors thought out loud.

“Beyond medicine? What—gods?” Japlir asked sarcastically.

“No, I was thinking more along the lines of mages,” Ivors answered, but almost chuckled at the suggestion of godly work.

“Mages? The only mages are a few doctors and the palace mage court. She’s just a woman tossed to the street,” Wilpen said as she held the girl again.

“This could explain the strange phenomenon you experienced. From my knowledge of magic and mages, this could be possible.”

“Why would a mage do this to someone? And to this extent?”

“Usually, mages are given an insignia that is like a branding for the empire. Every mage is required to have the insignia if they wish to continue magic. Any mage who doesn’t have the insignia is punished severely because it is a symbol of ownership given by the empire. Every mage is meant to serve the empire, whether they are on the mage court or not.” 

Ivors inspected the woman as he spoke, lifting her arms for any signs of what or who she was. It was a strange predicament, and the first he’s ever witnessed. The best he could come up with was the possibility of the woman being a criminal of some sorts given the circumstances.

“And this means…?” Wilpen asked in her confusion. Never had she ever heard of the conditions for mages, much less ever met a mage. This was all news to her.

“This person doesn’t have any signs of the mage insignia… it’s hard to believe that she was anywhere near mages considering her current condition.” The doctor answered as he stared at the girl.

“Do you mind if I examine her body?” The doctor asked hesitantly and kept an eye on Japlir.

Wilpen’s brow rose in confusion as she asked, “Did you not already?”

“I meant behind closed doors, Ma’am,” the doctor replied nonchalantly. “I need to make sure she doesn’t have any other injuries. I would also like to check for any insignias that can give us an idea of who she is.”

“O-oh…,” Wilpen said in response.

“Of course, I would need your help in the examination. Although I am a doctor and she is in shock, I’m sure she would be uncomfortable to be alone with a man,” the doctor said in hopes to persuade Wilpen and not get beat up by Japlir.

“I understand,” Wilpen said, and as spoken the doctor examined the girl behind closed doors. Japlir had waited outside the door until he was brought back in.

The girl was wearing her clothes just as before but the doctor was examining the markings or scars on her feet.

“This woman is a mage…,” the doctor told Japlir and Wilpen.