I told no one, not even Ice, of my encounter with the strange child. I didn’t want to think about it, but both of them were right: no one could be trusted. If the enemies really were in the facility, watching us, then‒

“Are you alright?”

I blinked, looking up. Ice was putting on the blue and black swim shorts, completely ignoring the dark grey shirt and attempting to make his tail sit comfortably over the elastic hem. White fur traveled up his spine from his tailbone, making the transformation from skin to fur surprisingly smooth. The swim shorts sat low on his hips. I diverted my eyes.

“Yeah, just… didn’t get much sleep over the past few days,” I sighed.

He squinted at me, but dropped it. At least I wasn’t lying; I had little doubt he was able to tell when people were lying. I just… wasn’t telling the full truth.

Ice and I were accompanied by a few guards, and, despite saving Caspian’s life and otherwise being very well-behaved the past few days, he still had to wear cuffs and a muzzle. I couldn’t stop myself from glancing at his torso every so often. There were pinkish scars where metal merged with flesh around his right shoulder, skin pulled taut and veins visible. There were older, faded scars all along his chest and back, but fresher ones on his back that suspiciously looked like lash marks. He almost looked like a carving of a tortured god; how near-perfect his skin was, how he stood stiff, how his eyes were relaxed but holding secrets that no human mind could comprehend.

We were escorted to the pool, which had been reserved specifically for today’s hydrokinesis lesson. Caspian and Max were already there, with Caspian doing laps in the pool at an astounding speed. I could feel my eyes stinging just watching him swimming around with his eyes open. He wore blue swim shorts and a black shirt with long sleeves.

“Ice!” Caspian cried, bursting from the water. His ashy brown-blonde hair stuck to his forehead, and his blue eyes were brighter than I had ever seen them.

Ice hopped into the shallow end, smiling. Caspian hugged him.

“He has been all smiles,” Max chuckled, standing next to me. “It’s actually… really fucking relieving. All he’s been talking about is training with Ice.”

“Okay, we’re going to start small,” Ice was saying. “Show me what you can do.”

Caspian eagerly nodded, then raised his hands over the water. A small ball of water rose from the pool. He cupped his palms under it.

“Hm, decent, especially for someone raised amongst humans,” Ice nodded. “Can you… split it in half? And perhaps make it orbit?”

Caspian held his cupped hands out, pulling them apart to split the ball into two smaller balls. He held them on either side of him. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes. The small balls began to orbit around him at a slow speed. A faint blue glow appeared in his chest. Max softly gasped, stepping forward.

Ice held up his hand, “Let him concentrate.”

Caspian was slowly lowering his hands, but the balls still orbited around his shoulders. They picked up speed. It wasn’t long before they burst, splashing back down into the pool. The glow in his chest faded.

Ice smiled and clapped his hands together, “That was great! I was honestly expecting you to be much worse.”

Caspian seemed to be offended, but hid it. “My grandparents let me splash around whenever I wanted, as long as I didn’t use my powers around other people.” I could just barely see a question burning, but he stayed quiet.

“We’ll start simple,” Ice said. A large ball of water floated up to hover by Ice, about the size of his head. “I’m going to pass this to you, and you have to pass it back. It’s a simple exercise you can do with any hydrokinetic, or even by yourself; just passing it from one hand to the other.”

Caspian eagerly nodded.

Ice passed him the ball of water, forming it into a large droplet. Caspian reached out, guiding it along before passing it back. The most obvious difference was that Caspian focused intensely on his hand movements, and clearly had some difficulty carrying the water, while Ice was standing almost completely still, and the water seemed like nothing to him. The glow appeared inside Caspian’s chest again.

He gasped, dropping the water. The pool splashed. Caspian took a few steps back, staring at the fading glow in his chest.

He stared at Ice, “What in tarnation is that?!”

“Don’t worry, it’s normal,” Ice calmly replied.

“Normal?!” Caspian cried. “My chest is fudging glowing, how on God’s green Earth is that normal?”

Ice raised a brow, “You do know you’re not human, right? Oftentimes, when Gemhearts are first experimenting with their powers, or if they’re using a lot of power, their heart glows, often penetrating the skin. Since your heart was just returned to you, it’s… getting a feel for the area, you could say. For lack of better words, it’s excited and wants to show off.”

Caspian stared at Ice, blue eyes wide, “I-is that gonna happen every time I use my powers? ‘Cause that’s freaky.”

Ice chuckled, “No, it will fade. Your heart itself won’t glow unless you’re using a lot of magic. But that’s quite a ways away.” He formed another ball, this one smaller. “If you get light-headed or start to feel sick in any way, we’ll stop.”

“Why?” Caspian asked, passing the ball back.

“Because that’s a clear sign you’re using too much energy,” Ice explained. “Keep going when you feel dizzy and/or sick, and you’re likely to start bleeding.”

“Bleeding? Like, bleeding from the nose?”

“Nose, eyes, mouth, ears,” Ice shrugged. “Nose is the most common, since the blood vessels are small and close to the surface, but use too much and your eyes and ears will start bleeding, too. Keep going and your lungs will begin to rupture, causing mild internal bleeding.”

“And…. What happens if you keep going even after that?”

“Your lungs and heart will completely fall apart and your brain will hemorrhage.”

“Oh. That’s…. That’s horrible.”

“Yes, quite a painful way to go. Most people pass out before getting that far, luckily, and are okay after a bit of rest. But it’s quite possible to die from what we call magic exhaustion. Not as common anymore, thankfully.”

“Ice? How do you know all this?”

Ice chuckled, “I’ve been around a long time. Studied a lot of things.”

“So, are you, like, a scientist?”

“Yes, actually,” Ice nodded with a smile. “Lead scientist and medic.”

My eyes widened. He was a medic? My hand drifted to hold my right forearm, where he had bitten me just over four months ago. He hadn’t mentioned it, neither of us had, so I wasn’t sure if he was aware of what he had done. After all, he didn’t remember me for a bit after the chip was removed, so there was no telling what he did and didn’t remember.

The pair kept passing balls of water back and forth until Caspian started to get light-headed and dizzy. It was clear that he didn’t want to end the session, and neither did Ice.

“Make sure he gets a good meal and rest,” Ice was saying to Max, eyes narrowed threateningly. He turned to Caspian, “And don’t practice until tomorrow morning, we don’t need you bleeding!”

“Yes, sir,” Caspian teased, voice laced with sarcasm. He would likely go back to his room and immediately pull water from the sink.

“I’m serious,” Ice firmly said. “If you start bleeding, don’t say it’s my fault.”

“I won’t,” Caspian laughed. He hugged Ice one last time before being taken back to the yellow level. I accompanied Ice back to his room. The bed and desk and chair had been replaced, and the bed neatly made.

“Hey, I have to ask…,” I slowly began once we were back inside. “You mentioned that you were ‒ are ‒ the lead scientist and medic.” I looked at his metal arm. “So, I have to wonder…. Did you…?” I pointed at the cybernetic.

Ice paused. His eyes glazed over with bittersweet memories.

He took a deep breath, “Good night, Calvin.”

“...Good night.”