In a dark room covered by purple crystals, a woman is sitting in the middle with a computer, typing as fast as her computer can process. Serum is being injected into her arm, but these crystals cover the tip of the needle.

  A door tries to open, but is stuck due to the fragments. The woman doesn’t flinch. The door tries to move again, cracking a bit of the fragments. For the third time, something hits the door harder, breaking the crystals. The woman screams in pain, as if it hurts her. She covers herself with a bnket.

  From the door, another woman enters, wearing a red, blue, and green b coat. She has short brown hair, golden eyes, almost magical. Her arm seems a bit bigger than it should be compared to her body, but then it turns back to her size. The woman seems scared by the state of the room.

  The woman closes the door behind her, and the fragments seem to rebuild to cover it. She walks over the crystals and looks at the screen. She looks at the data, the results, the pain, and the details noted. It is painful to even imagine what she did to herself.

  – Serafim – She calls her. – Are you there?– I’m. – Serafim answers from under the bnket.– You did all that?– I had to. I had to register everything in case another patient appeared.

  The woman looks at the bnket and can only imagine the state Serafim is in.

  – Please, get off the bnket. I need to see you.

  Serafim takes a while and finally removes it. Her long, messy hair with many purple fragments, her white skin with bruises all over the chest and arms, filled with little sharp pieces. Her eyes are foggy, hard to know if she is awake or not.

  – You took off your clothes. – The woman points out.– They were uncomfortable. – Serafim scratches her chest, making purple dust fall out of it.– Do you remember me?– Livian.– How many colours do I have in my b coat?

  Serafim moves her eyes, she blinks many times, but seems unable to see the difference.

  – Two?– How many fingers holding up in my hand? – Livian moves her hand in front of Serafim, but she only sees a shadow.– I… Don't know.– When was the st time you slept?– March sixth – She looks down.– It is March tenth today.– Four days ago… – She hugs herself.– How do you pn on continuing your experiment in this state?– I have to… – She pierces her skin with her nails. Her voice is getting unstable. – I have to figure out how to protect my kids from this! They might awaken at any moment!– Your kids are fine now.– I was fine too! – Serafim screams. – They might lose control! They might kill someone! They might destroy everything!– They won’t! – Livian screams back, holding her shoulders. – I’m here! I can stop them! I can stop you if it ever happens again! Do you hear me!?

  Serafim stops in shock. She starts to cry desperately as Livian hugs her. She is weak and vulnerable, in pain. To soothe her sadness, Livian cast a spell on her, making her fall into a deep sleep. She covers her ears and screams, a golden sphere covers the room, destroying the golden crystals and cleaning the once white room again. Using her powers, she creates a bed and new clothes to cover her. She covers her with the bnket and leaves Serafim to rest.

  Outside the room, a man is standing in the long white corridor. He has long, messy Dark hair, a rge body, and brown skin. He is wearing a jacket showing his chest and pants.

  – How is she?– Worse. – Livian closes the door behind her and keeps a sad expression. – Victor, I will be clear. In the state she is now, only a miracle can make her get out of this vicious cycle. She doesn’t listen to me and only focuses on finding a cure to her condition, thinking about her children.

  Victor looked down, worried.

  – Isn’t there anything we can do to help her?

  Livian thinks. She doesn’t have an idea of what to do to make her better. The only hope she has is out of reach.

  Footsteps echo through the corridor. Two kids are running towards them, a boy and a girl, holding something in their hands.

  The boy is wearing shorts and a shirt with the symbol of the Research Facility and his family crest for identification. The girl is wearing a dress and a jacket of the Facility, also with her family’s crest.

  – Dad! – The boy stops near them with a smile on his face.– Hold on, you two! – Victor leans towards them. – What are you doing here? I remember I told you to not come here today!– We had to show you something! – The girl says jumping with happiness.– Alene, Niero, – Livian calls them with suspicion, she feels something odd in their hands. – What do you have there?– Do you remember when Mom told us about how to make our crystals? – Alene continues.– Yes, I do – Victor answers, confused.– Look what we did!

  The kids open their hands and show a purple crystal. A perfect, sharp, cubic figure.

  – Victor! – Livian pushes Victor away from the kids. – Where did you find that?– We… Made them – Niero takes a step back.– Did we do something wrong? – Alene asks and turns to Niero. – I told you we shouldn’t show this to Livian!– But I wanted to show it now! What if they disappear, and they think we were lying?

  Livian observes the crystal with attention. They indeed have corruption, but they are not emanating that tempting aura like the ones in the Forbidden dimensions.

  – I’m sorry. – Livian gets closer, but they retreat. She decides to take a different approach. – I was worried about what you brought. I didn’t mean to scare you.

  Niero and Alene seem to understand. The boy takes a step forward and looks into Livian’s eyes. He feels that she is worried.

  – I understand. – Niero answers, showing the crystal. – Our mom taught us how to make these, but we just managed to make them today.

  Alene doesn’t approach. Livian analyses it, and it is indeed a Dimensional Shard, something the travelers use to identify each other.

  – It is really good! I have one too. – Livian creates her Shard, creating an ambar with a bird symbol inside.– Why does yours have a bird in it?– It is because I’m a mystic, I have a connection to a Scarlet Macaw.– Can you turn into one?– Yes.– Like my dad can turn into a wolf? – Niero’s eyes shine.– We are simir. – Livian smiles.

  Livian stands up and turns to Victor.

  – I would like to join you this afternoon. Could I train with them after lunch?– No problem. – Victor answers, worried.– There is no problem. I just want to be sure about how they deal with it.

  Victor doesn’t answer, he is staring at Niero. When Livian turns to him, he is touching the door. Not trying to open it, just touching it with the palm of his hand.

  – Is everything okay with mom? – He asks with tears in his eyes.– She is going to be fine – Livian leans next to him. – Are you worried about her?– She is feeling sad, isn’t she?

  Livian looks at the boy’s arm. She notices his skin shivering for a moment. He is resonating with Serafim.

  – He always feels these things. – Alene says, staring at Livian. – Do you think we are sick too?– In a different way. – Livian looks back at her. – Do you feel something strange sometimes?– Well… – Alene looks at the floor.– You can tell her – Victor gets closer to her and pats her head. – She is our doctor, so we must answer her questions truthfully.

  Alene thinks for a moment before answering while staring at the ground.

  – When I feel hungry while I’m outside, I can see a purple trail on the ground toward the food. But sometimes I can see it going towards animals.– A trail? – Livian repeats. – Do you have any idea what it might be, Victor?– Well, they are half–werewolf. – Victor expins. – When I’m hunting transformed, I can feel where the prey is, but I never saw a trail like she is saying.– Like a predator. – Livian whispers. – It will be a good thing to train after lunch. – Livian goes towards Victor again. – Take them to the training arena, it will be important to them.

  ________________________________________

  After lunch, Livian waited for Victor and the kids in the arena. She organized the arsenal and had some warmup. After a while, they appeared, and everyone worried.

  Livian is wearing a colored tight suit, showing only her hands and feet.

  – I’m gd you came – Livian says with a smile.

  Victor isn’t happy hearing that. He avoids the arena, he prefers to hunt outside. Alene is interested in the many weapons, while Niero is staring at Livian, he is worried about what she is going to do with them.

  – Just to be clear, – Livian expins. – I called you all here so we could practice your powers. Like the fragmentation and the creation. – Golden fragments appear in her hand, she creates a ball, flexible and not hard like a rock. – What did Serafim teach you?– We can create things and… – Alene stops for a moment.– Disintegrate things. – Niero continues.– That’s the main thing we Travelers can do. Have you tried something? – Livian asks.– I can make ropes. – Alene says.– I can make… – He stops for a moment. – Cws and armor.– Can you show me? – Livian asks.

  Niero is shy, but interested. He takes a deep breath and punches upward. In a single movement, a cw appears in his hand and armor covers his arm, all in purple and green details. Livian is surprised.

  – You can make a complex creation. Congratutions. – Livian cps to him.– I- I can do something cool too! – Alene takes a step forward. She feels jealous for her brother. – I can shoot explosives!– Interesting. – Livian turns the attention to her. – Can you show me?– Yes!

  Livian extends her hand and the targets appear on the arena. Alene takes a few steps forward, but stays far from the target. She points her fingers. A purple glow appears in her eyes. A target marker is moving inside. It takes a while and she finally shoots a purple projectile that explodes the target. The energy was so high that she fell on her butt.

  – Are you okay? – Livian runs towards her and helps her get on her feet. She notices the symbols in the girl’s eyes disappear.– Yeah – She cleans her dress. – It’s hard not to make it explode.– Just don't shoot it directly from your fingers or you might get hurt.– I know… – Alene looks away. It is something that happened before.

  Victor is analysing everything. It is something they can do that he never knew. Important things that he could not help develop.

  – I’d like you to take a look around the arena. – Livian says to them. – The weapons are not sharp and all unloaded, but be careful not to let them fall on you. Pick something you like.

  As the kids run around the arena looking at the weapons, Livian approaches Victor.

  – Are you all right?– Yeah. – Victor sighs. – I was worried at first, but now I understand that there are things I’m not able to teach them.– You can teach them how to hunt and use their powers. – Livian smiles. – You have an important role in their life, even if you are not a traveler like them, you are still their father.

  Victor smiles. He feels more motivated. He has something to do while Serafim is in isotion.

  – Let me teach them how to manage their powers and health while you teach them how to live their lives. – Livian pces her hand on his shoulder. – Okay?– Okay.

  ____________________________________________

  After the training with the kids, Livian returns to her room while Victor goes to theirs to sleep. After taking a shower, she sits on her bed, creates her tablet and starts to take note of what she noticed about the kids.

  Everything they created was bck with purple or green details. From the effects on personality, the kids have opposite choices and reactions. As they are still kids, they need to be watched closely as they grow up. Alene’s power is a problem that might affect her creations in the future and Niero’s high speed to create things is astonishing. These details might be from the infection. It might become a problem in the future.

  As Livian is typing these details, she stops for a moment and thinks about Serafim. What is useful to her? She doesn’t know. She is in such a hard moment that she can’t find a solution to her recovery. Now, only a miracle could help her.

  As if she called for that, Livian feels a tingling sensation, the feeling that tells that Serafim woke up. Livian stands up and puts her clothes and coat back to talk to her.