Less action packed chapter but plenty of foreshadowing. Aionion's rising in power too fast for his body to handle and the lid will fly off of that soon. Enough rambling, on with the story!

Aionion woke in a cold sweat and internally grunted as he gripped his left arm in pain. It felt like boiling water was being forced through the veins in his arm and then it subsided. Aionion took the time to look around the room he was in.

The lights were off but Aionion could see quite fine in complete darkness. Just a perk of having a pain-causing space rock in place of your arm. His armor lay in a heap on the floor, forgotten for the time being. His destroyed cloak lay next to it in tatters, with large clusters of holes.

Then the pain came back and was all he could think about for a few moments. The pain gradually lessoned and he relaxed as much as he could before the next wave hit, staring at the ceiling. It continued in this pattern until morning came, and even then it was a sharp throbbing at the back of his head.

When breakfast came, Aionion was no where to be seen. So Dantos, the ever brilliant genius, walked straight to his room to check on him. And by straight, I mean he completely turned himself around and spent almost twenty minutes looking for it instead of the five it would have taken.

Dantos arrived to hear thumping and the groaning of the bed coming from the room. He stopped and stared blankly at the room before grinning and putting his ear to the door. Then he heard another thump and then the hiss of water and then a fist impacting the wall before a really loud crack was heard.

Dantos opened the door as fast as he could and rushed in to save his acquaintance from an assassin, only to see him clutching his arm and then his head. It was almost like he was trying to decide which of the two hurt worse.

Dantos grabbed his Scroll and called the infirmary to get to Aionion's room as fast as possible. They arrived within three minutes and began to check him over for any possible injuries. Finding none, they took him back to the infirmary to further examine him.

Dantos followed behind and arrived once they had connected a morphine drip to his arm. The pain looked to lessen, before he began to wrap his hands around his head. They grabbed his arms and strapped them to the bed before running final diagnostics on him.

They found that his Aura levels had spiked and weren't coming down anytime soon. They tried draining away his Aura but it replenished faster than they could drain it.

They could do nothing but watch as his Aura continued to wreak havoc on his body. Any and all attempts to help were pushed away when he began to stabilize.

It was still unnaturally high but it had lessened to where he would live through it. Probably. Hopefully...

Three hours later, same room

Aionion's Aura levels had almost dropped to half of what they were but they weren't lowering any more. It seemed whatever he had been exposed to on his last mission was effecting his Aura levels. Nothing else in his body makeup had changed but they hadn't gone down to the molecular level.

Now that his Aura had dropped, he almost looked peaceful as he lay on the bed. He was surrounded with wet rags that steamed on contact with his overheated skin. His breathing had returned to normal and the racing pace of his heart had dropped back to normal levels.

He was still affected by the morphine they had given him, and it was unlikely for him to wake up this evening. So Dantos waited, coming and going between the room and missions, unlike Malcom who came in every three hours to check on his condition. This stopped after he had returned to normal,where both of them visited whenever they had time off from there jobs.

Soon it became morning and the hospital staff had been replaced three times. It was nearing three in the morning when Aionion's fever broke and he fully relaxed after just under a day of full bodily strain.

He slept fitfully, replenishing his Aura as he slept. He slept until the door was suddenly pushed open and Aionion woke but kept his eyes shut. When he heard the sighing of a chair near him, Aionion relaxed.

The moment of respite was broken by the damnable rock on him screaming.

'Get your fat ass up! We have a lot of work to do if you wish to harness the power you obtained two nights ago.'

'Dear Lord Mounty, not again...' Aionion sighed to no one and picked himself off the bed.

Aionion felt a hand land on his shoulder as he began to sit up and it gently raised him to a sitting position against the pillows.

'Hey Nebula, what the hell happened? Why do I feel like I've been put through a blender?'

Nebula muttered an offhand, 'You're offering,' before replying. 'Your body got an upgrade courtesy of me. I can now replace limbs and potentially quicken response times. My crystal can also be used as a projectile and shield, but that takes training or primal emotions.'

'So I went through a lot of pain to get a little bit of power? That's just unequal...'

'Who you calling a little bit of power?! I'll have you know I just doubled your Aura and healing. I also boosted your semblance's power and distance.'

'As I said, a little bit of power. I can't even use my semblance offensively. What use is making it stronger?'

'Ever think of using it on your enemies? Slowing down their movements and then flattening them under the weight of their own bodies? Or perhaps making their weapons so heavy that they cannot lift it? These are all possible with the upgrades. Also, now you have telepathy to communicate with others. That's why there's a huge ass headache waiting for you.'

'Fuck you, you ass-' Any further retorts were cut off when he received a massive headache all at once. It seemed like it split his skull open and poured fire dust in.

Aionion grabbed his skull and screamed at Nebula to turn it off. Sweat ran in rivulets down his head and the fever was beginning to come back.

The person next to him swore and put a wet towel on his forehead. It cooled him down and reduced the head splitting headache to a low throbbing.

Aionion, through the haze and pain, wanted to test his telepathy on the person next to him. He opened his eyes and looked to the person next to him.

It just happened to be one of the newer recruits and they didn't know better than to run from the man on the bed.

Aionion pushed towards the young man and attempted to force him to get him a glass of water. It didn't work and the man easily pushed the intruder out. So he tried a new tactic.

He coerced open the man's mind and slipped in a sudden urge to get him a glass of water. The man turned then hesitated and turned back. Aionion pushed harder and planting the thought came easier this time. The man walked a few steps towards the sink then looked around suspiciously.

Aionion pressed the urge as hard as he could and the man ran to the sink but hit it and fell onto his back.

Then Nebula had a good suggestion for once. Become a poltergeist who took "control" of his body. Aionion grinned sickly that turned into a cough when the man turned back around.

The man had stood up by now and was looking around for the culprit. He looked at Aionion but Aionion pointed to a cup and it floated up before settling back down. The idiot didn't notice Aionion grin as soon as his back was turned.

An hour and a half later, Dantos came to the sight of the man sniveling and shaking in the corner, moaning about a poltergeist.

Ignoring the odd sight, he made his way over to a, though still pale, well that wasn't UNUSUAL, Aionion. Dantos went and pulled Aionion into a sitting position on the bed and set down the spare change of clothes he brought.

Aionion stood after putting on the clothes. They slightly reminded him of his black fatigues but made of a softer material. He absentmindedly tugged on the fabric, wondering if it could keep up with the wear and tear.

Aionion looked back at Dantos and attempted to push a thought into his head. He got a headache and quit trying to barge in.

Dantos turned to look at him and made a get on with it gesture, "Are we gonna go, or are we just gonna sit here and inspect the clothes I brought?"

Aionion tried to push his thoughts to Dantos but it was harder than adding a command. Commanding was working with one brain, communication required a bridge between two.

He pushed harder and harder as the bridge connected and his thoughts were voiced as a weak, whispered reply. 'Yes... Let us leave.'