Hex's Secret

"You should also know one more thing about Mana Burns. When you get them, everything might seem a little different. As in, you perceive this world by using mana. You might hallucinate, but you should know while you can still understand us, that you will be okay no matter what you see. We should take shelter to stay hidden, but we can also go and weaken Zeus even more. It's your call, Anima, what do you want us to do?" Soul asked me. I turned toward Tama again to ask her more questions unrelated to my injuries.

"Hades Tower... that's where you said you went. What other information can you give me?" I asked her.

"Huh? That was a while ago I told you that. I can tell you more later, it looks like you have visitors." Tama said, pointing toward Hex running over.

"Hix!" Shima shouted out in her childish voice.

"Anima! Hey! Are you alright?!" Hex yelled out. She had some sort of backpack with a green plus sign on it. Probably a medical kit.

"I have Mana Burn! I'm alright!" I shouted out to her. However, Hex didn't take that for an answer.

"My ass you did! Give me your left hand." Hex said, taking it out from my side and holding it up. When she held it up, I understood what she was talking about.

The same mark that was on my eye was on my arm, she explained. It was weird to look at, but right now, I was Mana Burned twice? What does that mean?

"What does two of them mean?" I asked as she put me on my feet and guided me over to a nearby building. Nothing around us was destroyed, so we could hide in buildings still.

"Two of them means you were hit with two attacks that you absorbed too much. I assume you've been informed about the properties of Mana Burn since you knew what it was called?" Hex asked me while pulling a bottle of something out of her kit.

"Yeah, Soul told me I absorbed the Mana that Zeus shot at me with the attack... then the second attack belonged to Ono, didn't it?" I asked Hex for reassurance. It turns out I was right.

"Yeah. That means you have Mana Burn for twice the duration Zeus will have it. And we can't have that. All evacuated citizens of New Olympia are currently being taken by Dex over to Dorrendale. They'll be safe there because this is going to turn into a warzone." She said. Hex snapped the top of the bottle off of the container and her eyes started to glow an even brighter yellow color while she looked at me.

"There." She muttered, jamming the tip of her finger into the top of my shoulder. I let out a scream in pain as she continued to hold it while looking over the rest of my body.

"What the hell are you doing to me?! Why does it hurt?!" I asked her.

"It doesn't hurt. One thing I assume you weren't informed about was how addictive that amount of mana can be. Which is fine, it usually doesn't leave survivors when Mana Burn happens so it's a pretty rare fact. I'm pushing the mana out of your Chines so you don't develop an addiction." Hex said, slamming her finger into my stomach next. It felt like a blade being scraped across my body

"Do what you have to... but wouldn't Zeus know this tactic as well? What's stopping him from being healed like you're doing to me? And also, I didn't know you were a doctor!" I shouted out to Hex as she pushed into my body once more.

"I'm not a doctor. I've been hiding my identity for a very long time so I can sit under the radar, but if we're going to be turning this place into a warzone, then I can't hide. We're calling for backup right now, and Borealis is working to put a barricade around this city." Hex explained.

"Hey, you're info-dumping on me right now. Slow down. Explain my Mana Burns first. They're an addiction? What happens if I leave them untreated?" I asked her to begin another rant.

"I'll keep it short then. You'll die. We all will. Your body is hosting over six hundred thousand mana to your four thousand five hundred capacity. You would explode like a bomb if you over-exerted again. All I'm doing is Mana Draining your Chines." She explained again.

"Those. What the hell is Chines?" I asked her.

"Think of your veins, but instead of blood, it's mana. They're mana carriers for your entire body, and they're enlarged so they look like noodles, when they're supposed to be even smaller than strands of hair." She finished her explanation and I absorbed the information slowly, staying quiet while she pushed into my body again. I then asked her to continue, but slower.

"I'm not a doctor. I'm a Vessel for a Hero. If I'm killed or captured, my body will be spent to turn into a Hero like you are. I've been under the radar and hiding that information to deter others from capturing me." She said.

"Does Dex know? And why would people want to capture you over all other Heroes? Are you special in some way?"

"Of course, he knows! He's my husband. And yeah, I'm quite special. I have Pretorian Blood in me, so I'm quite the Vessel if I do say so myself." Hex said. She smiled and tilted her head over to Ken. I could see the pieces of a large puzzle connect in his head.

"Woah... I should become one of those." Ken said with his finger curled under his mouth.

"Huh? I thought you were going to make some insane reveal to me... why'd you stop? Am I okay now?" I asked her. Hex nodded with her thumb up and pulled out a note to show to everybody.

"This is the person I called for help." She said, handing over the note.