Meggie Folchart: Having writer's block? Maybe I can help.
Fenoglio: Oh yes, that's right. You want to be a writer, don't you?
Meggie Folchart: You say that as if it's a bad thing.
Fenoglio: Oh no, it's just a lonely thing. Sometimes the world you create on the page seems more friendly and alive than the world you actually live in.

 - Cornelia Funke, Inkheart 

"Kora?" asked a soft voice. Your head hurt. When you tried to move your neck to the right, pain shot through it, making you softly whimper. "Be careful! Your body is still slightly paralyzed," the voice said. Because of the ringing in your ears, it took you a moment to recognize the voice. "Kris..." you breathed. Your voice was soft and raspy because you couldn't get enough air into your lungs; they hurt when you tried to breathe.

"AND SUHO!" chriped the scribe's ever optimistic voice. You tried to smile, but stopped when your facial muscles ached. "Ow..." you groaned. Finally mustering enough strength, you opened your eyes. Your vision was quite blurry at first, but it soon cleared, allowing you to see Kris and Suho hovering above you. "Hi..." you whispered.

They smiled at you. "You're one powerful little girl, huh?" Kris chuckled as he tousled your hair gently, making sure not to apply pressure to your throbbing forehead. "You know what powerful little girls are called, right? Troublemakers!" Suho laughed. Although it hurt, you turned your head towards him and glared at him. "One, I'm not little, and two, I'm not at troublemaker!" you huffed in one breath.

"You are so a little girl!" Suho laughed. You frowned and tried to sit up so that you could hit him. Unfortunately, that didn't go so well, and your arms couldn't hold you up. Instead you fell backwards back onto the bed. "Ow!" you cried out. "Didn't I tell you to be careful?" Kris scolded. "See! You're the little girl, and Kris is your dad!" Suho said, almost crying from laughter.

You shot a glare at him and made a fist with your hand; one of the things you hated was being made fun of. Kris held your fist, and you looked up at him. "Don't mind him; he just spends too much time cooped up in the library, so he's kind of... out there," he told you. You gave a light laugh, and Suho pouted, making you laugh at him even more.

You looked around you, now noticing that you were in a medium-sized room. Everything in the room was white: the walls, the furniture, even the nightgown you found yourself wearing. "Where are we?" you asked, puzzled. "We're in the healer's quarters. You've been out for about two days," Suho said. Your eyes widened. "TWO DAYS? WHAT HAPPENED?!?!?" you said in shock.

"After you displayed your ability to the council, you passed out. Your core energy was too intense and powerful for your body to handle," Kris explained. "P-Powerful? I-Intense? M-Me?" you stuttered. "YEAH! It was SO AWESOME! Your illusion was so realistic! It was very hard for me to record what happened! You're a core energy powerhouse! Here, look!" Suho said as he opened the book he wrote in during your meeting with the council. 

No one had ever said that about you; your core energy was of average levels. Your jaw dropped when you read the passage in the book. There was absolutely no way you could have had that much power to create what Suho wrote. "This doesn't make any sense! I'm not that powerful! I can't even create a forest for more than two minutes!" you said, insisting that what they were saying was impossible.

There was a knock at the door. "Come in," Kris said. The door opened, and in walked the members of the Council of Ordea. Though they wore hoods, you could tell who they were because you recognized their white, embroidered clothing. They each took their hoods off and moved so that they were beside you. "How are you feeling?" BoA asked. Her voice reminded you of your mother.

"Okay, I'm still in pain though," you said honestly. She gave you a sweet smile and sat next to you on your bed. "You made quite the first impression on us, Kora," Jaejoong said, smiling. "I, uh..." you said, not really knowing how to reply. "Your core energy level is amazing! And you were able to harness that much at 19 years old!" Junsu exclaimed. "Um... thank you?" you answered uneasily. "You really are a special child, incredibly gifted," Yoochun said, nodding his head in agreement with Junsu.

"I think it was that orb thing you told me to touch. I couldn't have done... all that," you told him. Max shook his head. "Nope, it was you. The Orb of Talsa was just an activator. But the energy, and that