“Flowing rivers fade to red with poison to accrue,
     Windows to the world take on a slightly duller hue.

     “Seeds that drift along the breeze, root yourselves in place,
     Light that makes the flower bloom, dimmer down your grace.

     “Hollow branches fill with rings that count along your age,
     Without flight the little bird no longer needs a cage.”

     With her silvery white hair pulled back into a neat braid and her smooth, fair skin slightly beaded with sweat above her brow, Haeyang sat in deep concentration before a stone bowl of steaming water with various leaves, roots, and berries steeping within. As she swirled its contents, the bowl became increasingly warm until it’s scalding contents would be unbearable to touch. Now infused with the power of the Ancients, Haeyang dipped her bare hands into the water, but her skin did not burn. Instead, the energy flowed through her, transcending the barrier between this realm and the next, and she continued the incantation she had been uttering.

. : .

     “We’ve concluded that the majority of her symptoms were the result of heavy metal poisoning, but we really can’t locate the cause,” the doctor announced upon his return, “The fever didn’t make sense either, and for how much copper there was in her blood, the effects on the brain and liver appeared considerably low. Copper levels must have only elevated very recently, which is a very strange case.”

     L glanced at the others uncertainly. He was sure that wasn’t the only thing strange the doctors had found about Haneul.

     “With how high her temperature was, she very well shouldn't have been alive when you brought her in," the doctor shook his head in disbelief, then pat L on the shoulder, "She's very lucky.”

     Infinite knew better than to feel relieved just yet. They knew this wasn’t over until Haneul was safely back with them.

     “Now, we could run some additional tests, try to pinpoint the cause of the poisoning. If it was such a sudden onset, it most likely involved environmental influences. Has she moved recently? Maybe a change in diet?”

     L tensed at the word ‘tests’. “No, and I don’t think that will be necessary,” he said, maybe a little too quickly. “She’s been through a lot, I think she’d rather just rest.”

     “Very well,” the doctor nodded empathetically.

     He waited for the ‘but’, the ‘however’, the ‘there’s something else we need to discuss’. But it never came. The doctor gave them one last reassuring smile, then disappeared to deal with another patient.

     As Infinite began to hear the details from the nurses about how Haneul’s tests had gone, they were more and more astounded by the results, but not for the same reason as the doctors. When heavy metal poisoning was suspected, an x-ray had been conducted for arsenic or thallium presence in her abdomen. The doctors saw no abnormalities; Infinite sa