Chapter 40

**Merianna**


I was relieved that I was finally able to adjust my own body to accept the new surge of energy this time. Having to rely on Nelia every time my surges appeared made me feel bad. Not only did it take a lot of energy from her to control my surge and help my body adjust, but since it kept happening in such short succession and unpredictability, she barely had time to take a proper rest herself.

“How are you feeling? Should I call Nelia?” Thyrion asked worriedly above my head. He had decided to sit next to the bed as I laid down and did my thing.

I chuckled. “I’m perfectly fine, there’s no need to wake Nelia up. It’s great that I’m able to do it myself now thanks to the memories I have access to again.”

Thyrion’s warm hand stroked the side of my face gently. As his warmth sank in through my skin, I could feel myself starting to get restless. The thought of pulling him in for a deeper his, and the possibility of it leading to more than just kissing made my stomach flutter. It felt like he was just about to say something when the room’s door suddenly slammed open, making the both of us jerk in surprise. Three absurdly curly haired women stood poised at the entrance for a second, taking in the sight in front of them as much as we were taking in the sight of them.

“I can’t believe my fricken eyes!” The redhead burst out with a full on Irish accent.

“I can’t believe what my brain is telling me is right in front of us!” The blonde exploded, sounding decidedly english.

“Fucking fireballs and crackers. Is this real?!” The light brunette muttered, somehow sounding like she could fit in anywhere.

“I can’t believe you guys are actually still alive.” Thyrion deadpanned as he glared at all three.

“Would you guys have a look at that?!” The redhead yelled out in surprise while elbowing the blonde and obviously gawking at Thyrion. “He’s not dead after all!”

“Dude! We thought you offed yourself ages ago to follow her!” The brunette gaped.

“No shit! All that time not hearing a single thing, you might as well also have pegged!” The blonde sounded equally surprised to be seeing Thyrion.

For a moment I was furiously scrambling around in my mind, trying to place where exactly these three fit in the Order’s member list. Then I remembered what Noch had said in his office not too long ago, and that made everything click into place.

“Helga, Olga and Hilda?” I asked looking from the redhead to the blonde and lastly the brunette in turn. Everyone simultaneously turned their heads to me in surprise.

“Is that really our little Nelia’s demon sister incarnate?” Hilda asked.

“That looks decidedly similar to her I’d say.” Helga pipped up.

“Color me surprised!” Olga uttered with raised eyebrows.

I gave them all my best deadpan glare that I usually reserved for Noch. “I forgot that you guys could be like this from time to time.” Just as Nana Ara didn’t appreciate or even like Healers, the same could be said for the Ga’s who don’t appreciate violence or potions that go boom in your face.

“It truly is her!” Hilda exclaimed.

“We’d recognize that look anywhere!” Helga laughed.

“I bet Nelia is very happy about this.” Olga pipped in.

With that all three of them nodded their heads simultaneously like it was an inside discussion they’ve had with each other multiple times. Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if they did. With the Ga’s it was very much expected to expect the unexpected. Much like with Nana Ara. It was almost comic that they were alike in the oddest ways yet hated each other more than mongooses and snakes.

“Where did you guys just come from? Usually you three were permanent fixtures in the castle that never liked going anywhere.” I asked, remembering that they weren’t there when I first got brought into the Order by Noch.

“Oh just here and there.” Olga replied vaguely.

“Everywhere~.” Hilda said while stretching her eyes wide.

“After that whole fiasco where you died and everyone left, we got notified a while afterward by one of our old healer acquaintances that medical experiments were on the rise in the normal human communities. Especially around Europe’s side, so we decided to ‘broaden our horizons’, as they say.” Helga supplemented.

“Quite fascinating stuff that came out of that.” Hilda piped up.

“Oh the many experiments.” Olga retorted.

“You are never too old to learn.” Helga nodded.

“Hah. Never would have thought that the three of you would actually be open to non-magic methods of healing.” Thyrion said dryly.

“All methods of healing are valuable!” Hilda declared.

“In a way healing in all its forms could be considered magic.” Olga pipped up.

I thought I should say something before they started babbling nonsense. “So what are you three planning on doing now? Did you just pop in for a visit?”

“Our curiosity got the better of us, so we did indeed pop in for a peek. But our decision will only really be made once we go and say hi to our favorite little Nelia.” Helga said with a fond smile.

I often wondered if the Ga’s treated Nelia much the same way that Ara or Fog did or the way that Noch did which was much higher on the irritation level.

I chuckled. “Well then don’t let me stand in the way of you guys seeing her. She’s probably still sleeping in her room right now.”

“Sleeping you say?” Hilda tilted her head.

“In broad daylight no less.” Olga replied.

“I say it’s time for a welfare check!” Helga exclaimed.

Their comments barely started sinking in for me when all three of them flew back out of my room just about as quickly as they had flown into it in the first place. It didn’t take long for Nelia’s scream of surprise to bounce its way down the hall and into my open doorway. I smiled wryly and shook my head.

“Clearly your revival to the land of the living is no more than a passing fascination to those three.” Thyrion chuckled along.

“At least it’s nice to know that they also didn’t change much. Although I still find it strange that we are all in about the same age ranges this time around. Well except Fog of course, he never seems to change because of his Fae heritage.”

“Well, that is to be expected.” Thyrion said as he went to go and close the door on Nelia’s shrieks.

I sighed as it started dawning on me that we will really be going to the Council soon. Things usually tended to change a lot over time, it made me wonder if the Council was still going to be the same as I remembered or not. I was both excited to be going and nervous to see the changes.