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"Don't give your past the power to define your future."
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After the stables, Mitch went to find Cassandra. His left forearm is burning still.

He spotted her leaving the infirmary, Mitch rushed over to her. "Cassie," he said catching her attention.

"Mitch? What's wrong you don't—"

Mitch grabbed her arm, pulling her behind him. "I-I need you, now," he stated not wanting her to finish her sentence. Mitch took her to his, Jerome's, Ian's, and Quentin's house. Not wanting to talk about this in public and luckily, no one was home. They went inside, Mitch taking the bracer off his arm and showing his arm to her.

Cassandra's eyes widen before she grabbed his arm. "Oh, my g-god, Mitch, what did you do? What is this?" She asked shocked.

"I-I don't know! It showed up thirty minutes ago and hasn't stopped hurting. And...And I think it has grown too," he said noticing the lines are in his inner elbow now. He winced when the pain pulsated again. "Cassandra, what's going on? I don't know—"

"Don't your hands and wrists hurt from time to time, randomly?" Cassandra asked inspecting Mitch's arm.

The archer nods. "Y-Yeah, you think it is related?"

Cassandra nods. "Could be, but this is beyond me. If Seto was here, he might know what this is," she said before looking at him. 'But looking at it, Seto might not even know what it is. This is strange, this could...' she thought before she spoke. "Mitch, is it possible that you have magic in your family tree?"

Mitch paused, thinking. "N-Not that I know of," he admitted.

Cassandra ran her hand over the lines, feeling that they aren't protruding meaning they are inside his arm. She turned his arm around, not seeing the lines on the outside of his forearm, just inner. "How about your hands—"

Mitch instantly pulled his arm out of her hands when she tried to remove his glove. "Hands are fine!" He exclaimed. Mitch gripped his forearm. "Cassandra, it's getting worse, what if—"

"I will look into this. I will try to find answers in Seto's library. There's bound to be something there. But then anything, I'm not fluent in dragon tongue just yet and that's what the important books in Seto's library are in. I'll bring the books to Ty and Rosani, see if they can translate," she said.

Mitch nods. "Do you have an idea?"

Cassandra shakes her head. "No, I do not. Some conditions that mages get look similar to that, but that is magic-induced. If you don't have magic in your family tree, I don't have an answer. You could have been exposed to something...I think you should tell Quentin. He could rule out or find conditions," she said to him. She hated seeing Mitch like this, after all, she's always saw Mitch as strong and determined. So to see him look so vulnerable and unsure of himself was...well, it was different.

Mitch gripped his arm, thinking. 'It hurts so badly, it feels like my arm is on fire constantly. This is definitely going to impact my archery skills, I highly doubt that I will be able to aim correctly with how much this hurts,' he thought to himself. "The pain started during the trial, but...it came and went...now it is just constant," he said.

"As I said, I think Quentin should know about this," she said.

He knows she is right, that Quentin should know...but he doesn't want to tell him. With Sky down for the count and Jason gone, the recruits' morale is low right now and the news of him being injured would make it go lower. But Mitch nods, knowing that she won't take no for an answer.

She bit on her bottom lip. "You were there...when Jason was still a slave, right?" she asked him surprising him with the sudden subject change.

"Y-Yeah, Jerome and I rescued him from his last owner. Why?" he asked.

"How...was he?" she asked afraid to hear the answer.

Mitch stared at her for a moment, not knowing what to say. Jason never wants to talk about his slavery past, the most Mitch knows about it is the situation that Jerome and him rescued him from, and bits and pieces due to Jason's night terrors. He looked away from her as he sat on the couch. "Cassandra...the situation that Jerome and I rescued him from...he was a v-very different person comparing then to now," he said.

"How so?" she asked making Mitch look away from her. Memories of when he had first met Jason weren't memories he likes to dwell on.

But he sighed, rubbing his arm to try to get the pain to dull. "Well, Jerome and I found Jason due to pure accident. Jerome had gotten us lost in the jungle, so we went to the edge to try to figure out where we were when Jerome had heard a scream coming from the town nearby. Rustace, I'm pretty sure it was. We went to investigate...and inside the house was...death. Jason had used his wither powers against the owner and their family in self-defense," he said shocking her.

"Wait, so you and Jerome already knew about it?" she asked.

Mitch shook his head. "We didn't know what it was. But the star necklace his mother gave him kept it under control, so he always kept it on. We never tried to figure out what it was since Jason wanted to forget everything that happened. Anyway, in the corner of the room, Jason was injured and sick. He couldn't stand on his own two feet since all the strength that was i-in him was gone. I thought he was dead because he was so skinny and pale. He had this thousand-yard stare, he only saw us when we touched him. He was--ah," Mitch groaned when the pain spiked suddenly. Her eyes soften.

"I'm sorry, here, come on. Let's go to Quentin to get something for your pain," she apologized. Cassandra helped Mitch get up, but as she did, Quentin walked in.

"Mitch? You here?" he asked as he walked into the house. He stopped when he saw Cassandra helping Mitch up. Quentin sighed. "Great, what did you do now?"

Cassandra looked at Quentin. "Oh, here, sit down," she said making Mitch sit back down on the couch. She started to explain what was going on when Mitch interrupted her.

"It's my arm, something is wrong..." he said.

Quentin nods a bit. "Alright, define wrong. Did you trip and land on it wrong? Did you--" Quentin stopped talking after Mitch had taken off the bracer and showed him. He stared at Mitch's arm. "That's...okay..." He sat on the couch beside the archer, inspecting the lines. "I've never seen anything like this. Does it itch? Does the skin feel tight at all?"

"What?" Cassie questioned.

Quentin glanced at her. "I'm trying to see if this is just some strange rash," he said.

Mitch shakes his head. "N-No, it just hurts a lot. And it isn't skin level, it is like...in my bones and such," he said.

Quentin ran his hand over the lines, feeling for any bumps or anything that could give him a clue that something might be growing underneath Mitch's skin but he feels nothing out of the ordinary. "Let me see your hand," he said making Mitch pull his arm away as his anxiety spiked.

"My hand is fine--"

"Mitch, I wouldn't ask if I didn't absolutely need to. Please?" he asked.

Mitch hesitated before he took off the glove. Cassandra's eyes widen when she saw Mitch's palm. "How did--"

"Don't ask, Cassandra," Quentin warned her. Cassandra shut her mouth, looking away from the archer. Quentin ran his hand over Mitch's palm, feeling nothing out of the ordinary either. The only bumps he feels are from the scars that decorate Mitch's hand from intense archery training and other activities. "How does your hand feel?"

"W-Weak," Mitch winced as pain went up his arm again.

Quentin frowned. "Does it hurt?" he asked making the archer shake his head. "What about your fingers? Do they feel weak as well?" Mitch nods. Quentin looked at Cassandra. "Cassandra, can you go up to Mitch's room and get his bow? It's upstairs, third door on the right."

Mitch looked at Quentin as she went upstairs. "What? You want me to collapse in pain in front of the r-recruits? I almost did that during the trial when I was shooting at Ty. That's a great way to bring down the already low morale," he said.

Quentin shakes his head. "No, I'm not having you shoot, I don't want to cause more damage. I just want to see whether or not you can hold a bow with the pain," he said. Mitch looked away from Quentin, gripping his left arm as dark thoughts cross his mind.

"If...If I can still hold one--"

Quentin looked at Mitch. "Mitch, you are still the greatest archer in Astina. That fact will never change--"

Mitch stood up, holding his hurt arm still. "Well it will change soon since I don't think I can still hold a bow anymore," he said. He lets out a shaky breath. "The pain in my hands and arms are getting worse and you can't figure out why. Before this stupid rash appeared, it starting hurting more all over again. And it is happening more and more--"

"Maybe this is the root cause," Quentin cut him off making Mitch silent for a moment.

"What do you mean?"

Quentin pointed at Mitch's arm. "You didn't start having pain in your arms and hands, having it at severe levels at least, until a few months ago. We have tried various treatments, but nothing has worked. This rash or whatever it is, it might be what is causing this pain. And if we can get rid of it, maybe your pain in your arms and hands will go back to normal levels instead of it being severe all the time," he said making Mitch look away, thinking. As he was, he slipped back on his glove so people would stop looking at his scars like Cassandra was.

"You really think this might be the sole reason?" he asked.

Quentin nods. "Well, besides maybe just your age showing, yes," he said making Mitch look at Quentin.

"I'm only 26 years old," he said.

Quentin chuckled. "I know, I'm joking," he said as Cassandra came down the steps with Mitch's bow. Mitch takes it, holding it in his left hand, running his fingers down with string with his right hand before using them to draw the string back. About halfway, Mitch felt the pain manifest, running straight from his forearm to the places in his hand where the bow is pressed against making him yelp and drop it. Quentin grabbed Mitch, keeping him steady. "Alright, looks like you got halfway. That's much better than I thought you would be able to get."

Mitch picked up the bow, looking at it. He felt weird, he was upset yes, but to not be able to fully draw back a bow anymore is just not right in his eyes. He looked at Quentin. "Please tell me you can fix this and fix it fast," he said.

Quentin's eyes soften. "I can try to fix it, but I cannot guarantee it will be fast. For now, I'm gonna prescribe you something for the pain and closely monitor it. Stick to swords and daggers, try not to use archery until we have this cleared up," he said. Mitch nodded, looking away. Quentin gives him a small smile. "Mitch, we will figure this out. You have my word. For now, just try to be patient. And you are needed at the infirmary, Sky is awake and wants to talk to you. I don't know how well he can hold a conversation, probably not at all, but he wants to speak with you."

Mitch chuckled before he said, "Alright, I'll go see him."