[sylvanSpider]

Qi'an held the rod in her hands, feeling the smooth surface, the strength of the string, and the small barbed hook at the end. “There won't be any fish left if we use these to fish,” she said with a small smile. That smile was the first she'd given since her planet was decimated, and though small it was genuine. “What is...Gunslinger?” She'd heard the word before and understood it to mean a person who wields a gun – one of those weapons that could kill a person if they use it right.

“This is...amazing,” she uttered at some length, “Though it's gone...we can still go there, through this? Are there other people here?” Even if they were only ghosts of those that she loved, her parents, her brothers, she wanted to see them, to see that they could still be happy in some sort of universe. She boarded the small boat and took her seat with grace. Already used to the surface of the water, it took little adapting. The paddles, however, were as foreign objects to her. In Guangda, they did not have paddles, instead opting for enormously long sticks, long enough to reach down under the floods to propel the user forward. This, she assumed, was too deep for anything of that nature.

“I would love to. You have...never been? You found me there, so it is sad that is what you got to see. Guang Da was...it was...beautiful.”

/////

The twins returned with the medic's request, and the medic wasted no time in working on flushing Marco's eyes out. The medic's cool, collected face furrowed to one of worry when he saw the extent of the damage. Lucky for him, Marco wasn't fighting back. His chest rose up and down, up and down in steady but shaking breaths and occasionally he'd let out a gasp. “Boys, get me some gauze and medical tape. Now.”

They disappeared for a while, eventually coming up with the requested material. Once Marco's eyes were sufficiently flushed medic set to work setting up an alternative medical grade eyepatch. The eye that was formerly under the eyepatch was now exposed to the light, blinking and vulnerable. The formerly seen from lay shrouded in darkness, useless. The medic's rude face didn't return and the look of worry switched to one of pity as Marco now sat up and swallowed, dreading the news.

The medic cleared his throat, “Marco, right? You're an Ipho?” Marco nodded. “I'm...I'm sorry to tell you this, but your right eye...You won't be seeing from it again.” Marco deflated, burying his head in his hands. The medic put a hand on Marco's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, “I know this will be hard. Your right eye's abilities will no longer function, as I'm sure you gathered, but your left eye is likely to kick into overdrive; its abilities will heighten. You will need to learn to control it or you will be seeing many things you wished you never did. A glass eye won't be necessary. The venom only destroyed surface matter, so the integrity of your eye's solidity is still there, but likely, it will turn milky. To protect it, keep it covered at all times for a week, then only keep it covered in the daylight and at night let it breathe. Keep this up until the pain stops. I'm sorry, Marco. I did what I could.”

The twins stood motionless as they listened to the medic break the news to Marco. So he was an Ipho; that was how he managed to shoot so well. It was real, but he used his species abilities in ways that others hadn't thought of. But now, that was gone. They would still welcome him in, but he'd need to relearn how to shoot. Further, all secrets would now be exposed to him. There would be no lying to him, likely.