It was one thing to see Eirian's magic manifested around her.
It was another thing entirely to try and wake her up.
"I don't understand what's burning," Captain Li looked around the room in confusion.
Naturally, Yuze was the one who figured it out. "The miasma." He said, sharing a sharp look with Chenzhou. "She said the Camelia was infected. A magical poison."
"She was confused none of us could see it." Chenzhou finished.
"How much poison requires this much magic?" Finn poked at a lamp engulfed in flames. And then picked it up when it proved cool to the touch. "This is so weird. They look so real."
"They are real." Yuze explained. "They're just burning something on a different plane."
The lost look on Finn's face makes him sigh.
"There are different planes of existence. Heaven, the underworld, the mortal world which is ours." Yuze joined Chenzhou at Eirian's bedside as he explained.
"Wait, then how come we can see it if it's happening on another plane?" Finn put the lamp down and picked up a large, slightly rusted device that looked like an ancient compass. Eirian had the weirdest, and most interesting, things in her room.
Yuze and Chenzhou shared another look. "Because its magic." They said together, because neither of them knew the actual answer.
Judging from the look on Finn and Captain Li's faces neither bought it, but it was something that could be discussed later. When the world wasn't on fire and Eirian was awake to answer all their questions.
Chenzhou hesitated before finally touching the bed. He could see his hand pass through the flames, could see them react to his presence, but he felt nothing.
Eirian was sound asleep. Under the covers and in a sleeping gown, thank the gods. She didn't seem like the shy type, but Chenzhou would have felt terrible bringing a bunch of people into her room without warning when she was naked.
She'd brought her own bed set when she moved in, and the thick duvet was a riot of jewel toned birds and flowers set against a royal blue background. Resting against the matching pillows, her hair almost seemed to glow.
Eirian herself didn't look well though and Chenzhou frowned as he leaned over the bed. This was definitely more magic than she'd used before, and he couldn't forget her sunken cheeks and eyes.
It was already worse this time. In addition to the sunken features, her skin was sallow and pale and just hanging off her bones. It wasn't hard to imagine it wasting away completely as her magic rank wild.
"Eirian!" He was almost afraid to touch her with how fragile she looked, but she didn't react to his voice at all. He shook her shoulder as gently as he could, trying to ignore how sharply the bones stuck out. "Eirian, wake up. Please."
"How long can she keep this going?" Yuze glanced at the ceiling above them, where the flames looked like they were forming into a small storm.
"I don't know." Chenzhou admitted, Eirian had confided much about her magic in him. Or anyone, it seemed. He shook her harder. "Wake up, Eirian."
It took a moment, just a heartbeat really, but her eyes fluttered.
Chenzhou let out of a relieved breath when her eyes finally opened, and she turned to him.
"Chenzhou?"
"Eirian, you have to stop. Your magic is-" He didn't even get to finish as Eirian noticed the flames.
He's not sure how, she doesn't really move though her eyes flutter for a moment and she takes a deep gasping breath, but the fire begins to shrink. He can hear distant shouting in the halls and the horns start again. He'll find out later that the fire reached the outer walls and started to make its way across the courtyard and when Eirian called it back it was like watching a slow frost creep back.
It crawls back into Eirian, the fire engulfing her and her bed growing more intense as it shrinks everywhere else.
After a few minutes, the only fire that remains is the one surrounding Eirian and Chenzhou watches as flicker by flicker it sinks into Eirian until suddenly it's all gone.
The room falls silent, Eirian looks like she's moments from death by starvation, but the fire is gone.
"Send someone for food right now." Chenzhou orders and Captain Li, confused as he is, immediately rushes out.
Eirian started to push herself up, slowly as her arms shook with the effort and Chenzhou and Yuze hurried to help her, shifting her pillows so she could lean back comfortably.
"Eirian, you look-" She looks dead but he can't bring himself to say that.
Narutally, she waves it off. "It's fine. This is just what happens. I just need to eat."
"That was too much. What were you thinking?" Chenzhou demanded, worry masking itself with anger.
Eirian must see through it, because she rolled her eyes. Or she just didn't care, a strong possibility, but Chenzhou likes to think their partnership is only slightly better footing than that.
"That was an immense amount of magic," Yuze interrupts. "It engulfed the entire main structure of the castle."
Chenzhou gaped. "The entire building?"
Yuze nodded.
Eirian winced. "I didn't mean to use that much, but the miasma started pushing back."
Chenzhou had no experience with magic, other than a few magical artifacts and Huaban. He made a mental note to have someone find the best works on magic and bring them to his office so he could learn. Clearly, he needed to understand more about magic, Eirian's magic in particular, if they were going to figure out what was happening to the Camelia. "Would you have died if you kept going?"
"It's not the first time I've used this much. I've always woken up in time." No one looks particularly comforted by that revelation, so she continues. "If I die the magic dies. The magic doesn't want to die, so it takes precautions, just like I do."
"Um, Lord Ye?" Finn's shaky voice shifted their attention. He was standing at one of the windows, having opened it just a crack. When he saw they were all looking at him, he opened it all the way.
Bright, warm sunlight illuminated the room through the window.
~ tbc