With the tiny spear removed, Abel became acutely aware of the pain and the bleeding. He looked in disbelief at the splinter in his palm, not entirely believing that it could have penetrated that deep. Of course the wooden shard couldn't have hit his metal plateskirt; it went in straight through the opening in the front. Naturally, it could have been worse. A couple inches to the left and Abel would have gotten the unique chance to live life as a eunuch.

As Bridget sat down to meditate, Abel decided to do the same—after looking at her quizzically for a little while. He composed himself into a relaxed position on his back, one he had assumed many times before, and did his best to ignore the pain and hot fluid trickling down his thigh while he waited for his aura to kick in. When it finally did, he exhaled in relief. Feeling his electric aura flow through his body, soothing and reinvigorating, was one of the most satisfying things he had experienced. This pleasure wasn't only physical—it was symbolic. Each battle with the nightmarish monsters of Grimm was a gamble with his life, and laying down afterward to allow his aura to renew him meant that he had faced and beaten the howling darkness yet again. Though laying down like this might simply look like getting comfortable to others, it was nothing short of victory to Abel.

Abel opened his eyes, blinking a few times to help him readjust to the light. Though red surrounded him in the forest of Forever Fall, that color proved absent from his person. His wounds were healed, and he felt fit to fight again. He wasn't sure how long he had been triumphantly resting, but he guessed it to be only a few minutes. Abel jumped up to his feet, brushed blades of crimson grass from his turquoise overcoat, and summoned the Ampere. As tiny strings of electricity connected his fingers and the weapon's shaft, the Ampere twitched and then leaped from the ground into his waiting hand. He then turned to Bridget, who seemed to be meditating still. Quite forgetting that she had mentioned going into the cave, he asked her, “Ready to get going? We've got no time to waste.” For the first time since he had risen, he noticed the bloody splinter still clutched in his left hand. He flicked it into the grass and tried not to stare at his partner's midriff.