So he gets him started on it. The children's meditation involves paying attention to your breath, focusing until you can feel your pool behind your diaphragm. Many can't do this without some aid - usually an older relative threading some mana into them to touch their pool - something which requires consent, by the way. Just as an Artefact will attack a person they don't wish to bond with, trying to touch another's pool without consent will cause it to attack you automatically. 

He follows these instructions diligently. Does it result in any sign of magic?

It does not. 

"Well, that's too bad. I suppose it might be strange if you could? Given our different worlds and magic." 

"Yeah, It might be something only the natives can do. I am sure someone back home would've noticed if it was possible back there too. Is this inability to use mana detectable? It would give credibility to my story."

"It might be! You don't stand out from the ambient mana, but someone supressing might be able to hide from me, and most people aren't as good at sensing as I am. However if you don't mind I can try more actively searching for you - it would involve using a thread of mana to probe the area you are in." 

"Is that likely to have other effects? Or uses?"

"Anyone who relies on their senses wouldn't notice you if you hid. Some wards may not take note of you.

"As for other effects, it shouldn't. I'll be using uncoloured mana, which does nothing but sense and communicate unless it is fueling a spell. If you have a mana pool I expect I will receive a sharp shock, and then we will know. If you do not, it will have nothing to interact with."  

"As long it's safe for you as well."

He smiles, "So long as I disengage right away the shock is only very mild." 

So he spins out a thin thread of his remaining mana and directs it across the sitting area to examine Zephyrinus. Is there anything to be found?

Nope.

Zephyrinus is watching him closely.

His eyes are almost closed, allowing him to focus on the information he's getting from his thread. He has one hand raised and held out in Zephyrinus' direction, thumb and forefinger positioned as though holding a thin wire, a technically unnecessary gesture, but harmless so long as be doesn't rely on it. 

After a moment, he retracts the thread, allowing it to re-merge with his pool. 

"Nothing," he says, regretful. 

Shrug. "Maybe I can develop it as a power, but I wouldn't bet on it."

He nods, "When do you expect you'll get a new power?" He asks, still a little unsure how his magic works. "Powering a translation stone isn't very taxing, so I don't mind, but you may wish to speak with someone other than me at some point." 

"Oh? Oh. I must have cycled through a couple dozen powers so far. But I was prioritizing teleportation and most of what I got were variants of how to burn things."

"So you've been in pain this whole time? You don't much show it, but I suppose you must be used to it." He shakes his head, banishing any unhelpful thoughts on the topic, "Are fire powers more likely in that form than any of the other categories?" 

"Not the whole time, I was paying attention when you were giving me the language and magic lessons, but I have a second power in this form that gives me super-speed, every so often I give quick go at trying for a new power. Dealing with the pain is a professional skill. And yes, this is the fire-themed shape. It can breathe fire without any additional power and most people have deep-red skin in it. This coloration is unusual, like being very pale."

"It's very striking," he says, eyes catching on the play of the light on his hair. He blinks, looking away. 

"Perhaps it's time I prepared for bed - you must be tired as well, given how strange your day has been." 

"I might try for another round of power searching. But, yes, thank you for all the help."

He nods, "I'm pleased to have helped." 

He stands, holding the door for him to leave, and then closing and locking it behind him. 

Once alone, he sighs at himself, "Don't be an idiot," he mutters, before beginning his preparations for bed.

Zephyrinus goes to his room. He takes off his clothes and without much to do tries for teleportation or communication. After an hour or so of this, He finally manages contact with Felicianus, they can sense when the other is trying to rebind the power. With some painstakingly slow application of timed power rebinding, the two plus Theocritus manage to communicate. Zephyrinus is safe. They are safe. Can't get any better than this. Not for the moment, and he is sure his brothers are using the best guild's resources to get him back. Thinking, Zephyrinus decides that there is no better alternative than to look at the place where he likely made the transition to this world. He didn't raise the possibility with Jaim because, well, the young man is a stranger. But he is hardly spoiled for choice, and he should investigate the place.

He wakes early the next morning, quickly rolling out of bed to go through his morning routine. Exercises, meditation, ablutions, clothing, tea - and then he is ready to face the day. He steps out into the hall, still buckling his bracers, and looks out the window. Finding the sky light enough, he steps over to knock on Zephyrinus' door and invite him to join him for breakfast. 

Zephyrinus opens the door after a few moments. Some things become obvious: He changed to yet another shape at some point during the night, his hair metallic silver in this one. Also, he definitely didn't pack any pajamas for this sudden trip. "Good morning," he says a bit tiredly.

"Good mor-" he starts automatically, before taking in what he's wearing. Or, more to the point, not wearing. He makes a strangled noise, red climbing up his cheeks as he moves his gaze above Zephyrinus' head. 

"...You could have told me to wait while you dressed," he says, once the internal screaming - and the unhelpful impulses - has died down a notch. 

Blink. "Would you rather that I had?"

He would not, actually - no, damn it, get your head out of the gutter! 

"...We may have run into a cultural difference," he says, the words coming out very formally in his embarrassment. "Here it is considered inappropriate to be unclothed outside of private spaces unless swimming."