It has been a week since I took this child in. I have finished teaching her the basics of life here. Now then. It is time to face her "wounds."

"Battered Child Syndrome"

• A general term for physical and mental wounds caused by abuse from a guardian. It is a broad term because there are many types of abuse and symptoms. That said, the breadth is mostly due to the different types of "abuse."

Scars from physical violence like beatings, or scars from sexual (omitted) abuse. One wouldn't usually go out of their way to use this specific term for those. "Ah, this wound is Battered Child Syndrome." "...It's just a bruise. I was just punched." Terms like abuse or sexual (censored) abuse would suffice.

• Mental scars inflicted by a guardian. This is a more accurate interpretation of the term's meaning here.

The problems inherent in this syndrome include:

• The patient often lacks even a "normal state." Especially when this broken situation has become established as their baseline.
• When it worsens, there are often no reasons or words left that can stop the decline. This happens easily if linguistic abilities are damaged, but even without that, states like "refusing to accept anyone's words" can occur.
• They are experts at hiding it. Likely because they have spent nearly every waking moment of their lives hiding. It is a nightmare for anyone trying to save them.

All of these factors are intertwined with the fact that it happened "during childhood," meaning their "options for escape were extremely limited."