"Ugh...Uncle, I've already run my laps for today, just five more minutes…"
Exhausted murmurs buried within the folds of the sheets were barely heard as a group stood around him.
With a breath of relief filling each of their lungs as Bell hopped into barely breathing Shynerai, his claws sinking into his flesh, the Daumier called out with a sense of life being breathed into him.
"FAE's breath. You're okay!" A look of shock followed Tersia's bated breath as they watched him rouse to life, trying to sit up while minding his bandages.
"How, we watched you..." Sergei let out.
Erai tried to summon his emerald flames, but all that was borne from his efforts were faint sputters of fledgling sparks from his palms.
"I burned through it...somehow. I shouldn't have been able to but I don't think I can bring it out."
"The explosion, that was you right?" Stephen walked up with the ashen hilt of Erai's SoulArm.
"Master Reven put so much effort into it, I won't know what to tell him."
"That flash of green light must have been after Ren shattered Shadowsteel...I'm not sure how but...I must have absorbed some of the ambient Atash just as I fell into that void...but that's about all I remember." Trying to piece together the fragments of the events, even the wounds that appeared foreign to him from how shaken he'd been.
"I think it would be best if Shynerai got some rest." Ketsu tried to calm his classmates as his stern tone faded into an inaudible blur with his vision darkening beyond his control.
"Erai? Erai! Er..."
"Vaceris–"
"Get Dr. Arturion, please!" Vaceris pleaded with classmates with a pained expression, as she tried to call out to his limp body.
"He'll be fine, my dear. He only needs to rest." The good doctor rested his hand on her shoulder as they watched over him.
Stephen took a look at the illuminated clock of his Notebook, with the numbers counting down before the final match of the Tournament.
"He's got a little under an hour, doctor. Will he truly be fine?" She wondered
"He won't have long. He still needs to participate in the final match." Stephen stated, almost coldly as he closed the Notebook before turning to the doctor, hoping that Dr. Arturion would understand, but he merely gave a nod, refusing to heed his desire any further.
"That young man needs his rest...all those battles to come won't mean as much if you lose him today. If you believe that he needs to be there, I'm sure he won't let you down. But for now, you must let him gather his strength."
"I know he won't. But he wouldn't forgive us if we gave up on him, and he wouldn't be our classmate if we didn't try to help him." She answered, unshaken in her resolve, with a firm grip on his Erai's tattered sleeve.
"And what if pushing him any harder led to more of his suffering, those scars should have been his first and last warnings but you kids never listen. If you are certain that he would want to keep on fighting then are you also certain that he would want to suffer?" Dr. Arturion sat in a chair across from Vaceris with Erai resting between them.
Folding his arms at the same time as Reiss, who was outside, leaning against the door of the Medical Ward, with the quivering of his ears, his keen senses could easily make sense of the conversation within.
While the doctor had his classmates weighing the measure of their next words, a weak voice mumbled through the bands of gauze and bandages embracing his entire body,
"He won't be fighting alone, he knows he doesn't have to anymore." Torren tried to sit up but the wounds from his flames flared up with each movement, prompting Tersia to keep him down.
"Erai made us a promise, and I refuse to be the reason he couldn't keep it, so are you going to help or do I need to find someone who can?" Holding her gaze up to the doctor.
"I will do what I am able, anything beyond that will rest squarely on his resolve. I warn you though, for what follows next… that young Shynerai does not grow to hate you. Those that care for us the most, are often misguided by their intentions to protect us."
"Do not allow that to blind you, not as a Guardian, for one day you will not be able to afford such a mistake."
"Strange...that sounds almost like something I would have told him." Turning to Erai with his current state reminiscent of the first time she saw him like that.
'Seems like I can't heed my own words when it comes to you. Dammit!'
As if driven by a sudden gust, Reiss left on his way, marching past a cohort of nurses before vanishing into a wisp of smoke. The distinct scent of vanilla and Sulphur tinged at Ulrich's senses as stepped out of the Headmistress's office.
"Tch...can I help you, Reiss?"
A momentary scar was torn into space, spewing flames and wisps of airy cinders. From the opening in the ceiling, Reiss dropped out, landing in front of Ulrich with the sound of his fluttering coat barely louder than an owl in flight,
"Sharp as ever I see."
"..."
"So, what's going on in there?" Leaning over his shoulder as he peeked at the door.
"If you truly cared for the nature of the meetings we hold, you would attend them. Half the time they are to address your poor demeanor as I dread to say, an educator."
"Well, they wouldn't want me in there anyways. Besides, as long as one of you is there, I'm sure the Headmistress wouldn't mind my absence. She understands that I find these meetings dreadfully boring."
"Ordinarily, I would be inclined to take your word for it, however..."
"Hmm?"
"Your behavior lately has grown...erratic...no even more so."
"I don't believe I know what you're talking about." Trying to step past him and reach for the door, only for Ulrich's sudden and firm grip on it, to have him sent stepping back several paces.
"Try that again, I will not hesitate to cast you off this floor."
"Whatever...if you won't let me go in, then you'll be the one that gets scolded."
"What have you been planning? You act as if everything is beneath your attention, though everywhere I expect not to find you, there it is. You're scent, or rather that of the fiend bound to you."
"You ask me what my plans are, but I'd ask why you care?"
"Because I do not trust you. The mere fact you carry any favor in this school is thanks to the goodwill established by the doctor. But you?"
"One of these days, you're going to find the real traitor that you're so desperate to see in me. Until then, unless you have something you want to discuss with me, kindly stay away from my students."
"The Student Council aren't tools for you to use as you see fit, especially if it means interfering with the actual students."
"What, you think I would protest the insinuation? Why, when in the short time since the year started, the students of your class have been a part of no fewer than three separate situations that have garnered the eyes of the Holy Church."
"So?"
"So. You mean for me and all those that cherish this institute to simply overlook that. Whatever it is, whatever is going on in your class, it's clear that it cannot be overlooked."
"I think you might have misheard me. If I discover you've taken action against my class again, I'll send you to meet Silver King myself!"
"Do not make idle threats, Reiss! Whatever you may be planning, I will find out the truth, and when I do–"
"Then you better pray to all the Star gods and FAE himself you have what it takes to put me down." The ferocity of his words raged, as his very gaze bore into Ulrich.
With a distinct sense of malice flowing from it, Ulrich was all but ready to meet it, pulling up the sleeves of his coat, before looking to draw something out of his coat.
A clash of growing dissent and unspoken words that carried a willing tenacity to act, erupted in a blast that rocked the building with the rattling of the windows, frightening all the excitement out of Salazar who turned up from the nearest corridor only to be greeted by the two.
"...Wait, wait, no fighting!" Brazenly throwing himself between the two of them, and landing square on his face surprised them as they watched him intervene.
"Sniff. The Headmistress asked that the two of you stop bickering. And just as I was bringing news to her."
"...You know what, I wonder what they have in the cafeteria today?" Reiss stepped away before walking away from them. Salazar stood there, confused by Reiss' sudden leave. Stranger still that he simply walked away with the very idea of restraint being foreign to someone like him.
"What did the two of you do?"
"Mr. Eyro, I cannot honestly say. Reiss will always be more trouble than he's worth." Ulrich answered as he helped him to his feet and checked to see that he was unharmed.
Charmed by his kindness though Salazar was quick to remember his reason for coming. Asking Ulrich if the Headmistress was still in the meeting. He nodded. Letting out a sigh before relaying the message to him, trusting that he would share it with her as soon as possible.
"Understood. Though I'm surprised, why won't you just share it with her yourself? You are already here."
"That was until I saw what was happening between you two. Something is going on, but if I head out now I may be able to find out what's bothering Reiss."
'I've never seen him so mad...was something bothering him that much?" Salazar thought as he thanked Ulrich for his aid before running after the departed Reiss.
"Honestly, they coddle him far too much." Said Ulrich before he returned to the room.
"Reiss!"
'I wonder if there's another way to sneak into that room?'
"Reiss!!"
'Portalling into the room isn't an option, not that he has my scent now. And I think a few of them are starting to catch on that threatening them won't do much if the Headmistress's guard dog is always watching me.'
"Reiss!!!" The desperate pants of his winded breath were cut short as he crashed into Reiss who came to a sudden stop.
"Huh, oh you. Look if Ulrich sent you to get answers, I'll tell him what I told you–"
"No no...How can you get so far by just strolling, seriously? But no, he only knows that I came here, not why I did. That was my choice."
"Hmm, well you make for a poor liar. So, what is it?" Watching Salazar's hopeful expression with his hand raised, meeting the cold stare from him, only to get up on his own.
"Tha–t's what I was hoping you'd tell me." Joining him as they passed through the cafeteria doors.
Many of the onlookers of the previous battle treated themselves to whatever the school had prepared on that day. The busy frenzy of kitchen staff almost ran into them as they handed customer after customer their long-awaited meal.
Taking another scrupulous glare from the elf before Salazar meekly handed over his Notebook to pay for their meal, before taking their order to one of the tables Reiss had made himself comfortable in.
"Now will you talk to me? I don't want whatever's happening between the two of you to worry her."
"Oh. So that's why. I might have to ask the Headmistress what spell she has under her sleeve to make pets out of such monsters."
"Ha ha ha...I think this is the first time I've been called a monster and a pet in the same sentence." Salazar let out a half-hearted attempt to allay any suspicion.
"Sure. Guess everyone has their secrets in this place." Reiss assured him
"Sigh..."
"It's nothing too bizarre for a teacher to worry about their students. I don't think I've ever really thought about how brutal the Carnivals can get…"
"Hey what's with that face?" Looking at his wrinkled nose and warded expression.
"It's....well promise not to take this the wrong way, but words of sincerity can come off as pretty vile when paired...well with a face like that." Letting out a squeal after watching him turn the fork in his hands to cinders.
"Idiots, the lot of you." Reiss took to stuffing his face in frustration.
"But I do understand. I'm sure Ms. Yuria feels just as strongly. When both of your students disappeared, the Headmistress was all but ready to send us after them, wherever they went."
"Those damn kids. They're going to be responsible for my first wrinkle in decades."
"I'm glad you told me."
"Huh?"
"I wasn't sure when Eva put you in charge of Class 1F if it was meant as some sort of punishment...but now I think I can understand what she was going for."
'Like a child that's expected to care for a stray kitten they sheltered. Reiss has been given something to care about that isn't himself…or even the mission. Something that is reliant and affected by his choices. He seems more surprised by how sincere he can be than any of us ever could.'
"So you just mention a name like Eva and expect me not to wonder who that is?" He said, taking a moment from indulging himself to watch Salazar fall into a panic as he tried to explain himself.
'"Enough, let's finish up. I think it's time I pay those troublemakers a visit." Giving him a grin that was always accompanied by the characteristic crimson glint of his piercing eyes.
"Hang on. At least let me finish eating…"