"Open wide!" I giggle heartedly as I moved a spoon near Nin's mouth. An expression of agitation stared right back at me as I did so.
"I hat-" he began to say before I shoved it right in the opening. Giggling some more as he wiggled the caught spoon between his many teeth.
"No, I don't think you are a hat." I tell him before I take the spoon out of his mouth.
"You know what I said!" he snaps before his eyes look down at the bowl once again.
"Oh, but you still want me to keep feeding you?" I ask.
"You've handled this for long enough, now let me..." Rose'lhia starts off with confidence before she tries to push me over. Yet, her actions did nothing and she was left backpedalling slightly after that failure.
"Hm, no." I tell her as I think about all the times she would just stay in Nin's bed as he recovered.
"Stop arguing and feed me." Nin demands before I happily go on with his decision.
"Of course." I say before I start to feed him once again. Sometimes, I made sure to draw it out just to annoy Rose'lhia, even if she kept it hidden. Other times, I just messed with Nin as he has been pride-struck since finding out his injuries require us to look after him.
"Alright, off the bed, please." Nin then let out all of a sudden. His body also twitched as if he had just awoken from a nightmare.
"What're you doing?" I ask him. A face full of concern then quickly turned to one of shock.
"No! Nin!" Vadei began to say as she used her tail to brush at his injuries. A strange way to react, but, it slowed him down.
"I just want to stand up for once... Now move!" he lets out with growing anger before he shoots out of the bed and stumbles.
"Hello!" Larishazza chirps as Nin leans on her before he starts to show nothing but confusion.
"Is something wrong?" I ask while taking careful note of all his new scars. The one on his leg stood out the most. It was such a big patch of pale, deformed flesh and shell. At least, compared to the rest.
"I... I just remembered that my leg was reattached."
"EXCUSE ME!?" I shout in shock before I turn red when I realise what I had done.
"I'm surprised I forgot about that to be entirely honest..." Nin then shrugs as if my outburst hadn't just happened.
"W-W-What do you mean your leg was reattached!?" I asked him as I started to usher him back to the bed. We knew full well he wasn't getting the help he needed, so we were filling in for him. So we just couldn't risk anything!
"Will you calm down? You've had no problem whatsoever with holding this claw." he complains as he shoots up his scarred hand before me.
"What about it?" I ask once he stops trying to struggle against me. And, for once, I was confident in my ability to keep him down as whatever magic he had was going straight to his wounds. Nothing was left for his other functions. Something that was not the case for me.
"It got torn off, just like my leg. Well, my leg was taken off because something was thrown at it..." he explains before I take ahold of his hand.
"A-Anything else I should know about...?" I ask him as I start to make sure he was getting plenty of my magic and whatever the hospital staff had put into me.
"No." he shrugs before I give way for him to stand up again. However, I was also being held back by the others. Something that I did not appreciate.
"So, my Love, how do you feel?" Rose'lhia asks him as he seemingly practises how to walk.
"I feel like I might fall ap-ART!" he starts to say before he falls down.
"SEE!?" I screech at first as we rush to his aid. Only for sparks to start flying off me when he loudly cackles at our reaction.
"Funny..." Vadei sarcastically says.
"Inappropriate." Rose'lhia scoffs as she tries to help him up anyway.
"Funny." Nin repeats as his body convulses with each chuckle.
However, once he stood up fully, I made sure he got a healthy shock to his system, "No, it wasn't."
"I found it funny." Larishazza then says, to which Nin smiles once he is done flinching at my magic.
"What now?" Vadei asks before Nin suddenly leaves the room.
"Nin?" I ask once we had all filed out after him.
He then stops, an uncertain expression on his face, "Where's Liada?"
"In here." Vadei says before Nin suddenly bolts off. I would've called out to him, but, I had a feeling we all quickly figure it out. Those of us who knew Liadanann, anyway.
"Where's he going?" Rose'lhia asks as she struggles to keep up on the smooth floor. She wasn't wearing her tubes a lot recently as Nin had complained earlier during their little sleeping sessions...
"To them." Vadei eventually answers once we reached a far more densely packed area of the hospital. And, when Nin forced his way through the doorway. Screams erupted.
"Yes, yes I know." he grumbles as everyone starts to make way for him until he reaches a locked door.
I then break it open for him just to prevent him from hurting himself, "Is she alright?"
"She's fine..." Nin answers with an uneasy tone before he slumps down into a chair.
"Excuse me, this patient needs her space!" one of the doctors snap at us.
"And she's going to have your heads if she wakes up with a bunch of needles around her!" Nin nearly roars before he settles down as Liada seemingly stirs. But, all she ends up doing is moving very slightly towards Nin. An action I quickly became jealous of...
It was sweet seeing Liadanann react like that to Nin's voice... Now if only I was the one to be in that bed...
"How many days has she been out?" Larishazza then asks once she is done observing Liadanann's wounds. Many of which were still there. But, I guess that was because, unlike us, there was no telling how her body would react. However, I took some joy in seeing her massively deflated chest.
No longer did it so obnoxiously eclipse my own bust...
"Since the Inter-House Talent Display ended, she hasn't..." the doctor began to explain before Liadanann finally did start to wake up. And, her immediate reaction was just as Nin said.
"GET THESE OFF OF ME!" Liadanann roared in panic once she took in all the sights her room had. From the clean surfaces to the abundant machinery.
Yet, Nin was quick to intervene, "Hey, hey!" he starts to say just before Liadanann nearly uses her talisman to do something.
"Wh-Where am I!?" she asks him as she latches onto him.
"Hospital. It's alright, they haven't done anythin-" he starts to say before a damning laugh could be heard.
"I can't believe such an opportunity came to us. A few sedatives and we were able to easily fill out what we couldn't before!" someone laughed loudly from outside.
"Th-They what...?" Liadanann asks slowly as her body starts to tremble. Yet, Nin made sure he had a firm grasp on her as her breathing picked up and tears started to come.
"Get out!" he then barked at the doctor before he focused on consoling our violated friend.
"I told them I didn't want..." Liadanann began to recount as she shivered in Nin's grip.
"Can't trust these shits at all..." Nin spits out as he briefly looks at his wrist. Something that deeply disturbed Vadei and Larishazza before we all focus on our friend. Hostile as she may be to most of us.
"N-Nin, get me out of here... GET ME OUT!" Liadanann starts to say in panic as the bed begins to violently shake.
"Okay, okay. Come on, we'll go find a tree to sit by." Nin tells her just before a shield suddenly makes them drop to the ground. Liadanann, in her panic, had suddenly created a shield for the pair of them. And it had cut cleanly through the bed and immediate floor.
We then watched in concern as the two disappeared through the doorway they just widened.
"Did we forget about her?" Vadei then asks quietly as she starts to nervously rub her tail. And, while she did that, I put my fingers together and let little volts travel across and between them.
"We were focused quite a bit on Nin these past few days..." Larishazza mutters as she tries to justify our mistake. Yet, her words only made me shake my head.
"It's still unacceptable." I sigh out as this was a major error on our part. Once we had confirmed Nin was safe... We should've made sure the rest of our friends were too. Larishazza at least checked on her sister, why didn't we even so much as do something similar?
I mean, I knew why... We just cared a lot for Nin. But, even then. We know full well how Liadanann was around people.
So, I think we at least owed her an apology. If it came to that at the very least. Maybe she would not care to chase us up on the topic. But, we had to be prepared for the eventuality.
"Should we get her something to eat?" Vadei then asks.
"Meat and gold..." I recall while Larishazza loudly tapped her chin.
"We can at least get meat, no. Wasn't the menu today bird?"
"Will they even let us collect another portion? We already went for our food." I point out before all eyes turn to Rose'lhia. As she had not gone once to get food as she was too busy hogging Nin's affection.
"Do you need something?" she asks with a polite tone as she looks at me and Larishazza exclusively. Something that made Vadei scoff before she likely disappeared after Nin and Liadanann.
"Can you get food for Liadanann?"
"No, never." Rose'lhia scoffs as she crosses her arms. Her attitude was similar to how she spoke to Vadei...
"Liada needs help, though!" Larishazza reminds her to which she still scoffs.
"Something as magicless as her doesn't need help." Rose'lhia tells us before she moves to likely leave to.
"Rose'lhia, please. Nin needs to be with her to make sure she is alright."
"So I am helping my Love, not that thing?" Rose'lhia asks as her mood suddenly shifts. Her ears even twitched when we mentioned Nin being in need of help... Well, I guess it reminded me of what her strings were.
"Yes." I nod with some subtle disgust as I did not like agreeing with that statement. Liadanann was our friend... Even if she was an unlikeable creature that kept lashing out at me. And, well, anyone who was a human, really.
"Very well, I will ensure my Love! Is helped." she says loudly in clarification before she walks off.
"She seems to be a very difficult person." Larishazza comments after a short while.
"Aren't we all?" I ask with a sigh before I look out the window. Tapping a finger on the glass until I saw a hint of where those two might have gone. Yet, it might have also just been other groups of friends seeing each other. Yet, there was a few that stood out.
Girls would come running at boys as they left this place and they would leap into a kiss. A passionate one, too. And, it left me annoyed because I haven't even mustered the courage for something like that. I still hadn't even confessed my love to him yet...
"Ooo, that one has good technique." Larishazza then comments when she suddenly leans over my shoulder.
"Eh!?" I let out in shock after flinching at the sudden comment. And, obviously, she giggled at my reaction. Thankfully, it was short-lived.
"Come on, let's go find them!" she then says as she spins around before she starts to slide out the broken door.
"Slow down..." I start to say loudly before the sight of frightened staff and patients made me quieten down. I then marched on by while resisting the urge to apologize for Nin's actions. Yet, I suppose there was a very good justification for it all... And that was a good reason as to why I lost Larishazza as well.
Because, while focusing on how to resist the urge to apologize. I lost track of where she had gone and now I was on my own. It made me groan quietly. But, outside of that, I just kept on going until I reached the door to the outside.
"My, my, Lady-Heir, aren't we confident?" Hycidna comments with a clap when a sudden gust of wind blew up my patient gown.
"DON'T LOOK!" I scream as I secure the loose clothing before pressing myself up against a nearby wall. Something that drew more attention than I wanted until Hycidna had her guards make a statement.
"We have it all under control, don't worry!" she coos as she comes in closer before she then offers me the outer layers of her kimono. Something I gladly accept even if I don't wear it properly.
"Th-Thank you..." I quietly squeak before her smiling facade begins to crack into laughter.
"So, how come you stepped outside with so few... Coverings?" she asks with a quiet giggle and subtle raise of her brows. A tilt to top it all off too...
"Don't you start." I tell her with a pout before I get my emotions under control.
"Okay," she giggles one last time before she wipes her eyes, "anyway, I've been looking for you since the award ceremony ended."
"How long ago was that...?"
"Three days."
"I see... So, why did you want to find me?" I ask, feeling like I had just damned myself to further embarassment.
"You wanted a personal recording, remember?" she asks with a brief giggle before I turn red-faced again.
"Oh, how could I have forgotten this!" I moan before I slam a curled up fist gently against the wall behind me. The very thing I wanted that led to my injuries to begin with!
"So, to reiterate. Take it straight to the Lady Bosphama?" she then asks with a straightened out face and serious tone.
"Uh..." I let out before I glance at my bandages. My wounds were healing, but, the doctors still saw a need for quite a few of them.
"Is that way to blunt? I can do it with greater subtlety..." she starts to say.
"No, no, no! It's fine. I just... I'm just worried she will get the wrong idea if the last she sees of me is..." I tell her before I rub a hand on the bandages.
"I think we can add on to it. So you want to prepare an afternote?"
"Yes! That will ease her worries..." I sigh out before tentatively taking the device from her hand. It was a weighty, cylindrical object. But, its weight might've just been my lack of magic right now. Then, I returned it to her.
"Shall we head to the place I got this from, then?" Hycidna asks as she turns around and gestures.
"If it is alright, I have a friend I would like to check on first. He suddenly had to rush off for someone else's safety."
"Oh, can I meet him? He sounds quite heroic." Hycidna purrs before she winks at some passing by native students. Maybe I should tell her that Nin wasn't...? Yet, I wanted to also see if I could get back at her for the teasing she has done since we just met.
Yet, I also wanted to be honest, "He is very heroic..." I quietly affirm while blushing softly. And, I was fine with this blush too, it wasn't like the others. Because my heart also felt light as I thought on it. I was even feeling a little light-headed!
"I do hope I am not able to take him, then." she laughs before she clicks her fingers. Her guards then swiftly fall into line and we start to walk. Yet, I felt awkward as she carried herself with a lot of grace that I had been taught to show. However, I had gotten used to a more casual style of walking.
Travelling so much had beaten a lot of the behaviours out of me by sheer nesscesity. But, Mother also insisted I act less like a noble's daughter for my own safety. I never understood then. And, I don't think I quite do, even now.
"So, how was your brother?" I ask as I start to remember why she was here. As I also did not want to dwell on my unfortunate past.
"Terrible, just terrible." Hycidna scoffs before she holds up another one of the strange devices.
"I'm sure he did not do that bad." I say as I try to stick up for him. Maybe she was just expecting too much of him? From what I experienced at the very least, it was not an easy thing to partake in that event.
"He and those he was with were cast aside by some cutie at the head of an army." she starts off with another scoff at first before her tone takes on a dreamy aspect.
"Hm? Army?"
"Yes, the... Traditional House? They had rallied around someone and simply overran most they came across. Like a true haomplerai!" she sighs out once again towards the end.
"It must've been quite the sight." I gently laugh as I try to imagine something grander than what I had seen. There weren't that many people I had come across since the event started, after all. Then again, there was that strange relocation magic that sent us all over the place.
"It was, surprised a lot of people to see such a grand display of courage."
"Do you know who it is?" I then decide to ask.
"That general was called Baltanthan." Hycidna giggles before my mouth turns agape.
"Baltanthan? Well, I best make sure to congratulate him, then!" I question before enthusiastically recalling a past choice. If he had done that well, then, I simply had to make sure he was aware of it! It was truly impressive as I struggled with what I encountered.
I even nearly died in the latter of that which I encountered...
"You know him?" Hycidna asks with a sudden twist in her neck and stop in movement.
"Yeah, he's a friend I travelled with on my way here."
"W-Well, then, you can keep your heroic lover, Lady-Heir. I want to speak with the one who kept her safe as she made the perilous journey to this country!" she stutters at first before lustful enthusiasm filled her body. The results were unladylike, yet, it was amusing to see.
Yet, her choice in words for Nin had me blushing, "I'm fine with that." I giggle as I register the prospect of one less competitor for Nin. And, who knows, maybe Baltanthan would indeed enjoy having such a romantic opportunity! Hycidna was no common girl, after all!
"Then you must lead me to him!" she loudly asks of me. Something I nod to as it was an amusing prospect. Perhaps I could even get payback on Baltanthan for his comments from before the event.
"Only if the place for these is on the way." I then decide on as making sure Mother was aware that I was okay mattered more. Yet, I would probably show her the way anyway.
"I'll make sure it very much is." she seriously answers before she and her guards just rush on ahead.
"You going to check the route?" I ask her to which I get a smile and wave. Which I took as a yes. Then, with her gone, I turned around and tried to find Nin. Which, thankfully, did not take long as looks of disgust gave me an idea of where to go.
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Liadanann screams hysterically as she retreats deeper into Nin's embrace. And, at first, I kept on approaching, yet, Nin shook his head directly at me...
"W-What did I do?" I ask in confusion while also staring at the shield surrounding them. Liadanann had carved quite a bit of space for them to settle down in. Yet, she was also very protective of people going near her protection...?
"Nothing, just, keep your distance." Nin answers before Liadanann suddenly jerks in his grip.
"NOTHING!? I TOLD THOSE HUMANS NOT TO DO ANYTHING! AND THEY DID IT ANYWAY! THEY DRUGGED ME AND STOLE FROM ME!" she roars in his face before she breaks down crying again.
"Don't worry too much, I'm not allowed close either." Vadei whispers once she is done coming over to me. She then strokes my new clothes before letting out a sound of appreciation.
"Liadanann, I'm not a doctor. I'm not with them." I argue, hoping she would at least understand my reasoning.
"I TOLD YOU, HUMANS, NO! AND WHAT DID YOU DO!?" she screams after she suddenly rushes at her shield and slams against it.
"Liada, you need to calm down and rest." Nin tells her as he slowly brings her away from the shield.
"Rest...? Have you not heard me...?" she tearfully chokes out before she curls up in Nin's arms.
"Liadanann, what they did was wrong, yes. But it was them that did it. Not us." I point out before her tail suddenly slaps the ground near her. A few chunks of grass flying up once her tail calmed down.
"I will not suffer... ANYMORE LIES! JUST STAY AWAY FROM ME! ALL OF YOU!" she roars as her hand tightly grips her talisman. And, not wishing to see this turn worse. I just raised my hands and backed away, saddened by the turn of events.
"My Love, I have brought you what you needed!" Rose'lhia calls out as she slowly steps out onto the grass. A clear expression of confusion on her face before she is suddenly face-to-face with a suddenly active Liadanann.
At first, she seems to hate Rose'lhia, yet, she eventually eases around her, "Who are you?"
"The lover of the one you are keeping prisoner." Rose'lhia snorts as her tail waves about defensively. And, with each sign she showed that she was not a human, Liadanann warmed up even more. Even if it was clear that Rose'lhia was not the kindest soul. Yet, given what Liadanann has just experienced, that was still incomparably better than...
"You asked for her...? You...?" Liadanann begins to ask Nin who nods quietly in response. The shield then disappears and Rose'lhia walks closer. However, it all went back up the moment she joined them at the tree in the middle of it all.