Now that Allen had finally defeated Stephen in their duel, he had accomplished what he wanted to. He wanted to get through to Stephen that the issue he was having was not him or even William, but the guilt that he felt.
His main objective for the duel was not to win, but to get through to Stephen. While the victory he had was great, getting through to Stephen was more important to him.
Allen feels that Stephen can be a great friend to not just him and Rose, but also to Thomas and Cecily if he ever starts to talk to them. He seems to be a very trustworthy and sincere person, but sometimes his emotions can get the better of him.
Shortly after the duel ended, Ms. Clark had some of the academy nurses check up on both Stephen and him for injuries. Luckily Stephen had little to no injuries, but the same could not be said for Allen.
Allen ended up with several cuts all across his body, from his head all the way down to his legs. He had bled out some of his blood, resulting in his outfit being stained. Luckily, he had several outfits he could wear that the academy issued out in case for this very reason.
The nurses had helped him to the infirmary, while Stephen was able to leave the duel grounds without having to join him.
Being back in the infirmary just about a week after he was here last sucked majorly. Not just because he was out of class again and unable to see his friends unless they visited, but he got quite the lecture from Rose when she was able to stop by the earliest she could for the first time (which was a day later).
"Do you even know how furious I am with you?!," Rose had yelled, being the first thing she said to Allen after making sure he was okay first.
Allen had to do the best he could to explain to her that they weren't that major of wounds and that he had suffered worse wounds training with William, but that didn't help at all. In fact, Allen was sure that it made it worse.
"Both you and William seriously thought it was okay to train to such extreme levels?!," was what came out of her mouth not long after Allen's explanation.
A bit of explanation and reassurance later, Rose finally stopped getting on his butt about it, at least for now. She had left not long after.
Cecily and Thomas had visited him not too long after Rose had left and they even commented how they saw her walking in a "huff" down the halls. They had also wanted to check up on him to make sure if he was alright, but didn't freak out like Rose did (although they did comment on how he was just here about a week ago). Not long after they had their discussion, they too finally left.
Now with that out of the way, Allen could finally take a nap and rest, or so he thought. It was then that Allen got his final visitor for the day.
The door to the infirmary creaked open, and in came Stephen Windblade himself. This was the first time Allen had seen him since his duel with him.
He seemed to awkwardly walk in, nothing like how he first walked in when Allen first met him here in the infirmary just about a week ago.
"Hey Allen, mind if I come in?," he awkwardly asked, even though he already walked in.
"Yeah, that's fine," he responded, giving him an awkward smile.
"Thanks," he gave an awkward smile in return, then took a seat next to Allen's infirmary bed.
"How are you doing? The injuries starting to heal?," he asked, while adjusting himself in the unfortunately uncomfortable infirmary chair.
"I'm doing just fine, thanks for asking," he responded. "And yes, the injuries are starting to heal. The nurses say I should be able to get out of here more than likely by tomorrow"
"That's good to hear, glad you're finally starting to heal up after I kind of, well, scratched you up with my air magic," he awkwardly said.
"Nah, don't worry about it," Allen shrugged. "A duel is a duel. We both fought fair and square. You may have injured me up a bit, but I did win in return"
"Congrats on that, by the way. It's your first win since your duel with Nathaniel, right?," he asked.
"Thank you. And yes, it was my first win," he responded.
"Hey uh, while we were still on the topic…," Stephen started to say.
"What's up?," Allen asked, already suspecting he was about to say.
"I just wanted to apologize for my actions. Not just in the duel, but before it as well. I shouldn't have acted that way towards you, and shouldn't have challenged you to a duel like that," he sincerely explained, scratching the back of his head in nervousness as he spoke.
"It's alright," Allen responded, smiling. "I can understand how you feel. The loss of your mother at such an early age, never being able to meet her, must've hurt. Not to mention, you didn't have the closest relationship with your father"
"Even so, it doesn't make up for my actions against you so far," Stephen pointed out.
"Then how about this: you can make it up to me by not only being my friend, but also a friend to my other friends," Allen said, smiling.
"Sure, I have no problem with that," Stephen grinned. "But how did you know about my mother and my relationship with my father so well? Did my father tell you?"
"Yeah, a bit of it actually," Allen answered. "He explained it to me after you had left his room the other day. It was honestly the first time he had ever really talked about you before"
"Figures," Stephen sighed. "He was always the one who talked the most, but was the quietest when it came to anything personal"
"Honestly, that sounds just like him," Allen laughed.
"So much for the father type…," Stephen shrugged. "Seems like he didn't talk about himself to you either"
"No, he never really did. I'm not sure why," Allen responded, thinking back on the years of his training with William.
"So tell me about your training with my father. Do you know why he trained you?," Stephen finally asked.
"Yeah, I know a bit about it," Allen responded.
Allen went on to explain the five years that William trained him, from when he was eight to when he was thirteen. He explained how he met him (minus the part of Allen's fire magic), and he and William trained together almost every day. He also explained how he also trained with another girl for a while, who he thinks is most likely Rose. Finally at the end of his training, William gave him a sword who he said used to belong to Allen's mother.
"Wait, you think you trained with Rosy?," Stephen asked, curious.
"Rosy?," Allen asked, intrigued.
"Oh, it's the nickname I gave her. You should try calling her that sometime," Stephen laughed.
"I just might have to try that," Allen laughed in return. "But yes, I believe I did. But I'm not entirely sure, because I don't fully remember. Also, Rose has yet to confirm it herself when I've asked her"
"Wait, you don't remember?," Stephen asked, really confused. "I'm pretty sure if you trained with someone like her, you would remember something like that"
"No, I don't fully remember," Allen responded, as even he was confused about it. "There's part of my memories from the past that seem to be just… a mess. That, or I'm missing like fragments…"
"Huh, that's weird. You sure you weren't just slapped really hard by Rose once, or even several times?," Stephen joked.
"Maybe, it definitely sounds like something she would've done," Allen laughed. "Wait…"
"What's up?," Stephen asked, curious.
"I just realized… I forgot to actually ask Rose about our past," Allen responded, smacking his head.
"What do you mean you forgot?"
"Well, I asked Rose about it. But she told me she'd only tell me if I won the duel. But, she was so wrapped up in giving me a hard time about my injuries that I totally forgot to ask her about it before she left," Allen explained.
"Damn, seems like you totally just have a memory problem all together," Stephen laughed.
"Maybe I do…," Allen shrugged but also laughed in return.
"But back to your story earlier, you mentioned your sword," Stephen brought up.
"Yeah? What about it?," Allen asked.
"Didn't you say you would give it up if you lost the duel to Nathaniel?," Stephen asked, really curious. "Although he never took it after the duel, why would you be willing to give up something like that?"
"Honestly, I'm not completely sure," Allen shrugged.
"Man, you are willing to give it up like that but then don't even know why?," Stephen laughed for a moment.
"I really don't know. It's like part of me said I'd win, and another part of me said even if I lost he wouldn't take it or be able to use it," Allen admitted.
"But it ended up being the latter," Stephen thought for a moment. "But still, something like that? Wouldn't your mother be mad or sad if you had actually lost it like that?"
"Well, about that," Allen started to say.
Allen went on to explain how he's never met his real parents. He lived with his stepparents, who have apparently taken care of him since birth. He explained that his sword was the only thing he has or knows about his mother, since William refuses to tell him anything about his mother further.
"Seriously? You really are quite the moron," Stephen had a good laugh for a moment. "That's even more the reason not to just give it away like that"
"I guess it's a gift of mine," Allen joked.
"But still, you've never met your real parents? And apparently my father knows who your mother is? This is starting to become more and more confusing the more you explain it," Stephen said, while thinking.
"It really is all confusing. William refuses to talk about my real mother anytime I tried to bring it up with him," Allen explained.
"Another reason on the list why my father is confusing…," Stephen sighed. "But I get now why you understand. You never got to meet your real parents, similar to how I never got to meet my real mother. However for you, you don't even know where they are"
"That's true," Allen responded. "I don't even know if they're out there alive or dead. All I know is my mother wielded the sword I have now, and there's a possibility she attended this very academy once"
"That's all you know? Do you have any other leads?," Stephen asked.
"Not a single one. I haven't learned anything I could possibly learn since attending this academy. William is my only possible lead, but as I said earlier, he refuses to say anything," Allen explains.
"That majorly sucks. Hope you find out who your parents are one day," Stephen grinned.
"Thank you, I appreciate it," Allen grinned back.
"So, are we both cool now?," Stephen asked.
"Sure, why not," Allen responded, grinning.
For a bit longer, they both talked. They talked about how their current classes are going. Stephen talked a bit about his previous duels he had. After a few laughs and jokes, one of the nurses came in to tell Stephen he had to leave soon, since visiting hours were almost up as it was getting late.
"Well, it looks like I have to go," Stephen said.
"Well I mean that nurse did say visiting hours are up. Looks like you have to finally leave," Allen shrugged.
"What, you don't want to talk anymore? You just want me to leave?," Stephen stared at him with a grin on his face.
"Nah, it's just I'm getting hungry and tired. Also, these injuries aren't going to heal themselves," Allen pointed to his injuries, and then not even a moment later his stomach growled, indicating he was indeed hungry.
"Alright, alright. I'm also getting hungry so I'll finally take my leave," Stephen said, getting out of the chair. Allen has no idea how he was able to sit in that uncomfortable chair the entire time.
"Oh, and one more thing before you go," Allen stopped him.
"Yeah, what's up Allen?," Stephen asked, looking back.
"You don't have to do this if you don't want to, but…"
"Well? Just say it already," Stephen looked back at him, waiting for him.
"I know how you feel about your father, but just try to give him another chance. He may have made some mistakes in the past, but I'm sure you two can make up and get along," Allen explained.
"Hmm, I'll think about it," Stephen shrugged.
"I know he's not so much of a talker when it comes to personal things, but you can at least try. Worst case scenario you just talk to him and that's that," Allen continued.
"Alright, alright. I'll talk to him," Stephen put his hands up.
"Thanks," Allen grinned.
"In fact, I'll probably go talk to him before I head back to my dorm," Stephen nodded his head. "I have to talk to him about a few academy related matters anyways"
"Great, let me know how it goes," Allen grinned.
"Will do," Stephen gave him a thumbs up. "To being friends?"
Stephen put his hand out, waiting for Allen to shake his hand.
"Sure. To being friends," Allen echoed back, shaking his hand.
"Alright, later," Stephen said as he left the room.
"See you later," Allen waved him out.
As Stephen finally left, Allen thought to himself once again. He's come a long way in just a few months of being at the academy. He's made new friends such as Thomas, Cecily, Rose and now Stephen. He's gotten stronger, and learned new ways to use his magic. He's already been in two duels, both not easy opponents. He can't wait to see what's to come for the future, but not until his injuries heal and he finally gets out of this boring infirmary room.