—The young man was woken up by a ringing bell sound in his ear.
Reality forced itself to open for the young man who had just woken up.
Donny Prasetyo's eyes opened, and the first image that flew through his mind was the dark, grey ceiling.
"..."
He was on top of a rather hard bed, one that has side rails raised so that if he had moved, the rails would stop him from falling.
Though the room looked dark, there were two slightly large windows, allowing the dim moonlight to pass through.
At a glance, he knew it was a hospital room. Donny had slept on a very uncomfortable hospital bed, with limited space to move his body. Now, it aches, wanting to move and stretch itself.
"Hck… ughh"
Donny sat up from his spot and took a good look at his surroundings. Conforming the earlier glance, he was truly sleeping in a hospital room.
"Oh, you're awake"
"—?!"
The once cold feeling around him suddenly disappeared the moment he heard the girl's voice. The dim light of the moonlight wouldn't let him see her face clearly.
"R… Ra—"
The name was coming up his throat, but only the first two letters of his little sister's name managed to escape his throat. What happened to the last two? Were they stuck inside of his throat? At that moment, there was a heavy feeling in his throat.
Then, as he was about to move closer to the girl, he remembered the sensation of a dismembered hand clinging onto him.
"——"
He blurred that memory from his head, rejecting every moment of it. He shook his head and looked at the girl again. Expecting his little sister to be fine, only to be struck by reality when he saw the length of the girl's hair—it was longer than Raya's.
"Did I destroy your light of hope, mister?"
Yeah, she really did. Donny's light of hope shattered the moment he heard those words being voiced by the girl.
"..."
Donny's face formed a frown.
"Are you… With Felix?"
"You were carried here by Glorier Stephen. Glorier Felix did pay you a visit when you were still unconscious"
"How long…" He took a deep breath. Before continuing, he recalled there being more than one Glorier and Auditors when the accident happened. Then, was this the Auditor that he saw helping the Glorier with the evacuation?
"Yes mister?"
"How long have I been asleep for?"
"..."
"..."
"More than 24 hours, mister"
That's long!!. Donny Prasetyo was what everyone would call a night owl; staying up late and sleeping less. He doesn't get much sleep when he's in the mood to play and write a piece.
He was surprised to hear that he had a long resting time, longer than any of his past resting time.
"So… who are you?"
Donny asked the girl, glancing at her. The dark room made Donny imagine the girl's face.
The girl stood up. Donny heard her footsteps getting farther.
In the next moment, the dark disappeared and bright light filled the room, as the lights on the ceiling turned on.
Now there was light, he could see the girl clearly. And it wasn't the person he was expecting to be. The girl was wearing a beautiful pink dress and, from the looks of it, she was also wearing a large flower hair pin.
"Nice to meet you, mister Donny. My name is Ophelia, an Auditor"
The girl bowed after introducing herself. With her head now up high, she smiled at Donny.
—Donny felt a warm feeling inside his chest when Ophelia smiled for him.
"Why is an Auditor like you doing in a hospital?"
The question made the room silent. Ophelia's smile didn't change, frozen in time. And Donny's heartbeat was loud, echoing throughout the room.
Then that silence broke, with a single laugh from Ophelia.
"Hehe… This is an Orchastraf hospital"
A name that Donny has heard before. Thanks to this, he remembered the conversation he had with Felix before.
"Hey… do you remember the "you" before?"
"Do you mean, before this body became mine?"
The question that Ophelia made already answered Donny's question. Confirming his conversation with Felix was all true, and the person he was seeing right now, isn't the body's owner.
"Where's your Glories?"
"..."
"Ophelia?"
"I don't belong to any Glorier"
"Huh? So, why did you become an Auditor?"
"I don't… have a clue myself. In fact, I was just born yesterday"
Her two hands were holding each other, and she placed them under her slightly tilted head. Her smile was contagious.
She seemed happy that she was born yesterday, happy to be born into the world, not knowing the sacrifice of the previous owner's body.
"Ophelia, is it?"
"Yes, my name is Ophelia!"
Coming from a Virus, the girl's smile looks like Raya's. Saying her own name, answering Donny's question, she always answers with a big smile.
"Wait, so what're you doing here? Isn't an Auditor's mission to exterminate the Retahus with their…" Donny scratched the back of his head. Then he continues "magical abilities?"
"Hehe" Ophelia laughed as she does. Then her usual smile came back as she was answering Donny's question. "Maestro Stephen sent me here"
"Mestro… Stephen?"
"Yes! The person who brought you here with his Auditor!"
Was that… him? He faintly remembered someone examining him closely and someone else tried to yank Raya's a—
"—!?!"
Suddenly gasping and shocking Ophelia, Donny rearrange himself again. The memory of that arm, still was inside his mind and he thinks it won't be gone for long.
"Are you okay, mister Donny?"
"Y-yeah… just remembering what happened yesterday. Bad memories that I—"
"—kyun"
The sound was followed by a warm embrace in her small arms.
"?"
"You must be tired, right?"
"..."
"Get some rest now, mister Donny"
"N-no… I can't—"
"You don't need to force yourself to do lots of things. I'm here to assist you"
"It… can't-... No"
"My mission was given by Maestro Stephen: To take care of you"
What she stated was true, and that was the reason she was there and looking after Donny. Not only that, but there was another motive as well. It wasn't a command from a Glorier or anyone else in a higher position. None of them were the cause of her second reason.
—Then, where did the second reason come from?
"Huh…?"
The feeling of being hugged by Ophelia brought to him a nostalgic feeling. It felt like getting hugged by a warm pillow on a cold day.
For that reason, Donny started tearing up as Ophelia continued to hug him.
For now, in the mind of a young man that had gone through disaster and losing a loved one, he will embrace this future, this reality.