When he wakes up, he's in a hospital room. (He assumes it is one from the smell of disinfectant and how the bed feels under him.)
His head feels like it's been stuffed with cotton, his thoughts are all fuzzy and his vision is hazy. Everything feels out of focus, as if he were seeing it through several layers of static. His body feels heavy. Everything hurts. Even breathing hurts.
"He's waking up." He hears a voice, but he doesn't recognise it.
"I'll go notify them." He doesn't recognise this voice either. "You stay here monitoring him."
He doesn't hear the rest, the voices start going out of focus and he feels his consciousness slipping away again.
~~~
This time, upon awakening he doesn't feel like his brain has been turned to mush. He can see better, his eyes are able to focus properly now.
There's a nurse in the room with him besides the bed. He can't turn his head to see what exactly she's doing, but probably just routine check-ups.
"Oh, you finally woke up again!" She seems startled. "Hey, can you hear me?"
Kit tries to speak, but when his mouth opens, no sound comes out.
"Just nod your head if you can hear me." Kit nods. "Okay, okay. That's good. Do you know where you are?" Kit nods again. "Do you know what your name is? Yes? Okay, that's perfect. I'll go call the doctor right now. I'll be right back." The nurse leaves and Kit takes in a moment to take in his surroundings.
The previous times he had woken up in the hospital, the rooms hadn't looked like this. There had been a bedside table and a chair. This room is bare except for the bed and the medical equipment.
He tries to move a bit, but he finds his body still feels heavy.
How long has he been out?
Before he can think too much, the nurse comes back with the doctor. After that, it's protocol and making sure he's alright. It all feels like a dream to Kit. He can barely recall answering the doctor's questions. But they must determine he's not going to die anytime soon, because after what feels like ages, they leave.
"Try to get some rest. But it seems like you'll be able to recover just fine. The nurse will be by to check on you later," the doctor says before clicking the door shut behind them.
~~~
The next time the doctor drops by it's to ask if he's ready for a visitor. By now, Kit is able to speak again.
"Okay. I'll go get them."
When the doctor comes back, for a brief second, Kit is expecting to see Baz walk in through the door. But it's only a brief thought. He knows that isn't possible. So far, Kit has avoided thinking about it, and asking after him would only make it real, so he's been putting it off more and more.
Instead, it's Kat that walks through the door. Her expression is grim. "Hey," she greets him.
"Kat…" his voice is still hoarse, barely above a whisper. "You…"
"You can leave us, doctor. I need to discuss some things with him." The doctor leaves wordlessly.
Ah, Kit realises, she must be here on Bureau affairs.
He is soon proven correct. "Kit," she takes a deep breath, "I'm sorry. I know this all feels so sudden, but–"
He interrupts her, "Kat, please, tell me–" He can't go on, can't finish the sentence, but Kat understands.
She sighs again, deeper, longer. The atmosphere turns heavy— heavier. "He's alive," she says. Kit feels like he could melt with relief. "He's alive, but," (there's always a 'but', no?), "they still don't know if he will make it."
Kit nods. Swallows back his tears. "I see." For right now, at least, he's alive. "Kat, how long…?"
"A week and a half." She hesitates, as if debating whether or not to tell him more. In the end, she continues, "Fluorite, she sensed all the energy coming from the forest, so she started heading over as soon as she realised something was happening. When we got there, we just saw an explosion of fire. We went in and we found you and Baz in the middle of the disaster zone. I thought perhaps she would panic, seeing– you know, but she didn't. She was all businesslike as always. In fact, I think that without her, Baz nor you would have held out to make it to the hospital. After that… Well, you can imagine what happened."
Kit closes his eyes. He takes the moment to process it. That long? He opens his eyes again. "Thank you."
Kat doesn't answer him. Instead, her expression becomes more sombre. "Kit, I need you to tell me what happened. Look, I wouldn't like to do this, but–"
"The Bureau."
"Yeah…" She grimaces. "They've been going crazy. At least I was able to convince them not to send anyone else."
Small victories, Kit concedes. He would much rather talk to Kat than one of the Bureau's straight-laced old men.
"Kit," she drops the business tone, "what happened?"
Kit takes a deep breath. And then he tells her everything. He leaves out most of the dialogues, those are not important, and he focuses solely on the action.
When he's finished, Kat looks pensive. She doesn't speak for a few minutes. Finally, "This… It's a lot."
That's an understatement.
"All of this over some family trouble…" Kat laughs, disbelieving. "Ah, this is bad… To think they had summoned a demon… This is going to be a lot of trouble. The Bureau will have to investigate this further." Kat pinches the bridge of her nose. "And the fact that it got away, that's going to be even worse–"
"He won't be coming back."
"What?"
"He won't be back. The demon. He won't return."
"How can you be sure of that?"
"I can't. But somehow, I just know it." Yes, he's sure of it; Aki— no, Kit has to keep reminding himself, Xenon won't be showing his face around anymore. What he wanted to achieve was done. There was no need for him to come back. Even now, Kit can't help but feel sorry for him, even if it's just a little bit.
It's not that he had been a victim of his fate, but it was difficult to ignore his past. Perhaps, deep down, all he had wanted was somewhere he could belong, someone that would accept him. In a way, Kit can relate to that. Yes, he could never forgive or excuse his actions, but he had truly been pitiful too. And he hadn't killed Fen.
For what reason, Kit can't say, but that fact alone made him think that he wasn't pure evil.
Kat shakes her head. "If you say so, I trust you. But know that the Bureau won't be satisfied with that."
"I know."
"Oh, by the way, Kit," she turns back just before leaving, "they found Dee and the other child."
Kit feels his heart stop for a few beats. Dee? They were alive?
Kat must see the questions written on his face, because she continues, "They were both in the forest. They seemed to be unconscious, but otherwise unharmed. The other child, Fen… He hasn't spoken a single word. Still in shock, I suppose. The Bureau will be taking care of him from now on."
"Dee…"
"She's perfectly fine. They kept her under observation for three days, but she doesn't seem to remember anything after she ran away from Jessica's house. It's like nothing happened for her. Right now, she's back with Jessica."
Kit feels a burden lift off his shoulders. Dee was alright, she would be alright. Miraculously, she had been cured.
After Kat leaves, a thought suddenly occurs to Kit. Xenon— Aki— could he have…?
~~~
The next couple of weeks, he finds himself falling into a routine.
Kat comes back a few more times to ask more questions. 'Bureau policy,' she would apologise every time. Kit doesn't begrudge her.
It takes him a few weeks to be able to get walking again. Apparently, he had broken several bones and the internal damage had been worse than he could have imagined. Turns out magical energy overload could be more dangerous than exhaustion.
A Healer from the Capital had been brought over to treat him, and, he finds out later, also Baz.
He doesn't ask after Baz anymore. Though a few of the times Kat comes to see him she updates him.
'They were able to get his magical energy levels to normal.'
'The doctors said he's stable now.'
'They think he might be waking up in a few weeks now.'
He's not allowed any visitors, so all the news about the outside he either has to get from Kat or the nurses.
Finally, after almost two months, he's deemed ready to be let out of the ICU and is transferred to a normal hospital room.
His first actual visitors are Mousie and Gnocchi. Mousie looks fidgety, like she's about to burst into tears at any moment. Gnocchi…
"Cheer up, Mousie! Look, he didn't die so there's no need to be so worried anymore!"
Ah, he's still Gnocchi. It's good to see some things will never change no matter what.
Mousie however isn't comforted by Gnocchi's words and instead starts crying. "Master Kit!" she wails. "I– I thought–" she hiccups, "I thought you were going to die!"
"There, there, Mousie," Kit pats her hand, "I'm still here, so calm down, okay?"
Mousie sniffles.
Gnocchi pats her back. "Didn't I tell you, Mousie? Master Kit wouldn't die so easily. He's a lot tougher than he looks." Kit feels strangely touched. "Even though he looks like a weakling, he wouldn't go down so fast."
"..." Gnocchi, you should have kept that last part to yourself!
But hearing them, no matter how nonsensical what they say is or how much they make him want to smack them, Kit is glad to have them here.
After they leave, Kit feels lighter than he has in a good while.
~~~
Not long after, Dee comes to visit.
"Master Kit!" she shouts, bursting in through the door.
Kit cringes slightly. She's too loud for a hospital. Behind them, Jessica shrugs her shoulders apologetically.
Dee bounds over to his bed, but before she can throw herself on top of Kit, Jessica catches them mid-air.
"Dee," she scolds them, "what did we promise before coming here?"
Dee pouts. "That we would be careful," she grumbles.
"So?"
"No jumping around…"
Kit can't help but burst out laughing.
"Hey, hey, you're not allowed to laugh!" Dee points a finger at him. "It's all your fault I'm being forced to do all of this!"
"It's good to see you too, Dee," Kit says.
Dee is caught off guard. "Don't try to flatter me…" Still, they calm down after that.
And whenever they do start getting too rowdy, there's always Jessica to knock her down a notch.
When Jessica announces it's time for them to leave, Dee gets up from their chair slowly. She scratches the back of her neck a bit self-consciously. "Um, y'know, Master Kit… I'm glad you didn't die. I… I wouldn't have liked it if you had."
Kit almost tears up a little. They're clumsy and awkward words, but he knows Dee means them. In their own way, she is expressing her feelings.
"Thank you, Dee," Kit chokes out. "I also wouldn't have liked it if I had died," he teases.
"B-besides," Dee looks a bit flustered, "you still have a lot you have to teach me!"
"Yes, yes, that's right. There are still many things you have to learn. And I promise I will be there to teach them to you."
"Alright!" They grin. "It's a promise!" She holds out her pinky.
Kit intertwines his pinky with theirs. "Promise."