Archie made his way to the medical bay, surprised that he got this far without the ice blades fading away. He slammed his right fist against the door to the medical bay, trying to grab the attention of the doctor, Ray. "I'll be there in a second!" A flustered-sounding Ray yelled from behind the door, apparently busy with something. Archie looked down at his chest, wondering if any vital organs had been pierced. It'd suck to die like this when he had other things to do, like die at the hands of a Night Terror. Infinitely cooler.
Alexis looked down at Archie, confused about why they weren't being asked for help. "Archie, you know I have healing spells, right?" Alexis informed Archie, who nodded his head slightly. 'I'm aware, Alexis.' Archie responded, pressing his fingers against his blood-stained shirt. "Then why won't you ask for my help?" Alexis questioned, and Archie revealed his reason with no resistance. 'You see, Alexis, if I get you to heal me, nobody will believe I got stabbed. Do you think Mr Kaitul would let anybody tell a person in power? If I get the doctor to heal me, he'll have no choice but to side with me if any arguments appear.' Archie explained, silently praying that Mr Kaitul doesn't make the blades fade away.
Ray, the doctor at Archie's school, opened the door, his face just a little less red than the blood which stained Archie's clothes. Don't try and question what he was doing before this. You'll probably be wrong. Ray stared at Archie's chest for a second before almost throwing up into his hand. "What the fuck happened to you?!" Ray yelled out loud, gulping as he grabbed Archie by his right arm and flung him into the medical bay, sweat pouring from his head. Archie's bag fell to the floor outside the door. "Sit your ass down now, Archie! We need to heal you as soon as possible!" Ray exclaimed as he opened a cabinet and grabbed some bottles labelled "Disinfectant".
"Doctor, are you coming back in? I don't feel too good..." A young female voice asked him from an opposing room, causing Archie to ponder who it could be. "Not right now, Ingra! We've got a kid who needs serious medical attention!" Ray yelled back, only to be met with sounds of disappointment from the other room. Archie suspected something dirty to be afoot, but he left it alone. Ray ignored the voice and began helping Archie. Both of them noticed the ice blade slowly starting to fade away. 'It appears Mr Kaitul is trying to make this as painful as possible for me.' Archie said to himself, grabbing the blade of the ice sword and attempting to break it in half. It was so Ray could pour disinfectant into the wound.
"Good thinking, Archie!" Ray exclaimed as he grabbed the ice sword, helping Archie snap off a large part of it. 'Alexis, I'm going to need your assistance. You must read some poems from your book that'll help keep me alive.' Archie told Alexis as he took off his shirt and jumper so Ray could get closer access to the wound. Alexis appeared beside Archie, pulling a book out of thin air. Ray looked at this strange, shadowy creature that had just appeared in the medical bay and immediately jumped back, wondering what the hell it was. "Calm down. I'm here to help Archie." Alexis told him, which shocked the doctor, but he decided to place a small amount of faith in the monster. "How can you help?" Ray asked sceptically, pouring a small amount of disinfectant into the bottom of Archie's wound, causing him to wince in pain. "I'll show you," Alexis responded. "It's like your healing. I observed it earlier." Alexis commented as they began reading from their book, open on a random page.
"Once an entire man, his body is now torn. His eyes are now weary, in the calm before the storm. Let these words heal his destroyed soul, with my body as dark as coal." Alexis recited, a green aura emanating from Archie's body, blinding Ray temporarily and causing him to fall to the ground. As the light died down, Archie pulled the ice blade out from his back, blood trickling down his back for a second before his body fully healed, leaving a small trail of blood on his skin. Ray looked at Archie and Alexis with an expression that could only be explained as pure awe. "What the fuck...?" Ray asked as Archie got off the medical bed, stretching his newly-healed body. 'Thank you for that, Alexis.' Archie thanked Alexis, who smiled. "I mean, you did ask me to heal you, and as your ally, I thought it'd be rude not to," Alexis responded, confusing Ray as he hadn't heard Archie speak. "Plus, the second you die, I die, so I don't want that to happen."
Alexis noticed Ray's confused expression and figured they should explain the situation. "Alright, I can hear his thoughts as if he is speaking. It's a confusing concept, but have you ever heard of telepathy? Think of it like that." Alexis explained, which just left Archie confused about where Alexis learned about telepathy. 'I wouldn't recommend saying anything further. It might reveal my system.' Archie told Alexis, who put a shadowy hand above their mouth. "Whoops! I guess I shouldn't reveal anything further." Alexis told Ray, playing it off as if they had said something they shouldn't have.
Ray slowly stood up, trying to understand what Archie had to do to get a creature made of shadow at his beck and call. "Could you possibly interpret for Archie? It's a pain getting him to write everything down, and that also leaves evidence around in case anything were to happen." Ray asked Alexis, who turned to look at Archie. 'Say yes. I may be able to tell him what happened with Mr Kaitul. Just so he knows why I got stabbed.' Archie told Alexis, who just nodded at Ray. "Great, that's good to hear," Ray responded before the sounds of someone throwing up filled the air. "Pardon me for a minute. I need to check on my other patient." Ray apologised before walking into the opposite room where his other patient was.
Archie's original suspicions were disproven, which caused him to let out a small, inaudible sigh. 'Maybe you should go in with him, Alexis. You might be able to help his patient.' Archie suggested, and Alexis nodded, walking in after the doctor. Archie used this brief moment of quietness to examine his body. He was pretty skinny, but he didn't have any muscle. Archie placed his hand towards his chest, ensuring all his ribs were in place and healed. He didn't want to walk out there and die because a broken bone punctured his lungs. After a minute of making sure everything was in the right place, he saw Alexis and Ray walking back into the room, so he grabbed his shirt and jumper, both with large holes in them and wrapped them over his arm.
"Thanks for waiting, Archie, or should I say, Archibald? I'm going to get the principal to send you home for a few days while we conduct an investigation into Mr Kaitul. After all, he's the only one in this school who can create swords of ice." Ray told Archie, who smiled and nodded. "Now, I would advise you to take it easy for the next few days, but considering you have this shadow creature that helps you, I'm sure you'll be fine," Ray told him as he nodded his head towards Alexis. "If you need anything, they'll probably help you. Also, here." Ray continued, tossing Archie a black shirt. "I have these just in case anyone's clothes get ripped during school activities. We can't have you walking around town with bloody clothes." Ray explained as Archie put on the shirt, realising it was a perfect fit.
'Ask him how he knew this size was the right one, please.' Archie asked Alexis. "Archie wants to know how you guessed the size of clothing he wears," Alexis repeated. "Well, I noticed a number on the inside of his jumper while trying to disinfect Archie's wound," Ray responded. "I assumed that was his shirt size, and I was right. When you return to school, I'll get you to tell me all about how you gained this shadow creature's assistance, but for now, go home," Ray told Archie. "You need to rest."
Archie gulped, but said no word. After all, he couldn't.