Claude spent the rest of the day in the infirmary. While he slept, dreams of dark-fire titans overshadowed by sword-wielding gods plagued him like….. well, like the plague. He shook and jumped as their footfalls cracked the earth and sent earthquakes running underground for miles.
They told him to be a man.
To be a warrior in search of glory.
Hideous giant dire-rats swimming in rivers of oil and soot yelled slurs and curses, calling him a tail-tucked coyote.
He was beginning to think he truly was cursed until the scents of sage and rosemary cut through the violent delirium with every inhale.
"Good afternoon, Claude." Ms. Callisto sat at his bedside looking over his injury report. The sun was low, looking through the miles of trees straight into the window behind her. It gave her a vibrant halo of sorts. How on the nose…
"Afternoon." Claude's throat felt like one giant bruise that worsened exponentially with every swallow. The sun hurt his eyes.
"How are you feeling?"
The question had the same affect as a mother telling their child not to cry after an injury.
He couldn't help it. So much shame. So much failure….. week after week after week of hard work and dedication met with embarrassment.
And rage.
"Dammit." His hands flew to his eyes to wipe the tears. They ran like the rivers of soot and slime he saw in his dreams. Thankfully rats weren't crawling out of his eyes. Only tears and anger…
So much anger. It spiraled and frayed like unkempt hair. Anger at himself. Anger at Samuel. Anger at Mr. Raizen for continually throwing him into the fire. Anger at his own expectations going unmet for so lo—
"Concussions are known to heavily affect your mood, you know….." Ms. Callisto whispered.
Claude took a deep breath and got himself together, "I appreciate it….. but this one's all me."
Ms. Callisto frowned and turned her head at him. He suddenly missed Frosty, "How can you be so sure?"
Claude raised his arm and rested it on his forehead to hide his eyes, ignoring the cast that bound his forearm, "I'm not performing how I should be. I'm working too hard to be this…. To be losing. To be…. regular. I can't be a hero for long if I can't even overcome these challenges. I mean— Skinner was taking out monsters as a little girl way before she joined The Nine. I'm almost a grown man and I can't get past a guy in expensive armor."
Ms. Callisto held up two fingers.
"Two. I'm not braindead, I just got rocked." Claude replied, thinking she was still running medical analysis.
"I was going to say, two things…"
"Oh…. My bad." Claude mumbled as his cheeks warmed.
"One, you are not almost a grown man. Most men aren't truly grown until well into their adult years. Two, comparison is the thief of personal joy." Ms. Callisto said as she set down the injury report and beckoned for Claude to sit up.
"My person—ACK!" Claude groaned as his bruises enflamed from the movement and his dizziness returned, "ERHM… my personal joy is tanking regardless. I just watched someone live my dream while beating the dog-piss out of me."
Ms. Callisto took something from the desk behind her and turned back to face him with a bowl of fresh fruit, "Dream bigger."
Sourly, Claude took the fruit.
"Thank you."
"Mhm." Ms. Callisto mumbled as she poked and prodded Claude while he ate. "You seem alright— physically. When I first assessed you, you had two concussions, a second degree neck burn, broken rib, nose, sprained wrist and head wound. You'll deal with residuals for a couple weeks. The problem with healing unawakened individuals is you risk Mana-Flu. So we'll leave you like this. After healing you, all breaks were fixed except your nose and neck."
"Why?" Claude questioned.
"Dark-Knights greatest quality is their dark-fire. It eats healing magic. Kind of like magical poison. It forces you to heal naturally or die slow, all depends on potency."
"Right…" Claude mumbled.
"Would you like to see how it looks?"
"No. It doesn't matter." Claude chewed on a grape.
"Well aren't you tough."
"Apparently not."
Ms. Callisto leaned close to him and flicked his forehead.
"What the— hell?"
She sat up then, making an overtly masculine gesture as she spoke, "Stand up! Where's your spine, mijo?! You're living in poverty— raised by a single parent who's…. Not always there—and wasn't Reborn. You've been fighting in the same armor for the last year and a half and you're the third strongest student in the whole academy. You are nothing to play with. If giving Samuel his first hard fought victory is enough to take you out, how will you save the world?"
Claude chewed on his bottom lip and let the awkward silence build.
"Ahh….. maybe the concussion is messing with me."
Ms Callisto chuckled and gave him a wink that exaggerated her wrinkles. All the while, she gathered her things and stood up, grabbing an apple slice from his bowl.
"Your feelings are valid, Claude. But they're just that. Feelings. Feel them, process them, then move on. Try again. Rinse and repeat as they say."
"Sure."
"See you next week."
"Adios." Claude watched her leave before his eyes rose above the doorframe to the ticking clock.
It was five in the afternoon. Classes ended half an hour ago.
"I'm going to be late to work. What a day honestly…." Claude gritted his teeth in pain as he swung his legs to the side of his bed and hopped out onto the floor.
Thankfully his legs didn't feel as horrible as his head…. Or nose… or neck…. Or wrist… or—
"Shut-up." Claude mumbled as he finished off the bowl of fruits and downed the cup of water at his bedside. His broken sword laid against the base along with his backpack and torn leather helmet.
"Long time no see…" Claude began gathering his things when the sound of footsteps neared the door into the Infirmary.
"—ou didn't go through all that just to not properly meet him. That makes no sense."
"It's gonna make me look weird! What do YOU mean?!"
"Trust me. You've gone a long time without proper friendship, I know this. I know your family. You thinking a kind gesture will be seen as weird is evidence enough."
"I still don't get why I can't say hey on my own time."
"Because, the time is now."
"No the hell it's not." Claude thought as he rushed to pack up his bag and approached the window— thinking about jumping until he remembered the state of his body.
"Claude….. don't tell me you've grown suicidal." Mr Raizen entered the infirmary. His boots were soundless on the white tile floor. Very much unlike whoever entered with him.
Claude turned around, not interested in entertaining Mr. Raizen. Beside the teacher, the knight from before stood tall in his low quality armor.
From where Claude stood, he could see where Samuel's flames hit the metal of his mostly leather gauntlet. Even more impressive.
"Your silence tells me you're still angry…" Mr. Raizen started.
Claude didn't bother telling him it mostly meant he was uncomfortable…. And late for work. Probably because he was angry at him— unjustified as it was, and he wanted him to know it.
Mr. Raizen waved him over.
Claude followed, trying to ignore how the floor bounced in and out of his faces proximity like a basketball.
He now stood only a few feet from them in the empty Infirmary. Feeling even shorter.
"Your anger is understandable. A lot of students would've lashed out at me after the third week in a row. Did you know this year alone I've put you against Samual and Tai sixteen times?"
The knight whistled in disbelief. He was oddly expressive for someone choosing to remain hidden.
Claude's thick black eyebrows twisted in confusion like poisoned caterpillars, "...why—"
"The sharpest blades require brutal tempering." Mr. Raizen replied as Claude's knight in crappy armor stood by awkwardly. "And more importantly, Ive been pushing you this year because you're close…. you're right there, man."
"Close to what?"
"Close to being Reborn. You're close to awakening your System." Mr. Raizen said. "Hell— the only reason I let you continue at the end against Samuel is because I thought it was going to happen right then."
"That would've been cool…"
The knight laughed.
Mr. Raizen and Claude looked at the knight.
"Oh— sorry…" The knight scrambled and removed his helmet.
A twisting cascade of vibrant auburn hair fell around his shoulders, barely able to be held down by the black cap sitting atop his head.
It took Claude a minute before he realized his previous assumptions were wrong and he was not at all a he.
The knight was a young woman. A large woman. Four inches taller than him large. The longer he looked at her, the more he questioned how he was so wrong. Sure, she was mannish in build with her broad shoulders and thick midsection. But there was femininity to her. Her hips were as wide as a Tank's shield. Her legs were like barbarian clubs wrapped in sinew and encased in leather. She had an hourglass figure….. sort of. The hourglass just happened to be made of muscle and bulk.
"I wasn't laughing at you in that way. I've just never heard of someone refer to a Rebirth as cool. It was funny…. But not in a bad way." The lack of her helmet made her voice barely even change. It was rough. Husky. Not as deep as Claude's but fast approaching. She also almost had an accent.
Mr. Raizen stepped in to cut the awkward silence and stares, "Claude Grey, meet Ursula Le—….. ERHM. Just Ursula."
"What's up?" Ursula held a hand out. Her freckles danced as the sun continued to drop, shinning more completely on her tanned skin and the gauges in her earlobes.
"Thanks for muzzling Tai earlier." Claude said as he shook hands with her, keeping it brief to stop the sweat from building.
"Oh you're more than welcome. I've had to do that….. so many times." For a moment she looked like she was mulling over awful old memories. Nothing dreadful but at least annoying. Just like Tai.
Claude's eyebrows did the thing again.
"We're kind of like cousins…." Ursula made a puking motion after her further explanation
Claude's eyes brightened, "You're related to Ronin?"
"I said kind of. Nothing by blood or love. More like proximity." Ursula shrugged her large shoulders.
As someone with no distant biological family, Claude understood relatives and relations sometimes weren't concerned with blood…. Or even love. So he got what she meant. But was left with a new question.
"Who in your family is that close to Ronin? Well…. I guess my question would've been answered if Mr. Raizen said your last name fully. The only members of The Nine with kids are Ronin, The Red Knight, and King-Breaker. And none of them mention having a daughter…. Maybe RedVine and Skinner adopted…..I need to update my data-books." He thought to himself.
Mr. Raizen was staring holes through him.
"Anyway…. It was nice meeting you, Ursula. Mr. Raizen, good talk. I have to get to work." Claude groaned as he heaved on his backpack and sheathed his broken sword.
"Oh, sure. Do you need a ride?" Mr. Raizen asked.
"Actually, I would like to be alone." Claude felt their eyes on his skin like hot coals. In that sense, his heat tolerance was at its breaking point, Mr. Raizen and his tempering blades be damned.
He left.
The hallway felt long then on his way out. He could still hear them by the time he reached the exit doors.
"Did you…. Just use me as an in to apologize to one of your students?" Ursula asked.
"Oh absolutely. Yes, I did." Mr. Raizen replied.
"Ms. Callisto was right about you, you know?"
"Everyone's right about me." Mr. Raizen said casually.
"I don't even know how to respond to that, I'm going home too."