123: Pain In The Hospital

Once the commotion died down, people began trickling out of the buildings, from the bushes they had been hiding in, and from the lingering sections of the festival. Albion, Titus, and Conrad, the moment the chaos had broken out, now stood at the front of the crowd after having sprinted over the moment the fighting had broken out.

Kaiser, after helping Nyssa close her eyes, handed her off to Celeste before lumbering over to Angelica and Roxanne. Crouching beside them, he murmured a short “sorry to interrupt your privacy,” before asking a few questions to check in. “Both of you are still conscious?” “Do either of you need surgery?” “I’ll call over a couple medical staff to help you two to the medical center.”

The conversation flopped and wrapped up with a couple awkward as neither Angelica nor Roxanne seemed close to death. Life still had its warm hands wrapped around their hearts.

Leaving the two women to it, Kaiser pushed himself back up to his feet and hauled himself to the edge of the clean up zone where the fighters rested, called over the medical staff, and pointed for them to grab not just the two women in the center, but everyone in the area. He marked out which members needed the most urgent attention before sighing and reassuring them. “I’ll head over there too once I finish talking to the students, my old body can’t handle this much fighting anymore...”

With a half-chuckle and a nonchalant wave, he pushed off the medical staff before turning to face the students. The students, along with the other guests who had mixed in with the crowd, fell silent as Kaiser took a second to gather his words. “... Good evening, everyone. I know you all are curious as to what happened, and maybe worried, since it's not everyday that you see your headmaster stained with blood and with ripped clothes. But I just want to assure you all that the situation is now under control. A more formal statement will be released later, but for now, rest assured that there were no casualties. The culprits have been apprehended.”

A burst of whispers filled the air. Everyone leaned to their nearest neighbor, except for Albion, Titus, and Conrad, who all stood there with stone-cold expressions. Their three gazes burned as they watched Nyssa, Angelica, and Roxanne get wheeled away, unconscious and bloodied. The medical staff as well urged Ryker, Celeste, Electra, and Olivia into a cart before they all disappeared into the distance.

“Who did they fight?” “What type of attacker could wound an S-Rank Hunter like Roxanne like that?” “That girl with the white hair was transformed, didn't you see? And raced above the clouds.”

“She caught Roxanne...”

“I heard a girl snuck up near Nyssa and our headmaster, and overheard some of their conversation! Did you hear what they said? The headmaster was saying ‘sister’ to refer to Roxanne! Do you know what this means?”

“Wait what??”

“I knew it.” “That’s... not unexpected.”

“All three siblings being in Class Zero would make sense.”

“I mean not particularly, none of them are related by blood.”

“Well, that’s why none of their powers are related.”

“... I mean your logic still sounds tenuous, but that doesn’t matter in light of the fact that we now know the identity of the new girl who’s in Class Zero.”

Spreading his hands to the sides to silence the crowd, Kaiser shook his head as a small apology to Nyssa darted across his mind in advance. He closed his eyes for a half second while waiting for the students to stop whispering, furrowing his eyebrows as his head pounded with pain. One deep breath later, he opened his mouth once more. “And as a final note, due to this unexpected situation, I have to apologize, but the boat race tonight will be cancelled. The lighting, fire pits, and more have all already been set up so feel free to use them as a place to relax while we work to get through this together. Thank you for your understanding.”

Not a second after he finished speaking, a swarm of medical staff began buzzing around him, pushing him towards the cart. Shoved into the backseat, Kaiser gave the students one final wave before closing his eyes and resting his head against the headrest.

---

In the medical center, Kaiser laid in a hospital bed with a fresh bandage wrapped around his torso. Cracking his eyes open as an assistant rushed forward, he extended his hand, took the clipboard, and glanced downward.

[Injured list]

[Ryker - Showing minor symptoms of energy exhaustion, struggling with poison. Released due to an extremely strong natural healing factor. Estimated time of recovery - eight hours.]

[Electra - Minor abrasions, bruises. One large cut along the thigh. Bedrest after getting stitches. Estimated time of recovery - one day.]

[Olivia - Concussion. Minor cuts and bruises. Bedrest. Estimated time before release - two days. Full recovery expected in three days.]

[Celeste - Several cuts and scrapes. Released due to strong healing factor.]

[Roxanne - Deep neck wound. Deep shoulder wound. Presenting symptoms of extreme energy exhaustion. Unconscious, bed rest. Estimated time of recovery - One week. Full recovery expected.]

[Nyssa - Unwounded. Presenting symptoms of extreme energy exhaustion. Unconscious, bed rest. Note of worry due to recent repeat incidents. Estimated time of recovery - One week. Full recovery expected.]

[Angelica - Muscle tears across body. Several fractured bones. Tears near shoulder blades. Painkillers prescribed to ease the separation of wings from the body. Was fully conscious, sleeping gas used to ease pain. Estimated time in bed - Five weeks. Full recovery expected, timeline unknown.]

“... Worrying, for Angelica, do we know how many drugs she took?” Kaiser asked the assistant. “Last time this happened she took four, but she didn’t have wings that time.”

“We suspect it was six, but she refuses to tell us,” The assistant shook their head. “We’ll keep you posted.”

“Oh, to be young, I hope she hasn’t made a rash decision...” Kaiser sighed, handing the clipboard back to the assistant before closing his eyes. “Thanks for the update. Hand things off to others for now, I need some rest. Also, look into alternate teachers for Class Zero. Just in case.”

“Understood.”

---

Muffled screaming filled the intensive care unit. Angelica had woken up and, once more, felt the pain of wings being ripped out from her body. Her entire body shook as blood stained the bed, pouring out from an uncountable number of micro-cuts all over her body.

Roxanne, the only other patient in the ward, laid still with her eyes closed. Her chest rose and fell in quiet contrast to the chaos transpiring in the bed beside her.

Celeste, Albion, Titus, and Conrad stood at the window, frowns on all their faces as they watched from outside.

“... I’ve never seen Angelica like that...” Celeste choked out, her eyes teary as she saw a team of nurses rush forward to readminister a swath of medications, along with a bandage change. “She’s covered from head to toe...”

“It’s... scary,” Titus murmured, a quiet delicateness in his voice. “What happened? Should we... should we keep watching?”

“Probably not, let’s give her some privacy, we can check on the others...” Albion mumbled, he too was unable to take his eyes off the scene. “We... we should go.”

“““Yeah.”””