Recovery

Amelia paced around in the ward, the others watching her enviously. "We still have no information on what happened to Asha after the black-cloaked figure knocked them both out. Is she even in the hospital?" she asked.

"I have a question," griped Tim. "Why aren't you strapped to the gurney like the rest of us?"

"Because I healed first, you idiot," Amelia replied. She had been nearly completely healed within four days, which was shocking, even for being in the accelerated healing ward.

"Nice to see you up again. Seeing you all bedridden was slightly unnerving," called a voice from the doorway.

"Nice to see you, Cress. How's the school?" Amelia asked.

Cress strode in, sitting on the edge of Ethelyn's bed. "Everything's under control, though I don't really like running the place. Everyone is so dreadfully boring, and I could be doing something else."

"What else would you be doing?" asked Daniel.

Cress just winked. "I'm going to visit Asha. As you're the only one allowed out of bed, Amelia, would you like to come?"

Amelia nodded. "Lead the way."

"Say hi to her for us, and that we'll torture her for information later," called Daniel.

Amelia waited until they were out of earshot before asking, "How is she?"

"Still unconscious," replied Cress, sighing. "She's been like this for just over half a week, but she's still knocked out cold."

"What about Arin?" she asked.

"Same, at least since yesterday. However, I've kept Snow there in case he gets up--" Cress' eyes shot to the left. "I'm sure Asha'll try avoiding our questions, so let's ask our other friend."

Amelia's eyes narrowed. She was sure he's just gotten a message from his familiar, the snowy owl, and she also had a feeling the turn he made was not to Asha's room, but Arin's.

"So nice to see you in person," Cress said, a slightly dangerous aura coming off him as they stepped into the ward.

Amelia wanted nothing more than to punch his face into the wall behind him as Arin turned and smirked.

"Nice to see you again, Miss Snow Leopard," he drawled.

"Hello, bastard," purred Amelia with a fake smile.

"Enough. Stop being childish," Cress sighed. He snapped his fingers, the snowy owl on the railing of the bed suddenly going up in a bright flash of light, a woman standing there instead. "Thanks for that, Istra," he said.

Istra nodded. "Of course."

Amelia looked at Cress. He had his familiar already?

An Amora is the animal's soul, holding only a fraction of the power, but a familiar is the animal itself, giving much more power than the Amora to the user. But finding a familiar is rare, and almost impossible for God-tiers, since the God-animals had vanished off the face of the earth.

"Now, Arin, was it?" Cress asked, smiling, though his eyes held something like cold murder. "Will you answer our questions now? Or should I convince you by stretching you out till one of your arms pops off?"

Amelia got the shivers. She'd never been afraid of tiers lower than her, but Cress unnerved her, both because of his closeness with Asha, and because she couldn't read him.

To Amelia, most people were open books, but no matter how hard she tried, she'd never been able to read Cress.

Arin glanced at Istra, as if gauging whether or not he'd be able to slip past her, before walking over and sitting down on the bed, crossing one leg over the other. "Go on," he said.

Cress smiled again. "How do you know Asha?" The question was sharp, dangerous.

Arin shrugged. "Ask her yourself when she wakes up."

"I plan to," Amelia replied. "Just answer the question before I freeze your fingernails off."

Arin laughed. "Why should I?"

Amelia snapped her fingers, ice forming on Arin's left ring fingernail. A blink, and the fingernail shattered, sending a small burst of blood spraying, Arin groaning in pain.

"Damn you, Fake," Arin hissed.

Amelia's fingers curled into a fist, but before she could shatter all fourteen of Arin's face bones, a dangerous voice hissed, "Don't move." Amelia froze, and a figure darted forward, a hospital-slippered foot striking Arin in the side of the face, sending him into the wall.

"Ouch," Arin muttered.

Asha landed on the bed, half of her hospital-gowned body covered in bandages, her eyes blazing with rage.

Amelia frowned. That wasn't her usual fury, though. It was dulled, as if something in her had died. Amelia had to bite back her gasp as she realized why her eyes were dead. She remembered that it was Quetzico's death that had first started her descent into her strange transformation, and even madness.

"Quite spunky for just waking up," said Arin, rubbing the side of his jaw.

"Just be happy I don't rip you to pieces like your Amora did to Quetzico," snarled Asha.

"Asha," said Cress, more a warning than anything else.

"What?" taunted Arin. "Did Seven not teach you manners?"

"Shut your face," snapped Amelia, snapping her fingers, watching the ice seal over Arin's mouth. "And don't blow up this time," she said to Asha, trying to keep her voice steady as she saw the black particles rising off of Asha.

Asha clenched her fists, but the particles settled back under her skin.

Amelia could feel the cold killer's instinct start to fade, and she sighed in relief as she no longer saw the Oblivinite particles.

"Will you answer our questions?" asked Cress, voice calm, though Amelia could see the slight tenseness of his shoulders.

"Depends on what you ask," replied Asha.

Cress nodded. "What do you want to know, Amelia?"

"How do you know each other?" Amelia asked.

Asha rolled the answer over her tongue, as if debating whether or not to answer. "Let him tell you," she finally answered. "Don't you have anything to say, Arae?"

Amelia sighed, but melted the ice sealing Arin's mouth.

"We're brother and sister. Half, though," Arin hissed, glaring up at her.

Amelia felt like punching a wall, or Asha and Arin. "Is that true?" she asked.

Asha shrugged. "Yes. We share only half blood, though. Arin isn't his actual name."

"So then it's Arae?" asked Cress.

Amelia asked, "What is Seven?"

Cress moved faster than Asha did, darting in front of Amelia and a barrier blocking the Oblivinite that rushed at her.

Asha recalled the Oblivinite, her breathing slightly uneven. "The Child of the Twin Birds," she replied.

Amelia wanted to ask more, but Cress shot her a look as to say not to delve any deeper in that topic.

"We have a few questions." The cadre floated into the room, both with their own powers and Asha's roommates'.

Asha sighed. "Go on."

"What is that transformation of yours?" asked Blyke.

Asha's fists clenched again. "That form is... I am E-1, the first successful genetically engineered Oblivinite humanoid experiment."

"H-how does that work?" asked Daniel.

Asha bit her lip. "That... um...." She took a breath, as if to calm herself. "There are years of experiments, and surgical implants. Once they were completed, they put me through a rigorous training. Another few years of... training. They made us fight each other, the Es. If you didn't do as they wanted, you were killed. Or put through enough pain to keep you from doing it again. As the first successful experiment, I was indispensable, if they wanted to keep making Es, so they could only put me through enough pain to twist my views."

"And Seven?" asked Rosaria.

Amelia readied herself for the explosion about to occur, but she was slightly surprised as Asha just dug her fingernails into her palm.

"Seven was my caretaker. He was the scientist in charge of caring for me while I was there. I count it as a blessing he was the one to watch over me, as there were other scientists who were much, much crueler to their wards. One day, Seven broke me out of the facility, but during our escape, he was killed. He gave Quetzico to me, and told me to run."

"What happened to your Amora?" asked Tim.

Asha frowned. "I always thought E-1 was my Amora, but it's just a part of me that can't be restrained without the help of a special fabric."

"The gloves," said Daniel.

Asha nodded.

"But you didn't wear the gloves all the time..." muttered Ethelyn. "The silver bands."

"Yes," agreed Asha. "The bands, and the braces on the gloves, are the seals. The gloves forcibly contain the form, and the metal seals it."

"Can you control the form by will?"

Asha nodded. "I can control it by will, but the Oblivinite is a bit more difficult, along with the snakes. I can normally hold the Oblivinite back, but strong emotions, typically negative, can cause the pieces of Oblivinite metal grafted into my bones activate, the particles forming.

"Is that all you want to know?" asked Asha.

"No, I'm sure we all have questions, but we can wait until you share those with us on your own," said Ethelyn.

"I have one more," Blyke said.

Asha met his eyes as he opened his mouth.

"Are you alright?"

Asha smiled slightly sadly. "I'm fine."

Everyone in the room could tell it was a lie, but they didn't push the matter any further.

Amelia's eyes snapped to Arae as she sensed him move, slightly confused to see him reaching out, almost as if he wanted to grab Asha. "Don't even try," Amelia hissed, ice freezing over his middle finger nail, shattering and sending another spurt of blood into the air.

"Stop that; it's disgusting," said Asha, turning to face her half-brother. "I don't want to see you again for a long time, Arae."

"Oh, you'll be seeing me sooner than you'd think, Allu," Arae replied, smiling.

"No!" Daniel lunged forward as a portal, similar to the ones Azir used, appeared under him, but he was too slow and Arae vanished.

"Damn, I had a few questions I wanted to ask him," said Tim.

Asha sighed. "Just let him go. If what he said is true, you'll have time to question him on a later date. Meanwhile, we have other things to take care of."

"Such as?"

"The Interschool Dance. It's tonight," Asha replied.

"But you just woke up. Will you be okay?" asked Blyke.

Asha just nodded. "We'd better start preparing now. There's cooking, decorating..." she trailed off. "And the exhibition."

Amelia understood. Asha wouldn't be able to participate in the grand opening, because that required the God-tiers to display their powers together.

"We'll focus on one thing at a time," Ethelyn said. "Let's go back to school. There are preparations to be made."

Everyone nodded.

"Oh, and Asha. The video feed was shared with only us, the Headmaster explained. So nobody at school knows you no longer have your status."

Asha just nodded, stepping down from the bed and walking past everyone. "Remember your roles. Nothing must go wrong tonight."

"Yes."

~

Asha stared at the great hall, which had been cleared of the long tables and benches, instead polished and glittering. She saw Ethelyn flying around the ceiling, hanging long silver ribbons, Blyke tying silver balloons to the pillars. Her eyes found Daniel and Amelia setting up the orchestra's seats. She found Tim and Rosaria going over the song list.

Asha smiled bitterly to herself. She no longer had the right to participate in that. She turned away from the scene, where she once would have been part of.

~

Something moved, and Blyke's eyes shot toward the entrance to the Great Hall, catching a glimpse of a familiar school jacket before it disappeared. "Asha!"

Amelia turned toward him. "Was Asha just here?"

Blyke nodded, dropping the balloons and running to the entrance of the hall. "Ash-- where'd she go?"

Daniel walked over and put a hand on Blyke's shoulder. "She probably just wanted to check to make sure everything was advancing well. Give her some time, and some space. She'll talk when she wants to."

Blyke looked at Daniel. "You know, I think you just said something smart for once."

"What does that mean?" Daniel smacked Blyke over the head with a huff before turning and striding back over to help.

Blyke looked down the hallway for another second before turning back into the Great Hall. Daniel was right. All he had to do was wait, and she'd come to him. In the end, that would show his feelings better than if he forced the truth out of her.

~

"Let the event commence!"

The students cheered as the Headmaster of Luminine began the dance. This was a chance to mingle with students from other schools and get to know them better.

Amelia sat on the musician's platform, her saxophone in hand, as she played with the orchestra. Daniel leaned against the left side of the hall, eyes sweeping, Rosaria on the opposite side, doing the same thing.

Ethelyn and Tim danced, though both of them also kept their eyes on other dancers.

Blyke stood by the large table at the head of the hall, the table reserved for the Headmasters and Headmistresses, watching the proceedings of the party. He almost cringed at the cheesy pop songs they played, but the rest of the dancers seemed to like it. He knew that Tim and Rosaria had picked the faster beat songs to be played first to calm the students down before the slower songs began.

High above the dancing, Asha stood outside of the school, sitting on the ledge of the circular window behind the staff table, high above and watching the proceedings. She'd had to climb up there, using other windows as her hand and footholds. If she fell, she would die without the help of her Amora. Her gloved hands clenched. She hated this feeling, the feeling of helplessness and sadness. She'd felt this way when Seven had died, when she'd been forced to flee across the country out of fear, unable to return to the Phantomhives, though they had once been the family to take her in off the streets.

Asha knew the next step that needed to be taken, but just the thought of it made her want to destroy something.

"What a night to stay on the sidelines. Are you lonely and want some company?"

Asha didn't look away from the window. "Hello, Cress. What do you want?"

"Many things, Asha. But not tonight. Tonight, I want to show the Queen of Ice and Wind the way, as was my ancestor's job generations ago."

"I'm no Queen, not anymore."

"Contrary, you will always be Queen. It runs in your blood, is written on your bones. And no matter who tries to take it away, you will always get it back."

Asha looked away from the window, looking at Cress, his snowy owl familiar in animal form, keeping him airborne by grasping his arm with her talons. "Fine, then."

-

The lights in the hall dimmed, leaving only small orbs that danced in the air to light the hall as the final song of the night began, slow, sorrowful, and achingly lonely.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a figure emerged from the crowd, wearing a beautiful gown of silver and sapphire.

Asha stood on the edge of the dance floor, watching couples dance. Her eyes flicked up, to find Blyke already watching her. She could feel the stares of other students, though she knew quite a few were doing their own thing, but the looks made her slightly nervous. If they found she no longer had power, they'd all go after her, and she probably wouldn't survive the night.

As if sensing her unease, Blyke started moving, through the crowd, quickly.

And when Asha looked ahead once again, he was in front of her. She stood there, unable to move, until he extended his hand.

"Would you like to dance, Queen?" he asked.

Asha looked at Blyke. Yes, maybe this time she'd be able to live a semi-normal life. She raised her hand and placed it in Blyke's. "I would."

They stepped onto the dance floor, taking up position, Asha's left hand on Blyke's shoulder, Blyke's left on Asha's waist, and their right hands twined together. Blyke took the first step, guiding Asha around the floor. They spun around the floor, gracefully.

And as the music started to climax into the final notes, Asha whispered, "I know where we need to go next."