"What?"
The word barely came out.
It left Quincy in a quiet, almost broken voice as she stood there trying and failing to fully process everything she had just been told.
The medical room had become crowded in the aftermath. Those who had returned from the center of the city were gathered alongside the people who had remained behind defending the coliseum, while others who had returned earlier lingered nearby after receiving treatment or hearing pieces of what had happened. Gurion, Amos, Mae, Lexy, Edluar, Even, Drack, Dirk, Lia, Larkin, Drimus, and Elsa were all there, the atmosphere heavy with exhaustion, tension, and disbelief.
Meanwhile, Bryanard, Calvinel, Annabel, Ulrich, Hittag, Zeva, Prince Mark, Zara, Callum, Clara, Amara, Vilak and the Guard Commander had gone to the Healing Springs, either to recover from their injuries or remain beside someone else who needed it more.
Ercale and Zee, both still unconscious, had been placed into beds nearby. Beside them sat the catatonic Nori, unmoving and unresponsive.
Quincy lowered her gaze to the floor.
Her thoughts felt tangled.
"A Demon King with that much power?" she said quietly, almost to herself. "The man in the wolf mask and the unconscious man on the bed are both that powerful?" Her voice grew weaker as she continued, struggling to keep up with the sheer scale of what she had just heard. "You all nearly died? Xain turned into a monster and almost killed so many of you?" She swallowed hard. "And then he turned into this Annie, knocked out and injured some of the strongest people there, and just... left?"
Her shoulders lowered.
"So much," she muttered. "So much happened while I was just in here?"
The guilt in her voice was impossible to miss.
"What are you saying?" Lia asked immediately, stepping closer before gently patting Quincy on the shoulder. "You needed to be here protecting everyone in the coliseum." She gave her a small shake, just enough to ground her. "Don't start blaming yourself."
Quincy took a slow breath.
After a moment, she nodded and quietly placed a hand over Lia's in silent thanks.
Mae, who had been leaning against one of the nearby walls the entire time, finally spoke up. Her arms were crossed, expression narrowed, though her attention seemed fixed somewhere far away in thought.
"That's everything that happened," she said with a sigh. "Every bit of it."
Larkin was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, one hand covering his eyes as he let out a long, exhausted sigh. "For fuck's sake… how could this happen to ya kid?" he muttered under his breath, voice low with frustration and disbelief.
"What did this Annie tell Clara?" Elsa asked, her attention shifting toward Lia.
"She looked… not okay," she added after a moment, her brows tightening. "And it is not just because of Amara's condition."
Lia hesitated, eyes dropping slightly before she answered. "She called her desperate for friends," she said quietly. "It hurt Clara a lot from what I could tell."
Elsa's hand clenched immediately.
Without another word, she turned on her heel and walked out of the room, the tension in her posture sharp enough to cut through the air.
"I wouldn't have made it even if I went," Gurion muttered, almost under his breath, his tone slipping into something self-deprecating.
"None of us would've. Do not make it about yourself," Amos replied flatly.
Gurion flinched slightly at that, his fox ears flattening against his head in response.
"And here I was wanting to go constantly," Even added, rubbing the back of his head. "I would've been killed by that monster."
"We should be glad that no one died," Dirk stated.
Drack nodded once in agreement. "As bad as things were, no one died. It is a miracle. One we should be grateful for, even if what happened afterward… was tragic."
No one responded directly to that. Not agreeing or disagreeing.
The silence that followed was heavy, but not contested.
"What should we do now?" Edluar asked, scanning the room. "Should we go after Xain?"
Lexy shook her head immediately. "Look around you. Does it look like anybody is in the state of mind or body to do that?" she asked, letting out a tired sigh. "You all… we all need a chance to just collect ourselves before we go after him or her, whatever it is."
Still, no one argued against her.
"Well, in that case," Drimus said as he pushed himself up from where he had been sitting, "I don't have anything to do with anyone here, and people would freak out seeing a demon. I will be waiting outside the coliseum if anyone needs me."
With that, he left the room.
Slowly, others began to follow suit, the group thinning out as exhaustion and silence replaced conversation.
Until only three remained.
Mae, Larkin, and Drack.
They stayed behind in quiet stillness, the weight of everything pressing down on the room.
Mae eventually stepped closer to her twin's side, reaching down and taking Zee's hand. Her fingers interlocked with his, steady and firm despite the silence.
"I will find him for you," she said quietly. "I promise."