Drip Drip Drip.
Jace stood motionless, blood dripping down his fingers. His black hair stayed upright, even as his head hung low and his eyes reflected the red staining the tiled floors. The Blood.
The steady rhythm of heavy breathing continued on, joined by the weak breathing of another. Jace was cold, he was horribly, so horribly cold yet somehow the mere act of moving felt disrespectful, alien, inhumane…
Pings sounded, likely from his system. They rang, continuously to a point where the sound began to feel like a lullaby, an escape from the view in front of him.
"Open," Jace whispered as a screen manifested in front of him.
[You have completed your weekly quest: Fight someone -50xp]
[Congratulations on winning your first fight -100xp]
[Level 3 achieved <100/300> xp]
[New Skill Unlocked-Eyes of Dusk]
[Eyes of Dusk: Oh hear ye, a tale of a man who wandered far with none. After years, he perished his eyes and regained another, the first of many. Improves eyesight and perception]
Looking amidst the flowery text and olden language, it was a fairly simple story. A story Jace was in no mood to hear or decipher.
The sound of shuffling and the stamping of feet echoed in the empty room as Jace tilted his head mechanically to see nurses pouring in from nowhere. Most ran over to Duke placing a stretcher by his side.
One–A man–walked over to Jace, grabbing his hand. He examined it, spun it over as Jace whispered weakl.y "Leave,"
The man either ignored Jace's request or didn't hear it as he stuffed his hand into a duffel bag lying on the floor, retrieving a wrap of bandage. He moved quickly and efficiently, like a robot and somehow that irritated Jace.
"I said LEAVE."
The word shook the room and elicited a groan from Duke but only a look from the man and ignorance from the others.
"Go," Jace whispered, suddenly tired. The man didn't need to be told thrice, walking away from Jace and onto Duke without a sound–A professional.
Looking long at Duke's lying figure, Jace wondered what to say, or do. Maybe he could apologize to him, or simply stay by his side until the nurses considered him well enough to travel by the stretcher.
No. Jace knew that any of such actions would be seen as weak by others. Emotional. Plus, it had already happened. Jace had pummeled his fellow student almost to death and no further action would change that.
Turning away from the grisly sight, Jace muttered a simple 'sorry' more for himself than for his unconscious foe. He walked only a few steps until he was back there on the field.
The grass felt hard and brittle, the cold hair warm and oppressive. The coldness in his bones disappeared, replaced by an emptiness he couldn't comprehend.
Few students nodded at him, most ignoring him yet that feeling persisted. It was silent, deep within his heart and somehow he couldn't understand it. A rough hand shook him out of his thoughts.
It was the blue haired from before, Flame guy. From up close, Jace noticed how dark his hair truly was. It was more red than blue, made even more prominent by his olive skin.
He spoke, his words coming fast. "Any injuries?" He spun Jace's arm before gazing at the right palm in shock and utterly disbelief.
While Jace's fingers were dripping with blood, his palm remained relatively clean, scarred only by the swelling and blisters. Jace shook his arm out of 'Flame guy's'.
He walked away, even as the Flame guy yelled for Jace to go to a nurse.
He was tired. Jace was tired. His eyes stung, yet they didn't feel particularly hurtful. They just felt there.
Jace walked out the field, back onto the clearing. The giant statue still stood there, the figure of the First Ability User, one of hope, of wisdom, of kindness. Yet, the statue loomed over the courtyard, over him. It's shadow devoured everything.
Gazing at the giant sculpture, Jace searched for it. Meaning, hope, the hope they stated came from it. Yet there was nothing. It was just a huge chunk of metal, adored and placed on a pedestal.
And so Jace left. He considered going to his apartment yet one look at his palm told him that the injury was serious. And it would continue to get worse.
"Cyberlink, chart a path to the Infirmary."
A slight pause before the military authorized device spoke "Very well. Walk fifteen metres to your left before turning an.."
Jace followed the words as it led him down a path. Flowers adorned the sides, their colorful formation begging for attention. Jace bent down to pick one out before coming in sight of his fingers, his blood–stained fingers.
Pausing, Jace rose back up as he continued on his journey. Yet the farther he went, the more the flowers disappeared. The fewer students there were.
Stopping, Jace arrived at the end of the path. In front of him was an old building, or rather a shed. A symbol of a cross hung loosely from the door, the colors faded out. The building itself didn't look any better, the walls clearly wooden with a few holes clearly visible.
Walking forward, Jace knocked the hollowed door. Nothing. Jace knocked again, this time louder.
The door swung open as Jace knocked, welcoming him in. Jace obliged, entering the small room. The door shut behind him as Jace looked about calling out. He fumbled for a switch, eventually finding it right next to the door.
Flicking it on, Jace revulsed in disgust. The room was small, very small. A bed at the side took up half the space, the floor littered with dozens of bottles and even a few broken cyberlinks.
Attached to the walls were shelves, dust stuck to them. And speaking of dust, the particles clung to Jace, almost choking him.
And then the door swung open. In walked a young woman, maybe Jace's age. Her clothes accurately depicted her as a nurse yet it was changed. As if designed to be more fashionable.
Her golden straight hair fell down her back and as she turned, her green eyes locked onto Jace.
The white mask strapped to her face moved as she spoke "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
Jace scrutinized her, noting the blood on her dress and her hand still affixed to the door knob. He spoke calmly, raising his hand in mock surrender "Jace. And my cyberlink led me here, somehow"
Her hand let go of the door knob yet she didn't move any closer, opting to ask again "And you're telling me you didn't notice how old this place looked, or the overgrown grass blocking the path. Or maybe even the fact that this looks nothing like an actual hospital?"
Jace shrugged, showing his right palm. "Hard to notice when you're suffering from pain,"
The nurse's eyes widened as she grabbed Jace's palm "Does it hurt? How?"
"Not much," Jace said simply. He didn't like it, his words. So he forced a grin and added "Got into a fight. You should see the other guy."
The nurse smiled simply. It was forced and maybe a bit polite yet the horrible feeling in his belly lessened. It was confusing.
"My name's Elena," She said simply as a green glow settled on Jace's palm. Healing.
Healing abilities were simultaneously some of the rarest while being one of the most dangerous. The danger in healing didn't come from the person with the ability, it came from others' reaction to that person.
Cults, organizations, factions. Anyone would go to war to gain that type of ability. Yet here she was, humming a tune as her healing worked and a vengeful itch threatened to spread all over Jace.
"Why are you here?" Jace asked, doing everything to push his mind elsewhere.
"In here? Getting supplies." Elena answered, opening one of the shelves, her left palm still hovering over Jace's right.
"In the military?"
Elena stopped her humming, her smile freezing. Then she continued on. Her expression unfrozen, her humming uninterrupted as she spoke. "Place was calm, had good security and all that"
She paused, retrieving a wrap of bandage. "I lived on a rural planet. A military operation happened near me and they discovered I had a healing ability" She paused as she stopped her healing.
"Maybe it was fate," Jace muttered, unthinking as he flexed his palm. While they still hurt, they didn't feel like ants scurrying over his palm, biting everywhere.
He looked up, concerned on why Elena had stopped humming just to see her gaze, fixed on Jace.
"Sure, let's thank fate. Thank fate I came here, thank fate your arm almost burnt of.f"
She began wrapping Jace's palm, a little too tightly as he found himself wincing seconds later ."I take it you're not a fan of fate."
Elena relaxed, her words becoming a soft whisper. "I just hate the thought of some higher being dictating your actions."
"You'll hate the Military," Jace teased and for the first time Elena laughed, an honest laugh.
"Who said I don't?"
The two shared a smile as Elena tore off the bandage now wrapped around his palm "All done"
"So the next time I'm injured?" Jace asked, a hint of desperation in his voice.
"Next time?" She stated. She paused for a second. "The treatment isn't done. There's still a chance of something happening. For at least this week, I'll have to continually treat you, every day"
She paused at that, scanning Jace "Although that isn't the worst thing that could have happened"
Jace frowned "So next time?"
Elena grabbed another wrap of bandage as she moved towards the door "Check your cyberlink."
She walked out as Jace checked his screen. There, written in bold text was a name and a number.
A smile played on Jace's lips as he walked out the building and turned off the light. The smile continued as he skipped along the path.
As he did, a flower caught his eye. It was a deep blue, uncommon in a dye of pink and oranges. Jace picked it, his blood–stained fingers rubbing along the stem as he brought it to his nose and inhaled it deeply.
Exhaling deeply, Jace stuffed the flower into his pockets and continued on his journey back to the dorm.