1.57 – Epilogue (Of book 1)

The device beeped as Alicia lay on the hospital bed. She seemed far more pale than Nathan would have liked, but at this very moment that mattered little. She was breathing and her medical status seemed stable. The others called it an amazing recovery.

They had questions about how she had survived, how she wasn’t split into two. Nathan couldn’t answer them. Every time he tried speaking about the strange woman, it felt as if a ghost’s hand grabbed his tongue, forbidding him to speak.

Apparently the authority didn’t like revealing herself to other people, just to Nathan. She saved Alicia though. He wouldn’t try to make her angry. He still felt confused about his role here and why she had chosen him of all people. But as long as Alicia lived, he could get by without having all of his questions answered.

Alicia stirred a little before she slumped into sleep once again. Despite the fact that her wounds were mostly healed, there was some residue damage and she would stay unconscious for a few days longer. The doctors seemed to think so at least. For the amount of damage that she had taken, few days was nothing.

Nathan stepped away from the hospital bed and went to sit on the blue plastic chair once again. He took a book with him, wanting to stay here for the whole day, but he couldn’t bring himself to open it. He just stared at Alicia for hours on end.

The Red Lily attack ended almost the same moment that Nathan snapped back into real time. There were 28 slain Red Lily members, all of them normal humans. There were other normal humans who escaped alongside many other supers.

Vermillion Strike even tried to follow them back into the portal but it just spat her back out, not letting her through. She seemed angry, but after that she seemed concerned for Alicia.

She was the one that carried her here. The results of the tournament and what it meant for the future were unclear. Nathan never had his semi-final bout, but who gave a shit about that anyway?

He stood up once again, feeling restless, and suddenly the door opened.

Arthur stood there, alongside another woman that looked strikingly similar to the two siblings. It must have been the younger sister of Alicia, but if she told him her name then Nathan couldn’t remember.

Arthur registered Nathan standing there, but instead of the previous condescending demeanor that he had shown him, he simply nodded at Nathan, walking closer towards the hospital bed.

“Hello,” the younger woman mumbled before following her older brother.

“Anastasia, can you leave us for a minute?” Arthur asked as he dragged one other blue chair next to Alicia’s bed.

“What? I came to see my sister too. She looks so frail.”

“I’ll call you inside later. I just need to talk to…” he gestured towards Nathan with his head, “this guy.”

“Alicia told me she has a boyfriend. I think that’s him?” The girl looked at Nathan with renewed interest.

“Yeah yeah whatever, can you just give us a few minutes?” The way he spoke to his little sister, it was easy to forget he was such a dick a few months ago.

Anastasia looked at her brother, then at Nathan, and then nodded. “Fine, five minutes, but I want to be with my sister after.” She poofed her cheeks and walked out of the room, closing the wide door behind her with a click. Arthur remained slumped over the body of his sister.

“How did you save her?” He asked after a few minutes of silence.

“I can’t tell you,” Nathan tried words on his tongue. This much he could say. “Not because I don’t want to but there’s something-”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Something that doesn’t allow you to physically.” Arthur looked at him and smiled before he shook his head. “Okay, fair enough.” He leaned over Alicia, brushing his fingers over her face. She didn’t react. “I am thankful anyway. I don’t know what I would do if she passed.”

“Yeah dude, sorry for saying this but I didn’t think you two had a good relationship.” Nathan tried to keep some of his anger out of his voice.

Arthur laughed. “No, I suppose we didn’t. Not over the last two years anyway. I hoped she would stop going to Ako. That she would find a normal life, one that wouldn’t mean that she is under the sight of our father for every step she makes. But she’s strong. Just like me and Annie are. She just took a bit longer to blossom.”

“So you think the best way to make your sister leave the Academy was to beat her to a pulp? To threaten her into leaving?”