Derek woke up in what was unmistakably an hospital room. Even with a fuzzy head and a blurry vision, he knew there was only one place were so much white would belong.
The sheets, the blind, even the walls and ceiling were white. He tried to rub his eyes, but discovered his right arm was cuffed to the bedside, while the left one felt so heavy, he couldn't muster the strength to lift it.
- "Must be the morphine. That or they tied me up." He thought. The last reasonable memory he had was about him killing the b*stard who had murdered his little brother.
"F*cking cops, couldn't just let me die? I don't know if it's because of the brain damage or because they have heavily drugged me, but that was one heck of a dream."
He shook his head, trying to clear up his vision.
"A little too absurd, even for a dream, though. Magic powers, a mystical sentient girl tower, talking animals and a Kingdom in danger. It only lacked a pink dressed princess kidnapped by a fire spitting turtle to be more ridicule.
That, or me finding my happy ending with the girl in the tower. Heck, even if it was all inside my head it has been the most meaningful relationship I ever had." – He scoffed.
- "Really? I would have never assumed you would think of me that way." - Solus' mind blush was so strong to overcome the boundary they usually kept to separate their innermost thoughts.
Lith managed to avoid screaming in surprise and embarrassment only because the blind was pulled away by Professor Manohar, that had come to check his conditions.
"How is my patient?" He asked. "Remember, the only acceptable answer is 'well and getting better'. If you die on me, you'll ruin my statistics."
"Professor Manohar?" Lith was still recovering from the shock.
"So, it was all real?"
"I know how this seems, such an incident, if we want to call it that way, happening in the White Griffon academy is simply unbelievable, yet it happened. Odd, I perfectly regenerated your skin, yet you are all red up to your ears.
Are you experiencing any discomfort, or did you just have a wet dream?"
Lith's brows furrowed, while his memory was finally returning.
"I…"
"Just a yes or no. I'm not interested in your fantasies."
Lith blushed even harder, but this time out of anger, for the complete lack of tact of his healer.
"No discomfort and no wet dreams. Thanks for your concern. Why am I cuffed? I don't remember doing anything to deserve such treatment."
"Do you mean the chain? That's no punishment, is just to prevent you from rolling on the wrong side. The wound is just barely closed, we still need to reattach your arm, after all. I would expect an accomplished healer like you to understand something so simple."
Lith turned his head abruptly, trying to touch the little stump where once was his arm, but the chain stopped him again.
At that point, Solus had regained enough of her cool to share her memories of the most recent events, bringing him up to speed.
"How long was I unconscious?"
"A few hours, is barely lunchtime." Manohar replied, right before casting a series of diagnostic spells that made Lith glow like a lightbulb.
"Everything seems fine. Your body heals magnificently, young man. Keep up like this, and you'll get discharged in one piece before dinner." Manohar took out his communicator amulet, informing Linjos that the patient could receive visitors.
- "Remember to properly thank your friends. They gave it everything to save your life before Manohar arrived." Usually Lith would have objected at the abuse of the word 'friends', but after looking at Solus' memories he didn't feel so sure about it anymore.
"Wow, Quylla really punched Linjos. Was it really so dangerous to move me at the time?"
"No, it wasn't. But I can't blame her for being protective. I would have done the same."
"Okay, then why Manohar punched him too? He doesn't seem the protective type."
"According to his rants while he was finishing to heal you, Manohar has always dreamt about hitting a Headmaster and get away with it. Quylla simply gave him the inspiration he needed. He told her himself before awarding another thirty points.
You know, I really like that girl. I would have nothing against her being your mistress until we find a proper body for myself." –
Another powerful mind blush made him understand that she wasn't joking at all, but luckily Linjos entered his room, saving him from such an awkward topic. Lith had never been so happy to see the Headmaster's long and brooding face.
Contrary to his expectations, behind him there was no trace of his classmates. He was followed by professor Marth, instead, and thanks to his enhanced hearing, Lith could hear them repeatedly apologizing to someone.
"We are terribly sorry for what had happened to your son, but as you'll see, he has received the best cures available in the whole Kingdom. The reason we called you here, is to help him overcome the shock of losing an arm.
Albeit is only a temporary condition, it could severely affect his mind and future decisions. We don't want him to quit the academy, it would be too great of a loss. Please, be strong."
Lith heard a snarl from his father, Raaz, stopped by his mother, Elina, hurrying Linjos to let them in. They rushed to Lith's bedside, doing their best to not cry or stare at his stump.
"Professor, please, tell me he is going to be all right." Despite all their efforts, Elina's eyes were watery and her voice cracked. Raaz held her hand tightly, searching for the strength to appear calm and confident to reassure his injured son.
"Don't worry, ma'am. We were just about to reattach his arm." Manohar said, throwing a flirtatious look at her.
"I must say it, there must be something special in your bloodline."
Lith started inwardly cursing non-stop. Maybe after looking at him and his parents, the genius healer Krishna Manohar had noticed some abnormality caused by him using Invigoration on all his family to remove impurities from their bodies.
"Otherwise I can't explain why your son is so talented, you are so gorgeous, and even Lith's dear grandfather is so well preserved despite his age."
At those Marth, Raaz and Linjos became pale as ghost, while fury tinged Lith's cheeks of red while his eyes where reduced to fiery slits. He couldn't believe his esteemed Professor was actually hitting on his mother right in front of him.
Despite the situation, Elina and Solus couldn't stop giggling.
"He is actually my father." Lith's voice was stone cold, causing Manohar to gasp in surprise.
"You are very lucky, good sir." He said shaking Raaz's hand, limp from the surprise.
"Your son is a brave kid, and your wife could have got much, much better."
If Lith's arm didn't had yet to be reattached, Raaz would have probably strangled him for the repeated insults.
"See, old man?" Manohar said patting Linjos on the shoulder.
"That's why I tell you to never lose hope. In this world there are still women that don't care much about looks."
Before the situation became even more humiliating, Professor Marth dragged Manohar away.
***
In the city of Kandria, all the hospitals and the healers' home offices were full to the brim, while the city guard was arresting lots of citizens for gruesome crimes. The two things had only one thing in common: all those involved would tell unbelievable stories to justify what had happened.
A man claimed that his wife had caught fire while cooking lunch, a woman told them how his brother had turned into a piece of ice while conjuring some water to wash the dishes.
An otherwise beyond suspicion healer was trying to explain how he never meant to amputate his patient's leg, it just had turned into a lump of meat after he attempted to heal a fracture.
But the real cause was ensuing inside the local branch of the Mage Association, where many magicians were reporting how they had inexplicably lost their powers.