Later that night as I lay in bed I cannot help but remember PM's words spoken earlier. To open the third eye, one must put themself in mortal danger. That’s why they did not want Hugo to know what they were planning. Drew wants to finally attempt to open his third eye, and if Hugo knows about it, well, there is no way he would be in mortal danger then. But for me, the most important implication was that if I wanted to open it, then I would have to risk dying.
I turn restlessly, my mind occupied. After the meeting with the Five, I eventually found the chance to go to the training center. It turns out that what Drew had told me to attempt was an obstacle course with a time limit. I had failed it of course, but that was because my mind was so occupied with the revelation I had received earlier. At least, that was the excuse I gave myself. In truth, my skill with using Burst just isn’t good enough. Still, I make up my mind to try it tomorrow, and every day after until I finally get it.
Wanting to get some sleep, I close my eyes. After coming back from the Metorium earlier today, Emily told me of her intention to visit Cassandra in the hospital tomorrow morning. After a bit of contemplation, I decided to go with her. It means I’ll probably have to skip Master Speller’s class, but it is worth it.
In the end, I drift off to sleep. The next morning, as we are about to leave for the hospital, Emily asks, “You know, I just realized that you’re meant to be at work this morning. Isn’t your boss going to complain?”
“I’ve explained things to him,” I lie. I hadn’t done anything of the sort. Still, Hugo only expects me to clean up the bookshop at six so I have more than enough time to quickly go to the hospital and come back.
We leave the house and get to the hospital around twenty minutes later. The hospital is packed, and almost as soon as I enter I feel drained, all good emotions rushing straight out of me as the gloominess of the hospital rushes in. The hospital is packed ad it isn’t hard to tell why. It is full of victims from the fire at the arena. We come to a stop as a patient is wheeled past us. The patient barely even looks human anymore and he is so badly burned that for a moment I want to tell the doctors to just put him out of the misery.
All around me is nothing but pain and misery. People with varying degrees of burns, relatives, and friends of the patients who look as if they have been through hell and back, and the doctors who look like they haven’t had a good sleep in days. All of this pain and suffering is caused by one Fasuru who just wants more strength than he currently has. At this moment, it isn’t too hard to understand why the Laen hate the Fasurus so much.
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Next to me, I hear quiet sobbing. A nurse is speaking quietly to a middle-aged woman. Even in the noisy atmosphere, I still manage to make out some of what is being said. Someone is dead. Someone that is very close to that woman.
“My daughter,” the woman whispers in a voice devoid of hope.
Looking at the hopeless expression on the woman’s face I feel a pang of guilt. I had been very selfish. If I had really pushed myself that day I could have saved more people. Forget what people said, I had not been in too much danger. If I had just tried harder, who knows, maybe her daughter would still be alive.
“Come on,” Emily says in a subdued voice. I let out a sigh and follow her while turning on second sight. I remember clearly how those Fasuru had surrounded the Arena, the desperate expressions on their faces as they tried to profit off human suffering. If I find even a single one of them here, it will not end well for it. That much I can do.
We soon find Cassie’s room, and on the way there I had not spotted so much as half a Fasuru. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the Laen must have done something, or else they would probably swarm this place the way they swarmed the Arena.
“Cassie,” Emily says in a very high-pitched voice as she moves to give her friend a very light hug.
I walk awkwardly into the room behind her, not exactly sure what to do. I take a quick look around the room before focusing on Cassandra. She looks better than she had when she had been taken away from me. Strangely, that sends a wave of relief flooding through me.
Cassandra spots me over Emily’s shoulder and beams at me with a smile. I smile back and nod, choosing to say nothing as Emily begins to speak animatedly with her. Minutes pass when all of a sudden Emily stops and turns to look at me. Then a mischievous smile appears on her face. She gets up. “Okay, I’m going to leave you two alone to talk.”
She proceeds to walk out of the room, making me want to facepalm. Does she have to act so exaggeratedly? Either way, I’m now alone with Cassandra and there’s no way I can keep silent so…
“Hey,” I say, not able to think of a better greeting.
“Hey.”
“Are you… feeling better?”
“Yeah,” she then slaps her forehead. “That reminds me. I wanted to thank you, for what you did.”
“It’s no big deal,” I shrug.
She scoffs. “No big deal? You ran into a burning building. You could have died. That is a big deal. You know, I saw the video of you coming out of the arena. You looked quite heroic.”
Is there no one that did not watch that video, I think to myself, trying hard not to blush.
“Still, thank you. Without you, I probably wouldn’t be alive today. Do you know why I’m still at the hospital? I breathed in a little too much toxic gas. The nurse said there’ll be no lasting effect but that’s only because you got me out in time. If you hadn’t…”
“As I said, it is no big deal. Really. Everyone assumes that I was putting myself in danger when I went in, but I wasn’t.” She doesn’t look like she believes me. “Anyway, I’ve got to get to work. We’ll see when you get out?”
“Definitely,” she says in a tone that makes my heart jump.
I wave her goodbye and meet up with Emily outside the room before leaving the hospital. When we get home, we finally separate, Emily goes into the house, while I hurry towards the bookshop. I have accepted the fact that I will be late today but I can at least make some effort to not be too late.
In the ATC, as soon as I enter the class I hear Keldin’s snicker. I ignore him, focusing only on Master Speller. He glances at me and then looks away, acting as if no one just entered the class. I tentatively move to my seat, expecting some… any sort of reaction. I get none. In the end, I am relieved. Since it seems like he doesn’t want to react, I will make sure to give him a reason not to.