When Nina’s eyes fluttered open, the first thing that she saw was a boring brown ceiling above her. It wasn’t glossy and white, for which she was certainly glad, but at the same time she knew that there was no reason to be optimistic. Rucille, for all she knew, could be standing right behind her.

The first thing that she felt was an intense cramping pain in her chest.

Groaning as she struggled to reach for it, her hand weakly fought against the weight of the blanket as she dragged it across her stomach. Her sense of touch told her that she was in a bed, but it looked like her eyes weren’t going to be helping her any time soon as she felt even weaker than she had been in her dream. Calling it a dream was probably a bit generous, maybe nightmare would be more fitting, but either way it seemed that whatever had been going on in her head was finally over.

“Nina?” Jade asked as she quickly appeared in her vision. Half of her chest and most of her shoulder had been bandaged, and now she only wore some light summer gear over the top. “Can you hear me?”

Nina’s weak nod in response sent Jade flying for the door. She wondered why she would be moving so fast while her arm was bandaged up like that, but she didn’t have the strength to ask. The fact that she didn’t have the strength to ask questions right now was quite unfortunate too, as there were about a million of them currently swimming through her head.

“Relax,” Saela said from somewhere off to the side. Nina recognized the voice but couldn’t see her, although the squeaking of a chair from the same direction as the voice led her to assume that she was sitting in the corner. What Saela was doing at her bedside was another question that quickly added itself to the steadily increasing list, but right now there was one burning question highlighted at the very top of it that she desperately needed an answer for.

“Nina,” Reina said with noticeable relief in her voice as she pushed her way through the door. “Are you alright?”

Following her into the small bedroom was Svanda, Aline, and Jade. Trim was the only one missing right now, but that was just another question that would be answered in due time. Reina had asked how she was, but answering with anything more than a nod or a light shake of her head was probably beyond her right now. Instead, after waiting for them to surround the bed, she mustered up her strength and forced out the question that she most wanted to know the answer for.

“Ru…cille?”

“She’s gone,” Reina quickly consoled her as she reached for Nina’s forehead. “You don’t have to see her again, it’s safe now.”

Nina didn’t see how avoiding Rucille, however they had managed it, would also sort out the very large safety issue of Ormain and his team. She wouldn’t point it out though, firstly because they might be dead already if she was lucky, and secondly because she didn’t have the strength to refute them anyway. Her head was throbbing rather painfully and it felt like there was an elephant sitting on her chest right now, and that was also before she mentioned how it felt like she was lying in a pool of sweat.

At the same time, Rucille being out of the picture was a lot of stress off her shoulders. What had happened between them in that glossy white room was something that she might not ever fully come to terms with, and her recent nightmare had done nothing but compound her fears. Rucille was nothing but a demon in disguise, a demon that hopefully she would never meet again. Even in a dream.

“Can we get you something?” Svanda asked as she leaned over the bed. Nina’s gaze slowly rolled over to her, her eyes scanning the grey shirt and olive pants before she looked up to see the genuine concern on her face. Suddenly, however, she realised something. Svanda was from Terminus, and if what was running around in her system now was truly what Rucille had said it was, there certainly wasn’t any point in taking any risks.

“A...Away,” she managed to whimper, although the breath which carried her voice felt like it had been squeezed out from her chest. It hurt to inhale anything more than a shallow breath right now, so speaking was a rather excruciating experience. Getting anyone from Terminus away from her right now in case she could somehow infect them, however, was surely the priority.

“Me?” Svanda asked with a hurt expression as she leaned further forward over the bed. She quickly withdrew, however, as a pained wail escaped from Nina’s lips as soon as she did.

“Give her some space,” Reina said as she put her arm out between the pair of them. Svanda, who was noticeably upset, withdrew to stand behind Jade with a strange expression on her face despite the fact that she seemed intent on staying in the room. Nina hated to do it, to sow some kind of doubt in her head that she had done something wrong even temporarily, but when the truth was finally revealed they would see that she had their best interests at heart.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Revealing the truths was a different problem to tackle. There was a mix of urgency to tell the group about everything she could, but stretching herself while she was in this condition would probably end up hindering them in the long run. Judging by the group’s evident concern for her, she’d already concluded that they hadn’t really known what to do with her and they obviously hadn’t found a cure either. If even Saela of all people was here looking after her, there must have really been some panic.

If her thoughts were correct, her fate had simply come down to a battle between herself and whatever Rucille had decided to attack her with. It was downright frightening now that she thought about it, as the chance that she would have never woken up had been a real possibility. She was, however, alive. No heart rate monitor quietly beeping in the corner, no doctor or nurse in scrubs leaning over her, no tubes strapping her to the bed, and no whitewashed room that reeked of disinfectant either.

Right now she had exactly what she needed - a comfortable bed in a comfortable room surrounded by the few people on the seven plates that actually cared about her. She didn’t know how long she had been out, what had happened after she had fallen unconscious, how she had escaped from Rucille’s clutches, or even where she was right now, but despite all the other concerns that lingered in the back of her mind she had faith that everything would turn out alright.

The Cloud Orchestra? They could do it, and they would do it. Ormain could be left clutching at straws if he was still alive for all she was concerned, while Rucille was apparently already out of the picture. Reina was reliable, so maybe it was alright to be feeling a little optimistic even though her chest still felt like it was about to collapse.

“Is it just Svanda?” Reina asked. Nina was appreciative that she had asked her question in a basic yes or no format, but despite her good intentions she couldn’t answer. It wasn’t because she was incapable of moving her head, but simply because she wasn’t completely sure if Svanda was the only person on the team who was originally from Terminus.

She tried to speak, but little more than a hiss managed to escape from her mouth. Reina quickly saw that she was struggling, and immediately leaned over the bed and placed her ear by Nina’s lips. It surprised her, to suddenly be so close where her smooth skin was only centimetres away from her face, and her eyes instinctively ran down her neck as the soft fragrance from her hair entered her nose. It was relaxing in its own kind of way, but Nina wasn’t sure if she felt like that because she had been starved of close relationships or Reina was simply enchanting. Maybe it was a combination of the two, but what she did know for sure was that now wasn’t a time to be side-tracked.

“Term…” she managed to say. It would have been nice if she could have been a little more forceful, but a raspy whisper was all she was capable of right now. She would get there eventually, even if she needed to take one syllable at a time.

“Term?” Reina asked. Nina couldn’t see her lips move as her vision was filled by the side of her head, but at least Reina could understand what she was trying to say.

“Nus…” she finished after taking a few shallow breaths. Done, her head sank back into the pillow, although it wasn’t like she had been able to lift it very far at all in the first place.

“Term. Nus,” Reina mused as she stood back up. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Terminus, obviously,” Saela said matter-of-factly. “Which would mean that the problem isn’t Svanda, it’s where she is from.”

Nina managed to nod slowly, thankful that someone had managed to fill in the blanks so that she didn’t have to. If Svanda or anyone else for that matter ended up catching what she had, she wouldn’t be able to live with herself. She had survived somehow, but if what Rucille had said contained any truth then it was highly likely that someone from Terminus wouldn’t be as fortunate. Hopefully it wasn’t contagious, but she wouldn’t be risking it until she was sure.

“You can infect people from Terminus?” Reina asked rather impatiently as she glared at Svanda. Svanda, however, had also clearly realised the implications of Saela’s conclusion rather quickly and was already half way to the door. Opened and then closed, the room was left in silence, only this time there was both one less person and a whole lot more tension.

Seeing that Nina wasn’t answering with a nod or a shake of her head, Reina sighed before turning to look at the rest of the group. It was almost as though she was asking them what to do with her, but again it seemed that Saela beat the rest to the punch.

“How could she be sure?” she asked as though she could read Nina's mind. “Who knows what Rucille jabbed her with?”

Reina frowned, which made Nina feel guilty. She didn’t want to cause problems, and she certainly didn’t want to create a rift in the group where two of the members couldn’t work together. She hadn’t asked for this, but right now all she could do was pray that whatever Rucille had done to her was something that she would be able to fully recover from. If it wasn’t, not only would her time in The Cloud Orchestra more than likely be over, her time working in any role which could come into contact with people from Terminus would be over.

“It just gets better and better, doesn’t it?” Saela finally said with a sigh. Standing up, she placed her hands in the pockets of her hoodie before casually strolling over to the door. Pausing at the handle, she suddenly turned back to the rest of the group, although her eyes were locked with Reina’s. “If she’s going to infect anyone from Terminus with whatever is going on inside her right now, how are we supposed to get through the next plate?”

Saela stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her. Nina, Jade, Aline, and Reina were the only people who remained in the room, stewing over what Saela had said in the silence. It was a massive obstacle to overcome if what they feared turned out to be true, but at the same time they knew that it was still only an ‘if’.

“I’ll get in touch with the doctor,” Reina said as she looked to Nina with an expression that was difficult to read. Maybe it was pity, maybe it was concern. She seemed pensive, so maybe it was even a combination of the two. “Aline, look after Nina. Jade, you’re still supposed to be resting, so take it easy.”

Seeing the pair both nod, Reina gave Nina a weak smile before she headed for the door. “Rest, everything will be fine.”