Aurelie was the first person Farn saw when he opened his eyes. She was holding his mother’s hand and gingerly walking around the room. He quickly realized that he was in his bedroom.

A groan slipped out of him as he tried, and failed, to sit up. It attracted the attention of the other occupants of the room. His mother was at his side immediately, utilizing the speed of an eighth stage Grandmaster. Aurelie hobbled over as fast as she could, which wasn’t all that fast, all things considered.

“Gradas Meir… Where is he? What happened? And Mellana… is Mellana alright?” He gasped, fear still rampant in his eyes.

Danadie paused. She didn’t want to upset her son by telling him of Mellana’s death immediately, so she used the same diversion tactic.

“How do you feel, Farn?” She asked instead. She used her Spirit Energy to probe him for any internal injuries that Mrs. Dreslin missed.

Water Elementals, such as the visiting instructor of the Seven Heavens Academy, could use their powers to manipulate blood flow, maximizing and even speeding up the healing process. It was why Aurelie had no wounds when she woke up, and Farn had none now. Danadie was merely checking again when she probed.

“I feel fine. But I shouldn’t be. I remember…” A shiver wracked him as the last moments in his memory hit him. He was fighting for breath, with pain searing his every nerve ending. He could faintly hear explosions and loud thuds coupled with Meir’s cold laughter, and was very worried for Aurelie. He had hoped that Mellana was safe, and that she ran to go get help.

Now, seeing that they were alright, he was utterly confused. So, once again, he asked, “What happened to Gradas Meir? And where’s Mellana? I thought that she would be here, waiting for us to wake up.”

Aurelie paled. She’d suspected that Farn hadn’t seen Mellana’s body, but the confirmation still made her start. Shaking, she sat down, not listening as Danadie outlined the circumstances in which they had been found, wondering how they would calm him down when he heard the news.

She’d been their friend for a month now. She was also very observant, and, due to Zane’s utter obliviousness, a hopeless romantic. She had noticed very quickly that Farn and Mellana liked one another. They weren’t dating, from what she could tell, but they absolutely had feelings for one another that were most definitely not platonic, though neither knew the other felt the same way. The fact that Mellana had died without knowing Farn’s feelings would only make thing worse. She knew that the knowledge of her death would devastate him. She felt like crying just thinking about Zane dying. Farn’s pain would be much greater than her own.

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Finally, Danadie had told Farn everything about Gradas Meir’s death. He looked amazed, but pressed on. “And Mellana?”

Aurelie tensed. The dreaded question had been asked.

Danadie, too, looked pained, but she knew she couldn’t put it off any longer.

“Mellana died, honey. Gradas killed her, and kidnapped the two of you immediately afterwards. You likely didn’t see her- her body.” She sounded choked, and her voice had cracked in the middle, but Danadie still tried her best to put the news across gently.

However, Farn still felt as though he had been struck with an anvil. He just sat there, gaping and gasping, attempting to come to terms with this new reality. At first, he thought that his mom was playing a joke on him. But she would never joke about something like this, and she looked as though she were fending off tears.

“B- but then who called you guys? To tell you that Meir had us?” Farn asked, reaching for the smallest shred of hope, trying to find some way to prove that his Mel was still alive.

“Mrs. Dreslin sensed the presence of another Elemental Apprentice and alerted us.” Danadie replied, trying to sound as calm as possible, hoping her son would unconsciously mirror her tone and calm down a bit.

But Farn didn’t catch on. He rocked back and forth on his bed, his face a sickly pale, muttering, “But, it can’t be. There’s just no way…” over and over, trying to convince himself that Mellana was still alive.

Then his gaze fell upon Aurelie, who was sitting down on a chair by his bed. Inexplicably, rage tore through him

“You!” He roared, jabbing his finger in Aurelie’s direction. His sudden movement caused both Danadie and Aurelie to jump, and they looked rather shocked.

“This is all your fault! If you hadn’t provoked him, if you hadn’t been with us…. I WISH I HAD NEVER MET YOU!” The venom and rage in Farn’s voice startled both Aurelie and Danadie.

“Farn,” Dandie used the tone of her voice to tell her son that he was very close to crossing the line.

Farn didn’t heed the warning.

“OUT! GET OUT! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN!” He yelled, now pointing at the door.

“Farn Lejus! Mind your manners!” Danadie said, anger on her own face. Aurelie had saved both of the villages and her son’s life by killing Gradas Meir, and had gotten so injured in the process that she had hovered between life and death for a week. Truthfully, they hadn’t expected her to live, much less wake up before the comparatively healthy Farn. As for Mellana… Aurelie was incredible, true. But she was only sixteen, three years younger than the two of them, and a third stage Master to their fourth stage Master level. In that situation, it was utter foolishness to expect Aurelie to protect them. In fact, it should have been the other way around. Not even Mellana’s parents blamed Aurelie for her death.

But her son obviously did. “Why should I have to be respectful towards a murderer?!” Farn argued, looking crazed. Danadie glared at him, opening her mouth to berate him for his behavior. But before she could speak, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Turning around, she saw that Aurelie was shaking her head, a sad smile on her face. The young girl then turned to Farn, and said, “Okay, Farn. I’ll go. Stay safe.”