Revian rubbed his eyes, adjusting to the bright lights surrounding him.
Above him were panels of light, encapsulated in glass dipped in runes beyond his understanding.
Beneath him was a white, fluffy bed with equally white sheets covering him and warming his flesh, serving as a veil to the pain wrought by the dark blotches discoloring his skin, unnaturally tainting the complexion of his entire body.
"Guhhhh... what happened...?" He asked, flicking his attention to the medical bed resting just a few feet to his right.
"You tell me, brother, I'm just as lost as you."
Revian's eyes flung open, the only thing keeping him from attacking the man being the red-hot pain radiating from every crevice of his body.
"What are you doing here!"
Garron turned to face him, gritting a laugh through his teeth while he valiantly raised his hand forward to point in his direction.
"You beat the game, is what happened--" He exclaimed, biting his words once the left side of his jaw unlatched from his face, hanging free and eliciting an abyssal growl from the pits of his chest.
"Buhgh ish seehms thath wegh enhed offh takhinnh dohwnh eachothgerh--"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
A large click following Garron's forceful locking of his jaw, he looked back towards Revian with eyes dyed in pain.
"So you don't remember? We fought master--professor Varek's game to determine your status in the school, ultimately ending in you giving me a good one!" He had to hold on to his jaw as he spoke, one side bearing more sluggish inertia than the other. "That was a good slug you gave, by the way! I still don't know how you did it."
Revian rubbed his head, even more confused than before. He'd remembered most of the fight, but he couldn't quite recall its ending.
The sheets ruffled as he clawed his way up from his bed, unsettled with a latent discontent.
"I wouldn't recommend that." Garron said, pointing his index finger towards himself.
No, rather, he was pointing at the plethora of bandages and hard casts surrounding his body, although they were hardly visible beneath the covers.
"Grrahhhh!" Revian screamed, slamming into his knees after the pressure on his ankles from standing traveled up his tibia to tear through the many bruises and fractures in his legs.
"Damn, I told you not to do that. I'm already pretty banged up, but you're on a whole other level." He said, tilting his upper torso up out of his covers to look down on Revian.
Extending his hand, he helped Revian back up to his bed, Revian's slow grunts echoing throughout the entire room.
Creak...
While the two were the only ones in the room, there were more beds available, a door resting to the side of the one opposite to them.
The door's hinges began to move, the static friction dispelled and replaced by an eerie dread that slithered its dark tendrils along Revian and Garron, both of them raising their eyebrows against the sudden surprise.
"Revian!" A group of students shouted, each donning their own expression and tone.
It was like a stampede, their individual sound muffled within the volume of their chants and questions.
'Are you alright?' One asked, his arms tugging on Revian's.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" He yelled, snatching his arm from the boy's grasp.
Promptly, the boy repeatedly bowed his head up and down with closed eyes.
"Hey, back up everyone!" Another boy shouted, this time shorter and without his remarkable goggles. "It's clear that Revian is tired. How about we talk one at a time?"
Turning around to meet the gaze of the students and their subsequent nods, he turned back around to speak with Revian.
"Firstly, thank you. We would've already been packing our bags off this campus if it wasn't for you and that float of yours."
"I beat Garron?" Revian asked, the words hardly escaping through his lips.
"What was that?"
"Ah--nothing. Forget it."
Revian turned to his right, pressing his face against his pillows and plugging his ears.
The students turned to look at each other, some shaking their heads with a deeper understanding lost to Revian.
"Hm, well, we'll be up and out of here. We just came to check up on you and make sure you were okay. It's starting to get pretty late." A familiar boy with red-hair said. "We'll have plenty of time to meet each other's acquaintance in class, so rest up now. And don't worry, the next time something like this happens, we won't hold you back!"
The door behind them slammed shut, although Revian caught the glimpse of a meek, half-awake girl before she clumsily trailed behind the others.
"What about me?" Garron pouted, puffing his lips out as if it was expected for them to congratulate them.
"You almost got them--us expelled." Revian spat out, his expression more serious.
"Ah, you're right."
For the moments after Garron's words finished, neither spoke--although Revian delightfully basked in the silence, something he hadn't felt since his freshman year when he was more unknown.
His eyes shut, the console of the bed allowing him to drift off into a light sleep.
There were no dreams, his mind still aware of his surroundings. It was something he trained himself to do.
But it was still enough to soothe his mind, granting it the proper rest it needed.
Slam!
Off into the distance, the door slammed open, almost bursting from the walls from the force.
Another Class F student? I haven't the time or patience to deal with--
"So this is the place where trash end up once wounded?" The voice boomed, each step following with them an explosive thud. "To think that you could have fallen this far."
Revian snapped his head toward the door, raising his shoulders by his right arm.
His eyes eased once they finally reached the man responsible, his lanky arms, black hair, and dark brown eyes flashing past events and encounters.
"Wait, did you seriously just look at me with those annoyingly condescending eyes of yours?" He asked, throwing the door behind him aside to reveal two additional students at his flank.
"Are you Malric, top ten student in elemental harmonics--pwuh!" Garron gasped, his face laced in exhilaration.
However, his speech was cut short by the legs of his bed collapsing, the stone floor below cracking at its weight.
His body clung to the bed like there was a thousand pound weight resting on top of him, his stomach caving inward to knock the wind out of him.
"Yes, I am. I'm also aware of who you are, The Unbreakable Juggernaut, although, on further inspection, you're not all that impressive."
His smile was a taunting one, a single finger poking out in Garron's direction.
"So, float, how painful do you wish for your death to be?"