Rebellion: Prince of Dawn

Chapter 20.1: What Comes After

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ILIAS VAN PAYNE

"You're finally awake," a calming voice said. It was Roxy sitting by my side, her leg resting on a stool while reading a book.

My vision faded from white, placing me in a familiar bed. The entire upper half of my body was wrapped in bandages, covering my burning wound—a giant gash running diagonally from my left shoulder to my right hip.

The pain and fever shooting through my body told me my fate.

"I'm alive."

Roxy nodded. "You're alive."

That's right, I used the one second I was supposed to use to kill Messina to instead kick Jaime out of the way. And in her stead, I tanked Askeladd's sword.

"Jaime!" I tried to pull myself up but my wound seared. "Aaaah!"

"Take it easy. Jaime's alive and is the reason why you are. She only knows basic healing so she couldn't do much.She stayed by your side and healed you for five hours straight just to keep you stable. You lost a lot of blood when we found you. I thought you were gone."

"How's Jaime?"

"She broke one of her gates to keep you stable. She was sleeping for four days and she only has six gates now. But they're much stronger."

"Where is she?"

"She's with my sister and a few of the villagers looking for the bandits' base. Florence and Vienna gave up its location in exchange for their safety."

"So we won?" I gritted through my teeth.

"Do you think we'd be alive if we weren't?"

"Sorry, my mind is racing all over the place." I chugged down a cup of water sitting by the bed. "How long has it been?"

"It's been a fortnight since the battle. You've been sleeping the entire time, but you were slipping in and out of consciousness."

"Yeah, I heard voices but I couldn't understand who they were and what they were saying."

"You know, Jaime is really something else. She singlehandedly took out Messina by stabbing him with a rusty dagger and infecting him with tetanus. She used his own power against him and won."

"Jaime took down Messina? I thought it would've been Askeladd. Speaking of him, where is he? He's the one that did this to me. I'm expecting an apology."

Roxy set her book aside. "Askeladd died on the lake protecting Jaime. Along with Tony and Mondatta."

"Oh. I know about Tony and Mondatta, but not Askeladd."

Askeladd is dead too?

In the end, all I was able to protect was Jaime...

Everyone called me a prodigy. Now that I'm in the real world, I'm just as regular as anyone out here.

How useless am I? I wasn't able to do anything. What's the point of becoming a State Jynxist if I can't even hold my own?

What does Van mean if I can't even protect my friends?

I nodded. "Is Jaime holding up fine?"

"She was quiet at first, but she's back to her normal self. She got a boost in energy when you mumbled words to her during your sleep."

"That's good. She lost her parents, her home, her godfather, and almost lost me. She's very strong."

Roxy smiled. "You two really genuinely care for each other. She's looking after your physical wounds and you're looking after her emotional ones."