Daughter of Death

XV

Idk what this one's called
Also
I'm slowly getting to the main actions here
Bare with me—this is all important info (though it's very psychological)
'TIS CALLED BUILDING SUSPENSE

Alright, so not ALL of the crowd was cheering.

It was more of a half and half.

But Hallez was too exhausted to care at the moment. By the time they reached the medical tents, she was swaying in her seat on the saddle.

The after effects of the adrenaline rush was finally crashing down on her. She saw doubles, and her head pounded. Her hands and legs were shaking slightly. Finally, she swayed too much to one side, and tumbled off the saddle. The last thing she heard before she passed out was Fiona's worried calls.

†††

For once in her life, ever since her parent's death, she had a dreamless sleep.

Well, unconsciousness. Same thing.

She used to be plagued with nightmares. About their death. About her parentage. About losing the life she has. About being alone.

Hallez woke up in the familiar room of maniple 10C. Even though it had been only a day, it felt more like home than the rest of the Castra.

She was in Lavi's bed in the mostly empty room. There was only one person, who was snoozing peacefully in a nearby bunk.

Hallez sat up slowly, not wanting to disturb her. She wondered where everyone was. Her internal clock was all messed up, but judging from the light pouring in from the window, it was a little past noon. Maybe they were at the mess hall for lunch.

Even at the thought of lunch, Hallez's stomach growled. She thought she had left it behind somewhere above the battlefield's floor, but apparently not.

She stood slowly. She suddenly realized how good she felt. Physically. She felt physically relaxed, and well rested.

Mentally...

Not so much.

However, physically, she felt the most rested in... Well, a long time. And mentally she was also feeling much better. It felt as if a whole mountain had been lifted from her shoulders and head.

Her legs and arms were slightly sore from all the excitement earlier that day. She rolled up her sleeves, which were torn and blood-stained, same as her pants, and saw white bandages wrapped around her forearm. The same was for her other forearm and her legs. She had no idea how she got so many injuries. She felt nothing while she was storming the fortress with one-hundred and eighty legionnaires on her own.

She did feel some remorse for her grey shirt and black pants, however. She untied her jacket from around her waist—she forgot it's there sometimes—and put it on.

Slowly, she made her way out of the barracks, and towards the mess hall. Then, she stopped. She was hungry, no doubt about that, but not enough to...deal with everyone staring at her.

Plus, something had been nagging at her in the back of her mind ever since she had first been to the Forum, and touched the Ancile copy. She didn't have the space or time to think about it before, but now, she had plenty of it.

One of the two voices she had heard...

Could it be...

"Hallez!"

Hal looked up in surprise, to see Fiona running towards her, then hugging her fiercely.

"Thank the gods," she exclaimed, loosening her grip a little. "I was so worried! I mean—you did great! And we still need to hear what happened—but seriously, like, you got yourself pretty hurt in the fortress!"