White.
Was this the afterlife?
But it just took the time for my eyes to adjust to the light again to realize that what I was looking at was no otherworldly sky but just plain white stone.
"Unfamiliar ceiling..."
I quickly realized I was lying in a bed.
But where exactly and how had I gotten here?
Before I could look around, something large obscured my vision and I felt something heavy press against my chest.
"Ugh!"
«Lizzie!! How are you feeling? They said everything was fine, but you wouldn't wake up! Does anything hurt?»
I lowered my gaze to find myself facing a very worried Amy, dressed in her pajamas.
I looked around.
As I should have guessed, I was lying on a bed in the infirmary.
The afterlife could wait after all.
«I'm fine, I'm fine. But...»
«Something's wrong?? Should I call the healer?»
«No, it's just... I can't breathe.»
Amy, in her haste to check my condition, was almost crushing me on the bed.
«Oh, I'm so sorry!»
Amy jumped back, releasing me immediately, and went to sit on a chair next to my bed.
«But, do you really feel okay?» she asked again, casting an inquiring glance at me.
«Yeah...»
It was the truth. I felt terribly tired, but except for the lack of energy, everything seemed fine.
I looked down anxiously.
I expected to see my arms reduce to two twigs, due to the mana absorbtion I had suffered. Instead, they were perfectly normal.
Whoever had saved me must have done so not too long after I passed out.
Chloe's creation had not succeeded in draining my life force. But it came very close to it.
«Chloe!» I exclaimed suddenly, startling Amy.
I looked around. Only one other bed in the infirmary was occupied. Not by Chloe, though, but by Von Bitten: the poor boy was surrounded by a bluish aura, a sign of the spell that had helped Amy recover.
«Amy, w-what happened to Chloe?» I asked.
Deep down, I already knew the answer.
My fears were confirmed by the expression on her face, before she even spoke.
«She... didn't make it...»
I let myself sink into the pillow. Honestly, I didn't know how to feel. What could've I done differently? I had only defended myself.
Maybe I had even done too much to avoid killing her.
However, the idea of having caused the death of another human being was not something I could accept so easily.
«Lizzie... you couldn't have done anything else. She almost killed you!» Amy tried to console me.
«I know... thank you.»
So, this emptiness was what Sophia had felt after killing Valentine, huh?
Could this be a symptom that my humanity was beginning to fade?
Sophia...
"Oh fuck!"
«Amy, how did I get here?»
"Uh..."
Amy seemed to hesitate for a moment.
«Sophia brought you here... She said she found you in a secret room or something.»
«Where is she now?»
YOU ARE READING
Duelcrest Academy
FantasyElizabeth Belvoir has a dream: to meet her idol Aldric, the most powerful wizard in the kingdom. The opportunity to achieve her dream arises when she receives an admission letter from Duelcrest, the Royal Academy of Magic. Little is known about this...
