SHIFT 2 - Purgatory

A healing time

School was choas. It had been a long time, feeling more like a life time, since they had been here. Nagisa walked into his old room. He blinked at seeing the red haired witch standing there. She held a wand as she glared at a pile of clothing. It was obvious she was trying to get it to fold itself.

"Complicare pallium" Nagisa muttered.

The clothing sprang up, it bended around itself, before settling in a neat pile on the bed. He raised an eyebrow at her. She huffed, tucking the wand away into the waistband of her skirt. Nagisa stood barely inside the door. The witch studied him.

"You forgot about me, didn't you?" She smirked.

"Maybe, a little." Navisa winced at the truth of it.

"Well, your mother and Aradia didn't. They helped me a lot. I learned so much!" Akara beamed.

Nagisa pointed to the folded clothing. "Just not how to fold clothes?" he asked his lips fighting to not make a smirk.

"No, those are just stubborn!" She huffed.

"I see." Nagisa nodded. He waited a moment.

"Akara?" he asked softly.

"Mmm?" She blinked at him.

"I'm sorry." He told her. "To be fair, we often forget Lucifer too." He added. The grin appearing finally. She tossed her hands up.

"Oh, whatever! I'm just glad most of us made it back safely." She added.

Nagisa looked away. He had heard of the deaths. Seamus didn't make, nor did two of those who had come with him. The death of his childhood friend and once bully weighed heavy on his heart. He wondered if there would have been something he could do... He shook himself. Those dark thoughts didn't help.

There had been others. Centaurs, giants, fairies, witches even five of the Archivists that Marcus had trained, all perished in their war. Nagisa wished, above all else, that he could say he was done fighting. The truth was, he knew he wasn't.

He knew he wasn't like Mori or Marcus. They seemed to need to be the best. He knew he wasn't like Lucifer who wanted to fight from the shadows. He knew he wasn't like Hari or Xavier or even Ozzie, all of which would prefer to never enter a battle again. He knew he wasn't like Carter or Cami. They had a unique relationship with hunting. But, just what was he like?

Nagisa had spent some time trying to figure that out. When you had a hulking, sulking dragon making sure you were never alone, it was a difficult chore. Not only that, but he had spent the past week training with Marcus, Mori, Moon, and the other Archivists. Here he saw his worth.

He was gifted in the art of war, of combat, it was like breathing to him. Did he need that to survive? He wasn't sure. He had hated it for so long! Seeing it only as a willingness to defend his family, those he cared for along with the entire witch community, Nagisa knew what he wanted to be.

He didn't want to be a hunter. He wanted to protect. To be a keeper of life, not the creator for death. He knew he had death in his hands. He had killed to save others. Was that even right? What gave him the right to take another life, when they were only protecting what they cared for?

Fingers snaped before him eyes. "Hey, wake up!" Akara chuckled.

Nagisa blinked at her. "Aren't you suppose to be at Combat training?" She pointed to the time on her phone.

"Yeah, I suppose." He moved across the floor to set down the bags and packages he had carried in with him. They were cloth, orders, stuff he needed to make for his business.

"Akara?" He whispered the name.

"Yeah?" she called over her shoulder.

"When you look at me, what do you see?" He asked turning to face her.