Gehenna's Gate

Afterlife

The dull throb of a migraine pulsed in Vena's forehead, the girl currently seated but slouched over, her face in her hands.

Everyone was scattered about Kokomi's hospital, most of them lingering in a private waiting room, all eerily silent and reflecting on the events of the night.

"Drink, please." Xiao's gentle voice reached her ears, calmly lulling her from her outrageously loud thoughts as she exhaled a deep, exhausted sigh and raised her head, the light hurting her eyes and making her wince.

With shaky hands, she grasped the cup of water he'd held out to her and brought it to her lips, taking a few greedy sips as he plopped down into the seat beside her.

Despite how badly she didn't want to, it was impossible to keep her eyes from drifting to Kazuha, who was currently seated across the room in a similar position to the one she'd just been in, hair covering his face.

Nobody knew where Jenna had gone. Somehow in the chaos of everything going on, both her and Damon had disappeared. Mona and Scara had brought Maya back to be handed off to Raiden Ei personally, who had a much more secure cell to keep Maya captive in with the help of Arlechinno apparently, so a similar prison break wouldn't be possible in the future. 

Kinich was the first to break the unsettling silence, answering Scara's phone call with a bland response.

"No, she hasn't woken up yet. Kokomi took her for imaging and testing to make sure everything's fine internally." Kinich answered Scara's question bluntly, starburst eyes cast down toward the floor.

A few moments later, the conversation was over, Kinich returning his phone to his pocket with a deep exhale.

"They're on their way back. Shouldn't take them long to get here."

Xiao gave a nod of his head, returning his attention to Vena, one hand gently rubbing circles on her back.

There weren't words to explain the situation currently. Jenna was missing, Damon was on the run, they'd been betrayed and lied to by someone they all had wanted to protect. So many vivid and intense feelings were circulating around this room and the air itself felt heavy. Nobody knew the status of Rae's life at the moment or if she'd recover, and on top of it all, they'd been visited by some complete stranger with a wide range of unknown abilities who clearly had connections to Vena's father, and who knew what any of that would lead to.

In fleeting conversation earlier, the strange man had told her he'd meet her anywhere she wanted if she desired answers, and she'd asked him to meet in the main lobby of the apartment complex Raiden owned at midnight, to which he'd agreed.

Xiao had obviously protested initially, but he would up agreeing considering the location was the safest possible one, and how clearly important finding out answers meant to Vena.

She had no idea how her father and the other man had known each other, but she needed to know, even with everything else going on.

Somehow, she'd kept most of her emotions at bay, stuffing them all down to be dealt with at a later time when she could express them on her own. Breaking down in front of everyone else isn't what anyone needed right now.

Finally, Vena forced her gaze toward Childe, stomach only twisting all over again at the completely broken down and defeated expression on his face, slouched back in the chair he was currently seated in, his face cast upward toward the ceiling, eyes dull and blank.

God only knew what was going on in his head at the moment. Nobody had explained much to him, other than Rae got gravely injured, and that the world wasn't quite what it had seemed, yet he didn't seem to focus much on that part.