Lumina Academy: Light and Shadow (Realm Series #1)

Chapter 10: Infirmary

Chapter 10: Infirmary 
 
I stayed in my room while I still have no class. I talked to my other guardians and they agreed with the siblings’ suggestion. I will only summon my guardians if it’s necessary. Hindi naman pwedeng ang magkapatid lang ang i-summon ko. Even they are one of the supreme guardians, they can still feel tired and they need rest.
 
Good thing I can summon them all—except for Ajax.
 
“I’m now going. Wait for me, okay?” Paalam ko sa kanila bago lumabas.
 
May mga nakasasabay akong mga estudyante ngunit wala akong panahon upang pansinin sila. Nagmamadali akong nagtungo kung saan ang training room ng mga Betas habang hindi maalis sa isipan ko si Gen. I have no idea on what will be the result is but I am hoping for good news. I wanted her to transfer to my room too so that we both won’t be alone.
 
Nakarating ako kung na saan ang training ng hindi naliligaw and I was about to enter when I heard Gen’s voice. “Lars!” I look where’s Genevieve was and saw her running towards where I am while she is smiling widely.
 
Okay, based on her looks, it is good news.
 
“Lars, pumayag na si Headmaster!” Balita niya ng makalapit siya sa akin at may kasama pa itong pagtalon.
 
I smiled too and I am happy for her. “Good to hear. Tapos ka na bang mag-ayos ng gamit mo?” Tanong ko sa kaniya and she nodded non-stop kaya natawa na naman ako. “Okay. Let’s go inside then,” yaya ko at akmang bubuksan na sana ang pinto ngunit pinigilan niya ako.
 
“Wait!” Nagtataka ko siyang tinignan. “Nakalimutan kong sabihin na kasama pala natin ngayon ang Alphas,” saad niya at maya-maya pa ay mayroon kaming napagtantong bagay.
 
Inside the training room, you can freely use your magic. And while Alphas and Betas are in one training room while they are mad at each other and ready to fight in any minute, they won’t hesitate to clash inside of the training room—unless there’s already a teacher inside. Nanglaki ang mga mata namin nang mapagtanto ang posibleng nangyayari na sa loob ng training room kaya dali-dali itong binuksan ni Gen at napanganga na lamang kaming pareho dahil sa nakikita ngayon.
 
Just like I thought, they are ready to kill each other.
 
Umusbong ang pag-aalala sa dibdib ko, lalo na ng makita kong mayroon ng duguan—mga sugatan at ang ilan pa ay hindi na kayang lumaban. I can see through their eyes that they wanted to kill each other—they are mad at each other. They level of madness is already uncontrollable. Thinking that the both individuals are ready to kill.
 
This is bad…
 
“W-What should we do now…?” Gen is a bit trembling at kaunti na lamang ay bibigay na siya. She’s not scared but worried like me. But I have no answer to her question.
 
I can’t believe what’s happening right now!
 
“You, Alphas deserve to die!” Someone said but his voice sounds different for me.
 
Tinayuan ako ng balahibo ng marinig ko ang boses nito. It was like a demon who’s talking which made me look intently at the Betas. Napatakip na lamang ako ng bibig ng mayroon akong napagtanto at natigilan na lamang ako ng makita ko ang isang lalaking gumagapang palayo kung kanino.
 
When I look at that person—wala na akong ibang nagawa pa at napailing na lamang. The prince of fire… while looking into his piercing blue eyes, I can see that he won’t think twice about killing the man that crawls away from him. A member of Betas was in horror because the prince of fire was after him—ready to beat him up again.
 
Naawa ako sa kalagayan ng lalaki dahil halos maiyak na ito. Nagdudugo ang kaniyang mukha at namamaga din ito. He can’t even walk—ang lala na ng natamo niya mula sa prinsepe ng apoy ngunit ang prinsepe ay tila walang paki-alam sa bagay na ‘yon and he wanted to beat him up more. Gusto kong maiyak dahil sa awa kaya naman ng akmang susugudin na naman ng prinsepe ang lalaki ay pumagitna na ako.
 
Hindi ko gusto ang nakikita ko. Ayaw ko ng ganito…
 
I teleported between the prince and the man while closing my teary eyes. The prince of fire is ready to punch the man again and I was waiting for the pain in any part of my body but I feel nothing but a passing wind only and it hit my face. My fists are firmly closed, so does my eyes while my heart is beating so fast.
 
I can fight, I know how to fight but I will never choose violence just to stop someone who loses control of himself—yes, the prince of fire loses control to himself that’s why he became violent—he became like this. They said that he’s a cold person and no emotion can be seen in his eyes but what I saw earlier is different—he is void of emotion but it’s telling differently and that’s he has already lost his control. He’s seeing nothing but blood—he wants to hurt and kill anyone he sees.
 
But… why can’t I feel anything after I put myself between them?
 
I opened my eyes and saw him stilled—his face was shocked—widened eyes, while his jaw dropped while looking at me. I turn my gaze in his fist that stopped in mid-air—only a few meters away from my face and for the first time, I one of the rarest fire—the purple fire this near. Ngunit unti-unti ‘yong nawawala—his fire was fierce earlier but right now, it was like his fire was tamed until it vanished.
 
“W-What the…”
 
Bumalik ang tingin ko sa kaniya—ang walang emosyon niyang mukha kanina ay gulat na gulat pa rin hanggang ngayon. But while I was staring at his handsome face, a memory suddenly flashed in my mind which made my eyebrows met. But I have no time dealing with that thing right now because there’s more important than that.
 
I look around at mas lalo naman akong nakaramdam ng awa. “Tama na…” mahina kong wika and I almost cry again because of what I am seeing right now. Kawawa ang mga Betas sa kamay ng Alphas dahil kahit ano pa ang gawin nila—pagbabalik-baliktarin man ang mundo ay hindi magbabagong mas nakalalamang ang Alphas sa kanila.
 
I bite my lower lip hanggang sa humaba ito—a sign that I am in the verge of crying. I can feel the prince of fire eyes but I am too affected by what’s happening right now to deal with him. Until I heard him sigh and that’s the reason for me to look at him and saw him still looking at me.
 
“You shouldn’t do that,” he said—sounds strict but I just look at him—almost crying like a child. Kung ‘di ko ginawa ‘yon baka nakapatay ka pa… “I will tell them to stop—” nawala naman ang atensyon ko sa kaniya ng makita kong mayroong pararating na sunod-sunod na energy ball sa direksyon niya.
 
And since he seems don’t feel it, I move faster and went from his behind before hugging him. I even felt him stilled until I felt the pain on my back before I felt my body being weak. I felt the prince moved until I saw him facing me already—nakita ko pa rin ang kaniyang gwapong mukha mula sa nanlalabo at nangdidilim kong paningin.
 
Is he… worried? But why…?
 
He’s telling me something but I can’t hear anything anymore before I cough blood a bit before I lose my consciousness.
 
***
 
Gwendolyn Elizabeth Clifford
 
What happened between Alphas and Betas was surreal. Alphas have no plan on fighting the Betas back but we only found ourselves fighting them. Alphas don’t want to create any fight with them anymore but it was like something controlled us to fight them back.
 
It was insane, yes, but that’s what we felt! Also, the Betas, were like they are not in control of their body! We almost kill each other! I almost kill someone! If I didn’t just control myself—if we didn’t just control ourselves we might already be behind bars! Damn it!
 
But we were terrified when we saw the summoner of the electric cat siblings get shot—no, sinalo niya ang mga ‘yon na para sana kay Aiden and in the end, she was sent to the infirmary—still unconscious in her bed. She’s also with her friend—Ingrid because she was injured too and they were both injured by their co-members.
 
I don’t know what’s gotten to that lady’s mind to save Aiden. She even sacrificed herself but I can’t judge her without knowing her reason. But I am thankful for her—we are thankful for her because she is the reason why Aiden came back to his senses and mind-link us to come in our senses too that’s why the fight stopped but she was still sent to the infirmary.
 
Dalawang araw na ang nakalilipas ng mangyari ang gulong iyon at hanggang ngayon ay wala pa ring malay ang dalawang but the remaining members of Betas who got injured because of us are still in the clinic and some of them are still unconscious but they will survive. Those Betas that are still unconscious are the one injured by Aiden.
 
May kaunting galos lang kaming Alphas at tanging kami lamang ang pinarusahan. We were suspended for two days at hindi lang ‘yon, binigyan pa kami misyon at ‘yon ang linisin ang academy. It was by partner at partner ko si Clara. They gave a place here in academy where we will clean at napunta sa amin ang library. Ang laki no’n pero timulungan naman kami ng staffs ngunit mas marami pa rin kaming ginagawa kaya nakapapagod.
 
Our parents learned about what happened and we don’t know about their reactions. Busy kasi kami sa parusang binigay sa amin kaya hindi nila kami makausap at hindi rin namin sila magawang makausap. But yesterday was our final day of punishment. Dapat nga one week ‘yon but something happened which made the headmaster changed his mind but I can feel that it’s still connected to what happened between Alphas and Betas.
 
And I’m right…
 
Pinatawag kami kanina sa headmaster’s office at inutusan kaming tignan ang kalagayan ng magkaibigan kaya ngayon ay papunta na kami sa infirmary upang tignan ang kalagayan nila. We’re completed which is surprisingly. Aiden hates wasting his time and he’s not fan of this kind of thing—visiting someone in the infirmary. But whatever his reason is, only the deities knows.
 
Habang naglalakad kami ay bigla namang nagsalita si Rielle. “Ako lang ba ‘yong nakararamdam na parang may nangyayari behind our backs?” She said and I nodded at her.
 
I can sense danger that’s why I agreed with her but that feeling is not clear. It was faint and it be a false alarm that’s why I am not telling anyone. But hearing Rielle makes me want to tell them and that’s what I did.
 
“I agree. I can sense something but it was too faint for me to tell it as danger. Too faint that I couldn’t tell you because it might be a false alarm,” I said and I felt their glances.
 
“False or not, you should tell us so we can investigate,” Kaizer said which made my eyes roll at him.
 
“I couldn’t confirm it and besides, we were punished,” I answered back before rolling my eyes at him again.
 
I just heard him tsked while we’re still walking towards the infirmary. But come to think of it, the headmaster asked us to look at the two members of Betas that are the only victim because of our kalokohan which is very suspicious. But whatever it is, I know that Alphas will start our investigation here even without a word coming from them.
 
When we reached the infirmary, nurse Mara greeted us as she knows that we will visit someone here. “Hello, Alphas!” Bati niya sabay ngiti sa amin ng matamis.
 
“Hello, nurse Mara!” Bati rin namin pabalik at hindi ko naman mapigilan ang sarili kong ngumiti ng malawak.
 
“We’re here to look for the two members of Betas—Taylor and Ford,” Kuya Logan said seriously which is normal.
 
Nurse Mara nodded. “Yes, I know and I was the one who asked headmaster about your presence here,” she said and we all frowned—except Aiden who’s looking for somewhere.
 
“Why?” Arielle asked while still frowning.
 
Nurse Mara sigh before leading us to where the two victims were, I think? “Their life almost put in danger if they are not just powerful enough to fight it. Especially, Ms. Ford who’s still in critical condition,” hearing what nurse Mara said made us stop from walking and look at her widened eyes.
 
What we heard from her makes us convinced that this matter is serious. “Is this matter really that serious?” I can’t help but utter and nurse Mara nodded.
 
“Ms. Ford’s guardians are too furious—especially, Lord Zephyr but his sister was there when he was about to make a scene. Lady Serafina requested us not to let any visitors see Ms. Ford right now, even Ms. Taylor,” I bite my lower lip when I heard that and I couldn’t help but feel sorry for them. I am blaming myself here! “But don’t blame yourself, Alphas. That’s why you are here—to know what kind of power that hit Ms. Taylor and Ms. Ford that could be a hint for something…” she continued and we nodded before we continue walking.
 
She headed to her office and get the folders on her desk before handing them to us. “Ms. Taylor was hit by poison daggers. It almost reached her heart that could kill her in an instant,” nurse Mara said and me, Rielle, and Clara gasp.
 
“Ricimus plant…” I heard Jacob said and the three of us stilled.
 
Nurse Mara nodded. “Yes, the plant that only lives in dark places. But there are no more ricimus plant here and it can only be found in dark realm,” she sigh habang hindi pa rin puma-pasok sa isipan ko ang mga naririnig ko. “The antidote for that plant is hard to find but luckily, there’s one left. However, having an antidote doesn’t the person who was poisoned by that plan is already saved… it’s still up to the patient’s body if the antidote will be affected but in Ms. Taylor’s case, she was saved…” nakahinga na lamang kami ng maluwang dahil sa narinig.
 
Damn… what’s just happening?!
 
“But… how is she n-now?” It was Clara and when I look at her, she’s a teary eye.
 
My face softened before reaching for her and caressing her shoulder because any minute she will break down. I know the back of their story that’s why I can understand why she’s like this. If we are worried about Ms. Taylor’s condition because we know what kind of poison ricimus plant is, it is double for Clara.
 
“She’s now stable, Ms. White but still unconscious, so does Ms. Ford. They are still weak and it will take time to bring their strength back but we have nothing to worry about anymore,” what nurse Mara said made her feel relief—so does we.
 
“Black magic…” nabaling naman ang paningin namin kay Aiden ng magsalita ito.
 
I saw him looking in one folder and his face was dark—clearly not liking what he’s seeing in that folder. But… black magic? It’s also known as forbidden magic because using that kind of magic will make someone turn into a monster. Black magic is powerful but dangerous and only rebellions are using that magic.
 
“Yes, Mr. Smith. That’s the one that hit Ms. Ford and it almost spread in her whole body—putting her in a critical condition. But unlike Ms. Taylor’s condition, we’re still monitoring her because until now, we haven’t removed completely the black magic in her body,” napatakip na lamang ako ng aking bibig bago napailing-iling.
 
Hearing those words coming from nurse Mara make me think that this is an inside job which is possible since the whole academy has a barrier—preventing bad ones to enter. It was a powerful barrier—right? Because if it’s really powerful then why this is happening now?!
 
“It was supposed to him me…” Aiden whispered and we fell in silence before nurse Mara interjected.
 
“We run some test and we found that the black magic that hit Ms. Ford that supposedly for you, Mr. Smith, was kind of magic where you won’t be able to control your body but someone else. You will be going to be someone’s puppet and while doing some investigation, we learn that someone wants to control you, Mr. Smith. But since it was Ms. Ford who was hit, they were failed but in return, Ms. Ford was struggling to fight the black magic in her body and if she wasn’t just powerful enough, she could be dead by now…”
 
***