Tales of Aria | Piercing Lightning

XIV: I had up to Four!

Dining room.
The next morning...

The holders were lined up at the table. Sipping tea with sandwiches on the table, they realised that Mavin, Lyria, and Vernio were absent, and that none of them dared to talk about anything with their gloomy mood from yesterday's failure. Eyes lowered, Miko took a big bite of Harriot's hand-made sandwich in a melancholic manner. Her eyes shot up starred, she hummed happily while she continued munching the sandwich.

"Ah! This sandwich is yummy!"

Yet almost no one responded. A smirk, silent chuckle, but not a breath of word. It would seem that it would take a while for all of them to recover.

As her eyes started to lower again, Lilia gave her a pat on the back, a gentle smile. She replied with a smile of her own while tilting her head. Ray was surely relieved, hinted by a smile that Lilia caught. It would be a problem indeed if the band's cheerleader got disheartened, while Stein and Eric seemed fine with her not bawling her eyes out.

"Has Lyria woken up yet, Miko?" Asked Ray.

"Mmm... noh, he' hil hleepinh."
"What..."
"S..she still sleeping!" She gulped. "Surely I would've woke her up, but she said that she's feeling unwell sooo..."
"I guess so..." Lilia joined. "Besides, it would be wise to let her rest for some day after all she had done at the operation..."
"Well alright then..." Sighed the boy. "Sorry, you know how worried I can be."

"So how about Mavin, Lilia?" He continued.
"She's currently writing the operation report so she won't be joining us now." She explained. "But don't worry, she said she had eaten something to keep her up."

"Glad to hear about that." Stein tagged. "How about old man Vern?"
"He... doesn't want to come out of his room..." Harriot responded, staring heavily at the cup of coffee he made himself. "Jona and him were friends even before the war, that's why he entrusted Orcal on him."
"It must've been a hard hit for him to hear about Jona's death." He continued. "It's hard for all of us, really."

And with the mission failed, the others couldn't agree more. Jona would've contributed as a far more superior holder compared to the inexperienced, newly-teamed holders. They could've learned a lot from the thrill-seeker, but not even seeing his full potential unleashed just devastated them, more so to the people close to him.

Soon enough, the silent breakfast continued, yet not for a long while, as the dining room doors were opened. Everyone turned to look, and was pleased with seeing Lyria.
"Lyriaaa!" Miko quickly got up and trotted to her side. "Good morning!"
"Morning, Lyria." Ray joined in, finally showing his relieved smile. "Although, it's okay if you want to rest more..."

"M..Miko... Ray..."

Something was not right.

The others eyed Lyria in disquietude as the young girl limped her way to the table, wheezing and breathing heavily.

"Lyria...?" Sensing an anomaly, Ray immediately stood up and paced towards the girl. "Are you okay?"
"I... hard to breathe... chest hurting..." She coughed. "Eyes... blurry..."

She collapsed, unconscious.

"Lyria!"

...

One hour later...

"Nnnggh... I... fainted?"

Eyes blurry, Lyria woke up. She was lying down on a bed she didn't recognise, with her usual pyjamas still on under the light grey blanket.
Looking around, she faintly started to get an idea of where she was; clean, sterile all-white room. A combination of three numbers written on an extremely comfortable bed with curtains hanging above it, surrounding her. A table beside her with a flowerpot. A wide window that let sunshine in, reflecting her dawnbreak hairpin.