Banquet of the Count

Chapter 2: The Fifth

'Players of the 12 p.m. Duo Hunters match,' The speaker announced loudly as soon as Eli and the rest in his match stepped down from the platform. 'Please proceed to the Lobby in 5 minutes. Players who miss this slot shall be placed into the 1 p.m. slot, and the absence of any shan't be replaced by anyone unless they're volunteers.'

The Survivors' side of the Manor was in chaos, Eli thought. Kreacher thrashed a flashlight towards the wall as he stormed off for his match. Emily rushed to the ER to get ready for healing. Tracy nearly tripped herself as she and William went to catch their next match. It was like the rush hour at a shopping complex outside of their timeline, only that everyone wasn't rushing for the goods, but the matches and preparations.

'I don't know if I'd be able to sleep tonight,' Eli heard Naib talking to Aesop. 'The 7 p.m. Eversleeping Town game is bound to give me lots to think about.'

Aesop simply nodded his head, but when he spotted Eli, he nearly shouted.

'Hey! Eli!' The Embalmer called. 'What's with that wound-'

'Semi Hunter form lost control. End of story.'

Eli rushed off to the ER before Naib and Aesop could question more on this darned scar. The scar he had to give himself in order to stop just one small wave of chaos.

'Fiona?' Eli called as he stepped into the ER. He tried his best not to notice Jose and Demi, of which the duo had been severely injured in a match against Yidhra and her five followers in Eversleeping Town.

'I hope I'll be able to recover by tonight,' Eli heard Demi sigh as he quickly rushed through the room. He soon found Fiona looking through a ton of paper files.

'Ah, Eli,' Fiona greeted the Seer and told him to sit down, placing the files in her lap. 'The scar of yours?'

'Semi Hunter form. More severe than last week's. I had claws for fingers, unlike the last time...... An abnormal transformation, really.'

'Hold on,' Fiona informed Eli as she took some special bottles out of the drawer and gave one to Eli. 'Drink this. I'll do the ritual that would speed up the healing process.'

Eli drunk down the potion and nearly vomited it out. 'Yikes.' He spluttered. 'Horrid.'

'It's for the best, as you know,' Fiona sighed as she rapidly yet precisely wrapped the side of Eli's wounded face with special, fresh herbs, and she began to chant.

After a long while of chanting, Fiona removed the herbs, the plants seeming to wither away at her touch. Eli felt the area of his face where he had wounded himself. No pain at all.

'The scar would take about a few days to fade away,' Fiona quickly explained as she tossed another potion to Eli and started to sort out the files in hand. 'I think you should rest for a while, Eli. Hastur informed me that you had half-transformed. That must have been horrid and painful. This potion would wipe out most of the dark magic that's managed to enter your body during the transformation.'

Eli sighed. 'The transformation was indeed painful,' He began. 'But I have a match at twilight. Don't want to miss that. How're the cases of the wounded?'

'Demi should be ready to be discharged by nightfall, though Jose would require a longer recovery due to his fall from the building. I'd say that he'll be more or less healed by eleven tonight,' Fiona answered quickly. 'But Joseph was reported to be injured when he accidentally tripped and landed against the metal bridge of the Moonlit River Park at full force this morning. Jack and the other Survivors were moved to the 6 a.m. slot- Are your wings okay?'

Eli was taken aback. He tried to feel his back with his hand. No wings.

'What do you mean?' He asked.