Kessie's Short Stories

[KH AU][Daybreak Academy] Hospital Beds

Originally published 7/20/2020

Skuld had only passed out on one other occasion in her life. It was the 2011 Departure County Regional Lux Pageant: Junior Division. It was the last major competition before going to state, so -of course- it was a very big deal. The whole situation could have been avoided if she, or her parents, had been paying enough attention that day. Ultimately, it was ruled that Skuld had been dehydrated and the incident was never brought up again.

But that was when something in Skuld changed. Her parents all but glossing it over and working on the next pageant nearly made her pop a blood vessel. After that incident, Skuld refused to attend any more pageants so long as she had a body to live in. No more lights, no more angry moms when their kid didn't win a crown, no more stage cues from hosts that didn't even pretend to care; none of it. Skuld was done.

When she received her letter of acceptance from Daybreak Academy, Skuld gave her parents an ultimatum: if she went to Daybreak, then she wouldn't attend any more pageants. It had to be one or the other. Of course her parents let her go to Daybreak- having a prestigious school listed as your alma mater looked far better on a resume than how many useless gold crowns you've won. For that, she was thankful her parents had some sort of common sense.

They say, when your brain realizes that it's about to die, your whole life flashes before your eyes. When Skuld could feel her whole body shut down on her, the rest of her life up until then didn't even matter. Back then (and right now) her only thought was 'what if no one finds me?' That thought was infinitely more terrifying when she was in her own private dorm and not about to be shuffled on stage in front of a crowded audience.

Skuld had no idea how long she had been out. Her mind took what seemed to be years before realizing that she was in a hospital room. A slow glance toward the window indicated that it was sometime during the day. Wasn't it after sunset when she passed out? The memories were fuzzy at best, and a good part of it still seemed fragmented as she tried to piece together what had actually happened.

But thinking took up too much brain power that she didn't quite have back yet. What with the 'hard reboot' and all of waking up without intentionally making your body shut down. She didn't even bother to know if her parents were even aware she was in the hospital right now. She had listed Headmaster Ava as her emergency contact for so long, she had memorized that number far better than her own parents'. Skuld let out a soft sigh as she let her body succumb back into a black abyss of nothing. Maybe she'll feel a bit better later on.

Hopefully.

. . .

"I should have known the moment she came to callbacks alone."

Skuld knew the voice but couldn't bring herself to open her eyes to be sure. It took a lot more effort than she had to even give the slightest of peeks. Her glimpse was short, but it confirmed her suspicions. In the hospital room with her was Ms. April. With Ms. April was Headmaster Aced, awkwardly trying to navigate the hospital room with a small vase of get well soon flowers in his hands.

"You never would have guessed too." Aced calmly noted, setting the vase of flowers on the bedside table. "Everything was kept on track, she dropped off notes about what needed attention then she'd send another note saying she found a solution..."

"That's not the point, Aced." Ms. April snapped. "She's still child. There was no reason for her to have such a heavy workload without any of us noticing. I should have noticed. Ava- Ava should have noticed!"

"Ava?" Aced repeated. A quick look of confusion crossing his features. "What does Ava have to do with this? Gula is the Leopardus headmaster."

"That stupid student council she started!" April declared. "Don't tell me you're not aware of it!"