Wounded Mind, Wounded Body [CLOSED]

Just the night before, a fierce blizzard had raged across Rosebury, forcing any residents to the safety of their homes. About twenty or so minutes before the storm, two students--Lamia and Katsuo--had met up just outside the town after not seeing each other for months. The snow had been falling gently, gradually getting worse as they retreated to the cafe to warm up under the building's heating system. Moments later, Lamia had gotten upset and fled the building just as the blizzard was arriving, and Katsuo ran after her. As the two exchanged harsh words and were reminded of terrible memories, Aiko, a third student and Katsuo's sister, was sheltering in Rosebury's small grocery store. Unable to get up with her brother over several attempts of calling and texting, she soon after figured out that Katsuo was out in the middle of the blizzard, unmoving. After alerting the store's cashier of the situation, she raced out to confront her brother, who was alone and unwilling to move. As she tried to coax him out of the merciless terror of the snowstorm, Lamia's gift of life-theft had activated, and hit Katsuo, painfully tearing his life-time away from him slowly. He fell unconscious, and Aiko was left to confront Lamia, who lay not too far off in the snow, unable to move nor stop her power from ripping the life energy from Katsuo. Aiko attacked her with knives as well as her own gift of shadow manipulation, causing Lamia's gift to finally shut off as intense pain and bloodloss left her unconscious. Having little experience with her gift and overfueled by anger, the fatigue finally got to Aiko, and she was the third and final of the three students to fall unconscious in the peak of the blizzard. Fortunately, they were soon rescued and brought to the infirmary by a group of other students and staff, having been notified by the cashier from the store.

The three lay unconscious in the infirmary, all having been in critical condition. One severely wounded, one exhausted of energy to an extreme point, one with little time left to live, and all three frostbitten in various places. However, hours later...

- - -

The Infirmary
3:30 P.M.

A blonde girl lay in a white, clean bed, her long hair laying casually at her shoulders, her brown eyes closed as she breathed softly in her sleep. She dreamed of how weeks before, she had been home with her brother, with her parents, happily playing a board game. Her rabbit, Kaoru, snuggling comfortably in her lap, snoozing the day away.
But dreams were only in your imagination. She dreamed of the past. The truth of the present was far more unforgiving.

Opening her mouth in a quiet, contented yawn, Aiko reached up and rubbed her eyes. She blinked, slowly adjusting to the light, to the view of the room around her. This wasn't her bedroom at home...It wasn't even her dorm room, either. Eyes widening in surprise, she tried a bit too quickly to sit up, her head dizzying to the point that she had to lie back down. So instead she stared, confused, at the ceiling. She realized now that she was in the infirmary. But why? She had a headache, and her body felt more tired than ever, unwilling to lift a finger. Perhaps she and Katsuo had been out training, and she had messed up again...No, she didn't think she could ever do something so bad as to feel this drained. Thinking about it too much made the pounding in her head worsen, and she decided that perhaps she would remember soon once she had regained some energy.

The Summer was about to try to sleep again, when she heard a door open, and someone walked into the room.

Ooc: We could explain what's going on in each room as the staff/students come in to check on them. For example, Aiko just woke up. I'll do Katsuo's thing after Echo posts as Lamia~

Swords clashed together, the screeching sound of metal touching metal clear as it hissed with each strike. One young girl stood, cautious to approach the other darkened figure. Charging in warily, she set the first blow, retaliated by a simple guard. Backing off slightly, jumping back to avoid an attack, the shadow then spoke, "I see we have a similar combat style. We really are twins, aren't we? Yet..." The figure then ran up to her unexpectedly, slashing in every possible direction as she feebly tried to block anything the figure threw at her. Her defenses were breaking and her legs were shaking terribly as sparks flew from each impact. Her determined look started to wear down as she heard the figure's next words: "I was the one who got all the strength!"

Leaping into the air to evade the next series of strikes, the petite girl tried to get an advantage within aerial grounds, but her delicate attacks were easily brushed off as the figure threw her to the ground. Her body landed with a thud and she felt absolutely crushed as a foot was placed aggressively on her back, her hands trying to push her up only to lose their own balance. "Do you actually think you'll get through life like this? Don't make me laugh, Lamia!" Shifting herself up, she quickly used the opportunity to get out of there before swinging another blow that was just as easily avoided as the rest. "It is cruel. Unbearably cruel. And people are weak... Weak enough to ruin us all."

As soon as the figure stopped speaking, he quickly jumped to the side and swiftly began another series of blows, putting Lamia to get a grip and block herself from anything that would be too fatal.  However, she was caught off-guard once again when a kick hit her cheek, driving her back to the concrete floor. "Be gone!" And she couldn't tell how it happened so quickly, yet she soon felt the final pattern of swords come towards her as she was launched into the air, a large gash right through her from waist to shoulders. Weakly able to stand, she scarcely caught the blade sent at her between her own swords as she heard the other figure speak up once again, "You alone must make the decision. Everything rides on your one choice. Not just your own life... But the fate of the world's as well."

As she felt her body falling back to the ground, the other figure dashed at her as it continued speaking, "Do you have what it takes to make it? To choose? To go through life?" A number of slashes were through and her body was launched upward as her swords were taken away from her fragile grips. The other figure seemed to dance around her in mockery, blood dripping from her mouth with her opponent unscathed. "Answer me, Lamia Tempo!" And a final blast was shot in the shape of a cross and she couldn't help but let out an agonizing cry.

Her eyes flashed open, sweat embedding her forehead with delicate beads, and she was in absolute shock as she sat up. Holding her hand out in front of her, her golden eyes blinked as she tried to remember what had happened. Was that dream... real? She could still feel the slashes where she was struck, but there wasn't any blood that dripped down. Bringing her hand to her mouth, Lamia realized she couldn't touch her lips. Short huffs of air filled her lungs and began to slow down with slight relief. As she looked to the side, she realized that she was in the infirmary... But why?

A plastic piece was stuck there over her mouth and the beeping of a monitor suddenly sounded beside her. Where was she? Pinching the bridge of her eyes, she couldn't recall what had happened. Bandages were wound around her and she wasn't in a place she could completely recognize. Her hands were shaking as she fumbled with the white sheets around her... Removing the mask, she crawled out of the bed, staggering with each step before falling to her knees.

It was okay... That was just a nightmare... Putting a hand over her heart, she was trying to reassure herself one thing - that the torture she had just felt wasn't real. That she had simply been sleeping in for the past few days and her dormmates thought she had a fever, so sent her to the infirmary... She hadn't seen anyone in a long time. Everything would be fine. It was just a terrible nightmare... a nightmare.

Her eyes widened in shock as her mouth gaped open, recognizing the words all of a sudden. She had said them just recently to herself... Her body was trembling and she slowly brought her hands toward her side, clutching herself as reality began to dawn on her. I-i... just... killed everyone. She felt so tired, yet her energy felt so drained and any sudden movements brought an abrupt pain to her sides.

Looking up at the clock, she saw the flashing red numbers transition from 3:34 PM to 3:35 PM. What was the date...?

"I-I'm a m-mess... H-huh, Kearn?"

Reflecting on her nightmare and reality, she didn't want anything to get worse... Her brother wasn't planning to kill her... Right?

Seeing as the the girls were both still in such seemingly fragile states, once news hit that they were finally starting to awaken, it had been decided that only one person was needed to speak to them at one time; and the decisions were most easily made of who they would be - for more reasons than one.

__

"Kearn?" The voice of a man called as he stepped inside of Lamia's room, his golden gaze sweeping over the room and to the bedside. "Someone you know?" He guessed, shutting the door behind him. Had Miss Tempo even noticed him enter in the first place, he wondered, shoving his hands into the jacket of his pocket and stepping across the room.
He glanced from her, to the window, and back again. The blizzard had passed over the school and settled down greatly, but it left a thick blanket of pure white snow over the entire school, frosting the class and making it almost impossible to see outside. At least it was still warm within the rooms of the school.
The headmaster let out a silent sigh, wondering what could've possibly happened out there that could've led to something like this. "You're terrified." He mused, the observation as plain as if he'd said that it looked cold outside. "Are you alright?"

__

Meanwhile, on the other end of the infirmary hallway, a different teacher had entered Aiko's room. Unlike the headmaster, her stance was far more rigid, eyes narrowed, and a small wrapped cloth held in her hands. It was almost funny to her, she thought, how completely innocent this girl looked, then she supposed it was completely foolish of her to try and judge a book by it's cover. It'd be really interesting the story this one would have to tell. "Rise and shine." The Gifts teacher called, shutting the door firmly behind her. "I trust you slept well, Miss Haruki. we have much to talk about."

Aiko sat back upright, slowly blinking at the woman who had entered. "We do...?" She echoed in a tired tone, lifting her hands up to rub her eyes. For the brief moment that her eyes were shut as she rubbed them, an image flashed in her mind. Her dear brother, lying on his stomach in the snow, still in the roaring blizzard. She gasped and stared wide-eyed at the staff member before her, suddenly terrified that her brother was somehow involved in whatever terrible incident had happened.

"Excuse me, but where's my brother? Katsuo Haruki? Is he alright?" She said, obviously trying to force a calmer tone despite the increasing beat of her heart. More images, ore flashes of blood in the snow, her brother sobbing, her vision darkening until there was nothing. The Summer was shivering now, fearing that she had done something horribly wrong. "What happened?"

______________________________________________________________________________________________

The boy, the third and last to awaken, though not fully. First to fall into the unconscious mind, and last to rise from the slumber. How long had he been sleeping. He quickly noticed that several things were wrong: He couldn't think straight, his head throbbed, and he couldn't feel anything. He couldn't move. All he could do was open his eyes, the pupils shaking, the usual honey-brown now a dull, slightly blurred mixture of browns. Was there an earthquake? The ceiling above him seemed to move and morph slightly, like when you stare at a white wall for too long. His vision was unsteady, though it was true that he had just awoken from a long sleep.

Katsuo slowly recalled his memories of the events that had happened the night before. His heart beat was slow and shallow, as if it would give up and stop altogether at any moment. He was too exhausted, too dizzy to be afraid, however. Where was Lamia? Aiko? Anyone? His mind paused at one memory briefly, the sight of a sphere of energy, hurtling straight through him, followed by a terrible pain that had him screaming. The same thing had nearly happened to his sister, but he managed to summon what strength he had left to block the sphere directed at her, in hopes that she and Lamia would stay strong a while longer. He had been so intent on giving them time, no matter what, wanting them to live as long as they could. He hadn't realized just how much time had been sucked away from his own life.

His ribs and cheek bones stuck out slightly, not from hunger, but from the skin starting to droop some, his body very slowly beginning to collapse and die. But, at the moment, he was reminded that he didn't care that much. What conclusion the blizzard event had come to, he wanted to know, however. He wanted to make sure the others were okay, even if one of them now hated him. Perhaps both...He had sputtered out some pretty pathetic things out there that left a look of horror on his sister's face and made Lamia flee completely, and then suffer in the storm. Well...Shit. Maybe they wouldn't notice if he just died right here in this bed. They could moveo n with their lives, and he'd be okay because he wouldn't bother them anymore. The thought almost made him smile, though unfortunately he still couldn't move literally anything other than his eyelids.

Her eyes were wandering from the bare palms of her hands, contemplating on whether she had actually done that terrible deed. Was it something that truly happened? She could barely tell what was a dream and what was reality - the faint line within it shook terribly. Lamia had stayed silent, almost in a trance-like state until she heard a voice speak up. Shaking a bit from surprise, considering that she didn't even hear the door open, the Winter student let out a small squeak. Turning around, her golden eyes scanned the room. She couldn't find the source of that voice until...

... Turns out it was the headmaster himself that had decided to visit her. Bringing her hands to her back as the bangs above her eyes covered them, shadowing over her vision, cursing under her breath. She was getting expelled... or worse. Barely bringing up any confidence that she could find, her voice trembled and her throat strained to even produce a sound, "K-kearn is m-my brother... H-he l-left the school after o-our p-parents..." Her sentence broke off as a single trickle of a tear fell. Why was she crying? Something bad had truly happened... Why did she always cause trouble for everyone else?

"I-i'm... f-fine. Th-the other two a-are in a-a worse shape than I-i am..." Lamia debated on visiting Katsuo. She really did. But... she would probably kill him more than she already had if he wasn't already dead already. Her mouth kept quiet and an ominous silence seemed to break until a bleak laugh sounded from the walls. "I-I'm an idiot..."

OOC;; Rushing through these. >->