Her eyelids rose as if travelling upwards from a deliberate blink. She was awake, aware. Her mind was blank, and chest unburdened. Lucid, she sat upwards and scanned the room. She could see that the rays of the morning sun flooded the room with a warm and vibrant light. She shifted her position, sitting upright in the bed.
Placing her hands upon the lining that covered her lap, she began to think. Were they nightmares, or were they dreams? Cyclonis could not make heads or tails of the images that ran through her head as she slept; however, there was one thing that was certain. Her mind was cleared.
No longer did she have to attempt to force down the taunting and scathing voices of torment and ridicule that once plagued her mind. She found that they now seemed to no longer exist. There was nothing inside her mind, save her own thoughts. This new realization caused her to close her eyes with shudder, as she exhaled in relief.
She thought that maybe she could find some sort of peace.
"Ah, Master Cyclonis, you are awake." The old healer said, as she entered the room with a bow.
Cyclonis slowly opened her eyes, refraining from clutching the sheets in anger. Apparently she would have to wait a bit longer to enjoy her newfound peace of mind.
The old healer made her way towards the girl's bedside, sitting down as she began to talk. "You gave us quite a scare, Master Cyclonis. You had quite the fever, so much that your magic began to heat your body from its core. We weren't exactly sure how to go about helping the fever to break. Though, all of that is over now, and by the looks of it…" The older woman reached towards Cyclonis, placing a hand on the girl's forehead and continued to speak, "it's a relief to have you back in a stable condition, master. For a while none of us were sure what was to become of you."
Cyclonis, still not looking at the woman began to speak in an almost somber tone. "There is no need to call me by that title, not anymore."
"Title?" The old healer asked, oblivious to what Cyclonis was referencing.
"Master." Cyclonis whispered, looking down at her lap.
"Master… I see. There seems to have been more to your illness than meets the eye. What would you like to go by?"
Cyclonis turned her head and shot the woman a fierce, powerful look, one filled with a murderous intent. Her purple eyes burned with intensity as she fixated her gaze upon the healer. She would not be patronized, not like some mental case, not anymore.
The old healer simply closed her eyes and smiled. "All there, I see. And still so very… Cyclonis. This is good."
Cyclonis broke her gaze, annoyed with the hag's psychological evaluation games. Those too, were going to be a thing of the past.
The healer stared at Cyclonis for a couple of moments, studying her condition. "Though, there is something different about you, Cyclonis. An air of calmness surrounds you. It's been a while, a long while actually, but I've seen such before. Some individuals, when they undergo battles of duality within themselves, exhibit physical illnesses. Fevers, hallucinations, and other manifestations overtake them."
Cyclonis stopped listening at a certain point, leaning back against the headrest of the bed with her eyes closed and brow downturned. However, she seemed to tune in once again to hear the last few words of the woman's droning.
"Whatever you're feeling now, is important. I do not know what choices or realizations you've made, but I do have advice. And it's good advice, so I'd really appreciate it if you listened," the old woman said with a calm smile as she leaned closer to the former empress.
Cyclonis cocked her eyebrow, not expecting the healer to be so disarmingly cheeky.
"I say this because I know that now, now you process it all. You should accept what the Atmos has become. You are no longer the ruler of Cyclonia. The war is over, and the sky knights won. The world has taken a different path and it may be time for you to join it, and walk upon that path as well."
Cyclonis blew air at this, "And yet, here I am."
"And yet, here you are," the old woman said with no humor in her voice. "How horrible must it be to live as a war prisoner who will be catered to for as long as it takes her to recover, a former dictator who one of the famed Storm Hawks comes to visit day in and day out, without fail. How horrible."
The sarcasm could be cut with a knife.
Cyclonis let out a guttural laugh, and then craned her neck towards the old woman, allowing her hair to drape partially over her face. "You're quite bold, I'll give you that. I should allow you the honor of following in the… explosive destiny of my dear lieutenant, the Dark Ace."
The old healer smiled. "And the fact that you spare me the pleasure, shows tremendous progress on your part."
Cyclonis rolled her eyes as she placed her hand upon the headboard of the bed once more. "The Storm Hawk… Piper… was she… here… during all this, I mean?" Cyclonis asked as casually as she could pass off.
"Oh, yes. An entire night spent holding your hand. If it weren't for the particular circumstances of the situation, and it was a different place and time, I would have to comment on it being one of the cuter things I've seen," the old woman said laughingly.
Cyclonis' eyes rested upon the woman with pure disdain.
Ignoring the girl's displeasure, the healer continued to speak. "Regardless, I do think you should re-evaluate how you treat her. Not many people go back to place their hands in the fire after getting burned."
The side of Cyclonis' mouth inadvertently jerked, and a cold feeling trickled down her shoulders and back. She had forgotten. Remembering, through a teary gaze, she recalled the fact that she did in fact injure Piper, almost grievously so. Her dismay transformed into a smile as she found a strange sense of pride in being able to damage the Storm Hawks' crystal mage even after being dethroned. She turned her head to the side, looking away from the older woman, as to not let her see the smile that had forcefully overtaken her face.
"Thinking about all she's done for you, a thank you may be in order."
Cyclonis' smile disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared. She could only stare at the woman with a blank expression. "Gratitude?" She asked almost as if responding to an unclear joke.
"I'm of the opinion that an apology should accompany the show of gratitude, but baby steps; one foot in front of the other rather than trying to jump over a smoldering caldera all at once," the woman said to Cyclonis.
"And I'm the one locked in a asylum," Cyclonis said, stabbing the healer with her eyes.
"Is what I am saying in any way irrational?" the healer asked.
Cyclonis scowled, "it is af if you expect me to apologize to the person who caused all of this. If you believe that, then I do believe you're the one who deserves to be locked in a cage."
The old woman responded to Cyclonis' bitter anger with a placid expression and stoic voice. "It was just something to consider. Also, the Stormhawk did convince the council to add any amenity that you desire for your room; to a certain extent, of course."
Cyclonis' upper lip curled as she turned away from the healer, sinking back into the bed and raising the sheets over her shoulder. She was done talking about the matter any further.
"Will you be needing anything, Cyclonis?" the old healer asked.
The former empress wore a frown as she considered the question she had just been asked. She responded, "Time alone, water, and in a few hours, someone with ink and a scroll."
"It will be done," the woman said to the girl whose back now faced her. "Consider what I said. The sky knight has a lot of faith in you. It would be a shame for all the time she's invested in you to have been wasted."
With that, the old woman rose and exited the room, leaving Cyclonis to close her eyes and re-enter the dark world from where in which she emerged.
