8. An Awakening

"…Arganan?"

"…you…"

"up…wake up…"

Arganan's good eye shot open. Everything blurred in his sight, and the pain in his head seat in as he groaned, letting himself lay flat on the bed he felt underneath his sore body. Someone spoke to him, but it came out distorted and slurred to him, and it wasn't helping his head right now.

"Hurts," He croaked, but he couldn't get much words out of his throat. Strong hands carefully maneuvered him so he could sit up in bed, and his vision started clearing.

"Drink this." Jones' voice came out clearly this time, and he felt a cup being put towards his lips. Arganan let the substance in it drip down his throat, wincing at its bitter taste, but then his vision cleared entirely, the pain in his head lessening a little. Blinking a few times as he reached with his right arm to wipe his mouth, he noticed bandages over his right arm, as well as the stiffness of bandages wrapped around his shoulder and torso…

"Where…" He looked down at himself, realizing how bandaged up he was, and then looked up at Jones. He noticed Frey and Nancy also present, as well as Illuminata, Forte, Doug and Volkanon standing nearby. "Am I in the clinic?"

"Yes." Jones answered. He frowned, shaking his head. "Doug told me and Nancy about where you went. By the time we let Volkanon know and we reached the forest entrance, Frey and Forte were dragging you and the girl out."

Arganan stared at him, and then towards the green-haired girl in a hospital bed opposite him. "The girl…?"

Frey offered a sheepish smile. "She used to be the butterfly we fought, but then she turned into what she looks like now, after we defeated her. She was mostly unconscious, so we brought her back with us."

He tried to examine her. She looked like she was breathing, from what he could tell from this distance. "Is she awake?"

"No. Still asleep. She's a bit debilitated, but it's nothing critical. She should wake up soon." Nancy answered softly, a sigh escaping her, and Arganan's gaze turned towards her, only to see a firmness settled into her gaze. "We were very worried about you. We told you to not head outside town."

"I thought I'd be okay if Forte came with me." Arganan muttered, lowering his gaze from hers. "I was worried about Frey after what Doug told me, about her going out…"

A sigh escaped Jones. "Just be more careful next time, alright? You'll need to stay in bedrest for the next twenty-four hours, just in case you have any other complications. Your metal leg got broken internally in the fight, so Bado is repairing it right now."

He looked down to see that there was, indeed, the lack of a lower left leg underneath the blanket. Great. "How long will the repairs take?"

"Probably until the end of the week. It's a lot more than what happened with your arm."

Arganan grimaced at that. He wasn't sure what Illuminata was going to say about it, but he supposed he'd have to tell her later about it if Jones and Nancy hadn't yet. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes." Nancy and Jones exchanged glances with each other, then she looked towards Arganan. "Next time you go outside the town like that…you can always ask if you can take some Healing Potions. That will be handy."

"Ah. Right." He wanted to just slap himself for not doing that. "Will remember next time."

"Good." Nancy beamed at him, before Frey cleared her throat.

"Hey, Nancy? Jones? Can I speak to Arganan in private, please?"

"Of course." Jones answered, looking towards her. "But he should rest soon, alright?"

Frey nodded, beamed back at them. "Don't worry, it'll be short!"

"Good. Call us if you need anything!" Nancy and Jones both checked over the young unconscious girl in the hospital bed opposite him one more time, before the two went to speak with Forte, Illuminata and Volkanon in low voices. Doug slipped out of the clinic, citing that he probably should go let Blossom know that he was fine and that he needed to get some sleep. Frey made sure to push the screen so that she and Arganan were obscured from the others' views while they talked. It wasn't much for privacy, and Arganan supposed he could've asked if he could go upstairs to his room, but he figured he could just rest down here tonight. It wasn't like the girl in the bed opposite him would wake up too soon, anyway.

"What is it that you wanted to tell me?" The former Count kept his voice low.

Frey paused, taking a deep breath before speaking. "While you were asleep, I went to go tell Venti about everything that happened back there. She told me that the power of the Earthmates is responsible for what happened with," She gestured towards the direction where the unknown girl was resting, "Her."

Arganan's gaze flickered towards the girl, and then to Frey. "Earthmates…? I've never heard of those before."

"I heard the name from Venti a few times, but I only found out what it meant now." Frey frowned, bit her lip briefly. "It's a name given to people with a very rare talent. It's also the reason why Venti thought I'd be part of the royal family."

"Is it normally just nobility that are Earthmates?" New questions sprung up in his mind. "And does that mean it had to be you to beat her, to turn her back? Because you're an Earthmate?"

"Whoa, slow down!" Frey looked towards the screen, then to him. "I haven't found out a lot about what Earthmates do yet, but I do plan on asking Venti sometime soon. I assume it has to do something with how well I'm farming, given how she mentioned that in relation to being an Earthmate previously, but I think there's more."

"You should really ask her." He swallowed as best as he could, realizing how hoarse he sounded. "I think she does know more than she's letting on about you, and if it's in relation to the girl we found, then…"

"I know." Frey pushed a few bangs out of the way of her eyes. "I really should. I hadn't thought much of it when I first came here, because I was getting used to being Princess. But you're right…I should ask."

"Probably tomorrow." He added. "You should sleep."

Frey smiled. "I think we could all use some sleep, not just me."

"Fair." A soft chuckle escaped him, and he looked towards the girl. She seemed so young and so small. In a way, she reminded him of Calista despite the two not looking alike. "Maybe once our mystery girl wakes up, we'll find out more."

"Let's just see how she's feeling first." Frey managed. "We can work from there."

"Sounds good."

Frey soon left him to rest after telling him goodnight, and Illuminata came over, sitting down on the stool beside his bed. Her usually neat red braid was a bit haphazardly tied, and Arganan wondered if she ran here all the way from her shop, to get to him. What time was it, anyway? How long had he been out?

"Hey." She managed. Her voice was soft, and her gaze looked almost sad, or at least had some worry in them. Had she been worried about him? They'd only met, what, a couple days ago? Almost a week?

"Morning." He managed. "Or evening."

"Evening, actually. It's practically past midnight, but I had to go see if you were okay." The detective chuckled a bit as she looked towards his lack of lower left leg. "Jones let me know about what happened. I don't know how soon you can get back to work, but when you do, and if you still don't have your lower left leg back by then, maybe you take over the cash register until you get it back? That sound good?"

"Yes." He nodded. "Sounds good." At least he wasn't fired for reckless behaviour. "Thank you."

"I'm just glad you're still alive, honestly. Just focus on recovering." She looked towards the direction of the girl in the bed, and then towards him, a soft "Hmm" leaving her. There was a glint of something in her eyes—he recognized it as the same curiosity she had about him, when they first met. "You know, I think I might let her stay at my place after she wakes up. Whenever that is, anyway."

Arganan looked towards the sleeping girl, and then to Illuminata. "You have room, I hope?" How many people conveniently had a space for newcomers to stay? Then again, he did notice a lot of the shops in Selphia had a second floor for them; presumably for the townsfolk running said shops to sleep upstairs. Maybe the upstairs had more room than he thought.

"Yeah. I got a spare room above the shop, so she could sleep there. Besides," A curious flash appeared in her eyes, "How could I let an interesting girl like her go? I've never met a person who previously was a monster, before!"

"An interesting...oh, wait." It all made sense now. "Monsters turning into humans. I suppose that might pique your interest."

"Definitely so!" Illuminata beamed at him, before standing. "I should probably head back home and get some sleep, but I'll see you and her tomorrow morning! Get some rest, 'kay?"

Arganan offered her a soft grin. "Will do. Thank you, Illuminata."

"No problem. Night!"

"Goodnight."

Illuminata left, and Arganan sighed, closing his good eye and letting himself relax into the bed underneath him. He opened it again, looking towards the girl in the hospital bed, but then closed it. Would she be okay? Would she wake up, soon?

And who was she, anyway?

It took him a while to fall back asleep, with all the questions in his mind. How would Calista react if she found out about monsters turning into humans? Was this something he had to keep secret? Who knows?

All he could do at this point was wait and see what happened next.