A/N: I hope you're ready for some bonafide angst! *strikes a pose*
Needless to say, the entire temple was shaken by the loss of Master Rojas. Even those adepts and acolytes who hadn't previously known her or were well acquainted with her were devastated at her passing. Takahashi blamed himself, he should have told the other masters where he went; Master Ezra was silent as a stone as she isolated herself from the others, crying softy that it should have been her to die, and it should have been Rojas to live.
Chavez, it understandably seemed, was the one most upset. All he had to remember his former teacher and mentor to remember her by was her brooch, a bright ruby crystal with a metallic dragon claw perched atop it. Ezra had given it to him before she'd went off into mourning, and he'd spent the better half of the evening staring at it, glaring into it, thinking about every single thing Rojas had told him and everything he'd learned from her.
A gentle tap in the form of Master Tiera's hand came to his shoulder. He looked up, and saw her master's equally melancholy gaze meet his. She took a deep breath, and wiping her yes, said "It's time to go. You have a family to get back to." He could tell by her tone that she was just about as uncomfortable as he was to be interrupting him in this time, but she was right. The day had gone by so fast, he'd forgotten all about spring break, and he got up and nodded to her, as they both slowly walked over to the way lines.
Sitting at the library's table, as they usually did, were Nadia, Aaron and Kimora. But, unlike their usual hangouts, they were all dead silent. They all knew how much this had affected Hector, as well as the two Nature masters, and all they felt sick to their stomachs thinking about it.
"I could've come with you," Aaron said, quietly. "I should've come with you, I could have gotten to them too, and I'd helped them get out and I…" His voice trailed off as he sighed deeply, and sniffled, resting his head on the table. Nadia reassuringly patted him on the back, wordlessly telling him that it wasn't his fault that this happened, but even she could barely keep it together.
Kimora, on the other hand, had apparently cried out all of his sadness hours ago, and was silently thinking to himself. He smacked his hand on the table, gaining both of their attentions, and loudly said "I'm not going to sit here and feel sorry about myself! Don't you see that this isn't about us? Hector needs us!"
"What- what are you talking about?" Nadia asked, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her thick wool coat. "What do you mean?"
His voice wavered and cracked, showing that he was still extremely upset, though not in the way everyone else was showing it. "H- He's just lost his only teacher! Probably the only one he knew Kaijudo from. I know that we can't exactly bring her back, but I think… I think there's at least something we can do to help."
Hector arrived home to both of his parents offering their condolences over the loss of his teacher. Even with one of his favorite meals, and watching one of his favorite shows, he couldn't quite shake away the awful feeling inside of him. He went upstairs to his room, threw his backpack on the bed, and then laid down on the bed himself, looking up at the ceiling and sighing deeply. It was then he noticed something gleaming out the corner of his eye, poking out of his backpack ever so slightly.
Pulling it out, he realized it was The First Gauntlet, which had somehow managed to make it into his pack (and even more puzzling, through the airport's metal detectors) unnoticed. But, confusion wasn't the emotion that this object mostly held for him.
Oh no, it was probably the most innate burning rage he'd ever felt in his young life. What kind of useless, all-powerful weapon was this if he couldn't have used it to save Master Rojas? He threw it at the wall as hard as he could, where ricocheted off, and tumbled underneath a dresser with a loud metallic clanking. And with that, Hector curled up into a ball and fell asleep crying.
At around two in the morning, he was awoken by a peculiar ringing in his head, like someone had been calling his name and he'd just now heard it. And, apparently that was that case, for as soon as he lifted his head off the pillow, he heard the voice nearly screech in his head again.
{Hector!}
"Rusalka?" He whispered sleepily. He wondered what Nadia's creature was doing talking to him, and what it was doing talking to him so late. But, he deemed it best to get it over with, sighed, and put on his normal gauntlet. As quiet as he could, he summoned the Trench Hunter, and as surprised when he saw her carrying a satchel around her neck, protected in a water-proof bubble.
Inside the satchel were letters, notes, sweets, and other things that had been gifted or written by the acolytes and masters, as well as his three friends. Most of them were written as happy reminders and cute friendly greetings attempting to cheer him up, but there were also a few more serious ones that were heartfelt and solemn towards what had happened. But the one that caught his eye was a very long, very rambling letter written by Kimora and Nadia simultaneously. It mostly was written with little messages to cheer him up, asking when or if he'd come back, and general positivism.
On the back, which was the only real place that it would fit, was the final sentence that read: "P.S. could you maybe write back?" Hector smiled at it, feeling a bit better than before. Walking over to his desk, and illuminating a small area with his gauntlet, he wrote a very fast thank you note, as well as a reassurance that he'd send back his own letters soon. Though things had gone south in only one day, it was still a beacon of hope that he still had his friends to care about him.