3 Hours Later

“Looks like she’ll be fine.”

“Really…?” Liask questioned warily. “But there was so much blood…”

“I said she’ll be fine, not that she is fine,” Selind countered, only to then release a wary sigh as she turned to look forward. “Really, though… just what the hell did that daughter of mine get herself into…?”

Pierce passed Selind a quick glance before looking forward again. Standing beside him were Liask, Selind, and Davídrius, all looking through an observation window in Compound Tresnon’s main hospital. Dim lights illuminated the drab hallway they stood in, allowing them to see into the adjacent patient room where Relia was resting, with Karísah sitting anxiously by her side. Relia’s signature shawl had been removed; now, she laid unconscious on a hospital bed, her torso and leg wrapped tightly in bandaging, and her right arm in a cast. Her chest heaved ever so slightly, the only sign of her continued living — though her breathing appeared somewhat labored.

“…How long until she recovers?” Pierce eventually questioned, breaking the stiff silence.

“With the tech we’ve got here… we’re lookin’ at months, at a minimum,” Selind replied.

“Kaoné will be back, soon,” Davídrius said. “When she gets here, she can tend to Relia, help her recover faster.”

“…Well, let’s hope she gets back as soon as possible, then.”

“No kiddin’. The sooner Relia comes to, the sooner we can figure out just what happened. But in the meantime…” Davídrius turned his attention to Pierce and Liask. “I hear y’all found her. What happened?”

“There’s not much to tell,” Pierce answered. “Liask and I were training down by the shore, and we spotted a little boat out on the water. Liask thought that was weird, so I ran out to check — and it was Relia, injured and bleeding out in the boat. So I ran the boat to the shore, and then ran to tell the Defense Force.”

“Thanks,” Selind said, passing Pierce and Liask a small smile before looking back to her daughter. “…You thought quickly, and did the right thing. If you’d found her even half an hour later, she might not still be with us…”

“But where the hell did she come from…?” Davídrius muttered. “Was the boat just driftin’ on the lake?”

“Uh, yeah,” Liask replied. “There was a motor, but it was shot up. The boat was just… driftin’.”

“That probably means that she was attacked along the coast somewhere, right?” Pierce suggested. “Do you know the currents of the lake? Maybe you can trace those back to figure out where she came from.”

“I already ordered the Defense Force to look into that,” Selind said. “I also raised the alert level. Full alertness, effective immediately.”

“Good idea…” Davídrius said. “Shit… why’s this gotta happen now, of all times…”

“Is the Compound in danger…?” Liask questioned uneasily.

Selind and Davídrius both passed Liask a look, and then exchanged a glance. “…Well, no use hidin’ it,” Selind said with a sigh. “The way I see it… my daughter, Relia, she’s one of the most effective Chaotics I know. And she’s a pragmatic fighter, too. I’ve even heard tell of her fightin’ off entire groups of Bleeders, all on her own. So to see her hurt, this badly… somethin’ must’ve gone wrong. She’s been wanderin’ on her own for five years, and she’s never been injured this bad, before.”

“Chances are, this ain’t the result of an opportunistic attack,” Davídrius added. “Whoever attacked her — likely the Bleeders — were probably specifically targetin’ her. And given the state of Tresnon, right now… I can’t help but think that this attack was an attempt to rob us of competent defenders.”

“Should we expect a fight, then?” Pierce asked.

“Well, those Black Suns are due to arrive in just two days,” Selind remarked. “Once they’re here, I’m sure we’ll be fine. So we only need to worry about two days.”

“Two days is plenty for the Bleeders to wreck our shit,” Davídrius countered. “Especially now that Relia’s here. If she escaped them, they have to know that she might’ve made it back here. Chances are, they’re scramblin’ to attack, right now!”

“Don’t forget, we have shields,” Selind pointed out. “Sure, they’re limited, but they’ll last long enough for the Suns to arrive, at the very least.”

“Against a normal Bleeder attack, sure. But these fucks have SFC tech. Who knows what they’ll be bringin’ with ‘em?”

“Sorry, they what?” Pierce questioned. “What’s going on?”

Davídrius passed Pierce a wary look. “…Y’all are still students,” he insisted. “You don’t need to worry yourselves with this.”

“’Students’ my ass, this sounds like a problem for the whole damn Compound,” Pierce countered. “If it’s an attack you’re worried about, well, you have a whole school of Chaotics to help you, right? I’m sure everyone would jump at the chance to defend Tresnon and kick some Bleeder ass!”

“Yeah, exactly!” Liask quickly affirmed.

“And get yourselves killed, while you’re at it,” Davídrius shot back. “I’ll grant that you Keys have some actual combat experience, but most of the students don’t. I ain’t about to put them through the meat grinder, not if I can help it!”

“You can’t have it both ways, Davídrius,” Selind argued. “Now, I still have confidence in the Defense Force bein’ able to hold off an attack. But if Compound Tresnon really does end up bein’ in as much danger as you think, then gettin’ the help of your students could be the difference between fightin’ off the Bleeders and them overrunin’ the place.”

“Tch…” Davídrius eyed Selind with frustration, and then snorted dismissively. “I’ll die before that happens.”

“You don’t need to die for us when we can fight for you!” Liask protested.

“And what would you have me do if a student dies on my watch, huh?” Davídrius snapped. “That ain’t happenin’. The entire point of WCU — of the Bleeder Reformation Program — hell, of everything I’ve done over the past two decades was to prevent young folks like y’all from havin’ to fight for their lives. I ain’t about to give that up now.”

“Then at least let me fight,” Pierce insisted. “Me, and the other Keys. Like you’ve said, we’ve seen combat. We can help!”

“Fightin’ Chaotics is a whole different thing from fightin’ the infection,” Davídrius countered. “Y’all still need a lot more trainin’ ‘fore you’re ready.”

Pierce and Liask exchanged doubtful glances, while Selind released a wary sigh.

“…Look,” Davídrius continued, “I ain’t gonna lie, things don’t look pretty, right now. But me, Selind, the Defense Force — even Gavon, and some of the instructors. We’ve got this handled. Just trust us, and keep your heads down for the next couple of days, a’ight?”

“…Alright…” Liask eventually responded.

“Good.” The Dean sighed, and then shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts. “…I’m gonna go inspect the nearby coasts, see if there are any signs of what happened to Relia.”

“Yeah… I should probably get goin’, too,” Selind said. “I’ll go check on the Defense Force, and the walls. Make sure everythin’s up to shape.”

“Relia’s your daughter, right?” Pierce questioned. “You could stay here and watch over her, while we go check on the Defense Force, for you.”

“No, no. Heading the Defense Force is my job,” Selind responded, a forlorn smile crossing her face as she turned to look back at her daughter. Relia remained unconscious, but still by her side was Karísah, virtually as unmoving as Relia’s comatose form. “…Karísah will do just fine, lookin’ over Relia. I’m sure I’ll hear when she comes to.”

“Then I guess we’ll head out, too…” Liask said.

“A’ight,” Davídrius replied, turning to guide the group down the hall. “Let’s go. Hopefully, all this worryin’ will be for nothin’…”

---

*

“Pierce!”

Pierce and Liask glanced to the side just as they exited Tresnon’s main hospital. Waiting on a bench near the entrance were Conrad, Kestrel, and Phoenix — and upon seeing Pierce, the trio had perked up.

“Oh, you’re fine,” Conrad observed, slowly standing up from the bench as Pierce and Liask approached.

“Of course I’m fine,” Pierce retorted, and then looked over his friends in confusion. “What are you guys doing here, though?”

“We heard about Relia, and that you found her,” Phoenix replied. “I just wanted to make sure you weren’t getting into trouble.”

“She was actually really worried about you,” Conrad added in a loud whisper.

“I was worried that he’d gotten his ass kicked getting involved in a fight above his paygrade,” Phoenix quickly corrected.

“Well, we were sparrin’…” Liask replied, “but we didn’t see what happened to Relia…”

“You were sparring—?”

“Look, now’s not the time,” Pierce interjected. “…But you heard about Relia already, huh? It’s only been a few hours.”

“Everyone knows,” Kestrel stated.

“Yeah, it’s kinda insane,” Conrad affirmed. “The news spread like wildfire through the Compound. ‘The Wanderer was found half-dead in a boat,’ people are saying.”

“The tension has grown everywhere we go, too,” Phoenix added. “It might be a bright evening, just like usual, but everyone’s acting like a storm just rolled in.”

“Well… Relia is pretty well-known, ‘round Treséd…” Liask said. “She’s one of the most skilled Chaotics around, and one of the most outspoken opponents of the Bleeders, outside of Tresnon, anyways…” She released a wary sigh. “You always hear stories ‘bout how Relia, or ‘the Wanderer’, I guess, would fight a bunch of Bleeders all on her own and kick their asses. I never thought I’d see her so beat up…”

“…How bad did she look?” Phoenix questioned.

“We didn’t get a good look at her injuries. That shawl of hers covered everything up,” Pierce reported. “But… there was a lot of blood, and she has a lot of bandages, now.”

“Selind said it could be months before she recovers,” Liask added.

“Oof…” Conrad muttered.

“Bleeders…?” Kestrel questioned.

Pierce shrugged. “Probably, but it’s impossible to know for sure. We just found Relia laying unconscious in a drifting boat. It looked like the boat was shot at, but aside from that…”

“Well it must’ve been something bad,” Conrad replied. “The way people are acting around here, the fact that Relia lost a fight seems to be heralding the end times.”

“Everyone did seem to have a lot of faith in Relia’s abilities…” Phoenix commented. “…Or maybe it’s just because she’s the daughter of Selind, the head of Tresnon’s Defense Force. That alone is probably enough for minor celebrity status.”

“I mean, I guess that’s part of it, yeah,” Liask replied, “but the way I hear it, Relia never uses her name as leverage when she travels around. Most people know her as the Wanderer, after all, not as Relia Condsa. And she mostly made a name for herself by helpin’ out other Compounds, where Selind’s name wouldn’t mean as much.”

“So she got this notoriety based on her own abilities, huh…?” Pierce mused, his gaze cast downward in thought.

Phoenix passed him an incredulous glance. “What’s with you? You’re being really subdued. It’s not like you.”

Pierce shot her an annoyed look. “What, do you want me to make out with Liask in front of you, or some shit?”

“What—?!” Liask exclaimed.

“No, asshole, that’s not what I meant,” Phoenix retorted with a roll of her eyes.

“Phoenix is kind of right, though,” Conrad said. “Pierce… did something happen in there? We saw Davídrius and Selind step out before you. Did they say something to you?”

Pierce and Liask exchanged uneasy glances.

“So something did happen…” Phoenix remarked. “Well, spill it. What’s going on?”

“The Dean seemed really worried…” Liask replied.

“Almost uncharacteristically so,” Pierce added. “I mean, you guys all know Davídrius. Does he strike you as the type to worry?”

“Depends on the kind of worry,” Phoenix said. “If it’s the kind a father shows about his kid, or a teacher about their students — that, I can see.”

“It wasn’t either of those — well, a little of that. But he was really antsy about a potential Bleeder attack.”

“…Is it possible?” Conrad asked.

“Judging by how he was acting… it would seem so,” Pierce replied grimly.

“He also said that the Black Suns would be showin’ up, soon,” Liask added. “In two days.”

“And both he and Selind seemed pretty confident that everything would be fine once the Black Suns arrive,” Pierce affirmed. “But until then…”

“Two days…” Kestrel muttered.

“…It’s just two days, I’m sure we’ll be fine,” Phoenix declared. “This place has shields and a wall, and everything. Even if the Bleeders attacked, they’d be delayed long enough for help to arrive. Though I can’t say I’m pleased to rely on a PMC…”

“Not to mention a whole school of Chaotics,” Conrad remarked, and then passed Pierce a cheeky smirk. “If even half of them are like Pierce, then that’s over a hundred Chaotics raring for a fight!”

“I would agree,” Pierce began, “but Davídrius was pretty dead-set against involving us, or any of the other students.”

“Why am I not surprised,” Phoenix deadpanned.

“I mean, I get it…” Conrad responded, “but if that’s the case, then it’s no wonder that he’s worried. Instead of thinking that he has a hundred Chaotics as back-up, he thinks that he has hundreds of kids to protect.”

“Aren’t you the one constantly ducking out of fights?” Pierce retorted.

“Hey, that’s just because I can’t contribute personally. I’m not gonna stop someone else from fighting if they think they can.”

Kestrel shook her head. “…Irresponsible.”

“She’s right…” Phoenix muttered. “There might be hundreds of Chaotics at WCU, but most of them haven’t actually seen combat, right? That would make them liabilities, more than assets.”

Liask opened her mouth to respond, only to stop before actually speaking and look away uneasily.

Noticing this, Pierce placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She looked down at his hand in surprise, and then up at his face, at which point he offered a small smile; Liask smiled back, only to look down again.

“…Well…” Conrad eventually replied, only to make a show of shrugging. “I guess all that’s left is to wait out the next couple days and hope that nothing happens.”

“And Kaoné isn’t even here…” Phoenix muttered. “Just where the hell did she go…?”

“We’ll just have to hold the fort, in the meantime,” Pierce said, and then nodded down the street. “That said, it’s getting kind of late. Let’s get some dinner.”

“Now that’s a suggestion I can get behind,” Conrad remarked as the group began moving down the street, hoping to take their minds off of recent developments.