Ascension of the Dark Seraph

Her lashes quivered.

Just a tremor at first, so slight it might have been mistaken for the play of light across her face.

Then, her breathing hitched, uneven, as though her body stirred before her mind could follow.

A faint twitch passed through her fingers, restless, searching, and the calm of her stillness unraveled.

In the next breath, her eyelids fluttered open with abrupt force—a sharp gasp broke the silence as she woke up. Not gently, but violently, like a soul yanked back—into flesh, dragged from depths it had no wish to leave.

Leandra looked around; her chest heaved up and down in heavy breaths, and sweat trickled down her back.

She found herself in a sterile room of white and steel.

"Where am I…?"

Holding her head with a hand, she looked down at the blanket covering her and tried to remember what had happened. An ache assaulted her mind as she tried to surface the memories from that night, but even so, she managed to remember.

"Right… Lucivar stabbed me."

At that mention, she pulled at the collar of her hospital gown and glanced down.

Her chest was smooth, unmarked—no scar, no trace at all.

It was almost as if what happened that night was nothing but a bad dream, and now, she woke up.

"I'm healed, so does that mean we're back in the academy?"

Leandra turned her gaze to the window. Dawn had broken—and birds wheeled together across the pale sky, their chirps threading through the stillness. The heavens were clear, promising a good day—yet the sight brought her little comfort.

She clutched the blanket strongly.

"How long had it been since I passed out? What happened that night…?"

Even though she wanted to know, she was nervous to know.

Since she was here in the hospital of the academy, the outcome of that night should be clear—but she couldn't be sure. Inhaling deeply, she turned to her right and saw a bouquet of flowers there. No wonder the room smelled aromatic.

"Flowers?"

Leandra took the bouquet and searched for a card, but there was none.

She frowned a little and inspected the bouquet curiously.

It was a beautiful bouquet that was carefully crafted—so intricate it could only have been arranged by one practiced in the art. Every fold of the paper wrapping lay smooth and precise, corners tucked with an elegance that spoke of patience and habit.

The flowers themselves resembled carnations, their petals layered in gentle, rippling whorls of pale red.

But they were no ordinary flowers.

"Hmm? Why is it hard on the bottom?"

Leandra lifted the bouquet and found that the base of it was covered by a steel plate, which was unnatural for a bouquet of flowers. Curious as to why that was, she pulled on a flower and realized that its stalk was thicker, firmer than tempered steel.

It tapered into a pointed tip that was sharp enough to pierce the skin.

"What in the world is wrong with this flower? Is it poisonous?" She mumbled at a loss for words.

Just then, the door was opened.

"Ah, you're awake. That's great news." A nurse stepped inside with rushed steps; her smile beamed like that of a priestess. She placed the clipboard on the table and turned towards Leanda. "So, how are you feeling? Are you still feeling any pain somewhere?"

"N-No…" Leandra forced a smile.

But she suddenly clasped her chest, feeling a sudden, stabbing pain there.

"Are you okay?" The nurse rushed and held her. "Is it a stabbing sensation in your chest?"

"Yeah…" Leandra nodded, her face contorted in pain. But then, she opened her eyes, "How did you…?"

"Your friend mentioned you were stabbed and then poisoned by some kind of unknown substance," the nurse explained, taking her clipboard again to check. "Both the doctor and the healer confirmed it. They advised us to treat you as we would any other poisoned patient, and your friend told me you will likely keep feeling sharp pains in your chest for a while. He said he knew what to expect because he's gone through the same thing himself."

"My friend?" Leandra tilted her head in confusion. "Who?"

"Hunter Lucivar," the nurse answered without a pause, then pointed at the bouquet in Leandra's hands. "He's the one—who left that bouquet, too. He's quite thoughtful. Those flowers are known to have a natural pain-killing property. You just need to stab the pointed stalk into a big muscle group."

Hearing this, Leandra looked down at the flowers again.

A faint smile tugged on her lips.

'Lucivar did say he used to make bouquets,' She thought as she smelled the flowers. 'What is this? Is he feeling guilty for stabbing me? He must've fed the academy an alibi, so I should go along with it and not make trouble.'

Even though being stabbed sucks, she doesn't mind it.

It's not that Lucivar deliberately does that either, so she wouldn't hold it against him.

Someone who came to learn what Lucivar learned is bound to make a heated mistake like he did.

"Can I discharge right now? I need to do something."

"Yes, you can. Hybrids are terrifyingly fast in recovery. But I need to ask for approval first."

"Please."

Smiling politely, the nurse raised a finger sternly.

"But even though you're a Hybrid, you still need to take your medicine." She reprimanded, clearly used to doing this. Hybrids must've normally neglected medicines—for her to be this natural. "I'm going to process you. It'll not take long, so I'll be back in a few minutes."

Once she said that, the nurse left the room.

Moments later.

Leandra was now in the lobby after changing clothes and getting her things.

She headed out of the hospital, but the same nurse stopped her.

"What's wrong/" Leandra raised a brow, confused. "Is there anything else?"

Hearing this, the nurse stumbled on words.

She seemed to be having a hard time finding the right words to say what she wanted to say.

"Just tell me what it is, I can take it."

"Ermm… It's about what happened that night. I don't know if you were still conscious at the time, so I hate to bear the bad news, but your other friend, Bakar… He passed away. The academy couldn't find his parents or relatives, so we let Hunter Lucivar handle his burial."

Leandra's expression tightened as she forgot about that.

She opened her mouth and closed it again.

It was clear that she was wrestling with her thoughts until she eventually smiled.

"It's fine. Bakar is family to us."

"Pardon?"

"I-I mean, we're very close friends, so we consider him as family. We'll handle it."

"Ah, that's a relief." The nurse took a step back and bowed slightly. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you." Leandra waved her hand and walked away.

Even though it wasn't a direct confirmation, from what the nurse said, Leandra could already assume that Master Tobias had died. Since he was registered as their father, the fact that the academy couldn't find him meant he was already gone.

'Lucivar won, as expected.' Her face turned grim. 'But how is he right now?'

Since he even gave her flowers, it was clear that he had won over Master Tobias somehow.

But that didn't mean he was completely fine.

Above all, that night he learned that Master Tobias killed Delilah, and that's a hard pill to swallow.

Despite her nervousness, she decided to see it for herself.

Upon arriving at the student dormitory, Leandra paused at the entrance and looked up at the building.

After all that had happened, the building doesn't feel like a safe space for her anymore—the people who sought to hurt the family were far stronger than anything the academy could protect them from. 'Maybe it's time for us to move on.'

Shaking her head, she was about to enter, but noticed the students were looking at her weirdly.

'News travelled fast.'

Ignoring the gazes of the students, she went upstairs and headed for her room.

But mid-way, she changed her mind and went straight to Ravenna's room.

Her room had become a gathering place for the family, other than Lucivar's room, so she decided to go there first. Besides, she wanted to ease her nerves a bit before meeting with Lucivar again. Talking with the others would surely help.

Knock. Knock.

Leandra waited patiently as the sound of footsteps rustled from beyond.

Soon, the door swung open—it was Nerissa.

"Hi…" Leandra awkwardly greeted.

Nerissa's eyes widened at the sight of her, but in the next second, she flung herself into Leandra's arms, wrapping her in a tight embrace. She buried her face into Leandra's chest, tears welling up in her eyes at the thought of what happened.

"Hey, are you okay?" Leandra asked softly.

Hearing this, Nerissa pulled back and looked at Leandra in aghast, "Am I okay?"

She was taken aback by the question.

Not because the answer should've been obvious, but because Leandra shouldn't be the one asking that.

"It should've been me who asked whether you're okay!" Nerissa exclaimed, too stunned at Leandra's lack of self-love. It wasn't even an hour ago that she was still lying on the hospital bed. "It must have been hard for you to confront him like that…"

Leandra looked at Nerissa for a good moment.

It was only then that she realized that Nerissa was talking about Master Tobias.

"You knew already?"

"Yes, Mirel told us what happened that night. I'm sorry I wasn't there. I just…"

"It's alright. You don't need to feel guilty about it."

Even though Nerissa was completely capable of coming with them—but chose not to, Leandra didn't want to blame her, as if she was there, things would only get more complicated. In fact, it was good that she wasn't there, or else it might not only be Bakar.

Leandra herself almost died there.

It was a messy situation.

"Wait, Mirel?" Leandra frowned. "What about Lucivar?"

"Both Mirel and Lucivar were dealing with the aftermath," Ravenna's voice rang.

Leandra raised her gaze and saw that Ravenna was sitting on the bed.

She seemed to still be having trouble dealing with the spell from Master Tobias, but she was a lot better than the last time Leandra was here. That night, it was still unclear whether she'd survive the spell or not, but she did.

"You looked better." Leandra stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

"Hmm…" Ravenna nodded. "What? Are you hoping that I'd die for any particular reason?"

"What are you saying?" Leandra smiled acutely, remembering that Vanessa's slip of tongue told her that Lucivar and Ravenna had a relationship behind her back. It was unfair, but she was too tired to be angry right now. "I'll pause that topic for later, I'm exhausted."

Leandra slumped onto the bed face-first and sighed.

"By the way, I'm still blurry about what happened that night. Can you tell it to me again?"