NOVEL WEB Chapter 7: Recovery
The weekend passed quickly despite my nagging injuries. I usually worked the weekend off-campus, but City Hall was in serious disarray after the incident. They declared a state of emergency to keep everyone safe and began a thorough investigation. That meant there were no tasks for me as an intern — they were firing on all cylinders and didn't have time to waste, supposedly.
I looked out my bedroom window and sighed, looking up at the sky as the orange sunset radiated warmth through my window. It was a beautiful day, but I couldn't enjoy it. I was stuck here, in this room, recovering. I had bandages on my arms, legs, and side. I had the world's worst case of blisters and bruises, and I had two stitches on my forehead.
So, after I wrapped up my trash and took it out for tomorrow, I cooked myself an excellent breakfast of instant ramen and eggs. Then, I fired up my PC and hopped onto the internet. I looked up stuff on the incident and stopped as I saw some posts on the unofficial Shoreline City subforum on Talkit.
The residents poured out their hearts and fears, demanding to know what had happened. Some more unhinged threads pointed at the recent influxes of migrants from Earth as weakening the 'barrier between worlds' or some nonsense like that, but thankfully those were buried in downvotes. I closed out of those in disgust.
Other than that, the most upvoted comments lambasted the government and the army. They demanded answers. They were furious.
"They're not going to get anything," I thought. There was a higher chance of me falling through the world than any government giving us clear answers.
I clicked on another tab and soon watched a video that had gone viral overnight, front-paging the site. It was a five-minute recording of a 'live' feed of a battle taken from some flycam drones on top of a building and published on 【Mahou News Net】. It was a chaotic, shaky visual feast to behold. A frantic scene captured between Celestial Sonata and the dragon I'd noticed zooming past earlier in my night of hell.
The recording of the teenage girl was done quickly, considering the chaos downtown had become. Her eyes shone brightly, and her long hair flowed like a river. As she flew across the street, a trail of pink and silver particles followed behind her. She was dressed in a pink dress and had a determined look on her face. The video captured an orchestral string melody that fit perfectly with her movements, creating a triumphant symphony.
She drew her treble-shaped bow and charged forth with her magic. A brilliant vibrato rang out as beams of pink light poured forth from the bow like a magical fountain.
The camera shook again as the camera drone zipped down to the battlefield below. The people screamed in terror as the dragon fought against Celestial Sonata. The war between the two juggernauts was terrible, and the monster was more than a match for the hero. Every time the bowstring was released, a rain of light beams would flow through the air at her opponent.
The video cut to a side view of the battle. The dragon's fierce red eyes could be seen in the video, flickering in and out of sight as he bled from all over his body. Its body was covered in deep scarlet armor, and it had what looked like a gemstone embedded into his forehead. The beast unleashed a storm of fireballs and sickly red beams of light — Celestial Sonata was clearly on the defense, and it looked like the dragon was getting the better of their clash.
Then, the video shifted to a new perspective as Radiant Rhiannon came charging through the air on a flying, spectral pony. The crimson-haired hero on the winged steed was clad in a shining, red-trimmed white breastplate and red cape. She held a gleaming lance in her hand like a medieval jouster would use; her golden eyes and flaming long hair shone as they were wrapped in a blazing inferno. She shouted out in a mighty cry as she charged toward the monster. The lance erupted in flames, and Rhiannon erupted forth like a goddess of the sun come to save the land.
All three collided in a massive, terrifying explosion. Radiant Rhiannon's attack was magnificent, and I could practically feel the heat just watching through my monitor. The video shook once more and panned out, showing the battlefield below. The people had all fled in a panic, and even the police and firemen had withdrawn from the grounds below. The battle raged in the background, and the three warring titans were locked in an epic clash.
The video panned in again and got a close-up of the dragon's face, and it looked nothing short of pissed. Alien, glowing cracks appeared throughout the monstrous creature. Both Rhiannon and Sonata were now visibly scuffed as well.
But it turned and zoomed away, and Rhiannon and Celestial Sonata chased it in pursuit. The camera panned in as the three flew high in the sky, and a flash of light marked their departure.
The tale was straightforward. The video was short, and it was brief, but it showed a lot of things. It showed the raw power of a high-class monster and hero, respectively, and the perils of accepting the call.
Most of all, it showed me how dangerous our situation was. I had grown up with the looming threat around me, and I couldn't afford to be as complacent about it as I'd become.
I shut down the video and sighed, looking over the setup I had around me. Losing both my school supplies and uniform would set me back significantly. There was only so far the cultural exchange program would cover. It seemed like it was time to go back to eating ramen every day for a while.
That was fine. I'd do it.
Suddenly, I heard a sharp knock on the door to my apartment, causing me to tense up.
"It's me. Tanaka." a familiar voice spoke.
"Come in, it's open," I said, leaning back as I yawned in exhaustion again.
Midori poked her head in and nodded before closing the door and walking over to me. She was wearing a band t-shirt and exercise pants and carrying a couple of shopping bags. I wasn't going to question how she knew my exact address, but I wasn't surprised. "How are you feeling?" She asked me. I almost blushed in embarrassment when she looked at my instant cup of ramen and narrowed her eyes.
"A lot better," I said. "That wasn't the first Chaos Event I've lived through, although I'd never been as close to the action as I was out there."
I rubbed my forehead, wincing as I touched the bandages.
"I'm going to need a new school uniform soon though. I've got a significant budget shortfall, and the stipend from the cultural exchange program will barely cover my expenses. The random backpack Little Red had lying around is barely going to dent what I'll have to replace. How about you? Are you doing okay?"
"What do you think?" She asked me with a bit of a smirk. "I'm fine, but I'm worried about you. I asked you to text me when you got home safely."
I sighed, rubbing my forehead. "Yeah, I should've done that. Sorry about that. I was a bit of a mess after I got back and just collapsed into bed."
She shrugged before speaking again, "Oh, well I brought stuff down to replace the basic things, anyway. I know you're on a budget."
Midori reached into one of the bags on the floor and pulled out a pack of pencils. Then, she pulled an apple out of the other bags and gently tossed it at me.
A super-hot wave of embarrassment and gratitude flooded through me in an instant. I let out a huge conflicted sigh as I caught the apple and bit into it joyfully. "This... this is a bit much. Why are you being so nice to me? I'm a transfer student and a Drifter at that."
"You're a friend," Midori said, looking me square in the eyes with a grin. "I don't believe in acting like some kind of superior or thinking that I'm too good for the people around me. Plus, you're the only one in Natasha's grade who's looked out for her."
"I..." I stammered. "Th-thank you. I really appreciate it."
Midori nodded, before reaching over and straightening up, "Well, I'm going to go run some errands now. Drink plenty of water, alright?"
She gave me a wink and walked out the door, leaving me in a daze for a moment. I frowned before taking another bite of my apple.
"She's really something..." I muttered to myself.
I wasn't opposed to having friends around looking out for me here. Why me though?
I leaned back, and with a content sigh, I looked outside the window. I could only hear the soft, gentle flow of cars passing by instead of the chaos of burning and screaming last night. A thought flashed in my head, and I closed my eyes, remembering how horrifying and unpleasant it felt to be near the butterfly-like creature.
I shook my head and sighed before looking over to the pile of groceries and school supplies Midori had left me.
I guess it would be a good idea to take the rest of today easy and get back to homework and studying tomorrow.
With that, I grabbed the rest of my ramen cup, setting it on my kitchen counter. Then, I began to rummage through the grocery bag.