Chapter 184- For You (Part 1)
"U-Ugh..." Rin groaned slightly as his eyes started cracking open. The heavy feeling of his eyelids refusing to listen to him along with the strong grogginess made him incapable of waking up completely.
Instead, he merely fought the urge to go back to sleep again and bit his tongue slightly. The feeling of slight pain was more than enough to help him finally open his eyes completely to look around. That was when he realized that all along, Rin wasn't stationary at all. In fact, he could clearly sense the warmth of someone's body touching his whole torso.
Calling the feeling comforting was an understatement. The warmth of this person's body was akin to the heavenly softness of silk.
'Someone... is carrying me?' He thought as he felt the rhythmic movement along with the fact that his feet weren't touching the ground.
Looking around him dazedly, Rin caught a glimpse of something.
'Huh... White hair...'
Even though this hair was extremely familiar to Rin, because of his current state, it took him an awfully long time to recognize it.
"E-Elise..." He murmured with great difficulty.
The person that was carrying him, hearing that voice, quickly turned around and looked at him with clear, deep worry in her beautiful eyes.
"Don't move and don't talk! You are heavily injured!" She said in a higher tone than usual. It was clear from her voice that panic had struck her.
"W-Where... are we?" Rin ignored her requests and asked.
"We are close to the academy! I said don't talk!" She replied with urgency.
Nodding his head, Rin continued.
"A-Are you and Evelyn... ok?"
Rin could've easily deduced that fact from how Elise was talking with him and not hypnotized as she should've been. But, his worry made him completely put logical thinking to the side.
"We are unscathed... On the other hand, you..." Evelyn was the one to reply this time as she looked at Rin.
"This isn't the time for this. Put him back to sleep..." Elise intervened before the conversation continued.
"Sigh, you are right..."
'W-Why is she this angry... Everyone... is fine.' He thought.
But, before he could go any further and ask, his eyes suddenly lost their strength again and he fell asleep quickly. No matter how much he tried to resist the urge, he could only succumb to it.
***
"Fuuh, he slept again..." Elise said as she looked back at him. Carrying Rin on her back was an easy task since her strength was great.
But, that wasn't her problem at the moment. Instead, what was concerning her greatly was Rin's condition.
After getting hypnotized by Cid, Elise couldn't remember a single thing. After that, she woke up to find herself inside a prison cell filled with corpses. The soul-crushing fear and dread she felt at the moment were the strongest she had ever felt in her life.
The chances that Rin could've killed was the first thing that she thought of and the sense of emptiness that followed after was nothing short of horrifying. It was as if in a second, all of her desire to live, to thrive for greater heights, and to find happiness again was gone like an illusion. Even Elise herself was shocked at how much this affected her.
But, luckily, she found Rin to be although unconscious, still alive pretty much. However, quickly she noticed something weird about him.
'His aura... it's very weak... And his body is extremely cold.'
Before, Rin's aura was strong, vibrant, and one of the few things that gave Elise a sense of belonging and warmth. But, now, that aura became a shadow of its former self. Weak, empty, and on the verge of death. His breathing was heavy and his face was deathly pale.
Evelyn, who also had a strong frown on her face, said as she touched his face.
"His soul core is heavily injured." She said.
"How?"
"I have no idea. But, Rin must've overused his mana to the point where he had to sacrifice a part of his core." She replied.
'Sacrifice a part of his core... What happened?' The frown on Elise's face intensified.
"Is it... a lethal injury?" She asked. The word 'lethal' was very hard for her to say as she dreaded the answer to that question.
"It's an extremely serious injury that can easily kill anyone. But, he will survive... But we need to get out of here now so that we can get him treated as quickly as possible."
Even though both Elise and Evelyn knew that leaving like this will create countless problems, especially for Evelyn since she was the one who took on the mission. But, for them, Rin's safety is a top priority now. Everything else comes after that.
And so, Evelyn sent a message to the Assassin Guild and let them take the matter from here on. Then, they two left the place heading back toward the academy as quickly as possible.
"His body is getting colder and colder by the second..." Elise said.
"The effects of a soul core injury get worse and worse. He needs to get treated. Let's hurry!"
"Hold on, Rin... Just a little bit longer..." Elise murmured as she touched Rin's cheek gently.
"I won't let you die... Even if it means I will have to reach the ends of the world." She continued the last part to herself, not allowing anyone else to hear it.
Two hours passed before the two finally reached the academy. Elise had made sure to notify Emilia and Aria first before their arrival so that they don't waste time.
The moment they reached the gates, they found the two waiting for them.
"Rin!!!"
Ignoring everything, Aria rushed toward her little brother and quickly checked him. Seeing his poor state, tears appeared in her eyes. But, she knew that going into a frenzy now won't help her brother at all. She had to keep her composure for Rin's sake.
"What happened?! You explained nothing in the message." Emilia intervened.
"No time for an explanation. Rin had injured his soul core." Elise replied as she moved past, Emilia.
"Injured his core..." The floor master's eyes widened in deep shock before she quickly shook her head and took a deep breath.
"Quickly carry him to my office!"
When they reached the place, Emilia went to the other side of the office and opened a door that led to another room. There, a big bedroom was set up. Emilia had made it because she has to stay in her office overnight sometimes so leaving is inconvenient.
"Put him on the bed." She ordered Elise.
Gently laying him on the bed, Elise retreated and left Emilia to do whatever she needed to do.
After sitting down, Emilia started gently touching Rin and using her mana in a particular way to examine his body.
After a few crucial, silent minutes with everyone on edge.
Finally, Emilia opened her eyes again and her face looked as serious as ever.
"This reckless brat! I have never seen an injury to the core this heavy in my life. If you both were late by even an hour..." Trailing off at the end.
"Is Rin going to be ok?!" Aria asked as she tried to restrain herself.
"Fuuh, I do have something that can heal him. But, unfortunately, an injury this heavy won't allow Rin to use mana for a long while."
The news was like a huge boulder falling on everyone. For an awakened, mana is akin to one of the limbs on their body. If it's cut off, the feeling of loss will be extremely heavy.
"H-How long, Miss Emilia?" Elise questioned.
"From a few months up to a few years. Depends on how fast he can recover."
'A-A few years...' The three of them thought.
A few years were nothing to scoff at. Not only would this hinder Rin's growth greatly but would also put him in great danger no matter where he went.
'No...' Elise was the most affected by this.
Rin is her partner, one she relied on in every fight and trusted to cover her back. For him to lose his powers. The harsh reality hit her extremely hard.
"However, I don't think it will take that long. What I said is the normal case and Rin... He is far from normal. I won't be shocked if he returned as good as new in a few weeks." Emilia said as she stared down at him.
These words, although clearly said to lighten the mood of the room, still helped give an ounce of hope to the three women.
"Rin..." Aria felt her tears well up again.
"C-Can I do anything to help?"
"Not really. The only thing Rin needs is to completely rest and not move a muscle for a while and by that I mean, not even a single muscle." She repeated.
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