James slowly wakes up as the window shines in through the window of the Infirmary at the Knight's Fortress.
Asha sits on a bench next to James, clearly guilty that she's the only one who came out of the situation uninjured.
Darius stands next to James' bed, leaned on the wall.
Edwin lays propped up in a bed across the room from James, broken arm wrapped in a cast.
Aaron is in a bed parallel to James', still unconscious.
Aaron is clearly the worst injured out of everyone, burn scars line his right side, from chest to elbow.
Laura is sitting cross-legged on the floor next to James, bandage wrapping her head.
Laura notices James' eyes opening and immediately springs up, hugging him tightly.
Tears form at the base of Laura's eyelids.
She buries her face in James' shoulder before letting herself cry, a combination of sadness and happiness.
James returns the embrace, wrapping his arm around her bandaged head.
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Everyone notices the small scene happening in the center of the room and drifts over.
Darius is wearing a wide grin.
"James!"
"You saved my ass back there."
"I guess our asses would actually be a better way of speaking."
Laura chuckles, lifting her head.
James chuckles and asks a question.
"So where's Aidan?"
A veil of silence falls over the room.
Aaron responds in a hoarse voice.
"He's dead, James."
James' face goes from smiling to blank as his actions come rushing back to him, the things he did and said.
Jermaine breaks the heavy silence by walking into the room.
"James, I need to see you."
"I'll be waiting out here for you to get ready."
A few minutes later, James steps out of the door and the two start walking.
They walk in silence, James following Jermaine to an unknown location.
Jermaine is the first to break the heavy silence.
"I'm very sorry about what happened to Aidan, by the way."
James breathes in to start talking before he's cut off.
"You don't need to say anything, I know."
The rest of the walk is spent in mournful silence until they arrive at the special training grounds, in a more isolated location, reserved for high level spars and testing.
Jermaine tells James to stand at one end of the small arena as he goes to the opposite end.
"James, you're here for a reexamination."
"I believe that there's something that the first examiner either missed or something new."
"Now that I have good testing ground, I'd like to try something."
"I'd like you to slowly step closer until I tell you not to."
James begins to step forward until about 10 feet away from Jermaine.
"Stop."
"I know what this is."
"I believe that you have an Aspect long believed to be extinct."
"It's called Leach."
