So...this is what it feels like to have a concussion. Wu's consciousness faded in and out, as the blurry images and sounds flashed rapidly in and out of focus, the voices of Lera, Ver, and Fatera echoing as the pitch of their voices were morphed comically one after another. No...this is what he felt when he's completely drunk off his tits during his handful of benders back at Oxford... Wait...are basically the same things? Letting his eyelids shut once again, Wu took a deep breath in, and as he slowly breathed out, the lights around him blinked once again. Before he realized it, he's surrounded by darkness, and a gentle warmth surrounds him. It actually felt rather...nice. Wu sighed, opening his eyes at last. His ears had been ringing for god knows how long, and his mind was cloudy. But at last, he was able to move just a little. Rolling up despite the muscular weaknesses, Wu's abdominals cramped at the effort as his brain tried to register all of the senses that were completely ruined at the end of the last battle. What's this sense of touch to his right...? His hands were pressed into a soft mattress, and he felt his fingers brush against something warm and elastic. His grip felt weak, but he was able to move his arm without any problem. How about sight? The room looked dark as streaks of moon light penetrated through the gaps in the curtains and bathed the room in soft blue lighting. He looked to be in a medium-sized bedroom that were set up with simplicity in mind. His suit was on a hanger in the corner of the room, and the embedded gemstone of the One-shotter sat quietly in the dark, almost staring back at him. Taste? His tongue felt dry like powder, though thankfully there was a bowl of water on the bedside table next to him. Hearing? The room was filled with a smooth and slow set of rhythmic breathing, one originating from right besides him, and the owner of that breathe seems to be the same as the one that felt warm and soft. Smell? It smelled like Lera in here. In a good way. Wu blinked a few times, and he forced his mind to focus. Why the heck was Lera in here...Is he in heaven? Or... "Wha...Wu?" Lera rolled over, mumbling over something before she kicked her legs over Wu's and hugged around him, her hands accidentally swiping Wu's goods instead now that he's sat up with complete disorientation. Her eyes shot open, and she saw Wu's red face glowing in the dark like a piece of red hot iron, "AHHH!" "AHHHH!" Wu shouted with her, and it was a little while before the two both calmed down. "YOU ARE AWAKE!" Lera became overjoyed before she tackle him down to the bed, her body slamming into him as something behind Wu's back popped, "I was so worried!" "Ouch..." Wu said as Lera pressed her cheek into Wu's face, "What...is going on..." "You were out for days..." Lera said, her grey eyes locked onto Wu as he took in the most glorious view in this world, "You know, after the Union building blew up?" "Right..." Wu blinked a few times, trying to recall what had happened, but nothing came up. His mind had been completely and utterly messed up from the King's Pardon, and it looked like it will be a little while until things get better, "Right...Lera?" "What is it?" Lera asked, planting her chin on top of Wu. "Did we do it?" Wu asked, "Did we get them out?" "Yes...yes you did." Lera said, smiling and resting her face over his chest, listening to his erratic heartbeat. "I am glad..." Wu smiled, running his hands over Lera's shoulders, "I don't remember anything else though. Maybe it will come back the next morning." It didn't come back the next morning. Instead, Wu woke up with Lera snoring away by his side. Even as she slept peacefully, Wu can't help but notice her eyebags as she clung onto Wu's sleeves with her fingers. Wu watched her close, feeling the warmth of her body and listening to her steady and relaxed breathing. That was when he realized something. Reaching his fingers forward, Wu gently caressed her face as her eyes moved underneath her eyelid, and she slowly opened them up. "You are awake!" Lera said excitedly as she smiled, hugging him close, utterly unaware of the midnight encounter the two of them had, "I...was so worried!" "Sorry to make you worry." Wu said though words aren't enough to describe his feelings, "I am back...back to you." "Look who's up and moving~" As Lera dragged Wu out from his bedroom, Ver was leaning back on the sofa in the living room and waved a hand towards him, "Lera, you working your Cast in the bedroom or something?" "What...no! I mean..." Lera dropped Wu's arms quickly before she played with her fingers with slight embarrassment. Ver let out a laugh before flipping over the sofa and standing right in front of Wu. "Welcome back, Mr Savior." Ver said, pressing her fingers into Wu's chest before she drew a circle over it, "You must be very confused." "Yes, I am." Wu said, glancing around the living room. There is a smell of eggs and fresh fruits in the air, as the morning sun pierces through the windows and warms up the carpets that had the symbols of all of the Infinite Academy colleges over it. The living room had at least a couple of sofas, with drawers and cabinets made of fancy redwood dotted in between. There is a fireplace that has a Warmth Cast sat within, and there were at least a few more sets of bedrooms on the other side of the room. "What is all...this?" Wu asked. "This is my house." Fatera's voice came through one of the doors, and she appeared behind the door with her body drenched in sweat with nothing but a long white tank top that barely covered her bottoms, "I allowed ya to live here!" "Don't listen to her." Ver said, "She just doesn't want to be alone!" "Nonsense!" Fatera said, leaping towards Ver and tackling her onto the sofa as it flipped over, "Ya wanna pick a losing fight again?" "Any time, bitch!" Ver said, tickling Fatera as she laughed and her tank top slowly started to roll up onto her stomach. Unfortunately for Ver, Fatera had just been going through her intense training in her master bedroom, and she had swiftly transferred all the sweat and grime onto Ver's clothes. "Right..." Wu nodded as Lera dragged him away. Up from the flight of stairs in the corner of the living room, Lera took him to the higher levels before exiting onto the balcony. From there, they had a magnificent view of the entirety of the Infinite Academy and the forest down below. The mountain range that were used for Winter Wars had been deconstructed, as it was a combined Structure Cast from both the Principal and John King. And now, the views of the Infinite Academy returned to normal with the skies on the other side of the artificial island coming back to view. The snow also started melting away with the arrival of spring. Patches of the forest had already been cleared of snow for one reason or another, and plants and animals started coming out from their hibernation in preparation for yet another year. "It's...beautiful..." Wu said, his eyes flowing from one floating structure to the next as streams of golden chariots flew in between the various colleges. "Yeah." Lera said, still holding onto Wu's arms. Then, she gently tugged onto his sleeve, turning him around, "Remember last time we had this view?" Wu nodded, thinking back to their last days at the Sunshine Valley, where Lera showed Wu the vantage point high up in the branches. With Fatera's floating house atop the trees, it's remarkably similar. "And do you remember what I said?" Lera asked, her eyes hopeful yet her facial expressions tense. Her heart pounded, and somehow, she felt far more nervous next to Wu when he's standing in front of her than when they laid next to one another. "About...our talk?" Wu asked, and Lera nodded as her face started to become red. She held onto Wu's hand with both of her own, and her mouth slowly opened, the words she had been preparing to say nearly escaping when suddenly, a trail of smoke came from downstairs and the panicked screams of Ver and Fatera came through. Wu and Lera hurried downstairs, and they saw the frying pan being set ablaze as smoke rose up from within, the eggs now turned into charcoal. "Damn it! Fatera!" Ver cursed, picking up the frying pan and taking it outside to wash with her Whirlpool Red's high-pressure water, "Stop distracting me if you can't cook for shit, to begin with!" "Weakling!" Fatera said, still not wearing anything but her tank top as her bare bottoms clapped together, "Someone truly strong will never be swayed in the face of opposition!" "And someone that's actually a useful human will know how to cook!" Ver's voice came back from outside, and that stunned Fatera. She stuck her tongue out like a kid before she stumbled angrily back into her room to finish the workout. "Welp." Wu said, smiling towards Lera as she sulked and groaned at her chance of being interrupted, "Guess this is the start of my daily life with four magical girls..." "Shut up, Wu!" Ver cursed, "Make your lazy ass useful for once! Come help me clean up!" After cleaning away the mess, Ver gave the fried eggs another try before Wu helped them set up the breakfast at the table. Then, with solid food down in his stomach for the first time in a while, Wu made sure to also stuff himself with fluids in the form of juices. As Fatera complained about the lack of meat on the table, Ver wondering why the Channeler can't even make toasts right, Lera chuckling at the two and Wu watching all that chaos occur, he couldn't help but feel a deep sense of happiness. As corny as it is, Wu finally felt at home in this world. "Let's catch up all everything going on then." Lera said, dragging the fully stuffed-up Ver, Fatera, and Wu onto the sofa before she took out a blackboard, "Wu, before you went in, you told me that John King is behind all of this. However, over the past weeks, we, and the other journalists had asked everyone that was captured, including these two idiots, about what happened within the Union building, and nobody was able to relay anything useful that we can use against PORA or John King, as expected." "Great..." Wu said, trying to recall what had happened, but a splitting headache made him stop right there, "Shit! My fucking head..." "Listen, Lera, I really trust ya. Ya is adorable!" Fatera said, reaching both hands to her, "But I really don't remember a thing!" "Of course you won't. You were knocked out the whole time!" Ver said, "I told you the Kraken saw everything that had happened, such as..." "Such as what?" Lera asked, her eyebrows twitching. Ver licked her lips before turning to face Wu. He looked back at her before a blur of memories suddenly returned to his mind. Did they do something together...? "...Well, he said John was the one that captured us! Wu and I!" Ver said, "Then we fought our way out!" "Great. Not the strongest evidence that we can leverage." Lera said, crossing her arms, "Wu, remember anything?" Wu glanced at Ver and her luscious lips, and those were the only details that he remembered. He shook his head as Ver lowered her head slightly, communing with the Kraken in silence. Then, the Kraken's voice spoke through her. Watching the action from afar, it perfectly recalled the speech given by John King right before he activated the destruction Cast. Helpful for them, yes, but nothing concrete to fight against PORA. So really, all that they have did was to stall of PORA from converting more Wave users into their ranks, but that's it. "So...what now?" Wu asked. "We can't really do anything right now." Lera said, "If I am PORA, I would be laying low for a good while. Maybe we can take a breather from all of the action in the first term too." Normal school days? Sounds great, except Wu's still pretty sure he's expelled. Before he said anything, someone knocked lightly on the door, and all four pairs of eyes turned to it with complete and utter confusion.