“Groan..” My head was pounding, my throat was dry, and my vision blurry. I was disoriented and confused. I then suddenly remembered everything that had happened. Quickly sitting up, I tried to get a good look at where I was, as I noticed it was bright. I was laying on a bed, the sheets covered up to my waist. The room itself was somewhat plain. The brick walls reached high above me. There were multiple beds laid out across the room, each having a window behind it, Including my own. Some of the beds were occupied by sleeping people, they all seemed to be wrapped in bandages.

Looking at myself, I was also wrapped in a white cloth, and my original clothes were nowhere to be found. I was wearing the common patient gown. Sliding to the side of the bed, I got up and looked in the cabinet next to my bed. Nothing useful was inside, so I just went to look for someone to question. The pitter patter of my bare feet on the marble floors woke one of the sleeping people up, but after glancing at me, they laid back down. Being more careful as to not wake someone else up, I quietly walked to the large doors I assumed led out of the room.

“Don’t open that door.” For some reason the thought came to my head. Brushing it off, I opened the door. As soon as I did, someone almost fell on top of me. Catching them, I helped them steady themselves.

“Ah, sorry. I didn’t expect the door to open.” She said, rubbing her head. The girl was fairly short, standing at around 5’. Her messy blond hair grabbed my attention, as it seemed to be glowing slightly. “It’s you!” She said, her bright yellow eyes gleaming. “You need to sit back down. You were at death's door when we found you.” She said, grabbing me by the wrist and leading me back to the bed I woke up in. As we walked back, I checked on my mana core. The purple mana now took up more than half of the total, around one basketball, while the entirety of it was the size of a beach ball. I was curious as to how this all fit into my body, but turned my attention back to the girl helping me take off some of the bandages.

“I'm sorry, but what’s your name?” I asked, trying to be polite. “Oh, I’m Akari. Sorry for not saying that earlier. What’s your name?” Akari asked, holding out her hand. “I’m….not sure.” I said, shaking her hand. “You don’t have a name? How about….. Akuma?” She asked, clearly trying to cheer me up. “Sure.” I said. “I like it.” My name from this day forth was Akuma.

“Oh, you’re awake.” Akai said, phasing through a wall. “I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?” She asked, putting a palm to her mouth. “No, just shut up for a second. It’s hard balancing two conversations.” I thought. “Rude.” She hissed, before walking through the wall she came from.

“Since your body still isn't fully healed, stay here for now. I'll be back once my classes are over.” Akari said before quickly gathering the things on the desk next to my bed and leaving. Not even a millisecond after the door closed behind her, one of the other people who was currently in the room with me, dashed towards me. “So you’re the one they found in the dungeon?” He asked, inspecting my entire body.

“Well, I don’t know what a dungeon is, I just woke up in a cave.” I answered, trying to push him away. “You don’t seem that special, but that's not important.” He said, backing away from me and sitting on the bed opposite mine. “What is your affinity? Or do you have multiple?” He asked, his amber eyes shining slightly. “Uh..” Before I could answer, Akai spoke. “Say fire. It’s the most versatile type of magic.” She appeared, poking her head through the wall behind me.

“I can only use fire.” I said, a slight crack in my voice, I was nervous. I was now talking to someone other than Akai, multiple people actually. “Then it seems we’re twins. Don’t worry, I can teach you the ways of the flame.” He said, puffing his chest out. “Oh, I'm Netsu by the way.” He said. “Akuma.” I replied.

After our introduction, Netsu explained that we were in the infirmary, and that people would come in to heal us everyday. Once he finished explaining, he decided to go lay back down, as he wasn’t in the best health either. As I laid in bed, I stared out the window. The bright blue sky pulled my eyes. I just sat there and didn’t think, I didn’t have to run or hide from anything anymore. I was free. Without realizing it, I drifted to sleep.

I woke up on the floor. Getting back on my bed, I checked my core. The purple was now slightly diminished. Looking at the core bothered me. I wasn’t able to mix the blue and purple, so I started trying to move the purple mana. I wasn’t able to control it like I could my blue mana, so I tried pushing it with my mana, which worked. The purple aura eventually was forced out of the core.

“Argh?!” Immediately after I separated the purple and blue energies, my chest began to burn and sting. It hurt worse than when I used the flame eyes. Giving up on resisting, I laid down and covered myself with the blankets. After what felt like ages, the pain dispersed. Checking the core, I now saw two instead of one. There was my mana core, which now had only blue mana inside of it, and there was a purple core, which had the purple aura. I still wasn’t able to move the aura, so it was useless.

“Hey.” A voice called out. It sounded like me, but not at the same time. “Behind you.” It said, as it could see me looking around. Turning around, I only saw the window, but then I noticed my reflection. It was glaring at me. I moved my hand in front of my face, but my reflection didn’t copy, it was uncanny. “Why did you do that?” My reflection asked, cocking Its head. “Do what?” I thought, so that no one else would hear the words. "Are you going to answer me?” It asked, unable to hear my thoughts. “What did I do?” I whispered. “Tch, never mind.” It said, before returning my reflection.

I released a heavy sigh and looked around the room. Netsu’s bed was now empty, so I assumed he was let out. After a few minutes, someone who looked like a nurse walked into the room, they were holding a clipboard and a pencil. She asked me general questions and checked on my condition.

“Now that you're fully healed, come with me.” She said as she began walking out of the room. Following her, I noticed that all the people around were all wearing a uniform. “This is the headmaster's office, go inside.” She said, leaving before I could ask any questions. I stood outside the door, hesitating.

“Just come on in.” A voice from inside called out.