Chapter 2: Strange Girl
Those strong winds had hurt his eardrums badly, and Wyll winced as spikes of pain rang in his ears, followed by warm, trickling blood. The nurse was not present when he arrived at the school's infirmary. In the meantime, he decided to look around the room and find something to alleviate his pain. The nurses' office was immaculate, just like the rest of the school. It even smelled clean, like it had just been mopped. Bright afternoon light shone in through the windows. Comfortable chairs were placed along the wall, facing several beds, each covered with white curtains. He slowly approached the large glass cabinets that housed an array of medicines, neatly organized in alphabetical order with bright yellow labels.
'Painkillers...painkillers.' He rummaged through one of the cabinets to stop the pain in his ears.
Wyll snatched up the painkillers and popped two in his mouth. Almost instantly, the pain in his ears dulled. Sighing with relief, he crashed back into a chair, sinking into the soft fabric. He felt terrible, and his now messy uniform felt highly uncomfortable on his skin. He didn't want to wait for the nurse but couldn't head back to the arena with bleeding ears.
He closed his eyes, replaying the match against Carmine in his head. It had been a struggle but not difficult. The crowd's reaction is what he kept coming back to, though.
Why had they not cheered for him? It was a dumb question since he already knew why, but he couldn't help but ask himself. They didn't cheer because they didn't want their golden child prince to lose. He was a special little snowflake, an Aligned chosen by the stars above.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. All that power backed him, and he still failed. What a damned joke of a warrior.
Yet he knew. He knew that all the talk of his match would be about Carmine.
'Did you see when Nicolas called on the power of Apus itself?'
'It was so awesome; I wish I could be like him!'
'The winds were so strong! I could feel them up in the stands!'
His face seethed with silent fury. He hated them. All of them. No one would ever recognize his glory...unless he made them see. He had to make them see him as more than a kid from the lesser districts.
He opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling. He had to stomp those childish thoughts out as soon as possible. Wyll needed to focus; he was here for an education. He was here to fulfill his dad's legacy. It was all his father had told him. To succeed where he failed.
'No time for fantasy, this is reality...' or whatever his dad had said. Sometimes, he wished he had listened to more of the countless lines his father had constantly tried to drill into his head.
His ears were still slowly bleeding, and no one was coming. He didn't understand why the medical ward was so empty. The exhibition matches were supposed to be dangerous, and students never walked away unscathed.
So why wasn't the school nurse here doing their job?
Wyll sat up and stretched. The ringing had faded, and the blood had begun to dry. Maybe he would just head back to the arena and tough it out. He wiped the blood on his sleeves and headed for the door.
As he stepped into the doorway, he came face-to-face with the same piercing blue eyes that always seemed to be watching him. The owner of those eyes greeted him with a smile that felt more like a sneer. Now that she was leaning against the doorframe, he could get a better view of her. She stared at him with that fake smile, and he couldn't help but feel like she was looking straight into his soul.
She was gorgeous, with smooth, tanned skin and curly hair cascading down her shoulders. Her uniform was still as crisp as before, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with her. A slight spike of fear skittered down Wyll's spine every time he looked at her.
"You put on quite a show out there, Love." Her voice was sweet and cheery, but he couldn't shake the unease in his gut. "Honestly, I didn't think you'd win."
"What do you want?" Wyll curtly replied, trying to suppress the fear in his chest.
"No need to be so rude, Love." She stepped into the room, not taking her eyes off of him. "You interest me, that's all."
"Don't call me that. Who are you?" He took a few steps back as she approached, still trying to hold a stern expression.
Her smile widened when she saw him moving backward. "You can call me...Giana. Nice to make your acquaintance, Wyll."
"I wish I could say the same." Wyll's eyes narrowed. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm returning to the arena." He advanced, trying to move around her.
Giana took another step toward him, reaching out and pressing a hand to his chest and pushing him back. "Just a second, Wyll. I came here to talk to you, after all."
His willpower flared as she pushed him. "Move out of my way." His glare tightened.
She laughed at him. "Please, Love. Let's not. We're friends, aren't we?"
It must've been his imagination, but he could've sworn the room got darker.
"Hell no! I don't even know who you are." Wyll hadn't meant to yell, but his nerves were on edge. He still couldn't figure out why. "Why are you even in my way?"
"Well, firstly, I told you who I am. I'm Giana. And secondly, as I have said, I'm in your way because you interest me." She said easily.
Wyll didn't want to humor this strange girl, but he knew deep down that a fight was not the best idea when he was hurt.
"Interest you how?" He responded warily.
She kept that smug expression and said, "You just do. Isn't that enough?"
"Are you allergic to straight answers?" Wyll questioned.
Giana rolled her eyes and said, "Maybe I am. So?"
"I'm tired of this. Get out of the way so I can go back to watching the matches." Wyll's fear was starting to turn into irritation.
"Not yet." She sat herself down in one of the soft chairs. "We aren't done talking."
"There is nothing left to talk about. Bye." Wyll started towards the door.
"Oh, I think there is...," Giana smirked, crossing her legs. "Let's say...a little secret concerning dear old dad?"
Wyll froze and turned to face her.
"What information do you have about my father?" he asked, his tone firm.
"The esteemed Lin Lovefield. A decorated war hero who was dismissed because he was deemed...mentally unwell." Her finger drummed against the arm of her chair. "Though between you and me, we both know that's such a...drab reason."
He glared at her and scoffed. "Rumors aren't going to get you anywhere."
"Oh...but they will, Wyll." She chuckled. "Your father had quite an intense reaction to being dismissed. Bruised you up pretty badly, I reckon?" Giana scanned him up and down before she kept talking.
"Let's spice up our little story. Say word got out that this 'prized hero' got dismissed on...wait for it..." She raised her finger for a dramatic pause. "Murder charges! You know, twelve soldiers were found dead near enemy lines a week or so before his dismissal...So tragic as well as convenient."
Wyll's eyes widened, and Giana nodded. " See? You understand. Now, how would the school feel if their little 'legacy admission' heard they had such a brutal murderer for a father?"
"That's not true! What the hell are you even saying?!" Wyll's temper flared, and vines burst from the ground at his feet. "They'll never believe you."
"Be careful with your willpower, Love. You don't have much to spare in a fight," she said smugly.
He clenched his jaw, tugging at his collar as she spoke. "And while this rumor may be a stretch, I can be very convincing," she grinned.
"Up to you, Wyll. This rumor can either tarnish your father's legacy and get you kicked out of this school...or it can go away. Could you give me a little favor in exchange for my silence?" She winked at him, and veins pulsed on his forehead. "You don't want your father to be a murderer AND a child beater, do you?"
"Why are you doing this to me?!" Wyll yelled.
"Calm down, calm down. Don't be so dramatic." Giana resumed her drumming on the chair's arm. "This is simply a means to an end."
Before Wyll could open his mouth, Giana cut him off. "Before you ask, no, I won't tell you what the 'end' is."
He had no choice. Despite Wyll's anger, he knew he couldn't fight this girl. He had no idea how strong she was or what she could do. However, there was a simple solution to this dilemma. All he needed to do was play along until he had enough strength to silence her.
He sighed in resignation. "What favor do you want from me?"
Giana smiled wickedly. "Agree to help me whenever I ask, that's all." She stood up and walked over to Wyll.
She reached out her hand and asked, "Do we have a deal, Love?"
He reluctantly took her hand and replied, "Deal. For now, that is."
Giana's face lit up as she said, "Awesome! But I have one more small request to make."
He responded with a scowl, "Fine, what is it?"
She hesitated and said, "Please don't get too angry with me for this." Then, she let his hand go and let her hands drop to her sides.
"You've already made me angry enough-" Giana whipped something from nowhere as he spoke. Wyll didn't know how he couldn't have seen it before.
Giana was pointing a bright white megaphone at him. The horn of the megaphone was adorned with various stickers, charms, and rhinestones in a circle. He noticed a name pasted on the side in pastel blue, but she squeezed the trigger before he could read it.
"Be seeing you, Wyll!" Giana said with a cheery smile.
The sound that echoed from the megaphone was unlike any sound Wyll had heard. He sensed a strong willpower in the sound, adding to its strangeness. It was a whisper, yet it rang in his ears. The sound washed over him, lapping at his brain and stinging his eyes. It crawled over his skin, picking at every receptor. Finally, the smell hit him. It was a sulfurous smell, biting at his nostrils.
He blinked, trying to get the stinging out of his eyes, and rubbed his burning nose.
When he opened his eyes, he was hit by a barrage of colors and lights, swirling around him in a chaotic mass. The room, which he recognized as the nurse's office, was engulfed by this phantasmagoria. The smell of sulfur was so strong that it clogged his nose, making it hard to breathe. The loud circus music blasting through the room was adding to the confusion, making it impossible to focus. He felt disoriented and couldn't tell where the colors ended, and the floor began. His nerves were shot, and he couldn't feel anything.
Despite touching things, he couldn't tell what they were.
Was he even touching anything?
Frantically, he rubbed at his eyes, desperate to scrub the burning colors out of his vision. However, this only worsened them, and he started swinging wildly in frustration. He touched some things but still didn't know what they were. Pills? Glass? Wood? He couldn't tell.
That strange girl, Giana, was a formidable force to be reckoned with. And he hated her. Oddly, he didn't hate her because she had appeared out of nowhere to threaten his way of life before it even began. No, he hated her because he couldn't understand her.
Why had she even asked for that whole favor deal?
What was she playing towards?
Who even was she?
He didn't know. And that terrified him.
Gradually, the dizzying sensation subsided, and the office came back into view. What he saw was a complete wreck. The once pristine white walls were now webbed with deep cracks, and the windows on the back wall were shattered and scattered on the floor. The beds were overturned, with one split in two, and the curtains were in tatters, hanging from the ceiling like cobwebs.
As he looked around, he caught a whiff of ivy, and his gaze settled on the medicine cabinet against the far wall. The cabinet was completely overgrown with vines, which had shattered the glass and spilled the contents all over the floor. The medicines within were broken and leaking, some bubbling against the ivy's thick vines.
And then, as if things couldn't get any worse, he noticed that his meteor hammer was buried in the other two cabinets. The twine at its end had been split in many places, and he knew that trying to lift the heavy brass weight would snap it. Seeing his prized possession in such a sorry state only added to his dismay and confusion.
This was a crime scene that he needed to flee. However, as he turned to the door, it opened.
Suddenly, a woman in a white lab coat burst in with a group of injured students in tow. She had been speaking to them about safety or some related topic. As the students caught sight of the state of the nurse's office, their mouths fell open in shock and disbelief.
"What in the..." The nurse's eyebrows furrowed. "What happened in here?!"
Wyll, in a pure moment of panic, grabbed his hammer by the weight, shoved it through the students and nurse, and sprinted down the hallway.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Bread_Box_2947
Bread_Box_2947 Phewwww...Writing makes me nervous if I'm being honest.
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