Time passed with tears flooding down Nathan's pained eyes. This moment was interrupted by Oscar. He quickly apologized and closed the door behind him. Nathan rushed out of the bathroom in order to confront him about what he saw, but as soon as he turned, he saw Oscar being accompanied by the others.
They all looked at his shaken expression. His eyes looked redder than before, constricted pupils, heavier breathing, and sweat mixed with tears all over his face. Faced with shame, he ran away from their view.
[Damn it, why!? Why am I like this? Why can't I do something right for fucksakes?
Emotional turmoil fueled his heart and mind as he kept running. As he got to the school gates, a familiar voice kept calling to him. His body reacted instantly after hearing it. He turned his attention to see a worried face from its owner. It came from Eliana, his mother.
"Mom."
She rushed over and closely held onto him.
"I got a call from the school saying that there was an emergency. Before I got here, I saw from afar how devastated your school was, and it got me worried." She took a look at Nathan's appearance and gasped.
"What happened to your clothes, your face, and your hands! What happened to you in there?"
Her questioning was interrupted by Noah chasing after him after running off on them.
"There you are (heavy breathing), I tried to catch up to you, but damn (heavy breathing), you run fast. Oh, hey, Ms.Valen."
She let go of Nathan and started talking with Noah about what happened. Just as Noah started explaining, Eleanor came to them.
"Nathan, can we talk?" she said with worry in her voice. Eliana noticed Nathan's hesitation and left, telling them both to finish in 10 minutes while she talked with Noah about the events that occurred.
Awkward silence overtook any sort of conversation they might've had, and it reigned for 4 minutes before Eleanor broke its hold on them.
"How are you feeling?"
Nathan responded in a tired, raspy voice, "I'm fine."
"You don't sound fine."
"Would a smile convince you?"
She sighed.
"Fine, I'll rephrase. Are you Okay?"
"I-I don't think so…maybe not now, but someday. I don't know."
"Then, changing topics, why did you run back there. We were worried about you and just as we got by the headmaster's office, 2 people got out there with a woman crying her eyes out, so we asked-."
Nathan found his voice and interrupted her, and asked, "Do you mean Harry's parents?"
"Was that them? Never knew how they looked, but his mom held onto something in her hands and was crying on it."
"I see."
"Is this about Harry?
"How could it not be?"
"I'm sorry I didn't mean anything by it, it's just… all too much to process."
"Yeah…"
Their conversation was cut short by an Imperial guard.
"Ms. Ravencroft, Captain Ravencroft is calling for you by the entrance."
As the guard mentioned, he is waiting for her, but was talking with Captain Cedric and Headmaster Celestia.
"I guess that's my cue."
"Yeah, bye."
"Wait, Nathan."
She quickly grabbed his hand as soon as he was about to leave.
"There's still so much we need to talk about. I'm sorry about Harry. I know what I say can't help right now, but for now, it's the least I can do."
"It's not your fault, Ella. If only I did something differently, then maybe… maybe this all could've ended differently."
Their soft words felt intertwined with one another as they held hands, but a dark, overwhelming figure towered over Eleanor. Without even looking at him, Nathan and Eleanor knew who it was just from his presence alone.
"It's a pleasure to meet you again, Captain Ravencroft."
"Nathaniel Valen. I wish I could say the same about you."
The atmosphere completely changed in the academy from the relief of parents to grim. Captain Ravencroft stepped in front of Eleanor and separated both their hands from each other, but still firmly held Nathan's.
"If I remember correctly, I instructed a guard to call her over. To my surprise, she's occupied with holding hands with you."
"Can you blame her for wanting better company?"
Eleanor yelled out his name before the chilling Captain tightened his grip on Nathan's hand. Ravencroft used his ice magic to create tiny pricks in his hand, which felt like cold thorns piercing Nathan's. This overwhelming sensation brought Nathan to his knees.
"Respecting superiors is a prerequisite. If no respect is shown from those beneath, then there is no order. And if there is no order, then there can only be problems. As a Captain, I must uphold such order with punishment for those who caused it."
Eleanor tried easing his tension.
"Captain, please let him go!"
He ignored her plea and squeezed a bit harder, which led to Nathan grunting even louder from pain. The cold-icy pricks felt like Nathan's nerves were under attack, which caused his arm to grow numb.
"Please, Captain!"
Her pleas were in vain with him still staring down an overpowered Nathan, until finally a stern voice from behind commanded him to stop. He turned to see both Captain Cedric and Headmaster Celestia with fierce looks in their eyes. Cedric stepped forward and demanded that he release Nathan.
"I won't ask again, Lukas."
"What the hell did you just call me?"
Ravencroft fell into a pool of infuriation after hearing his name being called out in public. Just as he was about to respond, a ferocious slap swept across his face. Everyone around was stunned after seeing this. He slowly turned to see who the slap belonged to, and it was Eliana Valen.