The Other Side of Darkness

Malleus Draconia

Episode 5: Chapter 66~67

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Lev groaned and slowly tried to open her eyes. Her eyelids felt like they were glued together and her muscles barked in protest as she tried to move them. Finally, she was able to open them. She first saw her friends standing above her, looks of relief and worry etched onto their faces.

"...Hey..." she groaned. Her throat was parched and scratchy. "What did I miss?"

"LEV!" Grim cried, shoving his face into her neck and holding on to her tightly. "You're alive! You're alive!" 

"Don't scare us like that!" Ace shouted. He and Deuce followed Grim's actions and embraced her. 

Lev chuckled, but the action hurt. "...Hey...guys...tight..."

"Back off!" Jamil ordered, shoving the boys off of her. "She's still weak from the poison! Do you want to kill her?!" 

"S-sorry," the males gasped.

Jamil rolled his eyes and helped Lev sit up. Every part of her shouted in pain and she had to lean against him to avoid falling flat on her face.

"Are you okay?" the Scarabia vice dorm head asked. 

She nodded. "I'll be fine." 

"Leeeev!" Kalim wailed. "You're okay! You're both okay! Thank goodness!" 

Both of us?

"V-Vil," Lev croaked. "Is he..." 

"I'm right here," Vil said, sitting beside Jamil and softly smiling down at her. "Stay calm. We're going to get you help. Don't hurt yourself any further." 

She nodded. "O...okay." 

Vil stood up and turned to the group, his smile had vanished. "I feel like I must apologize. I showed you all my ugliest appearance. I...I was awful. I'm sorry."

Epel chuckled. "You're right. 'Only three year old children are allowed to throw a tantrum'. Isn't that what you told me?"

"Epel," Lev scolded. "Be nice." 

Vil shook his head. "No. He's right. I was childish and couldn't even follow my own advice. I don't deserve to be the leader of this team anymore."

"Wrong," Rook said loudly. "Yes, you have made mistakes, but haven't we all? And look, Leviline is alive and well, so you haven't caused too much trouble."

"Yeah!" Kalim agreed, grinning. "You can come back from this! I'll even help you!" The two beamed at Vil.

The Pomefiore Dorm Head chuckled. "I will never understand any of you."

Lev looked around, ignoring the blistering pain in her neck. "Well, it looks like you all had quite the fight." The stage was completely destroyed. The large screen was shattered and stray pieces of broken stone was strewn across the ground. 

Deuce looked at the ground, ashamed. "...Yeah. Sorry about that. Without you, the fight was pretty tough. Please don't leave us to fight a monster ever again."

The Ramshackle Prefect gave him a weak smile. "I'll try, but no promises. I'm just glad no one was hurt."

Jamil nodded. "However," he paused and surveyed the area, "I have no idea how we're going to fix this all in time for the VDC. It would take a miracle."

"No way..." Epel groaned. "Does that  mean that the VDC will be cancelled?" 

"There has to be something we can do," Ace protested.