Superhuman: Dawn of Power

Phantom Heart

Red had wondered away from the group for a bit, claiming that she just needed some rest. Even though a certain professor could just look inside her mind and see what's wrong, she knew that he would be too embarrassed to do so.

"Red, wait up!"

She turned to see Ackley, face tinted a light red. "Did I miss anything?" He asked her. Considering the fact that he'd only just returned from mourning, he had no idea about where she was going. Nobody did.

"No, we parted for the day," Red told him. "I'm heading... to see Sanlo. For a chat. A friendly one. Nothing too serious." She was thankful that it had been Ackley running into her and not Dai - he would've probably cried and ratted her trip out to Carlen.

Ackley beamed and showed Red the bag he had hidden behind his back. "Oh, that's great! I needed to see the nurse anyway... I was in the botanical gardens, you see, and-"

"Yeah, you told us in class yesterday..." Red murmured quietly. Ackley had often shown everyone his little pet projects in the botanical gardens, which often involved various experiments with the plants inside. Red didn't mind them - although they had been annoying Pizza lately, so she was starting to feel cautious whenever he brought them up.

"Some of the students here suffer from anxiety or stress and I wanted to help with that," Ackley explained, "So went through all of my plants to find the ones that calmed me down the most. Hopefully Sanlo can use them to find out what makes them so calming!"

Red had slowly begun to drift away from the conversation, opting to continue walking to the medical ward. Ackley followed and continued to go on and on about his plants, including Terrance, the little Venus flytrap he kept by his windowsill.

When they (finally, much to Red's joy) arrived at the medical ward, Ackley excused himself to quickly get his plants ready. Red realised that this was probably the only alone time she was going to get and jogged up to Sanlo, the academy's nurse.

Sanlo was in the middle of changing a bed sheet, but Red knew that she would have to interrupt her either way. "Hey, Sanlo-"

"San - Is this another one of your excuses to get a day off classes, Red - Lo?" Sanlo had a tendency to begin and end her sentences with a certain tic of hers, but Red didn't mind. Sanlo's skin was replaced with that akin to a reptile's, so it wasn't the first thing people noticed about her.

"No, it's actually a serious this time, I swear-!" Red chuckled, only stopping when the heartburn appeared again. "I... have this really aching heartburn. Like, not like the normal kind."

Sanlo frowned and gestured for Red to sit down, which she did. "San - When did this start happening - Lo?"

"Oh, right when I fired this weird gun thingy. I found it in a display case earlier today... only it didn't fire a bullet. It fired a shadow or something at both me and the target," Red explained, "I was going to tell the professor... but you know what he's like. He'd be overcome with worry."

Sanlo's lip trembled as Red described the events. "San - I may need to inform Clarence about this..." She began, "... Did this weapon, per chance, have a unique silver and gold lining to it - Lo?"

"How did you know?" Red grinned. "It was sealed away in some neat glass before I broke it. But do you have to tell the professor? I'm sure it's not that big of a deal-"

"San - It is if that gun is what I think it is-! Sanlo started to show signs of panic, much to Red's confusion. "I... have to tell Clarence... I do hope that target isn't too big of a deal - Lo..."