Nagan | Broken Time Series: Book One

Chapter 36

The first thing he was aware of was the glaring brightness of the room. He tried to roll over to his side and pull the blanket over his eyes, but then he was suddenly aware of how sore he was. It was as if he was trampled by Miro. Frustrated, he found it easier to throw his arm over his eyes with a groan.

Someone to his side chuckled and stood up, and the sound of curtains drawing soon followed. The room became a little darker, though still let light through.

What happened?

Nagan removed his arm from across his eyes and slowly blinked them open. This is not my room...he thought as he glanced around. It was a simple room, and definitely smaller than the usual dorm rooms. He soon recognized it as one of the infirmary rooms. There was a slight shift to his left, and he turned to see what it was.

It was Az somehow sleeping in a chair next to the bed he laid on. It didn't look very comfortable. He was about to try to wake his friend up and tell him to go sleep in a real bed, but a voice to his right alerted him of the other person in the room.

"How do you feel, Nagan?"

Nagan turned his head to the right and saw Master Dagmire standing to the side leaning against the wall. He had a small smile on his face, yet his eyes were sharp. The last time he had seen that look was when he poked a little too far into strange magics while trying to search for answers.

"...Sore...for the most part." His throat felt dry and there was an odd pain at the back of his mouth. Words became slightly muddled due to restricted use, but he wanted to know why Master Dagmire was looking at him that way. "What happened? Why am I here?"

Master Dagmire raised a brow and his smile vanished, causing Nagan to flinch back slightly. His tone was severe but conveyed concern, "Do you not remember?"

"I--" Nagan stopped himself before he said anything more. He did not remember but was conscious of something missing in his memories. No...his memories were there, but something was blocking them. Was it himself? Wanting to know what he was missing, he carefully evaluated his surroundings and what he did remember. He was currently in the medical wing, his tongue and throat felt sore, and his hand was bandaged. That doesn't really explain anything, he thought to himself with a grimace, so he decided to filter through memories. Yesterday went by normally, completed his homework, had a small verbal spat with Az...not particularly unusual except for the fact it felt more aggressive than it needed to be...and then he laid awake until he was sure Az was asleep. But why? What was he waiting for?

He suddenly stiffened before trying to cover it up with a cough. He remembered what he did now, and he wanted to get as far away from Master Dagmire as he could. Though it was too late. Judging by the slight shift of the Headmaster's feet, he had noticed his little blunder. Better now that never, and his flight reaction kicked in.

Ignoring the pain that flared through every inch of his body, he flung the covers that were over him to Master Dagmire, hoping it would hinder his movement and give him enough time to reach the door. His plan had worked, though not nearly as much as he had hoped. He heard the man behind him stumble for a second, but as soon as he reached for the handle he felt a hand grab him by the arm and he jerked back with a startled shout.

Nagan began to shake his head knowing he had been caught, his words coming out in a panicked rush. "You have to believe me, I wasn't there for the reason you think! I had no choice! I didn't mean for any of this to happen! Please believe me--" he was cut off by a terrible pain behind his tongue and began to cough fiercely as blood leaked down his throat. Was he still under the hooded man's spell? Had he said too much?

"Nagan, you need to calm down," Master Dagmire urged firmly and held on to the boy tightly as he continued to try pulling away. "Nagan listen to me! You need to calm down before you hurt yourself!"

Nagan was vaguely aware of someone talking in alarm behind them and of the door opening, but all he could focus on was the need to get away from there. It didn't fully register that Master Dagmire had taken him by both arms and now stood in front of him, leaning down as to get him to look at him.

"Look at me."

Master Dagmire's voice was commanding, yet gentle. Nagan found himself relaxing slightly, and the grip on his arms lessened.

"Good," he said and began to lead Nagan back to the bed to get him to sit down. Once the boy sat, he released his grip and rubbed his arms to get the boy to calm down further. "Take deep breaths. You are not in trouble," he promised.

A bowl of a plum-colored liquid was pushed in front of Nagan's face, and he looked up at who was passing it to him in confusion. He immediately recognized the soothing smile of Nurse Marvi and the nervous fidgeting of Az in the background. The commotion must have alerted both of them.

"Drink this," Nurse Marvi said gently and placed the bowl in his hands. "It'll make your throat feel better."

Without a word or complaint, he drank the sour-tasting liquid and passed the bowl back to her.

"Better?"

He hesitated before nodding. "A bit."

She hummed before sending a disapproving stare in the direction of a now sheepish Headmaster. "It'll become better over time as long as our dear Headmaster here doesn't do anything more to rile you up. Please refrain from shouting. Your tongue isn't in the best shape after such a crude job of cutting that small bit of dark magic out and an even cruder job of healing it." With that, she left, shutting the door behind her tightly.

A long silence followed as the three left in the room wondered what was to be done now.

"Well," Master Dagmire began, "I apologize for coming off as angry. You truly aren't in any trouble. Where you were and what you were doing were indeed suspicious, but I believe you have your own side of the story to tell before any clear judgement can be made."

Nagan's shoulders slumped forward as he nodded in confirmation. "There's so much that needs to be said..."