Ariana slowly opened her eyes. There was a light coming in from the window but the ceiling was not one she was used to. She tried to sit up but her body was sore all over. She winced as she struggled but made it into a sitting position. Ariana looked around and saw that she was actually laying in Gregory"s bed. Next to her was Cayden doubled over on the side of the bed, soundlessly sleeping. Further down the bed was her Lumas, they were sleeping but they looked healthy.By the desk was Edlyn and Lady Zula sleeping against each other as they sat of the floor, a blanket was wrapped around them. "Mom?" Ariana said in a hoa.r.s.e voice. Ariana started to cough. Cayden shot up and he started to mumble incoherently. Gregory walked in and instatnly ran out. "She"s awake!" Cayden finally shouted, stirring everyone into an alert state.
"Here, you will need this." Gregory said as he walked back into the room with a steaming cup of tea. "Thank you." Ariana croaked as she graciously took the cup. "Wait." Cayden said as he took the cup of tea and started to blow on it gently. "You always make things too hot." Cayden grumbled as he blew at Ariana"s tea. "Be gracious enough that I let you stay here." Gregory scowled.
"Mom why are you here?" Ariana asked with a strained voice that broke Lady Zula"s heart. "Of course I"m going to be here. When I got here for family day and found out that you were unconscious.... Well, I beat Gregory first then refused to leave your side." Lady Zula explained. Ariana turned her head to Gregory then rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
Her eyes almost popped out when she noticed the black eye Gregory was sporting. "Here." Cayden said as he pa.s.sed Ariana the tea. "Thanks." She croaked then blushed. She quickly sipped at the tea hoping that her voice would be back to normal soon. Then another thought hit her. "Family day?" She asked as she felt relief. Her voice was getting better. "Ariana you"ve been asleep for 5 days." Edlyn explained. Ariana looked at her tea and remembered Vasu"s warning.
"How bad is it out there?" Ariana asked as she clutched her cup, her hands had started to tremble and she need something to stabilize her. Cayden reached out and touched her hand. Ariana looked up and felt how bad the situation was. "It"s like a cult out there." Gregory sighed breaking the silence. Ariana almost dropped her cup but Cayden kept it from spilling. "Professor Rain wanted to erase everyone"s memories but the Headmaster forbade it." Edlyn explained.
"Why?" Ariana asked. "The priestess showed up. This proved that she was alive and people were excited. He thought that the memory was actually embedded into their hearts and erasing it would create damages beyond repair." Gregory said as he scrunched up his nose. "That"s what that old bat says but it"s not what he means." Cayden growled.
"What do you mean?" Ariana asked. Cayden sighed then urged Ariana to drink more tea. "Word has spread and members of the church want permission to come on to school grounds to inspect the arena." Gregory started to explain. Cayden kept makng Ariana drink the tea as she listened. She was getting annoyed but she couldn"t say anything about it. It was her own fault she was in bed.
"The students are exaggerating the story as the spread it around and family day was pretty much ruined." Edlyn sighed. "MMMMH?!" Ariana said as she chugged back her tea. "Why?!" Ariana asked in a hurry. "Parents got excited and wanted to see the arena for themselves." Gregory said. "But Rain was ordered to seal it until the members of the church come." He continued to explain.
"So families rioted... wait where"s Lobo?" Ariana asked as she looked around the room. Cayden took the cup from Ariana"s hand and tossed it to Gregory. "He"s fine." Cayden said. "That"s not what I asked." Ariana said coldly. Cayden furrowed his eyebrows as he turned to Ariana. "He"s not your boyfriend so why do you care?" He asked coldly that it took Ariana back. "I"m sorry for caring for my friends." Ariana said through clentched teeth.
She then turned to Edlyn. "What happened to Lobo?" Ariana asked. Edlyn averted her gaze as she hugged herself. "Don"t hide things from me." Ariana said flatly as she stared at Edlyn. "No you need to clarify soemthing for me first. Why just ask about Lobo? You have other friends too, yet you only ask about him. What about Viola and what you did to her? Or her familiar? Or the rest of your family that came to visit? Ask about anything else Ariana!" Cayden yelled.
Ariana"s jaw dropped. "Why does it bother you?" Ariana asked in a hushed voice. Cayden looked away as he clicked his tongue. "I"m out of here." Cayden said as he got up. "Cayden wait." Ariana said as she grabbed his sleeve. She looked carefully at his face and felt a sting in her chest. He was so thin and pale, there were dark bags under his eyes. Looking at Cayden made her blankout. "Heh, nothing? Right, I"ll see you later." Cayden said as he yanked his sleeve free.
"If you don"t want to be with me just say so." Cayden said out loud before he stormed out of the room. Ariana froze, she could feel her eyes starting to sting. "Lobo"s my guard... sniff... I put him in danger too because of who I am... sniff... why did he get mad?" Ariana cried as she brushed back her tears with the back of her hand.
"Honey... Lobo"s family showed up and took him away as for Cayden.... give him some time. He just lost his best friend and his fiancee." Lady Zula said gently. Ariana looked up, tears still spilled out as her mouth slacked. "What?" Ariana asked. "It"s true. Lobo"s family demanded Lobo to take a leave and then was taken away." Edlyn explained. "No I get that. I"m actually relieved but what is this about a fiancee?" Ariana asked.
Lady Zula looked at Ariana pitifully. Gregory pulled Edlyn and the Lumas out of the room, leaving Lady Zula alone with Ariana. Lady Zula sat on the bed and gently brushed a few strands of Ariana"s hair behind her ear. "Sweety, you were Cayden"s fiancee...."