Aftermath

The Fool Arc

The convention center was in disarray. There was a huge, confused crowd. There was screaming. An overwhelming rush of fear and chaos, but being slowly directed by pre-created calming methods and emergency plans into a state of calm.

“Attention attendees. There has been an incident on the premises. The roof in convention hall A has collapsed. Please head to the evacuation points now. This is not a drill, please head to-” A soothing female voice says over the loudspeakers, and soon enough people begin filing out, confused, concerned, shaken… but none seem too badly wounded.

Already gathering outside are some ambulances. Paramedics immediately begin setting up triage, but to the slow growing relief, injuries seem limited. It’s mostly cuts and bruises. There’s one or two broken bones, but nothing major. Not yet.

♥ Magical Girl Rinrin ♥

“Did… did we do it?” I say, coughing. I’m covered in concrete dust, my hair is mostly grey. Something had hit me, and it ached like hell.

“T-Tama?” I say, looking around. Memories are coming back to me in pieces. I try to stand, shaking, and let out a cry. I look down at myself. I’m wearing the school uniform I stepped out in that morning. It’s torn, battered. There’s blood. A piece of rebar pipe is jutting out into my thigh.

Dimly, I’m aware of a call over the loudspeakers.

“-Roof in convention hall A has collapsed. Please head to the evacuation points now.” It says, a repeating message. I block it out and try to stand again. Nearby, an electrical light hisses and pops. I try to summon the energy to transform, but am met with a dull ache as my body, too tired and stressed, is unable to comply.

I sit up, bracing my arms, and pull myself off the spike, screaming in pain. I feel dizzy and nauseous as blood pours out. Finally able to move, I struggle to stand and instead crawl over the debris.

“A-Anya…” I say, coughing and spluttering, dust racking my lungs and scratching my throat. I find my way to her. She’d been right behind the creature when that explosion happened. I find her lying nearby. She looks like she’s sleeping peacefully, but her breaths are shallow and she’s covered in dust and debris.

“Hey…” I look down at her. At least I’m not the only one who was dressed for school pre-transformation. I check her body. She’s bleeding badly from the head. I grab her around the stomach and start moving her carefully.

“Come on… we’ve got to get out of here. The whole building’s about to collapse.” I whisper to her. Her eyelids flutter, but there’s no other sign of acknowledgement.

I begin walking, carrying her bridal style, and then look back and see it. Or rather, see him.

In clothing far more shredded than mine or Anya’s, breathing slowly, is a young man. He’s lying on top of the pile of debris. I don’t hesitate, there’s no time. I place Anya against the open door and yell out.

“HEY! Got injured in here!” I startle one of the people near the door.
“Call for help!” I add, then walk back in. Grabbing the man under the arms, I pull him slowly out from the debris pile. He’s much heavier than Anya, and I curse that I can’t seem to transform right now.

As I remove him, another piece of debris falls from the roof and slams into the ground where his head had been. Strange. Looking up at the roof, I can’t see where it fell from. That thought occurs in my head for a short while before I sag to the ground by the door. I leave the man next to it and crawl over to Anya. My consciousness is ebbing away slowly, so I grab her tightly in my arms and call out again.

“Help! Please… someone.” I say. Darkness slowly envelopes my vision again. This time, I can’t fight it. There’s not enough adrenaline left to power onwards. As the world begins to darken around the edges, I hear footsteps running up to me. Oh. Good.

Someone heard me.

Someone…

*            *            *

There’s a few sounds in a hospital that let you know where you are. There’s the beeping of heart monitors, for one. And the scuffling of soft shoes on the floor. Then there’s quiet whispering, and gentle sleeping sounds from around you.

There’s also the smells, too. Everything smells of the most generic scentless antibacterial soap. And crisp sheets. I look down and am aware that my leg is bandaged and suspended in some sort of stirrup. I’m also aware of a more familiar smell than the cheap antibacterial soap. There’s a cheap perfume smell that was the subject of a fierce argument, there’s the classier scent of a more expensive one mingling in, and also a simple deodorant.

A hand ruffles my hair as I look up at my big brother.
“Oh… hey, aren’t you at college right now?” I say, blearily.
“Well, some dumb kid got herself hurt, so I had to come laugh.” There’s a cry of surprise and I’m hugged by two pairs of arms, as my big sis and mother come in, tears making my bedding wet.

“Hey!” I say, struggling to get them off, and laughing.
“Come on, it’s not that bad.” I try to lighten the mood. My mother leans back and gives a laugh-snort-cry noise, brushing her long hair out of her face. It’s the same color as mine and bro’s… sis inherited dad’s, the odd one out. What an odd thing to think about right now.

“Ugh! Why does my idiot little sister have to be such a stupid tomboy!” Big sis moans, leaning back and grabbing a tissue from the box by my bedside.
“They mentioned you on the news, you know. ‘Hero Middle Schooler saves two from roof collapse at convention hall’.” Bro says, rubbing the back of his head.
“Do you remember anything?” Mom asks. I hesitate, then shake my head.
“Not much.” I pause, and look over the room. There’s a couple of other beds, mostly unoccupied. Each one has a small bedside table- mine has a card that seems to have been sent by my classmates, and I feel a twinge of guilt at having not gone to school for a while now. Then I see another sleeping figure.
“Anya!” I call out, and receive a light flick on the head from sis.
“Not so loud! It’s a hospital.” Mom says, sighing.
“Okay but like, she’s alright, isn’t she?” I ask, mom nods.
“She was eating pudding earlier, and waiting for you to wake up. Seems she wants to thank you. You really do have your father’s knack for making fast friendships.”

I let out a small laugh. It feels unreal, now, to be so safe. But here I am, and it feels like everything’s the same and completely different all at once. I can’t tell my family about how we actually met, or what I’d been doing with my evenings. It’s still comforting to know that they’re here. For now, at least, everything’s alright.

I cast my thoughts to the others. And while my family are discussing the situation, look down into my hand.

There’s a card in it. Crumpled, burned, the top missing.

I peer at it. It’s a familiar weight. I hadn’t even noticed I’d been holding onto it.

On it, the image of a dancing man, and a dog.

Simple words across the bottom. I run my thumb across them.

“Card 0, The Fool”

This isn’t over.