Desmond slowly opened his eyes and found himself on a hospital bed. He looked to the side and saw a figure standing beside him. He couldn't see very well due to his hazy vision. He fluttered his eyes shut before blinking a few times to clear the blurriness and looked again to see someone wearing a white lab cot.
"Oh, you're awake."
Desmond gazed at the person, a trace of confusion drawn on his face.
"How are you feeling?"
"I... think I'm okay. How'd I end up here?" He asked and tried sitting up but felt a sharp pain in his head. He flinched and lied back down.
"Don't.... You have to get enough rest. You took quite a beating." Desmond realized he had new bandages wrapped around both arms.
"I'm quite surprised you were able to defeat a demon in your situation. It might have been a low grade but you did quite well. In fact, you were amazing."
"Wait how did you-"
"I saw the video." The doctor said and took out his phone.
"Video?" The doctor showed him the video of the fight.
"Oh." Was all he could say while watching the video. "Umm, how long have I been asleep?"
He asked still watching. He couldn't take his eyes off the phone.
"Uuh, fourteen to fifteen hours. I think."
"Really?" His eyes moved down the screen and fell on something. He widened his eyes in shock.
"What the heck. 25K views in only fourteen to fifteen hours." His jaws dropped at the number of views the video had hit in such a short time.
"Wh- what on earth...?"
"Hey calm down. Don't get too excited okay?"
"I'm not excited I'm just shocked."
"Is that so? I take it you're excited 'cause you're famous now."
"Uh.... W- well, w- wait...." He suddenly noticed something and looked around with a look a look of worry.
"where's the red haired guy? Where's Emmanuel?"
"He left a while ago."
"H- what?"
"Yeah. He seemed more okay than you are. Frankly speaking, he seems to be used to his power. I'm sure he's been doing intensive training ever since his onyx awakened. But it seemed like he was unable to unlock his ability until the fight last night."
"I see."
"But yours was different. Your onyx awakened and you unlocked your ability all in one night. You're really lucky. Such cases are rare you know?"
"Huh!"
"I think you should also start training intensely with your power as well. Your first year as a warrior student begins a few months from now, which leads us to enter new year."
"Huh?" Desmond looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"I've already started working on your doctor's approval forms so all you have to do is train. Your body seems to be fit enough to handle the power. If not, there's no telling if you'd have survived in your last fight. For now all you have to do is train train with your power."
"Yeah, you're right. What I did back there was probably just a fluke." He looked into his palm. "So I'm gonna work very hard till I can fight like that again someday." He curled his fingers into a fist and smirked with a look of determination.
"No. I'm gonna get even stronger." He thought. "So that I can stand at the top. I want to become the strongest warrior to have ever lived. And then... I'll fulfill my promise to them."
"Thank you so much doc." Desmond said and turned back to the doctor again.
"No need to thank me. I'm just doing my job." The doctor said and started walking away. " Oh, and before I go, you have visitors." He said and opened the door.
"You can come in now." As he said that, two adults walked in. A golden haired lady and an white haired guy.
"Mom! Dad!"
"Son!" They both rushed to his side and his mother held his hands, crying uncontrollably.
"Are you okay?" She asked. "Are you hurt? Do you feel pains in any part of your-"
"Mom!" He caught her attention. "I'm okay." He said with a smile. "There's no need for you to worry. I'm fine, really." His mother couldn't stop the tears from rolling down her face.
"Thank goodness." She said and hugged him.
"You got us worried sick." His father said and placed one hand on his shoulder.
"I'm glad you're okay." He smiled and gave Desmond a warm squeeze.
"But.... how'd you get into that fight in the first place?" Desmond flinched at that question.
"Umm... There was a... little girl in caught up in an alley with a dar-tandemon and... There were no warriors around. I wanted to run away in the beginning but... I just couldn't. She was crying... trembling... scared. I just couldn't leave her there. It was about to kill her and the next thing I knew... I had already thrown a punch at it and I only realized that after I'd done it. I'm sorry if I made you worry." He explained looking down.
"It's okay just... Be a little more careful next time." His father said with a reassuring smile.
"But I'm proud of you." His father grinned as he said that.
Desmond smiled at his father's words
"Thanks Dad."
"You should rest now. We'll come pick you up later okay?" His mother told him and stood up, wiping the remaining tears off her face.
Desmond nodded with a hum and waved as he watched them walk out of the room.
He then laid back down, millions of thoughts rushing through his mind as he kept gazing up at the ceiling. After a while, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep but then, he heard the door open. He turned his head slightly to the side to see a certain red haired little girl standing by the opened door.
"You... You are...." He trailed off as the girl ran to him with tears in her eyes. She jumped on him the moment she got there and hugged him tightly.
"Aargh. It hurts."
"You're okay. I'm so glad that you're okay." She said in tears. Desmond looked down at her before he smiled and hugged her back.
"I... I'm glad I got to save you."
"Really?" The girl sniffed.
"Wasn't I just a burden to you?" She said through sniffs and looked up at Desmond.
"Not at all. I actually wanted to run in the beginning but... I just couldn't. I just couldn't leave while you were in danger." He gave her a big smile. "If I hadn't done that, I wouldn't have been able to save you and... My onyx would have never awakened." The girl just kept staring at him in silence through his speech. "I... I'm glad you're okay." Fresh tears formed in the girl's eyes and she buried her face in Desmond's chest, letting the tears out. They stayed like that in silence for a while until the girl calmed down.
"Umm... Could you get off me... please? My chest hurts." Desmond pleaded with a slight look of pain evident on his face despite his smile.
"Oh, s- sorry." She said with a slight blush and was about to get up when someone else also entered.
A certain red haired guy. His neck and arms were wrapped in bandages. The smile he came in with suddenly disappeared as he froze in place. He looked at the girl and over to Desmond.
"Emy." The girl mumbled as she stared at the red haired guy.
"Umm, H- hey Emmanuel. Is something... wrong?" Desmond mused but Emmanuel continued with his facial expression, showing nothing but malice.
Emmanuel walked in and closed the door behind him, a dark aura surrounding engulfing the room.
"What do you think you're doing to my sister?" He asked in a deep, threatening voice, sending a wave of fright down Desmond's spine.
"Sh- she's your s- sister?" He gulped. "I- I'm not d- doing anything to her I s- swear."
"First you touch my sister." Emmanuel started and shot a death glare into Desmond's eyes. "And now you're denying it to my face."
Desmond felt shivers course through his body at Emmanuel's threatening words.
"Die."