**Chapter 135 – The Third Day**
Wednesday was born covered in low clouds.
It wasn't a storm. It also wasn't an ordinary day. The sky stayed light gray, heavy, as if the entire academy had entered a pause that had lasted too long. The wind came cold through the open corridors, and the wet leaves of the courtyard stuck to the ground without noise.
The group was already in automatic rhythm: wake up, look at the room, switch shifts, go to class, come back, switch shifts again. No one complained out loud. No one also pretended it was light.
Kuroe left the late night with a voice hoarse from having spoken so little.
— The same?
— Almost — Harley answered, already at the door. — Her breathing is a little less deep. Or I'm inventing it.
— Don't invent. Observe.
— I observe. Go sleep.
— After breakfast.
— Kuroe.
She let out a breath and went.
---
In the cafeteria, the group's table was complete… and at the same time incomplete. The place where Elowen usually sat remained empty. Every now and then someone looked over there without realizing.
— Three days — Rina murmured, stirring the tea without drinking.
— Three — Marina confirmed. — If she stretches it to four, I'm going to start getting truly bad-tempered.
— You're already bad-tempered — Astrid said.
— I'm politely bad-tempered. There's a difference.
Sylvara broke the bread without hurry.
— Lirien said her flow was moving. That still holds.
— It holds — Lirien answered. — But moving isn't waking up. It's just not being as far as on the first day.
Joker drank the water in silence before speaking:
— Keep the shifts. Don't loosen them.
— No one was going to loosen them — Harley said. — Everyone just has the face of someone who's already rehearsed what they're going to say when she opens her eyes.
— And what did you rehearse? — Astrid asked.
— First I scold. Then I ask if it hurt. Then I scold again.
— Terrible order — Kuroe murmured.
— Honest order.
Outside, a fine rain began to fall. Almost without sound. Just enough to fog the windows and make the cafeteria feel more closed, quieter.
---
The morning was History.
Selene entered with the same low bun, the same golden eyes and the formal mantle worn in a discreet way. The class continued on the economic consequences after the Fall of Vareth. The group copied, answered when needed, and only opened their mouths about Elowen when the teacher, passing by the empty chair, asked:
— Still away?
— Still — Lirien said. — Resting.
Selene nodded and continued the material.
At the end of class, in the damp corridor, Rina spoke low:
— I already separated yesterday's and today's material.
— Me too — Marina said. — If she wakes up and the first thing is studying, I give up on life.
— If she wakes up and the first thing is trying to train, I'll hold her on the bed — Astrid completed.
— Line up — Harley said. — I get there first.
— You talk as if she's going to get up and run off — Sylvara murmured.
— With her, I don't rule it out — Rina answered.
---
At the break, it was Rina's turn to stay in the room.
The fine rain continued outside, tapping lightly on the window. She sat, adjusted the blanket and stayed quiet for a while. Then she broke the silence.
— You know, at the beginning I didn't like new people.
Elowen's breathing was the only answer.
— It took time to trust. It took time to accept. At the orphanage it was easier, because everyone was already there. Grew up together. Fought together. Shared bread together. When someone arrives later… the head takes time to open space.
Rina ran her finger along the edge of the small table.
— You didn't ask for space with drama. You just stayed. Trained. Ate with us. Went on the mission. Made decisions. Then, suddenly, you were already inside.
She let out a short breath.
— That's why it's annoying that you're lying down for so long. We had barely finished putting you in the middle and you disappear. Bad rhythm, you know?
Silence.
— So listen. When you wake up, you don't need to make a speech. Just open your eyes. The rest we handle.
---
In the afternoon, on Sylvara's shift, the room grew quieter.
She reinforced the wounds with the short green glow, changed the water in the bucket and lightly combed Elowen's hair again.
— You hold recovery magic well — Sylvara murmured. — The body accepts it. It doesn't fight me. That helps.
She passed the damp towel over her face, dried it right after.
— At the orphanage, when someone got truly sick, Graciela made soup until the smell stuck to the wood. Lysithea stayed the whole night in the chair. Mirella pretended she wasn't worried and ended up checking the door every ten minutes.
Sylvara adjusted the sleeve of Elowen's shirt.
— Now it's us in that chair. Different. Similar too.
She stayed looking at the immobilized hand.
— You don't need to rush. Just… don't stay too far.
Outside, the rain thinned even more. The gray of the sky no longer seemed so closed.
---
It was near the end of the afternoon that something changed.
Kuroe had just entered for the next shift when she stopped halfway to the chair. Lirien, who was coming behind with a notebook, also stopped.
— What is it? — Lirien asked.
Kuroe didn't answer right away. She simply approached the bed.
The fingers of Elowen's good hand had moved.
Minimal. Almost nothing. A short curl, like someone trying to grab a blanket in their sleep.
— Call the rest — Kuroe said, low but firm.
Lirien was already in the corridor.
In a few minutes, the room filled with the entire group. No one spoke loudly. No one pushed. They only observed. The rain outside had turned into almost mist, and a weak band of light, broken between the clouds, crossed the window and fell near the bed.
Another movement.
This time it was the eyebrow. A weak frown. Then the breathing changed rhythm — still tired, but less monotonous, like someone climbing up from a deep well.
— Elowen — Harley called, without shouting. — If you're listening, keep going.
— That's it — Astrid murmured. — Keep going.
— No hurry — Marina said. — Just come up.
— We're here — Rina completed.
Elowen's eyelashes trembled.
Once.
Twice.
And then the eyes opened by a thread.
They didn't focus properly at first. The weak light of the room seemed too heavy. Her gaze wandered across the ceiling, the wall, until it found the circle of faces around the bed.
The voice came out a little hoarse, still stuck:
— …why… are you…
Marina already had the cup in her hand before she finished. She supported Elowen's nape carefully and helped her drink slowly. The water went down, simple, necessary. Her breathing regulated a little.
— Again — Marina asked, low. — Slowly.
Elowen drank another sip. When she spoke again, the voice already came much clearer.
— …why are you all here?
The relief that crossed the room was silent and immediate. Someone let out a breath. Another person laughed without sound. The tension of three days didn't disappear at once — it only cracked.
Harley was the first to smile for real, her eyes shining too much to hide.
— Because you took too long, idiot.
— Way too long — Astrid confirmed, her voice failing in the middle.
Kuroe passed the back of her hand over her face, quick, almost irritated with herself for letting the emotion show.
— Welcome back.
Elowen blinked slowly, still far from being whole, but finally present. She looked at each face. One by one. Like someone confirming they weren't dreaming.
— I heard you.
Marina covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes already wet.
— I knew it… I said I knew.
— I also heard Rina complaining about my rhythm — Elowen said, now with a much firmer voice.
Rina huffed, but the sound came out stuck. She turned her face for a second, wiping the corner of her eye with her wrist.
— Great. So you heard. Now rest for real.
— Later we collect — Astrid added, sniffing. — With interest.
— Line up — Harley said, laughing and crying at the same time, without caring. — I scold first.
Sylvara didn't say anything at first. She only held her own hand tightly, her chin trembling slightly. Lirien stayed quiet, but her eyes were far too red for someone "just observing the flow."
Joker, standing near the head of the bed, didn't make a speech. He also didn't pretend toughness. He only looked at Elowen for a long second, his chest rising and falling deeper than normal, and passed his hand over her hair with an almost awkward care.
— You came back. That's enough.
Elowen felt her throat tighten. Not from the pain in her body. From the rest.
From the voices she had heard in the dark. From the hands that changed bandages. From the water. From the comb in her hair. From the low scoldings. From the stubborn presence of people who didn't need to stay… and stayed.
Her eyes filled too fast.
— I… thought I would never have this again.
— Have what? — Kuroe asked, low.
— This. People waiting. People talking to me even when I didn't answer. People… staying.
Her voice broke at the end. It wasn't a loud cry. It was that contained cry of someone who has been holding on for too long.
— I already had this once — she continued, lower. — With the women who saved me. With the family that took me in afterward. I loved them. I still love them. But when I left there… I thought this kind of place didn't exist outside of them. That I wouldn't be able to open up again. That I wouldn't find people who would stay the same way.
Marina held her good hand.
— You found them.
— And it's not temporary — Rina completed, still with a choked voice.
— Despite the short time — Astrid said — you already messed up the house. So deal with the consequences.
Harley wiped her face with her sleeve, with no elegance at all.
— Consequence number one: we're not leaving here until you complain for real.
Elowen laughed and cried at the same time. The sound came out weak, but real.
— …thank you.
Joker nodded, his eyes a little too wet for someone who usually seemed untouchable.
— Later you tell the rest.
She looked at him, then at everyone around. There was something old stuck behind her expression — a story that still hadn't been fully told.
— I want to tell it — Elowen said, calmer, still emotional. — My past. Everything. To you.
The room stayed silent for a second.
— Then tell it — Harley answered simply.
— But not forced now — Kuroe interrupted. — You just came back.
Elowen squeezed Marina's hand lightly.
— I know. I just… don't want to keep it anymore.
It was at that moment that the door opened.
Lysithea entered first, stopping at the threshold as if her body had taken a shock that was too good. Behind her came Graciela, Mirella and Elara. The four read the scene at once: the group clustered, Elowen awake, wet faces, the weak light from the window, the fine rain dying outside.
— …She woke up — Lysithea murmured.
— She woke up — Harley confirmed, without moving away from the bed. — Just a little while ago.
Graciela advanced two steps and stopped, her hard expression cracking in the middle.
— Idiot girl… three days.
— I came back — Elowen said.
— I can see — Graciela answered, her voice less firm than usual. — Good.
Mirella crossed her arms, but her eyes were far too wet to sustain the gesture.
— Do you have any idea how much these kids stayed around this bed?
— I do. Now I do.
Elara approached last, observing Elowen's face with real care.
— No acute pain?
— There is. But I can handle it.
— Then handle it lying down — Elara said. — No improvising heroic recovery.
Lysithea reached the edge of the bed and combed a strand of Elowen's silver hair with her fingers.
— I'm so glad you came back.
Elowen looked at the four adults, then again at the group. The emotion was still alive in her chest — warm, strange, far too good.
— I want to tell my story — she said, to everyone in the room. — What came before. Everything I didn't say.
Lysithea exchanged a quick look with the others and then nodded softly.
— When you're ready.
— I am — Elowen answered. — If you want to listen.
No one left.
The rain outside stopped for good.
Between the clouds, a clearer band of sky appeared above the academy — still weak, still shy, but different from the closed gray that had carried the entire day.
In the room, Elowen took a deep breath, still emotional, still surrounded by that affection she almost didn't know how to name again.
And for the first time since she had arrived in that group, she opened her mouth to tell where she truly came from.
**End of Chapter 135**