Chapter 85 - Wake Up

*Beep!… Beep!… Beep!~*

Takumi's eyes jolted open after a deep gasp. The pain in his chest from Urusla's attack seemed to have completely disappeared.

But that wasn't what truly surprised him. What surrounded him was a scene he hadn't experienced in years, even thinking that he may never experience it again.

A white room, medical machines surrounding him and the itchy feeling of a hospital gown on his skin.

"I'm in a hospital?" With the flashing images of his definite death still playing in his mind, Takumi's thoughts were in disarray, "Was all that… a dream?"

Takumi was about to scour his thoughts for an explanation when he felt a familiar presence approach him, along with an unfamiliar one. Turning in the direction of the persons, Takumi saw his father, Hiroshi Lin and a spectacled female doctor.

"Son!" Hiroshi immediately tore up from seeing his son awake, he instantly ran over to Takumi, squeezing him in a hug.

The doctor fiddled with her glasses before approaching with a patient sheet, her face having a strange expression of shock.

"How do you feel?" She asked after Hiroshi released Takumi.

With a confused expression, Takumi clenched and released his fist multiple times, realizing that his body felt just like usual, "I feel good. What happened?"

The doctor took a glance at the patient sheet before clearing her throat, "The Lake of Gold, which you fell into… has been known to be mildly contaminated with traces of mercury. Strangely enough, when you fell in… you didn't enter the first stage of drowning, which is involuntary holding of breath."

Takumi narrowed his eyes at the doctor's explanation. So the part about me falling was real…

"Because of this, you took a large volume of water into your lungs. An incident like this was expected to kill you but you miraculously survived…. What you didn't escape, however, was the mercury poisoning… the poison rapidly reduced your lung functions, leading to your loss of consciousness. The origins of your three month long coma is unknown though…"

The end of the doctor's explanation brought on another slew of confusing thoughts. Three months… that was approximately the precise amount of time Takumi had spent in Endolis. This decreased any chances of Takumi's experience being just a dream… coincidences like that don't happen everyday.

"I'm happy to see that you're awake, it's truly a miracle that you're even able to speak right now. I'd like to perform a quick test." The doctor said, flashing a cute smile in the process.

Hiroshi and Takumi nodded and the doctor made her way over. She began by lightly pressing her hand against Takumi's chest, raising her eyebrows skeptically after completion.

After an intrigued hum, she equipped her stethoscope. After performing a quick chest exam, the doctor started breathing noticeably heavier.

"Hm?" Takumi, noticing her reaction, was curious himself, "Is there something wrong?"

The doctor took some extra breaths, "Th- That's the thing! There's nothing wrong at all! This is absolutely impossible!"

Neither Hiroshi or Takumi could even question the meaning of the doctor's words as she stormed out of the room.

***

In another, more secure hospital room…

*Crash!~*

Misao was causing a ruckus. The pod she was laid in instantly shattered upon her awakening. She sat up, holding her face in her palm as she couldn't slow down her breathing.

"I hate hospitals…" She groaned after ripping off the pads which were pasted all over her body.

Immediately after the glass pod shattered, three people burst into the room. Misao instantly recognized the one in the middle to be her adopted mother, Shi. Beside her, were a man and woman who seemed to be police officers.

"Mum?… Why are the cops here?" Misao was too happy to see Shi to even lash out at the lawmen.

The female officer stepped forward before giving a light bow, "Miss Tanekura… we've just been sent here by our commander. We were put in charge here until you recovered… you're under arrest for murder…"

The supposed warrant for her arrest didn't phase Misao in the slightest. Rather, she looked quite annoyed by the officers. She was about to give them a piece of her mind when Shi clearing her throat stopped her.

"My apologies, officers." Shi said with a smile, "I nullify all charges against my daughter. Don't bother asking my authority level, I'm getting to that."

The officers looked at each other then back at Shi. Removing the coat she wore, her bare arms were exposed, and on the left one, was a scarification of an army general's crest. The officers almost vomited blood at this.

"G-General Mizuha!!" both officers performed a respectful bow before saluting, "We had no idea this young lady was your daughter, please forgive our commander's misinformation!"

Shi simply sighed before flicking her hand, "At ease. You were just doing your job… now return to your posts."

With frantic nods, the two officers quickly cleared out of the room, leaving Shi with the opportunity to catch up.

"How long was I out for?" Misao asked, constantly scratching herself all over.

"Th-!"

Shi was about to answer when another voice did.

"Three months…" The somewhat hoarse voice of a male said.

Turning in voice's direction, the two saw a skinny doctor standing at the door. The doctor, with a eerie aura to him, smiled at his patient.

"You know I hate it when you interrupt me, Sobei…" Shi spoke, her ominous voice hiding the fact that she was joking.

The doctor, Sobei, simply ignored that comment before walking over to Misao. He put his face no more than a few centimeters away from her's as he seemed to examine her without any tools.

"Intriguing… very intriguing. The burns on your skin seemed to have long ago healed… no internal injuries whatsoever, not even any fractures to your arms."

Misao started to get irritated by this weird doctor and threw out a punch. The weak-looking doctor completely surprised her with how quickly he raised his palm, blocking her attack.

"Interesting…" He hummed, "So you are a Ki Master. I suppose that explains your current state… alive. Ohoho…"

After releasing her fist, Sobei floated out of the room, saying he would need to take a few more tests.

"Now…" Shi, turned back to Misao, "What happened?"

That question prompted Misao into asking herself that exact question again. She clearly remembered the feelings and sensations she felt during her battle with Urusla. Unlike Takumi, she didn't feel as if it was a dream, due to her experience with supernatural occurrences, she wasn't so quick to chalk it up.

Shi noticed Misao's silence and decided to add something more, "It was like your ki got up and left. As if your soul went somewhere else… the machines only track your physical signs, but from a spiritual perspective… you were an empty shell."

At this point, both Takumi and Misao were battling with their thoughts. Faced with questions from their parents, they muttered the same thing.

"What exactly… happened?"