Nathan's head throbbed in pain as he slowly opened his cool dark-brown eyes. He was unsure of how long he had been asleep but his hunger made it evident it had been over a day. Slowly, he then sat up on his bed realizing that he was in the Medical Bay.
"Ugh... What happened..?" He groaned to himself.
The memories then began pouring into his mind. He saw flashes of darkness and remembered the screaming voices of hundreds of lost souls. The pain in his head only intensified the more he tried to remember.
Carefully, he then picked himself up and moved towards a private bathroom located nearby. As he walked, his body ached like that of an old man. It was almost as if his body had grown much older over the time he was asleep.
Upon arriving at the bathroom, Nathan then began to clean himself to ensure no injuries were present across his body. He remembered that Raven had severed his arm and pierced a hole through his stomach but weirdly, the wounds were all gone. Nathan was bewildered.
However, this was when he noticed something extremely odd. He scratched his head in confusion as his eyes stumbled upon a letter written in bold black on his right arm. It was the letter 'D'. It almost seemed as if it was some kind of tattoo.
Following this, he then proceeded to wash the marking from his arm but for some reason, it refused to go away. He did not remember getting such a weird marking on his arm so why was it there in the first place?
"Nate!!!" Suddenly shouted a voice from behind.
Nathan then turned to see Sindy running towards him with a hug. She held him tightly while her eyes sparkled with tears.
"Sindy... Are you okay..?" He asked cautiously.
"I'm more than okay now that you're awake! You have no idea how worried you had me! I thought you'd never wake up!"
"What happened to me..?"
Sindy then took a short moment to look at Nathan. Did he not remember what had happened to him?
"You don't remember..?"
"No... At least not much..."
Sindy then blinked away the tears in her eyes. She carefully pondered on whether or not she was supposed to tell him what had happened. She feared that the guilt of what had happened to Amanda and Leo would weigh down on his conscience, resulting in him going back into a state of depression.
"I-it's not important... You just fell and hit your head!"
Nathan stared at Sindy suspiciously. It was painfully evident that she was trying to hide something from him. However, he decided not to pursue the topic.
"I see..."
"So how are you feeling, Nate?"
"I'm mostly okay... My body does feel weirdly old but otherwise, I'm not bad. Is it okay if I ask you a question though, Sindy?"
"Yeah sure, what is it?"
Nathan then pointed at the letter embedded on his right arm before continuing, "Do you know who gave me this tattoo? It won't come off and I don't remember getting it."
Sindy then began to inspect the letter carefully. The color of the letter reminded her of the Angel of Death's dark Spiritual Energy. She however swallowed away her suspicion. She did not want to believe that it had left some type of mark on Nathan.
"I-I'm unsure... Maybe we should get Miss Donna to take a look at it for you..."
"Take a look at what?" Suddenly asked Donna as she stepped into the room.
"Miss Donna!" Called both Nathan and Sindy in unison.
"Oh Nathan, you're finally awake!" She greeted happily.
"Yeah, but how long was I asleep?"
"Four days!" Quickly replied Sindy.
"Sindy, why are you acting so weird?" Asked Nathan worriedly. Her odd behavior was beginning to make him suspicious.
"She was worried to death about you this entire time, Nathan. I'm sure it isn't odd to see her acting strangely after everything that happened," declared Donna.
"I guess that makes sense..."
"So what did you want me to take a look at for you?"
Nathan then pointed to the letter on his right arm.
"Could you tell me what this is? I don't remember getting it nor will it even come off..."
Donna then took Nathan's arm and inspected it closely. For some reason, a terrible feeling came over her as she looked at the letter. It was evident that whatever it was came from something very unnatural.
"Whatever it is, I can tell it's not anything good. It does however have the same black color as when you turned into that Angel of Death."
Sindy flinched as the words "Angel of Death" left Miss Donna's lips. This frightened her greatly as she did not want to even imagine how Nathan would react if he found out the truth.
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"Angel of Death?" Asked Nathan in confusion.
"N-Nate, it's nothing! Please don't worry about it. Miss Donna, more importantly, you should check if his head is completely healed from that fall!"
Nathan, however, ignored Sindy's remark as he was now more interested to know what had taken place. If something terrible had happened then he needed to know.
"Miss Donna, it seems I'm suffering from a bit of amnesia. Could you please tell me what occurred after I fell unconscious? I was certain that I was going to die, yet I'm still alive... I need to know what happened!"
"Nate, trust me! It's not important..! Nothing of interest happened on the mission. You just need to relax and take a break!" Persuaded Sindy desperately.
"Sindy, I understand your concern but he needs to know!" Interrupted Miss Donna. "What if it happens again? There's no point in hiding something of such importance from him. It will only lead to more destruction and death!" Reprimanded Donna.
Sindy's face melted in fear. She looked as if someone had just told her that her entire family had been slaughtered. She couldn't stand the thought of Nathan going back through another state of depression.
"Sindy, it's okay. I appreciate your concern but I need to know what happened," stated Nathan softly.
"Ye-yeah... sure... I-I'll just wait outside..."
Sindy then slowly walked out of the room before gently closing the door behind her. After Sindy had left, Miss Donna proceeded to tell Nathan about the events that had transpired. She ensured to detail everything she had seen unfold including the deaths of Amanda and Leo to even the moments after he had transformed into the Angel of Death.
Nathan's face was quickly filled with remorse. He then gave a depressing smile and looked at his hands as if they were filthy. Not only had he gotten two of his teammates killed, he now had the blood of both Waver and Raven on his hands.
"So, again I messed up... I failed to save anyone and I almost killed those close to me..."
"Nat-"
"It's okay Miss Donna..." Quickly reassured Nathan with a dim smile. "I already know what you're going to say but you don't have to worry. I'm not going to allow myself to go into that depressing state ever again... I don't want to worry those around me. I just have to keep moving forward despite my failures..."
"So I take it you'll be okay then..?"
Nathan then buried his face into his hands before releasing a terrifyingly long sigh.
"Yep, I'll be fine! I can't let this hold me down, right?"
Miss Donna was very pleased to hear Nathan's reassuring words. It was good to know that he wouldn't allow himself to grovel in his failures again.
"Despite what anyone else says, whenever I look at you, I can tell you're going to be an amazing Hero, Nathan. A lot of people will hate you and most won't believe you'll be able to save them. But if you keep this newfound attitude going, I'm sure that eventually, you'll become the greatest hero this world has ever seen."
Nathan then nodded approvingly. He was willing to do whatever it took to save both the Mind and Real World. Even if everyone came to hate him, he decided that he would keep doing what he thought was right.
"I'll save this world, no matter what I have to go through to do it! You have my word, Miss Donna!"
Donna then smiled warmly at Nathan one last time. There was nothing more that needed to be said.
She then did one final inspection of Nathan's body to ensure he was healthy enough to leave the Medical Bay.
"Okay, you have my permission to leave. Just clean yourself up and head to the cafeteria to get something to eat."
Nathan's stomach then suddenly growled like a bear. He rubbed his head in embarrassment and gave a cheeky smile, "Yeah, for sure!"
After another five minutes, Nathan stepped through the door in fresh clothes. He wore a plain black shirt, black shorts, and black sandals. He then stretched his arms, finally embracing the freedom he now had. This was before he looked down to see Sindy slouched right next to the door. She looked as if she was about to cry.
She gently played with her half-hearted necklace that had Nathan's name embedded on it— her eyes void of joy.
"Sindy..?" Called Nathan worriedly.
Before answering, she looked up at him carefully, "Nate, are you okay..?"
Nathan smiled warmly as he outstretched his hand to help her up. In truth, he was in a lot of pain but he smiled for her sake.
"I'm perfectly fine but if you stay like that then I might just become depressed again."
A gleam then flashed across Sindy's eyes. Did this mean Nathan was okay? She quickly took his hand before standing up beside him.
"Nate, I'm sorry I lied! I jus—"
"It's okay, Sindy. You were looking out for me. I appreciate what you were trying to do. Thank you."
Sindy's heart melted like warm butter as she stared at Nathan. His voice was extremely comforting and it made her fall in love with him all over again.
"I'm heading to the cafeteria to get something to eat. Do you want to tag along?" He asked.
"Yeah, sure... I could use something to eat too!"
Sindy was happy that Nathan was coping with what had happened. It showed that he had already started to change since coming to the Mind World. Even if things were tough, she could make it through once he was by her side.