Chapter 127 — Hospital II

Damian’s face was still hidden by his long hair, his hand pressed to his stinging cheek.

He was quiet for a long moment.

Then he sighed, deep and heavy, and pulled Luna close again into another hug.

She struggled for a moment, still angry, but he held on.

"...You’re right. I’m a hypocrite. Complete and total hypocrite."

His voice was soft against her hair.

"But there’s a difference, Luna. You were going to die pointlessly, throwing your life away when the terrorists would have killed you and everyone else anyway.

I stood against those Demons because I actually had the power to stop them, because those people could be saved if someone just stood in the way long enough."

Luna’s struggles weakened as she listened.

"I’m not saying it makes it right. I’m not saying you don’t have every reason to be angry with me. But I couldn’t just walk away and let them die when I had the strength to fight."

"You could have died, you idiot!"

Luna’s voice broke completely now, the anger dissolving into pure fear and relief.

"You could have died and we would have just watched it happen and there was nothing we could do and I–"

She couldn’t continue, her words dissolving into sobs against his chest.

Damian held her tighter, his own eyes stinging though he refused to let tears fall. He was always too emotional when it came to her.

"I know. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for making you watch that."

Lyandra moved closer, her maternal instincts overwhelming everything else.

"Damy, let me see you properly. Let me check if you’re really alright."

Her hands were already reaching for him, checking his bandages, examining his visible injuries with the practiced eye of someone who’d tended to many wounds over the years.

She was a beautiful woman with black hair and black eyes that carried depths of protective fury when her children were threatened.

Right now those eyes were swimming with unshed tears as she ran her hands over her adopted son’s injuries.

"My baby boy. My precious Damy. What did they do to you?"

Her voice was thick with emotion despite trying to maintain composure.

"I’m okay, Mom. The healing is working. I’ll be fine in a few days."

"A few days? You have broken bones! Internal injuries! You should be in critical condition for weeks!"

"I have taken some high rank potions, Mom. They work faster than normal healing."

That wasn’t entirely true, but it would explain the rapid recovery without revealing too much.

Alaric stood near the doorway, his stern face carefully neutral, his silver hair catching the hospital lights.

But his hands were clenched at his sides, blood seeping from where his nails had dug into his palms.

The blood spoke volumes about the struggle it had taken to maintain his composure while watching his adopted son fight for his life.

"We were waiting at Norrington Station when the alerts came through."

His voice was low, controlled with visible effort.

"Saw the live streams and watched the entire battle... Every moment."

His silver eyes locked with Damian’s crimson ones.

"You fought well. Made correct tactical decisions despite being outnumbered and outmatched. Survived when most wouldn’t have. I’m proud of you, kiddo."

It was the closest Alaric would come to admitting how terrified he’d been.

Damian nodded slightly, understanding the unspoken meaning.

Luna had cried herself out against his chest and was now just clinging to him, occasionally hiccupping, clearly reluctant to let go.

The door opened again, more cautiously this time.

Brian entered carrying several bags of food, looking distinctly awkward as he took in the family scene.

His eyes found Alaric and he tensed visibly.

He remembered this man. From the Norrington incident. When Brian had been about to put containment shackles on Damian following protocol, Alaric had stopped him with a look and a presence that had made even experienced SFD officers back down.

The man was dangerous. Powerful in ways that went beyond simple rank assessments.

Alaric’s entire demeanor shifted the moment he noticed the SFD uniform.

"Officer."

His voice went cold, protective instincts flaring.

"I think my son has had enough official attention for one day. You can conduct whatever investigation is required after he’s recovered."

"Dad, relax."

Damian’s voice cut through the tension.

"Brian is a friend. He was the first one to reach me after the battle ended. He’s the one who gave me the vitality potion that stabilized my injuries."

Alaric’s expression shifted to surprised reassessment.

"And he’s the officer who was assigned to investigate me at the Academy. But instead of filing reports that would justify action against me, he defended me to his superiors.

Damaged his own career to protect me when he had no reason to do so beyond believing it was the right thing to do."

Brian looked uncomfortable with the praise, shuffling the food bags.

"I just did what any decent person would do. The reports they wanted didn’t match reality, so I refused to falsify them."

Alaric studied him for a long moment, then his stern face softened slightly.

"Then you have my gratitude, Officer Oleaf. Both for protecting my son from bureaucratic persecution and for being there when he needed help after the battle."

He moved forward and offered his hand.

"Any friend of Damian’s is welcome in our family."

Brian shook hands, visibly relieved at the change in atmosphere.

Lyandra was fussing over Damian’s bandages still, making small disapproving sounds at each injury she discovered.

Then her attention shifted to the window sill where Kuro was perched, watching everything with those intelligent red eyes.

"Damy, is that...?"

"Everyone, this is Kuro. During one of my training sessions, I somehow bonded with him."

Damian gestured toward the raven.

"Kuro, come meet my family properly."

The raven hesitated, clearly uncertain about approaching strangers.

His intelligence had grown with the breakthrough, but so had his wariness of unknown humans. He had concealed his death energy before everyone arrived, so no one found him dangerous or eerie.

But then his gaze fixed on Luna, who was still pressed against Damian’s side, her face red and puffy from crying.

Something about her drew his attention.

Maybe it was the love he could sense radiating from her toward Damian. Maybe it was some instinct he didn’t understand.

Maybe it was simply curiosity about the girl who’d slapped his bond partner.

Kuro launched from the window sill and flew directly to Luna, landing on her shoulder with surprising gentleness.

Luna froze, going very still, hardly daring to breathe.

The raven turned his head this way and that, studying her face closely with those glowing red eyes.

Then he made a soft sound and settled more comfortably on her shoulder, apparently having decided she was acceptable.