The Initials | Nanowrimo 2023

65| The Uprising And The Orphans

Neith dangles her legs over the edge of the old metal bed that she has been confined to, the chipped white paint of the frame exposing the dark metal underneath, even rusting at particular joints.

The Infirmary itself is decorated with dull green walls covered in tiles that were once brilliant white but have browned over time. There are rows of beds lining both sides of the room with nurses and doctors littered amongst the weak and injured. They wear soft pink coats and scrubs that do little to stand out from the greenish light coming through the North facing windows that are covered in a thin veil of moss.

"Alright, your arms seem to be healing well. You'll have to keep the bandages on a while longer and stay in bed-"

"My bed?" Neith asks, fiddling with a tiny red rubber ball as she pretends to pay attention. "So I can go back to the dorms?"

"This bed Neith," the nurse replies sternly, finding Neith's enthusiasm to escape amusing but trying at times. "You still need a day or two to rest."

Neith bows her head, her short curls bobbing like candy floss every time she moves. "I don't think I can survive another day here." she moans. "These kids just kept crying all night. You actually start feeling bad for some of them."

The nurse sighs, looking around aimlessly at the bustling room. "So many come here every year, new faces, all expecting life here to be different. Some for fun, some want to be famous one day, some come to help further their careers."

"Yeah, well," Neith stretches her arms above her head, flexing her shoulders to release the tension. "I guess some of them just weren't ready for the Academy."

"And then of course there are the legacies like yourself. You're just expected to show up."

Her words bother Neith, not because they're untrue but because it's never been phrased like that before, at least not to her face anyhow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You don't really get a say as to where you go. I mean, wasn't it the same way for you? Did you really want to come here?"

"I mean where else was I going to go? S.S.O.A is at the top."

"For producing the best channellers, I know, but why should that matter to you? You're a Princess of the Nature Faction and as of now we aren't at war with anyone, so why learn to channel at all if the law prohibits it as soon as you step a few feet past those gates."

"You make fair points but I'd keep them to yourself." Neith replies, looking around the room as she speaks. "Anyone else would think you share the same beliefs with the people that just held us hostage and threatened to wipe us from existence."

"Trust me, I don't believe the Fox is justified in the way she's going about it but I believe in the message. Both can be true."

"Sure."

The nurse goes to leave but looking back over her shoulder she can tell she only made Neith's mood worse. "I saw you in the Olympia. You were amazing, taking on three people at once like that. I mean, that girl from the Air faction was causing you some real problems with her range but in the end you managed."

Neith smiles politely but knows without a doubt that her father would not agree. She's supposed to be the daughter of the Great Protector and she couldn't even take out three Initials only a year above her. "I could have done better."

The nurse appears to be taken aback, her eyes widening after listening to Neith's reply. "Oh, Neith, no, no, you did great. You shouldn't put so much pressure on yourself."

"Pressure is how I perform." Neith mutters, closing her eyelid as she picks at the skin under her nails. "Diamonds and coal and all that other, fun, stuff."