AIDEN WOKE up to a headache. No, seriously. His head really, really hurt.

"How are you feeling?" The doctor named Mini asked. "I heard from some of my patients that waking up after a medically induced coma is like waking up to the worst hangover ever, while some say it doesn't hurt. Which one of these groups are you in?"

"Uh, woah," Aiden said, clutching his head. "Sorry. Could you repeat? I cannot process all of that since my head really hurts."

"First group, then," Mini concluded. "That's unlucky for you. Now let's check your eyesight. How many fingers am I holding?"

She held up a five and Aiden gave her the answer. She nodded and said, "Okay. You're doing great. Which is good, since you inhaled a medium amount of cyanogen cyanide, or CNCI, which affects the body's ability to use oxygen, which sometimes causes a rapid loss of consciousness. Any more of that stuff and it could've caused cardiac arrest."

She continued, "You were lucky Aru could handle it and got you out of there, otherwise cardiac arrests could-"

"Wait, doesn't cardiac arrest cause death?" Aiden asked, his brain finally clearing up and working.

Mini looked faintly annoyed and adjusted her glasses to regain her flow. "I was getting to that. Severe cardiac arrest can sometimes lead to death. Well, most of the time anyway."

Aiden nodded. Then he remembered his work partner. "Oh yeah. Um, how's Shah? She was there too, wasn't she? Is she okay?"

Mini smiled. "She held up a lot better than you did. You've been in the hospital for 3 weeks."

"3 weeks?"

Aiden sighed. That wasn't good. It had already been more than a month from the start of the investigation. They weren't getting anywhere.

"Aru's wrapped up her physical therapy. She'd lost sensation in her hands due to the excessive inhalation of CNCI. Do you have anything like that?"

After the check up, Aiden texted his work partner.

Shah

I'm alive

thats unfortunate

"What did she say?"

"She said it's unfortunate."

Mini sighed. "Don't listen to her. I bet she's relieved."

Aiden shrugged. "I'm used to it at this point."

"Aru can be really difficult but she's a good person," Mini smiled. "She was pretty much my first real friend. She cares about everyone. She just...has interesting ways of showing it."

"Like threats?"

"Maybe."

Aiden nodded. "Yeah. She threatens me a lot."

Mini snickered. Then her face turned serious. "I'm sure she's not going to tell you this, so I'm going to. It's something important. She's told you about her brainwashing?"

"Yeah."

"Here's the story how we know it."

———

Mini anxiously stepped into the Council meeting room.

It wasn't everyday the Council called a meeting. The only times she'd ever been invited was when Aru had a new case.

It was strange she was called now. Aru was already solving a case.

"Please sit, Mini," Urvashi told her, trying for lightness. Mini hated when people concealed their true emotions with happiness in a situation where they were going to make the mood darker anyway. It was like making things happy then saying your dog died. It's instant depression.

But Mini kept those thoughts in her head and sat down. Brynne was there too and she squeezed her hand, almost breaking her bones. In other circumstances, Mini would tell her to use sanitizer first, but now was not the time.

"We have received a recent report on Aru's life tracker," Subala, Captain of the Case Department said. "If you will, Sir Hanuman, please pass me the report. We do not have much time on our hands."

Hanuman passed him the report. Captain Subala, or Boo, as they called him, started reading.

"At 3:45 PM, today, Aru's life tracker was green. However, at 4:30 PM, it started to blink. We immediately sent messages, asking if she needed help."

At this, he paused, looking up from the paper and at them. "None of them were answered."

Mini felt her breath cut short. Brynne's hand started trembling over hers and Mini tried to squeeze her trembling hand for reassurance.

"At 5:38 PM, her life tracker turned orange," Boo swallowed thickly. "Indicating her life was in danger."

Mini squeezed her eyes shut. 'This isn't happening'

"We sent out reinforcements. They reported that they could not find the place she was at, as it was off limits."

Boo adjusted his glasses. "At 6 PM, on the dot, her life tracker, still orange, started blinking."

Mini's palms turned sweaty. Her heart beat quickly, threatening to jump out of her chest.

"At this moment, as we know, it is still blinking."

Brynne got up immediately. "I have to go get her."

"Brynne, please sit," Urvashi told her.

"No! That's my- my sister! I can't let her be in danger and do nothing about it!" Brynne practically yelled. Mini winced. The Council did not like being yelled at. But at this point, she too didn't care as she got up.

"I'm sorry, Guardians, but I have to agree with Brynne," Mini said. "That's our younger sister. I don't care if we aren't related by blood. I don't think that matters, do you? We ask to be dispatched to find her."

"Girls, I understand why-"

"Let them go," Boo interrupted. "They deserve that much, at least."

Urvashi thought about it. "They should be able to go, I think."

Hanuman sighed. He handed them life tracks among many other gadgets. "Stay safe."

"We'll try," Brynne gritted her teeth.

And so they set off.

"I don't want to go in there," Brynne announced, eyeing the abandoned hospital. The reinforced people were standing and waiting on orders.

"We have to."

———

"We found Aru on the floor with a gunshot to her calf and a cut on her forehead," Mini said. Aiden felt like he needed a pen and paper to note this down, then he realized he shouldn't be knowing all of this.

"I. I see," He nodded. "Should I tell her that you told me this?"

"It'd be better if she had told you all of this, so no."

"What if I let it slip out?"

"She'll hate you."

The whirring of the fan was the only thing audible in that moment. Aiden registered the information in his mind.

Mini looked at him. "Don't get me wrong, Aru doesn't need protection. Just...promise me. Promise me that when she does, you'll give it to her. And you won't judge her for it. She tends to push away people she knows she can trust. But don't let her, okay? It'll be bad for both of you. And..."

Aiden waited. Then he said, "And?"

"And just...just keep her company. In the future, I might not be there, you know? I mean, there's a lot of ways I could die. Or...uh...if um, Rudy-"

Mini stopped.

"Wait, you know Rudy? Mini, are you 'Dark Benevolent Queen'?"

"So!" Mini got up suddenly. "Anyway. Make sure you take lots of rest! You and Aru have to get back on the case, remember? Wish you the best of luck! See you."

And with her long, white cloak swishing behind her, she left the room.

An update? On TLEOT? Do pigs fly yet?
Okay, jokes aside. Hello. It's been awhile.
I updated on a Thursday, since I felt like I owed it to you guys. How are you all? I'm fine, and I think I might start updating again. Who knows?
Anyway, how was the chapter?
-Loife xx