Equan woke up with a terrible ache in his stomach and chest alike, and his vision was beyond blurred as he looked up at the bright swaying lantern above him.
Based off what Chase had said originally, Equan simply assumed he had made it just fine to the safehouse, considering that his reveal was far more impactful and intense than Equan's.
There was some envy somewhere in there, that made Chase seem like this spoiled royal prince, but Equan tried to shake it out of his own head despite the pain.
After all, they had grown up with their roles reversed.
Equan trembled as he forced his body to sit up on what seemed like a ripped up old couch, in which case it was, dyed a deep gray that looked completely hideous with all of the fuzz falling out from its countless tears.
Equan's eyes slowly walked through the room, only to realize that no one else was inside of what seemed like an underground warehouse.
Then he looked down at his stiff body, seeing the countless bandages over his torso, arms, and right leg. There was also a note left on the side of the couch which read...
'Dear Equan, sorry that we had to leave you here... You aren't in the condition to leave the house, and will need about a week before you can properly get up and move around with any problems... However, we have left you several things to do in the meantime! - Kaylynn of House Kore...'
"Ah..." They had left him behind.
Equan leaned his head back against the bed and grimaced as he let the memories of his battle slowly come back to his mind.
He wondered what had happened to Chase and if he had somehow gotten out of the Octagon already, but with the firework festival having supposedly been moved to tomorrow, Equan was able to easily figure out the schedule from this point on.
Most of Unity would help Andrew set up The Traditional Seh Jenah Firework Show... While Chase, Jack, and Most likely either Justin, or the newly acquired assistance of Natalia of House Durangor..."
"Mmm... So, that's the plan..." Equan grimaced.
After about fifteen minutes of mindlessly staring at the ceiling, Equan felt a strange reverberation run through his injured body.
Then he felt himself think in a voice that wasn't his... Because it wasn't his.
'Hello?' Ivy called for him with her telepathy.
"Huh?" Equan audibly questioned, confused by the out of the blue intrusion of his mind.
'What are you doing right now?' She asked him, only drawing even more confusion on the paper.
"Suffering..." Equan responded simply.
'Did you get your ass kicked or something?' Ivy asked, cocking her eyebrow somewhere in Phoenix Academy.
"Why are you in my head right?" Equan asked, changing the subject even though he had technically won his fight.
'Why are you speaking out-loud? Do you not know how telepathy works? My gods Equan... Its like there is an echo every time you respond!' Ivy complained, only for Equan to grin and continue responding in voice.
"Ivy... Why... Are... You... In... My... Head...?" Equan asked again, rolling back at forth on the couch in an act of rebellion.
'I'm bored...' She said simply.
"Bruh..." Equan tried to facepalm only for his arm to refuse to lift upwards.
'Again... Please use your thoughts...?' Ivy pleaded, probably getting a headache from his idiocy.
'Where is everyone?' She asked him after a few moments of silence.
'Setting up a postponed Firework Festival or something... It's supposed to be like a distraction so Chase, Jack, Justin, and Rayan can break into the salve chambers beneath the coliseum and start a revolution or something... I've been left in the dark by everyone else, and Chase is reaching for strings trying to get this to go our way, so I'm not really caught up after having been knocked out by an attack strong enough to wipe out a city without any prevention magic...'
'Ah... Uhm... Sorry for bothering you then...' Ivy apologized, in which case Equan was not asking for.
'Uh sure, Anywho don't you have like Aether-based magic or something? Could you like, ya know... Heal me? Or does it not work from that far?'
'No, it works just fine. I didn't think you needed any healing...' She assumed blatantly, but Equan quickly felt Aetheric energy begin to flow into his muscle fibers and bones.
'What the hell did you get hit by?' She eventually asked, unsure if she could even do anything to help a lot of these injuries.
'A Paladin...' He answered with the clicking of his tongue.
'That will do it...' She rolled her eyes.
In the next three or so hours, Ivy was able to keep Equan busy with conversation while his wounds healed at extraordinary speeds.
However, he was still not going to be able to walk properly until after the raid on the coliseum... Meaning that he was not going to be able to support his teammates in a dire battle...
Which was the true reason why Ivy had contacted him... Under Jacob's request, Ivy was going to keep her eye on the Prodigy of Lightning...