The air was thick with a heavy sensation that made it hard for Damien to breathe, no matter how many times he shifted his seating position.
Ahara too.
She turned stiff in an instant, her eyes glued on the door as three identical men dressed in white robes strode inside the room.
Height, build and clothes, everything about them was similar, especially since they had hidden their faces behind the hoods attached to their robes.
Damien could tell the heavy sensation was coming from them.
It started when they opened the door, and now that they were inside, he could feel it crawling up his skin and getting to his head.
"It's called aura," Ahara had explained to him after he asked her about the burning sensation he had felt coming from her and the others during the fight two weeks ago.
"It's the power within every Gibbit, the magic value that determines their hero rank and how strong they are. The more powerful a Gibbit is, the more sickening the aura they emit once they decide to intimidate their opponent."
What bothered Damien the most was how, instead of it burning him this time, it choked him.
He couldn't wrap his head around the sudden change, not that he had the chance to do so either way with the council standing on the far end of his bed, their heads looking in his direction.
"Damien and Ahara Amaris, son to the former Numen and his wife, and current S-ranked hero residing in the human world under special circumstances," one of the council members shouted at the top of his voice, the heavy air in the room seemingly increasing with each word he spoke.
Damien muffled a groan. It was becoming too intense to the point where he felt like bowing.
"That'll be us," Ahara answered on his behalf, her hand patting her brother's chest as if to stop him from choking.
The council member continued with his speech.
"You're hereby obligated by the council to follow the guidelines as listed in the memorandum you're about to receive," he announced, and one of them clapped his hands.
Two sheets of paper appeared at the echo of the sound, one levitating in Damien's face whilst the other landed in Ahara's hands as the two siblings began to read it.
"This is the council's decision in correspondence with the law that prohibits young Gibbits without licenses from taking part in any form of fighting against rogues in the human world. Please read carefully."
Damien did as instructed, his eyes running over the words calligraphed in black ink:
In consideration of Damien Amaris's criminal activity in the human world, the council has decided to enact the following punishments accordingly:
1. In the event that Damien Amaris has somehow managed to retain his aura and manifested a tribal attribute (or 2), he is to stay in Gibbous under the watchful eye of the council. During this period, any criminal activity that suggests he hasn't repented will lead to punishment akin to that which is given to Rogues.
2. If he doesn't have any aura in him, then he is to be returned to the human world. However, as punishment, his sister Ahara is to leave him at an orphanage chosen by the council, and she is to return to her heroic duties, never to see him unless proven valid by the council.
Failure to comply with the above terms might lead to either of the two being exiled and hunted as criminals.
Damien's eyes blinked furiously in disbelief.
They wanted to separate him from Ahara because he had fought against beasts who almost shredded her to pieces?
'What the fuck?' He screamed in his head, his eyes turning to face Ahara.
She was now trembling visibly, her face too pale for someone standing next to the sun's rays as her eyes scanned the words written on the paper.
"This…are you sure there's no other way?" She asked, raising her head to face the three men glued to the wall facing Damien.
They nodded in synchronized movement that made Damien squirm a little inside his blanket.
"Please take note that the council looked for the best possible solution since the minor is presumably the former Numen's son. In appreciation for his services, the council has decided not to treat the boy as a lawbreaker for the moment, but that remains only until his aura is checked," one of them spoke.
Damien couldn't tell which one of them said it because no matter who opened his mouth to speak, their voices sounded similar either way.
"Aren't you being a little too biased?"
Heads turned to look at the door that flew wide open, revealing Twiller as he walked inside the room, his aura deafening that of the council's in an instant.
The three men visibly flinched, backing away from the smiling old man who stood in front of them as they immediately regressed their aura, much to Damien's delight.
He could breathe freely now.
"Principal Twiller!" One of them gasped, making the man chuckle.
"In the flesh," he stopped in front of the three men, his grin fading.
"I must say, I'm quite disappointed in the council's ruling against the boy."
None of the three council members dared to speak, and Twiller took that as his indication to continue speaking.
"Aside from the fact that he wasn't raised in Gibbous and thus, knew nothing of this law you speak of, isn't the fact that Damien saved two of Gibbous' eight X rankers enough reason to pardon his error and give him another chance?"
Finally, one of the men standing in the middle stood aloft and spoke.
"It is indeed a good reason to allow him to be pardoned. However, it won't serve as a lesson to the young Gibbits who might dare to defy the order of Gibbous. That is why the council has decided on giving Damien the least hurtful punishment whilst-"
"By separating him from his sister and only family in the entire world?" Twiller cut him, his eyes glinting with untold rage.
He released his aura once again, this time, only on a fixed spot surrounding him. The three men who were standing within the aura's range felt it weigh on their bodies, hands quivering at the immense power the old man held.
"Please reconsider the punishment and pardon the boy. At least give him a chance to learn the Gibbous way, after all, isn't his deceased father the one who made peace return to Gibbous by removing the Rogue lord from your presence?"
Not about to go against the man whose power rivaled that of a Numen, the three men nodded profusely.
"As you wish, Principal Twiller. However, your presence is hereby requested by the council tomorrow for the final judgement," they said in unison as if they shared the same mind.
Damien squirmed in his blankets yet again, the sight a bit too unsettling for someone who had led a normal life amongst humans.
With a nod, Twiller agreed to their claims, and the council members immediately vanished from sight, their escape a bit too fast for beings who were acting highly before Twiller's appearance.
The moment they were alone, the Principal turned to face Damien, an enthusiastic twinkle in his eyes. "Pardon my insistent questioning, young man, but were you struggling to breathe when I entered the room not too long ago?"
Now able to move himself again, Damien rose from the bed and nodded at him. "Yes, it felt like I was being suffocated by the aura coming from those three guys."
"Hmm," Twiller's forehead wrinkled in concentration. "When did you start feeling like this?"
"Umm…when they entered the room?"
In an instant, Twiller's face relaxed as if he just figured out something, his gaze turning to Ahara. The young woman still looked a bit pale and shaken as she supported herself by the window, her posture somewhat lonely and sad.
"Can I borrow your sister for a moment? I have something I'd like to discuss with her," Twiller asked Damien, his eyes still glued on Ahara.
She looked as though her brother had already been taken away to the orphanage, and they were now separated. A rather heartbreaking sight from the Principal's perspective.
"That's if she's okay with it," Damien responded, prompting the old man to chuckle.
"You respect her a lot, don't you?"
"More than you could imagine," the boy replied, bending his upper torso and taking Ahara's shaky hand into his.
"They're gone now, no need to worry about us being separated. Principal Twiller handled the matter well," he soothed her and she immediately relaxed, half annoyed that Damien was behaving like an adult again.
"I'm fine…just a bit surprised by the council that's all."
"Well, eleven years is long enough for laws to change, don't you think?" Twiller consoled her.
She glanced at him, lifting herself from the wall and patting Damien's hand, before making her way towards the Principal.
"I'll be back once I'm done with him," she announced, and Damien nodded at them, the door closing behind their backs as soon as they left him alone in the room.
Adjusting himself on the bed, Damien rested his head on the headboard and looked up.
"So aura is everything in Gibbous, hmm?" He blurted to himself, examining the ceiling.
"You just woke up and you figured that out in an instant? Good job," came a voice from behind the curtain and Damien froze.
'There was someone behind there this whole time?' He wondered just when the figure behind it shifted.
Soon, the curtains were opened, and there, lying next to Damien on another hospital bed was a girl.
A very beautiful one at that.