Later, at the Lempika hospital, Sharank woke up in his bed and slowly looked around. He was in agonizing pain from the events that had transpired in the cave.

  "How are you doing?" asked Principal Vince, who was sitting in a chair nearby.

  Sharank turned his head and stared at him for a few seconds, trying to process his surroundings.

  "Don’t strain yourself," the Principal said gently. "You are severely injured from the fallout with Kelly."

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  "What happened to Kelly?" Sharank asked, his voice raspy.

  "He died in the explosion. We couldn’t find his body," the Principal replied. He then continued, "It's a miracle you survived. Your nuclear form must have shielded your body from the worst of the blast just long enough for the backup to dig you out of the rubble."

  The Principal paused, his expression darkening. "Joshua is also dead."

  "Yeah, I know," Sharank responded quietly, looking down. "I saw him die. He passed away even before the explosion occurred."

  "Oh... That is a tragedy," the Principal said softly. After a heavy silence, he asked, "What exactly happened out there?"

  Sharank took a deep breath and recounted everything. After hearing the full story, the Principal nodded solemnly and left for his office.

  Left alone, Sharank stared at the ceiling, grappling with a heavy mix of guilt and confusion. He was still deeply unsettled by what had happened with Joshua. He simply didn’t understand why Joshua would sacrifice everything for someone who had treated him so poorly. He just couldn’t comprehend it.