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They managed to survive the great collapse, but barely. Hellsalem’s Lot has a lot of rebuilding before it, and so do the twin offspring of the casters.
Part of the main core of Libra was lounging around Leo’s recovery room.
Klaus saw a crumbled figure before him. “I found something!” he shouted back toward Steven and the rest of the party.
Making his way to the figure, it turned out to be two – Leo and a blonde female. He kneeled beside Leo, shaking his shoulder. “Leonardo, wake up.”
There was no response. He repeated the action with the stranger to get the same response.
Deciding to be a bit more invasive, he gently slapped Leonardo’s cheek. It made him pause – and he touched Leo’s forehead this time. It was hot… too hot to be humanly alright.
“We found this at the epicentre of the casted magic,” Steven began. He withdrew from his pocket something that reminded the gathered of a contact lenses case, one circle red and one yellow, and with some screws and spikes around it. “It seems like it was created for his eyes.”
“What purpose did it serve?” Klaus asked.
Steven passed the trinket around. “My hypothesis is that it might be to hinder the ability of his eyes. Judging that the doctors said that his eyes have bled a bit since we brought him here, it would be reminiscent of when he encountered Blood Breed protection charms.”
Klaus gritted his teeth. He maneuvered Leo onto his back and carried him down, passing Steven on the way down. “There’s someone else back there, they seemed alright. If you could look after them-?” he asked.
“Of course. What of the young man?”
“He’s burning up; I’m taking him to the closest ambulance.”
Leonardo stirred in his bed. His eyes were bandaged, but even still there were still small spots of blood at the corners. The doctors gave up on giving him fever reducers since they had no effect.
“Leo?” K.K. asked tentatively. She was the closest.
“Hnnng,” was the only response she got.
“Come on kid, give me something more to work with,” she chided gently.
“K.K.--?” he slurred.
“Yup, me and the whole gang. We were really worried.”
“S-sorry,” he mumbled.
“You have nothing to apologise for, Leonardo,” Klaus stepped forward. “Can you see right now? I know your eyes are bandaged.”
There was a moment of silence from Leo. “Y-yeah, seems like it,” he replied in his raspy voice.
“We’re doing an investigation into this whole ordeal,” Steven began while K.K. and Chain worked to get Leo into a sitting up position. “We found this at the summoning epicentre, and considering the obvious eyes connection, we are asking you. What is this?”
They could see his eyebrows raise up slightly when he widened his eyes. He then turned sideways and looked away.
“Leonardo,” Klaus probed, “We need to know.”
Leo swallowed visibly. “Promise you won’t get her in trouble? She had no choice.”
“I will do everything in my power.”
Leo turned back to look at Klaus. “It’s a device for the King to Despair to use my eyes by proxy.” He cleared his throat and K.K. gave him the nearby water glass that was filled by Chain. It was weird for Leo to be doted on like this by everyone.
“I see…” Steven breathed out. “Do you know if we can customise for someone else? It would be a useful thing to have.”
Leonardo took another sip and followed it with a deep breath in. “If possible,” he paused. Steeling himself, he continued, “If possible, I would prefer not. It’s very painful…” he looked away, as if ashamed.
“There is nothing to be ashamed of,” Klaus said picking up on Leo’s feelings.
Steven agreed. “Yes. Since that’s the case, the matter is closed. I’ll archive these and we’re done.” He turned to leave, “Feel better soon young man.”