Cross Conviction

"A prince?" Scharf inquired skeptically.

Max shifted back and forth nervously. "W-well, I don't think that part was literal. He was an asshole, just ranting bullshit!"

The captain leaned back against the dorm room's door with arms crossed. His dark, messy bangs hung slightly over his eyepatch, obscuring its edges. He scratched behind his ear and glanced back and forth between Max and Gustavo, who sat on the bottom bunk of the left bed.

"Look..." Scharf started, "You've both had a long day. Drop this absurdity for now and we'll look into this tomorrow after you've slept and are in your right mind."

"Absurdity?" replied Max. "Captain, you're not taking us seriously! I know I'm a dumbass sometimes but ask Gustavo!"

Gustavo looked up at Scharf, his face grave. "It's true, captain. He had no heartbeat and his body temperature was unusually high."

"Who? The praying mantis?" the captain snapped back, annoyed. "I've never heard of any Assault Leader Käfer."

"Senior assault leader Käfer, captain," Max stressed.

"There is no Assault Leader Käfer in this district, senior or otherwise," Scharf growled, his patience wearing thin. "He gave you a fake name."

Gritting his teeth, Max slammed a closed fist on the bed frame. "Damn it!"

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Scharf stepped away, allowing it to be opened, and in rushed Magnolia.

"He's awake!" she exclaimed.

Max's face lit up. He jumped off the bed and rushed out the door, urging the others to come with him. Gustavo followed close behind with Magnolia, but Scharf turned and started down the hall in the opposite direction without saying a word.

Looking over his shoulder, Max saw the captain break with the group. "Where are you going, Captain Scharf? Aren't you coming to see Sturm?"

Having thrown the stump of his left wrist in the air in a half-hearted wave, Scharf continued off on his own. "I'm all set," he replied.

Taken back by the captain's lack of care, Max stopped in his tracks. "What a dick..." he said under his breath.

Hurrying on, the team made their way down to the infirmary where they found Frieda, the red-haired head nurse of the medical wing, waiting in the main office.

"Nurse Freida!" exclaimed Max, "Can we see Sturm?!"

The woman sighed and placed her head in her palms. "It's almost two in the morning..." she complained, "If you must, then make it quick. He'll still be here at sunrise."

"My word! Two?!" asked Magnolia, "Unbelievable! Enough of this, I'm going to bed."

"Oh come on Magnolia, don't be like the captain!" Max protested, "We're supposed to look out for each other!"

Magnolia turned, hand on the exit, and shot him a glare. "I've been looking out for him for fourteen hours. I'm tired. I'm going to bed."

After the girl left, Gustavo put his hand on Max's shoulder, grabbing his attention. "To be honest, I don't think we should pile in on him right now. Why don't you give Sturm my best and I'll stop by in the morning?"

"Fine..." answered Max, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

Now alone, Max followed Frieda through a side door and into the open, mostly bare infirmary bunk room. There he found Sturm, the sole occupant, laid out on a bed next to the window.

He hurriedly rushed to his friend's bedside, excited. "Hey, how are ya, buddy?"

"Been better," said Sturm, "Yourself?"

Max chuckled awkwardly. "A lot better now that I know I didn't kill you."

Looking away, Sturm sighed. "No, it's not like that. I pushed myself too hard. It wasn't your fault."

"Aw, come on man..." Max replied anxiously, "I'm not gonna believe I had nothing to do with it, even if ya say so."

Sturm stayed quiet for a moment. Finally, he spoke out once more. "Magnolia said you were freaking out."

Raising an eyebrow, Max placed a hand on his hip. He was annoyed by the thought that Magnolia had evidently found the time to disparage him in the few moments after Sturm had awoken and before she had returned to notify the group.

Ruffling his hair, Max sat in a small steel chair next to the bed. "Yeah, well... no matter what you say, I know I went too hard. I just want to prove I can hang with the best, you know?"

"The best?" Sturm inquired, curiously.

Max cocked his head. "Well I mean, yeah. You're the Hurricane's son, man. You're like... the wall, you know?"

"What do you mean 'the wall'?" Sturm pressed on.

Crossing his arms, Max leaned back and took a deep breath, unsure if he had said something he shouldn't have. "Yeah, you know... you're the guy to beat. I'm sure a lot of the knight candidates see it the same way. Against you, I know I have to give it my all."

Sturm thought back to his first day at the academy and the candidate who had challenged him. Whirlwind, the boy with snow-white hair and burning red eyes. Max was right. It would seem that many of his classmates saw Sturm as an obstacle to be overcome. Little did they know that he held little more than a shadow of his father's prowess. Was this all Sturm had to look forward to?

"What's wrong, buddy?" asked Max, taking note of Sturm's silence.

Shaking his head slightly, Sturm said, "It's nothing. Really."

Though he knew something was troubling his friend, Max thought better than to push the subject at this time. It was best that he didn't subject Sturm to any unnecessary stress in his current state.

"So..." started Max, "How do you feel?"

"Fine." answered Sturm, "I'm just a little shaken up over a... dream I had."

Max raised an eyebrow in intrigue. "A dream?" he inquired, "Like when you were out?"

Grimly, Sturm replied "Yeah..."

Picking up on Sturm's dark tone, Max gave him a light shove on the shoulder. "Well, come on. Spit it out."

Sturm paused for a moment. He still wasn't entirely certain of what he had experienced during his medical emergency. Moreover, even if the event was significant, he didn't know any good way to explain it without sounding crazy. Regardless, seeing the anxious look in Max's eyes, Sturm knew he didn't have a choice at this point.

"Alright..." said Sturm with a sigh, "I'll tell you, but first I need you to do something for me."

Blinking curiously, Max tilted his head. "What's up?"

"Go to the nurse's desk and ask for Ida Weber's file. Tell her we're investigating." Sturm explained, "Bring it back here and don't tell me anything about it, okay?"

Max scratched his head in confusion. "Uh... sure, I guess. I don't really get where this is going, though."

"Just trust me, alright? I need to find something out for myself, too. It's important."

"Okay, you got it," Max answered with a nod.

After jumping to his feet, Max twisted his back until it cracked in either direction. He then made his way out of the infirmary bunk room and to the front desk. For a short amount of time, Sturm was once again left alone with his thoughts. Mind wandering, he considered his future opportunities at the academy. Captain Scharf wasn't one to tolerate weakness and, after this episode, Sturm feared the grizzled veteran would begin to view him as a liability. By all indications, the captain had held him to the same high standard as everyone else had. The Hurricane's son was to be a national hero, nothing less would do.

"Knock knock," Max called out, pushing his way through the door, "Look what I got!"

He flashed a beige folder- the same type that Vogel held in the commandant's office- and sat back down next to Sturm. As per his friend's instructions, Max was careful to keep the file's contents only in his field of view.

"So..." said Max, "What now?"

Sturm put his hand over his eyes, adding another barrier between himself and the information contained in the documents. "Is there a picture of her in there?"

Max thumbed through the stack of papers within the folder, flipping back and forth as he scanned each one. "Um... lemme see..." he hummed, before finally locating an image of the girl. "Yeah, I see her!"

"Does it list her physical attributes? Hair and eye color and all that?" Sturm pressed on with a hint of anxiety in his voice.

Nodding, Max answered, "Mhm. It does."

"Okay..." said Sturm before gathering himself with a deep breath. "And we've never seen her before, right? They never showed us that picture?"

Max shook his head. "Don't think so."

"Her hair goes to her shoulder. She's got freckles and brown eyes. I don't know if they'd list it this way in the file, but her hair is sort of red-brown."

Jaw shifting uncomfortably, Max felt his blood run cold. "W-what's going on here, man?"

"Is she wearing earrings?" Sturm inquired.

Max nodded but, realizing that his friend's eyes were still covered, spoke up. "Yeah, she is."

After hesitating for a moment, Sturm asked, "Are they half-moons?"

"They are..." answered Max, followed by an audible gulp.

The boys sat in silence for a moment. Sturm moved his hand away from his eyes and sat up slightly in his bed. Visibly troubled, Max closed the folder and put his head in his palms.

Looking over at Sturm from behind his fingers, he said, "What is this, man? What's going on?"

"I..." Sturm stopped mid-sentence and cleared his throat. "I think I... died. And met her."

Max inhaled deeply before nodding slowly. "Okay..." he said under his breath.

"Okay?" Sturm replied. "That's it? You believe me?"

"Buddy..." Max started, "I really don't know what to believe. I've had a hell of a night." After going silent for a moment, he continued, "But... if that's how you think it is, that's all I've got to go on. I trust ya."

Giving Max a slight smile, Sturm put his arms behind his head and looked up at the ceiling. "Thanks, Max."

"No problem! So what did she say?" Max pressed, excitedly pursuing the topic.

Thinking back, Sturm stopped to remember his conversation with Ida. "She said she didn't see who killed her. Just that everything went dark... along with her future sight."

"Shit!" exclaimed Max, digging his fingers into his scalp, "What the hell does that mean?! Her aberrance just... didn't work?"

"That's how it sounds..." Sturm replied ominously.

"Damn it all, that doesn't make any sense..." Max growled, "Well... okay, so what else did she say? Anything?"

Opening his eyes, Sturm sat up once more. "That it was a pyromancer. That she was sure of."

Max cocked his head. "We already knew that, didn't we?"

"No," answered Sturm, "The bodies were burned but that easily could have been done after the fact. Now we know that's not the case... If this was all real, anyway."

Nodding in acknowledgment, Max pressed for more information. "Alright. So that's it then? That's all she said?"

Sturm paused, deep in recollection. "She thanked us."

"Huh?" Max inquired, leaning forward with intrigue in his eyes, "Thanked us for what?"

"For showing her the sunset..." Sturm replied solemnly.

Mind wandering back to that orange-hued evening, Max hung his head, allowing his messy bangs to fall over his eyes. After a brief silence, he said quietly, "Yeah... it was no big deal."

"So then..." started Sturm, "What are your thoughts? Do you think there's merit to any of this?"

"You convinced me with the picture," said Max, "Besides, like I said... this is only the second craziest thing that's happened to me tonight."

Glancing over at his friend, Sturm gave him a confused look. "Second craziest thing?"