"Bye, then." Ash replied, waving.

---

The next thing Casey knew, she was waking up in a strange, unfamiliar bed, looking at a sterile white ceiling.

She looked around, seeing that she was in a hospital, in a private room.

She barely had time to come to terms with where she was, when a nurse stepped into the room.

"Oh." they said, upon seeing her.

"You finally woke up, I see." they commented, approaching her and checking her over.

"How are you feeling?" they asked.

"Your father brought you here." the nurse replied, referring, of course, to Ash.

"You've been here for... a little over 48 hours." they continued.

"Before I give any further information, such as timelines and days and such, tell me..." they went on, trailing off for a moment and looking at charts. "...what is the last thing you remember?" they asked.

"What is your last vivid memory?"

The nurse nodded in response.

"Good, good." they said.

"All seems normal." they commented.

"Your mana is stable, your mind seems to be fine, your memory is good..." they went on.

"I'll get the doctor here to check up on you and see when you can leave." they then told her.

"Also, do you feel up to having a visitor?" they asked. "Your father's been waiting here all this time for you to wake up." they added with a small smile.

"I'll make sure to tell him that." the nurse told her. They then nodded and left.

About a minute later, she heard footsteps quickly approaching the door, before they stopped.

The handle to the door was slowly and quietly turned, and the door was slowly pushed open.

She watched it open, until it stopped after a couple of feet... and Ash poked his head in.

"...." he was silent as he looked at her, before opening the door further, and quietly stepping inside.

"I'm sorry, too." Ash replied.

"I should have done research on necromancers." he said.

"I should have seen this coming." he went on.

"I should have been prepared..." he continued, trailing off a little at that point.

"...I shouldn't have been so useless and helpless."

"Mm." Ash muttered.

"...." he was then silent, as he brain processed her first statement.

She should have asked her Mother. But how would she know where she was? But she was a necromancer. Did that mean her mother was dead? He never really asked about her.

"....huh." he mumbled.

"I just realized... I never really asked about your Mom, or anything." he said.

"What was... is... she like?" he asked.

"She works with the reaper?" Ash asked.

".....hm." he mumbled.

"Yeah, I swear I've almost met the reaper several times in my past." he said.

"Our guild medic always seems to bring me back, though." he went on.

"And... well, it's good that she still so devoted to you, even in death." he continued.

".....maybe we should try and locate your sister at some point, though?" he suggested.

"Hmmmmm, yeah." Ash agreed.

"I guess, for now, we should wait until you're out of here." he told her.

"What did the nurse say?" he then asked. "They give you any sort of time estimate?" he asked her.

"Or... tell you how things are with you, medically speaking?"

"Well, that's good." Ash replied, as the door opened again, and a slender doctor sporting glasses and green hair stepped inside.

"Awake, I see." he commented.

"From what I hear, you're feeling all right." he told her.

"Any abnormalities or pain?" he asked.

"Just a headache." Casey responded.

"Yeah, that's normal." the doctor replied, checking up on her charts and taking her vitals.

"Seems all is well." he said.

"I just want to do a quick test of your mana before I greenlight your release." he then told her.

"I'm going to take a bubble of water and push it into your chest." the doctor responded.

"It will then allow your mana to pass through it, and I will monitor said mana, to see if there are any abnormalities or red flags present." he explained further.

"And we go from there." he said.

"I assure you, it's painless." he went on.

"...though you MAY feel some discomfort. That's natural." he added.