Nani found her conscious before her body.
When her feelings did start to come back, she wished they hadn't. She was in her side. Right side. Her limbs were heavy and everything was sore even though she wasn't moving. She wanted to stay asleep. That was, until she tempered what happened. Queen Rita, the demons. She had passed out. Were the others okay!? Nani's eyes shot open as she sat up, to her regret.

She yelped and then hissed at the sharp pain in her left shoulder. She reached her hand over and felt the spot between her shoulder and neck where there was large wound dried over. It stung upon the contact.

Nani looked around. She was in a pristine place. The windows were stained glass, mostly blue and red. The walls were light grey and the floors white tile. She was in the medical bay, she concluded. The female wing, to be specific.

She looked at the injured angles in the beds around her. She spotted one angle who's wing had been torn. She flinched at the thought of that happening to her. It's not impossible to heal, but it can take months or years to heal ones wings thoroughly. On the side table next to her bed was some folded clothes.

It occurred to Nani that she was only in her undergarments, probably due to her wound. She went ahead and changed into the clothes on the side table.

The door on the opposite end of the room entered, drawing her attention away.
"We ask that you tell no one. We don't want to- Nani!" Katherine called as she flew over quickly to Nani's side.

Hazel, the angle Katherine had walked in with flew over as well. She was rather plump, but her large wings still allowed her to fly. She was the head nurse of the infirmary and was often the one to assist when any of the head was injured- namely Nani and Karson who were a scout and a talented fighter, respectively.

"Wait slow down a second!" Hazel hollered as she landed herself between the two angles.
"You have to be careful. Her wound and her wing have yet to heal, you have to be gentle with her limitations!"

"Limitations?" Nani questioned.

"Yes. What can one expect when getting oneself stabbed in the back with a demon blade!?"

"What? I'm so confused." Nani mumbled.

"Here child, sit down." Hazel sighed. "Katherine and I will explain what happened."

~•~

Nani birdied her face in her hands, a few tears rolling down her face. She felt- overwhelmed. She had just been informed she could not fly for the next month or so. At least, not without tearing the damaged tissue at the base of her wing. And even once it heals, she may never fly again. She was not to stretch her left wing either, though if she did, she had to be extremely careful. Flying was everything to an angel, especially one such as herself. Her being grounded meant she could no longer go on missions. Not until her wing healed. She had no way to help save Queen Rita.

Nani felt it was her fault. If she had been a better fighter, could she have saved her Rita in the first place? Perhaps not, but for the time, she convinced herself she would've made a difference, making the matter worse.

Katherine sat next to her in the medical bed. Hazel had left the two to attend to her other patients.

"W-where are the others?" Nani asked quietly standing.

"They're just in the meeting room. Want to go to them?" Katherine asked.

Nani nodded.
"Y-yeah."

The two made their way down the halls of the castle. Nani offered for Katherine to fly again, but Katherine had refused. The two arrived outside the meeting room. Nani raised her hand to push the door open. Like she had at the queen's quarters, she hesitated.

"We don't have to see them now if you're not ready." Katherine tried.

Nani smiled and shook her head.
"It's fine, Kat."

Nani pushes the door open. The conversation the others had been in ceased as they turned to face the two who entered. Hope and Chance stood from the chairs they had been sitting in. Karson pushed himself off the wall and Lea jumped to her feet from where she had been sitting on the floor.

"Hey guys?" Nani tried.

"Nani!" Karson yelled as he flew over. He gave Nani a hug. Hope ran over, joining them.

"Hey guys wa- ow!" Nani yelled as one of them put pressure on the base of her wings by accident. They both jumped back.

"What's wrong?" Chance asked, approaching, Lea following.

Nani didn't want to answer. She still felt insecure about her wing.

"Her wing is torn" Kat jumped in.
"She can't fly for the next few months and has to be careful for the next while."

Nani adverted her gaze. She felt ashamed. She really shouldn't. She's a scout, not a warrior anyways. She did what she could. And she couldn't help all this. But she still felt weak and at fault almost.

"Oh. I'm so sorry." Hope said quietly.

Kar gently rested a hand on Nani's shoulder.
"It'll be okay. It just needs time." He said with a small and hopeful smile.
A ghost of a smile creeped onto Nani's face.

"I don't mean to undermine Nani's problems, but we have others we need to discuss." Lea said.
"Like who will rule in Que- Rita's absence."

Nani's jaw dropped.
"I- I hadn't even thought of that!"

Chance nodded.
"We has waited for your return to discuss it. It would've been unfair to not allow you to say your opinion."

Nani nodded.
"Thanks guys."

"No problem. Umm. Wait for me, I'm going to go get the advisors." Kat said, referring to Rita's three advisors that were permanent residents of the castle.

When Kat returned, the group of sat down. Nani, with Chance and Hope on either side of her, Kat across with Lea and Karson on her right and left, one advisor to Karsons's left and another to Hope's. The last day at one end of the table. The empty seat was a reminder of the absence of their queen.

"So." One advisor, Ivy, started. "First things first, we need to at least have a person on who can lead for the time being. When we have someone in charge, then we can assess things such as how we will go about saving Rita, should we choose to. And if we do, will she return to power, or be treated as a demon?"

"Are they filled in then?" Nani whispered to Chance.
He nodded.

"Well then. I would imagine we should leave the poll open to the people, do you not?" Nani questioned.

"We can not afford to waste time." Another advisor, Gale, responded.
"I'd hate to disregard the wants of the people, but would it be best to allow the citizens to choose? There are far too many to have it be a speedy process, and conflicting opinions may have unknown reactions."

"It would mean disclosing the news of Rita's true form and the story of what happened to the public." Hope pointed out.
"It could cause distrust and panic. And upon Rita's return, it would be impossible to go back to what we had before."

"But it's not good for Rita to be hiding something like this." Karson said.
"If she came back and regained power and decided to keep this a secret, what happens if someone from the public finds out then spreads the rumor. Then they will truly feel they can not trust her."

"So, will it be public vote or vote among us?" Ivy reiterated.

"I think it should be public." Chance said.

"Same here." Hope said.

"I think it should be private." Kat said.

"Most definitely not!" Karson retorted.

"Marie and I think it should be private vote." Gale said, speaking for the last advisor, who had yet to speak aloud. She rarely spoke in most previous meetings and had Gale or Ivy speak for her.

"I think it should be private." Lea said.

"Id say public." Ivy said.

Everyone turned to Nani. She had gotten so caught up watching and listening to everyone that she hadn't really chosen a side. She could feel her body heat up at the way everyone's eyes were stuck on her. She played with the cuff of her shirt.

"Umm. I- I think both have their pros and cons. But I think we should keep it private. That way we have more control. And when Rita returns, we'll decide them if she'll return to power or not, and if we'll tell the citizens or not. I hate keeping information so important from the our friends and family, but we can't risk losing control to panic that's bound to happen if we tell our citizens 'oh, your Queen is secretly a demon and has been kidnapped'".

Slowly, everyone nodded or showed some sort of acknowledgement.
"Very well then. We can each choose one person to put in charge, ourselves as an option. We'll just go around the table." Ivy suggested.
"Mind if I start?"

No one disagrees, so Ivy started out.
"I don't mean to seem self centered, but I personally see myself fit. I can lead when I need to and like to think of myself as a good decision maker."

Karson spoke next.
"Well, I've always found you quite brash Ivy. You're to the point, which is good, but you once you have your mind set to something, you don't tent to listen to anyone saying otherwise.
As for who I'd nominate, I'd go with Hope. She's smart, and can differentiate when to hold her ground and when she's lost an argument. She guided by her heart and mind in almost even value. Kat?"

Kat went next.
"My vote goes to Nani."
Nani sat up, surprised.
"She's well educated on demons from her many run ins with them. She's a good strategist, will fight for what is right, but is willing to listen to others. She's as very caring."

Lea went next. She voted for Chance, saying he was kind, cunning, great fighter, and also had his fair share of fights with demons. Gale voted for Chance and Marie for Nani. Hope voted for Chance as well.

"You're turn Nani." Hope reminded.

"I-I'm not r-ready" Nani stuttered.

"Okay. I'll go then." Chance said.
"I vote for Nani. I agree with everything that Kat said earlier."

Nani took a deep breath.
"Okay. My vote goes to Ivy. Though our leader needs to know restraints, they also need self confidence and a drive to do what they must. Ivy is a perfect example of this balance."

"Well then." Karson spoke. "That makes the vote. One for Hope, two for Ivy, three for Chance and three for Nani. It's a draw between the two of them."

"Should we revote?" Kat asked.

"Uhh, maybe we can both rule?" Nani questioned.
"I-I'm mean, being Queen and having to fuel over all of the kingdom will be stressful I imagine. Maybe he can have the title of Kind or something and assist me with ruling?"
Nani feels awkward suggesting such an idea, but it made sense.

"I mean, is Chance up for that?" Ivy asked.

Chance shrugged.
"It can't hurt to help out a friend. Besides. This way if Nani needs assistance with something that she can't get done due to her damaged wing, I can help her."

Nani gave him a small smile. She was glad he had agreed. She didn't like him- she didn't want it to come off as that either. She just really didn't want to be left alone in charge of a whole kingdom.

"That's settled then. We will simply state that in Rita absence, she has left you two in charge. No further details on what actually happened."

Everyone agreed to that.
They decided to leave other problems for tomorrow as it was growing late. It was offered for Nani and Chance to stay in the castle, but Nani wanted to spend at least one last night at her home before she took over, for however long or short of a period of time that would be.