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[no-white-knights-blog]

Halo - An Etrian Odyssey Novel (Chapter 46/50)

"Okay, monster man, what do we do?" Naylin asked from where he was crouched down behind a bush with Flandr and Sage beside him, peering over the top of the brush at the Labyrinth boss wreaking havoc in the clearing, tearing into the corpses of the explorers Aerlorn had killed just moments before.

"It reacted to the smell of death from those people," Flandr explained, holding tightly to his axe and wincing as the beast tore the alchemist in half, blood spraying over the grass and Sage making a noise as he turned away, hands over his mouth and eyes pinched closed, "For now it's distracted, but... it knows we're here, so when it's done... eating, it'll probably turn on us."

"So we'll have to attack while it's distracted then," Naylin noted, nodded his head, "We'll have to send that message to the others, but yelling across the clearing probably isn't a smart idea, so... what should we do?"

"Aim long range attacks," Sage said weakly, pulling his bow into his hands and reaching for his quiver, sifting through the arrows, "Chimaera are weak to ice based attacks, so we'll have to take advantage of that. If I can get that information to Nirim and Arcan, they can fight with ice elementals, they'll have a better chance than us."

"If you can get that ronin to use an ice elemental I can hit up after him," Flandr revealed, holding his axe up with both hands and glaring over the brush towards the Chimaera, "I could probably double the damage if both of them hit simultaneously, but I need to get over there with them so we can collaborate."

"I think I can help along as well," Naylin said, staring down at the grass near his knees, "If I can reach Lesai, we can combine our abilities," he looked over his shoulder towards the Chimaera, "I should be able to use Cursecut against that thing, giving you three enough time to combine your elemental attacks."

"Nay you've never been able to successfully pull that off," Sage was the one to argue, "I don't think-."

"Don't worry about me," Naylin grinned at Sage, reaching over to ruffle the top of his hair, "I've gotten stronger since the last time I tried this."

"Last time you fainted," Flandr deadpanned with a blank expression, "You didn't even finish the spell, you just fainted."

"Maybe shut up," Naylin decided, sticking his tongue out at the landsknecht, then turned to Sage, "I'll take Seara and get over to where the injured are, Lesai is still sitting with Eliath, you dodge that monster and get to where Halo is trying not to get eaten."

"Not a monster," Flandr mumbled under his breath, and Naylin rolled his eyes, grabbing Sage's hand and yanking him to his feet, pulling him one way while Flandr jumped over the bush and darted across the clearing.

His axe was clenched in his right hand, shield held up with his left as he kept his attention on the Chimaera's back, inching around him and keeping the barrier of steel and iron raised until he'd managed to get around the boss without being noticed, then hurried over to the trees where Halo were hiding.

It was a little frustrating to see that even Aerlorn was with them, though his arms were bound to his sides with rope, and he had this dizzy look on his face, like he couldn't comprehend what was happening. Served the bastard right; honestly Flandr had half a mind to use him as bait, but that would be so screwed up. He just shook his head and turned his attention to the five members of Halo currently hiding behind the trees.

"Nice of you to join us," Iliad greeted, peering around the trunk of the tree.

"Where's Sage?" Dyria demanded, and Flandr held his hand up to calm the protector down.

"He's with Naylin making their way over to Eliath and the others. Listen, I think we can beat this thing, but we have to move now, while it's still distracted."

"Great," Arcan breathed, "What's the plan?"

"We need to use ice based elemental attacks on it," Flandr explained, glancing over towards the other end of the clearing and relaxing when he noticed Sage and Naylin were with Lesai, "Dark hunter-."

"Zed," Zedimir corrected, and Flandr gave him a weird look before continuing.

"Zed. Use shackles to bind the Chimaera's legs, and gag to bind its head."

"At the same time?" Zed asked, a slight tone of skepticism lacing his words, and Flandr just sighed, turning to Arcan.

"You and your ronin-."

"Okay, you've met us before," Iliad interrupted, stepping in front of Arcan, "Do you seriously not remember our names?"

"Sorry, I've been busy, I haven't had time to memorize them all," Flandr said stiffly, "Arcan; happy now? You and Nirim move with me, use hyosetsu and your ice rounds simultaneously, I can boost the damage using freezer, but we have to wait for Lesai and Naylin to make their move first. They're going to weaken the Chimaera with a combined attack."

"How does that work?" Arcan asked, and Flandr rubbed his temple.

"I don't have time to explain it, just trust me, please."

"What about me?" Iliad asked, "And Dyria?"

"There's not much you two can do in terms of elemental attacks," Flandr said, "It's good you can fight long distance at least. Get in a good position and start shooting your highest-level arrow attacks into the Chimaera's eyes to blind it. Dyria," he turned to the protector, noting the unsteady look in his eyes before huffing out through his nose, "Get to Seara and your medic and protect the injured."

Dyria didn't even wait before walking past Flandr, who turned to watch him go, trying to ignore the lump of jealousy in his throat and swallowing it when he turned back to Arcan's next question.

"What do we do with him?"

They all looked down at Aerlorn before the landsknecht turned, "Leave him. He's no threat right now. Just get in position and wait for the signal that Naylin and Lesai are ready."

All Dyria needed was to know where Sage was and he was off, reaching his survivalist in a matter of moments and standing between him and the Chimaera, who so far seemed perfectly happy chewing on the head of a dead gunner. None of the gore affected Dyria, he realized rather dully. He'd seen things like this before; hell, he'd killed like that before. Now was no different.

"Dyria," Sage pushed himself against the protector's chest as Naylin stood up from where he'd been kneeling beside Eliath, who looked paler than he had been before, eyes closed.

"He's out cold," Naylin stated to no one in particular, "Good, he won't yell at me for doing this then," he spun his staff around with his fingers and looked down at Lesai, "Ready?"

The hexer nodded, not moving an inch from where he was kneeling back on his heels, Eliath lying with his head pillowed in Lesai's lap, Emery standing behind him with Vien at his side, lute in hand and a look of determination in his eyes as Shiva stayed sitting, knees to his chest, though he was holding the ocarina as if he too wanted to help, Na'axri sitting beside him and nuzzling his nose into the troubadour's black hair to somehow comfort him.

"Seara, get to a perch and start shooting off towards the Chimaera's face," Naylin pointed, and Sage nodded before pulling away from Dyria, who reluctantly let him go as Emery stepped up beside him, "Everyone else stay back."

Sage could see Iliad perched up in another tree across the clearing, and notched an arrow as Halo's dark hunter crept out from around one of the trees, eyes flashing towards Naylin, who waved a hand down at Lesai. The hexer's lips moved without a vocal sound, and the Chimaera started to react, dropping the half-eaten corpse he'd been enjoying and throwing his head back with a roar.

Naylin and Zedimir darted out simultaneously, and time seemed to slow as the dark hunter enacted gag to bind the Labyrinth bosses head, then shackles on its legs, tripping it up just enough for Naylin to get a good aim on what he wanted to do. Truthfully, he really had never cast Cursecut successfully before. He wasn't on the right level to carry it out flawlessly, the power and energy he used drained out of him, so after this he was probably going to be as useful as a blade of grass, but hey, he didn't really care.

He may deplete so much of his energy that it would kill him, but he would have atoned for being incapable of protecting his guild, protecting Flandr from getting cursed, and Sage from losing his memories, and Eliath from slipping into a three-god-damn-month coma. He was supposed to get stronger, so he could stand near his hero on equal ground, but he couldn't do that yet, not until the guilt in his heart was gone. Not until he proved himself.

"Cursecut!"

Naylin didn't see the effect of his attack himself, because the wave of energy that left him sent him flying back, like he'd just pulled the trigger on a bazooka and got the literal worst backlash from it. The power he used hit the Chimaera, but it hit him with the same force, and he was staggering on his feet with blurry vision as the Labyrinth boss screeched, swiping at him and batting him away from the clearing, through the trees.

No one had any time to react to their war magus just disappearing like that, though Sage did feel himself scream, because in the next instant their last attempted wave attacked. Vien's finger picked out a song on his lute to aid his guild members, and behind him he could hear soft music, turning and glancing over his shoulder to see Shiva had his eyes closed, the ocarina clutched in both hands and at his lips.

"What's he doing?" Emery asked, and Vien grinned.

"Playing Frost," he answered, looking back over at the battle, "I think I know who he's helping, too."

The final attack was buried behind a cloud of mist, caused by the chill of their combined attack hitting the steaming body of the Chimaera. Flandr, Nirim, and Arcan all moved away from the cloud, arms raised and coughing as they positioned themselves a safe distance away. Iliad jumped out of the tree he'd been perched in and grabbed the back of Zed's shirt to physically drag him over to the rest of the group, and Emery grabbed the dark hunter by his arm when he was close enough to check him for injuries while the rest watched and waited with bated breath.

"Did... did we do it?" Arcan asked, and Flandr shook his head slowly as the cloud of mist started to fade.

They all seemed to curse when the Chimaera moved, and Arcan reloaded his gun as Nirim tightened his grip on his katana, "We'll have to go again," he stated, and Flandr rubbed a hand over his face and into his hair.

"No, the damage we dealt it should be enough to have weakened it substantially, maybe it'll just drag itself back to its cave."

"Oh really?" Iliad asked, "Of course, because luck like that exists."

"You have a serious attitude problem," Flandr revealed, and Iliad snarled.

It turned into a slight frown when Dyria put a hand on his shoulder, the protector stepping between his brother and the landsknecht, "I'll finish it off," he decided, and Flandr quickly stepped in front of him.

"No! It's already been defeated, there's no reason to kill it!"

"It could try and attack us," Dyria argued, "Wounded animals are the most dangerous."

"Guys, please," Sage sighed as he jumped out of the tree he'd been in and walked up to the protector, "This isn't the right time to be fighting over something like this."

"I'm not going to let that monster recover only to attack my guild," Dyria stated simply, holding his arm in front of Sage and pushing the survivalist behind him protectively.

Flandr simply bristled at his actions, snarling, "It's not a monster, it's a creature of the Labyrinth, a living creature. It hasn't done anything wrong, it was reacting to death that had already taken place! Are you really going to condone more of that death?"

"To protect my guild? Yes."

"Who here is the real monster then?" Flandr hissed, and Dyria tensed up as Sage slipped around him, a hand on his chest.

"Enough! What's wrong with you?! This is not the time to be fight-!" he stopped, frowning, and the two explorers he was standing between followed his bewildered gaze to where Lesai had laid Eliath's head carefully onto the ground before standing up, gliding past the arguing group and towards the Chimaera.

"Wait, Lesai," Flandr started forward, but Sage grabbed his sleeve to stop him.

"No, hold on," he said, watching the hexer as he approached the Labyrinth boss.

The Chimaera was lying on the ground, snarling and scrabbling at the earth with its claws, blood on its teeth and the fur at the corners of its mouth, and when its wild eyes noticed Lesai it snapped its jaws at the hexer, who merely sidestepped before setting a hand against the massive creature's forehead.

His eyes shut, and the previously malicious energy that had consumed the area started to fade as the Labyrinth boss stopped struggling, furious eyes going soft before Lesai pulled his hand away and took a few steps back, watching the Chimaera struggle to its shaky feet and shuffle off towards where it had come from.

For the longest time it was silent besides the occasional rumble of the large monster lumbering away, followed by Flandr's bewildered whisper, "How did... he do that?"

"Lapis Galəksē," a manic voice breathed out wildly, and the group spun to see Aerlorn had somehow freed himself from the rope binding him, and was watching Lesai with a manic glaze in his eyes, a toothy grin on his lips, "Finally," Lesai didn't move when Aerlorn started towards him, just stood there watching as the other hexer laughed, "I've been looking for it, for so long. My family died because of that stone!"

Lesai's eyes widened a fraction. Perhaps this crazy man had been one of the hexers who'd lived in that village? That... was so sad. It was no wonder he wanted to be remembered, because everyone had forgotten about the Lapis stone, and the village of hexers and dark hunters who had protected it. Lesai's home. Aerlorn's home perhaps. He even theorized that Zedimir was born of dark hunters descended from that village. That would explain why he lived so near the cursed grotto.

"Show it to me!" Aerlorn screamed, and Lesai's hands twitched at his sides before he reached up to push his hair back, feeling his breath hitch at the wild light in the other hexer's eyes, the frown that took to his lips as he reached Lesai and grabbed handfuls of his robes, sinking to his knees and gaping up at Lesai with this demented look on his white face, "Give it to me."

Lesai shook his head, pulling his hand away from his head to let his bangs fall back into place, "No. You don't understand it. This stone isn't limitless, and it isn't all powerful. It's a curse that should never be used. That's why my uncle...," he trailed off, pressing his lips together, "I would not wish this hell on even my worst enemy."

"If you won't give it to me," Aerlorn whispered, "Then I'll tear it out of you!"

He jumped to his feet and Lesai staggered back as the other hexer lunged forward, lurching as his face contorted in pain and his mouth fell open, the smallest amount of blood sliding from one corner of his lips. Lesai dared to look down at the green accented sword blade pierced through Aerlorn's chest, slowly, sadistically being pushed forward, deeper into the hexer, nearly touching Lesai's throat when it was down to the hilt, before it started to draw back.

When Aerlorn fell, Lesai lifted his eyes to Dyria, who was cleaning his sword off on his pants before sheathing it and looking at the hexer, "If you got hurt, Eliath would never trust me with Sage."

Was that his explanation?

"That was...," Arcan trailed off, his face pale, and Iliad turned, slipping his bow over his head.

"Can we go home now?"

Na'axri barked at him, and Flandr snapped out of his trance, meeting Sage's panicked eyes, as if their beast companion had reminded them someone was missing, "Naylin!"

[no-white-knights-blog]

Halo - An Etrian Odyssey Novel (Chapter 45/50)

Eliath had never witnessed anything so savage and barbaric, Aerlorn killed half a dozen people just by willing it to happen, and if it weren't for Lesai using the power of the Lapis Galəksē to bless Flandr, and that troubadour who was clinging to him, then they would have lost their landsknecht as well. Eliath didn't think this through, he completely forgot that this psycho had control of not only their will, but their lives. They almost lost Flandr.

He wasn't going to lie, he'd seen people die before, he'd seen them injured badly in the Labyrinth, and he'd seen them sick, one of the jobs he'd taken when he was younger was as a recovery worker, someone who would walk through the Labyrinth from his hometown and collect the shredded remains of explorers and guilds who didn't make it, so Eliath liked to think he was used to it, but seeing something like this...

Aerlorn didn't even chant anything or curse, whatever hex he used was sent through the link he had with the explorers under his spell. Each one of them started to crumble beneath the weight of the dark magic, their screams were horrific, their skin turning gray as black and red blood poured from every orifice. Eliath had seen a lot of horror, but nothing like this. The smell alone that came from the blood and the rapid decomposition had him raising an arm in front of his nose and mouth, eyes watering.

The explorers fell like dominoes, their screams dying out with them, until all that was left were wilted, broken bodies, and crimson staining the grass around them, their eyes open in a disturbing, glazed over stare. Sage wasn't the only one who turned away and threw up, even Lesai had to stagger away, and Eliath would have gone to help him, but Aerlorn kept his attention.

The circle Halo had around him broke when the hexer killed the cursed explorers, giving him the perfect straight shot to Flandr, who appeared to be unresponsive and frozen in shock. The power that Aerlorn shot at Flandr was dark with malice, Eliath could feel the hatred behind it, another curse, something that would utterly destroy Flandr, and after everything the landsknecht had been through, Eliath couldn't let that happen.

He was Historia's leader, he was supposed to protect everyone, keep them safe, but he failed to protect Flandr and he was cursed by a sociopathic hexer dead-set on finding the Lapis stone, for whatever reason. Eliath wasn't going to fail the landsknecht again. Walking on his own two feet was still a serious problem, his legs were too weak to run around normally like an explorer had to, half of his group had been fully against him joining them on this rescue mission at all, but the adrenaline that rose up in him at seeing his family in danger was the energy boost he needed to dart forward, stunning the ever-loving hell out of Naylin, who yelled at him to stop.

When he managed to position himself in front of Flandr, arms held out, he felt this strange sense of peace and pride, this silly thought that wow, he actually managed to protect someone, before pain he'd never felt before hit him straight in the chest, lancing down his arms and legs like fire burning through his veins, the agonizing feeling shredding apart his very nerves and making his ears ring as his knees buckled.

His left hand grabbed at his chest where that unbelievable power had pierced him, his right hand clinging to the staff he'd been using to aid his healing, his breath burning his lungs and his throat as Sage screamed in horror, Flandr stuttering behind him. It made him smile a little as he glanced over his shoulder to make sure the landsknecht was unharmed.

"That's my apology for not noticing," he groaned, falling to his knees, "My bad."

"Idiot!" Flandr dropped down beside him, grabbing his shoulder to try and get a better look at his chest, while Emery knelt down in front of him and Lesai came up to his right side, eyes wide in horror.

He'd never seen Lesai actually change his facial expression, so seeing something like fear in his eyes made Eliath feel even worse, though he still tried to reassure the hexer he was alright, "Hey, it's okay," he said, his voice shaking as he dropped his walking stick to instead hold Lesai's face, "I'm okay."

"What the hell's the matter with you?!" Emery demanded, "Grab his arm, we have to get him out of the way."

Flandr did as he was ordered, and Lesai glued himself to Eliath's right side, arms wrapping around his waist to help keep him standing, the two of them half dragging their leader off to the side of the clearing, carefully easing him down so his head was pillowed on Lesai's lap, his face pinched up in agony and his hands clenching the front of his shirt.

"El!" Sage dropped down beside his brother, holding his hands out but not touching the wounded survivalist, "How do you feel? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Seara," Eliath sighed, smiling, "The only reason this knocked me down so quickly is because my legs are still healing. I'm fine here, so go help your guild."

Sage seemed to be holding his breath, and sighed out before leaning forward to kiss Eliath's forehead, "Don't die," he ordered, before looking up at Lesai, "Take care of him," his eyes snapped to Emery, "Both of you, please."

"We got this," Emery assured, reaching out to squeeze Sage's shoulder, "Help Dyria and the rest of those idiots. Get Vien away from the line of fire too, and keep an eye on Zed, I don't want him getting too close to that sick fuck."

"Understood," Sage agreed with a sharp nod, standing and running around the group to reach his guild.

When he was out of the way, Eliath seemed to deflate, his face falling to show just how much pain he was actually in, something he'd been hiding from his brother so as not to worry him. Now that he wasn't anywhere close enough to notice Eliath's expression, he stopped hiding it, coughing hard and wincing as Emery pushed his hands away from his chest, ripping his shirt to see what damage had been done.

There was no physical injury it seemed, but Eliath was in blatant distress, so Emery cursed a little in frustration and kept his hand hovering over the survivalist's chest as he shut his eyes, using the technique he'd learned from Lynus to search Eliath's aura. Normally curses from hexers leave a kind of dark imprint on the victim's aura, and Eliath was no different. There was a heavy dark spot that looked almost like a cloud, starting in his chest and bleeding out into the rest of his body, most notably through his legs.

It was a lot worse than Emery had been expecting, and the dark spot was a lot bigger than anything he'd dealt with before. Damn it, he wasn't ready for something like this, he needed more training.

"Okay, I think the wounds are internal," he stated, "Where's most of the pain?"

"Chest," Eliath croaked, "Legs."

"Legs," Emery repeated in a murmur; the dark energy was probably attacking his legs because they were already weakened, "Okay, unfortunately I can't do anything while we're in the Labyrinth, you're going to have to do me a favor and not die, okay?" he sifted through his bag and Eliath laughed, coughing hard and clutching the front of his shirt.

"I'll do my best."

"Here, take this," Emery held a bottle of medica out, "I don't know if this will help the pain, since it's being caused by a curse, but at the very least it will help relax you a little bit."

Lesai took the bottle from him, and Eliath shut his eyes, "Thanks. Take care of Flandr now, his wounds will probably be a lot easier to deal with than mine."

"I'm fine," Flandr argued from where he was sitting a little way away from Eliath, cradling his left arm against his stomach, "Why did you jump in front of me? Do you have a death wish or something? I'm already cursed, Eliath, it wouldn't have made a difference."

"It would have," Eliath chuckled, wincing when Lesai put the lip of the vial to his lips, steadily pouring the medica into his mouth while combing his fingers back through the survivalist's hair to soothe him.

"Come on, do you want to help them?" Emery asked as he knelt on Flandr's left side, "Let me help you and you can pay them back for risking their lives."

Flandr cried out when Emery reached out and forced his shoulder back into place without any warning, cursing colorfully and glaring at him, "What kind of a sadistic medic are you?!"

"Why do people always complain when I'm healing them?!" Emery asked back, taking out a roll of tape to help secure the landsknecht's shoulder, "God, I may not be made of clouds and cotton candy, but at least I'm keeping your sorry ass alive! Ungrateful punk!"

Flandr just sighed in frustration and didn't complain further as the medic quickly taped up his shoulder before grabbing his hand to heal it, his attention suddenly snapping away from his own pain and Eliath's to look around frantically.

"Where's Shiva?"

"That troubadour who was clinging to you?" Emery asked, tying off the bandages around his hand before turning to look around, "I think he's hiding behind that tree."

"I gotta go get him," Flandr said, standing up and jogging away from Emery, who held his hands out.

"Thanks for your help, Emery. Hey, no problem, it's what I do."

Shiva was sitting behind the tree that Flandr had been using as a perch the past few days, his back to the trunk and his knees tightly held to his chest, his face buried in the tops of his knees and his hands buried in his hair as he trembled. He squeaked a little when Flandr stepped up to him and knelt in front of him, but relaxed when he looked up and recognized the landsknecht.

"It's okay now," Flandr soothed, reaching out to the musician, "My guild is here, two guilds are here actually, they'll take care of Aerlorn and we can go home," Shiva shook his head, tears pouring down his face, and somehow Flandr could feel his panic, "You don't have to be scared, what happened to the rest of them won't happen to us. Cursed or not, we're going to be fine," he pulled Shiva closer, arms wrapped around his shoulders, "I'll protect you, okay?"

Shiva nodded against his shoulder, wrapping his arms around the landsknecht and standing up with him, clinging to him as Flandr lead him back over to where Eliath, Emery, Lesai, and Vien were, helping Shiva sit down so Emery could slide up beside him.

"Aerlorn did something to his throat," Flandr revealed, down on one knee with his arms around Shiva as the troubadour pressed harder against his chest, clinging to the front of his shirt and gaping fearfully over at the medic, "He can't talk, can't sing, and the hexer threw his lyre into the campfire."

"What?" Vien bristled, eyes wide, "What kind of prick move is that?!" he crouched down beside his fellow musician, smiling sweetly at him, "My name's Vien, I'm a troubadour like you. I think I might have an extra instrument you can use, if you want?"

Shiva seemed intrigued at the prospect, eyes glimmering a little as Vien fell forward onto his knees and pulled his bag onto his lap, searching through it as Emery reached out to feel around his throat. Both Vien and Flandr managed to distract the troubadour long enough for the medic to check his injuries, and going by Emery's expression, it wasn't good.

"Can you help him?" Flandr asked, and Emery pressed his lips into a tight line, casting a quick refresh spell before sitting back on his heels.

"Medica should make him more comfortable, and I cast a refresh spell to ease his breathing, but this was caused because of the curse, so I don't know if I can do anything, especially here in the Labyrinth. I know another medic who might be able to help, but me, I can't do anything more," he pulled a bottle of medica from his bag and handed it to Flandr as Vien pulled out two small items.

"I have a harmonica and an ocarina. I like the ocarina but I've got kind of shitty lungs so I can't use it. Take your pick."

Shiva stared at both instruments before reaching out and taking the porcelain ocarina, which was attached to a black cord that he looped over his head before holding the item against his chest with both hands.

"Can you look after him?" Flandr asked, and Emery nodded, so the landsknecht stood up, Shiva watching him with a panicked expression that had him crouching back down and setting a hand on top of his head, "You'll be okay, these people are trustworthy."

Shiva didn't seem very willing to let go of Flandr, and Eliath laughed softly, his head turned on Lesai's lap so he could watch the landsknecht interacting with the obviously terrified musician, "He's sweet. How long has he been cursed and stuck with that psycho?"

Flandr frowned heavily and stroked his fingers through Shiva's hair, "A year is what he told me, but for all I know it's been longer."

"I see," Eliath mumbled, rolling his head back and wincing, "That's a long time."

"You, go to sleep," Emery ordered, then turned to Flandr, "and you, go help Dyria and Sage. We'll keep an eye on your cute musician."

Flandr squinted distrustfully at Emery, who looked a little too amused with himself, "I don't think I like you."

"I get that a lot, now go, landsknechts are supposed to be really strong, aren't they? Prove it and protect everyone."

A pained noise fell from Shiva's lips as Flandr stood up, still clinging to his sleeve, and Flandr reached down to loosen his grip, squeezing the troubadour's hand, "I'll be right back, I need to do this. I promise I'll be fine."

"It'll be okay," Vien tried to reassure the other musician, sitting beside him and reaching out to take his hand from Flandr, smiling brightly despite the circumstances, "Can you play the ocarina? Show me."

Successfully distracted, Flandr left Shiva in Vien and Emery's hands, hurrying over to where he'd thrown his axe and lifting it into his hands before striding over to stand between Naylin and Sage, where the group had made a loose circle around the hexer who'd started all of this. The war magus to his left offered him a grin, which was a change from what Flandr had expected.

"Welcome back, glad to see you're not dead. Kind of dumb of you to dislocate your own shoulder, though. We get it, you're a bad ass."

Flandr simply tightened his grip around the handle of his axe, his shoulders tensing, "I'm sorry about everything, Nay," he apologized without looking towards the war magus, "Is your shoulder okay?"

"Considering you lodged your axe into it, yea, I think I'm doing pretty good," Naylin answered, rolling his shoulder, "Quit apologizing, it wasn't your fault. If we blamed you or hated you for what happened then we wouldn't be here. We're mad as hell, yea, but only because you didn't tell us what the hell was going on and tried to deal with this shit yourself. We've all been captives for the past three months, just in different ways, but we're together now," he grinned over at the landsknecht, "So shut up and fight with us like you used to."

Flandr took a shaky breath and nodded, narrowing his eyes at Aerlorn when the hexer turned to him, his body tense and his posture unsteady, as if he'd finally realized he'd been caught and that there was nothing more he could do to fight back. It made sense he would start to unravel because of that.

"It's over," Flandr was the one to say, both hands tightening around his axe as he glared at Aerlorn, doing his best to keep his rage in check.

After everything this man had done to him, to his family, to Shiva, all he wanted to do was watch him suffer, but he couldn't bring himself to strike out like that. No, the way he was raised, to respect all life, he couldn't do it. Even if this monster deserved it, even if Flandr had attacked people while under the curse's influence, the one thing he had control of still was his free will, and he would never harm a living creature under his own free will.

Aerlorn narrowed his eyes at the landsknecht, "You think it's that easy, boy? I dare you to try getting rid of me. I'll just come back," he held his hands out, grinning, "Hexers don't exist the same way others do. If you kill me, I'll just come back in another body, any human cursed by my hexes will be the perfect candidate for me to take over their consciousness. I refuse to die before finding the Lapis Galəksē."

"Uh, then die?" Naylin suggested, "You really are an idiot if you haven't realized it. You had that stone within your grasp for three months, and you didn't even notice."

Aerlorn was practically gaping at Naylin, eyes narrowing, "What are you talking about?"

"Why do you want it, anyway?" Arcan was the one to break down and ask the question that everyone had been wondering, "I mean is it an all-powerful energy source? Will it help you control the world?"

"The world? Please," Aerlorn scoffed, "There's a much easier route to gaining the respect of kings," he held his hands out again, eyes wild, "Conquer the Labyrinths. In the legends, the Lapis stone was said to have been mined from the very roots of the Yggdrasil tree, it's only fair to believe that with its power, I could easily conquer the Labyrinths beneath the tree's canopy."

"Kind of a wild ambition if there ever was one," Iliad stated, arching an eyebrow, "What's the fun in making it effortless to conquer Labyrinths? What's the point of becoming an explorer? You lose the sense of growth if you just use some shortcut that easily takes you from point A to point B."

"Yea, and anyway, how do you know the Lapis stone will just make it effortless in the first place?" Arcan added, "Maybe you're thinking about it the wrong way. Besides, what about the monsters, FOE's, and stratum bosses? What are you going to do about those?"

"Bosses are born of the Labyrinth," Aerlorn explained, "With the stone, also born of the Labyrinth, it would have been easy to control the bosses. As for the monsters and FOE's, at first I wasn't sure what I was going to do to get rid of them. Until I met him," he pointed over at Flandr, who tensed up, tightening his grip on his weapon until his knuckles turned white, "When I cursed you, it was for the simple reason that I could sense the stone's energy around you, showing you've come into contact with it. Then you showed that miraculous talent of communicating with the monsters here. I could easily control that skill."

"Like hell," Flandr snapped, "It's not a talent, it's understanding. If you can't respect the Labyrinth, then you don't deserve to conquer it."

Aerlorn laughed, shaking his head, "Deserve? As if it's that simple? Do you think it's worth the Labyrinth looks for? Don't be ridiculous. This world is savage, barbaric, the Labyrinth has claimed millions of lives, no one is worthy because worth doesn't matter. What matters is if the one who conquers the Labyrinth is just as barbaric. To survive in an unforgiving world, you need to be unforgiving. Once I've conquered this Labyrinth, I'll be crowned as a knight, a prince, I'll be given money, status, everything I've ever wanted! Then I'll go one to conquer all of the other Labyrinth's, and my legend will live on forever!"

"That's all you want?" Sage asked, looking confused, "To be remembered?" he slowly lowered his bow, an expression of pity on his face, "What happened in your past to make you think you needed to go to such lengths just to be remembered?"

Aerlorn's eyes flashed and he spun to face the survivalist, a mad grin on his face as the curls of his robes shot out and wrapped around Sage, knocking the bow from his hands as he was dragged towards the center of the circle where the hexer was standing. Dyria reached out to grab him, but barely missed, his eyes widening as Sage stopped just in front of Aerlorn.

"You ask too many questions," he decided, grabbing Sage by his chin and digging his nails into the survivalist's skin, "I'm going to enjoy destroying you."

Dyria only managed to take a step forward, sword in hand and eyes wild, before the air seemed to get heavier. Chills ran down everyone's spines as the sounds of the forest hushed suddenly, and an unexpected feeling of terror settled over them, making it difficult to breathe. Even Aerlorn seemed to react to the sudden change, dropping Sage to the ground and turning to look around frantically.

"What is that?" he demanded, and Sage scrambled back before climbing to his feet and running back over to Dyria, dodging behind the protector, and looking around just as fearfully.

"Something's coming towards us," Naylin stated, lifting his weapon and taking a step closer to Flandr as the other explorers from Halo started to gravitate towards Dyria, "It doesn't feel like a FOE or a monster."

"No," Flandr agreed, eyes wide, "It's not."

A shadow blocked out the sun above the trees, the sound of wings flapping had the group tensing up in anticipation, weapons raised as all eyes snapped up towards the silhouette perched on the very tops of the trees at the far end of the clearing, showing the menacing outline of a massive creature with petrifying wingspan and a body with muscles rolling under a front pelt of yellow, white, and deep purple.

"What is that thing?" Arcan whispered, and Flandr grit his teeth.

"Chimaera."

All hands slapped over ears as the monster let out an unexpected cry that came out as a mix of roaring and screaming, before Iliad turned to glare at Dyria, "I blame you for this."

[no-white-knights-blog]

Halo - Etrian Odyssey Novel (Chapter 44/50)

Notes: The following chapter leads the climax of the novel. Finally. I’m such a procrastinator for updating this, even though it’s already finished. Whoops.

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Morning's in the Labyrinth were cold, especially considering Flandr didn't have a coat, and the fire below him was dead. The whole night he was unable to sleep, and just continued to sit up in his tree holding tightly to his arm, which was aching badly, as if he could feel Shiva's continuous pain.

One by one the cursed explorers around the dead fire started to wake up, and Flandr sat a little straighter to stare out towards where the pond was, barely listening to the conversation going on below the tree. Something about escaping, which was fully amusing to Flandr. Did these idiots really think that was possible? They were cursed, there was nowhere they could go that Aerlorn couldn't find them or even kill them from a distance.

Flandr decided not to point that out, though, and an hour after the sun rose, Aerlorn finally returned to the campsite, dragging Shiva behind him, his hand clamped tightly around the troubadour's wrist. Shiva was having trouble walking it seemed, stumbling along behind the hexer and falling to his knees before struggling back to his feet, his eyes glazed over and his face pale.

Aerlorn finally released him when they reached the campfire, shoving the musician hard enough that he tripped over his feet and hit the trunk of the tree with his face before falling onto the ground. The other explorers stood up quickly at attention as Aerlorn fixed his robes, smiling.

"This is a good time to repeat my warnings to you," he sang, his back to the tree where Flandr was sitting, "No one touches my musician. Is that understood?"

There were frantic nods, and Flandr snarled as he jumped off his branch, landing in a crouch before hurrying over to Shiva and kneeling beside him, "What the hell did you do?" he demanded, pulling the troubadour into his arms and reaching out to the curse marks around his neck, "Shiva?"

The musician was staring up at Flandr, eyes unfocused, and Aerlorn scoffed, "He went against me, so I punished him. Isn't that right, my treasure? Do you want to explain to everyone what you did wrong?" Shiva trembled and rolled towards Flandr, burying his face against the landsknecht's shoulder, and the hexer laughed, "Awe, that's right. You can't anymore."

"What?" Flandr narrowed his eyes and turned to Shiva, holding his face, "Hey, say something," Shiva just made a pathetic choking noise, tears filling his eyes, and hid his face against Flandr's neck, "You," Flandr snarled at Aerlorn, "What did you do to him?"

"I made it so he'd never be able to argue with me or disobey me again," Aerlorn said simply, folding his arms, "It's one thing for a troubadour to be unable to play an instrument," he smiled and held up Shiva's lyre with one finger, "It's something entirely different if he can't sing at all. You," he pointed over at an alchemist, who jumped and held his hands up, "Start the fire again, and hurry."

"You son of a bitch," Flandr hissed, his arms wrapping tighter around Shiva's shoulders, "What kind of monster are you? How could you just take away something that identifies him, something that gives him joy?"

"It's his own fault," Aerlorn explained, dropping the lyre into the fire and watching as the strings snapped and the finished wood burned, "Shiva is a skilled troubadour, but he has many faults, one of them being he likes getting friendly with people who aren't me. I've told him before to be careful that he doesn't do that, because I get a little angry, but he never listens to me, so I had to punish him. Maybe this time he'll know I'm not messing around."

"Bastard," Flandr breathed out, turning to Shiva to trail his fingers over the marks on his neck, "Are you okay?"

The troubadour nodded slowly, but he didn't try to move away from where he was clinging to Flandr, and only tightened his grip on the landsknecht when Aerlorn strode towards them, "This is partially your fault, Flandr. Out of all my minions, you're the only one who refuses to submit to me."

Flandr laughed loudly, legitimately amused, "You crazy prick! You can kill me if you want, because I will never follow you of my own free will!"

"Oh? Even if I threaten to kill your family?"

"Please," Flandr scoffed, "They're free now, I'm not worried about them. You really are a true idiot."

Aerlorn scoffed and turned away to watch the lyre burn, and Flandr turned his attention back to Shiva as the hexer muttered angrily under his breath, "Can you speak at all?" he whispered, and the troubadour whimpered, shaking his head and pinching his eyes closed, "Damn it. I'm sorry, Shiva."

He received a pained smile in return, and Shiva snuggled against Flandr's chest, rubbing at the tears on his cheeks and making a move to stand up, his legs trembling under his weight. Flandr hurried to help him, letting the musician lean against him as Aerlorn stomped out the ashes left over from the lyre.

"Now that that's been settled," he started, turning to Shiva and Flandr, "We still have things to discuss. For now, the Labyrinth is a fine hiding place, but we can't stay here forever. Historia has the Lapis stone, I'm sure of it."

"As I've said before, you psychopath, I don't know what that is and I don't think they have it," Flandr snarled, standing protectively in front of Shiva, "Give up on this psychotic ambition and let us go!"

"Oh no, no, no, my silly landsknecht," Aerlorn grinned, holding his hand up, "You all belong to me, I'm not giving you up at all," Flandr stifled a scream as pain lanced up his arm, grabbing onto it and falling to his knees as Aerlorn stepped closer, Flandr's arm lifting up like the hexer was yanking on a puppet string, "See? You're so obedient. How about we try something fun? You can call monsters and FOE's, can't you? Why not call a boss?"

"I can't control Labyrinth bosses," Flandr hissed, clinging to his arm, "You call one and you'll sign your own death certificate."

"I don't think I believe you," Aerlorn sang, clenching his hand into a fist.

Flandr screamed and fell forward, before he was physically thrown back when Aerlorn waved his hand, his back hitting the trunk of a tree before he fell forward onto his face, groaning. Shiva scrambled over to him, kneeling beside him and hovering over him as Aerlorn laughed.

"Oh, too bad! It's far too easy to toss you around like a useless rag. If anything, that's what you are, useless. How did it feel to attack your best friends?" Flandr ground his teeth as he pushed himself onto his hands and knees, his head bowed and his eyes glaring at the ground, "Even if I freed you, you would have nowhere to go. Historia would never accept you back into their guild, not after what you did."

"You're wrong about that," Flandr tensed and lifted his head to gape across the clearing where they'd set up their camp, "We're not idiots, we know he came after us because he was being controlled, and frankly, I'm amused at the fact you were stupid enough to curse someone in my guild."

"El," Flandr whispered, dropping his head again and pushing himself back to sit on his heels, his right arm reaching over to cling to his left as Eliath strode into the clearing, with Na'axri, Naylin, Lesai, and even Seara behind him.

"Historia," Aerlorn hummed, turning, "Here I thought you'd all be dead. You especially, survivalist."

"Well," Eliath grinned, "I'm not a survivalist for nothing."

"Of course, that's why you're using a staff to help you walk," Aerlorn pointed, and Flandr tensed up, eyes widening as he looked over at his guild leader, "Having some issues there?"

"Don't underestimate me," Eliath warned, his grip tightening around his staff, "Now, to get down to business, I have some demands. You're going to lift the curses you have placed on these explorers, and everyone else you've ever come into contact with, or we'll make you."

Aerlorn laughed manically, arms around his stomach, "You'll make me?! You can barely walk, your war magus is as useless as your landsknecht, your hexer can't do anything to me, and your little brother isn't nearly strong enough!" he chuckled, smiling at Sage, "How about you join me, Seara? We could have a fun time once we've gotten our hands on the Lapis stone."

"That's not happening," Sage said simply, pulling an arrow from the quiver on his belt and notching it in his bow, and lifting it up as his eyes narrowed, "Do as we say, or you'll seriously regret it."

"How wild is this?!" Aerlorn held his hands out, "People fighting against people! I thought the monsters were different in the Labyrinth."

"The only monster here is you," Flandr snarled, standing and reaching back to the axe hanging at his back.

"Oh, you really think you can fight against me?" Aerlorn cooed to him, an amused glimmer in his eyes, "You should know better by now how terribly that will go."

Flandr let go of his hold, hesitating and looking down at his arm as Shiva pressed against his back, whimpering. What could he do? He couldn't let himself attack his family, not again. He nearly killed Eliath, nearly killed Naylin, nearly killed all of them because Aerlorn was controlling his arm. So what could he do? If he tried to fight back, that hexer would just take over his body again.

"Don't worry, Flandr," Sage called over to him, smiling, "We'll take care of this."

Aerlorn sighed and snapped his fingers, "Kill them."

A gasp fell from Flandr's lips when his left hand grabbed his axe without him wanting to, and cursed, grabbing his left wrist and forcing his arm down as the other explorers didn't even fight the way the curse marks burned them. They didn't care anymore that they were being controlled, just grabbed their weapons, their eyes dead. They'd given up. Fuck that.

"Fuck that!" Flandr yelled and rammed his shoulder hard against the tree, yelping when it popped out of the socket and falling to his knees.

Even with his arm now useless, and hurting like hell, that wouldn't stop Aerlorn, so he held his arm up and grabbed the knife from his belt, thrusting it forward and stabbing it through his hand and deep into the trunk of the tree to pin him in place. Sage and Naylin screamed at him, but there was a ring in his ears from the pain, and he just laid his forehead against the trunk and pulled his axe off his back, throwing it to the side and grinning at Aerlorn.

"You're not controlling me. I won't let you."

For once, the hexer looked stunned, like he'd never expected the landsknecht to physically injure himself to make his cursed arm useless, and snarled, "I don't need you anyway," he waved his hand towards Historia, "The rest of you, kill them!"

"Seara," Eliath waved his hand, and Sage loosed his arrow.

Flandr watched in confusion as it shot past everyone, going over their heads and into the trees, and gaped at Sage. What kind of shot was that? Sage and Eliath both were some of the most skilled survivalists he's ever met, they never missed! Unless... maybe they weren't aiming for Aerlorn in the first place.

That theory was proved correct in the next instant, when explorers Flandr recognized as guild Halo appeared, circling the campsite with weapons drawn and aimed at Aerlorn, who held his hands up, stunned. Flandr felt as surprised as the hexer probably did, and jumped when Shiva squeaked and wrapped his arms around the landsknecht's waist from behind, startled by the medic who'd popped up behind him.

"Sorry, I'm here to heal your dumb ass."

"What?" Flandr breathed, "Leave me here, I don't want to end up hurting anyone again."

"Don't worry about that," Emery assured as Lesai stepped up behind him, setting a hand on Flandr's forehead. Something warm seemed to ripple from the hexer's hand, and Flandr gasped a little as Lesai pulled away from him and instead turned to Shiva as Emery yanked the knife from the landsknecht's hand, "What he did just now won't last long, but he blocked the flow of the curse for now. At the immediate moment you're free, so come on."

"How did he... block it?" Flandr asked as he stood up, looking at Lesai, who'd done the same thing to Shiva before stepping back behind Emery.

"Long story, Lapis stone, let's go."

"Argh!" Aerlorn screamed in frustration, hands in his hair, "You idiots, I said kill them!"

"You don't have to anymore!" Sage exclaimed, holding his arms out, "We're here to help you, if you just step back for a moment, we can get this man to lift the curse he has on you all! Don't you have family you want to see again?"

There were murmurs, soft agreement, the explorers started to fight back against the curse, dropping their weapons, but Flandr still felt it when it happened. It was likely the only reason it didn't affect him, or Shiva, was because of whatever Lesai had done, but when Aerlorn screamed, he sent out a kill command. His curses overwhelmed the explorers under his control, the black marks crawled over their bodies and they screamed in agony, black blood pouring from their mouths, nostrils, eyes, and ears.

One by one they collapsed, and Shiva squeaked as he clung to Flandr, whose mouth was open in shock. Sage had his mouth covered with both hands, eyes wide in horror, Halo was taking nervous steps back as Aerlorn panted from the exertion of his energy, wild eyes snapping to Flandr, who tensed up.

"You. This is your fault," he snarled, and Flandr tensed up, reaching for his weapon and cursing when he remembered he tossed it aside earlier, "I'll kill you, just like the rest, I'll kill you!"

"Move!"

Flandr didn't even hear the command as a wave of black mist shot at him like an arrow, his eyes pinching closed and waiting for the impact that never came. Instead he heard screams of shock, cursing, and peeled his eye open before gasping at the man standing in front of him.

"Eliath?!"

The survivalist just laughed, one hand clutching the front of his shirt as he slumped forward, leaning heavily against his staff, "That's my apology for not noticing," he grit out, falling to his knees, "My bad."

[no-white-knights-blog]

Halo - An Etrian Odyssey Novel (Chapter 43/50)

Notes: Taking a break from cleaning to publish a few more chapters.

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Eliath's legs were a little worse off than originally expected. After a day of resting, Emery carefully helped the survivalist to his feet, but his legs shook under his weight and struggled to support him as he shuffled forward in an attempt to strengthen his legs. Lesai spent most of the time meditating and chanting, explaining only once to Eliath that he was attempting to search for their missing Landsknecht, but it was taking quite a bit of time.

Everyone was hoping that the leader of Historia would be on his feet by the time Lesai located Flandr, but even after Sage came back with a staff he'd purchased from Sitoth Trading to aid in his brother's recovery, he was still stumbling a little and leaning against whoever or whatever was closest for a bit of extra stability.

It was hard to watch. Eliath had always been so strong and capable, so to see him struggling like he was put a bad taste in Naylin's mouth, and Sage's. By the end of the seventh day at Flaus Inn, Eliath could walk mostly without any help, Naylin's physical wounds were completely healed and didn't need to be bandaged, and Lesai's fever had finally broken, but Eliath was still having some difficulty staying on his feet.

Dyria was still anxious about his guild being separated, so after discussing things with Historia's leader, he decided that until Aerlorn had been dealt with, he didn't want anyone to be alone at night, which was what lead to several futons being placed into the normally unused living area at the inn, which they'd commandeered as their own.

That was also what lead to Eliath constantly watching his precious little brother cuddle onto one of those futons with Dyria. He wasn't an idiot, he was pretty sure what that meant, but that didn't mean he was happy or ready to accept it without complaint. Eliath had raised Sage since he was just a baby, and now he was in a relationship? How did that happen in three months?

Honestly Eliath could not leave that kid alone! Of course, this wasn't the first time some random man had hit on Sage, he figured he was lucky Dyria wasn't some leery pervert like some of the other guys who had come after his brother. Naylin seemed to like Dyria, and even Lesai had reassured Eliath that the protector had a strong, honest, peaceful aura. Which didn't really make Eliath feel better, but he was satisfied enough not to threaten death upon Halo's leader.

Not that anything would be able to keep him from occasionally glaring at the protector when he wasn't looking, of course. It was only fair he be allowed to dote on Sage and be as overprotective and fussy as he wanted. That was his right as an older brother, and Sage didn't complain. Likely because he was used to it.

Eliath tried to get along with Dyria, setting aside the fact he got a little too handsy with his brother whenever they sat down to discuss the future of Historia and the current Halo guild that Sage had joined, and even currently standing outside in the garden, Eliath was doing his best not to throw things to screw with the couple and force the protector further away from his precious brother.

It was the survivalist's first time outside since coming to the inn, he was definitely enjoying the much-needed fresh air, and the slow walk he was taking with Lesai essentially glued to his right side, the hexer's arms wrapped around Eliath's right arm, which was bent at the elbow and holding onto the walking stick Sage had brought him.

Sage, on the other hand, was standing with Emery a few paces away, discussing the health of the members of Historia, with Dyria at his back, strong arms wrapped around his waist from behind, and his cheek pressed to the side of Sage's hair. That protector had no shame, and did not care at all that Sage's older brother was watching. He seemed to take pride in that fact and flaunted his relationship with Sage like Eliath's reactions were amusing.

"Overconfident little punk," Eliath was mumbling, and Naylin laughed from beside him, hands on his hips.

"Don't be so close minded, boss," he chided, "Seara's happy, right? Besides, the guy seems trustworthy and strong, he's got a lot of good people in this guild vouching for him, I think it's a good match."

"Oh yes," Eliath turned to give Naylin a pointed look, "This coming from the guy who threw a man off a bridge for cornering Seara with two dozen pickup lines."

"The man was twice his age and smelt like liquor, you would've done the same thing," Naylin countered easily, arms folded, "Just being with this guild for a week, talking to Dyria, I know we can trust him with Seara. I mean look," he motioned to the couple with one hand, "That's kind of adorable."

"I don't like him," Eliath argued, huffing, "He's a decent leader and seems to care about the people who follow him, I can give him points for that, but it's gonna take a lot more than an aesthetically pleasing couple to convince me he's right for my brother."

"Then why don't you talk to him?" Naylin asked, "Sit him down and threaten him, tell him if he hurts Seara there will be literal hell to pay? If you're that worried, then act like the overprotective big brother you are and sit the fucker down while holding a pot of boiling water, don't just grumble and complain."

"If I do that Seara will just get upset," Eliath sighed out in frustration, "It's not even the fact they're obviously together, Seara hasn't even talked to me about it! He used to tell me everything, what happened in three months?"

"You'd be pissy even if he did discuss it with you," Naylin argued, and Eliath grumbled, so the war magus held his hands up, "Okay, okay, let me try something else. I'll get someone to really vouch for Dyria, that'll make you feel better, right?" he looked around and pointed over at Iliad, who had a quiver and bow slung over his shoulder like he was heading out to train, "Hey! Kid! You're that protector's younger brother, right?"

Iliad paused in his steps and turned to squint at Naylin, "So?"

"Is he a good guy?"

"Hell no," Iliad scoffed, sticking his nose in the air much like an angsty teenager would, "He's annoying as shit, won't get off my back, and he gets really distracted when Sage is around."

Naylin frowned a little and watched the survivalist walk off before looking at Eliath, who was glaring at him, "Hey, that kid's like sixteen or something, and besides, all younger siblings are gonna complain about their older siblings, that's just how they are! Here's I'll prove it," he looked around again before catching sight of Blaise, who was playing with Na'axri, "You, kid! Is your brother a good guy?"

Blaise hopped up, "Yes! Arcan is my hero!"

Naylin winced and turned to Eliath, "Well he's like five, he doesn't know any better. Seara! Is El a good guy?"

Sage arched an eyebrow in confusion, "Obviously."

"You're not helping," Eliath growled at the Naylin, and the war magus held his hands up in defeat.

"I'm just gonna go inside before I make this worse for myself."

Eliath watched him go before turning to look down at Lesai, who was tugging on his shirt sleeve, "He's a good person," the hexer said, his eyes on the ground, "I can see his energy change when he's around Seara. It's stronger. He's stronger. When he's around Seara, he's more honestly and genuinely himself. What you see is the truth," he looked up at the survivalist, "He loves Seara."

A frustrated sigh left Eliath's mouth, and he straightened when he noticed Dyria and Sage were coming their way, heading for the inn. Before they could pass, Eliath held his staff out to block Dyria, who paused in his steps and looked over at Eliath with a mildly curious expression, Sage pouting at his side.

"El?"

"I just need to have a chat with my fellow guild leader," Eliath reassured with a smile, "I'll give him back in a little."

Sage rolled his eyes and squeezed Dyria's hand, "Fine, fine. I'll be inside. Don't get in a fight."

Eliath pulled his staff back and looked over at Lesai with a soft smile, "Just a little," he said, and the hexer pouted, reluctantly slipping away from the survivalist and shuffling towards the inn.

"So, what did you need to talk to me about?" Dyria asked, and Eliath hummed, waiting for the door to close behind Lesai and his brother before turning to Dyria, keeping himself up by leaning heavily against his walking stick.

"What's your intention with hanging around my brother the way you are?" he asked, "Do you want something from him? Are you just some pervert like the rest of the people who have hit on him in the past? What exactly is your relationship, and why should I trust you?"

Dyria blinked, but he didn't appear all that surprised with the fact Eliath was confronting him about this, "I can understand why you're worried," he said finally, looking off to the side, "I'd probably be as suspicious if Iliad showed up with some guy I didn't even know; but I don't really see any need to justify myself. I'm not doing anything wrong by wanting to be with him."

"That's not the point," Eliath argued, "You don't know enough about him to understand it, but Seara is important to me. He's always been pretty, and sweetly naïve, he's a good person who wants to help others, and that's been something I've had to protect him from since we were little. I slip into a coma for three months and when I'm out of it I learn the brother I've been protecting from horn-dogs for the past nineteen years is in a romantic relationship with some protector I don't even know? You cannot expect me to be okay with this. Literally the only good thing about this situation is that you haven't taken advantage of him and forced him to bed with you. I guarantee I would probably kill you if you had."

"Ah," Dyria's eyes shifted away, like his thoughts had wandered somewhere else, before he shook his head and propped his hands onto his hips, "I'm sorry you feel that way, I don't know if I can do anything to reassure you or convince you that I can be trusted, but I would never hurt him. There have been a few close calls where some guy would walk up to him and try to get him alone, at one point some drunk explorer tried to "buy him" from us, but it's happened less and less since he joined us."

Eliath narrowed his eyes, "Why would someone try to buy him? How drunk was that idiot?"

"I don't know, but he was sober enough to run when I threatened to decapitate him," Dyria shrugged, "In any case, I care about him, and I don't know how to prove it to you, but I would do anything for him. I may not know every last detail about him, but until recently, neither did he, so you can't blame me."

Eliath winced a little at that, like he'd only just remembered Sage's amnesia, and sighed a little, looking down, "Seara probably doesn't remember our parents," he started, "He was just a baby, but they weren't good people. They were both rarely home, always out drinking and spending time with shady people, when they were home they yelled a lot, sometimes they got violent, brought people home that were clearly untrustworthy. I was just a kid myself, but I knew being with them wasn't safe, especially for Seara, so I took him and ran from home," he bowed his head, tightening his grip on his walking stick, "For years he was all I had. I found a shack we could stay in for free, did a lot of odd jobs so we could afford food, and raised him on my own. He was all I had, the reason I was alive, even after starting a guild, meeting Lesai, Flandr, and Naylin, Seara was always my priority," he looked up at the protector, "You can't blame me for wanting to keep him safe and happy."

"No, I understand," Dyria assured, "I feel the same about Iliad. When he was eleven he witnessed both our mother and father's murders, and if I hadn't come home when I did, he likely would've been killed along with them. Believe it or not, I do actually understand your concerns, and I know why you feel so suspicious, especially not knowing me. One moment Sage is your little brother and then you blink and he's in a relationship with some strange explorer who carries around a dangerous weapon and is way to freaking close to your baby brother."

His eyes were narrowed, and Eliath squinted, "Are we still talking about you?"

"What? Oh, yea, sure," Dyria scratched his neck, "Like I said before, I understand, but don't think that'll stop me from being with Sage. I can't help but respect you, as well as the guild you created, seeing you interact so effortlessly with Halo, and even the way you are around Blaise, I admire you, and I'm honestly looking forward to fighting beside you," he narrowed his eyes a bit more, "But I'm in love with Sage, and I won't let you or anyone else get between us."

Eliath simply stared at Dyria with a mildly stunned expression, before he seemed to relax, humming as he shifted on his feet to a more comfortable stance, "You're in love with him," he repeated, and a red coloring flared across the protector's cheeks, like he hadn't even realized he'd confessed that aloud.

"I am."

"How do you know?" Eliath questioned, "Was there some moment of clarity, love at first sight? Did you just wake up one morning and decide you would tell him you loved him so he would sleep with you?"

"You're a bit overly critical for a guy who acts like he's married to that hexer," Dyria stated, and Eliath drew back a little as the protector looked off to the side, "It wasn't anything like that, I didn't first see him and fall in love, and it wasn't like some angelic realization with golden light. I was telling him about my parents, he was comforting me, and it kind of just...," he shrugged, "Happened."

"That simple?" Eliath huffed, "Then how does he feel?"

"Believe it or not, Eliath, I'm in love with him too," he tensed up and turned to see Seara had come back out, and was watching him with this rather disappointed look on his face, his arms folded.

"Sear!" Eliath held a hand up, "We're just having a friendly chat."

Sage sighed and dropped his arms, stepping forward to stop beside Eliath, "Listen, I know you're always worrying about me, you've been my personal protector for years, you and everyone in Historia have kept me safe from those drunk creeps who come after me, or those explorers who would try and get me to join their guild instead. You're my brother and I love and appreciate everything you've ever done for me, but Dyria is special to me," he turned and smiled at the protector, walking up to him and taking one of his hands, "I love him as much as he loves me. I want to be with him, El, but that doesn't mean I'm trying to shove you out of my life."

Eliath sighed and laid his head against the side of his staff, closing his eyes, "I just hate that this happened while I was in a coma. Every time I leave you on your own, something happens."

"I'm not on my own, though. I have Dyria, and I have Halo," Sage smiled brightly, "and I have you," he held his other hand out for his brother, "It'll take you a while to accept it, I know, that's just how you are, but you don't have to protect me anymore. You can focus on living your own life, knowing I'm safe with someone who would literally die for me," he narrowed his eyes a little, "Which I'm still mad about, but he promised to be more careful next time."

"I will be," Dyria insisted, and Eliath laughed a little.

The smile faded as he reached out to take Sage's hand in his own, squeezing it before sighing and holding his brother's hand out for Dyria, "I understand," he said, letting the protector take Sage's hand before turning, "I'll trust you with him, protector, because when he says he loves someone, he means it," he glanced over his shoulder, "but keep what I said in mind, alright?"

Dyria watched him shuffle his way back into the inn, the door closing slowly, and turned to Sage, holding both of his hands, "Was that technically him giving me his blessing?"

Sage laughed and pulled his hands from Dyria's so he could wrap his arms around his neck, pushing himself onto his toes and kissing his protector firmly on the lips. Eliath sighed a little from where he was watching inside, letting the door close completely before muttering to himself and shuffling down the hall, stopping when he noticed Lesai was leaning against the wall, as if he'd been waiting for Eliath, which was very likely.

"Were you waiting for me?" Eliath asked, and Lesai pushed himself off the wall, wrapping his arms around one of Eliath's, "You probably think I'm being stupid too, huh?"

Lesai shook his head, staring down, "Your concern is justified," he said softly, "You just need to see for yourself that it's okay."

"Yea," Eliath chuckled, "I guess Seara was sort of right. I worry too much, I've spent my whole life worrying about him, so I've never given myself any time to actually live and explore my own life."

He frowned and glanced over his shoulder towards the closed door. He really did spend the majority of his life worrying about Sage, and only Sage. Even when others joined them, most of his attention was on his brother. He didn't even notice Flandr was acting strange when they came to Lagaard, he almost didn't notice how different Naylin has been acting since being rescued from Aerlorn. Hell, at first, he didn't notice how much Sage actually cared for Dyria. The worst part, he never realized how lost he was without Lesai until he woke up from his coma to find the hexer gone.

All these things had gone right over his head, because he forgot other people existed besides himself and his brother. He liked to think he was a good leader, but if he was this clueless, then maybe it was a good thing Historia was attacked. Eliath needed to learn to pay attention to everything and everyone, not just Sage. His attention was pulled back to Lesai, and he stared at the hexer for a long moment before a smile pulled at his lips, and he dropped his head against Lesai's hair.

"Do you like being an explorer?" he asked, and Lesai blinked, looking up at him, "Sorry, I was just thinking. After we find Flandr...," he trailed off, lifting his eyes to stare at the ceiling, trying to find the right way to word his next statement, "Well, I was wondering is all-."

He stopped when Lesai tightened his grip on his arm, his breath hitching, and dropped his eyes down to see the hexer's eyes had glazed over, and he was swaying on his feet, so Eliath reached out to steady him, his eyes wide.

"Lesai?"

"He's in the Labyrinth," Lesai breathed, looking up at Eliath, "I know where he is."

[no-white-knights-blog]

Halo - An Etrian Odyssey Novel (Chapter 42/50)

Notes: Almost at the end~ I’ll post this chapter, then I have to disappear for a bit to clean my apartment. The building is on escrow and buyers are coming to check the place out, so my room can’t look like it’s owned by a disorganized teenager. I hope they like the Black Panther poster on my wall :D 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What a shit situation we've found ourselves in," Aerlorn snarled, pacing around the fire-pit and chewing on his nails, "All I want is that stupid gem, but so many people are trying to get in my way. Why does no one understand?!"

He threw his arms out to the side, and his anger seemed to manifest as energy that hit the few people he'd brought with him, throwing them back violently. Except for Flandr, who was sitting up in the tree nearest them, back against the trunk of the tree and knees to his chest, arms folded on top of them as he glared down at the fire-pit where the hexer was muttering to himself.

When that other guild had come searching for them, Flandr just wanted to stay and be caught, but Aerlorn had other ideas, and forced everyone to leave through a hidden tunnel that lead outside of town, before Flandr reluctantly suggested they hide in the Labyrinth. Naturally the small group following the hexer didn't quite like the idea, but so far nothing bad had happened. No FOE's had attacked, no monsters, and no guilds had come upon them, so they'd been lucky.

Flandr hated it. So much. That he was helping this son of a bitch, that he had to sit there watching these other explorers suffering from the same curse, the marks on their bodies placed there by force. None of the men there could fight against Aerlorn, even if they wanted to, because if they tried, they'd be killed.

It wouldn't be the first time Flandr watched one of his fellow captives die at this man's hand. In three months, he'd seen too much, watched too many people die. A female protector who tried to stand up to Aerlorn and take care of the rest of them, a male ronin who tried to protect his friend and was killed because of it.

All of them had been cursed because they were strong, because Aerlorn wanted to use their abilities to get ahead, to further his own interests, and Flandr and the rest were suffering because of it. More than once he found himself fantasizing about how satisfying it would be to decapitate that bastard, but even trying to attack him would just end with him failing. He couldn't do much of anything of his own free will besides sit in trees, sleep, eat, and call to some of the creatures in the Labyrinth to keep him company.

That was how he ended up sitting in that tree with a strange looking bird perched on his shoulder, which he seemed to be communicating with using whistles that the bird happily responded to. It always awed Seara to see Flandr interacting with the creatures of the Labyrinth, considering most explorers just wanted to kill the monsters and be done with it.

Flandr was raised to honor all life, especially the unique lives of the animals living within the Yggdrasil Labyrinths, and through ancient techniques and songs, he learned to communicate with the monsters in a way only people of the Labyrinth could. They didn't need to fight them, not when they could so easily live in harmony with them. Well, not easily, it actually took a lot of work and years of practicing the techniques, but by now it came as second nature to the landsknecht.

"Hey, Flan!" he jumped, reaching up to calm the bird when it fluttered its wings defensively, "What are you doing alone in a tree? And where'd that monster come from? It's kinda small."

Flandr turned his head to watch the other explorer climb onto the tree-branch in front of him. His hair was dark brown, like coffee, and his eyes were pale green, dressed in the clothes and armor of a troubadour, his skin dark, with the black curse-marks wrapped around his neck and throat, crawling up his right cheek and stopping just under his eye.

Shiva was his name, a troubadour who'd been under Aerlorn's curse a full year. In the beginning Flandr didn't understand why the hexer would curse a musician, as he wasn't exactly strong or "useful" besides playing healing songs on the lyre he had on his belt, but after a few weeks of watching him interact with the other cursed explorers, as well as Aerlorn, Flandr understood why he was there; and he didn't like it.

"It's not a monster," Flandr shot down, smoothing the feathers down the bird's back, "It's called a raicho, and yea, they're generally smaller than most birds in the Labyrinth, but don't underestimate them."

"It's so pretty. Can I pet it?"

"I wouldn't," Flandr warned, "Labyrinth creatures aren't generally happy with being touched by explorers."

Shiva pouted a little at that, "It's letting you touch it."

"I'm different," Flandr said, holding his arm out to the side and watching the raicho hop down to his wrist before taking off and flying away, "I grew up dealing with the animals here, I know how to deal with them, how to calm them and keep them from attacking."

"That's amazing," Shiva awed, eyes wide, and Flandr squinted at him in mild irritation.

Being this close made the musician seem a lot... different than how Flandr usually saw him, across the room or from high up in the rafters, or even in a tree like he was now. His pale green eyes were like ice, and the exotic, copper tone of his skin made his brown hair appear to have some red tint to it. As much as Flandr didn't want to admit it, he was beautiful, which upset him even more. The only reason Aerlorn cursed Shiva was because of how "pretty" he was. His music was meant to calm down the hexer's forced subordinates, pacify them, and keep them from turning on Aerlorn, and Aerlorn...

Well, he was possessive. Even talking to Shiva like Flandr was doing would probably get him in trouble, because this musician was a possession, an item for the hexer to use however he wanted, no one else was allowed to speak to him, or stand near him, or god forbid touch him. Not that Flandr obeyed those rules. He was never one to follow orders well, that's why he and Eliath would argue so often.

For the past three months as a captive, Flandr had talked a few times with the musician, usually just a passing exchange of phrases, a "hello" and "are you okay", and sometimes Shiva would find Flandr alone, normally on the roof, and he would play his lyre for the landsknecht. Not a song that was meant to control or take advantage of him, but something that just sounded nice, something Shiva composed himself that he wanted to show off, but never could because it would make Aerlorn angry.

Maybe that was why he was always looking for Flandr, because the landsknecht was the only one who wouldn't complain or yell, and he would actually listen to Shiva's music. He was used to it after all, because Naylin, while he wasn't a troubadour, really enjoyed playing music on his bamboo flute. For a war magus, he was actually incredibly talented, and Flandr had heard some of the best troubadour's play, but he'd never heard music that could match Shiva's.

"Are you feeling alright?" the musician asked, and Flandr tore his eyes from where he'd been watching the raicho fly off, "How's your arm doing?"

"It's fine."

"I brought you clean bandages if you still want to cover it," Shiva searched in the pockets of his robes and pulled out a roll of gauze before holding his hand towards Flandr, "Here, let me."

Flandr just sighed in defeat and turned around on the branch so his left arm was closer to Shiva, who happily reached out to unwind the dirty bandages, humming as he worked. It was so weird; how could he be so cheerful and upbeat when he'd been a captive for a full year? Hell, for all the landsknecht knew, Shiva had been under Aerlorn's curse even longer, but the musician claimed it had only been a year.

"I'm sorry you had to do this to yourself," Shiva stopped humming so he could speak, and Flandr looked down to see he was frowning at the red scar on his forearm, where he'd stabbed himself just the other day.

Medica had slowly healed it, but it still ached sometimes. Shiva was gentle as he started to wind the clean bandages around his arm, though, and Flandr looked away to stare down at the fire-pit where Aerlorn and the others had laid down to sleep.

"I may be cursed, and I may never be free again, but I'll never willingly let him control me. Even if defying him gets me hurt or even killed, he'll never have my loyalty."

"You're really strong," Shiva decided, "I admire you for that, being able to go against him even when under his hand. I wish I was strong like that. I... I want to play music the way I want, and sing like I used to."

Flandr felt the strange need to reassure the troubadour somehow, but he couldn't think of anything to say, nothing honest or realistic at least. He couldn't smile at Shiva and tell him he could do what he wanted, and he couldn't promise him that everything would be alright. There was literally nothing he could say, because there was nothing he could actually do to make good on his words.

Not when Aerlorn had such a tight grip on their lives, when the curse was so deep in their blood that their hearts could be stopped with a snap of that hexer's fingers. One slip-up and they could be killed simply because Aerlorn was a little upset. Flandr had seen it too many times, and he didn't want to have to watch it again. Although he doubted Aerlorn would kill Shiva, he would definitely kill Flandr, and he wasn't all that excited about dying at that man's hands.

No, in the long run, there was really nothing he could do to make Shiva smile, no promises of the future and no reassurance that all the bad things would end, but... maybe for that moment, for that night, he could do something. Show the musician something that could help him, give him some amount of hope, that way the pain they were both enduring wasn't as prominent.

They couldn't run away, wherever they went Aerlorn would find them, but there was no harm in slipping away just for a few hours while the hexer was snoring away. Shiva finished tying off the bandages so they wouldn't loosen or unravel before sitting back smiling at his work, but frowning a little when Flandr stood up and slung his axe onto his back, holding down his left hand.

"Come with me for a minute," he stated, and the troubadour blinked up at him before smiling and reaching out to take his hand.

"Where are we going?"

"I just wanted to show you something, but you have to be quiet."

His heart lurched a little when Shiva pressed his lips tightly together and nodded. Flandr slipped out of the tree first, making sure everyone was asleep before motioning to the troubadour, who jumped down and safely landed in Flandr's outstretched arms, stifling his laughter against his hands as the landsknecht set him onto his feet before taking him by the arm and leading him through the trees, away from the fire-pit.

"I-is it safe for us to be walking around at night like this?" Shiva asked, looking over his shoulder searching for the fire.

"Don't worry about it," Flandr reassured, "Even if we come upon a monster they won't bother us, and if they do, I'm strong, I think I can handle them."

"Then where are we going?”

"To show you something," Flandr repeated, silently thankful they didn't have to walk far as he slowed his steps and pulled Shiva closer, covering his eyes with his hands and prompting the musician to walk forward, "One of the few things that bastard has allowed me to do is study the Labyrinth maps, and I found this place on one of them. I've wanted to come see it myself for a while now, so since we're already here, we may as well."

Shiva laughed softly, his hands lifted and clinging to Flandr's wrists, "Is it a field of flowers?"

"No."

"Glowing mushrooms?"

"I don't think so."

"Really special trees that have glowing sap?'

"No, but I'm sure the Labyrinth has something like that."

"Then what is it?"

"How about you stop asking and just trust me, huh?"

Flandr stopped Shiva and looked over his head towards the stunning landscape he'd wanted to show the musician, his eyes glancing up towards the starry sky before a smile inevitably pulled at the corners of his lips, like it always did when he saw something beautiful in the Labyrinth.

"Okay, we're here," he stepped to Shiva's side, his hands still covering the musician's eyes, "You ready?"

"I think so."

Flandr smiled a little more and pulled his hands away, taking a step back and focusing his attention entirely on Shiva's face as his eyes opened. His icy green eyes widened in awe, filling with the stars that were reflected on the large pool of water he was gazing at, lips parting with a tiny "wow" breathing out of his mouth.

"Like it?" Flandr asked, setting one hand on his hip and turning to look over the clear water, "There are these ponds scattered all through the Labyrinth, collected rainwater and freshwater springs. Some of them are filled with toxic water due to the poisonous vegetation around it, and the creatures that drink from it being equally as toxic, but this one is fresh."

"It looks like part of the sky," Shiva said, stepping down to the bank and kneeling just at the edge of the water, reaching out to touch the cool surface and watching as the water rippled, "Why show me this, though?"

Flandr thought about it for a moment before crouching down beside Shiva, his arms folded over his knees, "A lot of people explore the Labyrinth with the mentality that its filled with savage creatures, savage plants, savage and feral everything. They don't take the time to enjoy the beauty of it all, they don't even realize it. Sure, it's dangerous, I won't lie, but if you have respect for it, then you'll have the open mind to see everything, not just the danger, but this."

He held his hand out to motion over the water, so clear and untainted that it reflected the night sky like a mirror, the ink black, and the millions of stars that were glimmering like diamonds, gray clouds curling through it like mist rising from the surface of the water.

"My guild understood it," Flandr said, lowering his arm, "They didn't think I was crazy, they looked at things through my eyes, looked at how beautiful this place was, and they agreed with me. Now... I've lost them... my family..."

He bowed his head, closing his eyes, and hating himself yet again, but he tensed up when he felt a hand on his shoulder, turning to gape at Shiva, who had a soft smile on his lips.

"Why did you bring me here, Flandr?" he asked, and the landsknecht hesitated before looking back out over the pond.

"Because I can't help anyone," he explained, "I'm strong, but I can't do anything to save you, or any of the others. I couldn't even keep myself from being cursed, and I ended up attacking the people I cared about most. You were upset, but I didn't know what to say to make you feel better, there was literally nothing I could say, because there's nothing I can do," he closed his eyes a little as cool night air hit his face, like some unseen force was telling him to lighten up and stop being so serious and dramatic.

"I brought you here because, even though it may be impossible for us to escape, we may never escape, that there are still things that are beautiful, things we can enjoy. We're cursed, but the Labyrinth doesn't care about that. Everyone is equal here," he turned and gave Shiva a pained smile, "That's why I brought you here."

Shiva was watching him with a stunned, awed expression as he talked, and when he finished, the troubadour smiled, "You're an amazing man, Flandr," he hummed, and the landsknecht's eyes widened as the younger man leaned towards him, kissing his cheek before standing up, "We should head back now, shouldn't we? Before someone notices us gone."

Flandr had a hand on his cheek, eyes wide, and he slowly stood up, nodding, "Yea, we should... head back."

"What's the rush?" Shiva tensed up and spun around, his eyes wide, and Flandr cursed as he too looked over to where that bastard hexer was standing, a grin on his lips, "Stay a little longer, it's such a romantic spot. Maybe something will happen, right Shiva?"

The troubadour took a step back, hands clenching the front of his shirt, "Nothing happened."

"Are you lying to me?" Aerlorn strode forward, and the only thing keeping Flandr from stepping in front of Shiva was he pain lancing down his arm, "Return to the camp, landsknecht," he reached out and grabbed Shiva's chin, "I need to speak to my musician."

Aerlorn had grabbed the troubadour the same way he'd grabbed Seara before, staring at Shiva with that same leery look of possession, and Flandr wanted to argue and yell, but there was a knot in his throat keeping him from speaking, and before he knew it he was walking away, as if his legs were being controlled and forcing him to walk, though the sound of Shiva's tortured sobs did not go unheard that night.

No, even though Flandr was far away from the pond back at the campfire, lying on one of the branches high in his tree, he could still hear the troubadour crying, he could feel his curse mark burning, knowing well that it was just a taste of how Aerlorn was torturing Shiva. The musician's curse was around his neck after all, and the torture was being aimed at him in particular, so if even Flandr could feel the effects of it... he didn't want to know how much pain Shiva was in.

"Eliath," Flandr felt himself whispering, as if his guild leader would be able to hear him and pop out beside him, "Please forgive me... and please help."

[no-white-knights-blog]

Halo - An Etrian Odyssey Novel (Chapter 41/50)

Lesai had fallen asleep on the carpet sitting in front of the fireplace, just to Eliath's right. Historia's loyal beast companion was lying with him, and Eliath was looking down at him periodically to make sure his hexer wasn't rolling into the fireplace or something like that. Lesai was a bit high maintenance after all, but luckily, he hadn't moved any closer to the flames.

Unfortunately, it didn't appear as if Lesai was having the most peaceful sleep, he kept flinching and curling further into a tight ball, trembling like he was having a nightmare, but it was only when he jolted awake and shot straight into a sitting position with a gasp that Eliath reacted, reaching out to set a hand on top of his head and stroking his fingers through his hair to sooth him.

"Easy. Bad dream?"

Lesai had relaxed instantly when Eliath slipped his fingers through his hair, but he didn't verbally respond to the man's question as he turned and inched closer to the wheelchair, dropping his face into Eliath's lap and clinging to his pants as he closed his eyes again, willing himself to calm down by concentrating on his leader's hand on his head, instead of the screams in his ears.

Eliath had to sigh a little at the way the hexer was clinging to him. It wasn't the first time he'd gotten like this after a bad nightmare, and it probably wouldn't be the last, Eliath was happy that he could somehow calm the poor man down just by being there, but the fact he suffered from so many debilitating night terrors was what upset him. Lesai didn't deserve it. He didn't deserve the memories.

His attention was drawn away from the hexer and towards the couch where Naylin was finally fully awake and sitting up, a smile on his lips and a bowl of soup in his hands that Emery had brought in for him. After having the war magus down the elixir Lynus had brought in, the medic had ordered Naylin to eat. He seemed to be in a decent mood, but Eliath had known him long enough to recognize when his smiles were forced.

"You've made some interesting friends, Seara," Naylin was saying, holding his bowl up so his spoon didn't have too far to go to reach his mouth, "I like 'em."

"Cool, cuz we were waiting for your blessing," Iliad drawled, lying on the couch with his legs hanging over the armrest and his head on Arcan's lap, arms folded and eyes closed.

Naylin laughed in amusement, "Oh yea, this guild is fun," Sage chuckled with a smile that turned into a slight pout when Naylin addressed him, "So you definitely seem cozy with them."

"Yea," Sage agreed with a warm smile, "They've been taking care of me after all. I owe them a lot."

"No I get that," Naylin said with a sly smirk, arching a suggestive eyebrow, "Not what I meant though."

"Okay, I like you," Emery decided with a grin, and Sage blushed, folding his arms defiantly but turning to the door when there was a knock.

"Who dares interrupt?" Iliad asked in a dull, tired voice, and Emery hummed.

"And why did they knock?"

"That's probably Hamza," Sage stated as he stood up from the couch, "Earlier when I was talking to Lynus, Hamza came up and offered to check Aerlorn's mansion with his guild just in case he was still there.

"Nope," Naylin shoved his bowl of food into Emery's arms before throwing himself over the back of the couch, "I'm not here!"

Sage gaped at where he'd disappeared, "Don't you want to talk to him? He's your hero, right?"

"Uh, I'll talk to him later," Naylin decided without moving from where he'd crouched behind the couch, a blanket draped over him, "Right now I'm injured and, uh, I'm in a meeting. Yes, I'm in a meeting, call back later."

"Blame the medicine," Emery decided, "He's obviously delusional right now, just ignore him."

"Alright," Sage agreed with a shrug, though he was pretty certain the medicine Naylin was taking had nothing to do with his sudden decision to hide.

Sage decided to just Naylin do what made him feel comfortable for now, and stepped up to the door before pulling it open. Like he'd been expecting, Hamza was the one standing out in the hall, with their red-haired landsknecht at his side and their white saber-toothed tiger between them. All three were carrying bags, and all had unfortunately grim expressions on their faces.

"Let me guess," Sage started, "It's nothing good."

Hamza sighed in response and stepped into the room when Sage held the door open for him, "We looked through the entire building from the roof to the basement, but we couldn't find any sign of a hexer," he said, and Axel swung a bag off of his shoulder, holding it out for Sage.

"We did, however, find quite a few items we assumed belonged to Historia, so we collected all we could carry to bring to you," Sage blinked and reached out to take the unexpectedly heavy and awkwardly shaped bag, hugging it against his chest, "At the very least this stuff should help you. Maybe."

"Yes, thank you," Sage gave them both weak smiles and crouched down a little so he was closer to Chi-Hung, reaching out to take the bag he had clamped in his jaws and setting it aside before scratching behind his ear, "We really appreciate you taking the time to do this."

"It was no problem," Hamza assured, swinging his own heavy duffel-bag from his shoulder and handing it to the protector standing behind Sage, as well as the blade-tipped staff he'd had in his hand, which Dyria stared at in confusion as the war magus turned his attention back to Sage, "I wish we had better news for you."

"No," Sage laughed, setting both bags down and standing up, "Already you've done too much for us."

"It's what we do," Axel assured, "Besides, if this guy is really crazy enough to go attacking one guild, he could end up trying to go after others, too. It's only right we try and take care of this guy before he becomes a problem. As of now he hasn't killed anyone, but it's only a matter of time."

Sage nodded slowly and looked down at his shoes, "Yea."

"And you didn't find anything?" Dyria asked, "Nothing left over that could show someone was living in that mansion?"

"Besides all those books and the other items that belonged to Historia?" Axel sighed, "Not a thing. If it weren't for the massive hole in the side of the building, the bloody chains, all those books, the fact your two guild members were nearly killed in that place, and the fact we trust you at your word, we would probably doubt anyone had been there at all."

"As it is, we almost didn't notice those items at all," Hamza added, settling a hand on the hilt of the sword belted to his hip, "We were lucky, and I hope everything we brought is important or useful."

"I'm sure it is," Sage said, "I hope none of this has caused you and your guild any trouble."

"Don't worry about that," Axel waved a hand, "Some guild's need to look out for each other. If you need any help just ask, the Guardians are always happy to be of assistance, especially with something like this. We're skilled in dealing with dumbass psychos who think they can do whatever they want just for power."

"I'm sure you've got some fun stories," Dyria noted, and Axel shrugged.

"Two or three."

"Just don't do anything spontaneous that could put your lives in danger," Hamza chided, turning just enough to give Dyria a look, something private between leaders, "I'm sure I don't have to tell you that though."

Dyria tensed up and nodded his head firmly to show he understood, and Hamza turned with Axel to leave the room. Sage frowned a little when his eyes caught something hanging from the war magus' belt, and tilted his head curiously. It looked like a charm of some sort, little gems carved into rough, circular beads, five in total connected with a small silver chain. Sage was drawn to it because he recognized it, and a smile pulled at his lips.

"Hamza?"

"Hm?" the war magus looked down at him and he held his hands up.

"Ah, nothing, never mind. Thank you is all, I really appreciate what you've done for us."

Hamza arched a suspicious eyebrow, but didn't question Sage further, and simply turned fully, leaving the room with Axel and Chi-Hung, and when the door was closed the survivalist walked over to the couch and leaned over to look down at where Naylin was sitting.

"Did you give him your lucky charm?" Sage asked, and Naylin's lips twisted into a pout as he leaned his head back to look up at him.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"So the fucker is gone," Iliad mumbled, and Sage sat down on the couch, looking over his shoulder towards the younger explorer, who was glaring up at the ceiling, "What do we do?"

"We have to find him," Sage said, "Aerlorn has Flandr, we can't abandon him."

"How are we supposed to find them?" Vien asked, sitting between Arcan and Nirim, his feet pulled onto the seat and his knees to his chest, "Eliath, by any chance did you tag your landsknecht?"

"I did not," Eliath responded, "Always knew I should, just never had a chance."

"If we know anything about Flan," Naylin started as he stood up, blanket pulled around his shoulders as he stepped around the couch and took the staff from Dyria, using it as a crutch and leaning against it as he looked over at Eliath, "We know he really hates people."

"That tells us nothing," Iliad decided, and Naylin grinned, sitting down beside Sage.

"On the contrary. They're on the run now, so they can't be anywhere near people who might see their group as suspicious. In other words, somewhere with little to no people, and knowing Flandr, he would have the perfect place to go."

"The Labyrinth," Eliath stated, his head back and his eyes closed, "Do you think so?"

"The Labyrinth is huge," Vien argued, "We can't just strut in and expect to run into him, we need to know where we're going."

Eliath dropped his head when Lesai pulled on the knee of his pants, and the survivalist leaned down so he could hear the hexer whispering, his brow furrowing, "Lesai thinks he can find him."

"What?" Sage leaned forward, "How?"

The older explorer just frowned more before leaning up from Lesai, brushing his fingers through the hexer's pale red hair, "He says your dark hunter's curse is practically identical to Flandr's," he stated, and Emery tensed up as Zed sat straighter in his chair, "The only difference is your dark hunter was cursed with a fatal hex, but Flandr's was meant strictly to control him."

"So that means...?" Naylin waved a hand for Eliath to continue, and the survivalist looked down at Lesai, who pulled away from where he'd hidden his face in Eliath's lap.

"The signature of the curses are the same," he said, his voice soft, the first time Halo had ever heard him speak at all, "Both Flandr and your friend were targeted by the same hexer."

"That...," Emery stopped and looked over at Zed, who had a pained look on his suddenly pale face, "What does that mean?"

"I can track Flandr through the connection of the curses," Lesai said, standing up, "If you'll let me."

Emery huffed a little and turned to Zed, "What do you think?"

Zed nodded, "S'okay. It'll help us find the hexer who took Sage."

"How can you find your landsknecht through similar curses?" Iliad asked, sitting up and looking back at Lesai, "Can hexers do that? Is that a normal skill they have? I've never heard of that."

Lesai stared down at his feet for a long time before speaking, his voice even gentler than before, "Hexers can," he assured, "normally not at such a distance of land and time."

"Then how do you expect to?" Arcan asked, and the hexer twisted his fingers in his sleeves, holding his hands against his chest and looking over at Eliath with an almost desperate look.

Eliath offered him the warmest smile, and Lesai bowed his head, "I have help," he explained, and before Halo could ask for a more specific explanation, the hexer turned to them, "I have the Lapis Galəksē."

~

"Lesai?" leaves crunched under boots that passed where the redhead was hiding, hands covering his mouth to stifle the giggles he couldn't seem to control, "Come on, you're too old for this silly game. Mom is calling us for dinner. Uncle came all the way from Etria to visit, and if both of us aren't there dad is going to be pissed."

Lesai pulled his hands from his mouth and stood up, inching around the tree he'd been sitting behind and lunging forward at the man standing in front of him, arms wrapping around his neck and legs around his waist. The man gasped a little and leaned forward before sighing.

"Really?"

"As if you want me to grow up," Lesai teased, nuzzling his face in his older brother's hair.

Aeden was two years older than Lesai, with red hair several shades darker than his younger brother's, and dark, rich purple eyes. He wore the black robes of a hexer, and thin golden chains were wrapped over his shoulders and around his waist. He'd been training under their parent's tutorage since he was very small, to follow in the footsteps of their ancestors as a sixth generation hexer of pure blood.

Their family lived in a rather small village located in the middle of a forest that was known for their ancient, towering trees and impossible to navigate pathways. It wasn't known as a popular stop-off point, explorers tended to steer clear of the forests because of how easy it was to get lost, and considering there was no Yggdrasil Labyrinth nearby, there really wasn't any prompt for wayward explorers to come visiting.

Lesai and Aeden's family, however, had lived there for generations. That little village may not have been popular with many travelers, but nearly every resident was a veteran of their born class. The village itself was home to many skilled explorers, most notably dark hunters and hexers, and all of them were third generation and beyond.

Aeden, being the eldest, was the first in line to learn the secrets of their family's hexer class, and was excited to do so. He was passionate about his training, and it made sense that he was excited their uncle would be coming. That man was a famous hexer from Etria, a teacher at the academy, and he was coming back to his hometown with the intention of taking Aeden back to the city with him, so the younger hexer could learn from the best.

Lesai didn't want him to go. In fact, Lesai didn't want anything to do with hexers, or the birthright his mother and father told him he was born to. He was always meant to start his training the same young age as his brother, he should have started years ago, but Aeden knew how against it his brother was, and had managed to keep their parents distracted up till this point, to protect Lesai from their parent's pride.

Truthfully, Lesai just wanted to live normally and enjoy the simple life, without the burden of power he's never been interested in. If Aeden wanted to train and study, then fine, but Lesai just wanted to be normal. Which was one of the many reasons he'd been hiding like a child in the trees around their house, so he wouldn't have to sit through dinner with his unnerving family members. He didn't like the dark clothes and he didn't like the suffocating aura, the feeling of death, not to mention the fact his uncle looked like a walking corpse. Lesai didn't know how long that man had been alive, but it was too long.

"Are you done being a child?" Aeden asked, and Lesai mumbled, hiding his face against his brother's shoulder.

"No. I don't want to eat dinner with uncle, he's scary."

"Ah, come on, he's not that bad," Aeden insisted, letting Lesai slip off his back so he was standing on his own, then turned towards his brother and set a hand on his head, ruffling his hair, "Let's go, it'll be fine. You can sit next to me and hide, how's that?"

Lesai considered it before smiling and grabbing part of Aeden's cloak, wrapping the ridiculously long cloth around his shoulders and leaning into his brother, giggling, "Okay. You'll protect me from him, right?"

"He's not that scary," Aeden argued, wrapping his arm around Lesai and shaking his head with an amused smile, "but yes, I promise I'll protect you from the scary shadow man," he turned Lesai towards their house and started walking, chuckling, "You know I'm going to be one of those shadowy people too."

"You're different," Lesai decided firmly, holding the cloak edges up over his face, "You won't change."

"I'll try not to."

Dinner was as uncomfortable for Lesai as he'd been expecting. His uncle, Varay, sat at the head of the table like an all-powerful king, with blood-red hair slicked back and skin white, his sunken eyes an unnerving pale blue color and his lips in a thin line. Those terrifying eyes moved to Lesai occasionally during the meal, and each time Lesai felt like his soul was being stared at, and started to tremble in his seat. Normally when that would happen Aeden would reach out to squeeze his knee in reassurance, distracting their uncle with questions about the academy.

"Your parents tell me that you've been studying quite well," Varay said, and Aeden smiled proudly.

"Yes, sir. I've been looking forward to training with you at the academy for years," he admitted, and Varay smiled.

At least it appeared he was trying to smile, but it looked like a painful grimace instead of a proud smile, and it made Lesai feel even more uncomfortable, "I'm pleased that you're excited. Are you ready for tonight?"

Lesai tensed up, looking at Aeden, "Tonight?"

"Yes, sir," Aeden grinned, and Lesai grabbed his sleeve, pulling on it.

"What's happening tonight?"

His uncle narrowed his eyes, "It doesn't concern you, child."

"But-."

"You'd do well to keep quiet," Varay stated, eyes closing, "You have no interest in our heritage as hexers, so you have no right to demand we answer questions you have concerning the hexer class."

"Uncle," Aeden's voice was tense, and he smiled at Lesai, "Tonight is my ritual into a full-fledged hexer. I need to be completely in tune with the class before entering the academy, otherwise there's no point. That's one reason uncle came, he'll be performing the ritual."

"What?" Lesai breathed, "Already? H-how is that going to even happen? What happens in the ritual? Will you be gone long?"

"Don't answer those questions, Aeden," their uncle chided, pushing his chair back and standing, "He doesn't need to know."

"Hey, don't worry," Aeden assured, his hand on Lesai's cheek, "I'll be back by tomorrow morning, I promise. The ritual is simple, and I've been preparing for it since I was eight. I'm ready for this, it's what I want. I already promised you I wouldn't change. You believe me, right?"

"Yes..."

"Then there's nothing to worry about," Aeden stood up, ruffling Lesai's hair again, "I'll be back."

"Promise?" Lesai asked, and Aeden rolled his eyes before leaning down and kissing his brother's forehead.

"I promise."

The night went by slowly, Lesai couldn't seem to fall asleep as he shuffled his way into the bedroom he shared with Aeden, a bedroom he'd have to himself soon, and crawled onto his brother's bed instead of his own. It was an attempt to keep himself calm, so he didn't feel as lonely, hugging the pillow at his head and yanking the covers over his shoulder as he stared out the window at the stars blinking in the night sky.

A few hours must have passed before he heard the door open and feet thudding against the floor of the kitchen just outside the door, before he heard his mother's gasp and his father's voice cursing. Lesai didn't get out of bed for a long time, simply laid there waiting for Aeden to enter the room, but when a few minutes past and the door still didn't open, he sat up and slipped out of bed, stepping over to the door and opening it a crack to peer out.

His uncle was back and the door was wide open, his mother was kneeling, but the table was in the way, so Lesai couldn't tell what she was doing as his father grabbed Varay and shook him, his hands fisted in the man's cloak.

"Bastard! You said everything would be fine!"

"There is no blame to be placed," Varay said with closed eyes, his hands settling on top of other man's, "You did well tutoring him, the fault is on him for not being strong enough."

"So what are we supposed to do?!" his mother asked, standing, hands clenched, "All this time Aeden has been the one who was training to take the power of the Lapis stone. What are we supposed to do now?!"

"M-mother?" Lesai pushed his door wider, and all three hexer's turned to look at him as he inched his way towards them, "What's going on? Where's-?"

He froze in his words and his steps as he got around the table, his breath hitching when he saw Aeden lying on the floor, his face white and his eyes open, but filled with clouds of death. Lesai fell forward onto his knees, struggling to breathe as he pulled himself closer and touched Aeden's cheek, covering his mouth with both hands when he felt how cold his brother was.

How did this happen?

"You killed him," he whispered, looking up at his uncle in horror, "Why? How could you?"

The hexer just stared down at him with an unfeeling, disturbing gaze, before his eyes slowly moved to Lesai's father, "How old is your youngest son?"

"What? He's... eighteen. Why?"

"He's never shown any interest in becoming a hexer?"

"No, why are you asking?"

Lesai's eyes widened as his mother snarled, "You want to kill both of my sons?! Find someone else to take the stone, someone who's trained for it!"

"We have no time," Varay said stiffly, and Lesai's mother stepped in front of him defensively.

"No! There's no way-!"

Varay lifted a hand, and black ropes seemed to appear out of thin air, wrapping around the female hexer in front of him, as well as Lesai's father, "The two of you are hexers, so I can't very well curse you to do as I say, but at the very least I can bind you together and keep you from getting in the way," he flicked his wrist and Lesai screamed a little as his parents were thrown across the room.

Another gasp caught in his throat as those same black vines wrapped around him, and he felt himself stand without wanting to, his feet centimeters off the floor and his uncle standing in front of him with his hand raised, "Wh-what are you doing? Let me down!"

"I apologize, child, but I can't do that," Varay said in a toneless voice, "Aeden was training and studying to take the Lapis into his body, in order to protect it, to keep it out of the hands of those who would use it for nefarious purposes, but he wasn't strong enough. His body failed him halfway through the ritual, and I need a hexer of his blood to hold the Lapis," his hand clenched into a fist, the vines tightening around Lesai's arms and legs, "You're my last resort."

With a simple snap of his fingers, Lesai's vision went dark, and when he started to wake up he found himself lying on a stone alter, and all around him were walls that were covered in thick green moss. He recognized it as the grotto near his village, there was a distant sound of running water, and Varay was leaning over him, the light glinting off the edge of a dagger.

"Uncle?" Lesai squeaked out, pulling at the binding around his wrists, holding his arms at his sides, "Please."

"Do you think I'm going to stab you, child?" Varay asked, and Lesai sobbed a little as the hexer reached out and pushed back his bangs, setting the tip of the dagger against his forehead, "Not yet, Lesai. I need you awake for this."

Lesai's eyes widened in horror as he felt something burn across his forehead, tearing a gasp from his throat that turned into a scream. White light blinded him before his uncle pulled the dagger back and pushed his hand against Lesai's forehead instead. The pain in his head became a hundred times worse, in a way it felt like a nail was being hammered into his skull, and his screaming heightened as Varay began to chant under his breath, lifting the silver dagger above his head and bringing it down.

An agonizing burn spread out from his chest, the taste of iron filled his mouth, and again Lesai's world went black. A strange ringing sound filled his ears, he could swear he could hear his heart beating, and his breathing was loud and ragged as he peeled open his heavy eyes, his brow furrowing in confusion when he moved his wrists to find they were no longer bound by Varay's black vines.

His movements were slow and lethargic as he sat up on the alter and slowly looked around, his eyes inevitably lowering to stare at the large red stain on the chest of his shirt. The heavy scent of iron revealed that the substance was blood, but he felt no pain, and when he pulled at the tear in his shirt, he was stunned to find there was no wound. How was that possible? He could have sworn Varay... stabbed him.

His head was pounding, and he dizzily slipped his legs over the edge of the alter, pausing when his eyes dropped to the ground and his eyes widening when he noticed his uncle, a short gasp catching in his throat. Varay's normally pale face was even whiter now, it looked ashen and yellowed, and his eyes were wide and milky, his mouth was gaped open, as if he'd died watching something terrifying.

Lesai was scared to see him like that, but the fear felt... subdued in a way, as if he was incapable of reacting any bigger than he had with that short gasp. Well, considering what this man had just done, maybe he didn't deserve any reaction at all, and Lesai let that thought take over as he pushed himself off the alter and onto the ground.

The instant his bare feet touched the ground, the moss died, before growing fuller and greener than it had been before. Each step he took, the ground died, and when he stepped forward that dead area burst with grass, moss, and clovers, as if his touch was poison, yet at the same time created life. He was... oh so confused. He didn't understand what had happened, he just wanted to go home, he wanted to see his parents, so he just walked, swaying on his feet and tripping over himself, knees hitting the ground and hands splashing into the cool water of the grotto's swiftly flowing creek.

The water seemed to burn him, but he was too distracted with his reflection to care, his eyes widening as his gaze locked on his forehead, his breath hitching as he lifted a hand to touch the gem that was embedded into his skin. Somehow, even though nothing else made sense, he knew what it was. This was the Lapis Galəksē gem his mother had mentioned, the one Varay had mentioned.

It was... in his skin now. Stuck there.

Lesai took a shuddering breath as he leaned back to sit on his heels, head falling back as he stared up at the night sky, tears slipping silently down his cheeks as the gravity of the situation settled onto his shoulders, his eyes drooping as he sobbed quietly. His own uncle did this to him, forced him to be the one thing he never wanted to be, and... there was nothing he could do about it...

~

"Hexers are made by dying, or by being killed," Eliath was saying, his elbows propped on his knees and his hands folded, head down, "but curses don't work on other hexers, so Varay cut into his skin and cursed the Lapis Galəksē into Lesai's forehead before making him a hexer. It can't be removed, and neither can the curse, especially now after so much time has passed.

"After Varay cursed the gem to bond with Lesai, he made him into a hexer, but the power of the Lapis exploded from the stress of being bonded. Varay was killed in the wave of energy, half the village was annihilated, and the buildings were destroyed. Everyone that survived left the village, and to protect himself and everyone else, Lesai just wandered around, until I met him."

He looked up at Lesai, who was standing holding his bangs away from his face to reveal the Lapis stone, embedded in his skin with scattered scars webbing out from it, likely caused when Varay had cursed him. Eliath did think it was a beautiful gem, as if the night sky itself had been infused into a stone, black with swirls of dark pink, purple, and green, filled with star-like speckles that glimmered like diamonds.

Lesai pulled his bangs back into place and turned before sitting himself at Eliath's feet yet again, lying his head in the survivalist's lap and hiding against him as the unnervingly quiet room finally began to fill with voices. Though while Lesai was expecting anger, irritation, disbelief, he was stunned at the words that actually hit his ears.

"I'm sorry, Lesai," Sage was the one to whisper first, "Going through something like that, being forced, turned into a hexer... losing so much in one night... I can't even imagine..."

"This isn't your fault," Naylin said seriously, "Don't blame yourself. Whatever that stone is, it's powerful, so we just have to protect you, and that's all there is to it. If you can put your trust in us, then believe us when we say we won't let you down."

Lesai clung to Eliath and nodded his head, and the survivalist smiled, petting back his hair before giving Naylin and guild Halo a firm look of determination, "Thank you, all of you, for not overreacting or anything like it. I appreciate it."

"We're freaking out on the inside," Vien offered, and Eliath smiled.

"You've done so much for Historia already, and I'm sorry I'm asking this, but... I'd like one more favor of you and Halo," he said this while looking directly at Dyria, who gave a short nod in a sign for Eliath to continue, "Help us find Flandr, help us save him, and help us kick that bastard's ass."

"Oh, sweetheart," Emery chuckled and pushed his glasses higher onto his face, grinning, "You don't even have to ask."

[no-white-knights-blog]

Halo - An Etrian Odyssey Novel (Chapter 40/50)

Lesai had planted himself on the ground between Eliath's wheelchair and the fireplace, his back against the chair and his knees pulled to his chest with his arms wrapped around them, a blanket draped over his head and wrapped around his shoulders, watching the flames that were dancing between the logs and lowering his gaze to the left when Na'axri laid down beside him, curling against him.

He had one ear open to the conversation in the room beyond Eliath, where guild Halo had recollected with platters of food and pitchers of juice and tea, sitting on two of the three couches that weren't occupied by the sick war magus and waiting patiently for Lynus, who was checking Naylin's condition and carefully healing him according to his wounds.

After a long moment, Lynus stood away from the couch, and Lesai leaned to the side and peered around Eliath's leg to watch the medic sift through his bag, putting away extra bandages, quietly waiting for him to give his diagnosis on the war magus' condition. He couldn't help the guilt he felt, because what Naylin had mentioned before had been true. Lesai could've freed them at any time, but he'd been so scared to. If he'd used that much power, then that hexer would have realized... and that would have ultimately put them in more danger.

So, he'd waited for the right time. For months he waited, feeling his chest ache worse and worse, searching Lagaard and the surrounding Labyrinth for Eliath's energy, and for that pretty green gem he'd given the survivalist. The man had essentially disappeared, until a few days ago, the same moment Sage had been thrown into that cold room with them. Eliath's energy seemed to appear out of thin air, like a wave. Eliath was alive, so Lesai decided breaking out was worth the risk. He let Naylin get hurt, though, and he couldn't even comprehend himself how guilty he felt.

"I've cleared the infection with a cure spell and healed up the worst of the wound," Lynus finally said to the whole room, turning, "You should let him rest for a day or two, and Emery should be able to take care of the rest."

"Me?" Emery pointed at himself, and Lynus smiled at him.

"Yea, he's out of danger now and the fever should start going down, though you should definitely keep an eye on him to make sure it doesn't get worse, but a simple cure spell should be enough to heal up the rest of the wound. You can handle that, it's the same spell you used to bring Eliath out of his coma," Emery looked down at his hands but didn't respond, and Lynus pulled out a glass bottle filled with bright orange liquid, "You should definitely let him rest for a day before healing him up, too much at once can just make him worse. Have him drink this when he wakes up."

Emery took the bottle, turning it around with an arched eyebrow, "I've never seen this kind of medicine before. Did you make it?"

"Yes, with a little help from Dr Stiles. It's a stronger elixir that should counter any infection and help keep the fever down until the wound is closed up."

"Oh, nice," Emery nodded, curling his fingers around the bottle, "Thanks for doing this, by the way."

"It's no problem. Ah, Sage, could I steal you for a little? I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Yea, sure," Sage stood up from the couch, looking back down when Dyria grabbed onto his wrist, "Calm down, I'll just be outside the door in the hall."

"He can tag along if he likes," Lynus offered with a smile, "I'm not cruel enough to separate you from him after such a scary experience," he laughed a little weakly, rubbing his neck, "I've been through something similar, and Axel wouldn't let me out of his sight for months after the fact, so I won't try to get in the way of your protector. I just had to talk to you about something."

"Does that work with your schedule?" Sage asked Dyria, who stood up without a response and released the survivalist's wrist so he could place his hand against Sage's back instead, "We'll be right back," Sage said to Emery, who waved a hand at them.

"Yea, yea, go on."

When the door had shut, Eliath turned, one arm folding against the arm of his chair as he leaned forward, "Hey, what's Seara's relationship with that protector?" he asked, and everyone paused in what they were doing, eating, drinking, flipping through a book, and just stared over at the survivalist.

Emery was the one to set the medicine down before lifting a fist to his mouth and clearing his throat, "As his older brother, are you sure you want to know?"

Eliath gaped at him, narrowing his eyes, "I don't know."

Vien raised his hand enthusiastically, "I'll tell him!"

"Never mind, I changed my mind, I don't want to know," Eliath decided, holding a hand up, "I'm probably better off not knowing, as long as he's happy," he leaned heavily against the back of his chair, running a hand over his face, "I'm gone three months and this happens? I can't leave that kid alone for a second!"

"Well look on the bright side," Emery said cheerfully with a smile, "At least he's not pregnant."

Eliath gave him a horrified look, "I really don't like you."

~

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Sage asked when Dyria had the door shut, and Lynus turned to him with a heavy frown on his lips.

"It's about your hexer friend," he stated, and Sage furrowed his brow.

"Lesai. Is he okay?"

"Well," Lynus twisted his hands around the strap of his bag across his chest, "There's something strange about his aura. That isn't to say he's somehow different from other hexers I mean, most of them have unusual energies, but Lesai's just feels... unstable?"

Sage frowned at that, looking over at the closed door, "What does that mean?"

"He's expended a lot of his energy and abilities, likely from the way he broke out of where you were being held captive," Lynus explained, "but there's also a foreign energy around him, something that isn't his but that he uses, and that energy is... eating away at him. Kind of like a parasite."

Sage immediately grew tense at the medic's words, his hands curling into the chest of his shirt, "Did that hexer do it to him?" he asked, "The one who held him captive this whole time. Did he curse Lesai?"

"Well, hexer's are actually immune to the curses of other hexers," Lynus admitted, "Whatever it is that's hurting him has been with him for a lot longer than three months."

"Can you do something?" Sage asked, and Lynus pressed his lips into a tight line, shaking his head.

"No. If it helps, I don't think it'll kill him, it's not a dangerous or fatal energy, it's just... powerful, and his body isn't built to retain it, so it'll weaken him," he brightened and pulled his bag closer, pulling it open, "I think it's mainly a problem now because he's sick, so just take care of him like you would anyone with a high fever; tea, broth, light healthy foods, and medica," he handed Sage a blue bottle, "When the fever is down and his illness is gone, it shouldn't affect him as severely."

"Thank you," Sage nodded, taking the bottle from Lynus and smiling, "You know we have our own medica, right? You don't have to keep giving us extra bottles."

Lynus blushed a little, "Ah, right, sorry. Habit."

Sage laughed and turned to Dyria, who was leaning against the door, arms folded and waiting patiently for his survivalist, "Thank you again, I'm really sorry we have to keep calling you. It's probably annoying, you have your own guild to worry about."

Lynus simply laughed at that, "Don't worry about it, I'm always happy to help. Don't be too shy about asking me for help, either, I'm always willing."

Sage waved as Lynus left down the hall, then turned to Dyria, looking down at the bottle of medica and frowning, "A foreign energy," he repeated with a heavy frown, "Something eating at him like a parasite. What could do that besides a curse?"

"Maybe he's cursed then," Dyria offered, "Hexers aren't the only class out there that can use runes or control things like that."

"I suppose that's a possibility, but... Lynus said it's been weakening Lesai for a lot longer than three months, so I can't help but wonder when it happened. Something tells me it was before he joined Historia, and that was five years ago."

"We could always just ask," Dyria suggested, holding a hand out, and Sage sighed, stepping into his arms and pressing himself against the protector's chest.

"He won't tell us," he warned, "Lesai's always been like that. He's worse than Zed. He doesn't normally talk to people unless it's Eliath, he hates being in large crowds or surrounded by people he's not familiar with, he's known Flandr and Naylin for three years and he's still uneasy talking to them directly. He's really attached to El though."

"We'll figure something out," Dyria assured, arms wrapping tightly around Sage's shoulders, "I promise you we'll do everything in our power to look after all three of them."

"Flandr too," Sage insisted, "He's a victim just like I am, we have to help him."

Dyria scowled a little but forced it away and huffed through his nose, setting his forehead against Sage's, "Fine, but he's my last priority. You come first."

Sage couldn't help chuckling a little at that, lifting his hand and brushing his fingers across Dyria's jaw, urging him into a kiss the protector fell into, one hand burying in Sage's long hair and cradling the back of his head, his other arm wrapped around his waist as Sage kept one of his hands on the protector's face, his other hand holding the bottle of medica against his chest.

He felt like he could stay there forever, in Dyria's arms with their lips pressed together, kissing Dyria was always so intense, it felt like electricity was buzzing at his fingertips and his lips, prompting him to push himself closer to the protector and tilt his head, parting his lips in order to deepen their kiss, his hand slipping away from the other man's face and into his black hair instead.

Eventually they had to part, but Sage left one last soft kiss against Dyria's chin before he smiled and reached out to open the door behind the protector, his right hand slipping into Dyria's as they both stepped back into the room.

"Welcome back," Emery greeted from one of the armchairs, flipping through a large book, "What did Lynus have to say?"

"Ah, right," Sage breathed, bowing his head and staring at his feet for a long time before releasing Dyria's hand and stepping over to where Eliath was sitting, arms folded and essentially pouting for some reason, "Here, Lesai won't drink this unless you ask him to, and he needs to drink it to help his fever."

Eliath hummed and took the bottle before leaning to the right where Lesai was sitting, "Here, you heard him," he chided, holding the bottle in front of the hexer's face, "Drink."

Lesai took the medicine reluctantly, staring at it for a long time before pulling the top off and sipping a little at a time, like he was in no hurry to heal, which was a tad bit frustrating for Sage to see, but he didn't complain as he turned and walked over to the couch to check on Naylin next.

He was still asleep, but his face wasn't as pale and fevered as it had been, and there were thick white bandages wrapped around his chest and left shoulder, down his upper left arm and stopping at his elbow, both of his arms folded over his stomach on top of the covers that were pulled up to his chest.

"I hope he wakes up soon," Sage murmured, and Emery hummed.

"At least he's alive, let him enjoy his rest. It's probably the best sleep he'd gotten in months."

Lesai stopped drinking the medica and pulled the bottle away, lifting his right hand and slipping his fingers beneath his bangs, staring at the flames in the fireplace as he felt over the smooth surface of his "scar", cold to the touch and radiating with power. It was his fault, he told himself, his fault Naylin was this badly hurt, his fault Eliath was in a wheelchair. Maybe... maybe it really was time to... tell them.

He nearly jerked to the side when someone sat down near him, and turned his head to see Halo's dark hunter had settled himself a few paces away, arm's length precisely, and was looking through a large book like he was trying to find something to show Lesai in an attempt to make friends with him. The hexer's attention was instantly drawn to the explorer and the bandages on his face, the malice of the curse that was poisoning him. He could feel Zedimir's energy and how broken it was, as if his soul had been sent through a grinding machine.

What really caught Lesai's attention was the foreign energy that was essentially acting as a patch to keep his ruined aura from falling apart. In a way, it looked like the starry night sky had been liquified and poured into the cracks of Zedimir's broken aura, Lesai could see it so clearly, that those patches, this foreign energy that didn't belong to Zed, was keeping the curse from killing him. Whatever the curse itself was, it had advanced as much as it could, and was now being held at bay by the patches in place, it was actually a little amazing to see, but also made Lesai uneasy, because that borrowed energy shouldn't have been there.

He looked down when Zed reached the page he was looking for, setting the book down and sliding it over to Lesai, who's breath hitched in his throat. There was an illustration of a diamond shaped gem, colored like the sky, and the words written on both pages were in a dead language that hexers regularly used for rituals. It made sense of course why only hexers could read the details on this stone.

"I saw where they kept it," Zed said suddenly, his voice quiet so Lesai could barely hear him, "Under the water in the grotto. The water burns you, but a hexer made me drink."

That was why that strange energy was in his aura...

"You're the same," Zedimir stated, staring down at the book, "I can feel it. Cuz you drank the same water?"

Lesai didn't know how to answer that question, just wrapped his arms tighter around his knees and looked away as Zed pulled the book back into his lap and stared down at the illustration, not saying anymore. His words, though, his revelation that he'd actually consumed the water from that grotto... memories were flashing through his mind, painful and traumatizing, he lifted his covered hands and grabbed at the sides of his head, eyes wide in panic.

Zed had moved away and was leaning against the wall beside the fireplace, his knees lifted and his book propped against his lap, and across the room sitting in an armchair was Emery, who was periodically lifting his eyes to check on him, feeling nothing but confusion at the fact the dark hunter had actually instigated conversation of a sort with someone other than himself.

Not that he had a right to Zed or anything, the explorer could talk to whoever he wanted, socializing with more people would be good for him in the long run, Emery knew that, but still, it had a sour taste in his mouth and a knot in his stomach that make him want to scowl. After a few more times casting his eyes up before dropping them, attempting to concentrate on his research, he gave up, sighing at his own irrational jealousy before speaking out.

"Zed, it's past time for you to take you medicine, come here."

At the sound of his voice, Zedimir brightened up and rose to his feet, shuffling over to sit in the chair beside Emery and willingly receiving the bright green vial Emery pulled from his bag and handed to the dark hunter. Anything to keep the idiot close, but only because he was still sick and definitely not ready to socialize with people yet, especially not some equally as antisocial hexer they'd only just met.

Not because he was jealous.

Emery was too professional for that.

The room was peacefully silent, for the most part. Emery was sitting in his armchair with Zed pulled up in a regular wooden chair, leaning against the arm of Emery's seat with his arms folded against it and head lying on his forearms. Naylin was sleeping on one of the couches, and sitting on the second was Nirim, who was at the very end, and Vien, who was leaning against him, his legs stretched out and propped against Iliad's lap.

Arcan was sitting in a second armchair, his feet propped against the arm of the couch beside Iliad and Blaise sitting in his lap with a book. Dyria and Sage had the third couch to themselves, much to Eliath's upset, but he kept his mouth shut only because Lesai seemed to be having his own inner struggle, reaching down over the arm of his wheelchair to play with the hexer's pale red hair.

For the longest time the room was silent besides the crackling of the fire, everyone lost in their own thoughts, questions, and concerns, wondering what was going to happen with Aerlorn, if they were in danger, if the hexer was crazy enough to attack, until a low groan filled the area and drew everyone's attention to the war magus who had lifted his right arm to rub at his eyes.

Sage was the first on his feet, taking the three steps to reach the couch before perching himself on the edge of the couch, "Naylin?"

He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand before slipping it up his face and pushing his bangs back, squinting a little until he seemed to remember everything, "Oh, good," he sighed, "Not dead yet," Sage rolled his eyes and shook his head a little, reaching out to help Naylin sit up, "I don't feel as crappy as I did earlier. How long have I been sleeping?"

"Through the night plus a few hours," Sage answered, "That's a good thing though, you need to rest."

Naylin reached over to his shoulder and hummed, "Who fixed me up?"

"Lynus," Emery answered, sitting forward and placing his elbows against his knees, "He's a medic friend of ours from the Guardians guild."

Naylin's eyes widened in an almost amusing way, "Guardians? Seriously?" he turned to Sage, grabbing his shoulder with his right hand and shaking him, "Are we actually in the same inn as my actual hero?!"

Sage laughed, carefully pushing Naylin back to lie down, head on the pillow, "Yes, calm down."

"Hero?" Arcan arched an eyebrow, and Sage chuckled a little as Eliath answered.

"In Etria we heard dozens of stories about the strongest guild in Lagaard," he said, beaming, "Their reputation precedes them, and if they're famous even in Etria, I can only imagine how far their influence reaches here," he folded his hands behind his neck and chuckled, "From the moment Naylin heard of their war magus he's been a bit obsessed, claiming he's going to become as strong as him and be someone the man can respect as an equal."

"You're talking about Hamza, right?" Iliad asked, "I've met him, he's okay I guess."

"How about the rest of you?" Emery asked, "You obsessed with their survivalist and their hexer too?"

"Never met 'im," Eliath admitted, eyes closed and head back.

"Oh, I met Tobyn, he's really cool," Sage said excitedly, "Their medic, Lynus, he's really amazing too. They're all pretty amazing, I'm not surprised they're so well-known and respected."

"This means you can try and talk with that guy again," Eliath said, looking over at Naylin, "Hamza, right? The war magus? You were able to meet him before we entered the Labyrinth, you were pretty happy about that."

"Oh, yea!" Sage agreed, smiling down at Naylin, who had a slight frown on his face as he stared up at the ceiling, "I'm sure he'd be happy to talk with you again, he's that kind of person."

"Hm," Naylin hummed, rubbing his shoulder.

It was true that he was able to meet someone he saw as his hero and role model before they'd headed into the Labyrinth there in Lagaard, the conversation they'd had was actually pretty inspiring, Naylin was happy he remembered it. Maybe he'd been a little crazy and desperate when he ran up like a child and started raving, but it made him feel a bit better when the troubadour Hamza was with decided to join in while the war magus pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I've heard a lot about your guild," Naylin remembered saying, grinning in excitement, "As a fellow war magus, it's been my dream to meet you."

"That so?" the older man had hummed, rubbing the back of his head looking a bit unsure of how to deal with the situation, though the silver haired man beside him was smiling like a lunatic, hands pressed together.

"I know, right?! Hamza is a legend! You should've seen him when he was younger, too! I've got hundreds of stories it you wanna have a drink!"

"Really?" Naylin beamed, and Hamza waved a hand.

"Don't take him up on that offer, I'm sure you have better things to do with your time."

"I wouldn't mind," Naylin laughed, "My guild and I are heading into the Labyrinth just to look around the first floor, we probably won't be there long, if I'm back before dark I'd actually be thrilled to have a drink with you both," he laughed a little softer, "Since I started hearing stories about you I wanted to learn from you, being a veteran of the Labyrinth and having so much experience with the war magus class I'm sure I could learn a lot from just talking to you, maybe one day I can be as strong as you."

Hamza just frowned a little at that before turning his head a little, like he was thinking of what to say before returning his attention to Naylin, "If you want my advice, I do have some."

"Yea?" Naylin straightened his posture in anticipation, and the older war magus in front of him set a hand on his hip.

"Don't train for me," Hamza stated, "Train to get stronger so you can surpass me, and so you can look after the people who are important to you. That's the best advice I can give."

Naylin was frowning at his words, but eventually his lips pulled into another grin, "Yea. I think I can do that."

"Hm, he's actually taking your advice," the troubadour smiled, and Hamza nodded, a slight smile pulling at his own lips as he held his hand out for Naylin.

"I look forward to watching you grow."

Naylin beamed and took Hamza's hand, shaking it, "Thank you," when he turned he paused, "Oh! One last thing!" he spun back to Hamza, reaching into his pocket and holding something out for the war magus in front of him, "This might be a bit silly of me, but when I first started to train, my mother gave me this," Hamza held his hand out and let Naylin drop a small charm into his palm, "You can keep it as a promise," Naylin decided, "and give it back when I've become your equal!"

"Nay?" Sage leaned forward, waving his hand in front of Naylin's face, "You there?"

"Hu? Oh, sorry, lost in thought," he laughed, rolling onto his right side and facing the back of the couch, pulling the blanket higher over his bandaged shoulder, "I'm kind of tired still, so I'm going to sleep. That okay?"

"Of course," Sage agreed, pulling a second blanket from the back of the couch and draping it over Naylin, "Maybe later you can walk around and meet Hamza again."

"Hm," Naylin didn't agree or disagree, pulling the covers a little higher so Sage couldn't see his face, frowning heavily and staring at the pattern in the couch.

He wanted to meet that man again, but he wasn't ready yet. No, after everything that had happened, failing to protect those who were important to him, he didn't think he could face his hero after that. For now it would be best if Naylin just pretended he had died in the Labyrinth. That way he wouldn't have to think about how disappointed his hero would be in him.

"How's Lesai?" he asked suddenly, and Sage frowned heavily.

"He's okay. Better off than you."

"Good," Naylin murmured, closing his eyes, "Everyone's okay then. Everyone's okay."

Sage didn't like the sound of his voice, but he didn't push, just rubbed Naylin's arm to comfort him while he fell back to sleep. He'd been through a lot, after all, it wasn't that strange that he'd be feeling low. He'd be better after the gash in his shoulder and across his back healed up and he was back on his feet. Naylin was that kind of person, always happy when he was useful. For now, it was only fair that he be allowed to rest.

[no-white-knights-blog]

Halo - An Etrian Odyssey Novel (Chapter 39/50)

Everyone Eliath cared about was alive, and he'd never felt more relieved. Sure, he couldn't exactly walk or stand up, he needed help to get out of that stupid chair and onto the cot Emery had dragged in, but all in all he didn't mind too much. They were all safe, he couldn't ask for more than that, and he could deal with not being able to walk for a little.

He woke up before the others did, a habit he'd always had, and winced as he pushed himself to sit up, rubbing his thigh and looking over the room, a frown pulling his lips down when his gaze fell to the couch that Sage was lying on. His eyes narrowed suspiciously when he noticed his younger brother was lying on top of that protector, stretched out with his head using Dyria's chest as a pillow, a blanket draped over both of them.

That just looked... suspicious. Eliath had never seen his brother cling to anyone like that before, unless it was him of course. What made this protector so special? Being the older brother he was, Eliath felt the need to interrupt their rest, to get Dyria away from Sage, but he couldn't move from his cot, and there was nothing near him he could throw at the couple, so he just leaned back on his hands with a huff.

It took him a minute to realize someone was tucked onto the cot with him, and looked down in surprise to see Lesai was lying beside him, arms wrapped around his waist and face pressed against his ribs, eyes closed and appearing fast asleep. The hexer hadn't been there when Eliath went to sleep, so he must've slipped onto the bed during the night.

Eliath couldn't help the soft smile as he reached out, raking Lesai's hair back and frowning when he brushed aside the long bangs, his thumb sliding over the area in the middle of his forehead just above the bridge of his nose. Lesai called it a scar whenever it was brought up, a scar only Eliath knew about. The hexer was too afraid to show it to any of the others in Historia. Eliath thought it was rather beautiful, actually, even though the story behind it was so dark and traumatizing.

Eliath rubbed Lesai's cheek with his thumb, quietly prompting him awake so his silver eyes would slide open, one arm slipping from around Eliath's waist to rub at his eyes with the long sleeves that covered his hands. The hexer looked up at the survivalist before pushing himself to his knees.

"Hey," Eliath took hold of Lesai's chin so he couldn't look away, "The Lapis Galəksē is why you didn't want to come to Lagaard, isn't it?" Lesai cast his eyes down without replying, but he didn't need to, "I guess they didn't find it."

The hexer shook his head, "I used my energy to hide its presence so they wouldn't notice it."

"Are you okay?" Eliath asked, and Lesai bowed his head, "What did they do?" Lesai just slowly laid back down, his head in Eliath's lap, and the survivalist sighed, raking his fingers through his red hair, "Alright, I understand. There's one thing I need to talk to you about, and I know you won't like it," he waited for the hexer to respond, and continued when he didn't, "This happened because of the Lapis stone, that hexer will be back for it, anyone associated with it or around it will be targeted. You need to tell this guild everything so they know what's going on and how to protect themselves. After taking this chance to help us, and after looking after Seara for this long, you owe them," he looked over at where Naylin was laying, "We both owe them an explanation."

Lesai pressed his lips together, his fingers curled into a fist in the sheets, slowly pushing himself back to his knees and staring down as he lifted a hand to his forehead, "They won't be in danger if I just leave," he said, and Eliath's eyes widened in shock, "I should've left a long time ago, Eliath. Staying with Historia was a bad idea and put you all in danger. I shouldn't have stayed."

"Lesai," Eliath held the back of the hexer's neck to prevent him from backing away, "I told you years ago that if your past came back to you, I wasn't going to abandon you. I'm not letting you leave, especially when you're in this much danger. I promised I'd look after you."

Lesai shook his head, his eyes growing glassy, "You got hurt because of this," he said weakly, "You can't walk."

"That's easily reversible," Eliath argued, "With a little physical therapy I'll be fine. It may take a while, but I'll be on my feet again eventually. This isn't permanent."

"Naylin got hurt," Lesai said, "His back, and his shoulder. He could have died, and Seara lost his memories. Flandr was cursed because of me. I shouldn't have gotten attached to you. I should've known better," his shoulders sagged, hands on his knees, "Hexers can't have normal lives like other explorers... it's not possible. I shouldn't even exist."

"Stop," Eliath scolded, pulling Lesai against his chest in a secure hug and lying back, "You're here for a reason, and I won't let you say things like that. Take this time to decide what you want to do, either tell everyone why that hexer is searching for the Lapis Galəksē,or let me. Got it?"

Lesai frowned and pinched his eyes closed, grabbing the blanket that had been covering him before and pulling it over his head as he buried his face against Eliath's chest. The survivalist wrapped his arms securely around the hexer and sighed, closing his eyes. When he accepted Lesai into his guild, he knew it could lead to disaster, he knew Lesai's past might come back to hurt him, but after knowing this hexer for so long, Eliath couldn't let that happen.

His hand slipping onto Lesai's forehead, and nearly sighed again in frustration when burning heat pulsed from the man's temple. Knowing him, he was going to continue to refuse the aid of a medic, for the past five years the only one Lesai would let close enough to help heal him was Eliath, and he didn't mind at all, but when he had a fever this high, how much could he do as a survivalist? He needed a medic.

That's why he was so happy when Halo's medic started to stir, sitting up on the futon he'd laid out near Naylin and shoving his glasses onto his face with half-open eyes that lifted to Eliath when he whispered out to him, "Emery... that's your name, right?"

"Yea, gimp, Emery. Do we need to introduce ourselves again?"

"I'm not bad with names, I've just been a bit distracted so I wasn't listening the first time," Eliath argued, "And stop calling me that. Could you do me a quick favor before the others wake up?"

"Do I have a choice?" Emery asked, standing up and stretching his arms above his head before stepping towards the cot, "What's up?"

"Lesai," Eliath whispered, "His fever hasn't gone down. Can you do something? Before he wakes up again, because he's anxious around people. He doesn't like being touched."

"He seems fine with you touching him," Emery teased, and Eliath narrowed his eyes.

"You'll get along swell with Naylin," he noted, pulling the blanket off Lesai's head, "Just a refresh spell I think should help, just to keep it down."

"Yea I can do that," Emery agreed, reaching out, sighing when Eliath grabbed his wrist, "What, are you the possessive husband who doesn't like people touching his claim?"

"What? Shut up," Eliath snapped, "You need to swear not to mention what's on his head to anyone. Lesai is self-conscious about it, and if people knew it was there it could put him in danger. I mean, more danger than we're all in now. Swear it."

"Yea, whatever, do you want me to help him or not?"

"Please," Eliath sighed, releasing Emery.

The medic rolled his eyes and pushed Lesai's long bangs back, pausing when his attention stopped on what was on his forehead, probably what Eliath had been referring to, "What is this?"

"He calls it a scar," Eliath explained, staring up at the ceiling as Emery cast a refresh spell, "I... well, yea, I know what it's from, he's told me everything, but he doesn't want anyone else to know about it."

"Does he not like it?" Emery asked, brow furrowing, "It's... kind of pretty."

"That's not really the point," Eliath sighed as Emery stepped back, lifting a hand to Lesai's forehead and sighing again, this time in relief, "Thank you."

"Want me to help you into your gimp chair?"

"I don't know, are you going to let me fall on my face again?"

"I might."

Despite his teasing threats, Emery was actually very careful as he helped the survivalist into the wheelchair, leaving Eliath to roll himself up to the fireplace where his wolf companion was lying, head lifting and tail waving excitedly when his owner came up to him. After making sure the injured man was alright, Emery slipped from the room, knowing well that Lynus would likely be awake at this hour as well.

He needed to tell him about what was happening, so the Guardians would be aware of the possible danger, and ask the other medic to take a look at Naylin. Hopefully he would be able to heal the war magus enough that they wouldn't have to bring him to the hospital, because leaving the protection of the inn at the immediate moment probably wasn't a good idea.

Emery was gone only a few moments before Sage started to wake up, tensing when his eyes opened but relaxing when he recognized where he was, turning his face against Dyria's chest for a quiet moment before sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He really didn't want to get up, or move away from Dyria at all, but he was urged to his feet by his concern for Naylin and the rest of his family from Historia.

He took a moment to pull the blanket back over Dyria before stroking back his black hair, then turned and smiled when he noticed Eliath awake and sitting by the fire with Na'axri sitting in front of him, head lying in the survivalist's lap.

"You're up early as usual," he noted, and his brother lifted his head from where he'd been staring at the fire, smiling as Sage walked up to him.

"Am I? Huh, guess things haven't changed much since being in a coma."

Sage wrapped his arms around Eliath from behind and hugged him around his shoulders, kissing his cheek and squeezing the older survivalist securely, "I'm so glad you're not stuck in a coma anymore."

Eliath hummed and lifted a hand to pet back his hair, "Yea, same."

"Are you feeling alright?"

"I probably feel a lot better than Naylin and Lesai," Eliath admitted, looking over at where the war magus was lying, "I can't imagine how sick they both feel. Me, I just have aching legs. What about you? How are you feeling?"

"A bit of a headache," Sage admitted, squeezing Eliath's shoulders before stepping over to the couch where Naylin was lying, "I'll ask Emery if he can fix that later, though. It's not too bad, so I don't want to bother him, especially when Naylin is like this."

A heavy frown weighed on his lips as he pushed aside Naylin's bangs, which he was concerned to find sticking to his sweaty forehead. It seemed his fever had gotten worse overnight, his face was a pale gray color with fever flushed along his cheeks, eyes closed and breathing unsteady. Sage folded the blanket down a little to check the bandages on his shoulder and winced as he pulled them back.

"How is he?" Eliath asked, and Sage smoothed the bandages back in place before tugging the blanket higher.

"The gash in his shoulder is... a little dark," he admitted, kneeling down and setting the backs of his fingers against Naylin's forehead, "It's infected pretty severely. We may have to take him to the hospital."

"That could be dangerous," Eliath warned, and Sage sighed.

"I know. Hopefully it won't come to that, but...," he pushed Naylin's hair back to feel more of his forehead, "If it gets worse..."

"Yea," Eliath agreed, "I don't want to risk his health either."

"What about Lesai?" Sage asked, turning to look over at where the hexer was lying fast asleep on Eliath's cot, blankets thrown over him and face buried in the pillow.

"Emery checked on him earlier," Eliath reassured, "His fever isn't as high, now he's just resting."

"So, he's doing better than Naylin."

"Well, physically," Eliath agreed, leaning back and folding his arms, "He's pretty upset from these past three months being captive. I'm sure Naylin is having some bad dreams as well," he rubbed a hand over his face, laughing weakly, "I feel like a pretty shitty leader at this point. Flandr was cursed, you lost your memories and got separated from me, Lesai and Naylin were captured and tortured by a psychopath for three months, and I couldn't protect any of you."

"Don't say that, El," Sage chided, standing up, "We're all alive, and there's still a good chance we can help Flandr. For now, we just have to be patient, and you, even if it's hard to do, need to trust Halo," he smiled, "I know you like being the one to look after your own guild, but it's not a bad thing to put your trust in someone else if it's needed, and Halo is worthy of your trust."

"Well," Eliath breathed, "I trust you for starters, and you seem to trust these guys, so... I'll do my best not to be too possessive."

"I'd appreciate that," Sage chuckled, walking back over to Eliath and dragging a stool beside the fire so he could sit with his brother and discuss the past three months.

Sage was the one who did most of the talking of course, filling his brother in on the few months he missed, most notably the guild he'd grown so fond of. It was actually incredibly fun for Sage, leaning forward with his hands on his knees and his eyes bright as he described each member of Halo and told Eliath how skilled and wonderful they were.

While he was talking, the others from Halo woke up one by one. Nirim and Arcan were happy to give the brother's the privacy they needed to catch up, but they had to manhandle Vien and Iliad from the room, as they wanted to interrupt, and on Iliad's part, though he probably would never admit it, he was a bit jealous, which Sage found fully amusing.

"I've been training him when we have free time," Sage laughed as the door shut, "Iliad I mean, and Arcan as well. He never had a teacher, he couldn't even hold a bow right, so after a bit of persuading I convinced him to let me help him."

"Seems like a pretty bratty kid," Eliath chuckled, "Kind of reminds me of Flan, actually. They all seem like pretty nice people. That medic is a little...," he wavered his hand and Sage laughed again.

"Just a bit. He's had a pretty unfortunate life, until recently he didn't even have the self-confidence to cast refresh spells. It's nice to see him healing, and I mean that for him personally and for other people. When Zedimir showed up, sick like he was, it kind of gave Emery the incentive he needed to work on his healing. I'm really proud of him."

"They all seem great, especially that gunner," Eliath grinned, "You gotta admire the older siblings raising their exhausting younger brothers; but I give points to anyone with a younger sibling, so I guess that doesn't count for much."

"Of course it does!" Sage leaned forward more, "I'm glad you said that, too, because maybe that'll make it easier for you to get along with Dyria."

Eliath frowned a bit, "What do you mean?"

"Dyria is Iliad's older brother," Sage explained proudly, "He's been raising him since Iliad was eleven," he frowned and hesitated, looking over at where Dyria was still sleeping, not surprised that he was so exhausted, "Their parents were killed on Iliad's birthday, Dyria almost lost his brother too, but he managed to get there in time. He's a bit protective because of that."

Eliath stared at Sage with a hum, "Matches his class I guess. It would be pointless to be a protector if you had no one you wanted to protect," he narrowed his eyes slightly at the fond smile that lifted Sage's lips, and glanced back over at Dyria, "You seem pretty close."

"Hm? Well, they took me in and looked after me, I was able to watch Halo grow, I guess I'm pretty attached to them now."

"Well, yea, but I meant with that protector in general," Eliath clarified, and Sage lifted a hand to his mouth, smiling shyly as red bloomed across his normally pale cheeks.

"Does it seem that way?" he asked, and Eliath's eyes widened, "I mean, he's the one who found me originally, he's the one who decided to take responsibility of me and look after me, the one who asked me to join Halo so I wasn't alone, so I mean, I guess."

"I'm sorry, what?" Eliath held a hand up, "Why are you blushing?"

"Hu, am I blushing?" Sage asked, staring off to the side as he idly pushed his hair behind his ear, "That's weird."

Eliath's mouth dropped open, and his eyes snapped to the protector as he scowled, "Hell no."

"El," Sage held his hands out, grabbing the arms of Eliath's armchair, "Don't be such a prude, we're just...," he paused, eyes lifting so he was staring towards the ceiling as he recalled the day he'd been kidnapped, how he and Dyria had fallen asleep together, "Friends?"

"Oh really?" Eliath squinted in disbelief, and Sage smiled innocently.

"Yup, just friends."

He was about to say more, but was interrupted by a short gasp and a thud, sitting back and looking over to see Dyria had rolled off of the couch and was on his knees looking around frantically with panicked, wild eyes.

"Dyria," Sage stood up and made his way over to the protector, who took one look at him before relaxing and sighing heavily.

"Sorry," he apologized, pulling the blanket from where it had tangled around his waist and throwing it onto the couch, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Are you okay?" Sage asked, kneeling beside Dyria, "Nightmare?"

"No," Dyria assured, rubbing his head and staring down, "You weren't with me when I woke up and I panicked."

Sage blinked before smiling and leaning forward to lean his head against Dyria's, "I'm okay. I just woke up before you."

Dyria nodded, more to reassure himself than Sage, dropping his face against the survivalist's shoulder and clinging to the sleeves of his upper arms, "How is everyone?" he asked, still half asleep, and Sage raked his fingers through the protector's black hair.

"Everyone's fine, don't worry. Come on, get up, before everyone comes back. Iliad and the rest went to get food to bring back."

Dyria nodded and stood up, straightening his clothes before fixing his bed-hair, eyes vaguely shifting to the side and freezing when he caught Eliath squinting at him with a suspicious glare. He awkwardly turned away the same moment the door opened and the rest of his guild walked in, with the inclusion of Lynus, who went straight for Sage when he entered the room.

"Hey, Emery told me what happened," he hugged the survivalist when he was close enough, "I'm really glad you're okay."

"Yea," Sage smiled, returning the hug before pulling away, "Did Emery ask you to take a look at Naylin?"

"Yea," Lynus smiled, "The war magus from Historia, right? Emery mentioned his wound was infected and making him sick, but that you're a little uncertain about leaving the inn for the hospital because of the possible danger."

"His fever is worse than it was last night," Sage sighed, looking over at the couch, "I'm worried."

"I'll see what I can do," Lynus assured, squeezing Sage's shoulder, "Is there anyone else who was hurt?"

"Lesai," Sage glanced over at the cot, "but he's really prickly about people getting near him, or touching him, or, you know, healing him, or talking to him."

"Sounds familiar," Lynus hummed with a smile, turning towards the couch but pausing when Lesai started to stir.

The hexer pushed himself up and rubbed his eyes with his arm, and Lynus seemed to tense up, staring at him with his brow furrowed and a heavy frown on his lips. He appeared confused almost, but shook his head after a moment and smiled back at Sage.

"Just give me a few minutes, alright?"

Sage nodded, a grateful smile on his lips, "Thank you."

[no-white-knights-blog]

Halo - An Etrian Odyssey Novel (Chapter 38/50)

Notes: Let’s try this “finish posting all chapters” thing again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Nice place," Eliath noted as Emery pushed him through the front door of the inn, "This is where Seara's been staying?"

"Yea, he's been safe," Emery assured him, "The leader of our guild is... protective, let's say," he leaned over Eliath's shoulder and gave him a smile, "Lucky you're in a wheelchair and have no strength, or you might try killing him!"

Eliath squinted at the medic in distrust, but Emery just stood straighter and chuckled at his own joke, stopping when he caught sight of Iliad stepping out of the dining hall, "Hey, where's Sage?" he called, and Iliad stopped, staring at Eliath.

"His room. He was supposed to leave with Dyria to bring the request items to the bar, but Dyria was being a jealous child so Sage had to spend like, five hours calming the dumbass down. Dyria just went back to grab him to take the request items to the bar," he pointed, "Who's this guy?"

"Back from the dead," Emery introduced, "Evidently guild Historia is a lot more durable than we thought. Meet Sage's brother Eliath."

Iliad's head reeled in surprise, "His brother? Seriously? Huh, your landsknecht showed up this morning."

Eliath curled his hands into tight fists, his jaw locking, "Where is he?" he asked stiffly, "I'm going to kill him."

Iliad arched an eyebrow and pointed towards the hall, "He went to talk with Sage a bit before Dyria walked back there. Is the guy that bad?"

"What's going on?" Vien piped, slipping past Iliad and pushing him further into the entry, Nirim and Arcan following with Na'axri trotting at their heels, bounding forward when he caught sight of Eliath, who beamed and leaned forward, laughing as the wolf jumped and propped his paws on the wounded man's legs.

"Hey bud!" he laughed, wrapping his arms around the wolf's neck and scratching behind his ears, "I've never been so happy to see you."

"Who's this?" Vien asked, and Arcan frowned.

"Are his legs okay?"

"Yea, this is Eliath, Sage's older brother who we thought was dead. Evidently, he's just been in a coma the past three months, so he's a gimp right now, completely useless."

Eliath looked over at where Emery was standing to his left, "You have the worst bedside manner for a medic."

"I missed that lesson, my bad," Emery shrugged, leaning one hand against the back of the wheelchair as Zed shuffled up to his left side, the blanket from the hospital still around his shoulders, "Well since we're all here, leader of Historia, this is guild Halo," Emery waved an arm out at everyone, "The guild that's been with Sage till now. The only two missing are our leader, Dyria, and Sage."

"I see," Eliath nodded his head, letting Na'axri jump back to the ground, though the wolf stayed close to him, his chin sitting on Eliath's knee and his tail wagging, "Sage joined Halo after the attack?"

"Not at first," Iliad admitted, folding his arms, "He had amnesia so he was just waiting to figure out what happened to you all. A recovery team returned with the news that all they found was blood and torn clothes, so we thought you were all dead. Dyria asked him to join Halo after that news came, so he wouldn't be alone with no memories."

"I'm grateful to you all for looking after him then," Eliath smiled softly, petting Na'axri's head, "At least he wasn't lonely."

"Oh no, not lonely in any sense of the word," Vien sang, and Iliad elbowed him in the ribs harshly, hushing him.

Eliath arched an eyebrow suspiciously and Emery brightened, "Lord I missed a lot, haven't I? Is that why it's taken five hours to get the request items to the bar?"

"Something like that," Iliad deadpanned.

"I don't like the sound of that," Eliath decided, and Emery chuckled, looking over towards the hall when he heard footsteps, his eyes widening when Dyria shuffled into the room, head bowed low and sword in his right hand, his left hand holding a bloody dagger.

"Dyria?!" Emery left Eliath and hurried over to the protector, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him a little, "Hey, what the hell is that knife?!"

"Where's Sage?" Iliad asked, walking up to his brother with wide eyes.

"He... gone...," Dyria mumbled, holding the knife up and staring down at it, "That... bastard... took him."

"What?"

"Flandr," Eliath bit out, and Dyria lifted his head, narrowing his eyes.

"Who is he?"

"Calm down," Emery squeezed his shoulders, "This is Eliath."

"Eliath," Dyria's eyes widened in shock, "How?"

"Three-month coma and gimpy legs is the only way I can explain it," Emery said, taking the bloody knife from Dyria and turning, walking a few steps away and pausing, "Did... did that landsknecht hurt Sage?"

Dyria shook his head, "I don't know, there was black mist, Sage was on the ground," he lifted his hand and raked his fingers through his hair, pinching his eyes closed and yanking at his black locks, "I couldn't protect him."

"This blood is... not right," Emery murmured, sliding his thumb along the side of the blade and looking at the blood on his skin, "Black... cursed. You said there was black mist?" Dyria nodded slowly, sheathing his sword, "When did this happen?"

"I... don't know," Dyria admitted, "After I just... sat there. I don't know for how long, but the sun is a lot lower in the sky now, so... around noon maybe? Or... later... it's dark out... it was still light when it happened... I... can't think..."

Iliad squeezed Dyria's shoulder, looking over at Emery, "So that fucker was tricking us when he came here looking for Sage? He just... up and kidnapped him? What do we do?"

"We wait," Eliath said suddenly, and Emery looked up to see he was staring down at the necklace in his hand, the one with the green gem, "I don't know for certain, but I think my guild is all in the same place, and if Flandr took the time to grab Seara... he's likely bringing him to where the rest of them are. If that's the case, he won't be gone long."

"What do you mean?" Emery asked, and Eliath smiled a little, leaning back in his chair and looking over at the medic.

"Hexers, you know? They're intuitive, and mine will be looking for me soon," he looked back at his necklace, undoing the clasp and securing the chain around his neck, "We just have to wait. Now, this might be forward, but I'm a little hungry. I haven't eaten food in three months."

"You seem pretty sure about this," Arcan stated, and Eliath smiled at him.

"I trust my guild's abilities, that's all."

"Guess I gotta keep an eye on you for a little longer then," Emery sighed, "Pick a corner and I'll roll you into it."

"Em," Iliad squinted at the medic, "No."

~

"Are we there yet?" Naylin panted, leaning against the brick wall that Sage helped him against, "I don't think I can walk much longer."

"Yea, we're almost there," Sage assured, taking Naylin's arm and pulling it around his neck again, "Just a little further, I promise. Lesai?"

The hexer said nothing as he leaned against Sage, and the survivalist sighed, focusing ahead and struggling to walk with his old friends stumbling along on either side of him. When the inn came into view his relief was almost overwhelming, shoving the doors open and holding his breath as he stepped inside, Naylin pulling away from him and swaying a little on his feet as he held his left upper arm with his right hand.

"There are three chandeliers up there," he stated, and Sage gaped at him.

"I think your fever is worse."

"I think you're right."

Lesai darted forward suddenly, and Sage gasped, following after him with Naylin at his heel, "Wait, Lesai!"

The hexer ran directly down the hall, turning left when they reached a split in the halls and shot down that direction. Sage idly realized he'd never been down this way before, although his and Dyria's room was just behind him. He never really bothered to actually explore the inn, but it turned out it was a lot bigger than he expected.

Lesai threw open one of the doors and Sage stopped behind him with Naylin, his eyes growing wide when he looked into the room. It was similar to the tearoom, but not as big, more like an extra living space that wasn't used as much because it was so deep in the inn. It was nice enough, though again not as furnished as the tearoom at the front.

There was a fireplace burning at the far wall and a few couches and armchairs, but what Sage focused on was the man sitting near the fireplace in a chair with wheels and a familiar wolf at his feet. The three of them ended up launching themselves at Eliath all at once, and the survivalist held his arms up in shock.

"Boss!"

"Eliath!"

Eliath just sighed out a laugh and wrapped his arms around the three of them the best he could, "Thank god you guys are alive. I knew you were, but damn."

"What're you in a wheelchair for?!" Naylin demanded, and Eliath chuckled.

"Three-month comas sort of take away the ability to walk," he smiled brightly when Sage dropped to his knees in front of him, tears on his cheeks as he clung to Eliath's knees.

"I th-thought you were dead!" he sobbed, and Eliath leaned forward, taking his face with his hands and kissing his forehead.

"I'm sorry, Seara," he whispered, wiping the tears from his face, "I'm not, though, I'm okay. It may take me a bit of time to get back on my feet, but your medic friend said this isn't permanent."

Sage gasped and scrambled to his feet, turning and wiping his eyes, "Where is everyone?"

"Well," Eliath breathed the word and leaned back in his chair, "Your medic went to get a few plates of food to bring back, its dinner time here evidently, and that strange dark hunter went with him. Who were the others... Iliad, he and that gunner, Arcan I think, they went out patrolling to see if they could find you, and the musician was having some... asthma attack, so he's resting with the ronin watching after him. All of them will probably be back soon, they haven't been gone long."

"What about Dyria?" Sage asked, turning to the door again, "Is he okay? He's probably so upset."

"That guy," Eliath hummed, "He looked like he was ready to murder."

"He probably was," Sage admitted, lowering himself to sit at the end of one of the couches as Eliath continued.

"At first, he tried leaving," Eliath explained, "Sword drawn, he said he was going to burn the city to the ground, but the medic somehow got him to calm him down, I think he injected something into him with a needle. After that he stubbornly locked himself in his room. He wanted to go looking for you, but I told everyone to stay put," he smiled and looked over at where Lesai was kneeling, his head leaning against the arm of his chair, "I knew you would get out and find me, so I wasn't too worried."

"I am... way relieved," Naylin decided, taking a step forward and stumbling a bit, grabbing the back of the second couch, "So... I'm going to lie down. That cool?"

"Yes," Sage stood up, "I'll get you blankets and pillows, ah I have to get Emery, he can help you with your fever. Lesai you need to lie down too. Before that though I need to talk to Dyria," he turned for the door, "I'll be back!"

He shut the door quietly behind him and hurried down the hall until he'd reached his and Dyria's shared bedroom, turning the doorknob and sighing when he found it locked, so he instead knocked, "Dyria? Open the door, it's me. I'm home-."

The door was jerked open, and Sage found himself pressed against his protector's chest, sighing heavily and winding his arms around the man's waist as the weight of the past two days fell onto him, hiding his face against Dyria's shoulder, "I'm home. I'm sorry, I must have scared you-."

"No," Dyria whispered, his fingers raking through Sage's hair, "No, I'm so sorry, Sage. I said I'd protect you, I said I'd never let anything hurt you or scar you. I'm sorry, Sage."

Sage shook his head against Dyria's chest, pulling back just enough to slide his hands up the protector's chest to hold his face, pushing himself onto his toes and kissing him firmly, tears of relief slipping down his cheeks to join the kiss and making it salty. He parted the kiss only so he could bury his face in Dyria's neck, clinging to him as he suddenly became exhausted, wanting nothing more than to sleep with his protector holding him.

"I have to bring blankets," Sage said, pulling back and wiping the tears from his cheeks, "Naylin and Lesai... I found them, and they're sick and tired, I need extra blankets and pillows."

"Sage," Dyria took his wrists, pulling his hands from his eyes, "You need to rest, you look exhausted. Your wrists are rubbed raw, and your throat," he lowered a hand to touch the bruise around Sage's neck, "Who did this?"

"I'm okay."

"No, I want you to lie down, we'll let Emery take care of those three."

"Dyria," Sage laughed softly, "I'll sleep later, I want to look after them first. Please?"

Dyria sighed and nodded, closing the door behind him and wrapping an arm around Sage's shoulders, "Fine, but you're not leaving my side, understand?"

"I'm alright with that, just don't be overprotective."

"I have no control over that."

Sage laughed softly and shook his head. Dyria followed him to grab extra blankets, standing at his side and holding his arms out to take the blankets, and Sage collected an armful of pillows before striding down the hall, pushing the door open with his foot when he reached it and smiling when Emery looked up from where he was standing at the couch leaning over Naylin.

"Sage!" the medic stepped back and waited for Sage to set down the pillows before hugging him tightly, stepping back and slipping his hands onto Sage's neck, wincing, "Damn it what happened? Hang on, sit down."

"Like I've been telling Dyria, I'm okay," Sage tried to assure as he sat down on the other couch, his chin lifting up so Emery could cast a refresh spell.

"The bruising is still there but the swelling should've gone down," Emery said, "Does it hurt?"

"No, I'm okay," Sage promised, "How's Naylin?"

Emery looked over his shoulder, "His fever is pretty high, and his shoulder is really messed up. I'm almost tempted to just take him to the hospital. I'll go talk to Lynus a little later. He's sleeping though, so that's good," he rolled his head to the other side, "Your hexer won't let me near him though."

Sage laughed softly as Eliath smiled apologetically, "Sorry, I can take care of him," he reached down over the right side of his chair where Lesai was sitting leaning against the seat, stroking his red hair back, "I don't think his fever is too bad."

"Still," Emery huffed, taking the blankets from Dyria so the protector could sit down beside Sage, "I guess a medica should take care of his fever, at least have him eat something, and you too Mr Gimp."

"Please stop calling me that," Eliath said with a roll of his eyes, and Sage laughed, leaning heavily against Dyria's side, his head against his shoulder.

He stood up after a moment, however, when the door opened and the last four members of their guild entered the room, lunging at him the same way Sage had lunged at Eliath, crowding around him in a group hug he found himself stuck in the middle of.

"You scared us half to death!" Vien yelled, his arms wrapped around Sage's waist, face pressed against his shoulder as Iliad kept his arms around his neck.

Even Arcan and Nirim were hugging him from front and back, and Emery laughed, petting Vien and Iliad on the back, "I'm okay, I'm home. I promise I'll try my hardest not to let that happen again, okay?"

"You seriously better not," Iliad said, pulling away and folding his arms in a bad attempt at looking angry, "I swear Dyria was about to slaughter someone."

Sage hummed and sat back down beside the protector, leaning against him as the rest of the guild took their seats while Emery pulled a medica from his bag and handed it to Eliath, "Now that everyone's here, I think we need to know what happened," the medic stated, draping a blanket over Naylin's sleeping form before propping his head on a pillow.

Sage frowned and dropped his gaze, lifting his hand to his throat, "A man names Aerlorn is behind what happened to me, and what happened to Historia three months ago. He's looking for some... special stone called Lapis Galəksē. He somehow got it in his head that Historia had come into contact with it, so he cursed Flandr and attacked us."

"Lapis...," Emery repeated, reaching into his bag and pulling out his notebook, "Hold on a second, I think I've heard of that."

"What do you mean he was cursed?" Eliath asked, and Sage bit his lip.

"Do you really think he would've attacked us on his own? There's no way," he laid his head against Dyria's shoulder, "His arm was cursed, that hexer said so, that he was controlling Flandr, that the curse was in his blood, he could kill him if he wanted to, that the only reason Flandr did this was because they threatened to kill us if he didn't comply."

"Curse," Emery looked over at where their dark hunter was sitting against the wall, "Zed, the grotto where you were cursed, what did the mosaic say again?"

"Lapis Galəksē," Zed said, staring at his hands.

Eliath clenched his teeth and turned his head to look at the fire before dropping his attention to Lesai, who had his knees to his chest, arms wrapped around them and chin on his knees. He picked up one of the blankets on his lap that Emery left him and draped it over Lesai's head. The hexer was so used to being able to hide with the hood of his cloak, but as it appeared to have been torn off and frayed, Eliath figured hiding under a blanket was the next best thing. In any case, considering what was happening, it would be best if no one could see Lesai's face very clearly.

"Do you know what that is?" Emery asked, "That stone I mean."

Eliath looked over at the medic, one hand still on Lesai's head, "What? Oh, no, sorry," he leaned back in his chair, "Never heard of it. What makes it so important that a hexer would try to destroy my guild?"

"He wasn't really clear about it," Sage admitted, "Just mentioned it had power that he wanted for some reason."

"That can't be good," Eliath sighed, leaning forward with his elbows against his knees, "We'll have to take care of him somehow. I don't know how long it'll take me to get back on my feet though, and I don't know if they'll make a move before then."

"Don't worry about that," Emery assured, arms folded, "Halo will take care of it."

"We will?" Iliad looked over at Dyria, who hummed, staring across the room at the wall opposite him.

"I couldn't ask that of you," Eliath argued, "You've already done enough, and this has nothing to do with your guild."

"On the contrary," Dyria disagreed, shifting his eyes to the survivalist, "We got involved the day we found Sage in the Labyrinth. This has everything to do with us."

"Not to mention Zedimir's curse is really similar to Flandr's," Sage added, "And Zed has heard of the Lapis Galəksē. Maybe what happened to him is connected to Aerlorn somehow."

"Maybe this hexer is actually the same one who hurt Zed," Emery said, sitting down in an armchair and pulling out another book, flipping it open, "From what I discovered while researching hexer curses, there are a few ways to disperse the curses. The easiest way is for the hexer who cast the curse to take it back. Some simple curses can be cured easily with advanced medication and cure spells. The least sought after way to disperse a curse is for the hexer to be destroyed," he closed his book, leaning his elbow against the arm of his chair and setting his cheek in his hand as he looked over at Sage, "What sounds good to you?"

"Destroy," Dyria said, and Eliath gaped at him as Sage smacked his leg.

"Stop that," he chided, "Maybe we don't have to kill him. If we can talk to him, somehow convince him to disperse the curse he has on Flandr, and the others. There are quite a few he's cursed that are following him because they have no choice."

"Destroying him would be the easiest way to free them all," Dyria stated, and Sage rolled his eyes, patting his knee.

"You're going to get yourself arrested with that thought process," Emery warned, pulling his glasses off and cleaning them on his shirt, "Just cause you're super pissy about what happened doesn't mean you can go around stabbing everyone you don't like. You need serious therapy."

Dyria narrowed his eyes at Emery, but relaxed when Sage leaned closer and laid against his chest to subdue him and calm him down, "For now we need to focus on taking care of the people we have here," he decided, wrapping an arm around Sage's shoulders, "We can decide what we're going to do tomorrow. Everyone's been stressed out, so we need sleep."

"Good call," Emery agreed, slipping his book into his bag, "Off to bed everyone."

"Considering what's happened," Dyria started, "I don't want anyone to be alone. For now, we should camp out in this room. I'd feel more comfortable if we were all together."

"Can we do that?" Vien asked, and Dyria shrugged.

"I don't see why not."

"It should be fine," Emery agreed, standing up and setting his bag on the chair, "Matron said no one used this room much because the windows don't open. Someone broke them a while back and she's had no time to fix them. Plus, it's not as nice as the rooms in the front. I'll go see if she has some extra cots, blankets, and pillows, and grab Lynus to check on Naylin."

"I'll grab Blaise," Arcan said as he stood up, "It's past his bedtime anyway."

"Great, you can help me bring the cots in too," Emery said cheerfully, "Let's go. Everyone else just relax a bit, we'll be back soon."

Sage watched him go and sighed, shutting his eyes. Everything seemed to be calmed down now and settled, the rest could be figured out later, because he needed to sleep, and smiled softly when Dyria grabbed a blanket from the pile beside them, draping it around Sage's shoulders and holding him securely against his side, pressing a soft kiss to his temple.

After the fear and uncertainty he'd felt, it was nice to be safe in his protector's arms, and terribly easy to fall asleep, breathing easily despite how the bruise on his neck and throat still ached a little. It would be fine. Historia was still alive, he was back with the one he loved and safe in his warm arms. Everything else could be figured out later.

[no-white-knights-blog]

Thanks to my job I was able to afford both a DS and the newest EO game, so I am now no longer that weird person writing fanfic about something she doesn't understand~ and I am 100% obsessed with this game, the fault lying solely on @theshatteredrose. And I thank you for that.

I love my guild so much ♡

[no-white-knights-blog]

Halo - An Etrian Odyssey Novel (Chapter 37/50)

Notes: I can probably finish posting all the chapters today if I try, I don’t have much else to do :/

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Sage felt even more disoriented than he had been earlier, gaining consciousness and groaning as he turned his cheek against the cold, smooth surface he was lying on, coughing hard and reaching up to hold his throat as he rolled onto his stomach and struggled to push himself onto his knees, lifting his head dizzily when he heard clapping.

"Welcome!" a man in the garb of a hexer greeted Sage, standing on a section of the floor that was raised a little higher than the rest of the ground, with steps leading up to it, "It took my pawn quite a while to locate you, but I'm so happy you could finally join us!"

Sage tensed up substantially from the ominous words, eyeing the strange man critically and noting the dark hair and equally dark eyes that didn't seem to fit with his sickly pale skin. The survivalist tore his eyes away from the strange man to instead glance around the room he was in, mildly stunned at how beautiful it was.

The floors were marble, and there were carved pillars along the walls, tapestries hanging beside framed paintings and windows that were wide open, showing the perfect view of High Lagaard. Sage was a little surprised to find he wasn't too far from the inn, swallowing the knot in his throat and stowing the way his heart was racing at the thought that he could easily escape.

Dyria was probably so worried...

"Oh now, boy, don't get any silly ideas," the hexer chided, and Sage tore his eyes away from the window, "If you try to escape, I'll just kill your friends."

Sage sucked in through his teeth, fingers curling into the knees of his pants. His attention was drawn away from the hexer and to the left, where Flandr was standing between the steps that lead to the strange man and where Sage was kneeling. His head was bowed and he was holding his left forearm with his right hand. Sage vaguely recalled the landsknecht stabbing himself in order to keep himself from hurting Sage any more than he had, but...

He frowned and sat back on his heels, reaching up to touch the scar on his head, a scar that Flandr had caused. Sage wasn't sure how it had happened, what prompted it, but his memories had returned. He remembered everything, from the simple request Eliath had taken to how desperately Lesai was rejecting it, even Naylin getting so excited after meeting Hamza.

Sage almost laughed. Who knew he would end up meeting that man again?

He lifted his eyes again, "Flandr?" the landsknecht tensed up, "It wasn't your fault. You were being controlled, but listen. Those marks, I know someone who has a similar curse. It can be healed!"

Flandr looked over at Sage in disbelief, and the hexer laughed, "What a desperate attempt at swaying him! It's too late, sweetheart, I have him firmly in my grasp."

"That's not true though, is it?" Sage asked defiantly, glaring at the hexer, "He kept himself from hurting me by stabbing himself. What will you do if he just cuts off his arm, huh?"

The hexer laughed again as Flandr gave Sage a disbelieving look, "The curse is in his blood, child. He can cut off as many limbs as he likes, I can still control him. I could stop his heart if I chose it."

"Why?" Sage asked, shaking his head, "Why are you doing this? What's the point? What are you trying to accomplish?"

The hexer beamed, as if he'd been waiting for that question, and set a hand on his chest, "Forgive my manners, I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Aerlorn, and for the past sixty years I've been searching for something legend calls the Lapis Galəksē."

Sage frowned and squinted, "I've never heard of that. What is it?"

The hexer threw a hand up and sighed, "Of course you haven't, no one has. The academies have buried all the history surrounding that stone, burned it all until all that was left were ashes and ruins and a bedtime story," he stepped back and dropped into a chair behind him, folding his arms.

Sage looked over at Flandr as if the landsknecht would have an explanation, but he just shook his head a little to show he didn't really understand it either, so Sage turned his attention back to Aerlorn, "What is it, then? And what does Historia have to do with it?"

"See, boy, that's what I want to know too," Aerlorn held a hand out, "That stone has a very distinct energy, and from what I've discovered, your guild radiates with that energy. You, your landsknecht, the war magus and the hexer, all of you have come in contact with the stone at some point. The only reason it could be so strong was if one of you had it in your possession, but I've looked through all of the belongings that Historia carried with them, stripped down the war magus and the hexer, and interrogated them, but neither of them have the stone, and the landsknecht doesn't have it," he smiled a little, "I haven't checked you yet, though."

Sage opened and closed his mouth before whispering, "Naylin and Lesai... they're alive?"

"Indeed," Aerlorn said cheerfully, "Although alive may not be the best word to use. They're not dead yet, but they aren't exactly living. Now," the curls of his robes slithered along the marble floor towards Sage, who scrambled backwards on his hands and knees, "How about you? Do you have the stone in your possession?"

Sage yelped when the ends of the hexer's robes wrapped around both his wrists, similar to what happened with Flandr's bandages, dragging him across the floor until he was kneeling in front of the stairs, "Stop! I don't have it!" he insisted, "I don't even know what it is! I've never heard of it before!" he lifted himself onto his knees and pulled at his wrists, "What's so important about it, anyway?"

Aerlorn leaned forward in his seat, simultaneously dragging Sage closer and reaching out to take hold of his chin, "Legend tells it that the stone was mined from the very roots of the first Yggdrasil tree. Naturally that part could be a myth, but the power it's said to possess certainly isn't. You've heard that certain gems and stones can hold special properties, the ability to aid in healing or strength?"

Sage was scowling, cringing at the touch of Aerlorn's cold hand squeezing his cheeks, "I've heard a few things like that," he answered, and the hexer smiled, his thumb rubbing over Sage's bottom lip.

"Lapis Galəksē has power like that, according to the legends. Power to heal, power to kill, power to create and destroy, but it comes at a price. It isn't possible for any one person to control that much power, it was too dangerous, so it was hidden away hundreds of years ago, in a grotto tucked securely and safely in a quaint little village that was home to hexers and dark hunters predominately.

"Of course, I don't know the full story of what happened, but around eighty years ago, the gem disappeared. I don't think anyone knows the full story, maybe it was stolen, but the village that had protected it for hundreds of years was destroyed, burned to the ground with only ruins left in its place. For my entire life as a hexer I have searched for this stone, and until Historia came to Lagaard, I was at a dead end," he smiled brightly, "I can't thank you enough for bringing me another clue to aid me in my ambitions."

Sage shook his head, attempted to with the way Aerlorn was holding him in place, "If you don't find it with Historia's guild members, what will you do?"

The hexer seemed to think about it before humming, "Move on I suppose."

"Will you kill us?" Sage asked, and Aerlorn grinned.

"Are you scared?" he whispered, pulling Sage closer, "I like it when you're scared."

Sage scowled, "You can try killing me if you want," the scowl turned into a smirk, "Just know if you do, you'll never be able to live peacefully, because my guild leader will hunt you down until the end of time."

Aerlorn barked a laugh, "Your guild leader. You mean that dark green haired survivalist? He went missing in the Labyrinth the same time I captured those other two."

Sage fought the pain those words brought him and just shook his head, "No, not Eliath. I'm not a member of Historia any longer. I'm from a guild called Halo, and my leader...," he smiled, "He has experience annihilating people who hurt those he cares about."

The hexer didn't look the least bit intimidated, and simply smirked, "How exciting," he thrilled, his thumb pressing against Sage's bottom lip, "Before I'm annihilated then, I should have some fun with you. I've spent the last three months playing around with your war magus and hexer, but I've gotten bored with them. You, on the other hand," he licked his lips, and Sage's eyes grew wide, "I may never get bored with you."

He tried to jerk away from the man, just as Flandr stalked forward, but the hexer lifted a hand and the landsknecht stopped as if he'd walked into a wall, gritting his teeth and cringing as something dark red and black dripped from his nose.

"Don't interrupt me, puppet, you've played your part," Aerlorn chided, waving a hand that had Flandr flying back and hitting one of the pillars before collapsing to his hands and knees, "Now, Seara was it?" he turned back to Sage and the curl of robes wrapped tighter around the survivalist's wrists pulled him closer, "I'm going to do something very generous," the hexer took Sage's chin in his hand, "I'm going to let you see those two from Historia. How does that sound?"

Sage's eyes widened in surprise, "Naylin and Lesai? I can see them?"

"You'll be staying with them until I come to get you," Aerlorn decided, rubbing Sage's bottom lip again, "I'll interrogate you, and just so I know you're not lying, to prove you aren't hiding the Lapis Galəksē, I'll have to strip you of your clothes," Sage paled in fear as the hexer smiled brightly, "I think I'll enjoy that part."

He released Sage, finally, and snapped his fingers, prompting several men who Sage assumed were guards to enter through a door, as if they'd been waiting for orders, "Bring him to the back with the other two, but don't chain him up. I doubt he could do much damage."

"You shouldn't underestimate me," Sage warned, not fighting the hands that grabbed his arms and pulled him to his feet, "You don't know what I'm capable of."

"True, but I cannot wait to find out."

He snapped his fingers again, and the guards began to drag Sage back towards the door they'd entered from. Flandr stood up as Sage was pulled back, wiping his hand under his nose to wipe the blood away and meeting Sage's eyes. The survivalist just smiled at the landsknecht.

"It's okay," he assured, "I don't blame you, and I forgive you for everything that happened."

Flandr seemed to clench his teeth, lips in a tight line, and bowed his head low, hands clenched into tight fists. Sage continued to smile until the door had closed, only then did he let his fear overtake him and choked a little, biting his lip and willingly following the guards who lead him down the halls.

It didn't make much sense, how could that crazy man have so many people following him without question? One look towards their hands and their necks answered that question, because there were black marks marring their skin; curse marks. That hexer didn't have loyal followers, he had minions he controlled, and Flandr... he was one of them. That just made Sage feel sicker. He knew Flandr had been the one to attack them in the Labyrinth, he went so far as to scar him, but Sage didn't blame him, and he wasn't mad. He was horribly sad, because someone he cared about was in pain, forced to turn on his family. Sage was angry at Aerlorn, but Flandr... he just wanted him safe again.

Sage's thoughts were drawn away from the landsknecht when the men stopped at a door that seemed to be made of iron, locked several times from the outside, and held his breath as they pulled it open. The light inside was dim, with nothing but candles lining the wall lit with bright flames. One of the guards pushed Sage through the door and into the room, and he fell to his knees before looking over his shoulder and watching as the door was closed behind him.

He let out a huff of breath and pushed his hair behind his shoulder before touching his neck, which was tender and sore, there was likely a dark bruise there from Flandr strangling him. Well, it seems that the real attacker had been Aerlorn, manipulating Flandr through the curse on his arm, but regardless, it hurt badly. Not that Sage had long to think about it, as the sound of chains clanging together drew his attention to the far wall in front of him, where two silhouettes were hanging.

Their arms were stretched above their heads, wrists tightly locked in cuffs and hanging. Their feet were touching the ground, but they appeared to be too exhausted to hold themselves up, and just let themselves hang.

"I really have gone crazy," the man on the left laughed and lifted his head, "I could swear you look just like Seara."

"Naylin!" Sage gasped and scrambled to his feet, darting forward and wrapping his arms around him in a hug that he winced at, cursing.

"Easy, I'm wounded," the war magus hissed, "There's a pretty bad gash in my shoulder and you're kind of rubbing against it."

"Oh!" Sage leaned back, pulling his hands against his chest before reaching out to the wound in Naylin's left shoulder, wincing, "This is really bad."

"It's been getting worse and worse for the past three months," Naylin sighed, leaning his head forward and setting it against Sage's shoulder, "It's really you then, I'm not hallucinating."

"It's really me," Sage laughed, reaching up and petting back Naylin's hair, "You've got a fever."

"My shoulder is kind of infected and making me sick," Naylin laughed weakly, "The worst part is I am one hundred percent certain Lesai could've busted us out of here, but he's still waiting for a sign of some sort."

Sage pulled away, and Naylin leaned back against the wall, watching the survivalist as he hurried over to the other man hanging from the wall, "Lesai?" Sage reached out to hold the hexer's cheek, urging him to lift his head, "God, you look terrible. You're both burning up from fever."

"Their interrogation," Naylin stated, "It was basically just torture. Three months... I can't remember the last time they brought us food. My back is shredded, I don't know what they did to Lesai."

Sage looked back at the hexer, who had his silver eyes half open, staring down like he couldn't comprehend what was happening, "Can I do something? These chains..."

"There's a latch," Naylin nodded towards the wall between himself and Lesai, "Flip it, it'll give the chains more slack and we can rest our arms."

"Okay," Sage side stepped and yanked on the latch Naylin had motioned to, lunging back to catch Lesai when the chains went slack and the hexer fell forward, wincing as Naylin hit the ground hard, "I-I'm sorry, there's only one of me-."

"No, all good," Naylin grunted, struggling to his hands and knees, holding his left arm against his stomach and grabbing his upper arm, squeezing it and groaning, "How's Lesai?"

Sage lowered himself to his knees, holding Lesai against his chest, "I can't tell. He's breathing, but he's not responding to me," he sat back, inching over to Naylin, and letting Lesai lie with his head on the survivalist's lap.

Naylin struggled to sit up, slumping against Sage and sighing heavily, "Better, thanks," he laughed weakly, "I'm glad you're alive, Seara."

Sage set his head on top of Naylin's, "I'm glad you're alive too," he whispered, "I'm sorry. My head... because of that hit, I lost my memories for a while. Until recently I'd forgotten your names, I'd forgotten Historia, and until a while ago I didn't remember what happened at all. I swear if I'd remembered I would've come sooner."

"Nah," Naylin hummed, "It's okay. I'm just seriously happy you're here now. Well, no, not really. I would've preferred it if you'd lost your memory forever if it meant you wouldn't have to deal with this."

"Don't worry about that," Sage laughed breathlessly, "No, we won't be here much longer. I'll get us out somehow. There's a medic, he can help you both, okay? Just... stay strong and don't die."

He went to close his eyes, but tensed up when Lesai pushed himself to his knees, hands on the ground and head bowed, his red hair a mess on his head and the hood of his cloak torn off. Sage leaned forward and reached out to him, sensing his distress, but his hand barely touched his shoulder when Lesai murmured.

"El..."

Sage blinked, pulling his hand back with a gasp as the cuffs around Lesai's wrists shattered without any pressure or attack. The cuffs around Naylin's wrists broke off as well, and he lifted his arms to look at his hands, narrowing his eyes.

"You could've done that this whole time?" he asked, and Lesai stood up, swaying on his feet and propping himself against the wall with one hand, "Guess they didn't make the room hexer-proof."

"What?" Sage scrambled to his feet, "Lesai, please lie down, you have a fever-."

He was cut off when cracks began to form along the wall, and grabbed Naylin's arm, hauling him to his feet and letting the war magus lean heavily against him as the wall began to crumble beneath Lesai's hand.

"How are you doing that?" Sage breathed, lifting his arm as dust filled the room, light cutting through it as the wall crumbled completely with a deafening boom.

"Okay, cool, an escape route you could've made three months ago," Naylin said, "A really loud escape route."

Sage turned with Naylin still leaning heavily against him, his eyes widening when the door opened to reveal Flandr. The landsknecht's eyes met Sage's and he frowned, but he didn't make a move to stop them, just stood there.

"Go," he said finally, and Sage's eyes widened a fraction more, "I'll hold them off, but I won't be able to for long, so run."

"Come with us," Sage said quickly, and Flandr's lips twisted into a painful smile.

"I can't," he stated simply, reaching over to his left arm, "Hurry."

Loud yells echoed from the hall, and Flandr stepped back, slamming the door shut. Sage pinched his eyes closed and turned, dragging Naylin along beside him as he started for the hole in the wall, grabbing Lesai as he passed. He wanted to help Flandr, he wanted to fight beside him and take him back to the inn, to the hospital, surely Lynus and Emery could figure out a way to break the curse on him when working together, but he couldn't, not yet at least. He had to focus on getting Naylin and Lesai to safety first, then he could go back for Flandr.

"Where are we going?" Naylin asked weakly, and Sage looked up at the sun that was setting.

"Flaus Inn. My guild is there, they'll help us."

"Your guild?" Naylin repeated in question, and Sage laughed a little.

"It's a really long story."

[no-white-knights-blog]

Halo - An Etrian Odyssey Novel (Chapter 36/50)

Notes: The following chapter contains intense fanboying over Hamza. Also angst. But the fanboying is the important part, because Hamza deserves some adorable fans <3 Hamza is not mine, he belongs to @theshatteredrose!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I want you to do something for me, Seara," a familiar voice whispered directly into his ear, "Remember."

Magenta eyes opened to a cabin made of wooden planks, Seara found himself lying on a gently rocking hammock, in the ship room his guild had taken residence in for the trip from Etria to the city of Lagaard, where a Labyrinth was waiting to be explored. The young survivalist had come on this quest with four others, but when he rolled his head on the pillow to look at the other hammocks, he found them empty, a sigh of frustration falling from his lips as he pushed back the blankets and sat up, smiling when he saw his brother's sleek black wolf companion sitting beside the closed door.

"Morning Na'axri," he greeted, pulling his knees up and folding his arms over the tops of them, a slight pout on his lips, "Eliath didn't wake me up like I asked him to. Again. I'm not a kid anymore, I'm not supposed to sleep in all the time. He won't listen."

Na'axri barked once and stood up on all four legs, his tail wagging furiously as Seara slipped out of the hammock and onto the cold floor of the ship's cabin, quickly dressing for the day and collecting his long hair up before tying it in a ponytail and pushing the door open to bask in the bright morning sun.

"Sleeping beauty is finally awake," someone to his left sang, and he lurched forward a little from the way that man ruffled his hair, grumbling a little with a pout and reaching up to fix the ponytail.

"You guys are the ones who didn't wake me up," he argued, turning to see the war magus standing beside him, "Did you eat all the breakfast, Naylin?"

"I am very offended by that question," Naylin clicked his tongue, throwing an arm around Seara's shoulders and leading him towards the front of the boat where the other three members of Historia were located.

"Morning!" Seara greeted, throwing himself against his older brother's back and wrapping his arms around the other survivalist's waist.

Eliath turned at his waist to wind an arm around Seara's shoulders, smiling in delight, "Hey, did you sleep well?"

"Oh I slept fine," Seara squinted at the man, "You didn't wake me up like I asked, though."

"I swear I was going to," Naylin offered, leaning his back against the boat railing, "But Eliath shooed everyone out of the room saying you needed sleep."

"El," Seara whined, and Eliath just looked out over the water, ruffling his brother's hair and not looking guilty at all, "I'm an adult now, you've gotta treat me like one."

"I don't care how old you are, you're my baby," Eliath argued, pinching Seara's cheek before grinning over at the landsknecht who was curled up on the deck, his face pale, "At least you don't have to miss watching Flandr deal with sea sickness."

"Fuck your existence," Flandr snarled, stretching out on his back and clutching his stomach, looking dizzy, "This isn't natural, people should have their feet firmly on the ground, not... whatever this is."

Naylin cupped his hands around his mouth and whispered towards Flandr, "Cottage cheese."

The landsknecht's eyes widened and he scrambled to his knees before throwing himself over the railing, vomiting as the war magus laughed and Eliath shook his head, rolling his eyes.

"That was mean," Seara scolded Naylin, who stopped laughing and pouted a little at Seara's disappointed glare.

"Ah come on, it was a joke."

"I'm not laughing," Flandr moaned, still leaning over the railing.

Seara walked over and patted his back, looking over his shoulder and Naylin, "I think I have something for nausea in my bag, you go get it since you made it worse."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Naylin sighed heavily, pushing away from the railing and shuffling his feet as he made his way towards their cabin.

Seara shook his head with a soft smile and rubbed Flandr's back as the landsknecht spit out bile and wiped his mouth with his shirt sleeve, sliding back to his knees, "Ugh, I hate boats. I hate them so much. Why did I leave the Labyrinth?"

"You're fine, come on," Eliath chided, arms folded, "You've been through worse things than this."

"I'm going to die on this ship," Flandr mumbled, and Seara laughed a little as Eliath held his hands up in disbelief.

"What are you working on, Lesai?" Seara called over to the hexer who was sitting near Eliath's feet, back against the railing and knees pulled up, head bowed and messing with something in his hands.

"Same thing as he was yesterday I think," Eliath hummed, looking down at Lesai with a soft smile.

The hexer just curled a little further into himself, hiding whatever he was holding against his chest. As usual the hood of his robes was pulled low over his eyes, though Seara could still see his pale red bangs peeking from under it. Lesai had always been a quiet person, he'd never spoken a word directly to Naylin or Flandr in the three years they'd been in Historia, and he rarely spoke to Seara. The only one he seemed comfortable speaking to was Eliath, but Seara wasn't surprised.

Eliath was a born leader, he just had one of those presences that drew you to him even if you didn't personally know him. He was kind to everyone, unless of course you wronged his guild in some way, and he was phenomenal with dealing with kids, thanks in large part to the experience he gained while raising Seara.

He was humble, generous, and intuitive, smart enough to know when to draw back from the Labyrinth and when to take a chance they may never get again. Eliath's uncanny ability to read situations and people flawlessly were one of the reasons he was guild leader, and one of the reasons they were so sought after for Labyrinth requests, and Historia's reputation was why they'd been asked to travel to the Labyrinth of Lagaard, to collect samples of rocks and plants they couldn't find in their Etrian Labyrinth.

Not that everyone in their guild was up for the journey. Flandr for one couldn't stand it if his feet were too far from the ground, so being on a boat like this was the same as being in hell for him, head buried in his lifted knees and arms wrapped around his knees as Seara sat beside him and rubbed his back to somehow help ease his discomfort.

Then there was Lesai. The moment Eliath took the request, the hexer tried to get across how much he didn't like it, stating it was a bad idea, they shouldn't go to Lagaard, they would regret it. Of course, Eliath took his concerns to heart, but at the same time he'd already accepted the request, and he wasn't one to back out of something or break a promise he'd already made.

He was wary about this request, because of what Lesai had said. The hexer's intuition was never wrong, and Eliath himself had a pit in his stomach, leaning with his arms folded on the railing of the boat and staring out over the water, a heavy frown on his lips. He looked down when he felt something tug on the leg of his pants, smiling at the hexer.

Lesai's cloak was black and baggy, the sleeves so long they hung off his hands and hid them entirely from view, but that never stopped him from clinging to Eliath whenever he was close enough, tugging on him when he wanted the survivalist's attention, and Eliath never minded much, he felt rather honored that the hexer trusted him so much.

He crouched down so he was eye-level with Lesai, smiling, "What's up?" he asked, and the hexer pulled his other hand from where he'd been holding it against his chest, presenting what he'd been working on to Eliath, who held his hand out so Lesai could drop the item into his palm.

It was a shiny green gem with silver wire wrapped around it in what appeared to be a meticulously made design, hanging from a chain and roughly cut as if Lesai had pried it from one of the mining spots in the Labyrinth, which he probably had. He had quite the collection of stones from their many trips into the Labyrinth's, and coveted each and every one like they radiated with power. Which, for all Eliath knew, they did.

"What's this for?" he asked, and Lesai pulled his hands back towards his chest.

"Just in case," he replied, and Eliath smiled, undoing the clasp of the chain and hooking it around his neck.

"In case of what?" he asked, reaching out and pushing Lesai's hood from his head, something he always did in an attempt to get the timid hexer used to people seeing his face.

"If we get separated," Lesai mumbled, "I'll be able to find you."

Eliath frowned, brushing Lesai's bangs up just enough to see his pale silver eyes, "Why would we be separated?" he asked, smiling in forced amusement, "And how would you be able to find me using this silly thing?"

"It's special," Lesai explained, reaching out to touch the green stone, "What I was doing was enchanting it, infusing it with my energy. I should be able to connect with it if we're separated, it will act as a beacon and I can find you," he paused and pulled his hands up, hiding against them so only his eyes were visible, "It has special properties and will protect you from minor dangers."

"Thank you," Eliath smiled, "Wish I had something to give you in return."

Lesai just murmured and reached back, pulling his hood back up and holding it down over his eyes as Seara laughed a little from the side, "Don't be shy, Lesai. If you asked for something I'm pretty sure El would give it to you."

"Give him a kiss," Naylin suggested from where he'd crouched down just behind Eliath, leaning back when the survivalist swiped at him.

"Stop teasing him, honestly," he scolded, and Naylin giggled as he walked over to Flandr's other side, dropping himself down and holding a small vial out.

"Here, this'll help with your stomach."

"I don't trust you," Flandr mumbled, his voice muffled in his arms, and leaned towards Seara, laying against his shoulder, "Is it safe?"

"Yes, yes," Seara assured, taking the medicine from the war magus and patting Flandr's hair, "Here, drink, I promise it will help you."

Flandr pulled his head away from his arms to reveal his face was tinted a gray and green color, he was so ill he couldn't pull the top of the vial off, so Seara did it for him and pet his hair as he downed the medicine. One of the side effects of the medicine was drowsiness, which was better than having the landsknecht throwing up the whole way, and he ended up stretched out on his back with his head in Seara's lap, fast asleep.

"Do you think he'd throw up in his sleep if I whispered gross food names into his ear?" Naylin asked from where he was standing leaning his back against the railing, and Seara punched his knee.

"Quit being a pain."

They reached the docks at noon, when the sun was high in the sky and casting down on the large city, which Seara leaned over the railing to get a better look at while Eliath held the back of his shirt with one hand, the other propped on his hip.

"This place is amazing!" Seara exclaimed, spinning on his heel to face his brother, "What are we doing first? Can we go sightsee?"

"I think since it's so early still we should get a few hours in the Labyrinth, then find an inn we can stay at for the night," Eliath decided, handing Seara his bag before moving towards the ramp that lead down to the dock, "Everyone good with that?"

"Yea boss," Naylin chimed from the back, and Seara giggled a little.

For a while they all walked in sync, until Eliath stopped at a fountain near the center of Lagaard to ask someone for directions to the Labyrinth, and when he turned he frowned, "Where's Flandr?"

"Probably throwing up," Naylin held a hand up, "When we got off the boat he was still really dizzy so I named a few of his least favorite foods and he stumbled over to a trashcan."

Eliath pinched the bridge of his nose, "And you waited until now to tell me this?"

"Last night he told me my flute playing sucked," Naylin argued, "This was my payback!"

"You're a war magus, not a troubadour," Seara said, and Naylin pointed at him.

"I'm allowed to have hobbies!"

"I'll get him," Eliath said, unable to stop himself from smiling at how childish his guild could be, "Wait here for me."

Seara end up sitting on the edge of the fountain with Lesai next to him, and Naylin walked along the edge with a bamboo flute in hand, mumbling about how he played fine and Flandr was just tone death before playing a few notes.

"Don't feel so bad, Flandr enjoys your music just like the rest of us," Seara assured with a smile, "He's just shy about admitting it."

"Yea, I know," Naylin agreed with a half-smile, flipping the instrument around between his fingers before hopping off the fountain and sitting down, leaning back, "Hey, Sear, if you had a chance to, would you meet your hero?"

"My hero?" Seara tilted his head to the side, smiling, "Eliath is my hero."

"That doesn't help me," Naylin argued, "If it wasn't the boss, would you want to meet them?"

"Is this about that veteran war magus you keep talking about?" Seara asked, and Naylin threw his hands out.

"He lives in Lagaard, I might actually run into him!"

Seara sighed with a slow roll of his eyes, "I don't know, Naylin. From what you've heard, does he seem like a good guy? It would be kind of disappointing if you met him and he turned out to be a complete jerk."

"He sounds like the coolest war magus to ever exist!" Naylin insisted, hands clenched into fists, "I've heard a few stories from travelers, telling me how this guy's the leader of the strongest guild in Lagaard, and is a highly respected explorer who even helps train rookies not in his guild. They go around saving people from the Labyrinth and doing good deeds all around the city, evidently they even started a weekly soup kitchen that works out of the local hospital!"

"Okay," Seara hummed, looking impressed, "That's pretty admirable. The leader of a guild like that has to be a good guy, right?" he smiled, "I just don't want you to be disappointed if he turns out to be a jackass."

"He won't be," Naylin practically whined, "You have so little faith in these things, Seara!"

Seara just laughed, "I just don't want to see you upset, sometimes it's bad to meet your heroes."

Lesai pulled on his sleeve, lifting his arm like he was pointing to something, and both Seara and Naylin turned their heads to look at what the hexer was motioning to. Standing several yards away were two people, one with silver hair and the other with black hair, and they seemed to be deep in conversation so they didn't notice the three younger explorers watching them.

"Who are they?" Seara asked, and Naylin jumped to his feet.

"That's Hamza!" he gasped, "That's the leader of the strongest guild in Lagaard! He's my hero!" he spun to face Seara, "How do I look?"

"Desperate."

"Great! I'll be right back!"

Seara shook his head and watched Naylin dart across the courtyard before turning to Lesai, "How could you tell that was the guy Naylin was talking about?"

Lesai shrugged his shoulders and tucked his hands into his sleeves, "He has a good energy," he said simply, and Seara hummed in reply.

"So he won't get too freaked out to have some strange guy run up to him?"

"No."

"Great," Seara leaned back on his hands, tilting his head back to smile up at the sky, "Then we can just relax while we wait for Eliath to get back."

~

"Freaking asshole," Flandr mumbled as he shuffled away from the trashcan he'd been leaning over, wiping his sleeve over his mouth and spitting out the bile still on his tongue, "I'm snapping that flute in half when I see him next. Ditching me like an ass."

He stomped his feet as he walked forward, bumping into someone's shoulder. His initial reaction was to snap at the man and dart off to avoid confrontation with another human, but Eliath had been spending a lot of time trying to hammer good manners into Flandr's head, so instead he turned and bowed a little as he apologized.

"Sorry about that, I wasn't looking where I was going."

The man just turned his head to glance at him, and Flandr tensed a little when he recognized the clothes he was wearing, categorizing him as a hexer. His hair was as dark as his eyes, and his skin was a pale white, chains singing as he turned fully to face Flandr and simply stared at him with wide eyes.

"Boy, there's an energy hanging off your aura," the hexer said, and Flandr squinted in unease, taking a slow step back.

"I don't know what that means, but I'm sorry again for bumping into you."

He turned to leave, but was stopped when the hexer reached out to grab onto his left forearm, squeezing hard and pulling Flandr closer, "You've come into contact with it? How is that possible?"

"Wh-what?" Flandr winced as the man's unkempt nails dug into his skin, "Knock it off, what's the matter with you?! This is what I get for trying to be civil."

"You don't have it," the hexer stated flatly, his grip loosening a fraction, "Not with you, but you've come into contact, you've spent long amounts of time in its presence. I can sense its energy still lingering in your aura," he tightened his grip yet again, making Flandr cringe, "Where is the stone?"

"What stone?!"

"The Lapis Galəksē."

"Lapis what?" Flandr pulled on his arm, "I don't know what that is."

"No, no you wouldn't," the hexer murmured, narrowing his eyes and tightening his hold yet again, to such a painful point that Flandr gasped, "but you've come into contact with it. It's been over a decade since I found the grotto, and I've had no leads," his dark eyes brightened, "What luck. It's good I came to Lagaard," he whispered something, and Flandr's eyes widened in horror as black mist seeped from the hexer's mouth and towards his arm.

He yanked on his arm to get away, but when the black smoke touched him he felt himself go slack without meaning to, "What?" he breathed, mouth gaping open from pain as he watched as the black touched his skin and burrowed beneath it, entering his veins, and making them turn black, so it appeared as if there were dark webs spreading out from where the hexer was holding him.

"Now, puppet," the hexer said in a disturbingly soothing voice, "I have an order for you."

Flandr's world became foggy and unclear, words whispered into his ear, echoing like he was in a giant cave, and he stood there for a long time before he felt someone shaking him gently by the shoulder, blinking his eyes until his vision cleared.

"Boss...," he greeted Eliath dizzily, looking around as the survivalist squeezed his shoulder, looking confused.

"You okay? You were just standing here staring off into space."

"I...," Flandr trailed off and looked down at his left arm, turning it over a few times before exhaling, "I'm fine."

"Okay," Eliath nodded, though he didn't look convinced, and smiled, squeezing Flandr's shoulder again before stepping away from him, "I left the others in the center courtyard, let's meet up with them and head to the Labyrinth."

"Sure," Flandr agreed, taking once step before pain raced up his arm, making him freeze up and lift his arm, choking when he saw the black marks webbing out from the area on his forearm where the hexer had grabbed him.

He could feel something flowing the wrong way in his veins, and touched his arm with shaking fingers, his stomach flipping when he felt the marks pulsing like there was a parasite in his blood. Flandr forced himself to swallow the lump and looked up at the back of Eliath's head. He was about to speak, tell the older man what had happened and show him the marks, but he stopped when his head started to ache, lifting his right hand when something hot dripped from his nose, black blood pooling in the palm of his hand and a voice echoing in his head.

"Don't bother," it was the hexer's voice, "He won't understand. Do as I've ordered, and no one will be hurt. If you fail, I'll kill them in front of you and leave you with this curse, a curse that will have you live a full life, but in complete and utter agony, and don't think I'm joking. I've cursed plenty before you."

Flandr choked, his hands lifting to grab at his hair, blood dripping to the ground at his feet, "Please don't hurt them," he whispered, and the hexer's voice echoed yet again in his head.

"Then do as I say. Put a jacket on, we don't want them seeing those cursed marks."

Flandr nodded numbly and wiped his hand under his nose, trembling as he pulled his coat from his bag, pulling it on and buckling the front before quickly running after Eliath, who turned when he heard Flandr following him, arching an eyebrow and pointing at his own nose.

"You've got something black on your face. I think dirt?"

"Hu?" Flandr rubbed his sleeve under his nose, nodding, "Yea, sorry."

"What's with the coat?"

"I'm cold."

"Really?" Eliath asked in amusement, "Says the guy who grew up in the Labyrinth and constantly refuses to wear a coat when it's snowing or raining."

"I can get cold sometimes," Flandr responded, and Eliath shrugged, turning on his heel.

"Let's go then, we'll buy you a scarf."

Flandr shuffled after him, cleaning the rest of the strange colored blood from his face and wincing when the hexer's voice came back, "Good boy. You know what you need to do now?"

The landsknecht swallowed the knot in his throat and nodded, "I know; and you won't hurt them?"

"Follow my orders to the last detail, and none of them will be harmed, but one slip-up, and I can't guarantee their safety."

"I understand..."

~

"This Labyrinth isn't too different from ours!" Seara yelled down from where he was perched on a branch high above the ground, one hand shielding his eyes as he looked over the area, "Just as beautiful!"

"Right on!" Eliath called back, smiling as his younger brother hopped off the branch and landed in a crouch to his left, "We'll check along the path this way and see if we can find some herbs or even a mining spot."

"We could've asked directions," Naylin said, "Or asked for a map. You know who probably had a map?"

Seara propped a hand on his hip, "Hamza?"

"He probably had maps to spare!" Naylin threw his hands out, and Eliath rolled his eyes as Seara chuckled.

"He's very happy he met his hero," Seara explained, and Eliath shrugged one shoulder.

"I'm happy for you, Nay, but can you concentrate right now?"

"I'll do my best."

Seara couldn't help the grin, but it faded when he caught sight of Flandr, who was lingering at the back, his feet scuffing the ground, "Flandr?" Seara backed up and slowed so the landsknecht could catch up to him, "You're being really quiet."

"Hu?" Flandr lifted his eyes, which appeared hazy, "Oh, yea, I was just thinking is all. There's this big house, like a mansion, towards the edge of town in the higher wards. We should go there after this."

"What for?" Naylin asked, walking backwards with his arms folded behind his head, "Is there something there?"

"Yea, maybe," Flandr agreed, staring at the ground, "We should just go there is all."

"Tell them why, boy."

"I ran into a guy earlier, he offered a lot of money for us to take a quick request. I know we're already on a pretty big quest now, but the guy said it wouldn't take too long."

"Sure, I don't see why not," Eliath hummed, and Lesai stopped in his tracks, his lips twisting as he reached out to grab Eliath's sleeve, successfully pulling him to a stop.

"No," the hexer stated, clear enough for everyone to hear him, which was unusual in itself.

Everyone stopped walking, and the wind started to pick up, cool air making the sage plants and grass dance at their feet.

"No?" Eliath repeated, turning to face Lesai, "No what?"

"We can't go to that place," Lesai said, "We'll never leave."

"Sounds like a chill place, I pet they have a pool," Naylin joked, and Lesai curled his lips between his teeth.

While Naylin seemed to think it was a joke, Eliath felt uneasy, and stepped closer to the hexer, putting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing, "Explain," Lesai kept his head bowed for a long time, it was hard to notice, but Eliath could feel him trembling, and pulled him closer, leaning down so Lesai could whisper if he had to, "Easy, I need you to be clear and tell me what's wrong. Does this have to do with why you didn't want to come to Lagaard in the first place?"

Lesai nodded slowly, releasing his hold on Eliath's sleeve and instead taking his hand, pulling it closer and pressing the survivalist's hand against his cheek before urging him to go higher. Eliath tensed up when he realized what the hexer was referring to, his jaw clenching tightly as he moved his hand from Lesai's shoulder and instead wrapped his arm around him, pulling him against his chest.

"I see," he murmured, his chin on top of Lesai's head.

Naylin and Seara both looked concerned, exchanging worried looks before focusing on Eliath, "What's happened?" Seara asked, and Eliath smiled at him.

"Lesai just isn't comfortable meeting someone he doesn't know. Sorry, Flan, do you mind? We're going to skip that request and just focus on this one."

Flandr's face pinched up, "Skip?"

"That's no good, boy. You can do better than that."

"But...," he held his hands out, "I mean, I'm not good with people either, and I'm willing to go."

"Flandr, you're acting strange," Seara noted, and Flandr gaped at him.

"No I'm not, I'm acting like I usually do."

"Shame," the hexer's voice started to boom in his ears, "I'm disappointed in this turn of events, boy," Flandr gasped a little when his left arm started to burn, grabbing his wrist with his right hand, his eyes widening when the black marks started to crawl along the skin of his hand, wrapping around his fingers, "I'll take over from here."

"Flan what the fuck?" Naylin strode forward and grabbed the landsknecht's wrist, "You got a tattoo that can move?"

"Are you a moron?!" Flandr shrilled, shoving Naylin away as hard as he could and holding his left arm against his chest, "Fuck!"

"Flandr," Seara quickly moved closer and grabbed the landsknecht's shoulder to steady him, "What's happening?"

"I'm fine, get back," Flandr gasped, and Seara shook his head.

"Stop trying to deal with things on your own, you're not alone anymore!" he scolded, "Confide in us so we can help you!"

Flandr gaped at Seara with wide eyes before gritting his teeth and looking down, "I don't know what-."

"Boring," the hexer sang in his head, and his eyes widened in horror as Seara took a few swaying steps back, his magenta eyes wide in surprise as blood poured down his face, "That boy is dangerous, you should stay away from him."

"Seara!" Eliath screamed, somehow managing to reach his brother as his legs gave way, his face pale and his eyes unfocused as Eliath cradled him against his shoulder and pushed his hair back to reveal a deep, jagged gash along his hairline.

"Sear....," Flandr lifted his right hand, his eyes falling to his left arm, choking when he noticed his axe was hanging from his hand, blood dripping from the edge of the blade, "Did I... do that...?"

"Bastard," he looked up in shock to see Eliath was glaring at him, fury in his eyes that Flandr had never seen before, "I'll kill you."

"I didn't...," Flandr trailed off, his right arm falling to his side as the black marks crawled up his neck and across his left cheek, his lips quirking into a manic grin as his dark yellow eyes brightened, head tilting to the right, "My, my, my, I didn't think a landsknecht could be this soft-hearted. That's a problem."

Eliath gaped at him as Naylin eased his way closer with Lesai slipping behind him and kneeling on Seara's right side to see the wound in his head, "You're... not Flandr?"

The landsknecht scowled, "And you're the guild leader, I guess we're both surprised."

"What the hell is going on?" Naylin demanded as Seara sat up shakily, lifting a hand to his head as Flandr sighed heavily, his head rolling to the side.

"Come with me and I'll tell you," he grinned and held his hand out, "If you don't make a fuss or fight back, then no harm will come to you."

"Fat chance," Naylin snapped, and Flandr hummed.

"Pity, but I did warn him if he didn't get you to my mansion then he'd have to watch you die. This will be upsetting for him," he smiled, rapping his fist against the side of his head, "He can see and hear everything that's happening you know. His screams are like music to my ears," he lifted the axe and held it with both hands, laughing, eyes rolling up, "I hope you enjoy the show, landsknecht! Lucky me you're so strong! Killing your family should be a piece of cake!"

"What's... happening?" Seara murmured, and Eliath quickly scooped him up, looking at Naylin.

"Hold him off, I'll be back, I'm hiding Seara."

"Go for it boss, we can fight this idiot," Naylin assured, and Eliath turned, running into the trees far enough that he could barely hear the fighting.

He set Seara on his unsteady feet and turned him to face him, "Do not move, understand?" he asked, and Seara nodded, leaning his back against the tree and watching Eliath run around it to join the fight.

Everything around him seemed to slosh together. Turning and slipping his hand across the bark of the tree, he found himself confused at the rough texture.

Beyond the trees and back with his guild, Flandr was backing up, as if he was going to put his weapon down, but another grin took to his lips and he lifted two fingers to his lips, whistling.

Eliath and Naylin froze, eyes widening in horror as Flandr laughed, "Perhaps he's not as useless as I thought!" he exclaimed, his arms stretching out as two Raptors broke through the trees on either side of him, "Who knew there were people out there besides hexer's who could control these monsters?!"

"Fuck!" Naylin screamed, dodging one of the monsters before the second swiped at him, throwing him across the clearing until he'd slammed into a tree, falling to the ground and not moving.

Seara was staring down at his hands, his brow furrowed, his mind blank as he started to pull the gloves from his hands. Why was he wearing this heavy gear again? He was just taking a walk, right? He set his bow and quiver against the trunk of the tree before pulling off the rest of his gear so all he was wearing were his underclothes, a white shirt and black pants with boots, dizzily looking around the area until Eliath stumbled back around the tree, covered in blood and eyes wild as he grabbed Seara's shoulders.

"You need to listen to me," Eliath started, squeezing Seara's shoulders, "Run. Run as fast as you can, get the soldiers that were posted at the entrance, tell them what happened," somehow, he managed a shaky smile, leaning down and pushing his forehead against his brother's, "I'll hold them off until help comes. You trust me, don't you? You know I'm strong," something like clouds filled his eyes, but he smiled, "I love you, kiddo, and I'm really proud of you," he whispered, pulling Seara closer and kissing his cheek, "I'll take care of this and see you soon," he promised, cupping Seara's cheek with his hand, "Don't forget me, alright?"

Seara just nodded dizzily and turned, running off, and Eliath breathed out heavily, turning to join Naylin and Lesai fighting the Raptor but stopping when he came face to face with Flandr, who was swinging the axe casually, smiling.

"Oh no, boss. The landsknecht liked that one. Guess I'll have to grab him another time," he crouched down and lifted his axe, "Can you fight me off with a bow and arrow, survivalist?"

Eliath scoffed with a smile, dropping his bow and undoing the belt that was holding his quiver to his back, letting it fall to the ground before pulling a dagger from his belt, "No. But I'll die trying."

[no-white-knights-blog]

Halo - An Etrian Odyssey Novel (Chapter 35/50)

Notes: Guess who’s back whether you want it or not! I bring the rest of this frickin novel, as well as newfound knowledge because I’ve finally purchased an EO game and gone crazy with it! I feel a lot better about my writing now I’ve actually played one of the games. I ended up getting EOV because it was what I found, bought purely spontaneously. I friggin love it oh my gosh. Expect more from me! Maybe!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day hadn't gone exactly as planned. Sage never intended to fall back to sleep for a few more hours, only to wake up past noon. Not that he regretted it; sometimes it was nice to take a lazy day for yourself, comfortably tucked under the covers and lying with his head on Dyria's chest. He woke up slowly and rubbed at his eyes, frowning a little from the disorienting feeling that came with taking a spontaneous midday nap. When the memory of what had landed him in bed came back, he blushed furiously, turning his face against Dyria's chest and smiling softly, feeling even more pleased with his position when the protector's strong arms wound around his waist.

Sage folded his arms across Dyria's chest, his chin settling on top of his forearms so he could see the protector's face, smiling, "You awake?" he asked, reaching out to poke Dyria's nose and gaining a mumble in response.

"What time is it?"

"Late, the sun is already going down," Sage answered, pushing himself up to look over at the window, "I think we have enough time to bring the request items to the bar, so we didn't really waste the day away."

Dyria just hummed, his hands rubbing up and down Sage's bare sides before settling at his waist, "I'm sorry for... that."

Sage looked down at him with a slight frown, "For what?"

The protector rolled his head to the side awkwardly, "Being so insecure I tricked myself into believing you would leave me."

Sage's frown became heavier before a sweet smile replaced it and he hummed, hands planting on the pillow on either side of Dyria's head, "Here I thought you wanted to apologize for what we just did," he teased, flopping on top of the protector and rubbing his cheek against the man's shoulder, "You don't have to apologize, silly, I'm not mad."

"Still," Dyria sighed, one hand sliding up Sage's back while his other arm wound around his waist, playing with his long hair, "I never thought I would be this possessive."

"You've lost a lot, Dyria," Sage said softly, touching the protector's chin with just the pads of his fingers, "I can't blame you for being scared. Actually, knowing you were that worried, it's kind of endearing," he laughed a little and kissed Dyria's neck, "It just shows how much you care about me, doesn't it?"

Dyria thought about it for a moment before humming and turning his head to stare at the scar on Sage's head while carefully combing his bangs back to get a clear view of the mark. He had mixed feelings about that scar now. The only reason he met Sage was because he got hurt, and the scar it left behind definitely didn't take away from the survivalist's beauty, although he was rather self-conscious about it himself. Dyria's problem with it was that something, or someone, hurt Sage. Sure, it happened before they met, but that didn't matter.

"I won't let anything else scar you like this," Dyria said, and Sage frowned a little in confusion, looking up at the protector before smiling softly.

"I know," he replied, leaning up on his hands and leaving a chaste kiss on Dyria's lips before sitting up and stretching his arms out in front of him, "Now, before it gets dark, we need to get up and bring Cass the items that were requested so we can get paid."

Dyria groaned and rolled onto his side, both arms wrapping around Sage's waist and squeezing as he pressed his face against the small of his back, "Or we could stay in bed," he suggested, and Sage laughed, turning a little and reaching down to play with the protector's hair.

"Don't act like such a child, Dyria, we'll have plenty of time to cuddle after we get home," he turned a bit more and leaned over the protector, rubbing his shoulders, "We can pick up something to eat on the way home, too."

Dyria turned his head so his cheek was against Sage's side, "You're asking me on a date, now? Isn't that my job?"

"You were taking too long," Sage teased, and Dyria sighed, forcing himself to sit up and leaning his head against Sage's shoulder.

"Alright, you win, we'll get dressed and be responsible adults."

Sage chuckled and grabbed Dyria's chin, kissing him and smiling against his lips. It took the couple a little longer to get out of bed after that, because whenever one of them moved to stand up, the other would pull them back for one last kiss. Eventually they both managed to get dressed, and Sage was sitting on the edge of their bed securing the last buckle of his boot as Dyria turned towards the door.

"I'll go find Na'axri outside, he can join us again," he said with a smile, "I'll be waiting for you outside, don't take too long."

"I won't," Sage assured, pulling on his second boot and waving a hand at Dyria, "Go on, I'll be out in a minute."

He laughed a little as Dyria held his hands up and left the room, then concentrated on getting his boot secure before standing, combing his hair out with his fingers and pulling it all over his shoulder to braid it. It had fallen out of its tie during their, ah, intimate embrace, so Sage hummed as he re-braided it and tied the end, turning and grabbing his bag just as someone knocked on the door.

He frowned curiously when the door opened, and felt a little shocked when Historia's landsknecht stepped into the room, quietly shutting the door when he was inside and leaning against it, looking uncomfortable.

"Flandr?" Sage pulled the strap of his bag onto his shoulder, "Can I help you?"

Flandr blinked a little, looking around the room, "I saw that protector leave and figured you were both back from dropping off your requested items, so I came to talk to you."

"Oh," Sage laughed breathlessly, "We actually haven't even left yet," he admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, and smiling cheerfully, "But it's fine, we can talk first. I might be late coming back anyway, since we're getting such a late start, so we may as well talk now."

"You were both ready to leave this morning," Flandr noted, looking confused, "What distracted you for so long?"

Sage shrugged a little, hoping his blush wasn't too obvious, "He was a little insecure about something so I was just reassuring him," he explained, and it wasn't really a lie, "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Flandr nodded with a hum, looking down, "You seem pretty happy here, with Halo," he started, and Sage smiled.

"Yea, I am. They saved my life after all, and they've been looking after me this whole time. They accepted me even though I had no idea who I was, had no memories. I could've ended up being a burden to them, they didn't need to take responsibility for me," he shrugged, "I'm glad they did."

"I'm glad you had them to look after you as well," Flandr agreed with a crooked smile, though it faded quickly, "but I'm here now," he added, "If Eliath were here with us, he would want us to be together, as Historia. Even though most of us are gone, there's still us," he smiled again and held a hand out for Sage, "That's why I was so happy when I saw that poster. For the past three months, I thought you were dead, I thought I was alone, and here you are."

Sage blinked a few times before bowing his head and playing with the strap of his bag, "I thought I was alone too," he admitted, "but it was probably a little different than me, huh?"

"Come with me," Flandr said, and Sage looked up at him, at the hand the landsknecht was holding out, "We're the only ones left, Seara. Eliath... he would want me to protect you. He would want whatever was left of his guild to stay together and look after each other. I know you can't remember a lot, but surely you remember that much."

Sage bowed his head lower and stared down at his shoes. There was no hesitation in his decision, he didn't need any time to think about what he wanted to do, because he'd already decided, but... saying it to Flandr was the hard part. He didn't remember a lot about Historia, but he remembered how hard it was to get Flandr to socialize, or enter places that had a lot of people.

This man was always so closed off and defensive, Sage and Eliath had essentially dragged him out of the comfort he'd known in the Labyrinth and thrust him into "civilized" life. Now Sage was getting ready to tell Flandr tough luck, Historia was dead and they had to move on. Saying it that way made it seem so much harsher than it was, but... Sage had to be honest with Flandr.

"Can I say something?" Sage found himself asking for permission, and Flandr shrugged a little, "I am so unbelievably happy you're alive," Sage continued, "I thought everyone was gone, not even Na'axri could help how depressed I felt, so knowing someone from Historia- you, knowing you're alive and healthy... I couldn't ask for anything more than that," he smiled weakly, "but I can't go with you," Flandr's eyes widened as Sage looked down, his smile soft, "I've found something with Halo I never even had with Historia, and... I don't want to give that up. I miss my brother, I miss Lesai and Naylin, and I still care about you, but I've already let go of Historia, and somewhat managed to move on. I think Eliath would be proud of me, of the fact I'm honoring Historia's memory by continuing my career as an explorer. I can't go with you, but you're welcome to stay and join Halo. I can talk to Dyria, I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

Flandr remained silent for a long time, simply staring at Sage, for so long the survivalist started to feel uneasy. Maybe he said the wrong thing? Maybe Flandr would be mad at him? Sage couldn't take back what he'd said, he was being completely honest with the landsknecht. He couldn't go with Flandr, his need to stay at Dyria's side was stronger than his need to restore guild Historia.

"I understand," Flandr said finally, and Sage sighed in relief, shoulders sagging and eyes closing as Flandr laid his head back against the door, his left hand reaching down to the lock beside the doorknob and his jaw locking as he turned it, "Then can I say something too?"

Sage looked up, smiling, "Yea, of course; and you really are welcome to join Halo! You're right, Eliath would want us to stay together, and I want to, but I can't leave Dyria," he blushed and looked off to the side, quickly pushing his bangs back and tucking loose hair behind his ear, "I can't leave Halo."

Flandr narrowed his eyes suspiciously and looked down, "I don't mind if you want to stay with Halo, the fact you mourned and moved on is a good thing. Eliath wouldn't want you to be sad. This... I'm not telling you this because I think it will make you change your mind about coming with me. Know that."

Sage frowned, "What do you mean?"

Flandr smiled weakly, not looking up from the ground, "When we first met, you were really annoying, but through the years I guess you've grown on me," he laughed, "Historia was my family, the first real family I've ever had. Eliath took me in, and you... somewhere along the way, before I even realized it, you'd stolen my heart," Sage's eyes widened in shock as Flandr lifted his head to meet his stunned gaze, "You understand, right? I'm in love with you, Seara."

"Wh...," Sage lifted a hand to his mouth, "D-don't be ridiculous."

"I didn't tell you how I felt because I was hoping it would change your mind about coming with me," Flandr assured quickly, "and I'm not asking you to accept or even return my feelings, that's not what I want," he took a breath, "All I want is for you to understand my words and believe them. I just needed to tell you before...," he looked down at his left hand, wincing, "before I did this. I wanted you to know how I felt, that way maybe... maybe you'll understand that I would never do this of my own free will."

Sage swallowed the lump in his throat, taking a slow step backwards and bumping into the table, "Flandr, what are you talking about? Do what of your own free will?"

"I never wanted to hurt you, or Eliath, or anyone," Flandr's smile was sad, "Historia was my family, if anything I wanted to protect them, protect you. We shouldn't have come to Lagaard, Seara," he curled his hand into a fist, stepping forward and lifting his eyes, "but it's too late for that now, and I'm sorry."

"Flandr," Sage held his hand out, backing up again and stumbling a little, pushing the table out of the way, "You're starting to scare me, please stop."

Flandr didn't reply, and Sage's heart started to beat rapidly, ramming against his rib-cage in panic as he suddenly found himself recognizing Flandr's yellow eyes, and not because they'd been in the same guild, but because those yellow eyes were the same ones Sage had seen that day, the day Historia was attacked, and before in the Labyrinth when Dyria was hurt.

"It was you?" Sage asked weakly in disbelief, "Flandr... why? What did you do?" he gasped a little when Flandr loosened the bandages around his hand, letting the strips hang as black mist snaked around his left arm, "What is this?"

"I'm sorry," Flandr whispered, "I would never hurt you if I had a say," his left arm lifted, seemingly without Flandr wanting it to, and the bandages that had soaked in the black mist shot out, wrapping around Sage's raised hand and wrist, making him squeak in shock, "I didn't want this at all."

His words and his actions were contradicting themselves at every pass, he seemed to genuinely regret what he was doing, but his left arm was acting without his control, like it was attached to a puppet string. Someone was controlling him, but that didn't make Sage feel any better about what was happening, and a clipped scream stopped in his throat when he felt himself lift off his feet, slamming into the table and toppling it over, coughing hard.

He shoved the splintered wood aside and rolled onto his stomach, attempting to crawl towards the door and yelping when the bandages attached to Flandr's arm wound around his ankle, dragging him back towards the landsknecht, who was standing with his arms hanging at his sides, eyes heavily lidded with dark shadows underneath them.

At first glance he seemed to have detached himself from what he was doing, he wasn't even looking as his left arm acted on its own, the bandages as well taking on a life of their own and wrapping around Sage's legs. He was going to scream, call for help, call for Dyria, gasping when the cursed bandages flipped him onto his back the same instant a chair was thrown at him, breaking against him as he lifted his arms for protection.

When he opened his eyes again he was stunned to find that heavy black mist was filling the room now, making Flandr look like a ghost, but he didn't have much time to think about it as he was thrown through the air, slamming against a wall, and falling onto the bed while coughing hard, his hands grappling for something to anchor him but finding nothing as the bandages wrapped tightly back around his leg and threw him against the other wall of the room, before dragging him back towards Flandr.

Sage was coughing hard, curled onto his side and holding his chest, squeaking a little as Flandr dropped down over him and forced him onto his back, his left hand slipping under his chin to squeeze his throat, eyes wide as the bandages flew out to wind around and around Sage's throat for added pressure, tightening so hard he couldn't breathe.

The landsknecht seemed to have snapped out of whatever trance he'd been in, gritting his teeth and cursing as he grabbed his left arm with his right hand, clawing at himself with wild eyes, "Stop, you said you wanted him alive," he ground out through his teeth, his eyes meeting Sage's as the survivalist started to choke.

One hand grabbed at Flandr's wrist, the other reaching out to grab onto the explorer's shirt as he kicked his legs, mouth filling with saliva as Flandr squeezed his left hand tighter around his throat, pouring from the corner of his gaping mouth as his eyes rolled.

"Dy-ri-a," Sage somehow managed to choke thee name out, and Flandr pinched his eyes closed before grabbing something off his belt.

Sage was dizzy from the lack of oxygen and how it hurt to have someone strangling him, but he saw the glint of light flash off the edge of a knife before Flandr stabbed it into his own forearm, making the hold around Sage's throat loosen and release him completely. He gasped for breath and coughed hard, rolling onto his side and curling into a ball as he reached up to hold his throat.

Flandr panted and yanked the knife out of his arm, watching as the black tinted blood poured from the wound and stained the wood floor, dropping the knife and cradling his arm against his chest as the black mist surrounded them and he set a hand on Sage's shoulder, just as the door was kicked in, wood splintering and the board falling with a slam as the familiar protector stormed in, his eyes widening in horror when he saw Sage lying on the ground half conscious.

"Sage!" Dyria grabbed his sword and drew it as he rushed forward, but the black mist rose up like a wave, knocking him back before he could get close enough, and when it settled down and dispersed, all that was left in its place was a stained knife and a pool of black and red blood.

[no-white-knights-blog]

Halo - An Etrian Odyssey Novel (Chapter 34/50)

Sage was frowning heavily in concern as he quietly shut the door when he entered his shared bedroom, making sure it latched silently before turning and leaning his back against the door and facing Dyria. The protector was sitting on the edge his bed, hunched forward with a bag in his hand, sifting through it and likely searching for the items they'd collected from the Labyrinth for the request at the bar.

He made no motion to show he'd heard Sage enter the room, didn't lift his head away from what he was doing, and didn't speak, which left Sage uncertain of what to say and unsure of how he could make Dyria feel better. The protector had an empty look on his face, it was impossible to tell what he was thinking, but Sage was pretty sure Dyria was thinking about Flandr.

Sage didn't really know himself how he felt about the landsknecht showing up so suddenly. For weeks now Sage had been convinced he was the only one left alive from Historia, and he'd managed to accept that fact. He mourned when he had to, cried against Dyria's chest, let himself remember all that he could, even sketched the faces of his former guildmates so he would never forget them again.

Now Flandr was back, Sage's chest was tight with so many emotions, most notably relief and joy, but at the same time he was so confused, he had so many questions, none of which he could have answered until he knew Dyria was okay. Just that morning the protector had been acting completely normal, affectionate, acting in a way he only did around Sage.

It was only when the landsknecht pulled Sage into a tight, rather intimate hug, that Dyria started to act strange, suspicious. and distrustful. Maybe he didn't believe this newcomer was truly Flandr from Historia? Maybe he didn't believe him when he claimed he knew Sage? Maybe he didn't even believe that Seara was the survivalist's given name? Whatever the reason, Sage didn't like seeing Dyria like this, so he leaned a little more against the door, giving the protector a little longer to say something or at least bother to acknowledge the survivalist before speaking

"Are you mad?" Sage ended up asking, it was the only thing he could think of to ask, and Dyria stopped his rummaging finally, looking up at Sage with this mildly confused expression.

"No," he answered simply, and Sage tilted his head a little to the side.

"Then why are you acting so distant all of a sudden? Something is obviously bothering you. Didn't you promise me earlier that you would tell me if something was bothering you?"

Dyria continued to stare silently down at the bag before setting it down and taking to his feet, walking up to Sage and planting his hands firmly against the door on either side of the survivalist's shoulders before leaning closer and trapping his lips with his own. This kiss felt different to Sage, it seemed more intense, more desperate, and more impossible to fight.

Dyria eased even closer to Sage, until the survivalist could feel the heat of his chest just a hair's length away from his own, his breath hitching in his throat as Dyria broke the kiss only to trail soft kisses along his cheek to his jaw, following the strong line back to his ear and whispering to him, something that Sage was completely dumbfounded to hear.

"Are you going to leave with him?" Dyria asked softly, and Sage's eyes widened.

"What?" he lifted his hands to Dyria's shoulders, squeezing them, "Why would you even think that?" he gasped and tilted his head to the side when he felt warm lips close over his neck, eyes closing on their own.

It was so strange. Of course, Sage didn't hate the gentle touches and caresses, in fact he found himself wanting more of it, more of Dyria, but the way the protector was acting was strange. Like he was trying to distract Sage while asking these unbelievable questions. His words were heavy with insecurity, Sage could hear it in the explorer's voice, and it made his heart ache.

"He's a living member of guild Historia," Dyria murmured between the gentle kneading of his mouth against Sage's neck, "You thought they were all gone, your former guild, your brother's guild... but they're not. One of them is alive."

Sage mumbled something, unable to form words at first as his eyes rolled closed, shivering when Dyria's hand slipped beneath his shirt, fingers sliding across his bare skin, his touch like fire that burned a brand into Sage's skin, melting his brain and making every thought turn to slush. His body just got hotter when the protector slipped his thigh between Sage's legs, his other knee bracing against the door, essentially pinning him in place.

"Why would you... think that?" Sage managed to pant out, the unfamiliar but not unpleasant sensations abruptly halting when Dyria stopped kissing at his neck and dropped his head against Sage's shoulder, his hand slipping out from under Sage's shirt and both his forearms bracing against the wall on either side of the survivalist.

"I won't be mad if you go with him," Dyria said, and Sage's eyes widened, "He was your family before Halo was. I won't blame you, and I won't be mad. As long as you're happy, I want you to do what you want. If your happiness means you leave Halo to join that landsknecht then... I won't complain. Just know I will still fight for you," his cheek pressed against the side of Sage's neck, "I want you to stay, Sage. With Halo, with me. I can't lose you... I love you."

Sage's eyes widened in utter shock, his cheeks burning like he'd suddenly stepped into a fire, and his fingers curling into Dyria's shirt as he smiled softly, "Dyria...," he laughed softly, closing his eyes and refraining the need to shake his head in amusement.

"What can I do to convince you to stay with me?" Dyria asked, sounding tortured and panicked, "I'll do anything. Do you want me to ask that guy to join us? Do you want me to call you by your real name? I will if that's what you want, anything to keep you with me."

"There's nothing you need to do, Dyria," Sage laughed, one hand slipping up to urge Dyria to lift his head, "because I'm not going anywhere."

The look Sage received in response was almost adorable, "Really?"

"Really," Sage leaned closer and kissed Dyria, pulling him closer with an arm wrapping around his neck, "Dyria, even if everyone from Historia came back, I wouldn't leave you. I'm part of Halo now, and besides," he pushed his forehead against Dyria's so the protector had no choice but to keep eye contact with him, "I love you too."

A million emotions seemed to crash together in Dyria's green eyes as he pushed his forehead further against Sage's, at first unsure if he'd heard correctly, until Sage tilted his head and pressed his lips back against the protector's, his eyes closing as one hand tangled into the back of Dyria's hair, the other braced against the door at his hip. He couldn't believe this man; how could he be so insecure after all the time they'd spent together?

Sure, maybe compared to other couples, they hadn't been together for very long, three months compared to some people knowing each other for years before falling in love, but time was irrelevant to the heart. They hadn't known each other long, and they hadn't been in a romantic relationship for very long either, but Sage's heart didn't seem to realize that.

If he was going by the feeling in his heart alone, Sage would probably claim he'd been in love for years, as that was how it felt, and after those "years" of being in love, how could Dyria just assume Sage was willing to leave his side, even if members of Historia were still alive.

"Now," Sage murmured against Dyria's lips, not bothering to part any farther than he already had, "How can I convince you without a doubt that I'm never leaving your side?"

Dyria frowned at the question, and was about to tell Sage that there was no need, until he heard a soft click and realized rather abruptly that the survivalist had locked the door. He barely had a moment to register the sound before Sage's lips were back against his, and decided to just go with it, arms dropping to wrap around Sage's waist and lifting him up, backing away from the door and turning to lay the survivalist onto one of the beds in the room.

He was already long gone, so in love with this young man, there was no backing out now, so what was the harm in giving each other absolutely everything they had to offer, body, heart, and soul?

~

Emery hadn't used his abilities for years, he was understandably rusty at first, but after a few times healing little cuts and scrapes, it came easier and easier. His hands would tingle with warmth each time, and the euphoria he felt after healing was exhilarating. He had never felt so proud of himself or happy with his life than he did while at the hospital with Lynus at his side, cheerfully tutoring him and helping him through each step of healing he didn't understand.

Whenever there was a slow moment, Emery would turn away to check up on the dark hunter who had insisted he tag along. Nine times out of ten Zed was not somewhere he should have been, and Emery would have to search around a little before finding him hiding in the strangest places, tucked into the little space between two cupboards, or somehow perching on the windowsill with his back against the glass and the long, heavy curtains in front of him so no one inside would be able to find him.

Lynus thought it was adorable, going so far as to bring one of the extra hospital blankets out and giving it to Zed while he was sitting in a corner with his knees to his chest, helping to drape it over the dark hunter's head and smiling sweetly, "This will protect you from all the people in the hospital so you can just stay with Emery, okay? No one can see you if you keep this on your head."

"Lynus he's almost twenty," Emery said, holding his hand out, "He's not gonna fall for that," Zed was staring at the medic in awe, though, reaching up and pulling the blanket further onto his head, then down over his face, making Lynus chuckle as Emery pinched the bridge of his nose, "Are you kidding me?"

"If it makes him feel secure there's no harm in it," Lynus decided, standing up and turning to Emery, "I think it's cute, he obviously really trusts you and holds you highly."

"Can't imagine why," Emery grumbled and turned on his heel, pulling his glasses off to clean the lenses with the end of his shirt, "What's next on the schedule? It's good there haven't been any code blues, because I'm not ready for that. Are there any more civilians with sunburns? Fishermen with hooks stuck in their fingers? Stubbed toes? Splinters? I can fix those right up."

Lynus hummed a little before brightening, "I think I'll show you something a little different," he decided, walking up to Emery's side as the other medic slipped his glasses back on.

"Different," Emery repeated, "You're not gonna make me use any of the cures yet, are you?" he asked, looking over his shoulder to see Zed had shuffled over and was clinging to the back of his coat, the blanket draped over his head and face.

"No, for now it's just a demonstration of a healing technique I developed."

"On your own?" Emery asked, snorting, "This should be fun."

Emery followed behind Lynus as they left the main area of the hospital, down a few hallways towards the back, past the ICU rooms and into a different, much quieter hallway. Emery frowned a little when he felt Zed tighten his grip on his coat.

"I've never been back here before," he admitted, and Lynus hummed.

"Luckily these rooms aren't used very often. They're saved for coma patients, or patients with terminal illnesses that can't be cured," he stopped at one door and picked up the clipboard that was hanging off the handle, flipping through the pages, "Dr Stiles mentioned having a coma patient back here, and asked me a while back if I could take a look and see if I might be able to help, but I've been busy with my guild and haven't had much free time."

"Do they ask for your help a lot?" Emery asked, peering over Lynus' shoulder to see the report, "I wouldn't be surprised."

"Well, if they need me they call, normally for code blues," Lynus hummed, "Sometimes when I have free time I like coming in just to help out on my own."

"I probably won't be able to do stuff like volunteer work," Emery said, stepping back and Lynus smiled at him from over his shoulder.

"Why? You've been doing really well, you could probably do more than you think."

"Oh, it's not because I'm insecure about my healing, I just don't like people," Emery assured, holding a hand up, "It's a problem, Dyria keeps telling me to be more social, but... I'm not for that."

Lynus laughed a little, "You say that, but if the hospital asked for your help you would probably jump on it," his words came out on a teasing tone, and Emery pouted a little, "I've taught Dr Stiles and a few of the other medic's here how to manipulate this technique, so I'm sure they've tried before, but if Dr Stiles is asking for my help, then this patient is probably suffering from something a little deeper than most coma patients."

"So, you're hoping to wake him up, right?" Emery guessed, and Lynus hung the clipboard back up before pushing the door open quietly.

"That's what I'm aiming for," he answered, "This explorer was evidently found two and a half months ago by a few soldiers, badly wounded and unconscious. The injuries he sustained alone were enough to warrant Dr Stiles being worried, but after insuring the patient wasn't going to die, he realized his biggest problem was the fact he wasn't waking up."

Emery nodded slowly as he stepped into the room behind Lynus, making sure Zed was inside before shutting the door and turning to the bed where a man was lying on his back, sheets and covers pulled up and arms lying at his sides on top of the tucked covers. There were bandages still wrapped tightly around his shoulders and chest that Emery could see, and after two months, the fact he still had bandages around him showed just how severe the injuries had been.

"How badly was he hurt?" Emery asked, stepping up to the side of the bed and setting a hand on his hip, "Are the wounds steal healing?"

"Well, the report said the injuries weren't healing like they should have been, even with the aid of a medic, so Dr Stiles was thinking he must have been attacked by something cursed, but he's not certain. So, evidently yes, the wounds are still healing very slowly. Hopefully if we can wake him up we'll be able to fix that as well."

"At least he's alive I guess," Emery stated, leaning over the bed to see the man's face, "Though I can't say this is living. They found him in the Labyrinth?"

"Wearing torn explorer's clothes, but nothing else. The only other item he had on him was a necklace with a gemstone hanging from it. I think that's with his things."

"What things?" Emery asked, and Lynus rolled his eyes a little before walking over to the other side of the bed, reaching out and brushing aside the explorers bangs so he could feel his forehead.

The man's hair was so dark, Emery almost didn't notice the green tint to it, but now that he'd noticed it, it was easier to see his hair was a rich, dark emerald color. Emery always figured people in comas would look... peaceful, but this man looked like he was in pain, his brow drawn tightly like he was grimacing.

After a moment, Lynus pulled his hand back, "As I thought, there's a dark spot on his aura, but it's very deep. I can feel that he wants to wake up, but something is keeping him in this coma. Something that shouldn't be there."

"Like poison in his aura?" Emery guessed, and Lynus nodded, taking Emery's hand and leading him to press his hand against the man's forehead.

"Here, close your eyes, concentrate on his aura, his spirit, search for the dark spot and cast a refresh spell.

Emery did as he was told with a short nod, closing his eyes and following the directions Lynus provided until he could see the dark spot just like Lynus had claimed was there, casting a short refresh spell and furrowing his brow when he noticed the dark spot wavering.

"He really does want to wake up," he murmured, "I think... maybe a really simple cure could get rid of this shadow," he opened his eyes, "What do you think?"

"I agree," Lynus smiled, waving a hand, "Go ahead."

"Wait, what?" Emery quickly drew his hand away, shaking his head furiously, "No, no way, I can't do that. Didn't I already tell you? The last time I used a cure I..."

"I remember," Lynus smiled brightly, "but from what you explained, you used a cure three. What you need to do here is cure one, and after hearing you explain your training, you'd already perfected that."

"I could hurt him," Emery said shakily, and Lynus reached over to squeeze his hand.

"You won't."

Emery huffed a little, looking down at the unconscious man and sighing, reaching out and setting his fingers against his forehead, gritting his teeth before exhaling and shutting his eyes, reaching back to his memories and to the skills he'd learned by the time he was exiled. He could feel it in his own mind when the dark spot faded and disappeared completely, like a rush of cool air hitting him directly in the face.

Reaching deep into this man's mind, when that darkness disappeared, Emery was hit with flashes and images that had him jerking his hand away, stunned, as Lynus reached out to squeeze his shoulder.

"What happened?" he asked, looking down when an unexpected groan rose in the man's throat.

Lynus and Emery both watched him lift a hand to rub his face, wincing and peeling his eyes open to show a deep purple as richly colored as his hair, like a royal purple found in palace tapestries.

"Who're you?" the man asked in a dry voice, and Lynus beamed, turning and grabbing both of Emery's shoulders.

"You did it! I told you!"

"Ah, yea," Emery agreed, stunned, "I did... do that. Wow..."

"Uh," they looked back down at the man, who appeared understandably confused, "I don't mean to interrupt, but where am I?"

"You bounce back fast, considering," Emery stated, and the man squinted a little.

"Considering?"

"I'll get you some water," Lynus said quickly, turning away from the bed as the man pulled himself to sit up in the bed, holding his head and looking around the room.

"Is this a hospital?" he asked, lifting both hands and collecting the sides of his hair before pulling it back and tying it in place so it was out of his eyes, "I see. How did I get here?"

"A group of soldiers found you unconscious in the Labyrinth," Lynus answered, handing a cup of water to him, "You've been in a coma for two and a half months. Do you remember what-."

"Two and a half," the man repeated, pushing the cup back into Lynus' hands before cursing and carefully prying the IV's out of his arms, wincing and throwing the sheets back, pausing to touch the bandages around his chest and torso, "Damn it."

"It would be best to take it easy for a little," Lynus said with a calming smile, but the man ignored him as he threw his legs over the edge of the bed.

"I don't have time to take it easy. Thank you for helping me, I do appreciate it, but I have to-," his words were cut off when he stood up and promptly fell onto his face.

Emery laughed a little before clearing his throat, "Sorry."

Lynus knelt down beside the man, who was groaning, "What's wrong with my legs?"

"You've been unconscious for nearly three months," Emery offered, "You need to retrain yourself to walk, strengthen the muscles in your legs so you can walk normally again."

"I don't have time for this, don't you have medicine that can make me walk again?"

"No," Lynus admitted regretfully, "I can make it... easier, but I can't build your muscles up just with cure spells. Things like this need to be dealt with naturally."

"My guild could be dead," the man hissed, reaching for his neck and frowning, "Where's my necklace?"

"Ah, I'll get it," Lynus decided, "Emery, can you help him? There's a chair somewhere," he looked around, "I'll bring a chair first, help him back up."

"Sure," Emery agreed, taking Lynus' place and pulling one of the man's arms around his neck, "Sorry for laughing at you when you fell."

"Under normal circumstances I would have laughed too," the man sighed, cringing when Lynus rolled in a chair before leaving again, "You're kidding me."

"You're a gimp right now, so you're using a rolling gimp chair," Emery stated, and the man gaped at him.

"Are you seriously a medic from a hospital?"

"God no, I'm a frontline medic," Emery snorted, helping the man into the wheelchair, "I'm not good with people."

"It's amusing and I'd laugh if this wasn't such a shitty situation," he looked back up when Lynus entered the room, handing him a necklace that he held against his chest, sighing, "Thank god," he lifted his dark eyes, "Was anyone found with me?"

"No," Lynus answered apologetically, "Do you remember your guild? Maybe we can help you."

"Historia," Emery tensed up visibly as the man lowered his hand to stare down at the dark green gem hanging from a silver chain, "My name is Eliath, I was guild leader."

"Are you... fucking kidding me?" Emery asked, and Lynus gave him a pointed look that Emery ignored, rubbing his hands over his face, "Eliath, hu? You wouldn't happen to have a brother in your guild?"

Eliath lifted his head to look at Emery, who cringed when he noted the obvious similarities between this man and Sage, "Yea, a younger brother."

"Seara?" Emery guessed, and Lynus tilted his head a little, confused, as Eliath gaped at the medic.

"Yes...," he sat straighter, "You know him?"

"We call him Sage," Emery said, and Lynus gasped a little.

"That's why," he breathed, "I thought their aura's felt similar, but-."

"You know my brother?" Eliath reached out and grabbed Emery's wrist, "Where is he? Take me to him, he could still be in danger."

"Danger?" Emery gaped, "Why?"

"I don't have time to explain," Eliath sighed in frustration, "If he's alive, I need to see him. Take me to him, please."

Emery looked at Lynus, "Can I?" he asked.

"Sage never mentioned his brother's name, or his former guild's name."

"Former?" Eliath repeated, looking between the two medics in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"I think you should," Lynus decided, "I'll talk to Dr Stiles and check in with you later. Do you think you can take care of him?"

"Oh yea," Emery waved a hand, "I can deal with one gimp."

"I'm right here," Eliath waved a hand, and Lynus nodded firmly before turning and leaving the room.

"Alright," Emery breathed out the word, standing behind the wheelchair and pushing it and Eliath towards the door, "Let's head for an awkward and unexpected reunion. Just so you know, he thinks you're dead. Until this morning, he thought everyone from Historia was dead."

"Everyone," Eliath clenched his hand into a fist, fingers closing over the green gem, head bowed, "No, I don't believe that. They can't be dead."

"Well, at least two of you are alive," Emery assured, and Eliath furrowed his brow.

"Two. Who else is...," he trailed off before his eyes widened, "Fuck."

"What's the problem now?"

"Seara is in danger," Eliath said simply, "Please hurry."

[no-white-knights-blog]

Halo - An Etrian Odyssey Novel (Chapter 33/50)

The blankets and covers were all pulled up, warmth surrounded Sage when he started to gain consciousness after a restful night's sleep, smiling as he opened his eyes only for his gaze to find Dyria's face inches away lying on the same pillow. Somehow, they'd ended up falling asleep on the same bed the previous night, but he didn't mind at all, and just wiggled a little closer so his hands were against Dyria's chest and he could nuzzle himself against the protector's collarbone.

He didn't feel tired now that he was awake, but he wanted to stay right where he was, cuddling against his partner until he started to stir, secure arms curling around Sage's waist to pull him even closer as warm lips brushed against the scar along his hairline.

"Morning," Sage greeted, and Dyria mumbled a response that was hard to make out, rubbing his cheek against Sage's forehead, "Are you hungry?"

"Hm," Dyria lifted a hand to rub his eyes, and Sage smiled up at him, "Sure, later."

The survivalist just laughed, his fingers brushing over Dyria's jaw, "If we wait too long all the food will be eaten up. I'm sure if Zed is feeling better he alone could get rid of the scrambled eggs."

Dyria whined lowly, "We've accepted a monster into our guild."

"That's so mean," Sage laughed, his fingers lingering on Dyria's cheek just beside the corner of his lips, eyes unable to lift higher than his mouth, which tugged into a smile as one of his hands took Sage's chin and pulled him closer, pressing a sweet morning kiss to his lips.

Sage let his eyes float closed, one hand clinging to the front of Dyria's shirt as the fingers of his other hand buried into the protector's feathery black hair while he curled one arm around Sage's waist, his hand on the small of his back as he kept his fingers curled around the survivalist's chin to keep him locked in the kiss, parting now and again to breathe before going right back to each other.

Sage laughed softly into the kiss before pulling away, amused at the pout Dyria gave him before slipping out from under the covers and standing up, "Come on, we have things to do; responsibilities."

Dyria groaned a little and flopped onto his back, covering his eyes with an arm, "Someone else can take over Halo for me just for today, come back to bed."

Sage just rolled his eyes and stepped over to the head of the bed, planting his hands against the pillow on either side of Dyria and leaning down to kiss him softly, "Please get up? I'll be lonely without you."

Dyria pulled his arm from his eyes to squint at Sage, "You're the devil."

"Chop, chop," Sage said cheerfully, and Dyria sighed, sitting up as the survivalist went to get dressed.

Dyria had on his pants and was pulling on the heavy boots as he sat on the edge of his bed, still a little unhappy he had to wake up, but no longer complaining. As long as he was with Sage, he didn't really mind being awake.

"We don't have anything scheduled that we have to do today," the protector noted, buckling the boots securely, "All we have to do is bring the items we collected from the Labyrinth to the bar and the hospital and collect the reward money."

"Emery is going to the hospital with Lynus later today," Sage called from the bathroom, where he was untangling his hair and braiding it over his shoulder.

"Then he can take those items," Dyria decided, standing up and rolling his left shoulder, wincing as the scar tissue was pulled and began to ache from the stretch, "Do you want to go on a walk to the bar with me to drop off the items Cass requested? We can maybe stick around and eat lunch there."

Sage leaned out of the bathroom with a teasing smile, "Are you asking me out on a date?" he asked, the smile fading as Dyria cleared his throat, not turning to face the bathroom as he picked up his shirt.

"That's normal, isn't it? Going on dates is what you're supposed to do," he tensed up when he felt a hand on his bare back, turning his head to look down over his shoulder at where Sage was trailing his fingers over the scars still visible from the Raptor attack.

The survivalist had a heavy look in his eyes, a frown on his lips as he stared at the marks, and Dyria smiled softly before quickly pulling his shirt on so Sage didn't have to look at them, "Hey," he turned and took Sage's chin in his hand, prompting him to look up, "I'm okay now. They don't hurt."

"You promise?" Sage asked, setting his hand on Dyria's chest, and the protector nodded, "And promise you'll tell me if you start hurting."

"I swear I'll tell you if the scars start hurting me," Dyria said, reaching up to take Sage's hand and squeeze his fingers, "Can we go eat breakfast now?"

"Yes," Sage laughed, hooking his arm through Dyria's as the protector grabbed his sword from where it was lying on a chair.

"Just in case," he stated, and Sage snorted.

"In case of what?"

"Unwanted admirers," Dyria explained simply, and Sage rolled his eyes.

Stepping into the dining hall he was met with the familiar, pleasant scent of breakfast food, his stomach grumbling deeply as he detached himself from Dyria with the intention of getting himself something to eat, but his feet freezing to the spot when his gaze went to Halo's table, landing on the painfully familiar explorer standing there.

Sage recognized him instantly, maybe because of the telling weapon on his back, or maybe because of the way he was slouching in discontent, either way the minute Sage's eyes landed on him, breakfast was forgotten and he took a few unsteady steps closer before calling out in an equally unsteady voice.

"Flandr?"

Everyone at the table turned to look in his direction as the landsknecht froze up and turned on his heel, eyes widening when they clashed with Sage's, lips parting as he whispered a name Sage didn't recognize, "Seara..."

"Who?" Sage tilted his head a little and Flandr blinked, looking stunned.

"Wh... you don't remember your own name?"

"Is that what my name is?" Sage brightened, "Huh, not far off."

Flandr didn't say anything to that as he strode forward and wrapped his arms around Sage, burying his face in the survivalist's neck and squeezing him tightly, securely. It felt... familiar to be hugged like this, and the confusing moment from before disappeared with another realization. Someone else from Historia was alive. How was that possible?

Sage lifted his arms and clung to the landsknecht's shirt, pushing his face against Flandr's shoulder and laughing a little, "You're alive," he whispered, and Flandr tensed up, "I can't believe it."

The newcomer just smiled warmly and pulled back just enough to see Sage's face, lifting his left hand and using the bandages wrapped around his fingers to wipe away the tears on his cheeks, "I'm surprised too," he admitted weakly, the smile fading as he took Sage's face carefully in his hands, his forehead pressing against the survivalist's as he closed his eyes, "I'm so sorry."

"What for?" Sage asked, eyes wide, "You didn't do anything. I'm just happy someone is alive!"

Flandr chewed on the inside of his cheek before pulling away and giving Sage a crooked smile, "Seara... can you remember anything that happened that day?"

Sage frowned and looked down at his feet, shaking his head, "I have amnesia," he admitted, and Flandr's head reeled back a little, "For a while I couldn't even remember what guild I was from, or anyone else who was part of it, until recently I couldn't even remember Eliath...," he looked up with a smile, "But I remembered most of it! Like you, and everyone else. I just... don't remember my name, or a lot of my past, or what happened that day."

"I... suppose that's a good thing," Flandr admitted, his hands dropping from Sage's face and slipping down his arms to his wrists, "You don't need to remember it."

Sage pouted a little like he wanted to argue, but was distracted by the bandages that were wrapped around his left arm entirely, including each individual finger, "What happened here? Was it from the attack?"

He reached out but Flandr backed away quickly, turning so his left arm was away from Sage, "Don't touch it," he said stiffly, before scolding himself internally and laughing, "It's just a scratch, don't worry. Besides, it's been three months, any injury would have healed. This is something different."

"Oh...," Sage trailed off before brightening again, "There's a medic in Halo, he can help you if you'd like! Oh!" he spun on his heel to face where Dyria had been standing silently the entire time, his eyes locked on Flandr until the survivalist turned back to him, "This is Halo's guild leader, Dyria!" Sage introduced, grabbing the protector by the hand and dragging him closer as he turned back to Flandr, "He's the one who found me and brought me to the hospital."

"Hospital," Flandr repeated, his expression growing heavy, "Right, I remember," he lifted his right hand and brushed Sage's bangs aside carefully, wincing when he saw the scar, "I remember..."

"It's okay now," Sage reassured with a brilliant smile, "They saved me."

Flandr looked back at the table, "Then I'm grateful to them."

"We didn't do it for you," Iliad happily supplied, "I didn't want to in the first place. Pick up some half dead stray survivalist," he muttered the last part while stuffing a forkful of food into his mouth and Sage rolled his eyes.

"Well, that's Iliad," he introduced, "He's always like that."

"He's secretly a softy though," Vien piped up, "I'm Vien by the way! Strongest in the group!"

"Bullcrap," Emery deadpanned, and Vien pouted at him as Sage laughed.

"Emery is our medic and beside him is Zedimir, then there's Nirim and Arcan," he beamed, "We found Na'axri too! He was with Iliad last night, so?" Iliad held a hand up.

"He left through the front door," the survivalist said, and Arcan quickly added.

"Maybe he went out on patrol?"

"Oh," Sage seemed disappointed, but smiled still, "He'll be back. Why don't you have breakfast with us?"

Flandr waved his hand, "I can't."

"What else do you have going on?" Sage asked, but Flandr didn't respond, and ended up letting the survivalist force him into a chair at the head of the table before food was set in front of him and Dyria and Sage sat down on the bench beside Emery.

The landsknecht appeared to be a little uncomfortable at first, shifting awkwardly in his seat and poking at the food like he didn't know what it was and didn't trust it.

"It is edible," Sage assured, and Flandr set the fork down.

"I know, it's just been a while since I've had food like this."

"That reminds me, actually," Dyria stated from Sage's right, speaking without looking over at the landsknecht, "Where exactly have you been for the past three months?"

"Recovering," Flandr explained, staring down at his lap, "I'm not good with... hospitals, or social gathering spots like restaurants or inns like this, so I kind of just dragged myself into an abandoned shack and fixed myself up."

"That's introverted on a whole new level," Iliad decided, and Sage frowned.

"You're not good with hospitals?"

Flandr gave him a pointed look, "You don't remember that either?"

The survivalist winced, "Sorry, I don't," he apologized and Flandr hummed a little as he leaned back and folded his arms across his chest, tilting his head back.

"It's fine, I can't blame you. It's not your fault," he rolled his head to the side to look at Sage, "Since you don't remember I don't mind telling you again. I never knew my family, I was left in an Etrian Labyrinth when I was an infant and raised by indigenous people there."

"Whoa, wait, there are races of people living in the Labyrinth?" Vien interrupted, and Flandr squinted at him.

"Yes," he answered simply before lifting his right arm and looking back at Sage, "That's where this came from. Those people were heavily tattooed, they believed that if certain marks were permanently placed upon the body, it could make you stronger, braver, silly things like that. When I was around nine, soldiers searching through the Labyrinth found me and took me back to the civilized world. Somehow, I ended up training to become a landsknecht with a group of rookie soldiers, but I never... fit in," he shrugged, "So after a few years of training I went back into the Labyrinth. Unfortunately, the people I came to view as my family didn't want me back, and I didn't do well in a civilized environment like where I was trained, so I just wandered around the Labyrinth on my own, training on my own, for a few years."

"How the hell did you manage that?" Iliad asked, "Living in the Labyrinth seems a little... I don't know, impossible? There are monsters and FOE's, mysteries in every corner, everything wants to kill you."

Flandr looked a little offended as he glared at Iliad, "They're hardly monsters, they're animals like any other. I was raised in a Labyrinth, I grew up there, I adapted," he looked at Sage, "This new guild you've found is a little slow."

Sage laughed awkwardly as Iliad bristled, "So, how long did you wander the Labyrinth like that?"

Flandr frowned and cast his gaze down, tracing one of the tattoos on his forearm, "Five years after I reentered the Labyrinth."

"Damn," Arcan awed, and Sage nodded his agreement.

"Then what made you leave? If you're that bad with cities and people, why would you leave the Labyrinth?"

Flandr continued to stare at the tattoo, a heavy frown on his lips, "The people who raised me were a dying race," he started, "There weren't many left of them. They saved me when I was abandoned by parents who didn't want me, who wanted so little to do with me they threw me into a dangerous Labyrinth hoping I'd be killed. The soldiers essentially kidnapped me, forced me to work for them, harassed me because I wasn't like everyone else. When I finally got away, went back to my family, there were barely a handful of them left. They were so mad at me they turned me away, and I had no other choice but to wander in solitude.

"I figured I'd be alone forever, I spent five years alone, rarely even talking, in the Labyrinth you can communicate with the animals in different ways, so I didn't need my voice. I was going to die there, I was certain... until one day when I was eighteen, and there was this group of three explorers and a beast companion wandering around on one of the higher floors. They were just kids, really, I was sitting waiting for them to get killed... but I underestimated them.

"Curiosity prompted me into following after them, watching them spend three full nights in the Labyrinth without consequences, I was so intrigued I asked the creatures you call monsters to stay back, let them pass, because I wanted to see how they would do in such a savage environment. One explorer in particular seemed right at home, climbing trees and rocks, wandering off in every direction and giving his companions a heart attack.

"I looked away for one second and when I turned back he was right in front of me leaning into my personal space asking who I was," he paused as if he was living in the memory, before looking up at Sage, "That kid was you," he said, "You, your brother, Na'axri and Lesai. That's who got me out of the Labyrinth."

He looked away when he was finished, like he knew his words would make Sage cry, "Lesai," Sage repeated the hexer's name, "H-how did he join us then? He was with us before you?"

"Yea," Flandr shrugged, "I don't know how he ended up with Historia, I never asked, and Lesai only really talked to Eliath, so he probably wouldn't have answered me anyway."

"That's a lot to take in," Sage admitted, folding his arms over the edge of the table and leaning forward a little, "I wish I could remember..."

"It's fine, at this point it's better if you don't remember," Flandr assured, playing with the bandages around his arm, "If you're free, I was wondering if I could talk to you about something," he lifted his head to glance at Sage, "It's kind of important, but I don't want to intrude. If your guild has something they need to get done, I'm happy to wait."

"Good, because we have plans," Dyria said as he stood up from the table, and Sage sat straighter to watch him, "I need to grab the request items from our room, I'll meet you in the entry."

"Okay?" Sage watched him leave before his brow furrowed and he stood up, "Sorry, I'm just going to see if he's okay."

"He's not," Emery said, and Sage tensed before quickly following after the protector.

"This is on Dyria," Iliad decided, "He's being possessive and jealous for no reason."

"Okay Iliad," Emery nodded, leaning over the table and shoving a forkful of ham into Iliad's mouth, "Just eat your breakfast and shut your mouth. I have to leave now too, if anyone needs me I'll be at the hospital with Lynus. Come on, Zed, you wanted to come too, right?"

The dark hunter stood up with a slow nod and trailed after the medic, when he passed Flandr pain unexpectedly flared out from his right eye, his hand flying up to the bandages as he looked down at the landsknecht, frowning at the way he was squeezing his left forearm with his right hand, jaw clenched as if he'd felt the same pain. He certainly looked as confused as Zed felt, but he didn't say anything about it and just hurried after Emery.

"So," Vien tapped the tabletop with his fingers before smiling over at Flandr, "You play poker?"

[no-white-knights-blog]

Halo - An Etrian Odyssey Novel (Chapter 32/50)

"You've had experience dealing with hexes and curses, haven't you?" Emery asked, a dozen empty glass bottles cradled in his arms as he looked over his shoulder over to where Lynus was leaning over Zedimir.

"Yea, a bit. I noticed this when I first met him, the marks and his eye I mean."

"I didn't," Emery mumbled, setting the bottles down before turning back to face Lynus, "So, how is he?"

"Unfortunately, without knowing who the caster is, or at least knowing the exact curse used, I can't cure him, but I can fix something to treat the symptoms and make him more comfortable," he stood straighter and curled his fingers around the strap across his chest holding his bag over his shoulder, looking down at Zed with a solemn expression, "Medics can do a lot, but when it comes to things like hexes and curses, there's only so much we can manage. If we're going to cure him completely, we need an understanding of curses that only a hexer would be able to comprehend."

"I don't know any hexers," Emery sighed in frustration, walking closer to the bed and folding his arms as Lynus smiled softly.

"There's one in my guild, but I don't think asking him about curses will go anywhere. I could borrow a few of his books at least, lend you a few, slowly start whittling our way through them to see if we can't find something to help."

"That's fine," Emery nodded, crouching down beside the bed and reaching out to feel Zed's forehead, "He'll be okay though, right?"

"Don't worry, he'll be fine," Lynus assured, squeezing Emery's shoulder, "I'll fix something quick for tonight that should at least give him his appetite back, because he needs to eat, and tomorrow I'll make something a little stronger to target the more severe symptoms, like the fever and the blood in his lungs."

"Thank you," Emery sighed, dropping his face against the mattress as Lynus sifted through his bag and pulled out a few bottles before walking over to the table and quickly mixing them into one before handing it out to Emery.

"Have him drink this when he wakes up, it should lower his fever and give him a bit of energy and appetite, I'll get back to you tomorrow with a more permanent medicine."

Emery nodded and took the bottle carefully, cradling it against his chest and watching Lynus leave the room before turning and sitting back down in his seat to wait for Zed to wake up.

~

"I like it," Sage decided, one arm hooked with Dyria's, his other hugging a large bag against his chest as the protector held up his newly acquired shield, "The green accents match your eyes."

He blushed a little at his own words but smiled in embarrassment when Dyria looked at him, "Yea? I got it because it matched your hair," he teased, and Sage laughed a little as Dyria slung the shield onto his back and reached out to take the bag from Sage, "Here, that's probably heavy."

"A little," Sage admitted, willingly letting Dyria take the rest of the armor he'd purchased before pressing himself against Dyria's side, beaming when he looked down to his right side where Na'axri was obediently staying at his feet.

It was a little amusing to realize Sage wasn't acting any different than he did before their kiss. He'd always done this, held Dyria's hand because he was afraid of being separated even for a moment, even in public here in Lagaard Sage would stand close enough to the protector that their shoulders were touching. Well, that made the transition a bit easier, made it less embarrassing for Sage to look at Dyria and think "mine".

He somehow remembered when he was in Historia, he never cared much about the idea of relationships or romance. He was always so focused on his work as a survivalist, constantly updating the codex's, making sure he and his brother both had enough arrows, training, and making sure the rest of Historia were properly supplied. Before, all he ever wanted to do was stay with his brother, make him proud, all he cared about was the way Eliath would praise him and ruffle his hair, the very idea of romance sort of just flew over his head.

Being with Halo now made him realize just how many people in the past would come up to Sage and try to talk to him, flirt with him and take his hand, but he'd been so distracted he had no idea what was happening and just politely responded to every question that the men asked him. Which probably wasn't a good thing, because they ended up getting bolder and bolder, leaning closer and closer to Sage, until someone from Historia had to step in and physically get the man away from the stupid survivalist.

Romance had no meaning before Sage met Halo, but... meeting Dyria opened up so many doors Sage never even knew were there. He never realized that being in romantic relationships could make him feel so complete. Even with the aching knowledge that his former family was gone, Sage could still smile, because he had a new family, and even better, he had Dyria.

He never realized he could want someone as much as he wanted Dyria, and couldn't stop himself from smiling as he entwined the fingers of his left hand with Dyria's right, his right hand reaching over to cling to the protector's sleeve, as if for added security that they wouldn't be separated.

"When you first found me in the Labyrinth, I thought I was already dead," Sage found himself saying, looking up at the sky, "I thought maybe you were an angel, and when you were carrying me to the hospital, the way the light was hitting you, it looked like you were wearing a golden halo," he smiled in embarrassment and laughed, "That's why I suggested the name Halo for your guild you know; because when I first met you, I could've sworn you were wearing one."

Dyria looked down at Sage with a soft smile, "That so? And here I thought it was just a clever on the spot idea," Sage laughed again and set his head against Dyria's shoulder while the protector squeezed his hand a little, "I think I must have fallen for you the moment I saw you," he confessed, and Sage looked up at him, "Blood and all. I don't really know why, but seeing you hurt, cradling you and watching your eyes open... when I was carrying you I silently decided I wasn't ever going to let you go."

Sage blushed and looked down, smiling softly and reaching down to scratch the top of Na'axri's head, "So... when you first saw me, you'd already decided you wanted to kiss me?" he asked in a teasing voice, glancing up and feeling extremely proud of himself when he noticed the pink across Dyria's cheeks.

"Not at first I don't think," he admitted, "In the beginning I just wanted to be the one to protect you. Maybe because I'm selfish. I wanted to kiss you after that, after I told you about... what happened to my parents, and what I did to save Iliad... when you didn't turn away from me, when you held me... I decided then that I liked being in your arms, about as much as I liked having you in mine," he smiled at Sage, "I think that's when I decided I wanted to kiss you."

Sage bit his lip and tightened his grip on Dyria's arm, "I don't know when I started to fall for you," he murmured, "It happened all at once, so suddenly I didn't have time to breathe. One day you were someone I didn't know, the next I couldn't imagine living without you," he pressed his lips into a tight line before adding, "Then you nearly died, and... I almost lost you."

Dyria stopped walking, turning to face Sage and frowning, "I'm sorry I scared you like I did. I never meant to."

"I kissed you," Sage admitted, looking up with an innocent look in his eyes, "When you got home and fell asleep. I kissed you."

Dyria blinked, fighting the embarrassment that Sage admitted something like that, and instead plastered a pout onto his lips, "That's so rude. You stole my first kiss and I wasn't even awake to enjoy it?"

Sage laughed and pushed himself onto his toes, brushing his nose against Dyria's, "If you want you can get your revenge now."

Dyria leaned in so their foreheads were touching, "I probably have plenty of time to get revenge, don't I?" he asked, letting his lips hover teasingly above Sage's, smiling when the survivalist closed his eyes and parted his lips a little in anticipation, "All the time in the world."

He was about to shut his eyes and close the small gap separating him from Sage, until he heard a low growl from Na'axri the same instant something caught the corner of his eye, prompting him to look up, frowning. He could've sworn he saw someone standing just beside the tree a few yards behind Sage, someone wearing a dark cloak, and the way Na'axri was pacing with his ears picked up was a pretty clear sign someone had indeed been watching them, but whoever it may have been was gone now.

"Dyria?" he dropped his gaze to see Sage was watching him with an uncertain expression on his face, "What's wrong?

"Ah, it's nothing, I thought I saw someone, but it was just a shadow," Dyria assured, placing a chaste kiss to the survivalist's cheek before turning, "Let's get back home before it gets too dark."

"Okay," Sage agreed before whistling for Na'axri and going back to cuddling against his protector's side.

Dyria smiled at Sage while they walked, but it faded quickly and he looked nervously over his shoulder back towards the tree, noting the way Na'axri was staying a few paces behind them, stopping now and then to look back over at the tree before running to catch up with the couple. Honestly for a moment he figured he could pretend that had been nothing, but the way their beast companion was acting... he couldn't just avoid it.

Someone had been watching them, someone potentially dangerous, otherwise Na'axri wouldn't have growled and wouldn't be acting so anxious. Dyria tugged his arm from Sage and instead wrapped it around the shorter explorer's shoulders, hugging him protectively and glaring over his shoulder before smiling at Sage, hoping he hadn't noticed.

As messed up as it sounded, Dyria wouldn't be surprised if Sage had a stalker. He was a stunning beauty after all, with bright magenta eyes Dyria had never seen before, and unfairly gorgeous long light green hair that was as soft to the touch as it looked, his skin creamy and pale, and just a genuinely kindhearted personality to tie everything together, he was like some exotic prize, and Dyria noticed all the eyes that would linger whenever he was out with Sage.

That just meant he had to be more conscientious about the people around them, especially now. Dyria had to make it clear to everyone that Sage was his, and that messing with his survivalist would result in injury. A stalker was definitely something Dyria would not tolerate, it made him angry just thinking about it, but tried to shake the frustration away so he wouldn't snap.

Wow, he didn't know he was this violently possessive and protective. Then again, he figured he was probably a bit unstable considering what he'd done in the past, but it was unlikely he'd actually attack someone just for following Sage around. If they hurt him, on the other hand, then yea, Dyria was probably going to go crazy.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Sage asked suddenly, and Dyria frowned, looking down at him, "You look a little pale. Are you hurting at all?"

"Oh, no, I'm sorry," Dyria smiled crookedly, "Just thinking about all the admirers you have and how I might beat them senseless if I run into any of them."

Sage snorted a little, "I don't have admirers," he argued, and Dyria sighed, setting his cheek against Sage's head.

"I really hope you're right."

~

"What an interesting turn of events," his voice was like nails clawing a chalkboard, and the two figures hanging from chains on the wall instantly reacted, one tensing up while the other cowered, harsh light casting into the dark room as the door was pushed open and a hexer with dark hair and eyes stepped into the room, "It's got to be eating you both up, to know the pretty boy of your guild is prancing around while you're both suffering here."

Someone laughed harshly, coughing, "Nah," he croaked, "Him safe is all we could hope for at this point. Thanks, by the way, for telling us he was alive," his chuckle sounded like it was being muffled, "Gave us a stronger will to fight against you."

He choked more when the hexer appeared in front of him and grabbed him around the throat, squeezing, "I should cut your tongue out, boy."

"And keep me from talking in my beautiful voice?" he choked out sassily, "Oh shame upon you and your family."

The hexer threw the already weakened explorer back so his head slammed against the brick wall, prompting him to slump forward groaning lowly, "You piss me off. I don't know why I'm keeping you two alive at this point. Neither of you have what I want," he turned away and paced across the room, "I can't find that leader of yours, and he's probably my best bet, but at least I know where that boy is. My easily manipulated pawn will be on his way soon to bring that survivalist to me," he grinned, pulling a chess piece from the sleeve of his long black cloak and rolling it around as he turned to face his prisoners, "It's been almost three months. Aren't you tired of this? Just answer my questions, join me!" he outstretched his arms, and the same man sighed.

"Again with the same sermon, it's boring I tell you," the hexer snarled and turned to the explorer hanging to the left, swinging on the chains in a bored manner like the imprisonment was meant to be a toy, "How about you just let us go and we turn you into the authorities? How haven't they caught you, anyway? You're a creepy unknown hexer taking residence in a Lagaard mansion, is this not suspicious to anyone?"

"I stay out of the limelight," the hexer explained in a dull voice, "That's what you should've done."

"We didn't ask for fame, it kind of just found us," the explorer said in an overly dramatic voice, his companion sighing and shaking his head, "We're strong, buddy. Torture us all you want, it's not going to break us."

"What about your precious leader and his younger brother?" the hexer asked, chuckling, "That boy... he looks soft as silk. When I get my hands on him, I'm going to tie him into knots."

The explorer clenched his jaw but didn't respond as the man laughed deeply and left the room, slamming the door closed and casting the room back into darkness. Alone again, the explorer let himself slump down, hanging by his arms and sighing, his head tilting back against the wall.

"Can we leave now? I know you can bust us out easy, what are you waiting for? A signal?"

"Yes."

"Oh, well then everything's peachy," he slammed his head against the wall, "I'm not built for this, and I can't imagine how you're taking it. We have to get out. Both of them... both of them are in danger. If they're not already dead."

"They're not."

The explorer sighed and bowed his head, "Alright, I'll trust you, but I don't like this," he lifted his head again when the door opened quietly before shutting, and a match was lit before candles came to life, casting just enough light into the room for tired eyes to catch sight of ash gray hair and eyes that matched the yellow flames of the candles, "Oh wow! Look who's graced us with his presence! The mighty conqueror of the Labyrinth beasts! I'd bow to you, but as you can see," he tugged on the chains, making them clang against the stone wall, "I'm a bit tied up."

The man who'd just entered kept his eyes down as he stepped further into the room and set down two platters of food, "You need to eat," he stated, stepping over to the wall and pulling on the chains so they were slack enough to allow the two men to drop to the floor and draw their arms in, "Please."

"Hm, food," the man on the left crossed his legs before folding his arms defiantly, eyes closed, "Nah, I don't think I will."

The man standing rolled his yellow eyes and turned to the third person in the room, but the moment his feet moved in that direction, the other young man scrambled away from him, as far as he could get with his wrists chained.

"Wow, it's almost like he's scared of you," the man to the left said sarcastically, throwing himself onto his back and stretching his legs out as he held his left elbow with his right hand, wincing, "Can't imagine why, it's not like you tried to kill us or anything like that."

"You just don't understand," the man with yellow eyes insisted, turning, "I didn't do this because I wanted to."

"Do us both a favor and fuck off."

He sighed heavily and turned, shuffling his feet as he made his way back over to the door, "I am sorry. I didn't want this to happen."

The door closed again, and the explorer shut his eyes, "Of course not."

~

The morning was greeted by the smell of cooking breakfast and the cheerful voices of explorers getting ready to go out for another day in the Labyrinth. Even though it was early, people were awake, crowding into the dining hall in order to get the best food while it was still warm. When Vien entered the room with Nirim at his heels, he brightened substantially and ran the rest of the way to the table by the window designated as theirs.

"Zed! You're alive and you're even out of bed!" he cheered, and the dark hunter looked up from where he'd been staring into his cup, just as their medic stepped up with two plates, one with the bare minimum, the second filled with food.

"The medicine Lynus fixed up yesterday was a miracle," Emery said with a crooked smile as he sat down beside Zed, "He can finally eat, his fever is gone, he's basically back to normal now."

Zed happily dragged his plate closer before digging into it, and Vien laughed as he dropped himself onto the bench across from him, Nirim staying close by his side, "You're like, never allowed to get sick like that again, Zed. Our medic is hard enough to deal with, he's ten times worse when you're not in tip top shape. You in particular," he held up finger guns and winked, but Zed was so busy enjoying his first full meal in five days he didn't notice, so Vien just slumped forward, his chin on the table and a pout on his lips, "You're no fun."

"Oh thank god, he's alive," Iliad sighed in relief when he walked up to the table holding a plate of food, "I was seriously starting to worry about Lagaard for a few days there, I legitimately thought Emery was going to commit arson."

"Would you shut up?" Emery scoffed, "Let the guy eat in peace."

"He seems so focused on doing just that he didn't even hear what was said," Arcan noted, sitting down beside Iliad with his own plate while Vien lifted off the table.

"Where's our human mascot?"

"Could you stop calling my brother that?" Arcan asked, squinting, "He asked if he could hang out with Becky and Binah so I said okay. He needs friends closer to his age anyway."

"Where are the two lovebirds then?" Vien asked, sitting straighter and grinning, "I haven't seen them since yesterday, they went on a walk to pick up some new supplies for Dyria and then just disappeared."

"No, they didn't," Emery corrected, "Dyria got new armor, but he still needed to adjust everything, and Sage offered to help, so all yesterday they were trying to adjust the belts and size of the armor straps so the stuff wouldn't fall off Dyria during battle," he narrowed his eyes at Vien, "Quit picking on them," he warned before closing his eyes and holding a cup of tea to his lips, "That's my job."

Vien laughed and leaned forward, hands on the edge of the table, "How do you feel about it, Iliad? Now that Sage is all lovey-dovey with your brother, do you think it'll be weird for you?"

"I don't really care," Iliad admitted, staring up with a piece of bacon hanging from his teeth, "Dyria is happy, Sage makes him happy, so I'm cool with it. You've noticed too, right?" he dropped his eyes to Emery, "How much Dyria has changed since we found Sage?"

Emery smiled thoughtfully and hummed, "I think all of us have changed pretty dramatically since meeting Sage."

"Yea, you're healing again!" Vien pointed, and Emery sat straighter.

"That reminds me actually, I'm going to be at the hospital later today, Lynus wanted to show me a few things, and we were going to pick up a few books. Do you guys mind watching Zed, because I can't take him everywhere with me."

Iliad arched an amused eyebrow when Zed reached over to grasp Emery's coat sleeve without looking up, "I don't think he wants you to leave him."

Emery sighed in frustration, "Fine, you can come with me, just finish your breakfast."

"You're like a mom," Vien cooed, and Emery narrowed his eyes, so the troubadour quickly added, "A very scary mom."

This time it was Iliad who laughed, pointing at Emery as if the nickname "scary mom" was the funniest shit in the world, even when the medic turned his glare onto the survivalist. Halo was so lost in their own world they didn't notice the stranger who stepped into the dining hall, his eyes panning over the area before stopping on the table near the window and striding forward, stopping right beside them.

"Excuse me, but are you the guild calling yourselves Halo?"

Their talk and laughter ceased and all eyes moved to the stranger. He was dressed in rather casual clothes, a sleeveless shirt with a high collar that showed black tribal tattoos down the entire length and expanse of his right arm and bandages wrapping from his left shoulder to his hand. There was an axe hanging at his back, and his hair was a dark ash color, while his eyes were a deep yellow shade, a piece of paper in his right hand.

"Yea," Iliad was the one to answer finally, "Can we help you?"

Arcan squinted a little, "Do I know you? You're kind of... familiar."

"I've never seen you before in my life," the landsknecht stated, looking down at the paper he was holding, "I'm just here to find a friend of mine," he held the paper out and Vien leaned forward.

"Oh that's Sage!" he exclaimed, and Emery scoffed, taking the poster from the explorer.

"Great, another one," he grumbled, "Vien, this poster has caused more trouble than it's worth, take the rest of them down before more people prance in here claiming they know Sage."

"It's not my fault," Vien whined, "I was trying to help."

The landsknecht just sighed and rubbed his forehead, "I don't have time for this, his name's not Sage," the table hushed as the explorer held his hand out, "Look, I thought he was dead, then I saw that poster and... is he with you or not?"

"You're that guy!" Arcan gasped, "I remember now, you were with that green haired survivalist! You're the one who walked into me and knocked over all the crates I was carrying!"

The landsknecht didn't look very interested in Arcan's story and just ignored him as he continued, "Where is he?"

"Sorry, but we're not really open to just giving away information about friends," Iliad stated, and the explorer's yellow eyes flashed to him, "If you really know him, then what's his real name?"

The landsknecht narrowed his eyes, but he looked more confused than anything, "What do you mean what's his real name? Don't you people already know it?"

"It's a long story," Vien admitted, and the landsknecht closed his eyes like he was forcing himself to calm down, exhaling and setting a hand on his hip.

"Seara," he said finally, opening his eyes and stunning everyone at the table with how much pain was in them, "That's his name. He's a survivalist from the guild Historia. My guild."

Iliad was the one who pointed at the explorer, "So... you're..."

"Flandr?"

[no-white-knights-blog]

Halo - An Etrian Odyssey Novel (Chapter 31/50)

Notes: Oooohhhhh~ tHis marks the final arc in the novel, get ready for some major SH*T (do I have to censor myself on Tumblr? Idfk)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Piercing yellow eyes could barely will themselves to lift higher than the sink in front of him, hands clenched around the porcelain edges as he glared into the water, the door to the bathroom closed and locked and the windows barred, making escape from this self-made prison impossible. The room was foggy from the heat of the shower, but his guilt made him feel cold and clammy. Even spending nights in the Labyrinth alone as a child never felt this cold and humiliating.

He hated himself for what he'd done, but he didn't have a choice. They forced him, that's what he told himself, tricked him and manipulated him into using these strange and unnatural abilities. They promised him no one would get hurt if he cooperated, but how could he have believed those easily spoken lies? Wasn't he smarter than that? His family, the only family he ever had, gone.

A pounding at the bathroom door tore him from his hateful thoughts, eyes flashing over to the doorknob as it wiggled, "You've had enough time to pretty yourself up, the boss needs a report! Now! Unless you want to hear your friend screaming again!"

He tensed up and snarled as he yanked the plug from the sink, yelling back, "I'm coming!" before his eyes lifted, but quickly averted away from the mirror before he could get a good look at himself.

After what he'd done, seeing his own face would just make him vomit from disgust.

He opened the door to the bathroom and followed the guard standing outside down the halls of the building and into the receiving room where the mastermind of this entire downfall was sitting in a chair, slumped back with his arms folded and not looking very amused.

"We sent you to get rid of that wolf," the man spoke, and the guard shoved the recipient of the snarled words to his knees, "Where is it?"

Yellow eyes shifted away, and he shrugged, "Got away, that's hardly my fault. It's a wolf, they don't exactly sit still and wait to be captured for torture or murdered by Labyrinth monsters," he dared a chance to glare at the psychopath in front of him, "I already told you it would take a lot more than me searching for the damn thing to capture it. He's smart."

"He; it's an animal!" the man sat straighter and threw an arm out, "Set traps! Trick it! Pretend to be its friend! That's nothing you've never done before, is it? Go make friends with it before capturing it!"

The young explorer ground his teeth before gritting out his disagreement, "I've already tried that, but he doesn't trust me, and I don't blame him. Why does it matter anyway, just let him live in peace in the Labyrinth! He's domesticated, he'll be killed or die eventually! You got what you wanted, didn't you? So just leave the dog alone!"

The man scoffed and sat straighter in his chair, "It doesn't matter that I got what I wanted, there are still people out there who know about it. That wolf, although it can't very well speak, was still affiliated with Historia. And while we're on the subject, two of the guild members are still missing."

The explorer sighed in frustration and bowed his head, "For the last time, I killed them. Why don't you believe me?"

"Why? It's in your nature to lie and deceive, isn't it? Why should I believe you?" the man paused before continuing, "In any case, I have a lead on those two," he snapped his fingers and the guard stepped forward, searching in his pockets while the man added, "Granted I haven't found the one who disappeared in the Labyrinth, but this one was easy enough to find."

"What are you talking about?" the man on his knees asked in utter exhaustion, "Historia is gone, all five of them are either physically dead or emotionally," he dropped his head to glare at the ground, "I killed them, all of them, that should be enough for you."

"It would be if you were telling the truth," the man snapped, sitting straighter in his chair before taking to his feet, dark robes pooling onto the ground and chains singing as he glided forward with a piece of paper in his hand, stopping in front of the bowed explorer, "After years of searching, no, decades and centuries of searching, I managed to narrow down the identity of the guild harboring what I've been looking for. Even though I have all of them now, they won't talk. I know Historia has it somewhere, maybe on a necklace or something, but even after stripping them of their belongings, I've found nothing! So, the logical assumption is either the wolf has it, perhaps on a collar-."

"He doesn't," the explorer rolled his eyes, but the man ignored him.

"-or the missing explorer has it on his person, lost in the Labyrinth, possibly decomposing somewhere. Then there's the last possibility, that this one has it," he tossed down the paper and it fluttered to the ground in front of the explorer, who visibly tensed up, slowly reaching out for the paper, "A contact of ours found that hanging on the request board at the bar," he stated, crouching down and holding a hand out.

The explorer crumpled and gasped, grabbing at his left wrist as it was pulled up by an unseen force, his eyes inevitably locking with the man's in front of him, "What was it you said about killing all of Historia?"

"I-I didn't know," the explorer hissed between grit teeth, wincing from the agony that was tearing down his arm, "Stop!"

The man released him from whatever hold he was in, letting him drop to the floor, gasping and hugging his arm against his stomach as he stared down at the poster, "For all we know, he has it," the man said, standing, and the explorer grit his teeth, "Go to Flaus Inn, find him, and do something right for once."

"Why are you doing this?" came the whispered demand, "Is there a point? How is this item so important that it merits so much death and suffering?"

"That, my boy, is something I'm dearly hoping to show you. Now go, and hurry up. I think I'm going to go question the others while you're out, so don't take too long."

"Bastard," he hissed as the jingle of chains faded from the room, the pain in his arm fading finally so he could reach down and pick up the poster, cursing as he sat back on his heels and shaking his head, "You stupid idiot, why are you still in Lagaard?" he asked aloud before reading the words below the picture.

Found: green haired survivalist, comes to the name of Sage, enjoys salmon and tea, if you have any information on this survivalist, contact guild Halo at Flaus Inn.

"Halo," the explorer repeated before folding the poster and slipping it into a pouch on his belt, "It's almost ironically fitting."

~

"Hey, look who's finally on his feet!" Vien sang when Dyria sat down at the table, "How are you feeling?"

"Better," Dyria answered, smiling when Sage took the seat beside him, unconsciously sliding as close to the protector as he could manage so their shoulders were pressed right against each other, "Happy to be allowed out of bed."

"The rest of us are pretty happy about that too," Iliad assured, "Now we just need Zed to be better, huh Em?"

The medic sighed from where he was sitting beside Iliad, across from Sage, "No kidding."

"Is he not any better?" Dyria asked, and Emery shook his head.

"He is, but every time I think he's getting better, something else happens. His fever goes down a little and he starts having trouble breathing, when he can breathe easier he starts throwing up, when that stops more of that weird black blood starts pouring from his eye, I don't know what to do."

He dropped his face into his hands and Iliad squeezed his shoulder as Sage spoke up, "Has he eaten anything today?"

"A little, but that's bothering me too," Emery admitted weakly, "He usually has such a big appetite, but lately he can barely stomach soup and broth. He's just getting worse and worse."

Sage chewed on his bottom lip, watching Emery flip through a notebook with a frustrated and panicked look on his face. Under the table, he sought one of Dyria's hands, their fingers twisting together as he clung to the protector and tried not to outwardly show how panicked he was. He didn't want anyone in this guild to be hurt, or even worse, to die. There had to be something they could do for Zed, right?

"Y-you said, from what Zed explained, this illness is the direct side effect of a hexer's curse that was cast on him when he was younger, right?"

"Yea," Emery answered, and Sage thought about it for a little before sighing when he couldn't come up with anything.

"Maybe Dr Stiles has some experience with dealing with hexer related illness," he suggested finally, "Or maybe there are books in the hospital that could help you get a bearing on what's wrong with Zed."

"I've tried that," Emery rebutted, "There was plenty about hex related curses making people sick, evidently there was even an epidemic of hexers going around cursing people left and right for fun a while back, but I couldn't find anything even similar to what Zed is going through now. Maybe if we had a hexer they could explain a few things. I mean, what if this isn't just a playful hex? Zed told me the man who cursed him told him to die painfully, slowly. Can hexers do that? Kill people?"

"Hexers are necromancers," Dyria explained, "They die in order to control death, in a way. It probably isn't as far-fetched as it sounds to think they could control someone's life or cast a curse on them that slowly leeches them of their health and strength."

"Who was in charge of that epidemic?" Sage decided to ask, "Was it Dr Stiles? Maybe he can help," Emery visibly bristled and closed his notebook, glaring down, and Sage frowned before realization dawned on him and he smiled, "It was Lynus, wasn't it?"

"If no one and nothing else can help, why would he be able to?" Emery demanded harshly, "There's no way he can magically mix up some herbs and cure Zed when no other healing can!"

"He is called the miracle medic," Iliad muttered against a mouthful of food, eyes looking off to the side like he was avoiding Emery frustrated glare, "It's worth a shot since nothing else has worked."

"He might be able to help," Sage said softly, "Nothing else has helped, like you said, so there's nothing to lose. I know if you asked him he would help, he's that kind of person. I know you're not comfortable around other medics, and I know it's gotta tear you up when you have to ask other medics to help, but I'm worried about Zed too, if he's suffering like this... would you rather let him suffer, or are you willing to put your pride and insecurity aside for once to help him? Do you care enough about him to do that?"

Dyria squeezed his hand as if to say "too far", but it had to be said, and Sage didn't mind being the bad guy if he could get the words across to Emery, who slowly stood up and backed away without responding.

"I need to get back."

"You haven't eaten," Dyria called, and Emery turned his back.

"Not hungry."

They watched him leave the dining hall before looking back at each other, and Sage sighed, dropping his head, "I'm sorry."

"That wasn't your fault, it was true," Iliad assured as Dyria wrapped an arm around Sage's shoulders, "I can tell something about Emery has changed, he somehow broke through some part of his insecurity to use his abilities, even something as small as a refresh spell, so maybe he's grown up enough to shove the rest of that bullshit aside to ask for help."

"Don't worry so much, Sage," Vien tried to reassure him, leaning forward and smiling over at the survivalist, "Everything will work out. I know!" he held a finger up, "Dyria still needs to get replacements for his armor and stuff, right? Why don't you and he take a walk? By the time you guys get back, everything will be fine."

Sage stared down at the table top and sighed, nodding, "Alright, only because Dyria needs replacement supplies."

"There you go, it'll be a nice break after having to babysit our dumb injured leader," Vien clapped his hands together, "Bring Na'axri too, he probably needs to socialize with people."

The wolf companion lifted his head from where he was lying under the table on top of Iliad's feet, and Sage laughed, standing up, "Yea, okay. Come on pup, let's take a walk."

Dyria squinted a little at Vien as Sage crouched down to meet Na'axri, "What are you doing?" he asked, and Vien smiled brightly.

"Emery is busy so I'm interfering for him!"

"What?"

"Are you two married yet?" Iliad asked, "Because that's their goal."

Sage squeaked a little as Dyria looked back at Vien, "Have you and Emery been aiming for that this whole time?"

"Well it was just Emery at first, then I noticed you two were obviously in love and decided to join in," he held a finger up, "Binah and I came up with several game plans to get you two together!"

Dyria rolled his eyes and stood up, "Too slow," he stated, holding his hand down to Sage, "Come on, let's leave them to contemplate what they're going to do now we're actually together. They lost their hobby."

Sage blushed furiously and stood up, taking Dyria's hand as Vien squealed, "Holy shit you two!"

Iliad snorted, "I didn't know amnesiacs were your type, bro."

"Yea?" Dyria looked directly at Iliad, "I didn't know gunners were your type."

Iliad slammed his hands onto the table and stood up, "What was that you prick?!"

Dyria just turned and stepped towards the door, hiding his smirk as Arcan's cheeks turned red and Sage tugged on his sleeve, "That was mean," he said as they left the dining hall, and Dyria smiled at him, slowing his steps so they were walking side by side.

"It's my job to tease him," he said, leaning closer and placing a kiss to Sage's cheek, "He'll get over it."

~

Emery was sitting in a chair at the table he'd dragged over to Zedimir's bed, leaning over the top where his notebook was sitting along with dozens of other books, papers, and bottles of medicine and elixirs. He wanted to be as close to the dark hunter as possible so he'd dragged both the table and chair next to the bed, sitting so he was facing the door and could reach over to feel Zedimir's forehead whenever he needed to.

He was flipping through yet another report he'd borrowed from the hospital about a paralyzing curse a rogue hexer had cast on some unsuspecting civilian, but nothing he'd found so far was anywhere close to being similar to what Zed was going through now, therefore entirely useless.

The tug on his coat had Emery turning his attention down to where Zed had rolled onto his side and reaching out, clinging to his coat with sleepy eyes, making the medic smile and reach down to rake the dark hunter's fluffy blue hair back with his fingers. The smile wavered when he felt how hot Zed's forehead was, casting a quick refresh spell before massaging the sick explorer's head with the pads of his fingers.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, and Zed murmured, tightening his grip on Emery's coat and furrowing his brow.

"Chest hurts," he croaked, and Emery turned in his chair to face Zed, reaching over to rub his shoulders.

"Roll onto your back and sit up, slowly," Emery ordered, and Zed mumbled, not releasing his hold on Emery's coat as he slowly rolled onto his back, cringing and coughing as Emery slipped an arm behind his shoulders and propped him up, "Easy, take a slow breath in."

Zed nodded and did as he was told, breathing in slowly before exhaling, but when he tried to inhale a second time he lurched forward coughing, and Emery gasped a little when red sprayed onto the covers over his lap.

"Oh shit," Emery breathed, grabbing a handkerchief from his pocket and holding it to Zed's mouth to wipe the blood from his lips and chin, "Okay, easy, lie on your side," Zed didn't say a word as he laid on his side, coughing into the handkerchief as Emery rubbed the back of his neck, "Has this ever happened before?"

Zed nodded, holding the handkerchief against his mouth as he continued to cough, tears in both eyes as he shook furiously from his fever. Emery pulled the covers higher, letting his hand hover over Zed's chest as he whispered a few refresh spells one after the other, then did the same with his fingers against the dark hunter's temple. After what felt like hours he finally stopped coughing, spitting into the handkerchief before letting Emery take it from him.

The medic cringed when he noticed how much blood was staining the cloth, throwing it into a trash bin before grabbing another cloth from his bag and soaking it with water before cleaning off Zed's chin and lips and helping him settle down against the mattress and pillows, pulling the covers even higher before carding his fingers through the dark hunter's hair until the other explorer had fallen asleep.

Emery dropped his head forward against the mattress, taking a shaky breath in before sitting up again and staring down at the dry blood on his hand, wiping it against his jeans before standing up. He stayed in one place for a long moment, staring down at Zed before taking a determined breath in and turning, quietly shutting the door when he left the room and curling his hands into fists as he stalked forward.

When he reached the tearoom he was insanely grateful to find the door closed, and part of him was hoping when he built up the courage to open the door he would find the room empty, but that was pretty unlikely. So, Emery just stood there numbly for a long moment, staring at his hand and trying to talk himself out of what he was going to do.

He was sure he could think of something to help Zed eventually, some kind of medicine to at least stall the effects of the curse, but... by the time he did so, it could be too late. Emery didn't have time for trial and error, he needed to figure out a way to help Zed now. That dark hunter was the first person Emery had ever met who understood his anxiety and insecurity, the only one who ever clung to him like he was afraid of Emery abandoning him.

They both had such similar fears, being abandoned, being exiled, Emery couldn't turn his back on Zed the same way the medic's in his home town turned on him. He didn't have enough confidence to admit it out loud, but he'd grown to really enjoy Zed's company, and truly cared about him. Emery couldn't risk losing him.

Knocking would have been a little weird, since it wasn't as if Emery was entering someone's bedroom, so he just opened the door and stepped into the room, tensing up when he noticed nearly the entire Guardians guild was lounging in the tearoom, their conversation ceasing the moment the door opened, which instantly put Emery on the spot and panicking enough to pass out. The way Axel narrowed his eyes didn't help his anxiety either.

Their guild leader was sitting in an armchair in the corner with a newspaper, which he folded down to glance in Emery's direction before holding it back up, "Can we help you?" he asked, and Emery held his hands up defensively.

"U-um, I'm sorry to interrupt, I-I just h-had to talk with... L-Lynus."

"What for?" Axel asked, and Lynus gave him a short, scolding look before standing up.

"It's fine," he said, walking around the couch to face the other medic, "Is something wrong?"

"U-um...," Emery trailed off, playing with the buttons of his coat and dropping his eyes, "I just... um..."

"Are you here to apologize?" Axel suggested, his arms folded over the back of the couch, and Emery tensed up a little more as Lynus rolled his eyes a little.

This probably would have been a lot easier if Lynus had been alone, but Emery figured it was just more karma for yelling at the innocent medic for literally no reason. It was just another challenge he had to overcome, and it probably wouldn't be nearly as painful as what Zed was going through, so he had to suck it up and just deal with it, block out everyone in the room who wasn't Lynus and speak.

Emery falling to his knees was probably an unexpected turn of events, but he didn't bother paying attention to the guild's expression as he dropped to his hands and bowed his head, "I'm sorry," he started shakily, "I know I have no right to do this after yelling at you for no reason, I have no excuse and I don't know how to explain why I am the way I am, all I can do is apologize and assure you I really do feel horrible."

"When did he yell at Lynus?" Emery heard someone whisper, before someone else shushed whoever had talked.

"But I didn't come here because I wanted you to forgive me, I don't care about that. I don't think I deserve to be forgiven when I know it'll take me a lot longer than this to stop being so uptight and untrustworthy. I need your help, please," he felt his head bowing lower, his eyes burning, "I'm not a good medic. I can't heal people like I'm supposed to, I can't do anything besides offer some relief with a refresh spell or medica, and someone from my guild is sick. I can't heal him, I barely understand what's happening to him, all I know is he's hurting and if I don't do something I'm going to lose him, so...," he bowed himself even lower until his forehead was against the ground, "Please help. I'm begging you. As a medic, it's gotta be against your moral compass to turn someone away if they're hurt or need healing. I know I keep screwing up, and I treated you cruelly for no good reason, but don't do this for me, do it because you're a medic and healing people is what you love to do. Please. I'll pay you if I have to, I don't care, I just can't lose him."

He let out a shaky exhale when he was done and stayed where he was, kneeling on his hands with his head bowed and tears on his cheeks, waiting for something to happen. He was expecting Lynus' overprotective guild to kick him out, so when he heard feet shuffling against the ground before stopping in front of him, he tensed up, going so far as to pinch his eyes closed when they knelt down in front of him.

Emery already knew it was Lynus, but it still caught him off guard when the other medic took his shoulders and pulled him into a secure hug, "Of course I'll help," he said softly, and Emery choked on his breath, hiding his face against Lynus' shoulder and reaching up to cling to the back of his coat.

"I'm sorry," he whimpered, and Lynus smiled, petting the back of Emery's hair.

"I know. It's okay."