#so if i disappear again find me in the labyrinth and blame my boss

[cursed-clock-shop]

Nelly is the type of girl to have her wedding bells sound suspiciously like death knells.

[friendlyunclej]

In Need of a Home

Prologue

     A war rages over the head of three lost souls who fled the carnage of steel and magic into a sewer system beneath one of the most powerful cities in all of Baicia. These three vagrants were part of a clan close to a hundred and fifty strong when they sieged the city of Tyriok. Scouts of their clan took the identities of normal bystanders and homeless folk, making them suspiciously disappear to replace them. Even from what information they could gather, they were sorely under prepared for the hellfire they brought upon themselves. The three who escaped into the sewer systems were the smart ones, intelligent enough to know that they were facing a losing battle. However, they weren’t fast enough to prevent one of their own from catching an arrow in his hip.

     Limping with the help of his two closest allies, the man said, “The sewers are like a labyrinth. We can find easy shelter in there until we figure out our next steps.”

     The man holding up his left side asked, “By ‘next steps’, I’m assuming you mean ‘regrouping with the rest of the clan to plan a counterattack’?”

     The woman holding up the wounded man’s right side responded, “Don’t be such a fool, darling. What survivors remain from the clan will never be willing to attack Tyriok again. They’ll all go back to the smaller towns and villages to take an easier life.”

     Setting their wounded friend down after almost a hundred yards of distance between them and the entrance to the sewers, he said, “She’s right. The rest of the clan don’t share the same vision as we do. None of them will be willing to fight alongside us again.”

     Keeping an eye on the crack in the stonework they used as an entrance, his male friend said, “In such a case, we can’t risk a direct attack anymore with it only being us three. We’ll need to dismantle them from the inside then we can bring the others-”

     “Screw the others!” the woman shouted, seething in fury, “If they’re too weak to stand with us, they’re too weak to join us in this city.”

     “If that’s so, we’ll need a new family,” the man still staring at their entrance retorted, “Despite how powerful you are in the mystic arts, darling, we’ll need more numbers to ensure our survival. I know I may be strong and our leader may be cunning, but we’ll need more than just the three of us from now on.”

     Their leader, jerking the arrow from his hip, exclaimed, “Then we turn the city into our family. They’re stronger than we could imagine. We become one of them, we gain their knowledge and training.”

     Stepping closer to the crack in stone where they entered, the other man whispered to them, “We’ll need new skins, then. Skins they haven’t seen much of. Skins we could turn into our own.”

     “Preferably, good looking ones for me and the stalker over there,” the woman said, wrapping a torn piece of cloth she scavenged from one of the warriors she killed around her leader’s wound, “Sorry, boss, but you’ll need something a bit more ‘homely’, if you get what I’m talking about.”

     Wincing at the pain as she tightens the wrap around his body, the leader said, “A less attractive skin would be ideal for me. Noone expects the ugly duckling to be the one pulling the strings.”

     Leering through the crack in the wall, the ‘stalker’ responded under his breath, “We’ll get just that chance. They’ve parted into searching parties and I see the perfect three skins. A handsome sword dancer for me. A ravishing spell caster for you, Darling. A rather rotund, gray-haired scroll carrier for you, boss.”

     “Good, get their attention as you’ve done a thousand times before. Approach-” their leader began to say just as the stalker interrupted.

     “ ‘Wounded and scared to lower their swords and pique their interest,’ yeah, yeah. It’ll only take a moment,” he finished, transforming his normally featureless pale blue body into the guise of a wounded soldier he himself killed during the battle.

Old Problems with New Lives

     Weeks after the failed siege of Tyriok, all the surviving doppelgangers fled back to the lives they had stolen for themselves before being talked into trying to take Tyriok. All except for the three who took new skins to live in Tyriok. In the three weeks that past, reparations were quickly made to the crack in the stonework of the sewer system and life for the citizens of Tyriok returned to normal.       The ruler of the city, King Sigfried, was still a sour and surly son of a bitch. He was once a revered leader of the city, loved by every citizen under his rule and described as the most “caring and gentle” king they had for decades. However, the years were not kind as they stole from him the only two things he kept the crown for: his first wife and his only daughter.       His first wife was taken from him when a botched assassination attempt made the poison in his goblet slip between his wife’s lips instead of his own. Many attempts on his life had been made before, and each would-be Kingslayer was dealt with utilizing precision and tact. This was the first assassin that Sigfried himself hunted down without the aid of any guards. It was also the first criminal that was made an example of by being brought to the pristine, cut stone steps of the House on the Hill, or his Castle as some would describe it. The man’s throat was slit by a blade Sigfried himself dulled in front of the entire city whom he made an audience of.      His daughter was stolen from him due to an unfortunate accident involving the massive cliffside the House on the Hill resided on. At least, that’s what Sigfried told the citizens after his beloved daughter committed suicide a few weeks after her mother’s assassin’s execution. After her mother’s death, her father neglected her to hunt down the man. For years, she blamed herself for her mother’s death, having grabbed at her father’s goblet to taste it while he wasn’t looking. Her mother drank it so that she wouldn’t and died because of it. That didn’t truly push her over the edge. What did was seeing her father treat a man so brutally when all her mother did was speak of forgiveness and compassion, even in the worst of times. Believing herself to be the true culprit behind her mother’s demise and seeing her own father become a monster she could barely recognize, she couldn’t stomach what had become of her life anymore. With tears streaming from her eyes, she watched as the sharp rocks at the base of the cliff rushed to meet her, taking the only comfort she had in years from the wind rushing through her hair.      Now, I tell you all this, and currently break my usual narration, so as to help illustrate that there was good in King Sigfried. Good which had all been erased by the time he took his second wife, which was against her will but still rightfully deserved.      Within Tyriok City, those who ruled must first be proven the most intelligent in the city. Kings and queens would go through a competition against any person who would challenge their crown. Starting from the simplest equations that needed to be solved to the demand for the creation of a unique machine to solve a city’s problem, it would be a week long stressing of the mind to prove who had the better intellect. The one to prove that would be a woman named Beatrice, the lover of King Sigfried’s most valued guard and greatest soldier. That fact didn’t hesitate the king from making her the new queen. Even hearing his own trusted guard and friend, Sebastian, practically beg him to not take her for his own, Sigfried made for certain that his old friend’s voice fell on deaf ears, the same old friend who consulted on every wartime strategy to make certain that every man who could comeback alive did.      At his most vulnerable and most unstable, it was no wonder that King Sigfried would be so easily persuaded to take on a new group of overseers after a month or so.

     “So, how do you like your new skin, Boss?” asks his right hand man, sat across from him at a table at the local tavern.

     Sipping a cup of tea as he jotted notes on to a group of nearby scrolls, the leader answered, “Call me ‘Karlffson’ or ‘Karl’ from now on, that’s this skin’s proper name. Although I hadn’t perceived the odd benefits that would come with being so rotund, I will admit that it is rather enjoyable to be able to balance a full plate of food on my stomach while I sit back on a rocking chair to take notes. How about you two?”

     The woman, stretching and guiding her hands seductively down her own body, responded, “I’ve been in love with this skin since I morphed into it. I couldn’t dream of a better one than ‘Hildin’ here. What makes it better is that she had an extensive knowledge of magic and potions so I can actually improve my own skills-”

     Guiding his hand down around her side, the right hand man adds in, “While I improve mine as well, both on and off the battlefield as good old ‘Roland’ here. His reflexes are sharp, his tongue is even sharper, and he knows his way around a blade just as well as he does-”

     “A woman’s body. Yes, I know. You two have kept me up a number of nights already. Despite how thick these stone walls are, you two moaning and groaning still somehow make it to my room,” Karl told them, visibly disturbed by the thought of it.

     “C’mon, Karl,” Roland said, leaning back in contempt, “We’ve been here for almost a month now. How long until we take this place as our own?”

     “Soon,” Karl responds, sipping tea and writing more on his scrolls.

     “How soon?” Hildin asks, jamming a fork into her breakfast sausage, “This place is prone to attacks. There’s already been sightings of orcs nearing the city walls.”

     Taking a bite from his biscuit, Karl tells her, “Which will only aid in our future endeavors. The king will need help soon, desperate for guidance after he reduced his best adviser to a simple bartender. All he needs is the proper push and an impending Orcish siege will be perfect, especially if a few get through the walls.”

     Rubbing his chin and smiling with a new idea, Roland added in, “Which we can ensure if they simply get some help from fate.”

     “See, Roland is getting it,” Karl stated, turning his scrolls over to reveal his etchings, “And, if this isn’t enough, a little plague scare with a few missing citizens helps get the citizens to push him even further.”

     Holding a vial of dark ichor, Hildin provided, “Couple that with a slight sickness we could turn into a bedridden existence, we’ll be running the whole city soon after.”

     “That’s correct,” Karl said, slowly rolling his scrolls up to return them to his satchel, “Now, the Orcs need to attack soon, so helping them will be our immediate concern. Additionally, we’re already in the beginning of fall, which means fogs will begin to become prevalent in the region. We use that to kidnap a few people and spread rumors of a plague.being responsible for not only those disappearances, but the King’s sudden sickness.”

     “What about the unforeseen issues?” Roland adds in, “What if we actually have someone who can suss out a real plague from a false one?”

     “That won’t matter if the entire populace of the city believes it’s a plague,” Karl answered with confidence, “If the entire city believes it’s a plague too terrifying to walk outside uncovered, they won’t even dare to challenge the possibility of the plague being fake until told otherwise.”

     “I can even cast some magic to make some corpses look more decrepit to match a previous plague from the city’s history,” Hildin supports.

     “See,” Karl states, leaning back with a pleasant smile on his face, “All angles are covered. Now, we just wait for the right time.”

     “And hope none of the wild myths about the city’s sewers are true, or else we’ll be facing an army of Beholders pretty soon,” Roland added in, barely holding back a chuckle while the others followed suit.

Epilogue

     The three doppelgangers were able to enjoy their new lives for a while as everything went according to plan for a few months.      Orcs began their siege just a week after receiving some more explosive help, courtesy of some dumbfounded miners. At that same time, King Sigfried started to show sign of illness, which many citizens put to his age. Being only human and almost eighty, every citizen of every race thought he had a foot in the grave. Everyone, including the king himself, panicked when the rumors of an actual plague began to get around the city. Believing that the sickness could actually be a plague, King Sigfried quarantined himself to a tower still in construction, hoping to keep the sickness as far as from his people as possible. In the case he would die, he even had plans for his own “family”.      None would be more pleased about his death than his then-wife, Queen Beatrice, and her still secret lover, Sebastian. However, their young daughter still referred to the king as her “father” and the king still believed her, so he had them sent away at first dawn.      As they were sent away, Sebastian stayed and quelled the more volatile emotions within the city, proving himself to be the rightful leader of the city. At least, he did to the majority of the city. The three advisers who were hand picked by the King, now being called “The Tribunal”, never cared much for Sebastian no matter how loved he was by the city.      It also helped that the King seemed to have barred himself in his own castle and never left, leaving the citizens to believe that either the plague got him or he had turned so malevolent that he had left his own people to face it alone.      With everything going so well for them, the three doppelgangers finally felt at home in a city that would never accept their true faces. They didn’t care, though. They had new lives and everything they could have hoped for soon to be in their grasp. 

     If there was something to break their stride, it would have to be ridiculously cunning...or ridiculously unpredictable.

[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."

[multiplefandomfics]

Grimes sisters chapter 3

So as promised here comes chapter 3.

warnings: post charachter death, angst, blood,

Fabienne POV

It had only been a few minutes ago when we had helped to receive Loris baby by c-section and she had died. The shock was still evident in all of our faces and we could also still hear the ringing of the shot out of Carl’s gun. He just stepped out of the cell without any kind of facial expression. Unreadable. Nobody could have known in that moment how he must have felt. Maggie just took him in her arms and pressed him to her heart. Suddenly the thought of Rick shot through my head. Damn it, how were we supposed to tell him. One time he was not here and then something like that happened. I feared he would have had a complete melt down after hearing those terrible news.

About an hour later the door to the hallway the guys went through only hours ago opened again and I immediately saw Daryl and Rick… wait… where was Shane?

They put the boxes and bags down with the goods they found. They looked pleased.

It broke my heart that we had to tell him about Loris demise. When Rick looked into our faces he knew something was up. The smile on his face disappeared.

The silence was broken by Carl coming around a corner with his sleeping sister in his arms. My little niece. She was so beautiful.  “Rick… I’m so sorry. Lori didn’t make it.” Maggie swallowed hard putting her hand on is arm. “We tried everything we could. She lost so much blood.” she added. Rick didn’t let us finish and stormed into the cell where Loris lifeless body was covered up with a sheet on her bed. “The baby was laying the wrong way around and we had to do a c-section.” Maggie explained. But I was sure he wasn’t listening to us in that moment at all.  Rick broke down next to her bed crying and we all felt with him. She was my sister in law and she was a good wife and mother to Carl. There would be no day we wouldn’t be feeling that loss. He took the bed-sheet off of her face and kept on crying. We all stepped out to give him the time and privacy in that moment to realize what had happened.

“Daryl, where is Shane?” I confronted him. “We had to leave him in a small room. He hurt his foot and wasn’t able to walk all the way back. He wanted to wait until….” But I was not gonna let him finish that sentence. They just left him with all those damn walkers out there. “What the hell?! Are you kidding me?! You can’t just leave him there!!” I yelled at Daryl angrily. I got back up to my cell to grab my knife. “Whatcha’ doin’? He said he’d follow us as soon ‘s he can”  Daryl grumbled seriously. “You just left him out there!!! That is not fair!!” I almost screamed at him with angry tears in my eyes. I tried to wiggle myself past Daryl who blocked my way. “If you go I go!” my sister claimed suddenly. Daryl rolled his eyes but didn’t move a muscle to let us through so we pulled back for now. He couldn’t stand there forever. When he grabbed a bite or just got bored that would have been our chance to sneak out and help Shane.

We observed our way out until the coast was clear and then made a run for the door. “You don’t have to come, ya know?!” I whispered to my sister. But I was actually very relieved to have her having my back. We had no idea where to turn. It was an endless confusing labyrinth of hallways. We hoped that our instinct would lead the way to Shane. Suddenly we heard footsteps behind us. We turned around knifes in hand. Ready to attack. Luckily it was only Carl. “what are you doing here Carl?” “Did you follow us?” “You could have been hurt!” we threw at him. If Rick found out he was gonna kill us. “I wanna help find Shane.” he said. They had always been close. Shane had been Ricks partner in who knows how long. He was Carl’s godfather. It was Shane who had taught Carl how to aim and shoot a gun back at Hershels farm.

But wasn’t is enough already to look out for ourselves? Now we had to have an eye on the boy as well. Great. If we went back then we could have been caught and forced to stay back. It was no option to send Carl back on his own. Definitely too dangerous.

We looked through every damn door but no sight of Shane. Suddenly we heard biters close behind us. That was the last straw. That was the first time I doubted our mission. If there had been too many we would have had a problem. I looked left and right but Alex had already decided to go right. She was better in making rational decisions under pressure than I was. As we rounded the corner we came face to face with a few of the dead bastards. Shit! Next to us there was a door almost hidden by its color in the wall. I gripped the handle but it didn’t budge an inch. In that moment I started to panic. We weren’t gonna make it out of that situation alive, I thought. My mind raced a thousand miles per minute and I just wished to see Shane’s face just once more in my life. Little did I know that my wish should have been granted shortly. When the door swung open after numerous pulls from our side we stumbled into the dark and shut the door behind us rapidly to be cut off from those dead fuckers. Completely out of breath from the almost panic attack my eyes had adjusted to the light and I saw Shane sitting on the floor looking at us in disbelief. When that look turned into one of anger as if he wanted to lecture us I stumbled out: “We… ehm I hear that… ehm they left you out here and I just had to find you. Carl then followed us because he was worried too.”  He looked real angry but the worry was also evident in his eyes. Still he decided to give us a talk “I told them to leave me behind and not come looking for me either. I was supposed to catch up later. Somehow I would have managed.” he gritted out through his teeth. That was the side of him that I didn’t like all that much. The side the others always warned me of. “I was just worried.” I tried to explain. It wasn’t so much what he’d said but how he did it. It hurt my feelings a lot. In that moment I just wanted to start crying but the walkers were still out there and he did not deserve to make me cry. Or at least to know he did. But he seemed to have noticed that I tried to hold back tear because suddenly his demeanor changed. “If something happened to you I would have never forgiven myself.” he mumbled lowly and slowly pushed himself up against the wall. Wonderful. Now we had to wait in awkward silence till the walkers had moved past us. Then we could have snuck out and back to base. Oh man we could await a lecture from Rick surely. I could not wait!

Rick POV

I was sitting next to Lori for I don’t even k now how long. Could have been minutes or hours. But it didn’t matter. I loved her and kissed her and a minute later she was dead. The mother of my children. My daughter would never know her mother and I wasn’t sure if I could raise her and Carl on my own. I stroked her cheek once more and pulled the sheet back over her. Then I breath in deeply after I stepped out of the cell. Daryl stood in front of me with my newborn daughter in his arms. She was sleeping. Daryl seemed to be good with her. He was a real friend and I was so thankful to have him. “Hey sweetheart.” he whispered when he noticed her eyes staring a little unfocused at him. She still had to learn that. Daryl seemed so enthralled by her it was almost magical. I had never seen him like that with anyone. He would make a good dad I smiled to myself.  

Suddenly I noticed that I couldn’t find my sisters or my son for that matter. I took my girl out of Daryl’s arms. I look deeply into her beautiful little eyes. “Do you know where Alex, Fabi and Carl are?” I asked Daryl. “Well, Fabi threw a tantrum when she foun’ out we left Shane on the run and Alex backed her up. The last time I saw Carl was outside some time ago when I took the baby from him.” After that statement I decided to go outside to look for him.

Strangely I didn’t find him anywhere and nobody knew anything. They couldn’t have been dumb enough to build a search party and try to find Shane. That would have been a suicide mission.

Carol, Beth and Hershel step close to me to express their condolences and have a look at my daughter. We really needed to come up with a name I even heard Daryl call her “little asskicker” and that couldn’t stay that way. Hershel apologized deeply again and again because he wasn’t there when Lori died. I thought that even he couldn’t have prevented her death. We just didn’t have the medical stuff to do such an operation. I tried to fight against my tears but failed and let a few drops slip at some point. I glance at my daughter and she makes me smile again. I could never give her the blame for Loris death. How could anyone? I turned to walk back inside. After my talk with Hershel I had given the baby back into Beth’s care because I finally wanted to know where the rest of my family was and bring Lori outside together with Daryl to soon have a proper burial. She deserved that. I thought back to Carl and how he had to shoot his own mother to keep her from turning into one of those zombies. No little boy should have to do something like this. He is so very strong. As I was on my way to the door where we went through that morning it suddenly swung open and revealed Carl and behind him my sisters who were supporting Shane to walk. At first I was a little baffled that they had really managed that on their own but I couldn’t have shown that. Even if I was proud of them they needed to know going without my permission was wrong. I was the boss here and even my sometimes roguish sisters needed to have respect. As my eyes fell on Shane he just shook his shoulders and said:”Don’t look at me. I already told them this was a bad idea.” and stumbled to his cell to prop up his leg. “Are you nuts?  You could have gotten yourselves killed! Shane wanted to stay behind! He was save.” I yelled at them. “Fabi we need to talk!” I look serious at her. I knew this had to have been her idea. She was the one with the crush on Shane.

“The hell we need!” she hissed back and stormed outside. “Women” Shane shook his head Alex jumped on that train immediately:”She went out there and risked her life because of you dumbass.” “Calm down people that doesn’t help anyone.” I tried to defuse the situation. That was something we definitely couldn’t use then.

Maggie’s POV

After everything went down I had made my way over to Glenn who was currently standing guard on the watchtower. I had to get away from it all for now. I was concerned that they all hated me after what happened with Lori. It was my fault after all. I let her bleed out. I couldn’t find my dad so it was my duty to save her and I couldn’t. When Glenn looked at me he knew that something went terribly wrong and I started to cry. He took me in his arms and just stayed silent. He knew I needed that. “Lori died. I couldn’t save her. We got the baby by c-section and she just bled out.” As if the walkers weren’t enough already. “You did everything you could.” Glenn comforted me. I tried to get my mind off of things and stayed with Glenn during his shift. Up here overcame me a feeling of security but we still had to keep and eye out. I was still curious why there were no other survivors or groups who found the prison before us. I thought that maybe the prison seemed to be too crowded with walkers before we came. No small group could have handled that. And to find and keep a big group alive was becoming harder and harder each day. Be it killed by walkers or starvation and exhaustion. Didn’t matter we had found our personal little sanctuary.

“Well it seems that Alex and Fabi have vanished this afternoon to find Shane. Fabienne was really shocked to hear that they left him behind.” I changed the topic. “On their own?” Glenn asked baffled. I nodded. Sure they knew how to handle themselves but it still was a damn dumb idea.

Alex POV

Who did he think he was?? Fabienne and I did so much to save him. Risked our own lives and he couldn’t even mutter a “thanks, nice of you to help me”?? Fabi was completely wrecked. She really liked  him and that’s how he thanked her. Bravo! We knew when we stepped through that door that Rick would be major pissed at us. And we still did it. For Shane. And of course I had to go with her. She would have gone alone anyways so better with my help than without.

I was just on my way outside when Daryl stepped in my way “give her some space to think first.” he suggested and pushed the baby in my arms. “ baby looks good on you.” he winked at me and nudged my side slightly. “So I’m gonna go huntin’ sweethearts.” he rasped in that handsome southern drawl of his, smiled at us and left. I had never really seen him smile. He wasn’t the person for a lot of feelings and emotions. I really liked Daryl even if he didn’t think I was tough enough for this world and had to be protected 24/7. he always had everyone’s backs. He was a special kind of guy. Daryl was the kinda guy who intrigued me even before all this started. The notorious badboy with a motorcycle who gets himself into trouble all the time but has a real soft spot for the ones that mean something to him. Plus he is good with kids, what woman wouldn’t want a man like that?

The infant was still sleeping in my arms. She remembered me a lot of Carl when he was that small. The same nose and high cheekbones. I decided to take her with me and sat down on my bed. I cradled her against my chest and leaned against he gray stone wall. So much had gone down over the last days.

When the Virus broke out about a year ago everything went haywire. We had to leave our homes and fortunately we were with Lori and Carl when it happened because we swapped shifts at Rick’s bed at the hospital. Shane got us out of town and to the camp. Without him we probably would have been toast months ago. Our first plan to go to a military basis was destroyed when we became notice that it no longer existed. There had been no way to get through there anyways. It was a fight for life and death from the very beginning. We could call ourselves lucky when we found Hershel and his families farm. But that luck only stayed for so long. When we were overrun there and could barely flee I thought we’d never find a suitable and safe home again but here we were. I never thought I’d want to break into a prison in my life. I thought of the newest member of our group in my arms and what life she was gonna get to know and live in. I made me incredibly sad to know that she would only know running and hiding and fighting monsters. No security no real life without always having to look over your shoulder. While I was so in thoughts I didn’t even hear Rick coming in “Hey you two.” he greeted us. “Hey you alright?” I asked him. What kind of a dumb question is that to a man who just lost his wife in childbirth?? I mentally palmed myself. After he took his girl out of my arms I could see that he seemingly found his peace in her. “The burial is tomorrow.” he added shortly. I just nodded. I wanted to notify everyone. They would all have been encouraged to come.

“I saw some nice flowers outside maybe we can...” Carol who had just arrived behind Rick suggested. He smiled to her lovingly in thanks. I took Carols hint and went outside to find someof those flowers with her. On the yard I noticed Fabienne laying in the grass enjoying the afternoon sun. She seemed lost in thought. Probably still thinking about Shane and his shenanigans earlier. “Look Alex, those are nice don’t you think?” Carol asks me for my opinion. Indeed they were wonderful and I smiled at her in agreement. I excused myself for a second and waltzed over to my sister. “Hey.” I greeted her. She opened her eyes and looked at me but didn’t say a word. “You know that Shane can be an ass sometimes. Don’t take it to seriously. You know it’s not his intention to hurt you.” Was I really protecting Shane?? Hmm I would have done everything to see my sister smile again. “I know but I just wanted to help him and he yells at me like that. Would a thank you have been too much? It’s unfair. I am not a child. I am 26 years old Alex.” She started to justify herself. She was definitely right.