It was too warm and that made no sense; it was fall, it wasn't meant to be warm. Lua refocused on her task of killing monsters alongside Zaren, the things had caused a small rock slide; no one was hurt but damage had been done to buildings. The villages were worried about it happening again and asked then to kill a couple of the monsters Honestly Lua felt a little bad about it, it looked like the monsters were just playing and had no idea they were causing trouble. Too bad communication with monsters wasn't on the list of things she could do...perhaps she should look into it?
"Lua, are you okay?" Leonus asked his Envoy, feeling her body heat lifting. "I'm fine." She patted his head lightly trailing after Zaren, watching him dispatch two of the monsters at once with ease. He was moving a little better now, before it looked like he was resisting some kind of pull, now he was free. Lua swallowed and winced as her throat flared painfully; sniffing softly, she discovered her nose was stuffed up. Oh no...no she wasn't getting sick, not now...Lua promptly lost all energy, she couldn't stand any longer and was so tired. She dropped.
Leonus gave a shocked cry and flew over to Zaren as Lua fell on the ground. "Help! Somethings wrong!" He cried, flitting around the man's head. Zaren quickly spun around, gasping as he saw Lua was on the ground and ran over, dispatching a monster or two that struck when it got to close. "Lua!" Zaren asked, kneeling down and getting lifting her up. As he looked up, he noticed a few monster heading toward them and growled. "Muse!" He called, the singing Eidolon appeared and blasted the monster away with one of the small creatures that usually followed her, before looking around. "We need to get to a safer place." She said softly and Zaren nodded, picking Lua up and running out of the area, getting back to the village.
"I've got water Zaren." Leonus said, carrying the bowl of cold water carefully as he flew into the room at the inn they were resting at. The dragon placed it on a small table near the bed and plopped down near Lua's head. "Is it just a cold? She doesn't feel to hot after all." Flu's made a person warmer...right? "Maybe." Zaren commented, not sure. Once someone becomes an Envoy, they shouldn't be able to get sick...then again, Lua wasn't from Terra, she was from a different world so her body was reacting differently. Her Envoy powers wouldn't be able to prevent her from getting sick, for most it did, though not for her he guessed.
"I'll keep an eye on her, you need to get some sleep. Staying out all the time will drain Lua even more since she's sick and your power within her as you slumber will help her get better." Zaren explained and Leonus nodded, disappearing in a blur of fire, even as Muse was summoned. "Do you need anything Master?" She asked, yet Zaren shook his head. "No, I got it from here though you could make sure the perimeter is safer." Zaren said and Muse gave a mock-salute before disappearing in red and black sparkles, opting to patrol.
Zaren sighed, before looking at Lua and grabbed a rag, soaked it in water, wrung it out before gently laying the cold rag over Lua's forehead. "Hopefully its just a cold, if not I'll ask the doctor to take a look." Zaren said as he grabbed a parchment from his bag and unrolled it, looking over what their assignment was after taking care of the problem in the village. He rose a brow as he read it over once, twice...three times! He felt the color drain from his face as he imaged going to the withering woods...Oblitus Woods. "Of all places to go, why is she sending us there?" He growled out, annoyed now. If there was ONE PLACE he HATED...aside from his estate, it was Oblitus Woods.
"Mom…" Lua muttered faintly in her uneasy sleep, a single tear falling down her face. "Mommy…" A whispered whimper was all she managed that time. Zaren looked at her, before sighing softly, not sure how to help her at a time like this. What could he say? He never really had a mother growing up after his father killed her, there were no words of advice he could give out. 'What do I say?' He thought, gently running a hand through her hair, wondering what he could do to help her.
A soft knocked came at the door, the voice he heard surprised him. "Zaren? You in there with Lua?" It was Cirsis, Lua's sister. "What the-?" He mumbled to himself, walking over and opening the door, seeing Cirsis there and noticed that she was about the same height as Akane, she just reached his shoulders. "You're…a lot shorter…" He mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck, seeing Lua's younger sister there. He shouldn't have been surprised that she was shorter than Lua as she shrank her size, she was the younger sister after all. "Why are you here...if you don't mind me asking?" He questioned, confused; he wasn't expecting her to be there.
"Lua's sick." She stated simply. "When she gets sick it's never good." She turned to her left a little, waving someone over. Another woman came into view, she looked a bit like Cirsis. Light blonde hair and the bone structure was the same. Only her hair was straight and not curled and her eyes were blue. "Zaren, this is my mom. Mom this is Zaren, Lua's friend and potential boyfriend." The woman smile sweetly at him and bowed her head lightly. "Nice to meet you, Zaren." Her voice was...different. It was rich like chocolate but smooth like silk.
Zaren began to stutter a little, not having expected to meet their mother so soon! He rubbed the back of his head, not sure how to respond except he looked over at Lua, a concerned frown on his face. "G-go on in, L-Lua was calling for you." Zaren commented to the older woman, even as he moved aside for them to come into the room before he made his way back over to Lua. "Lua, can you hear me?" He asked gently, rubbing her cheek lightly to try an grab her attention. She shifted slightly but didn't react otherwise.
Cirsis slightly pulled Zaren back as her mom sat on the bed beside Lua, pulling a cute little fox plushie from her pocket and resting in on Lua's chest then just gently spoke to her. To his relief she was calming down a little. "I imagine you might be a little confused." Cirsis started softly. "Due to the law our home once had, Lua grew up without mom...whenever she got sick she only wanted mom but got a servant or father." She wasn't fond of her father anymore than Lua was. "So, when Lua falls ill she doesn't get delirious but she loses all energy and gets very weak. She's reminded of all the times she never had mom and remembers those she lost due to being weak. Being sick for Lua...is a nightmare." Cirsis explained grimly with a sad tone.
Zaren felt his heart break a little, looking over at Lua sadly as she slowly calmed down; he did not want to be one who would cause further heartbreak. He wanted to erase the pain she felt, yet he knew that would take time...wounds on the heart like that take time to heal. 'I should know.' He thought, bringing a hand to the wound across his chest, knowing that, while he was freed, the pain he had caused while under the influence of the darkness would not be erased so easily. "Is there anything I can do to help?" Zaren asked, wanting to help Lua as much as possible, even if it was just a little bit.
"Not yet, once mom moves away Lua will be alright and you can take care of her." Cirsis would have left but her mom couldn't get back home on her own, she was a simple human after all no powers. Zaren nodded, understanding that he needed to take care of Lua, he had no problem with that. "Oh, I just remembered something," Zaren began, catching Cirsis's attention. "you said potential boyfriend, right?" He commented, looking at her curiously and she nodded. He blushed a little, before taking a deep breath. "Well...we kinda are boyfriend and girlfriend." He said, rubbing his neck again embarrassed; Lua wouldn't mind if he told Cirsis...would she?
Cirsis cocked her head a little, giving Zaren a considering look. "Really? Mind if I test that?" Lua hadn't said anything about dating Zaren yet, yes they had some talks, had been through some things but she didn't recall Lua saying they had gone out yet. "Well, I think we are...at least...that's how it sounded." He commented, rubbing his head a little; he wasn't entirely sure. The conversation seemed like they were together, though he wasn't sure, he didn't know how to go about any of this! After all, he was new to all of this so he wasn't sure...he hoped they were. After all, with how his sister reacted, it seemed like they were together. "I think...I don't know." He mumbled helplessly, not sure.
"Well, for starters, have you two been on a date yet? Have you just spent some time idly somewhere having fun or talking? Have you gone out to eat somewhere?" Cirsis hasn't dated much yet but she knew that much. "Also as a help since...sorry, you clearly have no idea what you doing, can I test to see if you love her?" Love was a bit early but...once you knew Lua, it was hard not to love her in some way. "Sure...how?" Zaren asked, wondering how to test if someone loved someone. "Alright, do you know Lua's favorite color? Her favorite foods and desserts? The things she likes to do for fun? How do you feel when your around her? When you Talk with her?" If he could answer the first four questions, it proved her knew her enough to love her. If he couldn't it merely showed he was at least interested. The other questions would prove that.
"Lua's favorite colors are blue and red, her favorite foods, we never really spoke about it. For desserts though, eclairs and tarts are her favorite, she also loves to swim and cook. I found out her love for cooking while we were at Port Skandia." He added with a chuckle. "As for how I feel when I'm around her...I want to be with her, make her smile, erase the pain and let her know everything's okay. My heart beats faster, I don't think straight half the time and I love the teasing between us. I adore everything about her, I want to keep her safe, protect her from harm even if she says she doesn't need it. I want to heal all wounds, past and present and hold her close." He said, blushing a dark shade of red at his confession. "Talking with her and being around her, I can't see myself without her." He mumbled, looking off to the side a little...telling her sister all of this...it was a little embarrassing.
"Wow...you are so love struck." Cirsis chuckled softly. He didn't have all the answers to the questions but from what he did say he loved her. "Once she gets better you should talk about dating and get to know each other a bit better." She watched her mom adjust Lua's covers and pat her head lightly. As an after thought she added, "How good is your stamina?" She asked. Zaren was confused…stamina? Why did she want to know about his stamina? "M-my stamina...well, it's above average. Why?" He asked, completely oblivious as to what she was saying. Why in Gaia's name did she want to know about his stamina?!
She hummed, keeping her face calm. "No reason." Her mom came back over then once more, bowing her head to Zaren. "Lulu should be okay now, she's calmed down. If she starts getting restless again," She held the little fox plushie out to Zaren. "Simply place Hono here near her and she should calm down again. Before I go however," She flicked Zaren's forehead. "Be good to my daughter, I may not be a fighter but I know how to dish out sever pain." She smiled at him kindly, then followed Cirsis out. Zaren rubbed the spot she flicked, before sighing and walking back over to Lua and sitting down beside her, keeping the fox plushie close by just in case he needed it. "Get better soon Lua, we have some things to talk about." He responded softly, gently rubbing her cheek with a soft smile.