AN: Oh my God! I'm sorry that I fail so epically at dialogue.
AN2: Pairings are being refurbished.
Thanks so much for the reviews! Please Enjoy!
Chapter 2: A Change of Scenery
-o-
Yuri awoke to muffled voices. He wasn't sure whether it was from the wall in front of his face when he opened his eyes, or the cotton that seemed to have been stuffed in his head. But all he could make of the words being spoken, at least from the tonal quality of the voices, was that one of the speakers was a woman, and the other was a man. He frowned and rolled his head away from the wall to survey the rest of the room, squinting his eyes closed for a moment because even the soft candlelight hurt his aching head.
He shifted, wincing as he did, and licked his dry lips, tasting dried blood and the bitter remnants of old Gel. Well, that explained why he was breathing easier, he thought as he ghosted his hand over his side, feeling stiff bandages as well as the tenderness of broken bones made numb by Gel medicines- Miracle by the aftertaste of it.
He hauled his head up, pulling back the dressings wound around his torso to check on the status of his injuries. Yuri could tell from the sharp edges running sporadically along his torso, that his ribs were still broken. But the dark blotches running along the visible portion of his chest were less severe than he expected. And the edges of a few bruises were yellowing in colour, like they had already had time to heal, or someone had started to heal him and then stopped half-way through a treatment.
He lifted his hand from his chest and pressed his fingers into his temples, closing his eyes again and letting his head fall back as he wondered how he was still alive. While his memory was fuzzy from the pain, he could tell that whatever had broken his already fractured ribs had also pushed the shards of bone into his lungs.
Or at least, that's what he thought had happened. The blood in his mouth, the sharp piercing pain, and the fact that he hadn't able to breathe at the time, seemed to support his conclusion. But he still didn't know for certain if that was the case. Or how he survived, for that matter. He had seen what happed to people with punctured lungs before when an unfortunate knight-in-training took a strike to the chest with the blunt edge of a regulation shield.
He hadn't been wearing his armour and died seconds before a healer arrived. It hadn't been pretty, and the healer had said he had suffocated on his own blood from where his ribs had perforated his lung. Yuri thought it was pretty much lethal. So why the hell was he still alive?
Well, maybe that's why Miracle Gels were named the way they were. Or maybe someone had really stopped healing him halfway through a spell, he reasoned as he peeled his eyelids back, letting his arm flop back onto the bed as he decided to appreciate his luck for once.
He angled his head back to examine the room. It was of plain design, with very few furnishings from what he could see. There was a small, scroll-worked table past the end of his bed, situated next to a pale green armchair and in front of a large curtained window. A slim band of sunlight flickered through a crack in the drapes.
The table – and the frame of his bed if he looked up a little – was designed in a way that vaguely reminded him of the furniture in the fake Mordio's house back in Zaphias. Of course, the furnishings Dedecchi had had were stained white, so he couldn't exactly say that it looked the same, but the overall feel of opulent wealth was a match.
He scowled as he thought about it. He never did end up catching that buck-toothed, miserable little thief. Maybe now that the Adephagos was destroyed, he could take the time and find the little rat and then stuff him in prison. Or maybe in a box. And then Yuri could thrown him into whatever dark corner Zagi had holed up in and let that be the end of it.
He sighed and pushed the thought away, appealing as it was. Yuri knew rationally that Zagi was dead – no one could survive a fall from Tarqaron without becoming a big nasty splat on a pile of rocks. Well, besides Yuri himself – whose spiteful luck liked to drop him into unpleasant situations, and then watch him flail about before rescuing him from whatever nasty fate he was in for. But the unpleasant feeling in the back of his skull that he always associated with Zagi hadn't exactly gone away when the freak had dropped off into the darkness of Tarqaron.
Yuri also knew it was just residual paranoia that kept him on alert. He couldn't help but feel that the rat had managed to survive, and was just biding his time until he could crap on Yuri's day. He gave an internal little chuckle. That was the perfect analogy for Zagi; a rat you thought you'd gotten rid until you found its foul little droppings decorating everything.
He turned his head to the side a little more and found a small night stand situated near the upper corner of the bed, a small blue box positioned on top with a sleepily burning candle dripping wax onto the polished wood from a candle holder on the wall.
On the other side of the table was a bed dressed in the same sheets as the ones he was currently covered with. The perfect, crisp folds and wrinkleless surface looked uncomfortable, even though he knew it was made of the same softness he could feel against his back. He rolled his head to look at the ceiling. The whole room looked pleasant enough, but it had an unlived-in atmosphere to it that Yuri didn't care for, and felt fake and polished like a shield over-varnished to hide imperfections.
This must be an inn, he thought dryly as he shifted cautiously, trying not to move too quickly but wanting to sit up. Because only inns had perfected the way of arranging their rooms into flawless display pieces. And, honestly, if he actually cared, he might just feel bad for overthrowing the balance of the perfect sterile atmosphere with his presence.
He snorted lightly, which wasn't a good idea, and cringed at the reminder of the state he was in. He didn't let himself roll back into a supine position, and only gritted his teeth as he levered himself up onto his elbows and then onto his hands, making sure to keep his chest and back straight so as to not curl over his ribs and potentially damage himself further.
And as soon as he was in a relatively vertical position, he immediately wanted to be on his feet. He never took to bed rest very well and he was already sick of lying down, even if it had only been five minutes since he had woken up. Then all the blood rushed from his head in a surge of vertigo, and the thought of just lying back and closing his eyes was suddenly very appealing. He managed, through monumental effort, to stay upright and keep his eyes open.
That, and the strangeness of there being a set of stairs to the right of his bed, distracted him from the wooziness in his head. Because, well, there was a staircase. Right there. And he couldn't seem to comprehend what it was there for. Then he wondered why he even cared, because it was just stairs, and obviously they were there to lead to somewhere else.
He paused. Then thought dully, somewhere else, where was somewhere else? Then he shook his head in disgust to get rid of the idiocy that seemed to have taken up residence in his brain. There must be something wrong with him if he was actually giving serious thought to this.
He wanted to check if he had a head injury in conjunction to his broken ribs, but that would require that he move. And shaking his head had agitated the whole dizzy stew, so he didn't think he could lift one of his arms from the bed to check without falling over. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing.
After a moment, he heard the click of a doorknob being turned and the whisper of air rushing into the room. Yuri's eyes flicked open, and he immediately snapped his head in the direction of the sound, wincing as his neck gave a little creak. A white haired woman marched through the doorway, her strides quick and purposeful, and her shoulders back and straight. She wore an orange overcoat that fell to her knees, covering a simple white tunic and dark pants.
Yuri watched as she went directly to the windows and threw the curtains open, flooding the room in a brilliant wash of light. Yuri reeled for a moment, blinded by the sudden change of luminosity as twin stabs of pain shot through to the back of his head.
His slammed his eyes shut in an instant, but his head pounded nastily, regardless. He grumbled lightly in discomfort, and when he was able to crack his eyes open again, Yuri noticed a man with dark crimson hair watching him curiously from the doorway, his arms crossed over his purple clad chest. But then the man closed the door and Yuri's attention was turned back to the woman.
There was a stern expression on her young face that instantly reminded Yuri of his instructors back in Zaphias, and which just as instantly gave him the feeling of rebellion that he always caught around people of higher rank.
Not that he knew what rank she held – if she had one at all – but she held herself with a kind of confidence that leant an air of pride to her gait. And it was so similar to the condescending way all the nobles back in Zaphias held themselves with – the notable exception being Estelle, of course, who was about as arrogant as the Old Man was decent – that he was instantly on edge.
However, as soon as she saw him, her dour scowl morphed into a frown of concern and he had to re-evaluate his assessment as she hastened toward the bed he was lying in, the glow of healing artes already springing up around her fingers.
"You're awake," she stated, her voice feminine and smooth but with a firm business-like quality to it that reminded him of Kaufman. Yuri just gave her a look that said well obviously, but she either missed it or was purposely ignoring it. "Lloyd said you weren't breathing. You're lucky you're alive."
Lloyd? Yuri wondered, and then frowned when a hazy memory of someone shouting that name drifted into the forefront of his mind. However, he didn't get a chance to ask before the woman was pressing down on his shoulders to make him lay back on the bed, and was working on his chest, ignoring his groan of pain as he flopped back against the soft pillow-top mattress.
She unwound the stiff white bandages from around his ribs, carefully slipping the strips of cloth out from under his back so as not to jostle him further, before she was observing the purple bruising with a clinical eye that he had come to recognize as a sign of an experienced healer. She let the healing arte she had been charging flow over the surface of his skin.
Yuri grunted in surprise as the unfamiliar arte washed over him like cool water- nothing at all like either Estelle's, or even Flynn's, warm healing spells- and winced at the sharp crack of resetting bones, even as the spell eased the thudding pain all along his torso. He watched in interest as the dark bruising also lightened under the onslaught of healing magic, and was pleasantly surprised when his pounding headache slipped away.
That was interesting, because the only person he had ever known who was capable of healing multiple injuries at one time was Flynn, who even had Estelle beat when it came to light and curative spells. He gave a little internal wince at the thought of Flynn's Holy Lance attack; which was always a pain, no matter how many times he was faced against it.
Yuri took a deep breath, feeling grateful to be able to do so, and looked up from his chest to the woman. She looked absolutely exhausted- if the dark rings under her eyes were any indication- and her hands nearly shook with the effort of keeping her spell active.
He gently grabbed her wrist and moved it away from him, surprising the woman enough to break her concentration, and the spell dispersed from between her fingers, small dots of light shimmering away like dust glittering in the sun.
"Thanks," he rasped in a hoarse voice. The pain wasn't too bad. He didn't need to be completely healed right now. "But from the looks of it, you need some healing more than I do." She looked unimpressed and peeled his hand off her arm.
"Just be quiet and let me work," she retorted, the beginnings of a new spell already forming at her fingertips. Yuri scowled- he never liked taking orders- and shifted away from her. This woman didn't have the same endearing earnestness that Estelle had when she insisting on healing people, so she couldn't get away with ordering him around. Of course, since he was still in a bit of pain, he couldn't exactly move far. But it was the thought that counted, and she scowled as he did so.
From the pinched and aggravated look on her face, she looked about ready to snap at him. But he was saved from the imminent tirade by the door slamming open, banging against the wall and startling them both as two people tumbled into the room, collapsing in a heap while a blond girl in white stood behind them, looking in nervously. Yuri noticed absently that the man with the dark red hair and was gone.
Yuri sat up gingerly and the woman turned to the disturbance, a semi-murderous look on her face as she stalked over to the pile of bodies. The two figures scrambled to right themselves and were revealed to be two young men. One was dressed in a blue shirt and short-legged blue overalls, his cap of white hair hanging past his chin. While, the other wore a long-sleeved red jacket, dark pants and suspenders, his dark brown hair twisting up in a windswept mess of spikes.
The one in red started waving his arms around, a hurried explanation spewing from his lips that was less coherent than Raven's bewildered babblings after he had seen Judith naked at Yumanju. Yuri just rolled his eyes and watched.
"Genis! Lloyd! What have I told you about interrupting me when I'm with a patient?" The woman snapped, cutting off the one in red and planting her fists on her hips as she tapped her foot on the ground. Yuri had to bite his lip. Genis? Really? Someone was actually cruel enough to give his kid a name that was one spelling mistake away from making him a social pariah?
He didn't know why, but Yuri had a feeling that whichever of these kids was named that, was going to be more fun to mess with than Karol during his neurotic fits of paranoia whenever his internal bug radar went off.
Yuri chuckled silently to himself as the little one – who Yuri also assumed to be somehow related to the healer standing next to him, judging from the colour of his hair – waved his hands in apparent appeasement.
"Regal wanted us to come tell you that dinner's ready. And Sheena's awake up and asking for you." He would have been more convincing if he hadn't been sneaking peeks at Yuri as he was talking. But at least he was trying to be inconspicuous. The kid in red was staring at Yuri with such blatant curiosity that it was almost unnerving. Yuri rolled his eyes.
Then the little kid added sheepishly, after looking over his shoulder to the blond girl in the doorway. "And Colette's awake too, so we thought you wanted to know," he pointed at her as if it wasn't obvious there was another person standing there. The girl, who had been watching with an anxious look on her face, was suddenly full of smiles.
"Hi, Professor," she chirped, standing up on the balls of her feet and waving. Ah, a professor, well that explained why he was so on edge. Of all the teachers he knew, the only ones that didn't act like their higher education somehow made them the paragons of modern society, while everyone else was indiscriminate filth, were the ones from the Lower quarter; who taught at run down schools and lived like dirt in order to offer up their knowledge to the poor kids of the district.
The ones imported from Aspio to teach at Zaphias' prestigious academies were all arrogant snots, and Yuri always wanted to punch them in the face whenever he was near them. Well, only the men; Yuri had retained enough knightly instinct – and moral integrity – to feel that hitting women in the face was wrong.
Except perhaps Sodia. Yuri didn't think he would mind hitting Sodia. But, she had stabbed him in the stomach. And he had nearly died from the fall from Zaude. So maybe he was a bit biased in that respect.
He was suddenly glad that Rita wasn't like the rest of the head-cases that used to live in Aspio. Not that she wasn't a bit of a head-case herself, but at least her special brand of crazy was easier to deal with. And she took the time to explain what the hell she was talking about if they didn't get it. Granted, she usually acted put-upon whenever she had to, but Yuri knew she liked to share her knowledge, and that she had a good heart underneath all the strange.
And sometimes Karol just asked dumb questions, so he couldn't blame her for blowing up from time to time.
He wondered if this Professor was going to be a snob or not. But when the girl – Colette, was it? – spoke up, the healer strode towards her and instantly checked her temperature, asking in a soft voice if she was alright, and she seemed to be too much like Estelle to be like the snobs of Aspio. Hey, Yuri thought as he looked at the two kids, maybe these two are just the Karols to the woman's Rita.
The girl bobbed her head and gave a nervous little giggle as she did. "Oh, yes, I'm fine, Professor. Sorry for causing so much trouble."
The healer nodded. "Good," then immediately scolded, "And don't ever use that technique again! How many times do I have to tell you how dangerous it is before you'll actually listen to me?" and Yuri was a little startled at the abrupt change in demeanour, and the sudden ringing reprimand.
Colette looked down with a quick, shame-faced, "I'm sorry," as the boy in red leapt to her defence.
"Oh, come on, Professor. She saved this guy's life. You can't get mad at her," he argued, crossing his arms over his chest with a frown.
"Of course I can. I've told her time and time again not to use that technique. You know what would've happened if either Sheena or I hadn't been there to heal her. That was completely irresponsible of both of you," she scolded.
"But you knew where we were. Or, I knew where we were, anyway. And I wouldn't let anything bad happen to Colette, you know that." The kid in red looked affronted that the healer would suggest anything but. "Besides, you told me that Colette could last for an hour after using Sacrifice. And this guy was almost dead. What did you want us to do? Just wait and hope you got there in time?"
The woman scowled and Colette just watched, her mouth pursed in a nervous line and her brows scrunched together and raised high above her big eyes. She had her hands clasped in front of her and Yuri wondered why she wasn't angry that they were talking about her as if she couldn't hear them. He certainly didn't appreciate the fact that they were squabbling about him as if he wasn't in the room. But maybe that was just him.
"No, of course not," the woman sighed, the look on her face shifting into something resembling resigned, sour defeat. Yuri had a feeling she was a person accustomed to winning arguments. "But I told you that she could survive for an hour at best. She could have easily –" Then she cut herself off and cast a side long glance in Yuri's direction.
She watched him for a moment with a flat, heavy lidded stare that made him think she was trying to dissect him into tiny bits, before she looked back to the taller kid, a moment of awkward silence stretching out over the room. Then she opened her mouth, presumably start arguing again, so Yuri decided to speak up.
"Sacrifice?" he asked dryly. Generally, people who were sacrificed for one reason or another usually stayed, well, sacrificed. And Collette looked healthy enough, if not a little tired.
The three kids snapped their attention to Yuri immediately, looking at him like he was some kind of strange, human-shaped monster – like those Gentleman creatures that freaked Karol out. The woman closed her mouth and turned to face him fully.
"What?" he bit out after a few long moments had passed in uncomfortable quiet. The kid in red recovered first from whatever silence inducing effect Yuri seemed to have, and a curious frown pulled at his mouth.
"I thought all the angels are supposed to be on Derris Kharlan waiting for it to leave. Why are you here? And why can't you fly?" were his direct questions and Yuri frowned as well. What? Angels? Like the people with the halos and the feathers? Stay on track, people. One conversation at a time.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," he intoned, shuffling back until he could lean against the head-board of his bed. The muscles of his chest were still stiff and when he moved, a dull ache thumped lightly at his sides causing him to grumble. "And of course I can't fly, do you see wings on my back?" he asked sardonically, shifting his shoulder a little to show his bare back.
"Some angels can hide their wings," he insisted, and Yuri wondered exactly how they knew that as Colette nodded behind them enthusiastically. "And if you don't have any wings, then how did you get up the Kharlan tree? There's no way you could have climbed it because it was only there for a couple minutes." He crossed his arms over his chest, and the two swords Yuri just realized he was carrying, swayed at his sides.
Yuri scowled as he recognized just how ridiculous his next statement was going to sound. But he didn't exactly have a more elaborative answer, so it was going to have to do.
"I," he began, then sighed, "fell on it," he muttered, grinding his teeth together. And at that, even the healer was looking at him like he had broken his head instead of his ribs.
Yuri blamed it on the fact that he was just having a really bad day, but in an instant his temper was flaring and he really wanted to hit something. He noticed, however, that the red kid was giving him a look that was quickly turning towards confused recollection, as if he was remembering something important, but was still struggling with the strangeness of it all.
The healer blinked once, twice, and then a few more times in rapid succession before she raised a brow in question, the corners of her lips twitching with poorly concealed amusement. "You fell on it?" she asked, "How ever did you manage that?"
"Not a clue," he responded blandly. Well, he knew the logistics of how – he had somehow fallen off Tarqaron and the tree just happened to be where he landed, that much was obvious – but he didn't exactly know why he had been falling through the air, and he thought that was probably what she was asking about.
"But as soon as I find out, I'll make sure to get back to you." The kid in red looked ready to blurt out something else, but then the healer stalked over to him, and smacked him upside the head.
"Don't aggravate him, Lloyd. Save the questions for later. And tell Sheena I'll be with her in a minute." she ordered as she shooed both boys towards the door. Okay, so that one's Lloyd, the girl is Colette and the last one is Genis, he thought as the corner of his eye twitched in stifled amusement because that name was going to make him laugh for a good long time. He looked to the woman. Now all he needed to figure out was her name.
The last thing he heard as the three started away from the room, giving him curious looks as they did, was Colette asking Lloyd why he thought the guy was an angel. Yuri was mildly interested in the answer as well – because he had been called a lot of names in his life. And angel wasn't one of them – but the door muffled Lloyd's answer.
The woman turned and paced back towards him. He twisted around to face her as she neared the side of the bed, grimacing lightly at the aching reminder that he wasn't yet completely healed. She sat on the mattress next to him.
"Here, let me," the woman insisted, raising a hand towards his chest, a look of concentration crossing her face. Yuri shook his head, batting away her questing fingers with the back of his hand.
"Look, lady-"
"Be quiet," she cut him off, "I will heal you. If you don't let me willingly, then I will knock you back into unconsciousness. Do you understand?" Yuri was taken aback, surprised at the terseness of the reply, and nodded despite himself.
The woman jerked her chin in a little nod as well, her hands hovering over his chest as she released her magic into him. Yuri closed his eyes, grumbling lightly at the still unfamiliar spell. When she was done, her breathing was running ragged and her hands were shaking. Yuri crossed his arms over his chest.
"You know that wasn't necessary, right?" He had to say, because he didn't like the fact that she had to hurt herself in order to heal him. He had had enough experience with Estelle running herself into the ground to heal people, to know that he didn't want that same attitude being applied to himself. "They were healed enough, I would have survived." She waved a dismissive hand and sat back, crossing her leg over her knee.
"Of course you would have. But ribs are fussy. And it would have been a waste of energy to heal them again completely if they managed to break a second time. Now, who are you?" She was quick to turn the conversation to him and leaned forward, resting her elbow on her knee and her chin on her palm. Yuri just shook his head. Honestly.
"Yuri Lowell," he introduced himself, and then gave her a dry look. "And you would be?" he questioned expectantly, rolling his neck and stretching his arms to ease the stiffness in his shoulders.
Healing artes were for mortal wounds and broken bones. Muscle soreness just had to be suffered through. Which Yuri thought was ridiculous – because, really, how can magic heal someone on the brink of death and not a sore neck? But he knew there wasn't anything he could do about it, so he just tilted his head in the woman's direction.
For a moment she had a slightly startled look on her face, but then a small smile curled the edges of her lips and she gave a little laugh. She glanced towards the door with an amused look on her face that Yuri took to mean she was remembering something humorous. The tension he hadn't even realized had been mounting since she had entered the room dissipated with her chuckles.
"I'm sorry. My name is Raine, Raine Sage," she held out her hand and Yuri lifted his arm to shake. "I should know better. Lloyd, the boy in red," she explained, motioning towards the door with a nod of her head in the general direction the three kids had gone. "Always says to give your own name before asking for someone else's. I apologize." Yuri shrugged.
"No problem." He paused and looked at the door for a moment before turning his attention back to Raine. "But what did he mean?" he questioned, interrupting Raine as she opened her mouth for what was likely to be a long series of questions. His arm fell back to his lap, "about sacrifice? What was he talking about?" There was a moment of silence, and then Raine sighed and slipped her hand up to her forehead, rubbing her temples in quick circles.
"It's," she began, pausing to consider her words, "a special ability Colette has. Look," she paused again and let loose another sigh – this one more aggravated than the last – and stood up with a huff. "We've had some difficulty with strangers in the past. Forgive me, but I'm leery of providing information about the members of my group with... suspicious characters such as you."
Yuri frowned, but he couldn't fault her logic. Look at the mess with Alexei. That was a prime example of what happened when freaks got their hands on knowledge that they shouldn't have. He just nodded.
"Alright, then, safe questions it is. Where am I?" Yuri asked, gesturing to the room around him casually. Raine shook her head in apparent exasperation; like she wanted him to shut up so that she could get her own answers, but knew that she should clear up his confusion before interrogating him further.
"Well, I would say in a room, but that seems a tad obvious," she replied and Yuri rolled his eyes.
"Just a tad," he drawled and she chuckled softly.
"You're in Asgard, a city near the Great Kharlan tree. You know," she paused, "the tree you fell on." He gave her a look of the not impressed variety at the amusement he saw in her eyes.
"Right, Asgard. And that's where exactly?" he stopped, then looked at Raine with a peculiar look on his face. Yuri wasn't one to pour over history books for hours on end like Estelle, but he was excellent with maps and he was positive that there was no city name Asgard anywhere in Terca Lumireis. So unless Flynn had decided to spontaneously reproduce another new town on Hypionia, then his earlier conclusion that he wasn't on his world anymore, was looking pretty accurate.
"This isn't another one of Flynn's new instant-cities, is it?" he couldn't help but ask before Raine could answer him, because that seemed like something Flynn would do. And while he knew deep down that it wasn't, he couldn't stop himself from wishing that he was wrong. Because being on another world was really not appealing, especially if his resident brainiac wasn't there to discover some way back. Raine gave him an odd look.
"No," she trailed off, looking confused. "It isn't. Asgard is one of the oldest cities of Sylvarant, known for its ancient ruins and..." then she started on what Yuri assumed to be a very long history speech. He scowled, letting his head fall back against the headboard as he tuned her out. He was growing another headache. And this lady was becoming more like Estelle with every minute he spent with her.
"Sylvarant? And that is?" he asked, rolling his head to the side to look at her. Raine frowned, and he could see her confusion growing even as an affronted look passed across her face from him disrupting her lecture. She leaned forward and placed a hand on the top of his head, tilting his neck down so she could peer at his skull.
Yuri would have jerked away from her – he didn't care for people touching him without permission – but her fingers had a firm hold of his hair and he couldn't move against her without ripping off a piece of his scalp. By the way he saw her lips curl up in mirth from the corner of his eye, Yuri realized that she had probably done that on purpose.
"Sylvarant is the name of the world," she stated slowly as she released his head, obviously finding nothing that warranted attention. "Or, it was. I guess we'll probably have to think of a new one now," she murmured after a moment, more to herself than to him. Yuri puzzled over her statement for a moment before he decided he didn't want to know. There was probably a long and complicated explanation and how did he even start to ask about it?
"Great," he sighed. "The name of the world. That's just wonderful. And I take it you've never heard of Dahngrest or Zaphias, have you?" he asked in a last ditch effort of denial. They were the two largest cities in the world, who didn't know of them?
"I have not," she replied and he crossed his arms over his chest, shifting his gaze away from Raine to the window. He would never admit it aloud, but a small tremor of panic was radiating from the pit of his stomach and eating away at his calm. This was bad. Very, very bad.
"Zaphias is my home town. And Dahngrest is the city of guilds," he murmured in response to her silent question, pushing down the dread relentlessly, because he wouldn't solve anything if he gave in to fear. After a moment he asked. "How crazy would you think I am if I told you I didn't think I was on my world anymore?" He watched her cock her head to the side in thought from the corner of his eye, feeling slightly apprehensive of her reaction. He knew that it was a bit quick to jump into that topic, but he needed some kind of answer.
"You're from Tethe'alla, then?" He turned to her abruptly, not sure if he had heard her correctly. He didn't know what Tethe'alla was, but the fact that she hadn't started laughing was unnerving. She actually believed him? "I wasn't aware that there were any cities named Zaphias, or Dahngrest, on Tethe'alla," her tone was a slightly suspicious, and the confusion was still there. But the new curious quality of her voice was now the most prevalent.
"You mean," he began. "You believe me?" he couldn't help the incredulity in his voice. Because if someone were to come up to him and say he was from another planet, Yuri would probably think it was a trick to rob him blind, or something else equally nefarious. And then Yuri would probably leave the would-be thief unconscious in an alley so that he couldn't follow him home. Raine's face shifted into a frown, and the small spark of suspicion in her piercing blue eyes was suddenly full blown and wary.
"Why would I not? Are you lying?" she asked, her voice toneless, but with a sharpness of distrust that told Yuri that one wrong move and something bad was going to happen to him. He shook his head.
"No, it's just," he paused to find the words he needed. "It's just surprising that you would believe me. It's true, but I know I wouldn't think it was if I was in your position." The suspicion in her eyes dulled slightly, but she still looked wary.
"Well, I would be a hypocrite if I said I did not believe you, when I myself have travelled to other worlds," she replied.
"You have?" he asked, and Raine nodded.
"Yes, numerous times. Between the worlds of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla," she paused. "You are not from either of these worlds, are you?" Yuri shook his head slowly, his disbelief mounting. He couldn't believe that she didn't think he was crazy. He thought he was crazy.
"No, my world's called Terca Lumireis. It's," he waved a hand at the sky through the window, the corners of his lips quirking up in a strained little smile, "Somewhere it that general direction." But Raine didn't smile and kept looking at him intently.
"And," she spoke slowly, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, "Does this place have anything to do with Cruxis?" Her voice was soft and calm but Yuri's earlier irritation was coming back and he shook his head.
"No, it doesn't," he huffed. "Or it might. I don't know. What the hell is Cruxis is my question?" He exhaled noisily and ran his fingers through his hair in agitation, wincing slightly as his knuckles caught and pulled at tangles, and at a sticky residue that he thought must be tree sap.
It was silent for a few long moments before Raine spoke again.
"You do not know what Cruxis is?" she questioned. Yuri shook his head.
"I wouldn't have asked if I did," he replied blandly. Raine cocked her head to the side, scrutinizing him with a frown. He wondered if she believed him.
"Are you sure?" Well, there you go. Obviously she didn't.
"Positive," he grumbled, giving her a flat look.
"Well, what about your Exsphere then? It's quite unique, and considering that Cruxis is involved in all new Exsphere developments, it's hard not to be suspicious." Yuri resisted the urge to roll his eyes; this conversation was becoming more and more ridiculous, and was leaving him with more questions than answers.
"What?" He asked tiredly, because he was really starting to get confused.
"Your Exsphere, the gem is quite strange. I have never seen anything like it before." She motioned to his wrist and Yuri looked down to where his Blastia was.
"Exsphere? This isn't an Exsphere. Whatever that is. This is a..." he trailed off, and he knew, without needing a mirror, that his face must have looked horrified. "...Blastia," he finished, but he wasn't sure anymore. Because the gold Bohdi Blastia he had been wearing for the last few years was gone. He could even see the tan lines from where the band had rested. The skin where it should have been was pale, darkening in color abruptly where the edge of the ring had been.
And while he wouldn't have been concerned if it had only been missing – because that was the whole point converting the blastia into spirits; they would be destroyed along with the Adephagos.
It was the fact that the blastia was still there. Only, instead of resting in a bohdi blastia, it was imbedded in his skin, the ruby gem glinting dimly in the soft light of the room as golden, curling lines crept across the back of his hand and down to the middle of his forearm.