1. Fears, tears

"So..let me try to get this straight." Zael spoke up. The alternate versions of them had basically sat them down after a couple moments of panic of seeing their look-alikes and then proceeded to explain the situation. Zesha and his alternate, Black Lord Zesha, still looked a bit unnerved by the other's appearance, but otherwise they were calmer than previously.

Zael took a deep breath, before speaking. "Everything that transpired in our world-the whole war over the Outsider and stuff...that happened in your world. Except that I died and used the rest of my power to bring Dagran back."

White Lord Therius nodded. "That is what happened, yes. You have it straight for sure, Zael."

"And..." Zael tried to think. "And then because I was dead, Calista-" He gestured to the alternate Calista dressed in black and gold- "You went into mourning because...I mean, the alternate me was the first person who loved you. While forming the peace treaty with the Zesha of your world, he and the Therius of your world, uh..."

"Please, just call us by our titles. It's so much easier distinguish us from...those two" Black Lord Zesha muttered, awkwardly glancing up at Sir Therius and Zesha.

"Right." Zael winced. If there was one thing awkward about this, it was the fact that it would be hard at times distinguishing who was who because this world was practically an alternate version of his world. "Black Lord Zesha and White Lord Therius, back then still simply King Zesha of the Gurak Continent and Sir Therius, comforted the Calista of this world. And...all three of you fell in love with each other and got married?"

White Lord Therius seemed to blush somewhat.

"Y-yes, we did."

Black Lord Zesha seemed to be calmer, although he was still blushing somewhat as well. "As of how to explain how we both fell for our Calista..." He glanced at the alternate Calista, the Calista dressed in gold and black as he spoke, "It's...terribly hard to explain, so I leave it to you, White Lord."

"What!? Me!?" The White Lord didn't look so happy at that. "You can surely be able to explain it yourself!"

"Oh, too afraid to confess of our love for her? Coward.."

"I am no coward!"

The alternate Calista (the one wearing the black and gold dress) started giggling at this. The White and Black Lords blushed, saying nothing.

That was when Black Lord Zesha went stiff, saying nothing.

Calista (the Calista not wearing black and gold) turned towards him. "Black Lord Zesha...?"

He then suddenly tackled the gold and black-wearing Calista aside, just as an arrow pierced the wall above them.

"Wha-" Therius turned to see a Gurak archer rushing off. "The archer, he-"

"He could have gotten her..." White Lord Therius gritted his teeth, standing and taking out his sword. "I'll be back!" He rushed out of the room, intending on following the archer.

"We can't just stand here..." Zael got up, the mark of the Outsider's hand flashing its normal blue colour. "I'm going to help him!" He and Sir Therius rushed after the White Lord Therius, just as Black Lord Zesha stood, trembling a bit as he helped his Calista get up.

Calista and Zesha (the ones not of this alternate world) observed the Black Lord quietly. He didn't look calm anymore at all-if so, he looked even more frazzled and disoriented.

"Lord Zesha...?" Dagran spoke up. "A-are you-"

Black Lord Zesha shook his head, backing away from everyone. "I...I..." He tried to speak, before he held his head in both hands, growling.

A gasp came from the alternate Calista's throat. "Z-Zesha, we'll handle things from here, just..."

She didn't have to finish her sentence, for Black Lord Zesha had already faded out of sight.

"Where did he go?" Zesha asked slowly.

Dagran winced. "Erm...you know how in your world you lost your brother? The same happened to Zesha here. Ever since then, he's...well, how do I explain it..." He looked away for a moment, before making direct eye contact with Zesha. "The alternate you...Black Lord Zesha, that is...he's...had a bit of a split personality since then. It's not pretty."

Despite their efforts, Zael, Sir Therius and White Lord Therius were unable to find the archer and capture him.

White Lord Therius sighed, now approaching his Calista, who was sitting on the bed in the bedroom that he, Black Lord Zesha and Calista shared. There was no sign of Zesha's presence and that meant one thing.

"He's still down in the dungeon...?"

Calista nodded, sighing. "Yes. His fits are...getting worse. I'm worried for him, Therius, I..." She grabbed one of his hands, squeezing it gently.

Therius gently squeezed her hand, sitting down beside her on the bed. "We'll find a way to help him, Calista. I know we'll find a way..."

That was when Black Lord Zesha appeared, standing near them. He wrapped his arms about himself, looking down and away from him.

"I-I'm...I..apologize." He managed after a few words of silence. "I should have tried to...keep myself in check much better than I did earlier, I-"

"Zesha..." Calista stood, walking over to him and embracing him. "We'll find a way to work through this. We'll get through this, I promise."

He didn't say anything, opting to embrace her and hold her close. White Lord Therius watched them both sadly.

If this keeps going on...he won't be able to last much longer...