Disclaimer: If I owned it, there would already be the beginning of a season 2.
A/N: I am so sorry. It's been years since I last updated this story and even this chapter is sort of an interlude. Well, I hope that now it will be different. Hopefully I can update every two weeks, though this really depends on my muse. I hope the dreaded writer's block won't attack again. Anyway, as it has been a long time since I wrote anything remotely like a story, I'm pretty rusty so I hope that I don't butcher up their characters too much. So re-introducing Keough and Iruga!
A/N 2: Btw, on another note, does anyone know how to stop from reformatting every time I click save? I already edit through html editor and the format still doesn't stick :(
Chapter 2 – Of Waking Up in a Strange New Place
Where am I? I'm… not dead?
Those were Keough's first thoughts as he woke up and found himself in an unfamiliar room, in an unfamiliar bed. As he moved his head, he could see a window and another bed to his left and a door at the foot of his bed. Right beside his bed, in between the two beds was a bedside table with flowers in them. There were no distinctive features in the room, nothing to give him a hint on where he is exactly or who his saviors are. The only obvious thing is that he is not in a hospital.
"...still hasn't woken up! We can't just leave the house to him and Iruga-san." A muffled woman's voice could be heard through the door from outside the room.
"If you care so much about them, then why don't you stay with them while Rexxus and I find the other seals? You know what will happen if we just let it go on as it is." It was still a female voice but different.
"Of course I know. You're not the only one who feels responsible. But you heard what hime-sama said!"
As the argument was going on, Keough slowly sat up, taking care not to disturb the stitches over his many wounds. Though he could not tell which of them was the most serious since his whole body was covered in bandages. He cautiosly limped to the door, holding back a moan of pain, just in case the people outside would be able to hear him above their shouting, which he assumes they were doing. As he opened the door a bit ~ not wanting to alert them of his state of wakefullness ~ the argument got significantly louder. He was right, they were shouting at each other. No wonder he could hear them clearly through the previous closed door.
From the gap of the door, he could see two women and one man. They were all standing in the middle of the room, which looked to be a dining room and a living room rolled into one. On one side there was the dining table with six chairs, while on the other there was a couple of sofas, with a low table in the middle. The three was standing between those, the two women obviously the ones arguing, while the man stood to the side, almost leaning on the back of one of the sofas, his arms crossed. From his stance it was obvious that he did not want to get in between the argument of the two females.
The two arguing looked similar, at least their faces, which might mean that they are probably sisters. Other than that they looked completely different. One was wearing a dancers costume while the other was a wizard. The dancer has waist-length maroon red hair tied in a high ponytail while the wizard's was dark purple with maroon streaks, cut short, reaching just below her neck. They were both about a head shorter than the man, though the wizard was taller by an inch. The man, himself had short, messy dark brown hair, wearing what looked to be a taekwon master's getup. He might have been about his height, maybe a little shorter or taller than him. Keough could not really tell from where he was standing, spying on their argument. These people might have been the ones who had saved him from instant death, but Keough was not ready to reveal himself to people he knew nothing about. For all he knows, they might be bandits, saving him just so they can get access to his wealth. Not that he has any. So he stayed where he was, looking through the gap of the door, trying to find more about them from their 'discussion'.
"Of course I heard! I was there, remember?! But if we just leave it all of it to them, sooner or later..."
"You're awake..." the man's loud voice suddenly interrupted, making the the two women immediately silent and whirled on him, surprise in their expression. Why, Keough did not know, but he himself had not realized that the man's emotionless light blue eyes were suddenly on him, since when he did not know. Realizing what the man had said, both women averted their eyes to look at him who was still looking through the gap. It seems that there were no other occupants in the house, so they immediately knew whom the man meant. Realizing that his cover was blown, Keough opens the door a bit wider, one arm still holding his stomach, where the most pain seems to be coming from.
For some moment, it seems that everyone was frozen, not knowing what to do. It was obvious to Keough that the three in the room was wondering how long he had been there and how much he had heard, but not wanting to voice the question. Keough himself did not know how to behave with these strangers that he knew nothing about, he could only observe them. It turns out that the purple haired wizard was the first to react as she saw that Keough was holding his abdomen gingerly.
"Keough-san! You shouldn't get out of bed yet! You'll reopen your injuries." She exclaimed, hurrying to his side, supporting him at once, careful of his injuries. She forced him to get back into the room where he had woken up in, despite his feeble protests. He did not realize how weak his body was still, probably because of the adrenaline. Waking up to an argument in an unknown place with strangers to boot could do that to you. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the other woman just crossed her arms and scoffed. The other two made no move to help the woman supporting him.
"How... do you know my name?" he asks slowly, once she had helped him back into the bed for who knows how long he's been cooped up in, him lying down.
"Oh, Iruga-san told us when he woke up," she replied as she adjusts the blanket arround him, trying to make him more comfortable.
"He's here?" Though Keough felt that he should not have been too shock with the news. Besides, now that he thinks about it, he did hear Iruga's name from the previous argument he had heard.
"Eh hem," the young woman, Keough realized he still did not know the name of, nodded, "At the moment he's outside, probably deliberately ignoring my advice to not force himself. Anyway, would you like something to eat?" After he nods uncertainly, still stunned about the situation he found himself in, the young wizard smiles brightly and enthusiasticly claps her hands once, "Great! I'll fix you something so please wait a moment, okay?"
Not waiting for an answer, she walks out, humming as she goes, leaving Keough with so much question unanswered. Though she went out without closing the door properly, so Keough could still hear what they were saying outside despite them not speaking loudly.
"How is he?" he could hear the other woman ask.
"Fine, I guess, though his body is still a little weak, which isn't wierd considering how long he has been asleep." After a pause, an obvious change of mood could be heard in her voice. "You're leaving?"
For a moment nothing could be heard from the next room.
"Another seal has been broken. I've already consulted with hime-sama and with them both still like this, they are in no condition to fight."
"But...," she begins, sounding stressed.
"We still need to find them. We might not even fight anyone until you can catch up to us, so don't worry."
Keough could not understand anything they were talking about. He understood that it had something to do with seals and maybe a probable battle concerning the dancer and alchemist if they left, but it did not give him any insight on the things he still has questions for. Like who are they? What happened with Dark Lord? What happened to Roan, Yuufa and the others? He remembers, like a dream that Yuufa at least should be fine. At least if that memory where he had said goodbye to her was actually a memory and not just his mind lessening his guilt for bringing harm to her.
The sudden opening of the door broke him from his thoughts and he looked towards it to see the short-haired woman come in bringing a table-like tray with a glass of water and a bowl, which he guesses would be filled with soup. From the conversation he had overheard he could guess that he had been asleep for quite a long time and with his already empty stomach and from serving the Dark Lord, he knew that it would not be able to hold solid foods for some time. He then realizes that since he was caught up in his thoughts, he never heard the conclusion of what they had been talking about. Though looking at her expression, he would never have guessed that the stressed voice from before was her's. In fact, if he hadn't overheard the conversation from before, he would've thought that she doesn't have a care in the world.
She smiles gently as she places the tray on the floor to help him sit up and get comfortable, before setting it in front of him.
"Here, eat up!" she smiles brightly, sitting down on the chair that had been by the wall after bringing it by his bed.
"Thank you."
The intense look in her eyes as she watches him eat made him sort of self conscious, but he made no move to stop her, not knowing what to say without sounding rude. As he was halfway done, he felt like he couldn't eat anymore without throwing up. His stomach already felt too full despite he had only eaten a tenth of his usual serving, at least before Dark Lord. But not wanting to sound ungrateful, he just stayed silent, stirring the soup, his thoughts itself taking him far away.
"Is it alright?" The sudden sound of the woman's voice shook him from his thoughts.
He looks up and sees her looking anxious. "You stopped eating suddenly. I was wondering if it was because of the taste of the soup. You see, my sister is the one who usually does the cooking and I can't really make most dishes to save my life. But soup would usually turn out alright and this time I only made the really simple one. I also made sure that it tastes alright. But then again I don't really know what your preference is…I'm sorry, I'm rambling aren't I?"
Keough, raises an eyebrow, amused.
"It's alright. The soup was actually quite delicious. It's just…" He trails off, not wanting to offend her.
"You can't eat anymore?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry…" he says looking apologetic.
"Don't worry about it. I didn't expect you to have a healthy appetite after not eating for so long. Here, let me just take that off of you." She replies amiably, moving to take the tray off his lap.
"So, your sister left?" he asks as she just stood up, getting ready to leave him alone."I'm sorry, but I overheard the two of you talking."
"Eh hem..." she nods, "She and Rexxus has something they have to do I guess. Anyway, I'm guessing that you must be tired, huh? I'll just leave you alone and you can get to sleep." It was extremely obvious to Keough that the young woman retrieving his tray was trying to get him to forget what he had overheard by trying to change the subject. Unfortunately, despite his still weak body, Keough has no such desire to get back to sleep just yet.
"I don't think I'm tired though," he comments, stopping her in her tracks as she was just about to close the door on him.
"Uh..." suddenly the sound of a door opening and closing outside stops whatever it was she was about to say, instead she took off out the door saying, "That must be Iruga-san, I'll just tell him that you've woken up, alright?"
He sighs as he decides to just let her get away from explaining anything to him at the current moment. Though truthfully, he hadn't even intended to press her for answers on something that was none of his business. He had just wanted answers to the few questions swimming around his head. Like how was he still alive? Are Yuufa and Roan doing alright? Though now that he has time to himself, he could not help but wonder why he did not at least ask her for her name so that he knows how to address her. There was no way that he would address her as 'woman' ~ that would be just too rude plus, his mother would be rolling in her grave if she knew how disrespectful he was towards his savior. Once again, she had not closed the door properly, so he could hear her clearly, talking to what was unmistakably Iruga's familiar voice.
"Mou, Iruga-san. I have told you time and again that you need to let your body heal. It has barely been a month since you woke up!" he heard her scold Iruga, though after a pause she asks worriedly, "Are you alright? Your wounds didn't open up again, right?"
"Yes," Keough could not help but chuckle quitely to himself hearing Iruga's one word answer. Iruga would never change, he would always have so little words to spare.
"Hmm…okay then. So are you hungry? I made some soup," For a while there was silence, that Keough wondered what they were doing.
"You made the soup? Where's Laurielle-san?"
"Okay, now that's just mean. Are you implying that I can't cook even if my life depends on it?"
"You can't," Iruga's voice said dryly.
"Mou! Fine! Be like that! See if I care if you die of starvation. But, just for your information Keough-san said that it was delicious!" she replied, sort of sounding like a spoiled brat.
Silence. Then sounds of hurrying footsteps accompanied by the woman's slightly raised voice, "And if you had been nicer, I would have told you earlier!"
The door opens and there in the doorway stood Iruga, his expression a mix between relief and disbelief while Keough himself looks on at him amusedly, as he leans on the pillows, haven't even moved since the wizard helped him sit up.
"Keough..." Iruga whispers as he closes the door behind him to give them both some privacy.
"Hello Iruga," Keough greets, just glad to see his best friend in front of him, though hurt but alive. He is scared to think what he would do if his last memory of the white haired assassin would be him plunging his broad sword into his body.
For a moment silence reigns over them both, each not knowing what to say, where to start. To both of their surprise, it was Iruga who first broke the silence.
"How are you feeling?" he asks, occupying the now empty chair beside Keough's bed.
"Well, I guess I've been better..." Keough smiles, touching the visible bandages on his arms, "How about you?"
Instead of immediately answering, Keough notices that Iruga's eyes had followed where his hand had touched and then went to the visible bandages on his chest that wasn't covered by his shirt. His aura suddenly went gloomier as he looks down at his hands that were folded on his lap.
"Sorry..."
"What are you talking about?" Keough asks, good naturedly, "In fact the one whose supposed to say sorry is me, isn't it?" he says, pointedly looking at Iruga's own bandages that were sticking out of his clothes, his tone lighthearted. Then Keough smiles sadly, "...sorry Iruga... I still can't believe that it had been that easy to brainwash me. I even nearly killed you. And despite all that, I can't really blame it all on the Dark Lord. It was still my fault. Because of my weak will you, Yuufa and Roan were all dragged in."
Iruga seems to be lost on how to respond to that. He was never the type to comfort people. Between the two, it was and probably always will be Keough's forte. Whenever Roan and/or Yuufa were sad or emotional, it was always him that made sure they were alright and brought their spirits back up. This is why he had left in the first place when Keough was thought to be dead. It was probably cruel of him to leave two underage children in the wild but he just couldn't take it. Whenever he looks at Yuufa, the guilt would just eat up at him. Speaking of that...
"There's nothing that you should apologize for." Iruga says firmly, "By the way, I wonder how Roan and the others are doing..."
Keough smiles at the obvious effort Iruga put in to try to change the subject, but he decides to not point it out and just leave it be. Besides, it was obvious that the both of them wants to move on from that stage of their lives and return to be good friends once again.
"Knowing them, I'm sure they're fine. They have grown up to be strong people."
"You remember?"
"Yes," Keough nods, smiling sadly, "despite being brainwashed, I remember everything I had done under the orders of the Dark Lord, though it is somewhat distorted. I guess this is my punishment for all the atrocious things I have done, to live with this guilt. Anyway, lets stop with all this sad stuff. You seem to be really close with that woman out there. How long exactly have you known each other?" Keough asks, teasing.
"Who? Celeste?" Iruga asks, taken aback.
"Well, she never actually introduces herself, so I don't know her name. But if you mean the wizard then yes."
"Typical of her, I guess. She might've forgotten that you don't even know who she is, seeing as it was her that had been taking care of us for the past 7 months."
"Wait, what? 7 months?!"
"Yeah, it seems that she had given us some sort of potion to help with the healing but in return it had put us into a very deep sleep. I woke up less than a month ago."
"Where did she get that sort of potion?" Keough asks, astonished that kind of potion exists.
"Don't know, didn't ask."
Keough raises an eyebrow, looking at Iruga incredously. "Don't you have any sense of curiosity?"
"Didn't think that it was important where she had gotten the potion. They did save us and had cared for us all this time after all."
"But don't you find it suspicious? Why did they save us? And what were they doing in Ghast Heim? For all we know they might have been followers of Dark Lord,"
"I had thought about that, but I've been observing them and so far, nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. I haven't tried asking them questions though, I felt that I should get a feel of their personalities first. So far, Celeste seems to be the most open. Rexxus is like me. He's quite and keeps almost everything close to the chest. Laurielle however, I have trouble deciding, she can be open at times then she can be almost cold."
Keough nods, "I'm guessing that Rexxus is the alchemist while Laurielle is the dancer?"
"Yes, they're married, you know?"
"Oh," Keough pauses for a moment, "They left about an hour before you came back though, so I guess..."
Keough suddenly stops what he was saying, hearing footsteps coming to the door. Iruga heard it also.
"You know, you never told me about the woman that was your partner back then," Keough comments, his tone immediately became teasing, a teasing smile on his face.
Iruga taken aback by the sudden change of topic, could only raise an eyebrow.
"You know, the hunter, I heard she became your partner after I was out of the picture?"
"Don't say it like that! It feels like I wanted you to be gone!" Iruga retorts tensely, his fists clenching.
This time it was Keough's turn to be taken aback. He had only wanted to change the topic to a lighthearted tone, just in case the person that he had heard outside would be listening in, and his suspicions could be right because she still had not knocked or opened the door and he did not want her to become cautious of them. But it seems he had said something wrong. It seems that it was still a sensitive subject for Iruga even though they had just decided moments before that it was time to move on from that. Though Keough couldn't really understand why since it has been more than 2 years ago that he had been und er the Dark Lord, so Iruga has no reason to feel guilty about finding a new partner. But he guesses that Iruga would always be like that. He never shows his emotions but always keeps them close to the heart that a scar would take a lifetime to heal.
Keough smiles softly as he reaches out to touch Iruga's shoulder. "Hey, you know that's not what I mean. I know that she wasn't my replacement. I mean even our genders are different. So," his tone became teasing once again, "is she your significant other?"
Seeing Iruga's emotionless facade redden, Keough laughs, then suddenly winces, holding his stomach in pain.
Before Iruga could reprimand him though, a knock on the door was heard and the young wizard's head ~ whom Keough now knows as Celeste ~ pokes through the door. He did not know why she had waited for some time before knocking
"Hey, sorry to interrupt, I just want to ask if Keough-san feels strong enough to eat dinner with us? I know you just woke up and all, but I was afraid you'd be lonely eating here. Maybe you could sit on the couch or….Iruga-san could eat with you here…"
"It's okay I'll accompany here," Iruga says immediately at the same time as Keough saying, "It's okay, I'll eat outside."
For a moment after there was silence as Keough and Iruga looks at each other, surprised, then suddenly they burst out laughing though the both of them holding back a wince. Celeste could only look worriedly between the two.
"Umm…so what will it be?"
"I'll eat outside," Keough smiles at Celeste, putting his hand up to stop any protests from Iruga. "But I can't believe it's already time for dinner."
They didn't even realize that the time had flown past and outside, where there had still been a little light when Keough woke up, was already pitch black..
"You're not the one making it right?" Iruga asks, getting up to get to door.
"I was just going to make simple fried rice for the both of us. Even I can't mess that up. For Keough-san, I have already reheated the soup since there is still a lot if that's okay?"
Keough nods. Besides, it's not like he'll be able to keep down solid food for awhile. Even liquid had trouble staying down.
"Well, if it makes any difference, I'll make it." Iruga was already walking out the door towards what Keough guesses was the kitchen so he didn't see Keough start getting out of bed. But Celeste was still there.
"Keough-san, what are you doing?" she asks, immediately going to his side.
"It's okay; I'll just sit on the couch. It's not like it will make a difference if I go outside now or later. Besides, you still haven't showed me around yet, Celeste-san." He tells her, trying to fend off her fussy hands as he gets off the bed and starts making his way to the door. Celeste, like a mother hen, hovers next to him worriedly.
"You and Iruga-san are exactly the same. The both of you like to force yourself. But please let me help you since I'm sure that your body is protesting at this very moment."
Deciding to concede, Keough let Celeste support him, though he would never admit, it was also because his body feels like it will collapse on itself at any moment. And that was how the other mother hen, Iruga saw them walking towards the couch in the living room where you could easily see from the kitchen.
TBC
End Note: Please review!
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