Here's chapter 2! *blows kiss* For Haseo.


"The soul will soon become whole again."

The last words he'd heard before falling unconscious on the Cathedral's floor were still ringing in Haseo's head when he opened his eyes. His body felt weak, heavy… He wanted to continue to fade in and out of consciousness for as long as he could…

But a voice let out a yell and woke him up totally. "Silabus! He woke up!"

Finally, he looked around and realized he wasn't still in the Hulle Granz Cathedral. It looked like it was some boarding room in a guild of some sort, small and cozy… Not the kind of place Haseo would have chosen to spend time on his own.

He looked over and saw a round, pink, dog-like creature. One of the half monsters that ran around the city…? Why would one of those guys be around him? Outside of Phyllo, most of them would avoid him (and even now, Phyllo was…).

Shaking his head, Haseo finally sat up, letting out a groan and holding his side. He was aching all over… What the hell had Tri-Edge done to him to make him feel like that?

The little pink guy tried to get him to stop moving as a man in green entered the room, probably the Silabus that was mentioned. "Good thing you called me, Gaspard! Hey, you shouldn't be getting up yet."

Haseo frowned at him. "I don't have time to be laying around… I need to find Tri-Edge."

"Tri-Edge?!" Gaspard gasped, looking Haseo over. "Oh… Kuhn wasn't lying about you really having been strong when he brought you here!"

Haseo furrowed his brow. "Kuhn?"

Silabus nodded. "Yeah, our old guildmaster brought you here to Canard. Said you were strong, but needed some help." He pulled a paper from his pocket, handing it to Haseo. "He said when you're feeling better, you should meet him there."

Haseo took it and frowned, having no interest in doing something like that. There was already plenty for him to do, there was no point in meeting up with someone who dragged him away from answers.

Then again, he was so sore he wasn't sure he'd have been able to drag himself out of the Cathedral on his own…

No! He would have been fine! He couldn't start thinking like that or Shino would never recover…

"Uh…" Gaspard cleared his throat. "If you want, you can use our restroom. Your armor was pretty trashed so we tried to find some we think you can handle right now!"

"That I can handle right now?"

"Well, Kuhn said you were strong, but… the reason he said you needed some help is most of your strength was actually gone and would need to be rebuilt." Silabus gave an awkward laugh, scratching his cheek.

He blinked a few times, trying to take it in. What the hell had Tri-Edge done to him if that was the case?! This had to be a joke.

"Where's the restroom? Point me to it, now."

"O-over there." Silabus pointed and Haseo wasted no time making his way over there, slamming the door shut behind him.

He looked into the mirror, letting out a groan when he realized he was covered in bandages. Pulling one back, he almost felt sick. He could see that the skin under them was not looking good…

Shaking his head, Haseo looked forward again, trying to get his bearings, only to be thrown off yet again. How long had his eyes been red…? Last he'd checked, they were brown.

He stared for a moment, unsure of what to do until a knock came at the door. "Uhhh, are you okay in there? Let us know if you need any help!" Gaspard…

"I'm fine!"

Haseo finally located the apparent armor they left him, similar to the stuff he used to wear, before running into Tri-Edge… He stared at it for longer than he'd like to admit before he finally starting putting it on, hissing through the pain it caused. As much as he hated to admit it, he wouldn't have been able to handle his actual stuff with how he was feeling.

One last glance and he noticed a set of dual blades left out for him. That was right… his actual weapons had been broken and burnt to a crisp. God, the more he thought about what had happened, the more pissed he was.

"Tri-Edge…" He grit his teeth and finally stepped out, Silabus and Gaspard waiting and watching him curiously.

"So, uh…" Silabus spoke up again. "If you need anything, feel free to find one of us! Canard is here to help…"

"We hope your talk with Kuhn goes well…!" Gaspard spoke up as Silabus trailed off. "H-he seemed to think you guys talking was really important."

Haseo frowned at him, looking at the note he'd been handed once again. The bridge is where he wanted to meet, huh? Then Haseo would make it a point to avoid that part of town. "I'm not planning on seeing any old guildmaster of yours."

"Huh?" Silabus blinked.

"B… but Kuhn saved you! Don't you think you could just hear him out?" Gaspard frowned up at him, clearly upset by his comment.

"No way." Haseo shook his head and turned away, wincing when it hurt. "...I have too much to do to waste my time meeting with some guy."

"You don't seem like you're in a position to do much right now." Silabus moved to stand next to him. "A little rest time in Mac Anu could do you some good-"

He held up a hand and stormed towards the exit, ignoring the pain as he went. "I don't have time for this. Thanks for helping me out or whatever, but leave me alone from here on out, okay?"

Without another word, he was out the door. Last thing he needed was more nagging when he felt like this.

For now, he needed to figure out where to go from here. He was pretty sure he wouldn't find Tri-Edge at the Cathedral anymore, so there'd be no point in going there… He didn't know where Ovan had gone, either, thanks to rushing off ahead, so he couldn't ask him for advice…

He was once again on his own, as usual. Maybe it was better that way, anyway. If he handled it alone, there couldn't be any more incidents like the one with Shino.

He turned on his heel, prepared to get right to the Chaos Gate, when Atoli nearly ran right into him. He barely moved out of the way of a lot of pain and probably yelling too, knowing him. What was she doing, heading towards the guilds so quickly, anyway? She didn't seem the type to have business with the small fry guilds around here…

"Oh, I'm sorry…!" Atoli looked almost embarrassed as she backed up a few steps. "I should have been paying closer attention to where I was going…!"

"Whatever, just pay more attention next time." He moved to brush past her, the note Silabus had given him falling out of his pocket. Whatever, wasn't like he needed it.

Atoli, however, bent down to pick it up as soon as she noticed. "Wait, you dropped this…!"

He turned to snatch it from her, just to get her to shut up, only to see her eyes were wide. She looked from the writing on the paper, to him, and back to the paper. Maybe he should just leave her to stare at it, no reason to grab it back if she had nothing to say.

"E-excuse me, but are you planning on going to see this Kuhn too?" Atoli pulled out a nearly identical note from her pocket, presenting both to Haseo. "I was worried about this note, but knowing someone else has it makes me feel more at ease about going!"

"I'm not planning on going, no." Haseo shook his head, arms crossed against his chest. "I don't have time to be running around seeing what others want from me."

"Oh…" Atoli deflated a bit at that. "I was hoping we could go together, though…"

"No way." He scoffed, turning and starting his trek back towards the Dome. "You can go on your own."

"B...but…!" Haseo was starting to drown out her voice. So annoying- "I have information on Tri-Edge!"

She yelled it out and Haseo came to a stop, turning to look at her, eyes wide. "What?"

"W… well it's just a rumor, b… but it's a rumor you don't know!" Atoli steeled herself, squaring her shoulders. "Come meet this Kuhn with me and I'll tell you what I know!"

Dammit… Haseo couldn't let any possible information on Tri-Edge pass him by, no matter how annoying it would be to get…

"Fine, but you're telling me as soon as we get there!"

"Yes, of course!"