Chapter 8: Taking What's Necessary


The sound of Olberic's horrendous coughing fit sounded through the quiet house as Zeph checked on whatever caused a warrior of his size to fall so quickly and easily. Primrose, who awoke from her slumber with legs cured, sat on the beside next to Olberic's head, placing a cold hand on his burning forehead. The man, comforted by the cold feeling even in his pained state, placed his hand over hers, squeezing it gently. Even with such a small gesture, Primrose was glad she could give him what little comfort she could provide him with, "Olberic…" She felt absolutely powerless as she saw her companion writhe in pain and it angred her.

Two light knocks sounded at the door before Alfyn walked in to check up on Zeph's diagnosis. He was just outside explaining to the two girls that they weren't allowed inside no matter how badly they wanted to see their new friend. Although he hated telling kids what they could or couldn't do, it was necessary since he didn't want to seem them scared by seeing Olberic the way he was. He walked over to Zeph, who seemed to have finished diagnosing his patient, "Status report?"

Zeph rolled up Olberic's sleeves again, showing two deep puncture wounds on Olberic's swollen arm, the area around them was pale, veins abnormally contrasting his skin, "These look like bite marks." He looked at Alfyn confused as to where they could've come from, "But, I don't know which animal's bite would cause such a reaction of this scale."

The other apothecary examined the wound for himself, making sure that he wasn't causing any more pain by softly handling his arm, and then turned to Olberic. If anyone would know what attacked him it would be the victim himself. Alfyn moved his finger right and left a few times in front of Olberic's eyes and then proceeded to snap his fingers next to Olberic's ear in an attempt to get a response from him. Although Olberic looked awake, he was unresponsive to anything. Primrose also attempted to get his attention by cupping his cheek with her other free hand but Olberic stopped responding to her gentle touch.

He was getting worse.

Alfyn crossed his arms, trying to think of what to do next, "He's fallen into a deep trance. It's getting worse by the second."

Upon hearing that Olberic's condition was deteriorating, Primrose looked to the two apothecaries, her eyes filled with worry over the man who swore to protect her with her life. If she wasn't asleep could she have prevented Olberic from turning up this way? "Please, you have to help him. This man risked his life for me and I barely had the time to properly repay him for his kindness." She shuddered at the thought of losing someone else dear to her, thinking back to her father and Yusufa who both died in front of her. Shaking the thought away, she uttered out, "If he died because I wasn't there to save him I…"

Alfyn sighed as he heard Primrose beg them to do something to save Olberic. If he had the power to work miracles he would but he was at a complete loss. If Olberic was responsive Alfyn would've surely asked him how he ended up the way he did. Without knowing the cause, there was little he could do and who knows what would happen if he was administered the wrong medicine. The results would be disastrous or worse.

"Instead, I think you should blow off some steam by hanging around these two lovely ladies! I think they deserved to play with a new face if that's not too much for ya?"

Alfyn then remembered that both Lily and Nina were with him all morning. Not only that, they were there when the old man brought him into the village from the outskirts of the town and they seemed to be much more frightened than they would have been if they simply just saw him.

Maybe they knew something?

"I'll be right back." Alfyn announced, making both Zeph and Primrose look at him, "Zeph, be sure to keep him hydrated. Giving him any wrong medicine could make things worse, and quick. " Zeph complied, heading off to the cabinet where he kept his water supply. Alfyn looked over to Primrose, "Prim?" Alfyn stuck out a thumbs up at her, a gesture of comfort and encouragement, "Just keep doing what you're doing. Even if your friend isn't responding, I know he's glad that you're right by his side." Primrose nodded, keeping her hand on his forehead and watching out for any sudden changes. The words provided her with some comfort but very little of it as she once again sat idly.

Once outside, Alfyn looked out to the fields by the lake, scanning the area for any signs of Lily and Nina. He found them together sitting on the bench that overlooked the lake, Nina comforting the crying Lily that leaned on her shoulder.

"Sorry for intruding," Alfyn's voice caught the two girls off guard, "but do you two know anything about the bite marks on your new friend's arm?"

"Nina…" Lily hiccuped, looking at Nina for an indication on what to tell Alfyn but Nina looked away from the both of them, staring at the lake with a guilty look in her eyes.

Nina was always honest with everything and everyone but the fear of getting in trouble often stopped her from saying anything at all which kept her quiet. Alfyn knew this and tried again, being a little more real with her, "I wanna help your new friend but I can't help him if I don't know what bit him."

Nina always thought Zeph and Alfyn knew the answers to everything she asked them so, for him to say that to her, it scared her. It was her plan of getting the waterblooms that led her new friend getting sick and she desperately wanted to help him, desperately wanted him to forgive her for causing him to end up like he was, "I-I just wanted to get waterblooms for Zeph… Mister Eisenberg wanted to help me and led us to the cave…" She looked down at the ruined waterblooms in her hands, remembering her excitement back at the cave.

She then remembered the fear that washed over her as a giant snake attacked Olberic and the look in Olberic's eyes as he carried them out of the cave. She never left the town without her brother at her side to protect her so the very memory of the encounter, an encounter where she couldn't look to Zeph for help, frightened her. "This giant snake came out from the darkness and then-"

Alfyn's blood went cold. A snake? There were dozens of kinds of snakes in the Riverlands but only two of which were venomous. One was easy to obtain venom from while the other would prove to be a much more difficult challenge that could very well cause Alfyn to meet the same demise Olberic met. Regardless, he pressed on for more details, "What kind of snake? Was it black?"

Nina on the verge of tears, shook her head, "I-I-I can't remember."

Alfyn looked to Lily for an answer, Lily shook her head as well, "N-no it wasn't…"

That only left one other option. "Was it amber with blotches on its back?" Lily nodded much to Alfyn's disbelief, "The Flame take me… A blotted viper!"

That was the very moment when Nina, usually very headstrong, burst into tears, "I'm sorry! It's all my fault he's going to die!" Seeing Nina cry made Lily cry as well. "I just wanted to cheer Zeph up!"

Nina and Lily then felt Alfyn's arm around them pull them into him, hugging the two. He wasn't mad at all at for what they did. On the contrary, he was very relieved to have found out the cause of the strange condition despite it being something that would prove to be his biggest challenge yet. "Thank you, girls. You two were very brave to see your friend in such pain," He broke the hug and winked at them, "Who knows, maybe he'll play with you two again one more time after he gets better!"

The promise of hope cheered the two of them right up.

"Will you save him?" "Please help him!"

Alfyn smiled, making his way back into Zeph's house with the information he needed, "I'll get him right back on his feet! Don't you two even worry!" He entered the house and made his to Olberic's side, Zeph and Primrose both patiently waiting for any information that would help Olberic recover.


"Good gods… a blotted viper?"

Although both apothecaries knew about the dangerous creature, Primrose was still in the dark and inquired about the monster. They explained that it was one of the only two venomous creatures that lived in the Cave of Rhiyo and that they grew to become three to four times the size of a normal human being. They were strong and fast so taking the venom from one would prove to be a challenge where failure meant death. Its venom would be enough to put an agonizing one-day death sentence on anyone that got bit by one so time is of the essence when it came to creating a cure for a victim.

The only problem was that in order to create such a cure, one must have the original venom in order to create a concoction that combated the very things the venom caused. A perfect ying to the venom's yang. A whole nest of the creatures aside from other monsters lurking in the cave was the only thing in the way of obtaining the venom, a reckless risk that Zeph was willing to take for his patient.

Zeph nodded and started to prepare himself for battle, "I'll leave at once. Please take care of Primrose's friend." Alfyn tried to stop him at his recklessness but Zeph was already out the door. At that moment, the door swung open, Lily and Nina both rushing into the house and stumbling their way to Olberic's side much to the surprise of the three adults. Zeph stopped and turned back to his dear sister, worried about the tears in her eyes.

Nina and Lily looked at Olberic with tears trailing down their cheeks, "Please, please, please don't die mister! I'm sorry for making you like this!" They uttered out apologies after apologies to the man but he did not respond which upset them even more. "Is he going to die?! Please, Zeph, don't let him die!"

Zeph rushed over to comfort the two girls that kept crying, Alfyn smiling as he readjusted his own satchel, "Looks like you have two new patients to take care of! You look after them while I'm gone."

Zeph stood silent, angry at himself that he's letting Alfyn risk his life for his own responsibilities but he was right. He had his hands full with taking care of both the little girls in front of his aside from Olberic and leaving them there would make his less of the brother he was to her. He thanked him and gave Alfyn his blessing, "Come back safe, you hear?"

"Duh, how else do you think he'll get better?" He laughed as he made his leave. He waved at the busy apothecary, "I'll be back before you know it!"

Primrose stood up from the bed and followed him out the door, determined to help Alfyn cure her companion. The apothecary shook his head at her, knowing full well of her want to help him, "You should stay by your friend's side."

"I appreciate your kind words but standing by and doing nothing will not cure him." Primrose stated firmly. She stood by watching Olberic writhe in pain for too long and it was time for her to repay his bravery when he fought by her side back in the Sunlands. Although she never thought she'd risk her own life, her own chance at avenging her father, for another, her feet guided her out the door and to the man that stood before her. "That man saved my life once and I will do anything to repay him for that." But was it just to repay the favor? She didn't contemplate about the reason any further.

Alfyn sighed, "Aw, shucks. Why'd you have to make this difficult for me?" He beckoned her to follow him towards the path leading to the Cave of Rhiyo where the old man sat with his horse. He requested the old man that brought Olberic back to the town to take the two to the cave and he happily agreed to say he'll take them as far as his horse will take them. He helped Primrose onto the back of the wooden cart, "I'd refuse ya but, if I were in your shoes, I'd fight tooth and nail to save Zeph!" It was true, he would fight thousands of vipers if that would save his friend from the claws of death.

Primrose smiled at the man as the horse started trotting along the path, dragging the cart alongside. I'm going to save you, Olberic, Primrose thought as she watched the trees go past her, the village of Clearbrook slowly getting smaller and smaller until it was left behind.


The old man dropped them off near the entrance of the cave where he found Olberic and the two girls. With a quick thank you, the pair started to make their way to the heart of the cave as the old man stood outside to wait for them.

Alfyn led the way with Primrose following him closely so she wouldn't get lost. Alfyn thought back to when Primrose spoke about her adventures and how she met Olberic. It seemed to him that she had a lot of respect for the warrior but still kept herself guarded for a good reason. Still, he couldn't forget how happy it made her whenever she spoke so highly of him. "So," He began, "Forgive me for prying but this Olberic fella means a lot to you, does he?" Primrose blushed but didn't lose her composure at Alfyn's question. Alfyn knew that it wasn't one-sided as he saw how worried the warrior had been when Primrose's legs were paralyzed from the velvetberries. "And it's obvious that you mean a lot to him too with how much he worried about you!"

"He's just a companion of mine," She explained to both Alfyn and herself. For many reasons during her time in Sunshade, she guarded her heart against falling back into the familiar feeling of love with her simple respect and admiration being nothing more than just that for her partner. It would take her a long time and a patient lover to have her feel comfortable with the feeling again. The patient partner was right on the nose for Primrose but the time part was just an added part to dissuade her from even thinking of such a feeling now.

Alfyn thought on her response and thought of Zeph. He saw him as a companion, rival, and a best friend. They've grown closer and closer with each passing day to the point where the apothecary's inspiration grew into admiration which, Alfyn realized in the past year, evolved into adoration for his friend. Zeph, however, was still in love with his Mercedes, a girl who he loved since they were kids. Although Alfyn was happy that his friend found his other piece of the puzzle, Alfyn was sure that he'd never meet his own piece anytime soon especially since he convinced himself that his missing piece was right in front of him for all the past years. It hurt him to know that Zeph was the piece that was just too big for him to fit into his life and complete him.

He turned his head towards Primrose, "So basically Olberic is like the me to your Zeph?"

Primrose pondered on the similarity, confused as to what he meant, and nodded anyway despite not knowing fully what his comparison was, "Perhaps a little less than best friends but we are friends nonetheless."

So it's that complicated, Alfyn thought to himself.

The pair reached the bridge, hanging on by the last of its threads, and the each of them took turns crossing it in the fear that their combined weight would cause the breaking bridge to fall apart beneath them. Once they crossed, Alfyn stopped for a second to reach into his bag and pull out a smaller version of the mortar and pestle he had back in Clearbrook. He placed a black seed and some sleepweed into the mortar and started to grind them together.

"Just making something quick," He explained to Primrose as the herbs were crushed together into fine dust, "it's just a little impolite to enter someone's home without presenting a gift after all." A strange way of looking at this, Primrose thought as he watched him make his supposed gift.

Once he was finished, he poured the dust into his hand and squeezed his hand into a fist. He moved his fist right in front of his mouth, slowly releasing the pressure in his hand to let the dust fall out. He blew air into the dust which started to get encased in ice as he let go of the last of the dust, being careful to reposition his hand so he would grab the ice shard. He flicked it several times to remove the sharp and rough edges until it was nothing more than a vial that sealed in the dust he created.

Ice magic?

Alfyn looked at Primrose, who stood there looking at him as if he pulled out a rabbit out of a magic hat. He laughed and he put the vial back in his satchel, "I put in a lot of time studying to be an apothecary so I've read a few scholar books to learn some cool tricks."

Primrose thought back to her dark magic, a "gift" from the woman who performed the ritual on her. When she used it she felt like she had no control over it and instead felt as if the magic was using her instead. Maybe Alfyn could help her learn how to use her magic strategically and convert it into her dancing just as Olberic taught her how to wield her dagger. If she could somehow master her magic she can lend better aid when fighting.

Before she could ask for the apothecary to teach her how to precisely control such magic, the two of them arrived at a field with glowing blue flowers. Primrose had never such a sight in the desert and it was hard for her to even imagine that such a dangerous creature lived among the beautiful flowers. She approached the back of the field, noticing that there were some wilted waterblooms with blood sprinkled over their petals. Judging by the prescience of blood, Olberic picked some flowers, letting his guard down, with the girls before being attacked. Why? Surely the two girls working alone to pick the flowers would be enough for Nina's brother.

Was it for…

"A sight for sore eyes alright," Alfyn interrupted her thoughts as he examined the same wilted waterblooms, "it makes a good bitters, too. No wonder it's Zeph's favorite." He studied the blood on the flowers and noticed that there was a blood trail leading from where they stood straight towards the entrance of the field. Olberic probably only thought about the girls' safety instead of his own, Alfyn thought to himself, looking suspiciously at the bush in front of them. It was very brave and selfless of him to do such a thing for the girls and was only grateful he could repay the favor by offering to retrieve the venom of the viper.

"Hssssssssss!"

Speaking of Galdera himself...

They both turned to see the blotted viper, a fresh wound at the side of its head. It was giant, just as Alfyn had told Primrose earlier, and blotted with purple spots that resembled skulls on the back of its long, slender body. Red eyes locked onto them as it slithered into an attacking position. Primrose, small in comparison to the creature, pulled out her dagger in case the viper attacked, watching as Alfyn squatted in front of the creature as if the viper was nothing more than a small river snake.

"Aren't you a big mama!" He told the viper, amazed by the size of the creature before him. He stood up and approached the creature slowly, Primrose looking at him as if he were a man driven to insanity to underestimate the creature. "Say, don't suppose you could spare a nip of snakebite, could ya?"

"Hssssssssshhhaaaaaaa!" The viper slithered closer to Alfyn, close enough to quickly swoop in and constrain him with her body.

He shook his hands at the viper as if to stop her approach, "Oh don't get up, I'll help myself to some if you don't mind!" He pulled out an ax from his satchel, the sight of the weapon causing the viper to hiss even louder. Alfyn laughed at how the viper was literally begging him to take some of her venom, "Well shucks, if you insist!"

The viper lunged at Alfyn, fangs at the ready to catch her prey. Alfyn, fully expecting the viper to attack at such a short distance, ran towards her and slid right under the viper as it jumped and got behind out of its line of sight. Blotted vipers were known for their bite but that, however, was only half the story as she quickly grabbed him with her tail, starting to squeeze him tight. A clever creature.

"Alfyn!" Primrose yelled as she ran to save her friend from the viper's constraint. The viper lunged again, this time at Primrose, but she was able to sidestep the attack. She felt lighter on her feet than before, an aftereffect of the velvetberries she assumed, and was able to stick her dagger into the creature, the attack causing the viper to uncoil her tail and drop Alfyn.

The creature began to focus on Primrose instead, slithering quickly to catch up with the woman as she danced around the viper. Alfyn, watching the woman's speed, had an idea on how to subdue the creature. "Primrose!" He got the dancer's attention as she dodged the tail of the viper that tried to sweep her off her feet, "I'm going to distract the viper! Try to get on its head and stick your dagger in its mouth with the pointed end facing down! If you do it facing up it'll damage the glands that produce the venom!" He readied his ax as he looked through his satchel to locate the item he created earlier.

"Are you insane!?" She yelled as she watched Alfyn charge at the tail end of the beast, ax in hand.

"Maybe! But you have to trust me! It's the only chance we've got!" Whatever choice she had in trusting him or not was gone as soon as he ran over and chopped off the tail end of the creature, causing the monster to hiss in pain as she turned around and prepared to strike, the shadow of the beast looming over the small man.

Taking the creature's moment of vulnerability as an opportunity to strike, Primrose jumped on the viper's back and ran up the viper's back, lunging herself at the head. The creature hissed, Primrose's chance to enact the first part of Alfyn's plan appeared. Before the viper had a second to shake Primrose off of herself, Primrose stuck her dagger as instructed, piercing through the bottom of the viper's jaw.

The creature hissed and hah'd as all attempts to close her jaw only led to suffering, instinctively starting to roll over on the ground in an attempt to fool them into thinking she was dead. The creature, as soon as they removed the dagger from her mouth, would strike at them. Alfyn saw right through the creature's ploy as he swung the vial he created earlier right into the open mouth of the creature, the strength in his swing causing her to swallow the vial whole. Primrose, having done her part, went to his side, ready in case the viper gave up the act and attack them again.

He whistled at the beast, "Wow, that worked?"

Primrose, offended that the medicine man had her risk her own life fully trusting the man, scoffed, "You based your plan's success off of petty luck?!"

Alfyn motioned to his partner to calm down, laughing, "I'm just kidding! I would never put your life at such a great risk!" He started to explain his thinking to her, "You see, the viper thinks it's smart but brains only matter if you're one step ahead. Her plan was that if she was no longer able to attack, she would play dead until we let our guards down. My plan was to follow through with her plan and throw the vial of sleeping dust into her mouth." He touched his mouth with his finger, "The sleeping dust has a fifty percent chance of working if smelled but when the dust is ingested…"

Primrose looked over to the beast, a thin membrane covering the eyes, as it laid still in the middle of the field of waterblooms. Alfyn walked over and took out the dagger from the inside of her jaw. Primrose expected the beast to rise from the field but it did not, a clear indication that the sleeping powder worked just as Alfyn planned.

Alfyn looked at the great beast that held a certain dangerous beauty to it. "Now then, I'll just take the venom I asked for earlier thank you very much!" He used the dagger to make an incision at the side of the viper's mouth, exhaling his cold breath on the pouring venom to make a vial for it.

The viper's glands were at the side's of the mouth, not the top of it. "Alfyn, why did you lie to me?"

Alfyn whistled a tune as he dug out a needle and stitches from his satchel. "Oh did I now?"

"Yes, you did." She stated firmly as the man began to stitch the incision he made, "Why would you do that if it's better to kill off the monster instead of risking the chance of failure?"

Cutting the end of the thread to finish the job, Alfyn recalled the words of Dohter he once read in a book about his works, "Nature giveth and humans taketh away but not when dost not needest to." He stood up, looking at the vial of green venom in his hand, "In other words, we don't have to take the life of a creature unless we need to." He motioned for her to follow him into the bushes and pushed the branches away to reveal a nest with three large eggs with purple spots on them. "If big mama were to pass away, these little guys wouldn't stand a chance out here all by their lonesome! It's also safe to say that Olberic probably got a little too close to the nest for the viper's comfort and just attacked because she felt the need to protect her special something."

Primrose looked over at the eggs and then back at the mother of them. The man was right to a certain extent. When it came to nature, animals attacked purely by instinct just as humans have an instinct to either fight for themselves or for others. Alfyn passed her dagger back to her but she stood there looking at it, thinking about what she had in store for the three men bearing the marks of the crow. Primrose didn't plan on taking their lives because she wanted to; rather, she needed to. She, much like the viper, had something to protect, her father's honor as a good man of house Azelhart.

Such a thing would require her to take the lives that she herself decided to take as a necessity even if Alfyn and even Olberic might not agree with her.

"Did I say something wrong?" Alfyn asked the dancer.

She put one of her many masks again, taking the dagger from his hands as her resolve burned even brighter, "You said nothing at all." Her mind drifted back toOlberic, sick and dying on Zeph's bed, "We should start heading back."


Alfyn and Primrose arrived in the nick of time thanks to the help of the old man who rode them back to town.

The door to Zeph's house swung open and Alfyn came through with the vial of venom on hand. Zeph, who knelt down beside the two girls that were calmed down from their worries, got on his feet and rushed over to the smiling Alfyn, "Did ya miss me? Sorry I took so long!"

Instead of paying attention to the venom in Alfyn's hand, Zeph pulled the other into a quick embrace which surprised Alfyn. Pulling back, Zeph nodded, "Alf, I'm just so glad you came back safe."

Alfyn was unable to reply to his friend as his heart skipped a beat from the gesture. Instead of speaking, he placed the vial in the palm of Zeph's hand. The other apothecary examined it, the green liquid moving around inside the vial as he inspected it, marveling at how his other friend managed to get his hands on the venom. After confirming he had what he needed, he quickly turned to his work table and got started on making an antidote, "I can finally get to work! Thank you Alfyn!"

Unable to shake the feeling of the embrace, Alfyn murmured, "Hang in there buddy!"

Primrose noticed how flustered Alfyn got from the embrace of the other, a pink shade starting to form on his cheeks, and approached him, "Everything alright?"

Alfyn avoided making eye contact with Primrose but it was already too late as she knew exactly what Alfyn was feeling, "Nah, it's nothin' special." He started to make his leave but, before he opened the door, he glanced back at Primrose, "Just make sure to keep your friend company. I can't imagine how much pain he must be going through."

Primrose nodded, her word already given to him even before they set off to obtain the venom from the creature. As soon as Alfyn shut the door behind him, Primrose went to Olberic's side. His skin turned paler than before she left and noticed how violently he writhed in pain as he clutched his arm with the other.

The two girls that stood next to her and Olberic looked on with worried faces on the verge of tears again. Primrose set a loving hand on Nina as tears started to pour down her cheeks. "There, there," Primrose cooed as she ran her hand through her hair, "our friend is going to be just fine soon." The soothing gesture and soft words calmed Nina down which in turn calmed Lily. She got to her knees and held Nina's hands in her own, "Why don't you two go outside and play? It's such a beautiful day to be stuck inside crying."

"B-but, what if he wakes up and we're not here to say sorry?"

Primrose smiled at the two of them. They were truly thoughtful and kind girls that would grow up to become beautiful women. "I'm sure he's already forgiven you both."

"P-promise?"

"Promise."

Nina smiled faintly as she grabbed Lily's hand and led her to the door. She looked back at Primrose and waved a small hand at her. Primrose laughed softly and bid them a farewell of her own as the two ran outside.

Zeph turned around from workbench as he quickly made his way to his patient, a mortar on hand. He tipped back Olberic's head slightly and placed the stone bowl at his lips, the blue liquid slowly made its way down through. "Even if he's not all here," Zeph started to explain to Primrose, "he can still do simple things such as blinking and even swallowing so he's able to drink this."

Once Zeph completely finished administering the antidote, he placed the stone mortar down on the floor and knelt down beside Primrose. The look in her eyes reminded him of Alfyn whenever he talked about traveling to far off places or tales he's heard from the other side of the sea. He turned back to Olberic, imagining if Alfyn were in his stead. If he were, Zeph wouldn't have hesitated to retrieve the venom to save his dear friend. "Olberic means something to you for you to risk your life, huh?"

Primrose had a thoughtful look in her eyes as she watched some color return to Olberic's face, "I'm just simply returning-"

A cough erupted from within Olberic, startling both Zeph and Primrose into attention. Upon hearing Primrose's voice, he reached out weakly to his side, seeking something. "Prim…" His voice was raspy and sickly. Primrose leaned closer towards Olberic and placed a hand on top of his to assure the man that she was there.

"I'm here now it's going to be alright." Her voice was like honeydew, an unfamiliar sweetness to Olberic.

She felt Olberic's fingers interlaced with her own. His skin felt rough compared to the softness of her fingers that were never meant to see bloodshed. She expected his hand to be cold from being poisoned but found an unfamiliar warmth that she welcomed. Primrose, surprised at the gesture, lifted her eyes to see that Olberic was still in a trance. "Prim," He began weakly, Primrose felt his hand attempt to hold her own a little more lovingly with a little more strength, "please don't leave my side."

Her eyes widened. A tightness in her chest made her feel lighter. Even after listening to so many men call her many things, she couldn't have possibly predicted herself ever feeling the way she did at that moment and yet she did. As much as she wanted to protect herself from eventual heartbreak, she couldn't help but stumble closer into a familiar warmth that beckoned her.

Closer, but not quite fall into it.

Primrose responded simply by holding his hand a little tighter, "I won't." She let her head rest on her arm as she watched the man, no longer writhing in pain, fall asleep.

Zeph stood up and sat down at a chair in the middle of the home, leaning back in pure relief that the antidote worked. He began to mentally prepare himself for the long day and night that awaited him until Olberic fully recovered from his current state. It was an exhausting job being an apothecary but it was one he didn't mind as long as every face he treated was in good condition. Zeph glanced over to Primrose and resumed their earlier conversation, "So, you're simply what?"

Primrose was too occupied in making sure Olberic slept soundly to even make out what the other was saying, "Hm?" Watching the other sleep was starting to make her drowsy as she nuzzled into the crook of her arm.

Zeph chuckled, "Nothing. Nothing at all."

He got his answer just by simply watching the two together.


Headcannon that Alfyn's boss is big mama girl with children to protect which is why she attacked in the first place.

Also I'm strongly thinking about making another story about all the Gods since they BARELY skimmed over the history of them in the actual game. Thinking about it though

Thank you for the continued support as always! It's always my drive to keep writing this story~! If you like it or have some advice on how to improve be sure to leave a review! As always, thank you for reading!