AN: A slightly longer chapter today with some fluffy goodness, finally~ Also one more chapter left of this series. Anyway, hope you enjoy reading~!


Chapter 12:

Night-time had fallen when Alfyn was finally able to gather everyone back at the inn. It took some time, but thankfully with H'annit's help, Alfyn was able to bring everyone back and make them comfortable. Though the antidote he created helped alleviate and then eliminate the symptoms and causes of the illness that infected his companions, it could not ease their exhaustion of having to battle against the serum.

They were all sleeping. Therion, Cyrus, Olberic, and Primrose.

They had a bed room each at the inn. A place they currently had full reign over due to the inn-keepers and their maid being infected by the serum as well.

With four members of their group infected, and four not, thankfully there was one person to watch over the other who was sick. Ophilia was with Primrose, H'annit with Olberic, Tressa with Cyrus, and Alfyn chose to watch over Therion.

With a chair pulled close to Therion's bedside, Alfyn gazed down at his sleeping friend. The grey rash was nowhere to be seen. The deathly paleness to his cheeks had vanished. And now he was just sleeping off the rest of the serum and stress.

He couldn't stop himself from constantly reaching out to brush aside the strands of his hair from his forehead to check if his fever had returned or not.

Alfyn was of course worried for everyone. But it was Therion who was at the forefront of his mind. He couldn't help but feel a sense of guilt about what happened. The way Therion had pushed himself to find him, even as the serum ravished his senses, nearly turning him to stone. The way Therion staggered.

He never done that before. Stagger or stumble.

He could still feel the shock and concern when Therion staggered over to him and free him from his bindings. He could still feel the way his heart leapt into his throat when Therion fell in front of him. Falling in slow motion.

By the gods, that scared him more than anything.

Alfyn had to shake his head to rid himself of that image and the lingering after effects that still caused his heart to skip a beat. He spent a minute or so ensuring that Therion was comfortable, lightly draping the blankets over him and carefully folding his arms over his torso above the sheets. Therion didn't like having his arms trapped beneath the blankets, after all.

With a lingering glance, Alfyn pushed himself to his feet and walked out of the room. He quietly closed to the door behind him and carefully descended the stairs.

"Alfyn?" Ophilia called his name softly.

Alfyn paused at the bottom of the stairs and turned around to look up at her. He tried to offer her a comforting smile when he realised she had obvious worry on her face. "Sorry. Just...one more thing I need to do."

He then turned and walked out of the inn.

It was still unnerving to him how quiet the streets were. It wasn't something he liked. Villages were meant to be busy, after all.

It also didn't help that the silence made him reflect back on all that had occurred.

There was so much that needed to be done. What about those kids? Who would watch over them now? And the residents of the village; what conditions were they in? How long had they suffered at the hands of Henry and Beatrice, and their mind-altering serum?

It was honestly overwhelming, so Alfyn tried to focus on the present. Look after his companions. Make sure those kids were alive.

One step at a time.

After everyone had recovered, then they may be able to start the process of sticking the village back together. They couldn't stay for very long, though. It felt wrong to leave after what happened, but they had places they needed to go. And Alfyn wanted to go with them.

After what had happened, he didn't want to be a part from them for very long. Just in case something similar happened again.

Aflyn shook his head to clear it and uttered a sigh. His feet scraped against the ground, giving the small indication that he was feeling tired. But he kept walking until he reached a water well located in the centre of town.

He gazed down the inky blackness for a moment before he reached into his bag and pulled out a glass bottle. It contained the antidote.

And it was the only one he had left.

Tightening his hand around it, Alfyn tilted his head back and sighed as he looked up at the starry sky. Despite himself, more questions about what had occurred floated through his mind.

Was the Aeracure Blossom gone for good? What was it exactly? Where did it come from? Who built the Chamber of Healing it was housed in? What about the abandoned manor? Who owned it before Henry and Beatrice inhabited it? Why was it abandoned?

There were just...so many questions left unanswered. And the frustrating part was he may never know the truth.

Turning his eyes away from the sky, Alfyn looked down at the bottle in his hand once more. Slowly, he popped off the lid, the noise seeming to echo through the silence. He then poured it into the drinking supply.

It was all he could do. He couldn't make anymore. All he could do was hope that by drinking the water with the antidote, those who were still infected would heal in time.

...There was nothing else he could do.

Slipping the empty bottle back into his bag, Alfyn turned and headed back in the direction of the inn.

He was silently glad that Ophilia didn't try to wait for his return. Poor girl was worried enough about everyone. She didn't need to be fussing over him now.

Their rooms were located across from each other and close to the stairs. So, Alfyn dropped his bag upon the top step and sat down heavily next to it. With a weary sigh, and ignoring the ache in his shoulders and back, he rested his elbows on his knees and closed his eyes.

Finally, he was able to sit down.

"Alfyn?"

Alfyn instinctively straightened his posture and placed a smile on his lips. "Hey, Phillie," he greeted in return. He tried to sound jovial so not to alarm her, but he honestly surprised himself by how tired he sounded.

Ophilia looked at him for a while, her expression unreadable. She slowly lowered herself onto the top step next to him and folded her hands atop of her lap. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, just a tad tired," Alfyn replied, his grin turning more genuine. "Hah, don't even feel like a drink right now."

Ophilia nodded her head idly before she pulled her legs to her chest and folded her arms tightly around them. "...I can't believe all that happened," she whispered as she rested her chin atop of her knees.

The smile faded from his lips and Alfyn nodded his head. "Feels like it came out of the blue."

"I felt really helpless," Ophilia admitted softly. "I don't like that feeling."

Alfyn turned his head to look forward, but not really looking at anything. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

"It must have been so hard for you. So close to the cure, yet unable to reach it."

"I bet it was scary for you, too. Locked away in that orphanage, not knowing what was going on."

Ophilia's arms tightened around her legs and nodded her head slowly.

It honestly wasn't fair.

"...Let's try not to think about it too much, ok?" Alfyn suggested, straightening his posture once more, trying to look energetic and willing to move forward.

"Y-yes, mustn't waste precious energy," Ophilia replied, reacting similarly to him. "We have others in need of our healing."

Alfyn laughed lightly, actually feeling better than before. "Right. We're not helpless now. So, let's get back to work."

Ophilia took to her feet and idly patted down her clothes to straighten them. "Yes." She sent him a grateful smile and turned to head back to the room which Primrose was recuperating in.

But she paused and glanced down at Alfyn with a curious look on her. "You know, Alfyn? You look good with your hair down."

Alfyn instinctively reached up to touch his hair and realised that his hair was indeed left hanging around his shoulders and neck. No wonder he kept feeling a tickling sensation at the back of his neck. "Oh, do I? I keep forgetting about it."

Ophilia folded her hands in front of her and smiled. "Therion is sure to appreciate it."

Alfyn felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment. "H-hey, Phillie!"

Ophilia giggled as she dashed away. She paused at the bedroom door to wave a hand at him before opening the door and stepped inside.

Alfyn sighed and idly rubbed at his cheeks with his hands. He felt a small frown on his lips, though, and glanced at the door to Therion's room.

Therion…He pushed himself too hard for him.

He hoped he would awaken soon.

… … … … …

The stars glittered high above as Therion rolled his head to the side. The campfire were just glowing embers now, but it offered enough light to reveal that the spot next to him was empty.

Alfyn was supposed to sleeping there.

Therion immediately sat up and looked around. He soon found a familiar form nearby, near a lake. He sat on the bank, leaning back on his hands as he stared up at the starry sky. Still close enough to the campsite, but too far for Therion's liking. Especially alone and in such an unguarded state.

Uttering a silent sigh, Therion heaved himself to his feet and made his way over to Alfyn. "What are you doing?"

Alfyn tilted his head back and granted him a small smile. "Thinking," he replied simply.

Therion arched an eyebrow and stood there for a moment longer. However, he soon dropped down onto the ground next to him, lazing back on an elbow, turned toward Alfyn subtly. "...About what?"

Alfyn turned his gaze skywards. "Ogen."

Therion was unable to prevent a grimace and frown. "You still thinking about that?"

However, Alfyn shook his head. "Nah. There's something else that's been bothering me about the guy."

"And what's that?"

"It's just…" Alfyn hesitated, probably trying to search for the right words. "I think he's truly forgotten what it is truly like to feel."

Therion felt his brow furrowed in confusion. "Feel what?"

"Everything," Alfyn answered as he flopped back onto the grass, his sprawled out widely. "I guess if you've been hurt enough, it's easy to mistake any depth of feeling for sadness, any sense of the unknown with fear, any sense of peace with boredom." He rolled his head to the side and looked at him. "Ya know what I mean?"

Therion tried to remain casual and dismissively, but his body tensed nonetheless and he frowned. "Yeah…"

"Hey, Therion?"

"What?"

Alfyn reached out and slipped a finger around that damn fool's bangle around his wrist and tugged on it lightly. "Your life is yours to do what you will with; you can make it whatever you want."

That caught Therion completely off guard and he wasn't sure how to respond to that. "...What about you? There's nothing holding you here."

Alfyn hummed lightly as he released his grip on that stupid bracelet and let his hand flop listlessly onto the grass beside his head. "Hmm, there kinda is."

"What?"

Despite lying flat on the grass, Alfyn managed to shrug and fold his hands across his torso. "I like spending time with you."

Therion snorted to cover up the unusual feeling of peace and flopped onto his back next to Alfyn. "You need a better hobby," he said as he folded his arms behind his head and rested an ankle on his knee.

"Now, don't be like that," Alfyn whined, but the amusement in his voice was obvious.

Therion just smirked and closed his eyes.

He found himself opening them moments later, however, and the slightly familiar sight of a ceiling over his head greeted him instead of a cluster of stars. That confused him. But as his vision began to clear, so did his mind.

And he soon remembered everything that had happened.

Therion immediately sat up in bed, ignored the way he head spun from the sudden movement, and swung his legs over the side. He placed his feet on the floor, taking light note that his shoes and poncho had been removed, and stood up.

A wave of panic washed over him internally as he glanced around the room and couldn't see Alfyn anywhere.

"Alfyn?"

"Therion?" Alfyn questioned in return before he suddenly appeared directly before Therion and flung his arms around him, embracing him tightly. The hug was so sudden that Therion instinctively wrapped his arms around him in return in an attempt to prevent them both from toppling over onto the bed behind him.

It actually surprised Therion somewhat to realise how calm he felt the instant Alfyn flung his arms around him and pressed his face against the curve of his neck. In fact, he felt a sense of satisfaction and relief. He had managed to find Alfyn after all. And the fact that he was standing, breathing, and not some statue meant that Alfyn had managed to find a cure for whatever it was that Henry used on them.

"How are you feeling?" Alfyn asked as he pulled back slightly, but did step back from him. Instead he stayed pressed against him as his hands cupped the sides of Therion's face gently. "Let me look at you."

Normally, Therion would try to dismiss some of Alfyn's obvious concern toward him. But tonight, he really couldn't be bothered. So, he just rested his hands on the other man's sides and let him fuss. "What happened?"

Alfyn sighed and interlocked his fingers together behind Therion's neck. "Cyrus, Olberic, and Primrose had been infected with the mind-altering serum," he explained as he rested his forehead against Therion's. "I...was able to make an antidote. They're going to be fine now."

Noticing a white, hastily made bandage on Alfyn's arm caused Therion to bristle with protectiveness. "Did that bastard do anything to you?" he asked, his arms unconsciously pressing firmly against Alfyn's sides.

Alfyn kept his forehead against his and shook his head ever so slightly. "No. You got to me in time."

Despite the affirmation that Henry hadn't done anything, Therion still felt protective. "So, he was planning something?" murmured, not so much as a question, but as a complaint.

One that drew a small laugh from Alfyn, but little else.

He pushed aside that protectiveness and instead focused his attention on the man directly in front of him. The lighting of the room was dim, and Therion's eyes were still a tad blurry from waking and moving suddenly. But he could see the tired lines on Alfyn's face.

And the unruly strands of his hair around his shoulders and framing his face. Alfyn honestly looked good with his hair down. He would complain about it, though. How it tickled the back of his neck, how the strands would get in his eyes when he was trying to concentrate.

Therion secretly liked it when he wore his head down. But right now, he just looked exhausted.

"You have your hair down," Therion murmured before he had the chance to reconsider.

Alfyn leaned back to look down at him in surprise. He, however, smiled somewhat sheepishly and draped one arm around Therion's shoulders while he reached up to touch his hair with the other. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Didn't really have time to put it back up, ya know?"

...He wondered what had happened after he found Alfyn. Perhaps finding him was the easy part. Leaving him to clean up the mess by himself was...a little unfair.

Alfyn uttered another sigh as he lowered his hand from his hair and draped it casually around Therion's shoulders, like he had done with the other. He looked tiredly into his eyes. And yet...there was something in those eyes that Therion couldn't quite put his finger on.

"You pushed yourself to rescue me."

"You were the only one to find a cure, after all."

"Is that all, though?"

Therion sighed. No point in trying to be dismissive about it now. "...No."

Alfyn tilted his head to the side and smiled softly. "...Shucks, Therion. I was worried about you, too."

As Alfyn leaned down toward him, Therion instinctively tilted his head back so that his lips caught Alfyn's. Alfyn didn't react negatively in anyway. Didn't stiffen. Didn't immediately pull back. No, he pressed forward to press his lips a little firmer against Therion's. While he did no more than that, Therion knew what the slight movement meant.

It was both an invitation and a request.

So Therion took the lead, he being the one to deepen the kiss. And Alfyn happily followed, letting Therion kiss him in anyway he felt comfortable.

It was humbling, in a way. Even in such an intimate act, Alfyn still found a way to express his trust in him. A small voice piped up, saying that he didn't deserve someone like Alfyn. But he squashed it.

Because, damn it all, pushing people away was getting tiring.

After one last, lingering caress, they pulled back from the kiss. But not from each other. While Therion opened his eyes, Alfyn didn't. Instead he leaned forward to rest his forehead against his once again.

"I knew you would come for me," he murmured.

Of course he would.

"Did you now?" Therion returned. "How can you be so sure?"

"I trust you, that's why," Alfyn replied quickly and easily. "And you trust me, don't you?"

"...Yeah." Of course he did.

"Good," Alfyn said as he hugged him tightly, resting his cheek on his hair. "So, if you ever get arrested, I'll definitely break you out."

"Oh, will you now?"

"Well, I broke into a mansion. I think I'm getting the hang of this thieving business."

Therion tried to snort, but instead chuckled in mild amusement. "I guess the gods like me more than I thought," he murmured.

Alfyn pulled back to look at him with his head tilted curiously to the side. "Therion?"

Thankfully, he didn't seem to have heard him. By the gods, that was cheesy. He might tell him about it later. But not now. He'd be damned if Primrose ever found out.

"You look tired," Alfyn suddenly commented with a slight frown.

Therion had no doubt about that. But he wasn't the only one. "I probably look less tired than you do right now. You've never been very good at looking after yourself."

Alfyn granted him a sheepish half smile but didn't argue. "I should try to refute that, but even I know you're right."

Therion smirked. It quickly faded though when Alfyn made the half-hearted attempt to pull back and he reacted by wrapping his arms around his waist and holding him still. Alfyn stiffened for a fraction of a moment but placed his arms around Therion's shoulders once more.

"Share the one bed tonight?" Alfyn requested. "I'd...sleep better that way."

Therion immediately nodded his head. Yeah, he would, too.

With that reassurance, Alfyn smiled and they finally parted. Only so that Therion could flop back down onto the bed and for Alfyn to get himself into the state where he could sleep comfortably. He soon flopped down onto the bed next to Therion and rolled over so that he was facing him.

Alfyn was obviously more tired than he thought. As soon as Alfyn's head hit the pillow, he was out like a light.

And Therion found himself watching him sleep for a while. Just watching. Reassuring himself that Alfyn was safe, that everyone else was sure to be safe. There were still a lot of questions swimming around in his head about what happened while he was out, while Alfyn was held captive.

But they could wait.

Draping an arm over Alfyn's waist, Therion finally settled down and fell asleep himself.