Chapter 21

Torian watched as Aridan healed the deep lacerations on Aya's back. The man was lucky to be alive, Torian was sure he knew that, too.

He leaned back against Sevron's leg while he watched Aridan go from person to person, healing them. He paused when he noticed the blood dribbling slowly from one of Aridan's gauntlets. Shit!

He caught Aridan's hands before the Forger could get up and walk away.

"What's wrong?" Aridan asked, smiling at him.

Torian slid his fingers in the blood and raised them up for everyone to see.

"What's wrong? You're fucking dying, that's what's wrong!" Silver screamed as she stared at the blood.

"Its okay, that's not really a bad thing. I'll be back eventually," Aridan beamed at them.

"Not a bad thing? Are you out of your mind! This is a bad thing! A very bad thing!" Devi cried, dropping from the ceiling to perch himself on the table in front of Aridan.

"Its okay, don't worry, I'll still be able to make weapons and heal until these fights are done," Aridan assured.

Silver smacked him, startling him.

"Do you really think we're upset because of your powers?"

"I'm sorry," Aridan sobbed, curling in on himself.

"None of us are worried because of your abilities," Yohji interrupted, wrapping an arm around Aya and holding tight to him while watching Silver take Aridan into her arms and just hold him while he sobbed.

"Aridan, weren't you saying something about the jellybeans the girls had brought for you?" Sevron asked. Immediately Aridan's head shot up and he started to scan the area with his eyes for his treasure.

"Wow, that was a fast recovery," Ken snorted as he pointed to the place on the counter that Aridan had put his candy earlier.

Torian watched sadly as Silver walked away down the hall. He crawled toward her, but Aya was there first.

"What can we do to help him?" Aya was asking in a hushed voice. Do you really think Aridan can't hear you just because you're whispering? I thought he already knew about that.

"There isn't anything we can do. He's rotting from the inside. The first sign is sluggishness, the second sign is the blood. I don't think we can stop it now that its starting to make him rot. We can keep him as he is, with a part of him staying rotten, but he isn't likely to refrain from using his powers even if we were to tie him down. The rotten part will always put him in agony. I don't know if he would even want to live through it." Silver explained. Torian watched how her hands shook, and then looked at his own, which were also trembling.

Torian made himself known by crawling louder than usual toward them.

"I wonder how long he's been hiding this from us. He never tells us when this starts, so we never know how long he has been in pain for. He definitely knew it was happening though. He knows the signs." Torian sighed. He smelled Sevron a second before the man picked him up and cradled him in his arms.

"That is just the way he is. He never wants to inconvenience anyone with his pain." Sevron said.

"So nothing we do, nothing at all, can keep him safe?" Aya was pacing.

"I don't need you to keep me safe," Aridan's voice was sombre as he walked over to them.

"Its my job to keep you alive and to do that I must heal you and give you what you need to protect yourself and those that you care about. That's just the way it is. Now please, can we just pretend like its not happening? I don't want you to be upset," Aridan's eyes were red rimmed from his tears, and he was still trembling even though he was stuffing his face with candy.

"Gotten this far, has it?" Kyriel asked as he groggily walked toward them, stumbling and nearly falling.

"Are you safe now?" Aya asked the angel.

"What do you mean 'gotten this far'? You mean you knew about this?" Torian demanded, glaring at him.

"I've known about this for over a month now. I can smell it better than anyone. I've been neck deep in corpses, I know what decay smells like from stage to stage. I exist only to know how to create it, so catching the signs of it is easy," Kyriel walked over to Aridan and wrapped his arms around him and kissed him on the cheek.

"Why didn't you tell anyone!" Torian shouted at him.

"Aridan told me not to tell anyone and so I didn't. He is the one going through this, not us, so it is his right to have it be the way he wants it to. We have no right to upset him about it. We can grieve over it all we want, just please, try to keep the real grieving for afterwards. This is his sacrifice. It is his will." As Kyriel spoke, Aridan's hands slid over his healing wings and poured his energy into them, healing them the rest of the way and promoting the growth of his feathers.

"I can understand why you didn't tell us, both of you, I just wish that you trusted us more." Gabriel said, slipping his hand into Kyriel's.

"When it comes to other people's information I don't care how much I trust someone, I will not give that knowledge to anyone without permission," Kyriel glared at Gabriel, but didn't pull his hand away.

"Looks like everyone followed us out here," Silver snorted when she noticed Omi and Ken had joined them.

"This doesn't change anything, you guys! We're still going to kick some demon ass!" Aridan giggled, his smile brightening up the room again.

Author's notes: Thanks JollyBigSis and Blackorcid for your reviews. XD!