AN: Thanks so much PoptartsAreMagic, Terron145 and CreepyNick1 for reviewing the previous chapter! Here's a longer chapter for you to read and enjoy!

Chapter 21:

Varuna nudged open the door to Isiah's office with his foot and walked over to Isiah's desk, of which the talented medic was hunched over, weighed down in paperwork.

"Here," Varuna said as he placed a cup of tea on the only cleared part of Isiah's desk. "Peppermint tea. Nitish just made it."

"Hn? Ah, thanks," Isiah muttered as he gratefully picked up the tea cup, barely taking his eyes off the file he was flipping through.

Varuna wasn't at all bothered by Isiah's lack of response. After all, they were all researchers who often got so lost in their work that they lose all track of time. And they were up to their armpits in samples, medical cases and orders for medicine.

Thankfully, though, with the tablet found in the Misty Ravine hidden within their residence, it gave them the chance to advance in their studies of the Scarlet Pillars before proceeding to the next possible stratum, as they were calling it. With so much of the Scarlet Pillars and the Misty Ravine left to examine and study, it only made sense that they postpone the opening of the next land.

That was what the Phaedron Guild was currently doing. They were still mapping the lay out of the Scarlet Pillars and picking up any food products that needed to be examined. Thankfully none of the other guilds had figured out that they were hiding the key to the next land.

Even if they did, would they really, honestly try to intimidate someone like Isiah into handing it over?

The sound of the front door slamming open almost caused both Varuna and Isiah to spit out their drinks in surprise.

"Isiah!"

Leaping to his feet, letting his tea cup fall from his grip to spray liquid out onto the floor, Isiah rushed out of his office. And Varuna was right behind him. He recognised the voice immediately. And the fear and concern was completely out of place.

"What?" Isiah questioned, his eyes widening slightly when his gaze fell upon the sight of Falkner holding his little brother in his arms. Wasting no time, Isiah strode over to Falkner, effortlessly took Fletcher from his arms and carried him into the treatment room. As the name of the room stated, it was a room where Isiah would perform emergency healing and procedures. It was crisp and white, very clean and filled with hygienic equipment.

"What happened?" Isiah asked as he carefully laid Fletcher onto the single bed in the middle of the room.

"A monster attack," Falkner answered, sounding out of breath. "Refresh didn't help."

Wordlessly, Isiah checked the site of the wound which was on the left side of Fletcher's stomach. Lifting up his shirt, Isiah's frown deepened when he noticed large clots of blood caking against skin that was red and swollen. It didn't look good, and even from where Varuna was standing in the doorway, he could tell immediately what one of the problems was.

Poison.

"Varuna?"

Varuna subconsciously straightened his posture, already formulating in his mind what he needed to do. "Yes?"

"Check the wound as I check his vitals," Isiah commanded as he moved to the other side of the bed.

"Sure," Varuna muttered as he hastily pulled his long hair back into a ponytail and rolled up his sleeves. Slipping on a pair of gloves, he pulled a stool over to the bed and sat down. Using a pair of scissors, Varuna cut away at the pieces of torn clothing that were situated around the wound. He needed to keep them for further examination.

The wound itself wasn't all that deep, but the laceration was long, like a grazing wound. However, since the injury was so long, the poison had the chance to spread far more quickly. There was evidence of someone attempting to heal the wound, but paused half-way through, as if they didn't want to seal the wound. Good. They didn't seal in the poison.

"Fast pulse, fever, shivering and semi-conscious state," Isiah stated after he finished his examination.

Varuna nodded his head as he snapped off his gloves and stood up. "The poison is affecting his immune system. But I feel that the body's natural defences will be able to remove it."

"Then let's give it a hand," Isiah said, immediately taking on the role as head medic. "Nitish!"

"Right here," Nitish said as he walked into the room.

"Good," Isiah said. "Before we do anything, we'll need the flush the wound."

"I have some dis-stilled water," Varuna said as he pulled out a tray from the many cabinets of the room and began to fill it with the medical items that he needed. Needles, tweezers and medical swabs.

"Ginseng has anti-inflammatory properties," Nitish added.

Rolling the sleeves of his jacket up to his elbows, Varuna nodded his head. "Gently dressing the wound with some ginseng should help," he mused.

Isiah folded his arms across his chest, his eyes slightly narrow in a contemplative manner. "What do we have to boost the immune system?" he asked Nitish.

"I will be able to make an Immune Tonic."

"Good," Isiah said as he nodded his head sharply and unfurled his arms from his chest. "We'll need to administer it every hour to start with."

"Would orange juice or essence of dolomite be preferred?"

"Let's start with essence of dolomite first, and use orange juice later."

"I'll make some straight away."

"I'll get the dis-stilled water," Varuna said as he finished gathering the tools and items he needed.

"I'll start prepping our patient," Isiah stated as he rolled up the sleeves of his own jacket.

"Nitish, do you need some dis-stilled water as well?" Varuna asked as he quickly made his own way of the room.

"If you have any spare."

"Sure."

As Varuna walked out of the room, he watched from the corner of his eye as Isiah walked over to Falkner and placed a hand on his shoulder. He couldn't hear what Isiah was saying, but he was pretty certain that he was offering the older sniper brother some sort of comfort. He could only imagine the type of frantic emotions Falkner must be feeling, seeing his brother lying unmoving on a medical bed.

Devastating didn't seem like it would be adequate enough.

Quickly making his way into his office, Varuna hardened his resolved. Fletcher was going to be fine. They would find the way to flush the toxins ravishing his young body and heal him fully. He'll be back to his cheerful self in no time.

When Varuna returned to the medical room, Nitish was sitting on the stool that Varuna had occupied previously and was tenderly running his fingers through Fletcher's hair in a comforting manner and was whispering to him. Falkner was standing at the head of the bed, also offering his little brother some comfort. It seemed as if Fletcher had awoken up and was in some distress.

"Varuna," Isiah said the moment he walked into the room. "Put him to sleep, please."

Placing his tray he had prepared earlier on a portable table, Varuna grabbed another stool and rolled it to the left side of the bed. Quickly slipping on a pair of gloves, Varuna picked up a small, thin knife. Normally, a night-seekers status effecting talents was saved for the battlefield, but Varuna had managed to modify his skills to help in medical operations. He would pierce the skin with a small knife, introduce a sleeping aid and the patient would fall asleep.

"There's going to be a slight sting, but after that the pain will stop," Varuna said to Fletcher as he placed the sharp tip of the knife into the skin around the wound.

Fletcher let out a small hiss at first and became momentarily tense, but after a few moments, the crease in Fletcher's brow smoothed out and his breathing became steady.

"He's asleep," Nitish said as he stood up and moved over to the counter where he had the items he had gathered waiting for him. With Fletcher now in a deep sleep, it was time for them to complete what needed to be done.

"Flush the wound first," Isiah commanded to Varuna. "Make sure you remove all foreign particles."

Filling a large needle with distilled water, Varuna held it in his left hand as he picked up a pair of tweezers in his right. He scooted the stool closer and hunched his shoulders as he leaned over Fletcher. Carefully, he began to flush out the open wound with the water, scraping out bits of stone and other hard elements. A sharp object, almost like that of a pointy fingernail, was found in the deepest part of the wound. The very second it picked it up with the tweezers; Varuna knew that this spiky item was the one who had introduced the poison into Fletcher's body.

Picking up the item, Varuna placed it into a small plastic bowl. He'll do more research on it later.

"Done," Varuna said as he spun around in the seat, pushed his trolley aside and quickly stood up.

The very second he vacated his seat, Isiah sat down on the stool and immediately set to work, a vial of medica perched between his teeth. Nitish dutifully took position next to him, standing next to the medical trolley that was covered in more medical items. Wordlessly, he would hand them to Isiah and retrieving the empty bottles of medicine.

The entire time, Falkner stood by his brother's head, leaning over so that their foreheads were touching. He couldn't bear to see what was going on with his brother. No surprise, really.

"Nitish, the ginseng, please."

"Here," Nitish said as he handed Isiah a small jar of white paste with a strong woody smell.

"The wound is thankfully shallow," Isiah muttered as he used a cotton swap to pick up some of the ginseng cream and carefully applied it around the wound. "Did Miach use refresh immediately?"

"Ah, yeah. Straight away," Falkner answered.

"Good boy," Isiah muttered as he picked up some gauze and placed it against the wound.

"He's starting to wake up," Nitish murmured, his brow furrowing.

"Good, we're done here, anyway. Falkner, get over here and help him to sit up," Isiah ordered as he kept pressure against Fletcher's side.

Slipping to the right side of the bed, Falkner slipped his arm around his brother's shoulders and carefully lifted him into a sitting position, allowing him to rest against his chest. As he held him, Isiah proceeded to wrap thick bindings around Fletcher's stomach and torso.

"Varuna, how many drops of tonic do you think we'll need?" Isiah asked him.

After the short time he had to study the foreign body that he had found, Varuna deduced that they needed to hit it hard and fast. "Six drops into a glass of essence to begin with."

Turning to the counter, Nitish picked up a small blue bottle and used a small glass dropper, quickly placing six to droplets of the tonic into a glass. He then picked up another bottle and filled the cup up with the direct essence of dolomite.

"Here," Nitish said as he handed the glass to Isiah.

After ensuring the bandages around Fletcher's torso was secured, Isiah took the offered glass and lifted them toward Fletcher's lips. "Ok, kiddo, take small sips," he ordered gently.

Fletcher made a soft sound of distress, his brow furrowing once again. "You're ok, Fletch," Falkner said as he moved to take the glass from Isiah so that he could be the one to help Fletcher down the healing tonic.

After Fletcher finally drank the tonic and settled down somewhat, Isiah checked his vitals one more. "Well, he's out of danger now," he said. "Let's move him into the spare room upstairs. More privacy."

"I'll get the room ready," Varuna said as he secured his findings in air-tight jars so they don't accidentally contaminate anything else. "The spare room upstairs?"

"It's a bit of a mess, I know," Isiah replied. "But it'll be more comfortable for him up there."

"I'll prepare some orange juice for the next time we need to administer more of the tonic," Nitish recommend.

Isiah nodded before turning his attention to the red-haired sniper who was still cradling his brother in his arms. "Falkner, you take him. He'll be more comfortable with you."

Pushing aside his new items for research, Varuna raced up stairs to the spare room. While it held a bed, it was more of a storage room. With three researchers living in one house, research documents and papers quickly piled up. And they were all still important and relevant, so they couldn't really risk throwing anything away.

Picking up the papers and books from the bed, Varuna placed them into the corner of the room. They'll sort them out later. Probably. He then pulled out some spare blankets that were in the closet and quickly made the bed. Just as he finished tucking in the sheets, Falkner appeared with his little brother (who looked smaller and more fragile than he really was) in his arms. Varuna stepped back to allow Falkner to carefully lay his brother onto the bed, resting his head against the pillow.

Varuna wished there was something he could say to give Falkner some kind of comfort as the older sniper brother tucked Fletcher into bed. But what could he say? He wasn't good at these kinds of things.

A few moments later, Isiah paused just outside the room. "Nitish, I need some ice, please," he called over his shoulder.

"Right away," Nitish answered back dutifully.

Stepping into the room, Isiah immediately made his way over to Falkner and placed his hand on his shoulder. The redhead pushed away from the bed and turned to give Isiah his full attention. He looked so tired and pale, yet he also looked somewhat relieved.

"He'll be fine," Isiah stated firmly, without hesitation. "We'll need to watch him for the next 24 to 48 hours, but it's just precautionary. He has a fever, but it's a good thing. It means his body is fighting the infection."

"…Ok," Falkner replied, his shoulders sagging as he allowed his relief to wash over him completely.

Holding a tray that held a bowl of icy cold water in his hands, Nitish walked into the room and placed it onto the small table next to the bed. "Would lavender diluted in the water be useful?" he asked as he motioned to the water.

Removing his hand from Falkner's shoulder, Isiah nodded his head. "Go for it."

Nodding his head, Nitish anticipated that Isiah would agree so he already had the dried lavender petals and thick compression cloth on the tray as well. He sprinkled the petals into the cool water and the cloth quickly followed. He let it seep in the water for a moment or two before wringing out the access and gently placing the cloth on Fletcher's forehead.

"Now, tell me exactly what happened," Isiah asked Falkner.

Noticing how drained Falkner appeared to be, Varuna found a chair covered in documents and pushed aside the papers. He dragged the chair over toward the bed and indicated for Falkner to finally sit down.

"Thanks," Falkner murmured as he offered Varuna a tired smile before sitting down heavily. He leaned forward in his seat and rested his elbows on his knees. "We were flying through Scarlet Pillars when we spied Wiglaf's airship on the ground. We quickly realised that she was surrounded by monsters, one of which was a large green lizard type monster. I think it was a Greedy Lizard. It lashed out with its tail, hitting Fletcher. He went down immediately."

"I see," Isiah muttered as he tapped his chin in though. "So the monster had something on its tail?"

That would explain the hard, nail like particle that Varuna had found when he was flushing out the wound.

"We managed to defeat the lizard, but Fletcher wouldn't wake up," Falkner continued. "Even with Miach using refresh. We decided that it would be best if I used the Adriane Thread to get back to town as quickly as possible."

"Good thinking," Isiah readily approved as he placed his hand on Falkner's shoulder once more. "You did well. So just relax and wait. Your brother is going to be fine. We'll let him get some rest, so if you need anything, we'll be around."

"Ok," Falkner breathed as a forced smile appeared on his lips. He suddenly reached up to grasp at Isiah's arm. "I don't know how to thank you…" he murmured.

But, as usual, Isiah waved him off dismissively. "It's what we're here for."

… … … … …

Balancing a tray in his hands, Varuna nudged open the door to the spare room with his shoulder before quietly making his way inside. He wasn't at all surprised to see that Falkner had pulled his chair to be right by the bed. Upon hearing him enter, Falkner lifted his head to glance over his shoulder, offering Varuna another forced smile.

Varuna returned the smile with a small one of his own as he placed the tray onto the bedside table. He then picked up a steaming cup of tea and offered it to Falkner. "Here, this is for you. Nitish made it. Don't worry; it's a peppermint tea to help you stay awake. We figured you wouldn't want to sleep with your brother like this."

"Thanks," Falkner said as he took the cup in his hand, but rested it against his leg as he turned his attention back to his brother. "You know, you guys are really amazing."

Varuna blinked. "Hm?"

"How the three of you were able to work together to find a cure so quickly," Falkner stated.

Varuna nodded his head before shrugging. Well, wasn't that what researchers were for? They were just glad that they were able to help someone so close to them. "It was all Isiah and Nitish," he said.

Falkner surprisingly chuckled as he lifted his tea to his lips. "Not exactly true," he said as he peered up at Varuna. "If you didn't identify the poison, then they would not have known which cure to use."

For some reason, Varuna felt flustered and his cheeks felt uncomfortably hot. "…Well, anyway, he's going to be fine," he said as he abruptly turned his attention back to the tray her had carried inside. "I'm going to wait outside for when the others turn up. The last thing we need is for everyone to come bursting in and startling Fletcher. Isiah is down stairs in the library but he'll be popping in every hour to give Fletcher some more of the tonic. But if you need anything, Nitish is just across the hall. Although, he'll probably know before you do if anything's wrong."

"Right."

… … … … …

Sitting on the top step, Varuna tilted his head back to look up at the red and pink sky above. The sun was starting to set, nightfall a mere few hours away. Now that he was outside, able to think to himself, Varuna found himself musing over the last few hours. When Falkner first appeared with his brother in his arms, looking helpless and scared, the first thing Varuna felt was concern. The deep type of concern that made your chest feel tight.

However, after the initial shock wore off, an overwhelming sense of calm washed over him. He could tell by simply looking at Fletcher, noting the way he was breathing heavily and his face flushed with sweat that he was suffering from some kind of poison. And he knew, come hell or high water, that he and his brothers would do whatever it took to help him.

No doubt, no fear. Just simple determination.

Closing his eyes as a cool breath ruffled his hair, Varuna couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction. He knew that his abilities were useful, but to see the immediately result of his research was something he had never experienced before. Was Falkner right? Did he play an important part in saving Fletcher?

He hoped so…

"Varuna!"

Immediately, Varuna climbed to his feet and jumped down to the bottom step. He looked down the street to see a familiar group of explorers hastily running over to him. The concern that each one felt was obvious. Dispute the circumstances; it was actually heartening to see.

"Whoa, easy!" Varuna called out as he took a step forward and opened up his arms. He took a stumbling step backwards when Blayden was the first to reach him, automatically wrapping his arms around the blond-haired landsknecht's shoulders when Blayden ploughed into him.

Lifting his head from his chest, Blayden looked up at Varuna with fearful blue-eyes. "How's Fletcher?" he asked.

"Resting," Varuna answered as he offered the entire guild a gentle smile as they gathered around him. "He's going to be fine."

"He's ok?" Roxbury breathed. "What happened?"

"From what we can deduce, that lizard monster had poison on its tail," Varuna explained as allowed Blayden to cling onto him. "When it struck out at Fletcher, the barb on its tail punctured the skin and injected its poison. Thankfully, when Miach used refresh, it slowed the rate of the poison and then using the Adriane Thread instead of sailing back reduced the time considerably." He smiled at them once more. "You've all done well."

Every single one of them sighed loudly with relief, Roxbury's shoulders sagging deeply. It appeared that he blamed himself for what had happened, being the leader and all.

"Thank goodness," Mahalah breathed, stating what everyone was feeling.

"We're going to keep him here for a day or two, just in case," Varuna said, making sure to keep a gentle smile on his lips so not to cause them any more concern. "Don't worry; it's just standard procedures for Isiah."

"Hey!"

Startled by the yell of a feminine voice, Varuna looked beyond his guild to see a familiar female dancer racing through the streets of Tharsis.

"Oh, Wiglaf," Mahalah said as he moved away from the group to be the one to meet his fellow dancer. Wiglaf immediately made a beeline toward him, clinging onto his arms the very second she was close enough.

"Is he ok?" she asked, breathless.

Mahalah smiled and nodded his head. "Easy, he's fine."

"Really?!" Wiglaf practically yelled.

"Yes. Isiah is looking after him," Mahalah explained.

Wiglaf simply stared at Mahalah for a moment before her shoulders sagged and she dropped her head forward, still holding onto Mahalah's arms. "Oh, thank goodness. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if…"

"He's going to be fine," Varuna reiterated before he motioned toward the three story building they were all standing out the front of. "Come on, let's go inside."

It had been a long day for everyone.

… … … … …

Varuna happened to be in the spare room a few hours after greeting the rest of the Phaedron guild, cleaning up a few of the empty medicine bottles and to retrieve the empty cups of tea when he heard a soft groan from the bed in the corner. He turned around in time to see Falkner hover over the bed, his hand gently resting against Fletcher's forehead.

"Ngh…" Fletcher moaned as he squeezed his eyes tightly shut, lifting up the end of the bed sheet to rub it against his face.

"Fletcher?" Falkner called his brother's name. "Hey, you awake? How are you feeling?"

Forgetting what he was doing previously, Varuna also ventured over to stand by the bedside, next to Falkner, in hopes of rousing Fletcher from his sleep. Isiah would be pleased to hear that he was starting to wake up.

"Fletcher, we need you to wake up now," Varuna added.

Slowly, Fletcher forced his eyes to open and he peered up blearily at his red-haired brother. "…Falkner?" his muttered, his voice croaky and hoarse. He swallowed thickly and licked his lips. "What happened?"

Falkner gave him a half smile, revealing just a mere hint of how worried he was during the entire event. "You were poisoned, kiddo," he explained around the lump in his throat.

Fletcher scrunched his nose up. "Poisoned?" he murmured, looking truly confused.

"You're fine now," Falkner added quickly.

"You're back at the clinic, Fletcher," Varuna piped up. "You're going to be ok. I'll just go get Isiah."

"No need, I'm already here."

Stepping away from the bed, Varuna turned his attention to the doorway to see Isiah indeed standing there with Nitish a couple of steps behind him. Ah, Nitish must have sensed that Fletcher was awake and retrieved Isiah.

"Ah, good, you're awake," Isiah said as he approached the bed, Falkner reluctantly taking a step back as well. "Let me have a look."

Isiah then proceeded to crouch near the bed and pulled back the blankets to inspect the injury sight. After a bit of prodding and pushing of the bandages, Fletcher becoming more and more awake, Isiah made a sound of satisfaction and stood up to his full height. He turned to Falkner, who in turn was looking at him for confirmation that his brother really was going to be ok.

"Yeah, he's healing nicely," Isiah said to Falkner before shoving his hands into his pockets and looking over to Fletcher. "Think you can handle having something to eat?"

Sitting up in bed now, Fletcher looked so much better than he did before. He was still pale and had a slightly dazed look on his face, but other than that he was recovering quite quickly. "I am hungry," he answered, absentmindedly rubbing his stomach.

"I can make some soup from oyster shrooms," Nitish said from where he was still standing in the doorway. "That should also help with the detoxing of the poison."

"Good," Isiah quickly agreed with Nitish's suggestion before once again looking toward the sniper brothers. "Well, everyone else has returned safe and sound as well. I'm sure they'd want to see you for themselves."

… … … … …

It was well after midnight when Roxbury decided that he and the rest of his guild needed to get some rest of their own. It had been a stressful day for them as well. The fear of the unknown, the uncertainty and wonder if they did the right thing. The trip back to Tharsis aboard the Duscha without their trusty pilot must have been hair-raising for them as well.

"Well, we better head off now," Bryce said as he and the others amble down the front steps and into the streets of Tharsis.

"Sorry that we don't have enough room," Varuna said as he lingered at the top step, seeing the others off. "It's a bit of a mess."

"It's fine," Bryce quickly said, shrugging dismissively. "Dalla doesn't mind having us anyway."

Mahalah bowed his head slightly, a grateful expression on his face. "We'll leave Fletcher and Falkner in your care."

"See you in the morning," Roxbury added before he began to lead the rest of his guild toward the inn.

Varuna couldn't help but smile to himself as he watched the guild interact silently with one another as they walked. Bryce had slipped his arm around Blayden's neck, pulling the shorter and younger landsknecht next to him. Mahalah had a hold on the back of Miach's medical coat to prevent the younger medic from accidentally wandering of. And Roxbury was carrying a peacefully sleeping Zoran on his back.

This guild…they really were like one big family, huh?

He was glad to be a part of it.

AN: I suppose this could be considered a filler, too. I just wanted to write something about the three researchers using their skills :3