AN: Happy New Year everyone! I do hope that none of you are nursing hangovers from partying too much X3 Thanks so much CreepyNick1, notasongfic and TaintedBloodLily for reviewing the previous chapter! I really appreciate it. Now, please enjoy!

Chapter 25:

The Stickleback Bar was full to capacity. Something that Cass both enjoyed and hated. He was pleased because it more people meant more drinks being sold. Annoyed because more people meant it was harder to keep everyone in check. He was still mighty pissed about the last time the Guildmaster shanghaied all guilds into the Bar in order to consider possible competitions or tests for expert and rookie explorers. He didn't mind the odd punch up, as long as the furniture wasn't used.

Axel watched with a mild disinterest as several rookie guilds made the outrageous, but common, boasts about being the ones to finally discover every secret the Yggdrasil Labyrinth. It was their destiny, they're purpose.

Or so they claim.

The more experienced guilds simply rolled their eyes, trying their best to ignore them. While it was good that the younger explorers had the drive and enthusiasm, it was going to take a lot more than that to even get past the first floor.

Sharing idle chitchat with other explorers, Axel overheard Kuro, a free-for-hire wandering Ronin, a warrior far older than he, mention something about Etria. It immediately piqued his interest.

Swivelling in his seat, Axel turned his attention to the Ronin. "You're from Etria?"

"Correct," Kuro replied, somewhat guarded.

"I was raised in a small village near there," Axel explained, showing that he was only interested, not being nosy.

"Ah," Kuro uttered, nodding his head in understand. "I've met a few people who resided somewhere near Etria."

Idly turning his mug of ale on the table, Axel decided to ask him a direct question. "You know of a man called Taksony?"

"Indeed," Kuro muttered, his eyes narrowing in a piercing manner. "Not a pleasant man."

"What do you know about him?"

"Only gossip and rumours," Kuro answered, leaning his elbow on the table, resting his chin in his hand. He didn't seem that comfortable, but he seemed willing to speak nonetheless. "He was a notorious man. Feared and respected in equal quantity. However, he was greatly hated. His cruelty was well-known."

"Yeah," Axel muttered as he tried to reign in his hatred toward the man they were speaking of. He pushed forward as there was a bit more information he wanted to know. "I heard he's dead now."

"Ah, yes, indeed." There was an odd sense of relief in Kuro's voice. "No one was shedding tears of mourning."

Axel felt the corner of his mouth twitch into a smirk. Ah, so he was dead. Not entirely sure how he felt about that. While on one hand it meant that Lynus had indeed…removed him from existence, it also meant that the old bastard won't be coming after him any time soon. As in, not at all.

"I bet there's a tonne of gossip surrounding his death."

"An endless list of suspects." A smirk was also presented on Kuro's lips. "No one is really investigating, though. More important things to do. Although, some are undoubtedly angry that they didn't get to him first."

Axel snorted. "No truer words."

"Ah, you are not a fan."

"Not even remotely," Axel muttered as he lifted his mug, his eyes narrowing. "Bastard. However he died, it didn't matter. Too quick and painless."

Kuro gave a short, low chuckle. "Many share those thoughts."

Axel took a sip of his ale. Although his hatred toward Taksony would never be subdued, he did feel somewhat better knowing how hated the man was. Taksony was lucky that Lynus killed him first. If he hadn't, someone else would have.

It was just a pity that someone didn't have the guts to do it before Lynus was forced to.

Axel nearly choked on his ale when the doors to the bar were flung open in a dramatic fashion. He, along with everyone else in the bar became quiet as they spun around to face the unexpected intrusion.

Lynus…?

"Axel!"

Acting purely on reflex, Axel dropped his drink and jumped to his feet, the chair he was sitting on crashing to the floor. He pushed himself forward as Lynus stumbled toward him, his face flushed, his clothes covered in small tears and scrapes.

"Monsters are in the hospital!" Lynus said, frantically.

Fear gripped Axel immediately and he reached out toward Lynus, watching as his eyes suddenly rolled into back of his head and he began to fall. Before he could hit the floor, Axel swept him up into his arms, holding him as Lynus fell limp against him, his mace tumbling from his grip with a telling thud.

"Lynus?" Axel uttered as he wrapped an arm around his waist, threading the fingers of his other hand through his hair. His eyes were wide, not entirely believing what was going on.

The words soon dawned upon him, though. Wait…Monsters at the hospital? Shit.

"Everyone; to the hospital," Axel commanded, keeping Lynus close. "Now!"

Before his words had a chance to resonate, the bar promptly emptied. Explorers took whatever means of exit, be it the doors or windows.

Scooping Lynus off the floor and into his arms, Axel was greatly concerned when Lynus' head lolled against his shoulder, his face flushed with an unhealthy red and his breathing ragged. He was also covered in a light sheen of sweat, his skin pale and clammy. With one arm wrapped securely around his back, the other behind his knees, he carried Lynus over to a place where he could lay him down.

"Lynus?" Axel called his name as he gently lowered him onto a table, still cradling him against his chest. He got no response from the man in his arms and he felt his fear increase. He desperately turned to Hamza, who had lingered behind. "What's wrong with him?"

Hamza was silent as he carefully inspected Lynus, his brow furrowing. "…Poison," he muttered, not sounding at all happy.

"What?"

Shit. Poisonous monsters were invading the hospital.

"I'll stay here and take care of Lynus," Hamza said, making an attempt to remove Lynus from Axel's hold. He gave Axel a firm look when Axel refused to let go. "You are needed at the hospital."

Axel didn't want to leave Lynus, he wanted to stay here and look after him, watch over him. But…he couldn't cure poison. Hamza knew some healing spells, so he was in good hands. And, besides, Lynus would be displeased to learn that Axel didn't help out at the hospital.

"…Right," Axel muttered as he reluctantly relinquished his hold on Lynus, allowing Hamza to carefully take him. He took a step back and reached for his axe, effortlessly lifting it up to rest on his shoulder. "I won't be long."

With one lingering look at Lynus, his face creased in a look of frustrated uselessness. He abruptly spun on his heel, though. He had a job to do. Lynus came looking for him, believing that he could solve the situation. And he wasn't going to let him down.

Axel bolted from the bar, a look of determination now gracing his face.

After what felt like only a few seconds, Axel had finally reached the hospital. And the sight he was greeted with took him completely by surprise. "Shit," he muttered as he glanced around in disbelief. "Venomflies?"

Purple butterflies, some large, some small, were fluttering about manically as they released their poisonous spores. There were so many of them. Everywhere. Axel was expecting something a little bigger, but he knew, despite their fragile appearances, how deadly Venomflies truly were.

"There's hundreds of them!" Macerio exclaimed as he tried to shoot them out of the air.

"Axel!" Jhon called as he ran over to him, skidding to a halt next to him. "Any suggestions?"

Axel quickly snapped out of his shock. Right, time to get to work.

"First thing we need to do is to ensure that the patients and hospital staff are safe," Axel stated firmly, with a strong sense of authority in his voice. He spoke loud enough for everyone within the vicinity would hear him. "Herd them into one room so we can protect them." He tightened his grip on the handle of his axe. "Then we kill every single one of the little bastards."

Jhon nodded, his own grip on his shield tightening as well. "Understood."

It wasn't going to be easy. Axel knew that. Jhon knew that. Everyone knew that.

But that didn't mean they weren't going to try.

Without another word, everyone parted, heading off in different directions in order to seek and find…and to make mental notes of any possible 'bodies' they could come across. Who knows how long these Venomflies had been causing havoc.

Axel darted through all the room, striking down any Vemonfly that got in his way. But in every room he came across, they were empty. In complete disarray, but empty nonetheless. It appeared that everyone just upped and left.

Where was everyone?

Finally, he reached a pair of doors that were closed. He rushed toward them, placing his hand on the structure so he could throw them open and look inside. But as he tried to do so, he was met with some resistance. They seemed to be barred from the inside.

Was this…?

"Dr Stiles?" Axel tested.

A muffled, but familiar voice answered, "Axel?"

Thank goodness.

"What's the situation?" Axel asked as he turned his back on the door, taking his axe in both hands.

"We've managed to gather everyone into one room," Dr Stiles replied quickly, and to the point. "We're safe for now."

"Good," Axel said as he struck down a monster. "Sit tight, we'll take care of things from here."

Taking note of the location, Axel's next step was to inform many of the others as he could. They could stop searching and focus on the sole task on getting rid of these poisonous pests. Not going to be easy.

"Found them!" Axel yelled over the chaos. "They're safe!"

"So, what now?" Macerio asked as he hastily dodged a Venomfly air bombing him. "How are we going to get rid of these things?"

It was going to be really, really difficult to destroy all these Venonflies with their weapons. They were small, agile and vast in numbers. It was going to take a hell of a long time. Unless…

Glancing over toward Magnus, he noticed that the Alchemist was using his fire attacks, taking down three and four Venomflies at a time. He hadn't yet mastered the stronger, wide range elemental attacks. He was afraid to. He didn't want to lose control because of his headaches.

But…

"Magnus?" Axel said as he swung his axe, taking out a few of the butterflies as he skidded closer to him. "They're weak against elemental attacks. Do you think you can…?"

Magnus spun around to face him, looking pale and exceedingly frightened. "I…may not be…" he stuttered, shaking his head.

"You'll be fine," Shen unexpectedly interrupted him, slipping soundlessly behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Magnus' eyes widen in surprise, his breath hitching his throat. However, he swallowed thickly and nodded his head once. "…Ok," he said as he released a shuddering breath. "I'll try."

"Focus your energy and concentrate on the Aragonite stone," Shen said to him, his hand moving up to rest over Magnus' eyes. "It'll keep you grounded."

Pressing his hand against his chest, Magnus took another deep breath, his shoulders relaxing as he did so. "Yes," he said, the tremor of unease from before had been replaced with an even tone of concentration and determination.

Then, the temperature of the room suddenly increased.

"Everyone get down!"

Shen removed his hand from Magnus' eyes and the blond raised his own, lifting his arms with the palms facing upwards, moving out to his sides. His eyes snapped open, more focused and intense than ever before.

"…Inferno," he said, his voice soft, yet so strong.

Axel immediately dropped to the floor, Chi-hung doing the very same next to him, using his body as a form of protection. Axel lifted his shield to place over Chi-hung's head, giving some kind of protection in return. On the other side of him, Jhon lifted his shield, protecting both Tobyn and Macerio from the inferno, Tobyn pressed against his chest while Macerio huddled against his back.

Other explorers did what they were told, hitting the floor and covering their heads.

An intense heat was felt along with a crackling sound as flames roared over the top of them. The heat was stifling, sucking the air out of their lungs. Yet, the flames raced across the ceilings, where most of the Venomflies were gathered.

Seconds ticked by.

Slowly, the flames died down and then diminished completely. Standing tall amongst the smouldering husks of Venomflies, Magnus was breathing heavily, his eyes wide, his face pale. Shen had his arm around his neck, his forearm resting against his collarbone. Then, Magnus crumbled to his knees, falling onto his hands. Shen followed him down, keeping an arm around him in a comforting manner as Magnus breathed raggedly.

Axel pushed himself to his feet, quickly surveying the area. Satisfied that the Venomflies in this location had been expertly dealt with, he made his way over to Magnus and knelt down in front of him, placing a hand on his shoulder. He frowned when he felt him trembling.

"You doing all right there, Magnus?" he asked.

"Y-yes," Magnus breathed. "I'm fine."

Axel was not convinced, however. His voice sounded as shaky as he looked. He glanced over to Shen, sharing a look with him. "…Shen, look after him."

"Of course," Shen immediately muttered.

"You did a great job, Magnus," Axel said encouragingly giving Magnus' shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Rest now."

Stretching himself to his full height, Axel took a moment to carefully look around once more. The ground was littered with burnt insects and made a nauseating crunching sound when you stepped on them.

"Is everyone else all right?" Axel called out, still keeping an eye out for a possible ambush.

Lowering his shield, Jhon stood up; both Tobyn and Macerio stepping back from his protection to look around at their surroundings in mild surprise. "We're fine," Jhon answered, his relief palpable.

"We managed to avoid getting poisoned," Tobyn added.

"Where did all those little bastards come from?" Macerio asked, still rather edgy. "And why the hospital?"

"Good question," Axel murmured. He wasn't able to answer it. Lynus might, but he was…recovering right now. Someone else might be able to answer, though.

Axel walked back over to the locked doors and gave a sharp knock. "Dr Stiles? We've gotten rid of most of them. It should be safe now."

Slowly, the doors opened and Dr Stiles appeared, behind him several frightened, but relieved, faces. Being cautious, they stepped out and a look of distress and distain appeared on Dr Stiles' face.

"What a mess," he muttered.

"Is everyone all right?" Axel asked, peering into the room and noticed that several hospital beds with the sick and injured had been wheeled in. Hastily gathered medical equipment also lay strewn across the room.

"We're fine," Dr Stiles replied, indicating with his hand toward the other staff, motioning for them to stay put for now.

"What happened?"

"I'm not completely sure," Dr Stiles answered with a tight frown on his lips as he pushed his glasses further onto the bridge of his nose. "Thanks to Lynus' early warning, we managed to herd the patients into this room. It was the only one that didn't have windows and was surrounded completely by stone walls. He then volunteered to get help, pushing his way through the Venomflies. I didn't want him to go alone, but he is the most experienced here."

There was a strong sense of guilt in his voice, his eyes flickering to catch Axel's gaze. "How is he?"

"He…got poisoned," Axel admitted, a strange sense of frustration tightening in his chest. "Hamza is looking after him at the bar."

"I see…"

"Where did these things come from?" Jhon asked as he approached, taking up position beside Axel.

"Again, I'm not sure," Dr Stiles admitted, beginning to sound incredibly frustrated. He glanced over his shoulder, back into the room. "Angie?"

A moment later, Angie timidly made her way out of the room. She knew immediately what they wanted to know. "In a storage room," she said as she anxiously looked around. "We've been hearing noises all day, so me and Lynus went to investigate. And we found a whole mass of them in the storage room. The door disintegrated in front of us! There were so many!"

Jhon blinked and turned to look over his shoulder at Tobyn. "Could it have been possible that they were nesting in there?"

"Venomflies are found on the second floor of the Labyrinth," Tobyn answered as he played with the rim of his hat. "It's not impossible for them to make their way into town."

"An investigation is in order," Dr Stiles said tersely, clearly not at all pleased by the entire situation. Oh, sure, small butterflies could be easily overlooked, but that was no excuse. What were the guards even for if they allowed this to happen? "I'll get Minister Dubois to look into it immediately."

Axel nodded his head, idly trailing his fingertips over the hilt of his axe. What to do now? As powerful as Magnus' Inferno was, could it have destroyed all the Venomflies?

"Tobyn, Chi-hung and I will do a quick sweep of the hospital," Jhon suddenly stated, pulling Axe from his thoughts.

Axe glanced over to him, noting that the other members of their guild had also gathered around. Jhon stood at the forefront, Tobyn just to the left of him and Chi-hung to the right. Next to Chi-hung stood Shen, who had his arm around Magnus' shoulders, supporting the still quite pale blond.

"I'll escort Magnus back to the Inn," Shen stated, leaving no room for objection.

"I'm ok," Magnus insisted, granting them his shy smile. Still, he relied heavily on Shen for support.

"I'll hang around here and see if I can help the doc out," Macerio said as he stood not far from Axel, his arms behind his head in a casual manner.

"Axel," Jhon said as he reached forward and placed an hand on Axel's shoulder. He looked him straight in the eye. "You head back to the bar."

Axel immediately felt grateful for his guild's understanding and nodded. "Sure."

AN: A lot of fluffy goodness awaits in the next chapter! Please review!