Chapter 26: Smiles and Tears

Once again returning to the thirteenth floor, Cyrus and Lissa resume their charting. While traveling along the edge of a river, Lissa takes a moment to glance down at the water below. A school of small and colorful fish she's never seen before are traveling upstream in the direction opposite of her and Cyrus. As they move out of the way, Lissa comes face-to-face with a large maroon and white crab that sported an absurdly large red claw. The crab made no effort to attack Lissa, or even move, but the sudden realization that the monster was there was enough to cause her to shriek and run over to Cyrus.

Cyrus responds to this by smiling softly and tilting his head inquisitively. "Is something the matter?" She struggles to properly explain the situation, opting instead to point at the crab's location in the water and stammer what she assumes sounds like a coherent explanation. He walks over and looks into the water, his eyes meeting with the crab's almost immediately. "You're not going to attack us, are you?"

"I will; I just need you to get into a battle first."

"You are surprisingly forward with your intentions." He looks to his left to see a pair of those green creatures approaching. He calmly walks over to Lissa, takes her hand in his, and says, "Dragonflies inbound; we're leaving." Without giving her a chance to reply, he starts running; the two keep up their escape until they reach a cluster of trees and bushes to hide in. The Dragonflies pass by without noticing them and soon their presence fades entirely. Cyrus emerges from the refuge first and lets out a sigh. "We can't afford to get into battle by the riverside."

"Did that crab say something to you?"

"He said he'd only attack us if we get into a battle."

"That's pretty ruthless." She emerges from her hiding place as well and dusts off her clothes. "This place is filled with all sorts of strange creatures."

"No stranger than the adventurers who traverse it." The sound of a battle cry rings out through the area, catching the attention of the duo. As they search around for the direction of the source, another sound rings out, one that harkens to the clashing of steel. "It's coming from the north."

"Let's get moving." Cyrus nods to her and the duo sets off at full speed. Before long, they jump through some shrubbery to find two adventurers fighting a large, red and black bear with yellow eyes. The two adventurers, both clad in armor, appear to be a Landsknecht and Protector. Lissa sees that the Redclaw is charging up for an attack and quickly readies her bow. "Cyrus, you need to intercept it!"

Her shouting catches the attention of the two adventurers as well as the Redclaw. Cyrus dashes in front of the Landsknecht and swings his sword to parry the bear's claw. Upon doing so, he digs his right foot into the ground to steady himself as he takes another swing at the bear, a burst of flame erupting from his blade as it makes contact with the beast. Cyrus' eyes widen as the bear merely takes a step back after the attack and delivers a punch that Cyrus barely manages to block with his sword. Skidding to the side of the Protector, Cyrus uses his Runic Eye to analyze the opponent. After a moment, he says, "This thing resists Fire; its weakness is Ice!"

Lissa rushes to his side and takes aim. "I suggest we change up the strategy; I'll distract it." Looking to the Protector and Landsknecht, Lissa could tell that they were quite exhausted. "You two should hang back; we'll handle the fight from here." Though confused, the two could not comply with Lissa's suggestion. "You're clearly too tired to fight; you run the risk of getting killed at this point."

Seeing that the bear is charging towards them, Cyrus decides to dash forward and parries another claw swipe. Firelight activates and sends a fireball into the face of the bear, leaving it open for Cyrus to hit it with Catastrophe. The attack works and the Redclaw turns to stone before it can unleash another attack. He sheathes his sword and turns around while asking, "Is everyone alri-"; he finds himself abruptly ending his sentence as he gets a look at the faces of the two adventurers he and Lissa just saved.

The Landsknecht is male, sporting worn silver armor and a sword and shield. What catches Cyrus, and soon Lissa, by surprise is how similar the Landsknecht looks to Cyrus. His eyes are the same shade of brown as Cyrus' right eye and his hair is the same shade of dark brown, likewise being disheveled in appearance. The only thing he lacks is a fedora atop his head and a Runic Eye. This man's eyes widen as he gets a good look at Cyrus' face. The Protector at his side is female and sports a scar on her right eye. Her flowing black hair reached to her middle back and she sports light brown eyes. She tilts her head at both Cyrus and the Landsknecht before her eyes widen.

Lissa, taking another glance at the two, eventually says, "You two could be twins."

Cyrus was in shock, unable to properly contain the emotions that were beginning to well up within him. "P- pray tell, your names wouldn't happen to be 'Darryl' and 'Denise', would they?"

The Protector, Denise, is the one to answer him. "Yes they are; your name isn't 'Trevor' is it?"

"N- No," a single tear rolls from his left eye, catching the other three off guard. "That's the name of my older brother; I'm Cyrus…Cyrus Coelistis."

Darryl lightly slaps the side of his head in shock. "Your family name is 'Coelistis' too?"

Seeing Cyrus' left eye, Denise asks, "Are you the leader of Seekers? One of its members who's from a different world?" Cyrus simply nods to her, unable to find the words to say at present. "I see. Allow me another question; do the two of us resemble people from your world? People you know?"

"My…late parents. Forgive this sorry sight." He quickly wipes his eye with his sleeve and reins in his voice before it completely breaks. "I haven't seen my family in ten years; I didn't know how to react." He chuckles in an attempt to brighten the mood, but another tear falls from his eye. "You two look younger than I remember."

Darryl chuckles before responding, "We're 25, son."

"I assume that means Dianne and Trevor are younger than I am in this world?"

Denise nods to his assessment. "You assume correctly…I can only imagine how you must feel right now, Cyrus." She looks over to Darryl, who nods to her; turning her attention back to Cyrus, she pulls out an Ariadne Thread and says, "I think you need a minute to take this in; you can find the two of us at the Golden Deer Pub often these days, so stop by for a drink. Darryl's treat."

"Yep, you bet!" Darryl takes a moment to think Denise's proposal over. "Hey, wait just a minute!"

"I'd like that; thank you."

The pair then warps out of the labyrinth, leaving Cyrus and Lissa alone together. Turning to face her partner, Lissa sees that Cyrus' tears were now flowing freely. A soft smile forms on his lips as he tries in vain to wipe his face. She places a hand on his furthest shoulder and pulls him closer to her. "I can tell you missed them. You've been holding those tears back for the entire decade, haven't you?" She doesn't get a response out of him; Cyrus couldn't muster the strength to speak coherently. Holding him just a bit tighter, she softly says, "You can talk to me about it when you're ready. Until then, just let it all out."

Though he knew it was going to take some time before he could return to his normal self, Cyrus managed to muster a simple reply. "Thank you, Lissa."

Another hour passes before the duo completes the west side of the map. Now on the east side, the two find themselves taking a break near a treasure chest they just discovered; its contents consisted of 3,500 ental. Lissa tosses a stick into the campfire she and Cyrus started and looks up towards the floor's ceiling. She sighs and says, "I didn't think it would get this late so quickly."

"Do you wish to call it an early night?"

She shakes her head to this. "Nah, we should finish this floor before we leave."

"As you wish." He then leans back and looks around the area. The treasure chest they are sitting near is surrounded by a small pond, one that houses a few varying species of fish. As he observes a school of fish swimming as a unit, his thoughts turn to his own family and its apparent counterpart that exists in this world. Thinking aloud, he says, "It's almost surreal."

"I can't even begin to understand how you must feel right now. You think there's another you running around?"

To her surprise, Cyrus shakes his head to this. "My parents didn't have me until my sister was seven. Given their current ages, and that Denise is currently adventuring with no visible issues, I don't think my counterpart has been born, or even conceived. For all I know, those two have no intentions of having a third child."

A look of concern forms as Lisa looks to him. "That bothers you, right? That you might not get a chance at life here?"

Cyrus shakes his head again, which somewhat shocks Lissa. "On the contrary, I'm quite relieved by the thought."

"What? Everyone in your family gets a chance to live here, but not you? How is that fair?"

"Considering I'm the reason they're dead in Erdboden, I think this is a fair trade." A sigh escapes him as he runs a hand through his hair. "I don't want my history to repeat itself. Those four would either have to suffer dealing with a physically frail child who's going to die before his seventh birthday, or they are all going to die themselves shortly after he turns eight."

"There's no guarantee this version of your family will go through the same thing."

"There's no guarantee that they won't, either; that's what scares me the most. I know I go about my life as if it was a huge joke, but I'm legitimately afraid of the thought that someone else might go through this, let alone a copy of myself."

"But you want to see them all again, don't you?" He nods his head in response, but redirects his gaze towards the ground. "You probably have a lot you want to say, but avoiding them isn't going to get any of your messages across. You understand that, right?"

"Yes, of course."

"Then why do you look so conflicted?"

"If I get involved with their lives again…" As his voice trails off, Lissa could hear it slightly breaking. She doesn't see any signs of him verging on breaking into tears, but there was no telling when that façade would break.

Deciding it is for the best if Cyrus doesn't gather his thoughts, Lissa takes the moment to speak. "It would be torturous to force you to watch them from the sidelines, Cyrus. That's not something you deserve to go through. What you went through in Erdboden…" She hesitates, not entirely sure if it is her place to say these words to him. "I want to say it was circumstantial; it wasn't your fault."

"What makes you so certain?"

"I know you." Cyrus started to reply to this, only to be cut off as Lissa continues, "I don't know your story, but I know you well enough by now to tell that what kind of person you are." A soft smile forms on her lips, as well as a blush on her cheeks. "I fell for you; not because I pity you and want to take care of you, but because of the person I saw, the same person you refuse to acknowledge. I'd love to get to know you better, if you're willing…"

"That's going to be a long story, Lissa."

She smirks at him. "We have nothing but time, love."

He sighs in defeat and tosses his companion a full canteen along with a sandwich. "I have no idea if that spell to share memories works here in your world, so I'll have to tell the story the hard way."

She tilts her head at him. "There's a spell like that? Give it a try!" Cyrus picks up a nearby stick and looks around the area for a suitable place to cast the spell. Choosing a sizable clearing, he walks away from the fire and starts drawing a complicated magic circle on the ground. Curious of Cyrus' craft, Lissa approaches to watch him work, enjoying her meal in the meantime. The magic circle consisted of the standard pentagram she was used to seeing in books on alchemy, but there were also a number of runes included, runes she had never seen before. She could see the look of focus on Cyrus' face; he appeared to be quite worried that he might mess up the circle. 'Wow. That looks like it's a pain in the ass to draw.'

Cyrus eventually steps away from the completed circle and breathes a sigh of relief. "In Erdboden, I'd just snap my fingers and be done with it, so I had completely forgotten how complicated the proper method is." He steps into the center of the circle, which had enough space for two. He holds out his hand to beckon Lissa over; she takes hold of it and is pulled over next to him. "Are you sure you want to do this, Lissa? If this spell works, you're getting the full story, rather than the abridged version."

She pouts at him. "You were going to leave out details? On purpose?"

"When you ask it that way you make me sound like a bad guy."

"I'd deck you if I wasn't worried about ruining your pretty face."

"You'd hit a nerd? How heartless of you."

"Sure, throw that card at me; but seriously, I'm ready, Cyrus."

He sighs again. "If you insist…" Cyrus then kneels down to make eye contact with Lissa. He gently places a hand to each side of Lissa's face and stares into her eyes. Ignoring her nervousness and the deepening blush on her face, Lissa doesn't break eye contact; she also follows suit and places her hands to the sides of her partner's face. For a moment, they stare at each other in silence. "You're going to see things that you are definitely not going to like, so I'll ask again."

Lissa opts to answer his question preemptively. "I can't be your lover if I don't stand on even ground with you. You trust me, don't you?"

"I do, yes, which is why I'm so concerned. Alright, close your eyes." She heeds his request, instinctively angling her gaze towards the ground when her eyes are closed. Cyrus closes his eyes in kind and places his forehead against Lissa's. Shortly after this, the magic circle shines and envelops the duo in a white light. The flash of white lasts for only an instant before it fades away, somehow erasing the magic circle and returning the ground to its original state. Removing his hands from Lissa's face, Cyrus instead places them on her shoulders. "Are you alright, Lissa?"

She opens her eyes and looks up to him, revealing the tears that were beginning to well up within them. Having seen the monsters dwelling within the Seven Hells, the ways Cyrus has killed his enemies in the war, the various nightmares he has experienced over the years, and even the minor points of his life, Lissa found herself at a loss on where to begin with her questions. "I always knew war was harsh, but I never once considered that its comparison to Hell would be so…spot on. Cyrus, is that really the life you lead?"

"I wouldn't lie about something like that, Lissa."

"Eighteen years worth of history to take in at once; I'm surprised I didn't collapse from an overload." She narrows her eyes as a skeptical expression forms on her face. "Are you sure some of those memories weren't fake? Did you really die from eating a sandwich?"

"I died because said sandwich momentarily set my body ablaze…from the inside."

"Is that girl, Terri, was it?" Cyrus nods in response, to which Lissa continues, "Is that girl really that bad of a cook?"

"She's improving." Lissa's skeptical look intensifies. "Very slowly."

"The medics of your world must be incredible. Either that, or you people are just really tenacious. I'm surprised that you weren't lying about being on good terms with Death, even more so by how friendly you two are with each other."

"Why is that surprising?"

"If I was Death and you kept evading me, I'd probably get pissed."

"You're taking all of this rather well."

"That's because there's just enough comedy to help me ignore the tragedy of it all."

He rubs the back of his neck in response to this. "You're not the first to say that."

Placing her hands on her hips, Lissa smirks at Cyrus and says, "Let's finish this map and head back; you owe me after subjecting my gentle mind to such horrors."

"What part of your mind is supposed to be gentle?" Much to his chagrin, Lissa completely ignores his question and walks away. A smile forms on Cyrus' face as he shakes his head and says, "You sure can pick 'em, Cyrus."

In a contrast to Cyrus and Lissa's busy adventuring exploits, Alex's team became so bored that everyone decided to turn in early. Alex himself is currently sitting at the fire to keep watch while his team rests. He rotates his Grimoire Stone in his grip, studying it and taking the skills within into his thoughts. 'Curse Mastery, huh? It makes sense to hand that to Lucy, but I never gave my own skills such consideration. Add Act First and Wrath's Might on top of that and I have a cheap means of damage and debilitation.' Sighing to himself, he puts his Grimoire Stone back into his pocket and says, "The Boss and Lily really wear their 'mad scientist' titles well."

Lily silently takes a seat next to him and lets out a giggle. "Flattery will get you everywhere, Alex." Alex's response is to stifle a yelp and jump over the fire, hoping that whatever just scared him won't think to simply move around the flames and pursue him. As he lands, a sigh of relief escapes him when he realizes that Lily was the one responsible. "Sorry about that; I don't like making a lot of noise."

"How in the world did you even do that? Only a Survivalist can be that silent."

She grins at him. "I just proved you wrong, my good man."

He lets out another sigh and takes a seat next to Lily. "There's still thirty minutes left to my shift; you should get all the sleep you can."

"I'm a nerd, Alex; I get my energy from video games, anime, and novels that I immerse myself in. The former two don't appear to be in this world, but I'll be fine."

"What is this 'anime' you speak of?"

"You poor, deprived child."

"I'm older than you."

"Meaningless babble."

"So, what's up? Care to tell me more about your strange world?"

"Hey, it's not all about me; you haven't told me about yourself yet."

He raises an eyebrow to this. "Aside from the basic information I gave the group way back when? There's not much else to me other than that. I'm a pretty simple guy at the end of the day."

"You know everyone who says that is a liar, right? Alright…" She takes a moment to think of a question, one that will hopefully catch Alex in his supposed lie. "Why did you leave home?"

"To become a hero worthy of the respect my little sister gives me."

Lily stares at him, momentarily surprised by his answer. "That's…surprisingly simple. Simple, but admirable. I know you don't think much of yourself, but you're pretty cool in my book."

"You flatter me; really, I'm just trying to live up to the standard my dad set. He used to be an adventurer like us-"

Unable to resist the temptation, Lily asks, "Until he took an arrow in the knee?"

Understandably, Alex had no idea what she was talking about. "No…was that some sort of reference in your world?"

She nods to him and lets out a laugh. "Yeah, I've always wanted to make that joke, but only one person I know plays that particular game so I never got the chance. Anyway, you were saying?"

"Oh right. My dad used to be an adventurer like us, a Landsknecht in fact, but now he's retired. He taught me everything he knew about the axe and sword and could best a Cutter all by himself."

"You sound proud of him."

"What's not to be proud of? My dad's awesome!"

"Assuming he isn't already proud of you, I bet he will be when you get home."

"He says he is, but I haven't done anything great yet. I'll get there one day though, Lily; just you wait."

She scoffs at him and delivers a light punch to his shoulder. She gives her hand a light shake after failing to realize that she tried to punch though metal. "Why should I wait when I'm gonna stand at the top with you? You're not thinking straight, leader; head to bed."

"Huh? Oh, my shift's over." He lets out a yawn, having only just realized that he's tired. He nudges Lily's shoulder before standing up and stretching. "Thanks for the chat, Lily. I'd love to talk more, but I have to get up before Lucy's shift is over."

She tilts her head at this. "Why is that?"

"The leader has to be up bright and early; dad's policy."

"You sure you didn't just get that from Cyrus?"

"Him too. You know, I wonder about him and Lissa sometimes."

"Oh please, those two? They're fine; as a team they can do anything."

Despite Lily's praising, the duo in question did not feel fine in the slightest. Having touched down on the fourteenth floor, Cyrus and Lissa were greeted with an ocean, flying fish, giant seahorses, alligators as tall as trees, and other kinds of dangerous-looking marine life. Looking around, the two can also see gigantic lily pads that looked sturdy enough to support human weight. Looking up to Cyrus, Lissa could see a frown on his face.

"Not a fan of water, I take it?"

His frown intensifies, suggesting her suspicion isn't too far off. "I'm not swimming in the waters of this labyrinth, and neither are you. Who knows what manner of beast lurks within?"

"We're not exactly equipped for fighting underwater either. Your formulas probably won't work." She looks to the left to see one of the large purple alligators staring at both her and Cyrus with a wide smile on its face. It opens its mouth and lets out some sort of roar while outstretching its hands. Narrowing her eyes at the sight, Lissa says, "Cyrus, translate that for me."

Cyrus clears his throat and mimics the gruff voice of the creature; "Humans! Frolic with me!"

Not amused, Lissa takes out a vial of the Return Formula and empties its contents on the ground below. "Yeah, no; we're outta here."

Author's Notes: And now the Scarred Protector joins the story. Those who have played the game can probably guess how her story is going to turn out, but I hope what's to come will be enjoyable regardless.