26. Make It Up

The Bell Hotel thankfully wasn't packed when it came to the baths that evening. Dylas didn't say a word about seeing Arganan's scars (there was only so much Arganan could do to keep them covered while in there with a bathrobe and all), and Arganan was glad about that. He finished his bath early, getting dried and changed before walking out of the men's bathing area and into the lobby. Therius happened to be present, drinking some tea and sitting on one of the various comfy couches in the main lobby/reception area. It wasn't often that Arganan saw the white knight at relative ease, or at least more relaxed than usual. Then again, the tea had some really nice relaxing effects on everyone that came in, just due to how soothing the taste and scent was. Relax Tea really did what it claimed on the label, for sure.

Arganan knew Therius was likely staying here at the Bell Hotel, like he had during his past visit. But for some reason, Arganan had a hunch that Therius might know something, like where the next Rune Sphere might be, for instance. Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself for conversation as he approached the white knight, clearing his throat to get his attention. "Sir Therius."

"Arganan." Therius stood, putting down his tea before facing him properly. "I see that you returned from your trip. I noticed you, Princess Frey, and Dylas enter earlier."

"We found the next Rune Sphere and put it in its proper place already." Arganan managed. "Just in time, too. Doug got there moments after we did. He's already trying to find the next Rune Sphere."

"I see."

"Have you found anything on where the other Rune Spheres might be?"

Therius frowned, shaking his head. "Unfortunately, Arthur and I did not glean much information about the Rune Spheres so far. I've sent a letter to Lady Calista asking if she and Miss Mirania can find anything in the castle library, but I doubt it…" The white knight faltered, then looked towards the couple of merchants hanging around the lobby, "I did chat with some travelers when I came in, earlier, and one of them mentioned what might be a Rune Sphere."

"Really?" Arganan raised a brow. "They saw it?"

"They found it, but a monster took it and dragged it straight into cave. It's located in a forest where it's always autumn. A large tree trunk in the area is close to that cave, making it easy to find. I asked Arthur about that location, though, and…"

"And?"

The white knight frowned. "It's called the Delirium Lava Ruins. An incredibly fiery, lava-filled area, hence the name. If Princess Frey plans on going there after I tell her about it, it would be best if she made heavy preparation before making that trip."

Arganan resisted the urge to curse aloud. First the Yokmir Forest, then the Haunted Mansion, then the Water Temple, and now a place called the Delirium Lava Ruins, of all places? Arganan was surprised he was still alive despite going to the first three places. But these ruins sounded beyond him completely.

Therius gave him a too-knowing look. "And though I cannot control what you plan on doing, I'd recommend that you don't go into those ruins, even if you were to be with the Princess and any of her other companions."

"You just echoed exactly what I thought." Arganan paused, looking back towards the doors leading to the baths where Frey and Dylas still were, and then towards Therius. "Could you go with Frey? To the Delirium Lava Ruins, instead of me? I know you're adept at these sorts of rough terrains, so…"

Therius nodded. "I would be happy to help the Princess in any way I can."

"What's this about a ruins?" Arganan turned to see both Dylas and Frey approach. Both of them must have finished with the baths already, given that they already dried off and got dressed.

Therius quickly supplied a recap to Frey and Dylas about all that he explained to Arganan, and Frey's jaw dropped. "What!? There's another Rune Sphere in there?"

"Yes. And I'd like to stress the fact that these ruins are dangerous." Therius managed, looking Frey in the eye. "Too dangerous for Arganan to venture through."

"Even with the Outsider's power?" Arganan asked, raising his right hand.

Therius offered him a small glare. "Yes."

"Damn." He put his hand down. So much for that.

"Well," Frey looked towards Arganan sheepishly, "Therius does have a good point. Maybe you can help Arthur with research and pick up where Therius left off, while Therius comes with me to the Delirium Lava Ruins. Is that okay?"

"Of course." Arganan nodded. "I should probably let Lumie and Amber know I'll be here in town, though, in case they need help." After all, despite all the chaos going on with Ventuswill's condition and so forth, he did have a job to get to. And a debt to pay, on top of that.

"That's also fair…" Frey paused, a hum leaving her as she looked towards Dylas. "Maybe you can come with me, again? Then again, I've kept you away from Porcoline for a while. He and Meg might need your help…"

"Yeah." Dylas grimaced. "I hope Meg's been okay trying to stop Porcoline from eating all the food before it can get to the customers…"

"Maybe I can take Forte or Vishnal instead…" Frey mused, before looking up at both Dylas and Arganan. "Thank you, though. For your help today. I really appreciate it."

Her kind smile once again reminded Arganan of Calista, and he offered her a soft smile in return. "You're welcome."

"Just promise one thing." Frey quickly interjected, looking him in the eye. "Promise me that you won't try to yell at Arthur again?" Frey asked.

Arganan could only sigh, hanging his head slightly. "I'll try not to. But I can't help it if Arthur ends up being a useless idiot again."

"I'll let Arthur know that you'll be working with him while I'm with the Princess at the Delirium Lava Ruins." Therius managed, looking towards Arganan. "I hope this works out well. And I also hope both of you won't get into further conflict."

Arganan swallowed. "I hope so, too."

About a day and a half later, after preparations were made, Frey left town with Sir Therius and Forte to go to the Delirium Ruins.

Arthur D. Lawrence, former Prince of Selphia, stared at the former Count of Lazulis with an equally awkward greeting, his speech somewhat stilted. "Good morning."

Arganan could only shrug as he stared back at Arthur. "Morning."

Arthur suppressed a sigh, but he gestured with a hand towards the papers on his desk. "Please, feel free to take a look at the materials. There are no hidden reports this time, I promise."

"Good." Arganan picked up one of the closest books that also happened to be on Arthur's desk. "Has this been looked through, already?"

"No. That stack of books," Arthur gestured to the stack that Arganan picked the book from, "I haven't finished going through them yet. I've already shelved the ones that didn't contain any information, though."

"And what about the ones Sir Therius covered?"

Arthur pointed to a small, nearby table. "They're right here."

"Thank you." Arganan moved towards the smaller table, picking up the books to scan through them quickly. None of them held any information on Rune Spheres whatsoever, so he eventually returned to the stack of still-untouched books and papers on Arthur's desk again. Both men worked in silence, saying nothing to each other.

Arganan thought about what Frey told him, about not yelling at Arthur again. And as much as Arthur did deserve getting a talking-to, in Arganan's opinion, he also knew that this was someone that he had to work with. He had to extend an olive branch of sorts right now. Right? Like he did with Vishnal, back when the butler accidentally broke his arm during the first few days living in Selphia?

Maybe he could do the same thing, of sorts, with Arthur. Even if Arthur technically wasn't royalty due to giving up his position to Frey, he still had a lot of knowledge and connections that extended to Norad's main capital, and also to Lazulis. And Arthur did know about his involvement with the Outsider, too, so it wouldn't make sense to make complete enemies out of him. Arganan knew he certainly didn't want that – there was already enough of that from Doug right now.

He took a deep breath, before looking towards Arthur, speaking up. "I'm sorry. About yelling at you."

He heard Arthur chuckle softly. "There's no need to apologize."

The former Count blinked, looking up at him. "What?"

Arthur looked up from his own book, a soft hum leaving him as he bit the inside of his lip briefly, before speaking again. "You made your point clear, at the time. What I did to drop all my duties as a Prince and hand them over to Frey was, well, irresponsible. Especially given her status as a newcomer and her amnesia. Even if I did help her in terms of tourism, I should have done more to help her with investigating all the monsters turning into humans…or Guardians, as Lady Ventuswill put it at the time. We might've found out sooner about how all of this connected to Ventuswill in the first place, and…well…" His voice dropped off at the end, but Arganan knew what he meant.

If they'd found out sooner about how all of this affected Ventuswill, and Selphia as a whole, maybe this mess would've been prevented in the first place. That they might start looking for Rune Spheres sooner. That Ventuswill might not be dying right now, if they acted and knew about things sooner.

"Frey is doing a wonderful job as Princess," Arthur continued, "But I also understand now that even if she was already starting to adjust and doing well so quickly, I should have at least checked in on seeing how this was all affecting her wellbeing."

"Agreed." Arganan muttered. Arthur blinked, giving him a soft look. Arganan just stared right back at him. "Go on. Keep speaking. You may continue."

"So I'm taking what you told me into account." Arthur ended. "Passing on a role to someone else, regardless of the position and whether you liked it yourself, will take time to adjust. It's only fair I do my part to support Frey in her transition to being Princess of Selphia. Especially when Selphia is in a time of need, given Lady Ventuswill's conditions."

The former Count paused, taking in all of that. Maybe I did reach Arthur, after all. "That's good to hear. And I'm glad you're helping. Speaking of help…" He paused, thinking back to when he made Arthur hand back all the notes and original reports he made on him and the Outsider's power. Maybe Arthur made some breakthroughs…? "Did you ever find out anything about the Outsider, when you still had the notes and information about me?"

Arthur blinked, staring a little at him. "You haven't looked at the notes I made?"

The older man shook his head. "Not recently. I've been busy helping Frey, a lot. And the original reports on the Outsider that I had were similar to what copies Jones received later on, so I didn't bother looking at those..."

"I see." Arthur paused, before he put his own book down. "I did have a few observations, during this whole past time when I previously kept the reports. Prior to you obtaining the Outsider's power, it was reported that you had little proficiency in magic, regardless of what type it was, save for minor healing magic. However, that proficiency increased significantly, since then. And the Outsider was originally a 'world seed,' correct? Meaning that it can actually create worlds?"

"Only when it was travelling around in space, and not stuck in one world," Arganan pointed out, "But yes. What are you thinking with that?"

"What if you used your healing magic, in combination with the Outsider's power, to restore Lady Ventuswill?"

Arganan stared at him. "You think that's possible?"

"It's only a theory." Arthur admitted, shrugging a little. "Has anyone told you about runes and how they work?"

"Yes. Forte told me. And I remember what Ventuswill told me about them, too." Arganan did his best to remember on the spot. "Runes are essential to providing life in this land, correct?"

"Correct. If the Outsider was originally a 'world seed,' that means it probably could produce runes, had it ended up in Selphia instead of Lazulis. And now that you have its power, you may be able to do the same. Combining that with healing magic, which is generally a restorative force, may help Ventuswill recover some of her health and prevent her from dying."

"But what about me?" Arganan frowned slightly. He recalled feeling drained with every time he made the temporary barriers in battle. "I can't imagine it would end well."

"That's the problem. I wouldn't know its consequences on your life." Arthur frowned, shaking his head. "You'd have to actually try it, to find out, and that could be very risky."

"Also," Arganan managed, "Zael could never do that, so I don't know if I can."

"What?"

"Zael…my nephew-in-law." Arganan let a sigh escape him. "He was the first one that I knew that had the Outsider's power, other than our opponent Zangurak, the late King of the Gurak. Zael was able to use his power to turn Lazulis Island into a moving fortress, but he could never do anything like restore life, heal people, or bring them back from the dead. His powers focused on attracting enemies towards him, and debuffing said enemies. Not so much, with healing."

"I see. However," Arthur smiled lightly, "I did hear that the Arganan family is one of the most powerful, when it came to magic. And even with your lack of proficiency in magic, you specialize in healing. Given that, with the Outsider's power added onto it, it could still possibly work. The question is whether you can physically tolerate it."

"Right." Arganan grimaced at that. "As much as I want to try that, I think the Outsider might…punish me."

Arthur's brow furrowed, his gaze softening. "Punish you?"

"For trying to take its power in the first place." Arganan looked down at his right hand, then up at Arthur. "The Outsider tried to kill me. But to be fair, I started slashing at it with a sword to aggravate it into activating the Lazulis Cannon, to kill the Gurak. It didn't quite work the way I hoped. Its guardian, Mitra, emerged, and tried to drain me of all my life, hence my weakened state prior to entering Selphia."

He saw Arthur grimace, this time. "I heard and read details about your encounter with the Outsider from your reports, but…I don't recall Mitra being mentioned."

Arganan could only sigh. "I'm sure Calista wanted to spare you of the most grisly details."

"I'm sure coming to Selphia and seeing Ventuswill must've been a shock." A soft chuckle left Arthur at that, although it was sheepish. "It's not every day you see a dragon in charge of the town."

"That's fair. And she already knew about my entire past, too, it didn't help. But…" The former Count paused, thinking of Ventuswill. Sure, he and her hadn't talked much, as opposed to, say, her and Frey, but he knew Frey trusted her deeply as a friend. "I don't know what the truth behind her really is. I know Doug mentioned that she destroyed his village and killed his tribe, but…where did he get that information from? And who would give that to him?"

Arthur let a soft hum leave him at that, brows furrowing. "Well…"

Frey, Forte and Sir Therius suddenly appeared in a flash of light before Arthur could finish. Frey and Forte landed on their feet well enough, but Therius didn't look as good. Arganan instantly saw the wreckage that was his armor, some of it torn off at the upper left arm and clearly burned.

"Sir Therius!?"

Therius tried to speak, but he crumpled to his knees, a groan leaving him. Forte and Frey both pulled him up, with Forte letting Therius cling on to her for support. Arthur gasped, rushing over to Therius to cast a healing spell, while Arganan's gaze snapped towards a horrified Frey.

"What happened?" Arganan asked. Frey looked relatively fine, save for some bruises and slightly-torn armor, and same with Forte, but Therius looked like he got the worst of it.

"We reached the end of the Delirium Lava ruins." Forte managed quickly, just as a groan could be heard from Therius as Arthur pulled back from him. "But then a plant monster emerged, spitting fireballs, and Therius took the brunt of the attacks for both me and Frey. We had no choice but to retreat."

"I'm fine," Therius grunted, wearily looking up at the others. "It's just…a flesh wound…"

Arganan gave him a look. "Stop being a hero, for once." He snapped, getting on a knee to face Therius properly. He focused his healing magic on the white knight, hoping to heal more of the burns, before looking up at Forte. "You and Frey have to get him to the Clinic, immediately." Arganan also mildly hoped, in his mind, that Dr. Jones wouldn't charge the poor knight with too much to pay, afterwards. Taking care of people's health can get expensive, to be fair, and those burns would take some time to fade, if they ever did. "I can come along, too."

"I'd like to also accompany you," Arthur spoke up quickly, "If that's okay."

"Of course it is." Frey managed, looking up at both men. "We should hurry!"

The party took Therius straight to the Clinic, worried for his overall safety and wellbeing. Therius continued protesting that he was fine, but he obviously wasn't. Nancy and Jones immediately forced him to sit down in a hospital bed so they could tend to his wounds. Dolce and Pico also ended up helping, and it took only half an hour to get all the proper treatment administered due to four people working on Therius at once. Meanwhile, Arganan, Frey, Forte and Arthur waited in silence in the waiting area, hoping that Therius would be okay.

Jones eventually approached the four, taking a deep breath as he looked down at his clipboard briefly, then up at the others. "Therius is resting now. He'll need ample time to heal, for sure."

"Will Sir Therius be okay?" Arganan asked, getting up from his chair.

Dr. Jones looked down at his notes, and then up at the others. "He will be. Thankfully, the burn scars won't be permanent, partially due to you and Arthur administering your healing magic, but they will linger for a while. He'll need at least a few days of bedrest."

Arganan heard Frey sigh, sinking further into her chair. "What do I do…" She looked up at Arganan, frowning. "I'm sorry about him. I didn't want him to get hurt like this."

"I didn't want him getting hurt, either." Arganan managed softly, looking towards her. "It's not your fault. He once took a stab wound to the leg for my nephew-in-law, once. In a way, I'm not surprised he got hit with the fire, rather than you and Forte."

"I hope he gets well soon." Forte managed, and Arganan looked towards her, noticing a flash of worry in her gaze, despite the earlier reassurance that Therius would recover.

"Obviously, Forte and I can't finish that last monster in the Delirium Lava Ruins alone." Frey muttered. "And now that Sir Therius is out of commission for a while, I don't know who else to take with us."

Arganan tried to think. Obviously, insisting on himself coming along probably wouldn't make things better. If even someone with proficient combat skills, like Sir Therius, got hurt, they needed someone who could fight as well as Therius (or better). "What about Dylas? That monster has fire attacks, right? And Dylas was originally from the Water Ruins, so…"

"I might have to ask him, again." Frey managed. That was when Arganan heard Arthur clear his throat, before speaking up.

"Perhaps I can come with you, this time?"

"What?" Arganan's gaze snapped towards Arthur. "Are you sure about that? What about your research?"

"I trust you can continue it." Arthur offered him a soft smile, before looking towards Frey. "I'm not as much of a physical fighter compared to Sir Therius, but I do have a variety of magic on hand. Perhaps it will be of help when battling that plant monster."

"Well…" Frey paused, looking between Arganan, Forte, and Arthur, before nodding. "Okay. Can you come with us as soon as tomorrow?"

"What?" Arganan swallowed. "What do I do if someone comes barging in with a bunch of letters from the royal capital and you're not there? Should I just take it for you?"

Gods, how long had it been since he did actual paperwork and research like this? It was about two seasons since he was the Count of Lazulis, so…half a year, at this point?

It was only then that it all sunk in: He was outside of Lazulis for half a year. Time flew by so fast. He wondered, for a moment, if anyone in Lazulis bothered talking about him. They were probably happy that his niece was ruling Lazulis instead of him, at this point. But if there was any solace, at least Calista kept in contact with him this whole time. Even if she never forgave him for what he did to her, at least they could be civil enough to keep in contact right now.

"Yes," Arthur managed, "Just take it for me. I'll make sure to look at it when I return."

Arganan offered him, Frey and Forte a soft look. "Try not to get hurt in there, okay? All of you, that is."

The three all exchanged nods of agreement. "We'll try." Frey managed, offering Arganan a grin. "Promise."

As Frey and Forte eventually departed to get some rest, Arthur hesitated as he turned to leave, looking back at Arganan. "Arganan? A quick word with you?"

Arganan looked towards Arthur, nodding. Jones, meanwhile, went to go check on Therius again. "Yes?"

"Well," Arthur took a deep breath, looking up at him. "I heard you're in some debt. Is that true?"

The older man couldn't help but grimace. "Yes. And please don't think of paying it off, because I don't think Volkanon will let you. I've already paid off about a thousand pg's worth, so far, so it's not bad." Arganan swallowed as he thought about the rest he had to pay. Part of him wished he'd mined a couple more Aquamarines back in the Water Ruins. "Just twenty-nine-thousand to go. I'll work it off at some point. Don't worry about that."

Arthur blinked. "A thousand pg already? In a few days?"

Arganan shrugged. "I mined a ton of Aquamarines and picked up a bunch of random stuff from the Water Ruins to sell, the last time I went out with Frey and Dylas. It worked out really well."

"Well…if you ever find any other materials and need places to sell them to, I do have a couple of buyers that might want them."

He stared at him. "Really? You'd let me get involved in that?"

Arthur nodded. "Of course. I'll give you your cut of the profits, and you can use that to help pay down the debt."

The former Count nodded. "Well…thank you. Is there something you want in return for this?"

"No. I think it makes us even. It's the least I can do to help. I know you haven't had it easy, either." Arthur offered him a reassuring smile. "I don't think you and Frey ever expected to get involved in something as huge as what's currently going on. And what I previously did to add on to it didn't help."

"Arthur…"

"It's thanks to you, Frey, and the rest of this town that I've been able to do what I want. And I want to make it up to all of you in any way I can." Arthur looked him in the eye. "Think of this as another way of doing so. Okay?"

Arganan let those words sink in. In a way, he himself felt like that he wanted to make it up to the rest of the town for being able to be in this town, in the first place. Everyone was rather kind, for the most part. And Arganan knew he wasn't the only newcomer who probably felt like he wanted to do their part for the town. He recalled his and Dylas' conversation, back in the Bell Hotel. All the times he, Amber and Illuminata worked together. And now there was Dolce and Pico, working and living with him, Jones, and Nancy. He wondered, briefly, how things might go with this last Guardian, Leon. He didn't know much about the man other than Leon being a Guardian and being sealed away right now, but he wondered how things would go once he was released.

He supposed he'd have to wait and find out. Finding those Rune Spheres came first. And he knew, right now, was that he'd have to be patient…and pay off his debt, in the meantime.