AN: These chapters keep getting longer Q^Q Well, ah, enjoy reading?

Chapter 9:

Lynus stifled a yawn with his hand, hoping not to reveal that he had spent a few more hours than he should getting his office up and functional. He honestly would have been there a lot longer if Axel didn't come looking for him.

However, as he had chosen to sit with his fellow medics for breakfast, the attempt to hide was a pointless one.

"Are you all right?" Remedy asked him with a concerned furrow of his brow. "Didn't have a rough night, did you?"

"Hm? Oh, I'm fine," Lynus immediately insisted as he idly curled his hair behind his ears. "Just stayed up a little too late organising my office."

Hmm, perhaps it was the best time to speak with Simon and Remedy about Zydon and Seyfried? No, perhaps not. It was too open. Maybe he could get the two to visit his clinic and he can speak with them there.

"Hey." Axel's voice pulled Lynus from his thoughts and he glanced over his shoulder to look over at Axel. "Seems like Aurora just rocked into town."

"Oh good," Lynus said as he placed his hands atop of the table and pushed himself to his feet. "Best for them to get settled in before we take flight."

"Should we go greet them?" Axel asked.

Lynus nodded his head. "Why not?" he said with a smile before he turned to regard Remedy and Simon once more. "We'll introduce you to everyone after they settle in."

"That's fair," Simon said as he also pushed himself to his feet, stooping forward to gather the plates and cups from breakfast. "We need to clean up the dining hall, anyway."

"We'll take care of this," Remedy added. "You two play hosts. I'm sure they'll prefer to see a pair of familiar faces in an unfamiliar environment."

"Ah, true," Lynus said with a smile of gratitude before he joined Axel's side, and the two of them headed for the exit of the dining hall.

After walking down a long hallway, they reached a set of large oak doors that led to the courtyard of the Sanctuary. A stone pathway stretched out through the courtyard, straight to the entrance of the main hall within the Sanctuary, and the tall steel gates that portioned off the premises.

As they pushed open the doors, they immediately saw a large group of explorers with luggage and other essentials making their way down the path.

"Oracle! Welcome!" Lynus greeted warmly as he and Axel stepped from the entrance and down the small flight of stairs to meet with the guild upon the path. "You're all here bright and early."

Oracle offered him a small smile as he nodded his head. "Indeed. No point in dawdling."

"Very true," Lynus smiled before he looked behind the guild, expecting to find Villard escorting them and helping them to make themselves at home. So, he was surprised not to see him. "Where's Villard? He didn't accompany you?"

"He escorted us to the entrance but needed to speak with someone called Mueller," Oracle answered with a shrug. "Holt went with him."

Ah, that would make sense. Holt was the one that Villard wished to aid in the management of the museum, if he wasn't mistaken.

"So, is everyone here and ready to go?" Axel was the one to ask.

Oracle nodded his head, idly readjusting the knapsack on his shoulder. "Right again. Might as well start the introductions now. I assume we'll be doing it a lot in the coming days. You've met some of my guildmates already. So, let's start with those you haven't met."

He placed his hand upon the shoulder of a young man with blond hair and a white sheep at his heel.

"This is Joren," Oracle introduced. "He's our caretaker and farmer of the guild."

"N-nice to meet you," Joren said nervously, his hand gripping at the collar around the fluffy sheep's neck.

"And you," Lynus replied warmly. "Who's your friend there?"

Joren loosened his grip on the collar ever so slightly as he, too, turned his attention to the sheep beside him. "Her name is Suzy. Villard says it's ok to bring her."

Lynus nodded his head as he gazed at the sheep for a moment. He didn't necessarily have a problem with the sheep, though he had to admit that he was worried due to the four beasts that were part of the guild also. He wasn't worried about them in particular. But Farley was too energetic at times, and Wulfgar Jr was still quite young, so was rather energetic, too.

"Hm. I should warn you that we have one white tiger, three wolves, and one house cat," Lynus said before he smiled reassuringly again when Joren looked at him uneasily. "They're all well behaved, so they won't hurt Suzy or anyone. But they can be startling when you first meet them."

Joren still looked uneasy, but as he opened his mouth to response, another short man with a monster mask resting atop of his head suddenly pushed forward. He rushed straight up to Lynus and looked at him with wide eyes.

"Tiger? Jiri makes friends will all beasts. Jiri wants to meet with beasts."

Lynus blinked. "Oh?"

"This is Jiri," Oracle was the one to answer, pointing idly at the young man who continued to stare up unafraid at Lynus. "He's a wildling. He is able to communicate with beasts, monsters included. Even summon them in battle should the need arise."

Axel arched an eyebrow before he frowned and murmured under his breath. "Hope he doesn't do that in front of me."

Kardos also raised an eyebrow and folded his arms across his chest, a slight grin of amusement on his lips. "Instincts too sharp?"

"Very," Axel said with an exasperated sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "I can't even train rookies in the labyrinths anymore. I kill everything before they can prepare."

Kardos laughed at that. "Hard to get experience when everything's dead."

"Exactly."

A half grin, half smirk slipped across Oracle's lips before he shook his head and turned to his guild. He then motioned to three men that stood together. One with blond hair and dressed similar to that of Topaz, in the armour of a sovereign. Next to him was a slightly taller man with blue hair and garbs similar to that of a buccaneer. And next to him was a shorter, seemingly younger man, dressed as a ninja and a mask covering his lower face.

"Moving on. This is Caiden, Jaxen, and Jaxen's brother Shiro. Competent Sovereigns of our guild."

The man with blue hair, Jaxen, sighed aloud and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Can you stop introducing us like that?"

"Take the compliment and stop complaining," Oracle replied dismissively.

"Yeah, yeah." Jaxen's response indicated that Oracle did that a lot. "I'm not a prince anymore, anyway…"

There was a noticeable amount of pain and guilt in Jaxen's aura when he murmured that last sentence. The pain was both spiritual and physical it seemed. The way he rubbed his chest idly caused Lynus to focus in on that area of his chest. Left side, just over his heart he could see a scar. He couldn't see if physically, but there was definitely one there. One that seemed to cause him the occasional pain.

Caiden, the man with blond hair, smiled respectfully, honestly remind Lynus of both Topaz and Jhon with his regal politeness. "Regardless, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Lynus returned the greeting with a smile. "And you."

"Next, we have Ziba, an arbalest," Oracle continued as he pointed directly at a tall man with spiky blond hair and glasses. "Keep him away from anything remotely explosive."

The man, Ziba, sighed and idly flicked the toothpick he had perched between his teeth. He then glanced over at Oracle rather indignant. "Hey. I'm not that bad anymore."

Oracle once again shrugged indifferently. "I don't mind your random explosives, but it's not the same for others." He suddenly pointed to Ziba's left. "Anyway, the strange little mechanical being next to him is Shobek. He's what we refer to as an Yggdroid. It's a long story, and I won't get into it here."

Lynus' gaze immediately flickered over to where Oracle was pointing and his eyes widened. A steel and mechanical humanoid the colour of gold and red stood next to Ziba. His head, or where he assumed was his head, was tilted to the side, almost as if curious.

The body was entirely metal and mechanical. Inside and out. No flesh. No organs. And yet…

"There's…a soul there?" Lynus murmured in surprise.

Oracle glanced over at Lynus sympathetically. "Like I said, long story. We were surprised, too."

The yggdroid, Shobek, suddenly turned to Ziba and made several seemingly random motions with his hands. Ziba nodded and looked back over at Lynus with a large smile on his lips.

"Shobek says "hi, nice to meet ya"."

Lynus blinked in surprise. "Was that sign language?"

Ziba's grin widened and he raised a hand to idly toy with the goggles that sat amongst his hair. "Yep. Surprising for someone like me, right? Shobek can't talk, so communicates in other means."

That was…honestly quite fascinating. He didn't have a human body, but that the soul was definitely that of a once living human being.

"That's amazing," Lynus said in earnest. "You'll need to teach me sign language some time."

Ziba seemed surprised for a moment, but he grinned bashfully nonetheless and rubbed the back of his head. He was somewhat embarrassed by the request, but still quite happy.

"Ziba and Owyn there are the only ones who can understand him, though~" Sigil suddenly commented.

As he did so, a man with brown hair and glasses unexpectedly bowed lowly in greeting and quickly straightened. "Yes. We are also the ones to assure Shobek's health. He is not like us. He requires different form of healing."

"That's amazing," Lynus said in sincere interest as he turned to the young man who was likely that of Owyn. "You have healing abilities?"

"My class is that of a monk," Owyn answered quickly and professionally. "I am able to use my fists in both battle and healing."

Axel looked over at Owyn in interesting. "That so? Punch someone while simultaneously healing them?"

Owyn blinked before a look of enlightenment appeared on his face. "…I never considered the possibility."

Oracle unexpectedly uttered a cough. It was a forced cough, however, as if he wished to cover up another sound. Like a laugh.

"Half-way done," he said instead and motioned toward the back of the group. "The tall, muscular guys at the back from left to right are; Bahari, a buccaneer, and you'd best keep him from the beautiful people. Don't worry, I already told him that Lynus is married."

The redhead of the group bristled with pure indignation. "H-hey, don't go acting like I'm some kind of degenerate flirt!" He folded his arms across his chest, still rather irate. "I just appreciate beautiful people and things."

Oracle rolled his eyes and actually lifted his hand to wave dismissively at him. "Right. I did that for your own sake. Axel could possibility break every bone in your body without trying."

Lynus quickly glanced over at Axel, finding him glaring steely and protectively at Bahari. "Literally," he said warningly. Lynus couldn't help but chuckle, though he hid most of it behind his hand when Bahari's face unexpectedly paled.

"Next, Garreth, a gladiator and probably the sanest of the guild."

Tall and muscular with black hair, Garreth rolled his eyes. "I do question that myself, though," he murmured.

"Jaeger, arbalest like Ziba. Just not as trigger happy."

The man with pitch black hair and almost equally dark skin shot a glare in Oracle's direction. Much like with Bahari, he looked and felt rather indignant. "Stop sounding disappointed whenever you say that."

"Suah, a wildling like Jiri, but speaks normally and is surprisingly dull."

With a mask similar to the one that Jiri wore, yet pulled down to cover the top half of his face, Suah uttered a low, but exasperated sighed. He said nothing else. He just sighed.

"And finally, Devonta, a glass-hearted hoplite who gets scared easily."

With wild brown hair and eccentric golden armour, the man looked momentarily impressive. Until his shoulders drooped forward sharply and he appeared on the verge of crying. "I knew I wouldn't get away unscathed…"

"A-ah, don't forget about me!"

Lynus' gaze quickly fell upon the sight of a young man with purple hair as he pushed through the mass of tall and muscular explorers. He was significantly shorter than the vast majority of them, yet there was absolutely no feeling of intimidation toward them in his aura.

"Ah, yes, Cress wasn't it?" Lynus smiled in greeting. "We met briefly yesterday."

Cress looked confused for a moment before realisation spread across his face, and his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "Ah! You were with Oracle. S-sorry, I didn't mean to ignore you!"

Lynus laughed softly. "Its fine. Don't worry about it."

"Oh right, can't forget Aukai," Oracle piped up as he turned and once again pointed directly toward a man who stood a little away from the group. With silks and golden jewellery, he looked a little out of place amongst the guild. Yet his aura and the scars that he wore indicated that he was quite the season adventure himself.

Hmm, he was actually quite similar to Jemella.

"Guildmaster of Armoroad, has so kindly agreed to join us."

Ah, so that was why.

Aukai, however, looked less than thrilled; his arms folded tightly across his chest and a light scowl on his face. "Why am I even here?"

"Don't be like that," Oracle chided. "You would miss us."

"Like a hole in the head," Aukai retorted with a snort. "I thought I could be free from you bastards for a few months."

"Come now. You're not that lucky," Oracle retorted quickly, dismissively.

Though Aukai's words and expressions were harsh, his aura spoke otherwise. If he didn't want to be here, within Maginia with the Aurora guild, there was literally nothing forcing him to stay. He could walk away now. He knew he could.

He just didn't want to.

Aukai wasn't openly honest. Perhaps it was a form of endearment that he regarded Oracle in such a way. There wasn't exactly malice in his words. Oracle didn't look or even feel remotely put off by his words. And no one around them were either. In fact, there was a sense of familiarity from the others.

Such an exchange must happen often.

"It's nice to meet you, regardless," Lynus said politely. "You appear to have some stories to share. Jemella, guildmaster of Etria, certainly has his own."

Aukai regarded Lynus curiously. Attempting to gauge his sincerity, perhaps. There was a hint of surprise, however. He mustn't have known that there was another guildmaster from a different city also on board with the expedition.

"Well, welcome to the community," Axel proclaimed as he jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. "Everything you see behind those large steel gates you walked through is regarded as The Sanctuary."

"A community indeed," Oracle commented as he looked around idly. "Did Villard steal half of the land in Maginia?"

Axel snorted lightly and folded his arms across his chest. "It's ridiculously large, no doubt about that. Goes underground, too. We haven't even finished exploring the place yet."

"How fun," Sigil cooed gleefully. "Seems like your first Search and Rescue might be here~"

"Wouldn't surprise me, honestly."

Oracle's gaze flickered to the left, to the hall that lead to the large dining hall. Where Lynus himself could sense the auras of his guildmates. No doubt they grew curious as to who their new guildmates were going to be.

"Hm. You seem to have quite the large guild yourself," Oracle stated, his attention still toward the halls and rooms behind them.

Lynus nodded his head, smiling softly. Even from this distance, he could feel his guild's curiosity. "They've been waiting to meet you. Why don't you sort yourselves into your rooms before mingling? We'll be lifting off some time after lunch today."

Oracle nodded his head, seemingly idly. He soon turned his gaze back to Lynus. "It might be unnecessary to ask, but did you arrange for Zydon's room?"

Lynus' attention drifted over to the young man in the wheelchair, his brother standing on one side of him. While the blond-haired man, one named Kujura if he wasn't mistaken, stood behind him. He being the one to take the task of wheeling him around where necessary. Both men were protective of Zydon. Both in their physical appearances and their auras.

Zydon, however, possessed a rather…vulnerable aura. And the curse that he suffered from was the underlying cause. Weariness, frustration, feelings of helplessness.

"Of course," Lynus said as he turned back to Oracle. "Zydon's room is on the bottom floor. Rest assured, he's not alone. Your guild will be in the exact same building. Wouldn't do any good to separate you, would it?"

That satisfied Oracle and he nodded his head in acceptance. "Ah, good."

"The dorms are actually close to my clinic," Lynus enlightened. "Why don't I show you where it is?"

"Yes, that would be a good idea," Oracle immediately agreed. He even dropped his bag from his shoulder, allowing for Kardos to take it silently. "Kujura and Kyan are sure to be interested, too."

Zydon uttered a soft sigh, while both Kyan and Kujura nodded their heads in acceptance. Well, Kyan was accepting. Kujura was simply protective. Perhaps even a little bit suspicious of him. And yet…

There was guilt in his aura, too.

Interesting.

Another vulnerable aura caught Lynus' attention and he immediately turned his gaze toward the man called Seyfried. His condition wasn't as dire as Zydon's, thankfully. His exhaustion was indeed severe. But his health wasn't under threat.

Even so, Lynus was to keep a close eye on him.

"Seyfried may need to know where it is, too, but that could wait."

Oracle turned to look over in Seyfried's direction, the other man consciously straightening his posture. His state was frail, but he refused to look so. He didn't want the pity of others. He appeared to be quite the prideful man.

"Hm. Agreed," Oracle said simply.

Axel placed his hand on the small of Lynus' back, gaining his attention. As Lynus turned his head toward him, Axel smiled down at him. "I'll lead the others to their rooms."

Lynus returned the smile and nodded. "Hm. Meet you back in the dining hall."

They then parted ways. Axel led the vast majority toward the dormitories. Kardos walked with him. He said something that earned a laugh from Axel and he looped an arm around Kardos' neck, playfully pulling him toward him. There was absolutely no sense of annoyance from the group. In fact, they felt comfortable.

And it brought a smile to Lynus' lips.

"This way," Lynus said as he motioned for Oracle and the others to follow him.

After they entered the through the entrance of the main building, they took a right and walked down a long corridor that had windows lining one wall, while rooms lined the other. They finally reached the door that led into the clinic.

"Here it is," he said as he pushed open the partly opened twin doors.

Oracle immediately followed him in and looked around the room. "I'm impressed," he said with a straight face. "Clinic or hospital?"

"Clinic," Lynus said with a smile as he walked further in, allowing the others to do the same. "The hospital is found elsewhere."

As they filed in, Azure appeared from Lynus' office with an empty box in his hands. He looked surprised to see new faces. "A-ah?"

"Azure, come," Lynus said gently, his apprentice immediately making his way to his side and latching onto his arm. Lynus granted him another small, reassuring smile before he turned to regard their new visitors. "This is Azure. He's my apprentice. He'll be helping me take charge of this clinic."

"H-hi," Azure murmured shyly as he stayed close to Lynus, even as the others greeted him in return.

Easily sensing his discomfort, Lynus turned to Azure and speak softly with him. "Why don't you head to the kitchen and see if Flavio needs any help? He's going to get another set of helping hands shortly."

"O-ok," Azure said as he looked shyly toward Oracle again. "U-um…nice meeting you," he said hurriedly as he dashed out of the room.

Oracle watched Azure as he disappeared from sight before he turned back to Lynus. "He appears unfairly adorable."

Lynus smiled and nodded his head. "He's very skittish, but a hard worker. He'll grow used to your presences soon enough." He motioned everyone to follow him into the next room. "Now, this is my office."

Kujura wheeled Zydon into the room and took a quick glance around, his eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion and protectiveness. "You certainly appear to be professional."

It won't be easy to win Kujura over, it seemed.

"I owned and managed my own clinic in High Lagaard," Lynus stated as he walked over to his desk and sat on the edge, facing the small group. "I worked on the cases that the hospital had difficulties with."

Still somewhat sceptical, Kujura eyed him carefully. "You said there was a hospital here, too."

Lynus was thankfully used to the scepticism of others. He was too young to be a specialised doctor and healer, after all. "That's right. Managed by a good friend of mine. He is also my mentor. There are many capable healers here to offer assistance."

That gave Kujura a small bit of reassurance, but he was still cautious nevertheless. As was Kyan. Zydon, however, felt tired. Lynus had noted a small wince on his face when Kujura mentioned the hospital. It was subtle, but Lynus caught it all the same.

He got the distinct feeling that Zydon was feeling disconnected from his own healing. Oracle and the others had Zydon's best interest at heart. But they were somewhat smothering in regards to Zydon himself. Fussing over him. Talking about him, rather than to him.

They weren't doing it maliciously. They cared for Zydon dearly. But perhaps they were a little too focused on curing Zydon rather than healing him.

"Do you mind if I speak with Zydon alone for a little while?" Lynus requested.

That caused Kujura to instantly bristle and his eyes narrowed further. Before he could say anything, though, Zydon spoke up.

"I'll be ok," he said as he tilted his head back to look up at Kujura. "I want to ask Mr Lynus a few things, too."

"Mister?" Lynus repeated with a tilt of his head before he smiled. "No need to be formal."

Zydon turned to look at him with a polite smile on his lips. "Sorry. It's a force of habit."

Lynus simply continued to smile as Oracle ushered Kujura and Kyan out of the office. He followed, only to quietly closed the door behind them, to grant him and Zydon some privacy as they chatted.

"It's good to see that your guild is protective of you," Lynus said as he turned away from the door.

"I guess so," Zydon replied tiredly before he straightened in his wheel chair, a guilty expression on his face. "I mean, I understand their concern. But I'm half zodiac, so I'm not completely useless."

Feelings of being a burden…Understandable, really. And normal.

"No one is ever completely useless," Lynus stated as he walked over to the couch and sat on the edge closest to Zydon. He turned to face him, giving him his full attention. "And this isn't what this is about. I can sense and see the auras of others." Zydon looked genuinely surprised, but Lynus continued. "Those who are close to you just wish for you to be as healthy and as safe as you can be. Not because you're a burden, but because they love you dearly."

Zydon remained silent as he simply looked at Lynus for a few moments. His expression soon folded into that of guilt and he looked down at his clenched hands on his lap. "…Sorry. I'm just…"

Lynus tilted his head to the side. "Worried?"

Zydon nodded his head slowly. "…A little. I'm also a shogun. I'm…meant for the battlefield. I don't want to be a burden."

Quietly, Lynus reached out and rested his hand upon Zydon's arm. "Is there anything else you feel?"

"Tired, I guess," Zydon answered softly once again. "I've met a few healers before. Some said there's nothing wrong, others claim that there was nothing they could do for me. A few didn't even try. I guess…I'm sick of people making decisions for me. Even if they're born from good intentions."

Lynus gave his arm a slight squeeze. He could sense everything that Zydon was feeling, but as part of his health plan, he needed to hear him say it. That alone was often enough to ease some of his worries and concerns. "I see. It's normal to feel frustration."

"Is it?" Zydon lifted his head to look at Lynus once more. He still held a sense of fatigue, but there was curiosity there, too. "You…seem different from the others, though. You have a presence that makes me want to be truthful with you."

"Hm. I get that a lot," Lynus replied with a smile.

Zydon looked at him pointedly. "Do you think you can be truthful with me?"

Lynus was momentarily surprised by that, but he soon felt his eyes soften from both sympathy and concern. "I have been. I've been honest with you from the start. However, I will admit that I haven't been very forthcoming with certain information."

"You know more about this curse, then?" Not quite an accusation, but still a very pointed question.

"Yes. Do you really want to know?" Lynus briefly tightened his hand on Zydon's arm, he too looking rather deliberately into his eyes. "I want you to answer that honestly. Are you sure you want to know what I know?"

Zydon drew in a sharp intake of air and held it. He breathed out slowly after a moment and nodded his head. "…Yes."

Lynus sat silently for a moment, pondering how he should begin to explain. It won't be easy. He didn't want to do it bluntly as the news itself was rather…harsh. But he couldn't truly skirt around the issue either.

"…Let me tell you a quick story that will help you to understand my caution," Lynus said as he pushed himself to his feet and walked over to his desk. "About two years ago, Lagaard suffered from what we dubbed as the Hex Plague. Hexers, rogue curse makers targeted Lagaard, cursing locals and explorers alike. Putting them into comas, poisoning them, paralysing them. Their curses were so refined, so malicious, that the hospital was overwhelmed with victims and patients. Fortunately, I could remove these curses. But not, at first, without suffering in return."

Zydon's eyes followed him as he moved around the office, his brow furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Their curses were designed to also attack the person who removed it," Lynus explained as he picked up a box of tissues and a medicine bottle from the shelf. "The stronger the curse, the more violent the repercussions. Back then, it felt as though I had been physically punched in the chest each time I removed a curse. To say it left me winded would be an understatement."

"So, if you remove my curse, it'll attack you in return?" Zydon questioned.

Lynus shook his head. "That's not my concern. I'm immune to all things involving dark magic."

"Then why-?"

"Your curse is a little different," Lynus interrupted as he sat down on the couch once more, resting his gathered items next to him. "There will be repercussions. But not to me."

Realisation slowly dawned upon Zydon and he looked frightened. "So…it'll attack me in a different way?"

"Yes. In the curse's death throes, as it were, it will lash out viciously," a frown tugged at Lynus' lips and he shook his head slightly. "Your curse is perhaps the cruellest I've yet encountered."

"Wh-what will happen?" Zydon stuttered. "Be blunt, please."

He…wasn't actually ready to hear it, but…it had to be done. Lynus needed him to understand that his health was rather precarious. And for his own sake, Lynus needed to be his primary carer. No, his sole carer at this point.

"Best case scenario; it damages your spinal column, paralysing you from the waist down. Worst case scenario…it severs your spinal cord completely."

Zydon sat there in silence for a while, his eyes staring at him as he attempted to assess his truthfulness. All colour suddenly drained from Zydon's face and his hands flew up to cover his mouth. He tilted forward; his eyes wide as he whispered, "…Oh god…"

Lynus sighed and immediately placed his hand upon Zydon's shoulder, carefully uttering a refresh spell to ease the nausea he felt. His other hand reached for the tissues that he had picked up earlier.

"This is why I didn't want to tell you," Lynus said as he offered Zydon the tissues as tears flowed down his cheeks. "As a healer, my focus, my goal, is the quality of life for my patients. Telling you this news did not help you in anyway. I may keep things from you, but I am never dishonest."

Zydon shakily took the offered tissues. "S-so, if we found a way to remove it-?"

Lynus nodded his head solemnly. "Yes. But the curse is still there. In one piece. A medic could remove it. I could remove it now. But I won't risk causing you further suffering."

Zydon suddenly grabbed onto his arm and looked upon Lynus desperately. "D-don't tell Kujura."

"Of course," Lynus immediately replied as he patted the back of Zydon's hand comfortingly. "Your brother knows. He's quite insistent."

"That's…why he ran out after you yesterday…" Zydon murmured.

Lynus shifted off the couch and crouched down in front of Zydon, his hands upon the armrests of his wheelchair. He lowered himself so that he was eye-level with Zydon. With all the gentle seriousness he could muster, he said, "I must stress this to you; I need to be your sole carer. For everything. From a paper cut to a fever. Everything. Other healers, though their intentions are pure and benign, may accidentally remove the curse. I know where it is. I've dealt with curses before. I can help you without putting you at risk. Do you understand?"

Zydon looked frightened, but he slowly nodded his head. "Yes."

"Good," Lynus said as he smiled comfortingly at him. "I know things seem dire for you right now. But I'll find a way to safely remove this curse. That, I promise you."

Still pale and trembling slightly, Zydon managed to nod his head. "Thank you."

"Hm," Lynus hummed lightly as he reached for the medicine bottle and removed the lid with a light pop. "We're guildmates now. So of course, I would do whatever I can to help. Now, drink this; it'll help with your shock and nausea. I best give you back to your family. The one called Kujura in particular is becoming impatient."

A small smiled appeared on Zydon's lips. Tired, weary even. But a smile nonetheless. "Hah, yes. Thank you," he said again as he carefully drank the medicine, colour swiftly returning to his cheeks. "You…really are different from the healers I've met."

Lynus smiled gently as he gave Zydon's arm a light, comforting touch. "You'll be fine. I promise."

He then pushed himself to his feet and opened the door. As expected, Kujura was the closest to the door. He immediately turned to look inside. Dutifully, Lynus step back to allow the three to re-enter the room.

"Is everything all right?" Kujura said as he immediately made his way over to Zydon, going as far as to crouched down in front of him.

"I'm all right," Zydon replied with a small smile.

Kujura, however, furrowed his brown in disbelief. "You've been-"

Zydon used a tissue to idly rub at his eyes. "A little," he admitted. "It's just…I feel hopeful for the first time in a long time."

Kujura fell silent, mildly stunned by Zydon's words. There was a small sense of relief and, well, hope in Kujura's aura. Same with Kyan's and Oracle's.

"Perhaps you should get yourselves settled into your rooms now," Lynus suggested. "Axel is likely returning to the dining hall with the others. He'll show you the way."

Zydon looked over at Lynus and nodded his head. "Yes, we'll do that."

Lynus returned the nod with a smile as he dutifully stepped away from the door, allowing for Kujura to help wheel Zydon out of the office. As they passed, Lynus retrieved the empty bottle of medicine.

"My office is always open," he said. "Feel free to drop by for anything."

"Thank you again," Zydon said. Though he was still in shock of what he had learnt, his aura seemed just that little bit brighter. A shimmer of hope for him at last, it seemed.

"You, too, Kujura," Lynus stated. "If you're worried about anything for Zydon, don't hesitate to visit me with your concerns.

Kujura still wasn't fully trusting of him, his protectiveness of Zydon quite profound. But he, too, had relaxed somewhat. "…Very well."

Oracle stayed back with Lynus as his three guildmates moved down the hallway, quickly disappearing from view. He then turned to regard Lynus with a curious tilt of his head.

"You have quite the extraordinary ability to put others at ease," he said.

Lynus glanced over at Oracle before he smiled and lightly trailed his fingers over the braid within his hair. "My purpose in life, I suppose, is to end the suffering in others. Seeing other people happy, healthy, and safe…that is my goal."

Oracle gazed at him for a long, silent moment before a small, yet sincere smile appeared on his lips. "…A worthy goal indeed. I'm more than confident that we made the right decision."

For some reason, Lynus felt a chuckle escape his lips and he nodded. He then turned to walk down the hallway. "I look forward to the types of trouble our guilds will get themselves into."

Oracle moved to walk with him. "Hm. I foresee the future and it's certainly going to be interesting."