Felinis: Not gonna lie this chapter was annoying to write.

Yuri's arms curls around Flynn nuzzling happily asleep. He's always felt at ease when they shared a bed. He knows Flynn leaves the bed sometime earlier than him as Yuri still sleeps with loud snores, but the scent still lingers. At some point, his dream turn uncomfortable in a way Yuri isn't sure how to explain... He's struggling to breath and he jolts in a cold sweat. "Ugh, really!" Yuri mutters in annoyance and gets up grossed by the sweat. Man, he stinks! He looks at his clothes and thinks that maybe he should invest in getting another outfit. It made sense at the start, but now he just feels a little ridiculous wearing the same clothing for over a week. Even the scummier parts of the Lower Quarter would turn their noses. He should at least get a new shirt to switch out with.

Yuri enjoys the comfort of a hot shower the water stroking at his skin and rubbing away the filth while his clothes sit at his feet. He rubs the bar and notes the puncture wounds on his arms that sting when he presses them. A sigh leaves his breath as he looks at his hands… Is it just him, or is the skin on his palms thicker? Yuri clenches them tightly and grits his teeth convincing himself that it's just his imagination. His feet are a different story because there are most assuredly claws on his toes. Just ignore it and move on! The antennas are a pain to wash and Yuri debates back and forth between washing them swiftly and probably painfully or attempting be slow and soft. Fuck it! He wants out the water sooner than later.

"Shit! This fucking hurts!" He screams and wonders how do Krytians live with these things. Okay… note to self, wash antennas delicately or suffer. With slow hands, he massages soap suds in and he trails down to the end with time. It doesn't hurt this way and it's kind of nice… A warm fuzzy feeling pools and when he towels himself off Yuri finds he's in a much better mood then he started. He rings out his clothes and waits for them to dry a bit. Flynn would of course complain about this but, it's not like he gets sick-

"I hate everything."

He waits a good thirty minutes of drying before saying "Good enough" so he can get breakfast. Yuri's starved and the only thing on his mind is getting a large plate of eggs in his stomach.

Rita sorts when he joins them at the breakfast table. "So… do you always sleep with your boyfriend?"

"I don't know, have you had any sexual encounters that you didn't program yourself?" Yuri quips.

Karol groans. "Guys, not over breakfast! Please. I don't want to hear that… ever."

Yuri leans back in his chair sipping at his milk. "Right! We should talk about Karol's sex life." He slips an arm over Karol's shoulder. "You're twelve you get action, right? What's Nan like in the sack?"

"I'm not doing this!"

"I bet's she's screechy." Rita smirks as Karol's face turns beet red. "She seems like the type. Probably needy and annoying."

"Lalala I'm not listening to any of you!"

"Oh yeah, I totally got that vibe." Yuri does his best not to laugh when the kid starts to pound his head into the table. "She must be a slave driver. But, hey, Captain Karol totally has the skill for that."

Karol pushes himself and points at them yelling. "You are all terrible people!"

Once he's out of sight Yuri takes a bite of egg. "He'll be back."

Rita just turns the page in her book. "I don't really care." She idly hands Repede a slice of bacon and Yuri tries not to seem annoyed. Repede really doesn't need humans going around and spoiling him. The dog already has a big enough ego without others doting on him. Back when he was a puppy everyone kept trying to spoil him with scraps because they didn't think Yuri had the money to feed him. He was such a fat puppy back then. Adorable, but chubby as hell.

Yuri hears the barrier blastia hiccup from his chair and raises a brow. "That's weird…"

"Oh?' Rita says and Yuri turns away realizing that he said it outloud.

"I've just been hearing a weird sound."

Rita shuts her books and creases her brow. "Now that you mention it, yeah..."

One of the inn workers grabs their dirty plates. "Oh, I've been hearing that the barrier blastia's been acting up lately. "

Rita shoots up and Yuri quickly grabs her to hold the spitfire back. "Hey, hold your horses!"

"I can't!" Rita yells pulling herself loose.

"Commandant Alexei is there, isn't he? He should be able to take care of it." Rita glares bitterly at him crossing her arms. "Rita, if you go out on your own, it'll just be another repeat of Ehmead Hill. We could at least let Flynn know about it."

Rita walks out the door without a care. "You can go hunt down your boyfriend if you like, but I'm checking this out." Yuri ran after her and tried to pry her away from the barrier blastia.

"Rita, please wait!" They all turn and stop as Estelle and Karol come running in behind. "After all, I've heard that the Imperial Knights have made some repairs on the blastia here."

Rita's hand drifts towards the control panel. "Give the Knights some credit for once, will you?"

Estelle takes the mage's hand and her face turns red. "Please, Rita."

"...All right then." Rita stutters.

"It's okay for you to be wandering around like this?" Yuri asks noticing the way the knights are looking at her almost as much as him.

Estelle drifts her eyes mournfully at her watchful guards. "Yes... But can I stay with you until it's time to return to Zaphias?"

"I don't mind at all."

She smiles softly. "I've been a little frustrated the past few days, I'll admit. The carriage is so lonely when there's no one to talk to." It's obvious that she's sidestepping around the topics she truly wants to address. "That monster we saw in Caer Bocram was fascinating. What do you think it was?"

Karol thinks a moment and shrugs. "I'd never seen anything like it… But, if I were to say even though they looked nothing alike the feel of it reminded me of the dragon."

"I have to agree with you there, Captain." The blastia is definitely not stable and that worries him. "Rita, you sure you don't want ask Flynn to look at this guy?"

"I guess it's worth a shot. Where is he?" Yuri sniffs the air and gestures for them to follow. Flynn's in a stuffy office filling out papers. The poor guy must be miserable.

Yuri smiles and sits on the desk as Flynn sighs. "Morning sunshine!"

From the look on his face and the still full cup on the desk Yuri can see that Flynn hasn't gotten his well needed coffee. Flynn is not a morning person or an evening person. Hell, he's barely a three o'clock in the afternoon person. "Why are you here? I'm working, Yuri."

"The barrier blastia's been making some odd noises. Do you think it's okay?"

Flynn raises a brow. He knows generally when Yuri hears something odd with a blastia or with the aer it's important to check it out. In this case however, he seems to be well aware of the problem. "You came all the way here because you were worried about that?" Flynn takes a long sip of coffee. "As always, Yuri, you can't leave well enough alone if you see anything amiss."

"Hey, it's not me! She was the one that-" Yuri starts but Rita buts in.

"It's obvious that something's not right with that blastia. Let me have a look at it!"

Yuri is trying to laugh from how hard Flynn is keeping his short fuse in check. "This blastia is currently in a state of repair. I'm sorry, but I cannot allow you to examine it."

Rita starts protesting when a scream of the blastia tears through the air and Yuri clutches his head in pain. There's shaking of the very room and Flynn is grabbing his head with him in concern. "Yuri! Don't tell me that was the blastia..."

Yuri blink the pain away and pushes the blonde off. "I'm fine."

"Guys, Estelle and Rita ran towards that sound!" Karol says pointing at the wide-open door. Flynn's eyes widen as he dashes after Estelle followed by everyone else.

Yuri just manages to catch Rita in a bear hug as she stomps on his feet and elbows his gut. "Let me go! I can't just leave him like this! The aer is just pouring out of this thing! At this density it might kill someone!" The blastia tower is alight in gold and aer is pouring viciously as the machine shakes.

"And what about you?" Yuri says attempting to talk sense into her when a pulse bursts from the blastia knocking them over. Yuri opens his eyes and looks at Rita standing in the thick aer. This is not good!

Rita's coughing, but standing tall as she types into the control panel. "It's okay. I'll just readjust the volume of aer. You'll be just like new!"

"It's too dangerous! You've got to get out of here!" Flynn yells at her.

Alexei runs in with the Krytian woman from before behind him. "Lead the civilians out of the city, as well as the Princess and the others." The commandant orders calmly and Flynn nods calling for people to evacuate the area. "The aer is completely out of control. There's no telling what it will do."

Yuri looks about for Estelle trying to figure out where she is. He sees her healing an injured man in the distance and the blastia rumbles.

Leave quickly while you still can. This won't end well

Not without doing what he can! Yuri watches in horror as Estelle runs towards Rita into the aer field. They all stop assisting people at the sight of the princess running into danger.

Rita stares at the screen flittering her fingers as she did every command she could think of. "...No! The flow of aer has outstripped his capacity. At this rate, it'll either swallow the city or even explode." There has to be some way to him calm down. Some way to level out the aer consumption. The formula she's staring at is monstrous and disgusting in how pasted together it is.

Where is the respect for this blastia?

"Rita! I'm here!" Rita turns her eyes in wonder as she sees Estelle is glowing like some sort of angel. The monitor readings start to shift before Rita's eyes as Estelle performs what she thinks is a miracle. That's it! Her fingers start going through bits of a half-bakes formula and relief hits when she sees it worked… But, unconsciousness takes her as an impact cuts through her chest.

Everyone gawks at the sight as the clearly hurt princess starts casting artes on Rita. "Please... Get a room ready...for Rita..."

Rain breaks from the gray clouds and Yuri runs up with Flynn to princess. "Do you even hear what you're saying? You're just as worn out as she is." He lectures as Flynn kneels next to Estelle, but right now… he's feeling terrible as well. He thinks he might vomit.

"Prepare rooms at once!" Flynn orders and picks up Rita in his arms. "I'll take her there myself."

Yuri looks at Karol who looks positively green in the corner. "Karol, can you stand?" The boy nods and Yuri holds out a hand that is eagerly taken. "Come on, we're going too."

You didn't come last night. I'm asking once more; do you still wish for a meeting?

If so I will do my best to make arrangements for you to make it there tonight.

Yuri looks towards the tanned Krytian woman and nods subtly. She's the only one who seemed calm about the whole thing. Flynn looks at him with a hint of concern but Yuri waves him off. Rita is placed on bed and Estelle sits next to her casting healing artes.

Evening has fallen and when Yuri checks in on Estelle who is still casting artes and rubbing sleep from her eyes. "You can't keep using your healing artes on her forever, Estelle. Come on, let's let her rest for now." Estelle hesitantly lets the spell dispel and lets out a tired sigh. "I can't believe she had to go and do something like that."

"Yes. Once Rita chooses to do something, she won't listen to anyone else..." Estelle says tiredly as she rests her head on the side of the bed.

"You're one to talk! You were just as bad as she was." That girl gave both of them a heart attack! Flynn had looked like he might pull his hair out shortly after dropping off Rita.

"...I'm sorry."

"You should go rest. Aren't you tired from using your healing artes so much?"

"I'm jealous of Rita. She has something she cares about so much..." Estelle yawns and Yuri places a soft hand on her shoulder.

"And so can you, if you spend enough time looking for it. But you need to go and get some sleep now." He says softly pulling her to the bed right next to Rita's.

She shakes her head and pulls herself awake. "No, I'm fine. Yuri, you should get some sleep, yourself."

"Flynn will get mad at me if you pass out."

"So let him get mad at you." Estelle bites.

Geez, why does she half to be so stubborn? "Look, don't come asking me to take your place when you collapse from exhaustion!"

She grins mischievously. "I can't ask you to take my place if I've already collapsed, can I?" Yuri rolls his eyes and leaves her be. If she wants to collapse on the floor that's her own fault. As he walks down the hall and spies Karol curled against the wall.

"Hey, Captain."

The boy shifts and he rests his head on his knee. "You must think I'm totally useless. After what happened when you first met me, and at Caer Bocram, and today..."

Yuri sits next him and leans back. "I think everyone freaked out today. Even the great Commandant was pretty in over his head. There are lots of things even grown-ups can't do."

Karol turns up his head curiously. "Even you, Yuri?" Oh, yes. He just gave a little nod and Karol relaxes. "Yeah. I guess so. It's a tough world."

Yuri chuckles. Karol's still such a young kid and innocent. He's allowed to be scared and cowardly. "Now you got the idea."

They sit in silence for a time till Karol fidgetily looks up at him. "...Hey, Yuri?" He gives a soft hum as Karol starts fidgeting his fingers. "Do you think you'd wanna maybe...start a guild with me?"

A guild, huh? Yuri's still got a lot of things on his mind and things to do… But, then there's something pleasant to the idea. It's not like he can go home anymore… "I'll think about it."

Karol's eyes widen in a smile. "R-really!"

"What, you're surprised?"

Karol nods shyly. "I thought you'd say 'No way! I've been in enough messes already!' or something."

Yuri stands up and stretches. "Not all adults think like that, you know. Anyway, it's late. Let's get some rest and see how she's doing in the morning."

"Um, Yuri…" He stops and Karol rubs his arms. "Thanks for not making fun of me and stuff."

Yuri sets his hands on his hips. "You never mocked me for being a Krytian."

"Well, why would I? You're really awesome and stuff!"

"Thank you." Yuri smiles and heads down the hall to get dinner for Estelle. He knows she hasn't eaten and in all likelihood, will fall asleep with a full stomach. Tray in hand he knocks on the door and hears Rita invite him in. "Glad to see you're awake." Yuri sighs as he sets the tray to the side. "...And after I told her over and over to call me before she collapses."

Rita snorts sitting upright. "You didn't think she'd really listen to you, did you?" Estelle lets out a soft snore. "...Heh, she looks happy." Rita gestures for the tray and Yuri hands it over. "Hey so...what do you think Estellise thinks of me? Why are you making that face?"

Yuri holds back his laughter and steals a bite off her plate. "I just didn't think you were the kind of person who cared what other people thought."

"F-forget it. You can go now." The mage stammers her face red.

"Compared to those formulas of yours, she should be easy to figure out."

Rita glares at him and throws a pillow at his face that he easily ducks. "Shut up and get out!"

Yuri turns to walk away when hears the princess stir. "Rita! You're awake!" Estelle has Rita's hands in hers and is looking over her friend. "But be careful! It's just when you think you've recovered that you're in the most danger."

"It's all right, I'm fine." Rita interrupts her before Estelle can cast another spell. "Also, you don't need to pretend to be using that blastia anymore."

The girl's eyes widen as she grips the blastia on her arms that has been unused the whole day. "It's pretty cool that you can use healing artes without a blastia."

"B-but how did you-" A howl tears through the air as the dragon and it's rider descend through the air. Yuri flicks his sword from his sheathe as the dragon howls again.

Get out of my way

Yuri growls as an explosion of fire launches from the dragon that he cuts through with an arte of his own. The dragon stares down them and he hears Karol burst into the room.

Why do you defend? Can't you see the aer around her is poisonous?

"Leave!" He shouts stepping onto the balcony ready to draw blood. Yuri looks at his hand and is shocked to find it's trembling. His head is hurting and he sees the dragon fly away as Estelle stands with a casting circle under her feet.

"Yuri, are you alright?" Estelle says and he nods.

Rita stands from the explosion and looks at the room that's been trashed. "Just when the conversation was getting interesting."

"That's enough talk about Estelle's healing artes for now." Yuri says and shuts out the pain. An episode? Yeah, that's it.

"Fine by me. I've pretty much figured it out, anyway. The only one mystery remains." Yuri nods and waves off as he leaves. He needs his own room and to hide out till he feels better. The owner hands him a room key and he locks himself inside. He feels hot again and clutches his head in pain only to let himself fall limp. A empty moan escapes his lip as his mind fades away much to his frustration. He's supposed to get answers! He can't have an episode no-