Dexter stumbled over to Saracen. "Saracen! Oh, god." Saracen's head was hanging down, but he was still conscious. Barely. His eyes drifted to Dexter's face, silently acknowledging him, though he was too tired to speak. Dexter lifted Saracen's arms and legs, studying his injuries. He lifted up Saracen's shirt; there was a deep gash running along his chest, and the sight sent needles into Dexter's heart. He clenched his jaw. Now, Valkyrie and Saracen were both injured, and Dexter hadn't any supplies to help. Yet if he did nothing, they would both die.

"Dexter," Valkyrie's weak voice sounded behind him. He turned to her. Her gaze drifted to one of the face-down men, "That man is a healer. I can use his magic."

Dexter shook his head, "But… he's dead."

"It doesn't matter. I can still feel his magic radiating off of him."

"Is it enough to heal yourself and Saracen?" Dexter asked hopefully. He stood up to drag the dead man's body, and dropped him beside Saracen.

Valkyrie bit her lip, "Yes, but it's not enough magic to heal both of us. After I heal myself, I'll use the leftover magic to heal Saracen."

"No. Heal Saracen first," Dexter urged. He stared at Saracen's face, who's tired eyes still stared dully at Dexter. Dexter reached out and ran his thumb across his cheekbone, careful to avoid touching the cut running along it. Then, he looked down at Saracen's injured body, and his heart became heavy. How many times has he seen Saracen like this? Most likely, he would see it a million times more. If Valkyrie did not heal Saracen now, Saracen would continue in this state.

"But, if I heal him first, I'll die," Valkyrie whispered.

"If you don't heal him, then so will he!"

Valkyrie explained, "His injuries aren't as bad as-"

"Valkyrie!" Dexter demanded, "Heal him. You've withstood worse injuries. I know you have."

"But-"

"Heal him!" Dexter's voice was becoming louder- stricter, and Valkyrie's voice was becoming gradually weaker. "I'll die," she repeated. If she used any more magic, she wouldn't make it. At least, if she were to use the magic on herself, she would be gaining her energy back. Furthermore, if she healed herself first, then she would have enough energy to focus on some extra magic of Saracen. She opened her mouth to say this, but Dexter spoke first.

"I don't care!" Dexter shouted impulsively.

He didn't truly mean it, Valkyrie knew. Dexter was desperate and scared for Saracen, but it still hurt her. She did not know why it did; she had always known that Dexter loved Saracen more. Of course he did, they were best friends. Still, she always knew how much he cared for her.

Or maybe not. She thought about it. Dexter and Valkyrie were never alone together, nor did they hang out voluntarily. Whenever they were together, it was in the middle of a crisis, and they were fighting side-by-side. She slumped her shoulders, resigning herself Dexter's decision. She didn't care so much anyways. Somehow, she had always known she would die young. Dexter scooped her up with unwavering decidedness and laid her down on Saracen. She didn't struggle, but even if she wanted to, her body was too badly injured to cooperate. She thought she was exhausted after snatching one remnant, but that was nothing compared to the drowsiness of now. Valkyrie reached for the dead man's magic, trying to steal it away. She could feel the magic surrounding her, and it was warming. She loved the feeling of her newfound power, but she couldn't indulge for long. Immediately, she concentrated all of her magic on Saracen. His cuts began to mend themselves, and the bruises began to fade. Saracen leaned his head back, welcoming the warmth of the healing magic. He sat up slowly, still in a bit of pain. The recently healed tissue would make him sore for a few days. He sat up too quickly, though, and a wave of dizziness overcame him; he had lost a lot of blood.

Dexter threw himself at Saracen, knocking Saracen back. He grunted, "Ow! That hurt."

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Dexter let go of him. Saracen looked at Dexter, his eyes still hazy, and smiled, "Come back here, Just don't hold me tightly."

Dexter ran his hand through Saracen's hair, "I want to, but we don't have time."

Saracen looked around. "What happened…?" he asked groggily.

"Hundreds of remnants invaded the sanctuary. We don't know how exactly, but we think they got to China Sorrows."

Saracen laughed humorlessly, "Great. One world-threatening event ends, and another one starts."

"We don't know if this is going to endanger the world."

Saracen scoffed, "Remnants love death. Of course it's going to put the world in danger." Dexter sighed and leaned into Saracen. "We'll stop them like we always do," he whispered. Saracen turned his chin up, facing Dexter; their noses were nearly touching, and Dexter could feel Saracen's warm breath on his face. His eyes were filled with anguish. He was tired of fighting, yet he said nothing. He didn't have the time to complain. Instead, he sighed, "Then, let's go stop them." Dexter nodded, and looked down at Valkyrie.

"We need to get her to a doctor first," Dexter said.

"That's going to be difficult… How are we going to get out of this room? The walls are crumbling."

"I don't know, "Dexter muttered. He focused on Valkyrie. "We need to wake her up, and make sure she doesn't go into a coma."

"Or die," Saracen remarked.

"That's really not helping," Dexter told him.

"My bad." Saracen looked more closely at Valkyrie's injuries and widened his eyes. He looked at Dexter incredulously, "Christ! What happened to her!"

"I did this to her when I was possessed by a remnant," Dexter said, and after seeing Saracen's confused expression, he added, "I'll tell you later."

Saracen nodded and reached down to shake her gently, but she did not wake up. He looked up at Dexter, and they exchanged concerned looks. Dexter's heart began to feel heavy.

Saracen shook her again but Valkyrie remained unmoving, her face planted into Saracen's lap. "Val?" Dexter asked doubtfully, pulling her off of Saracen. No response. Her head hung lifelessly.

"Valkyrie!?" Dexter pleaded. Saracen watched, his brows furrowed and his lips became downturned. Realization was beginning to hit Dexter, and he started shaking her harder, "Wake up, Valkyrie!" But she did not. He lifted his fingers to her neck, checking her pulse. It was beating. Slowly.

"Oh god, she's going to die. She told me she was going to die, and I didn't listen," he whispered.

"Dex…" Saracen said gently, squeezing his hand.

"I care about her so much, I don't know what came over me. I didn't mean it when I told her I didn't care. I never wanted her to die."

"It's not your fault."

"I know it is." Dexter leaned his head against Saracen's shoulder.

Saracen shook his head, "No-"

"Yes, I forced her to use all of her magic. She told me she couldn't do it, and I never took her seriously."

"It's alright. I know you care about her- she knows you care about her."

"Does she, though? I had no regard for her safety. Only yours."

"You can talk to her when she wakes up."

"If she wakes up," Dexter muttered guiltily.

Saracen cupped Dexter's cheeks, forcing Dexter to face him. "Right now," Saracen decided, "We need to get moving. Blaming yourself won't help her. We need to get to the medical wings."

"First things first, we need to get out of this room," Dexter said, determined to save Valkyrie.

"There might be another exit," Saracen suggested. Then he motioned towards Dexter's magic hands, "But, we could always make our own."

Dexter nodded, "Let's try to avoid that, if we can."

Saracen shrugged, "Just a suggestion." He leaned on Dexter's shoulder, using him to support himself while he stood. His legs were shaky, and he had to lean on Dexter for a few extra seconds before he could stabilize himself. Dexter, concerned, wrapped an arm around Saracen, lifting him, making sure he doesn't become too dizzy and fall.

"Wow," Saracen groaned, "I feel like shit."

"You look like shit, too," Dexter laughed.

"Well, now. No need to go that far."

Dexter shrugged, "It's your fault for encouraging me."

"Stop victim-blaming me!" Saracen whined.

"Everything bad that has ever happened to you is your fault," Dexter continued.

Saracen frowned, "Ok.. well that's extremely disrespe-"

"Wait, shut up."

"Excuse me? Do you know who I am?" Saracen crossed his arms. Dexter ignored him and pulled him along.

"Where are we going?" Saracen asked, his eyebrows raised.

"I think I see something," Dexter said.

"That's exciting…" Saracen stopped when he saw a small hole through the rubble. It was barely big enough to fit an adult man. He grumbled, "...Oh. That's not exciting."

Dexter poked Saracen's extra fat, "Don't worry, Saracen. I'm bigger than you. If anyone should be nervous, it's me."

Saracen looked away, his cheeks flushing, "Fine." Dexter let go of Saracen and kneeled down to look through the hole. All that he could see was a plain wall- a wall you see everywhere all over the sanctuary. Dexter had no way of knowing where they were.

"No one's out there, so it's safe, but I don't know where it leads," Dexter said.

Saracen sighed, "You would think that, by now, we would know our way around."

Dexter shrugged, "It's a big place." He kneeled beside Valkyrie and picked her up, then added, "You go through first, and then I'll carry Valkyrie through."

"I don't want to go first," Saracen complained.

"That's too bad!" Dexter shot back.

"I'm not doing it first!"

"Why?"

Saracen looked away, "Because, I'm not."

"Solid reasoning."

"Dexter!" Saracen whined, "You go first!"

Dexter crossed his arms, "Are you being insecure?"

"You sound like my mom."

"You don't have a mom," Dexter rolled his eyes.
"If I had a mom, that's what she would sound like," Saracen mumbled.

"It's just me, Saracen," Dexter assured him as he started pushing Saracen towards the hole.

Saracen looked back at him and threatened, "Laugh at me, and I'll gut you." Dexter grinned and threw his hands up, "I would never!"

Saracen stuck his head in first and proceeded to stick his arms through; it wasn't a tight fit until his stomach became stuck. "Oh, no. No no no. This is great. This is really- just fantastic."

Dexter laughed, "Do you need some help?"

"You shouldn't be laughing! You're going to get stuck too!"

"No, I won't."

"What? Are you gonna rub a bunch of lube on your chest?" Saracen joked.

Dexter kicked him, "I have my ways!"

"Ow!" Saracen moaned.

"I'm going to help push you through," Dexter chirped.

"Don't get too excited," Saracen muttered. Dexter laughed. He kneeled down and started pushing Saracen out the whole.

"Stop touching my butt."

"Where else would you like me to push you, then? Your kneecaps?"

"Shut up!"

"I'm not the one who brought it up," Dexter remarked. Saracen kicked back.

"Ow!" Dexter exclaimed, shoving Saracen through the hole. Once his entire body was out, Saracen poked his face into the hole again and smiled at Dexter, "So how are you and Valkyrie going to get through?"

Dexter smiled back; he thought Saracen's smug expression was adorable, and when he blasted a chunk of wall off, his offended expression moreso. He blasted the wall again, widening the wall, and he continued until the hole was big enough to walk through.

"I can't believe this," Saracen grumbled. Dexter picked Valkyrie up and carried her through. "To the medical wing!" he exclaimed.