I get the impression that Act 2 starts a month or two after the fall of Yggdrasil. And they said that the Luminary was in a coma the whole time.

As a fish.

So part of me was like 'haha, wouldn't it be funny if the Luminary sometimes forgets he's human because he spent so long as a fish' and after some procrastinating, I sat down and wrote it in between bouts of writer's block.

This ended up less funny than I thought it was going to be. Its also more like a half-assed attempt at novelizing Act 2 with 'lol remember the time you were a fish?' thrown in a lot.

In the end, writer's block won so I'm just...going to post what I got so far. Um, enjoy, I guess. orz

Tales of the Luminary

By Bilbo-sama

Just Keep Swimming

Blue John eyed his new passenger. The teenager had stopped crying a few hours ago and he had been numbly helping Blue John reel in fish since then. If he didn't know any better, he'd say the lad was in shock.

The most he knew about the boy was that his name was Xander and he'd been bedridden for the past couple of months. How he never noticed the purple clouds blocking out the sun and the monsters becoming more vicious before presumably diving into the sea for food was something Blue John decided to not ask. It wasn't his business.

After ten fish, it was decided that they'll return to shore. Blue John convinced Xander to stay the night in his hut before they set out to the Last Bastion, a nearby settlement where Blue John drops off his catch. It would be safer for the lad to stay there.

Xander stepped onto the pier and started flailing his arms to regain his balance. The fisherman grabbed his shoulder to steady him.

"S-sorry," Xander said for the first time in hours, "it's been awhile since I had legs. I just need to get used to them again."

Blue John watched as the teen cautiously placed one foot in front of the other as he approached the entrance to the shack.

What in the world did that mean?

Hendrik paused as he noted the Luminary's presence. The young man had survived Yggdrasil's fall, then. Part of him wondered how he managed to do that after the loss of his power.

He internally winced as he remembered that day. How Hendrik could only watch as Mordegon's hand dove into the Luminary's chest and how the pained screams and the desperate hands clawing against the offending arm gradually became weaker and quieter as the Dark One pulled out his prize. How the Luminary dropped like a rock and was barely able to lift his head up afterwards.

...Come to think of it, Hendrik still had no idea how anyone involved survived the Fall. He can tell it was not a good time to ask the Luminary while he still showed signs that he hadn't made a complete recovery. He could barely walk upright as it is.

(If only he sensed something wrong about His Majesty and Jasper sooner...)

As Hendrik settled in, he overheard some conversations. The Cobblestone villagers were beside themselves with relief that Xander (so that's what his name is...) returned safely. Apparently the fisherman known as Blue John found him by reeling him in from the Inland Sea. Why he was in the Sea was never explained.

Hendrik decided that he didn't care how the Luminary was found. He instead focused on how the boy (and that's what he is, a child forced to grow older faster) can best contribute to the Last Bastion.

(It still wont make up for what had done to the Luminary)

Hendrik felt relief as the Luminary (Xander) had joined the fort's militia and proceeded to continue nervously exist in Hendrik's proximity and avoid looking at him.

(It wasn't as though he didn't deserve that)

It was clear that wherever Xander was recuperating, he did not have a chance to regain more of his strength before setting out into the world. It was clear that the sword grasped in his shaking hands was too heavy for him to use for now. But the swarm of monsters heading towards the hilariously small human army will not grant him time to train.

(Xander, meanwhile, was marveling over the fact that his currently human appendages can hold things)

Hendrik focused on his own survival once the battle began. He couldn't afford to be distracted.

(He can't fall here. He is needed. His mistakes haven't been forgiven - )

It would turn out that Xander did not forget how to wield a blade. Nor did he lose his need to help people (which had been one of the methods of tracking him and his companions down before - ).

Without him, more would have been lost that day and the Bastion would have been taken.

The horde has been routed but it would have been foolish to assume more wont come soon. That is why Hendrik and Xander has been given the mission to infiltrate the ruins of Heliodor even if meant leaving the fort vulnerable.

If they are successful, then they will be one step closer to somehow driving off the darkness from the world.

There was no room for past grievances and yet Hendrik's guilt and Xander's justified nervousness towards him came with them. It made the tense two day journey feel longer.

They rarely spoke to each other during battles and while resting at a campfire. But Hendrik believed some progress was made when he complimented on the boy's improvement on the blade and received a small smile in response.

(He pretended to not notice the occasional failed attempt at casting Zap that was quickly covered up by a more successful Frizz spell. Hendrik knew better to not advise putting off magic until the Luminary is fully recovered. There was no way knowing when that will be.)

At camp sites, they took turns keeping watch and sleeping. There was no guarantee that the goddess statues can continue protecting travelers indefinitely when the source of their power has fallen.

(Hendrik wondered what sort of dream Xander was having if it caused him to startle awake yelping "my fins are gone!" the moment he heard the distant roar of a monster)

Heliodor's sewers were full of wildlife and for a moment Xander had seemed to tempted to fight the sleeping dragon they came across before deciding against it (much to Hendrik's relief for he had no idea how to explain to King Carnelian and to Miss Amber that he lost the Luminary to an angry dragon).

"You smell like the sea," Jasper had declared once he slipped through Hendrik's guard and glided right into Xander's personal space, "Not that matters anymore. Nautica has fallen to my colleague's power. There's nowhere for you to hide from my master's gaze."

He teleported away from Hendrik's swipe. Hendrik and Xander looked around frantically in hopes of spotting him before he attacks again.

There was a maniacal laugh above them and they both tensed. A winged furred demon descended into their fields of vision.

"Show me, Hendrik, how serious you are to protect a mere drop of light," smirked Jasper, "when you are destined for obscurity!"

"There is something I have been wondering," said Hendrik as he and Xander rode on Obsidian's back to the Last Bastion.

"Yeah?"

"What did Jasper mean by Nautica?" the older man asked. "Where is it?"

He felt the Luminary's hands tighten their grip on his tunic before Xander explained that he woke up in an underwater kingdom in the form of a fish. That the mermaid queen did it to save him from drowning and then to hide him from Mordegon's gaze as he healed. He had only been awake for a few days before Queen Marina showed him how dire the world had become. The queen saved his life again by sending him away the moment the barrier keeping Nautica safe was breached.

Until he encountered Blue John, he hadn't been aware that it had been two whole months.

Hendrik wondered if the Luminary had been readjusting to suddenly being human again this whole time. He read once that you were supposed to prepare your mind if you were shapeshifting to prevent...something. He couldn't fully remember the passage but he did recall that Jasper had looked at the spell book dubiously as if it insulted him.

(Come to think of it, there was a lot of misspelled words in that book...)

Before he could voice this concern, Xander added, "I don't think I want to eat fish any more."

Hendrik blinked. It lead to thoughts of what the social dynamics of the sea was like if everyone including you were food to someone else. He shook them away. There was no time to explore them thoroughly.

"Understandable," he managed eventually.

"By Yggdrasil," grumbled Xander as the two climbed the mountains of Pang Lai, "I wish I can swi -, um, fly my way up."

"It would make the journey go faster," agreed Hendrik who pretended to not notice the quick word switch. In the grand scheme of things, there was other things to be concerned about. Such as a very large dragon attempting dive bomb the two of them into oblivion if its shadow didn't give it away.

Hendrik caught Xander as he fell unconscious. The High Lama ceased his odd dance and stared at the sleeping Luminary.

"Now we must wait," said the High Lama.

Hendrik knew better than to ask 'out here?' Of course they must stay near this alcove even if it made more sense to carry both Sir Robert and Xander back to the temple. It's possible that whatever the young boy did was only effective within range and if he moved Xander then whatever progress he made would be interrupted.

Hendrik knelt beside Xander and watched the slight movements of his slowed breathing. It was if he was only sleeping and not have been sent to the edge of life and death.

The area around them was quiet. There was no howl of the wind despite snow and cold air blowing past them. There was no roars and calls of the local wildlife. There was only the crunch of the snow beneath Hendrik's boots and him and the High Lama breathing.

The sun hung high up in the sky and seemed to not move. Time did not apply here, Hendrik suspected. Why should it in a holy area?

Hendrik could not measure how long he waited for the Luminary to return. It could have been only mere minutes. It could have been hours. It could have been days.

And then at last Xander woke up. It was brief and whatever he did while retrieving Sir Robert greatly exhausted him. After being gently pushed back down to the ground, Xander's eyes closed and he fell unconscious once more.

"Well," started the greatly emaciated Sir Robert from his perch, "I could use a wee snack."

Rab was well aware his recovery was astounding to people who never trained in Angri La. But the odd yet brief look of panic on his grandson's face was concerning.

"How long was I truly out?" he overheard Xander ask Hendrik in a near frantic tone.

"It was only a day," Hendrik reassured him, "Sir Robert really did recover that quickly. I've never seen anything like it."

"Okay," was Xander's reply. He sounded relieved but at the same time, he also felt this was a bit dubious.

"So what did you do while in the void?" inquired Hendrik.

"I learned how to summon a giant sword."

"...I see."

"I can show you," offered Xander.

"DO NOT SUMMON IT IN HERE!" everyone in the temple shouted all at once.

(Half a day later, Hendrik and Rab watched as a giant ethereal sword crashed into the swarm of monsters that had surrounded them. The ground beneath everyone was surprisingly left undamaged.

Most of the wildlife in the area left their group be after that.)

[OMAKE]

"Darling!" squealed Sylvando as he hugged Xander, "it is wonderful to see you again!"

"You too!" said Xander as he looked up and down at the jester, "your scales are more beautiful than ever."

The smile Sylvando was wearing seemed to freeze and Hendrik suddenly sensed danger, "My what?"

So um, yeah. That's the fic. orz

The bonus bit was originally included but it didn't feel like it fits. But I also wanted to ill-advisedly keep it. So...in the end, its not fic-canon. I guess. *shrugs*