Hey guys, MT here!

I'm sorry I'm a bit late but I've had a lot of tests here in college and I had to get a job so I've been a bit busy!

I hope all of you are having a fine and dandy day! To everyone who wants Asuna to be attacked, don't worry! Karma will play a roll soon enough. Not in this chapter, but soon.

Anyways, ENJOY!

Chapter 49

It's been a day and a half since the end of the last chapter and Saito has continued to sleep. The doctor had taken a sample of his blood to analyze the strain of meningitis because his parents had realized that Saito was supposed to be vaccinated against it. It was actually a strain that was just slightly different from that of the normal meningitis. Louise had explained that they 'weren't from around here' and he said that it the disease may have developed differently in different locations. The doctor also explained that generally people are more susceptible to diseases, including ones that they've been vaccinated against, after suffering heavy wounds but could take months to actually grow into a more dangerous form.

Aside from that, everything has been relatively stable with Saito, however Asuna is a different story. After a few hours of Saito sleeping, at the end of the last chapter, she became more worried about her familiar and decided to go to her house to check up on her. She left with Saito's parents and came back less than an hour later, an extremely worried expression on her face.

Asuna wasn't at her home and her mother didn't even speak with her. Louise wasn't able to locate her using the World Door and everyone was fairly beaten down by the events occurring one after the other.

"Louise, are you sure you can't locate her with your World Door spell?" asked Gwen for the third time that day. Louise sighed and looked over at her fellow Void mage, understanding how she felt about not knowing where her familiar had gone.

"Gwen, I already told you. I can't really use the World Door to locate people. That only worked for Saito because he's my familiar and I'm supposed to be able to find him. I'm not sure how the other Void mage are supposed to find their familiars, though," explained Louise. Gwen slumped in her chair and Louise frowned, hating that she couldn't help, even though she didn't really want to see Asuna after what had happened.

"Ugh…" groaned a familiar voice, lightly. Louise and Gwen perked up and their eyes shot around the room to look at Saito who was laying in a hospital. They could see his face scrunching up and then his eyes cracked open, blinking as they adjusted to the light levels of the room. He slowly tilted his head and caught sight of Louise and Gwen. "Mm…morning Louise, Gwen."

"Saito!" shouted Louise as she threw herself at him. He breathed out an 'Oof' when she landed on him and he was fully awake now as she hugged him.

"What's going on, Louise? Where are we?" asked Saito, confused by the situation.

"Saito-san, what is the last thing you remember?" asked Gwen, remembering what the doctor explained she should do when he awoke.

"Um…" began Saito as Louise pulled away from him to sit on the edge of the bed and listen. "Well, I faintly remember me telling Louise it was my birthday and then everything got really fuzzy. There are faint memories of…a drinking contest? And something about Asuna. All I see is her face when I try to think."

"Okay, so the doctor was right," began Gwen.

"Doctor? Wait, what are we doing in my world in a hospital?" asked Saito, confused.

"Saito-san, you got a disease called Meningitis and it was a form of it from our world so you caught it. The doctor said it might have been from your wounds when you battled Ivarod. One of the symptoms was the neck cramps you were having and it also causes you to act abnormally. You even got a fever which is why we brought you here. Also…um…well, I think Louise should tell you the last part," said Gwen, blushing a bit as she remembered finding Saito and Asuna nude in bed.

Saito turned to look at Louise and she put on a sour expression. Saito raised his eyebrows, prompting her to speak, and she sighed.

"Well, because of your condition, and the fact that you out drank the entire Ondine Knights, you slept with Asuna," said Louise, causing Saito's eyes to widen.

"Louise, please don't leave out details or Saito-san might misunderstand. Asuna was just as drunk as you were, Saito-san," said Gwen, trying to defend her familiar.

"I can't believe we did that," said Saito, shocked that he had done such a thing. He perked up when he realized something, though. "Where is she by the way? I thought she'd be with you, Gwen."

Both went silent and Saito looked between them, confused.

"Well, she's been missing. The doctor said that doing something like intercourse while you were in that kind of condition could have made it even worse. She might be blaming herself for how bad you got," explained Louise, causing Saito to perk up. Saito put on a determined expression and tried to push himself out of bed, causing Louise and Gwen to panic. "Saito, what are you doing? You just woke up after sleeping for almost 2 days. You need to take it easy."

"I know where Asuna is," said Saito, seriously. Saito tried to get up and proceeded to almost fall, having to be saved by Louise. Gwen ran out and came back with a wheel chair before helping Saito into it. He disconnected himself from the IVs and Louise opened a portal to his house.

"Saito, where are we going? I don't want you to keep pushing yourself," said Louise as she pushed Saito in his wheelchair.

"We're almost there. Turn left at the sign," directed Saito. Louise put on a worried expression but followed his instructions, turning onto a street that ended next to a large park. She rolled over to the park and began to look around, curiously, noticing the large playground. "Louise, roll us to that big dome with all the holes in it."

Louise looked at him, curiously, then Gwen and shrugged before doing as she was told. They rolled onto the sand of a playground and over to the dome. Saito peered inside and smiled when he saw Asuna, cuddled up against the wall, zoning out.

"If you want to be left alone, you should probably start choosing a different hiding place," said Saito, causing Asuna to glance over at him, her eyes glazed. She recognized who was speaking to her and her eyes widened.

"Sai…to?" said Asuna, weakly. Saito frowned and looked her over. She seemed somewhat dehydrated and malnourished. For the normal person, you could survive 5 days without food but Asuna's metabolism burns much faster since she has her animal powers.

"Asuna, have you not left that spot since you came here?" asked Saito, worriedly. She nodded, slowly, and he frowned. "Why?"

"I…made everything…worse. You could have died…because I didn't realize you were sick…I've basically ruined my relationship with Louise…I shouldn't even talk to you anymore…" said Asuna, tears beginning to form in her eyes. Saito glanced at Louise, who was actually feeling bad for Asuna with how bad she looked, and he slid out of the wheelchair, landing on the floor. He crawled over to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest.

"I'm alive and well, Asuna. You can always fix your relationship with Louise, you don't need to do this to yourself," said Saito, soothingly. Asuna shook a bit at his words and tears poured out of her eyes and streamed down her cheeks.

"But…I did horrible things. Why are you forgiving me?" asked Asuna, her voice cracking.

"Because you're my friend and even friends can make mistakes," said Saito, causing Asuna to snap. She began to bawl into his hospital gown and he held her tightly, causing Louise to pout in the background, feeling jealous of how Saito was treating Asuna. Her mind was dashed, though, when she saw Saito slump a bit on Asuna.

"Saito?" asked Asuna, worriedly. Louise moved over to Saito and placed her hand on his forehead before growling.

"I told you, Saito! You have a fever again! I told you to rest!" said Louise, angrily, before pulling Saito towards the wheelchair.

"Haha, guess I'm not completely healed yet," said Saito, jokingly, before Louise punched him in the head. "Hey! I'm sick!"

Louise answered with a snooty 'Hm' and Gwen helped her drag Saito into the wheelchair. Asuna, on the other hand, was in the background, feeling excessively awkward. Louise noticed it and turned to Gwen.

"Gwen, you should take Asuna home since her mother must be worried. I'll get Saito back to the hotel," said Louise, receiving an understanding nod from Gwen. She flew over to Asuna and began to drag her away to her home before Louise opened a World Door back to the hospital room, scaring the daylights out of a nurse who had come to check in on Saito.

The leaders of Halkeginia, the Elvenheim, and the new Valkyrian country of Freiheitus were all gathered together to discuss a problem in their countries.

"This is getting ridiculous," said Axel of Germania, obviously annoyed. "This is the fourth city to be destroyed."

"One in Germania, one in Elvenheim, one in Freiheitus, and one in Tristain," said Henrietta, attempting to keep a calm façade.

"And we still don't know who is at fault for these attacks?" asked Bidashal, annoyed.

"No," began prime minister of Freiheitus, Jorgevuun. "All we know is that every attack it along the northern border and each town is devoid of any survivors and a sea of flames."

"I suspect the Dwarves, or at least a group of them. The Dwarven nation makes up the entirety of the mountainous region north of our lands. It only makes sense," said Julio, bringing attention to himself.

"But if it were the Dwarven people then they would have ceased trade with us, no? And if it were a group, surely the Dwarven kingdom would have notified us," said Harold, trying to stop any pointing of fingers without more evidence.

"He may be right, King Harold. Gallia's trade with Dwarves has dropped," said Tabitha, calmly.

"As have ours," said Axel. "I understand your desire not to put anyone on the spot, Kind Harold, but I believe we should be more cautious of the Dwarves. This may be the next enemy that we must face.

"We just don't seem to get a break do we?" joked Henrietta, causing everyone to laugh. After that short laugh, everyone discussed securing the borders and having traders monitor the situation in the Dwarven kingdom which may be the new enemy of the world.

So? What did you guys think?

I finally gave a suggestion to the new enemy because no one thought of anything. Honestly what else could it have been? First it was the Elves then the Valkyrie so who's the only other known race that could be important?

Anyways, I want you guys to Review and let me know how you think the Dwarves will attack. Will they keep doing it in secret? Go all out? Will they use magic? Technology? Explosives? Anything you guys think of!

Well, until next time...byeee :D