Valde Incompertus Silva
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Eurydice spent a very tense and unhappy hour pacing up and down the corridor outside the treatment rooms in the Ceft Apothecary. Given the large number of unprepared idiots who came to challenge the Labyrinth and barely made it out alive again, the wing of the Apothecary dedicated to saving the lives of said idiots was of a rather impressive size.
Of course, Medigirl, being the trained healer that she was, was frantically aiding in the efforts to save the other three members of the Paragon Guild, despite the fact that she would be utterly exhausted after their trek into the 2nd floor of the Labyrinth.
And Eurydice stood there, feeling utterly useless. What good was her Protector's shield now? Not much. As it was, she'd been on the treatment table too, but her wounds were far less severe than any of the other fighters in the party, and so here she was. It had been nearly an entire day since they'd returned from fighting that demonic bull - thing.
Not that it could be helped. Her job as a Protector was to, well, protect. To prevent them from getting such injuries in the first place. And I sure did a bang-up job of that, she thought with a slight grimace.
Suddenly, the door to the treatment wing creaked open, and the weary, gaunt face of Medigirl appeared in the doorway. In response to Eurydice's unspoken question, she managed a small nod and a smile. "They're going to be okay."
Eurydice let out a sigh of relief she hadn't realized she'd been holding in. "That's wonderful." She said softly.
"Uh-huh," Medigirl nodded. "I'm… I'm just glad… I could… help…" Even as she spoke, she tottered, falling forward to be caught by Eurydice.
"…" The blonde Protector sighed as she carefully shifted the unconscious Medic into a position where she could more easily be carried. A soft bed sounded like a wonderful idea right about now, and since she knew her team was going to be safe…
Mihawk supposed she should be grateful she hadn't suffered yet another bout of memory loss after getting piledriven by an enraged forest beast, but her ability to be grateful for anything was somewhat sabotaged by the fact that her entire body felt like it had been set on fire.
Shortly after regaining consciousness, she'd been told by the healthcare people around her not to move, which was fine except for the fact that it was hellishly boring. She'd turned her head from side to side – not the wisest of moves, as it'd led to her neck screaming in agony - long enough to ascertain that she was in fact not alone in the room, and was in fact sharing it with a large number of invalids.
And as an aside, the condition of some of the other invalids brought back hitherto dormant feelings of gratefulness very close to the surface. She hadn't been aware that it was physically possible for legs to bend that way.
Aside from that however, she'd been spending the majority of her time asleep, and so it wasn't much a surprise when she was awakened by a hand on her shoulder. Opening her eyes, she found herself staring into the concerned face of her guild leader.
"Mihawk?" Eurydice said softly.
"You look like crap," was the Survivalist's reply. Not that she'd actually meant to insult her leader, but at that moment it was, quite undeniably, true, as well as the first thing to come to the archer's mind. Eurydice was a disheveled mess, hair tangled up, deep bags under her eyes, and a shallow cut across her cheek and neck that didn't look like it'd been treated yet.
The Protector sighed. "I know. If you'd realize how hectic things have been these few days-"
"Days? How long's it been?" The complete lack of any method with which to track time and her massive amount of time spent in slumber had disoriented her to the point where she wasn't sure about much anymore.
"Three days since we made it back from the second floor. Lash and Quark are just about fully recovered, but since you took the Kuyutha's full-body charge head-on, you ended up in the worst condition by a fair margin. The medics were actually surprised you held on as well as you did." The Protector shook her head. "Anyway, you'd best get back to resting."
"Sounds like a great idea." Mihawk mumbled wearily as she leaned her head back in her pillow and let unconsciousness claim her.
Several days later, when the members of the Paragon Guild had once again reasserted their status as 'fighting fit', they were sitting around the lounge area of the Rooster Inn, waiting for the last of their party – Lash – to show up.
This the Dark Hunter did with his usual aplomb, throwing open the door to the inn with enough force that a resounding 'BANG!' sounded off the walls, as he strode up to the gathered bunch and plopped himself down on a couch, patently ignoring the annoyed look the innkeeper had shot him.
"So, what's up next?" He questioned cheerily as he turned to regard Eurydice. Cassandra frowned as she looked over at him, then at the other members of the group.
Quark was… well, still Quark, as he stood at the sidelines with his arms folded, gazing impassively at something only he could discern. Mihawk sat upright in a leather chair, expression betraying nothing as she shifted her gaze to the leader. And of course, Lash was sprawled lazily over the couch, grinning at the Protector.
She swallowed hard. They all seemed so… confident. Like a team that hadn't, mere days ago, been on the verge of being utterly annihilated.
Eurydice, by contrast, looked as if she hadn't had a wink of sleep since that particular incident. Cassandra didn't claim to be an expert on reading people, but it didn't take one to tell the Protector was obviously troubled about the whole incident.
"All right, everyone." Eurydice began slowly. "We messed up the last time, we nearly got ourselves killed, the sum total of that is that we're back 200 en on medical fees… and that was just the second floor. If anyone wants to back out now, I'm not holding it against them."
No one moved except for Lash reaching over to scratch his chin.
"That said," the Protector continued. "If we're all in it for the long haul, then we'll set our next course of action for tomorrow's sundown."
"Sundown?" Lash raised an eyebrow. "There a reason for that?"
"Yes – wishful thinking." Mihawk sighed. "Eurydice hopes that the woodland denizens will be less active in the nighttime than the day."
Lash shrugged. "Doesn't make sense to me. The deeper we get, the more dangerous it'll get. Sooner or later we're going to have to become tough enough to deal with anything the Labyrinth feels like tossing our way."
"I know that. However, the plain fact is that right now, most of us need to recuperate. I dunno about you, but I still ache whenever I turn over at night. I want to avoid pushing ourselves too hard for a while, but I don't want ourselves sitting on our thumbs for another week or so."
"I…" Cassandra cleared her throat. "I think that's a good idea. The – well, all four of you got a few fractured ribs during the fight, so… it really wouldn't be a good idea to do anything too strenuous for at least three more days."
The dark-haired whipfighter chuckled. "Well, I'm good with that."
Quark shrugged. "If it gets us deeper, I've no objections."
Mihawk nodded. "Same here."
"Good. Meet at the inn tomorrow at the noon bell, since there's some stuff I want us to handle before setting out. Until then, we're off duty, so spend your time however you wish. I'd advise some rest, however." At that, the guild leader stood and headed upstairs.
"…" Cassandra watched her departing figure and sighed.
"Hello, Valerie." Mihawk smiled slightly as she settled herself at the bar. "Just give me something strong enough to leave me with a buzz for a couple of hours."
"Are you sure you should be drinking?" The bartender said even as she grabbed a bottle from the shelf. "Your body needs rest after getting beat up so bad."
"They say alcohol stimulates the body."
"They also say that alcohol makes you walk into pillars and walls. That one's a lot more observable, and probably counteracts any bodily stimulation quite efficiently. Here you go, twelve en please."
Mihawk tossed Valerie the coins, grabbed her mug, and downed half of it in a single shot before laying the mug back on the table with a rather loud thump. Valerie shook her head.
"You shouldn't be drinking like that."
"I can hold my liquor, thanks."
Valerie raised an eyebrow. "And how do you know that, Mihawk?"
The archer paused, glaring angrily at nothing, and then shook her head. "I just know, okay?"
The bartender sighed. "You're mad about screwing up in the Labyrinth, aren't you?"
"No."
Yes. Valerie thought silently. Well, she knew enough not to prod too deep at people who didn't want their problems discussed. Leaving the Survivalist to her drink, she turned to her next customer.
"Evening, Trisk." She smiled gamely at the old man. "What'll it be this time?"
"One of your chicken stews, if you don't mind, and a mug of your finest brew!"
With a sigh, Mihawk grabbed a stick of charcoal, pulled out her parchment that was to be the map of the second floor of the Labyrinth, and started touching up the map of the place. Naturally it was unfinished after their unfortunate run-in with the Kuyutha, but what was already there could stand some improvement-
"Reminiscing about the spring again, Trisk?" Valerie's voice, filled with wry humour, floated across the room to her.
"You know me too well, Val. Then again, I've known you ever since you were a wee lass, so maybe that's why!" The aged man broke into a chuckle. "Yep, you've got it. Ever since I tasted the waters of that spring…" The old man sighed. "Well, I'm too old now."
"Even if it's just the first floor?"
"Even if it's just the first floor." He shrugged. "I'm old, Val. My eyes aren't what they used to be, my arms can barely swing a sword anymore. I wouldn't even know where to find the spring if I could wander around the place."
The old man heaved a sigh and was about to return to his drink when a voice popped up.
"I could find the spring for you, if you'd like."
Trisk turned around to look at the Survivalist who'd made the offer.
"First floor, right?"
The aged man shook his head with a wry smile. "And just what're you offering to help me for, lass? Out of the goodness of your heart?"
"If you want to put it that way." Mihawk shrugged. "Or it could be that I'm bored, and I need something to do. Either way, I'm offering. Are you accepting?"
Trisk grinned, shrugged. "Why not? I've nothing to lose."
Mihawk let the ghost of a smile play across her features. "All right, then."
"So remind me why I was the only one who got dragged along for this little sidetrip?" Lash questioned with a raised eyebrow as he and Mihawk trekked their way through the woods.
"Because Eurydice is unavailable, Medigirl's willing, but she wouldn't be of much help in dealing with the beasts, and Quark's… he's Quark."
"True enough. Question two! Why are we going in the middle of the night."
"The old man – Trisk – he claims that the spring was blessed by a fairy or something along the lines. Apparently it's magical properties only come out at night."
"Hey, you know what else comes out at night? Monsters. Let's of 'em. Like that scary ass bull thing."
Mihawk shrugged. "I've talked to some of the old timers – the Ragelope and Kuyuthas don't venture up to the top floor for whatever reason. We should be relatively safe."
As if on cue, a mole leaped from the bushes, claws slashing at the archer. Before it got within a foot of her, it was dead, felled by an arrow to the chest.
Lash smirked. "Relatively."
Mihawk, meanwhile, busied herself with cutting away the hide of the creature. Finished, she stuffed it into her pack. "More stuff to sell…" She murmured to herself. "Anyway, according to my map, I noted a spring to the east of this area."
"Lead the way, fair maiden." The whipfighter shrugged.
Eurydice sat propped up on the chair of her room, resting her cheek on one hand as the other idly held a book. It was one of her favourite tomes, detailing a story of a brave knight and his quest to win the heart of a fair lady. The lady herself had a voice so beautiful that it could beguile and tame even the most ferocious of beasts, and the knight knew that no small feat would be needed to win her heart, and so he traveled the land, searching for a treasure so grand and splendid that it would prove his devotion to her.
With a half-smile on her face, Eurydice chuckled. "It's funny…" She murmured to herself. "How everything turned out-"
A soft knock on the door sounded. Folding the book and putting it away, Eurydice turned to the door. "Come in." She said.
The door creaked open, and the nervous face of Medigirl appeared in the doorway. "B – boss?" She ventured.
The Protector quirked an eyebrow and stood. "Medigirl? What are you doing in the inn? You've your own place to stay here, don't you?"
"Well, yeah, but… I wanted to talk to you."
"What about?"
The shy girl stood there for several long seconds, staring at the floor, before she blurted out, "You hate me, don't you?"
It was at times like these, Eurydice reflected, that being the leader of a group sucked a lot.
"I'd give us… oh, two more days or so until we reach Etria." Franz said as he chewed at the hunk of bread in his hand.
"About time, too. I think I've forgotten a time when I didn't smell of horse." Ewan muttered.
"Ay, Masters, and then maybe we'll have a proper meal, eh? A nice roast, smeltered with sauces and mushrooms! Why, I'm getting hungry just thinking of it!" Orpheus piped up from his position behind Ewan.
"And thinking about it's not going to do anyone any good, so let's save that for when we reach." Franz chuckled as he finished.
"So, Orpheus," Ewan said by way conversation. "You've been pretty insistent on getting to Etria, but you haven't really told us why. The Labyrinth?"
"Maybe, maybe." The musician sighed. "I'm looking fer someone, though, that's my main goal. And before you ask, I don't fancy that person'd be too pleased about my revealing that person's identity, so all bets are off."
Ewan raised an eyebrow in response to this, but otherwise shrugged it off without much thought.
As the night wore on, the thud of hooves on the dirt track remained constant.
Chapter End
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