4. Stable
By the next day, Asthar was let out of the hospital wing and it was revealed that Zepha was also alive again, which worried Arganan at first. Thankfully, Zepha was not going to be killing anyone, anytime soon. That was the good news.
The bad news was that it gave a greater sign to him that Zangurak could be coming back to life, too.
Arganan wasn't sure whether to feel happy or mortified about the entire situation. It was good that he had a physical, living human form now (and it turned out that Mitra was literally in his body as he could sense how Mitra was feeling even when it looked like that Mitra wasn't physically with him), but if it resulted in others coming back to life...
What if it resulted in Zangurak coming back to life? Surely that wouldn't be good.
He then thought of Jirall Rambaldt—the person originally betrothed to Calista before Zael came along. Zael said that he'd been forced to defeat and nearly kill Jirall in battle, as Jirall went completely mad from Zangurak's influence. Would Jirall's state of mind, if he came back to life, still be full of such madness?
Arganan opened his good eye as he lay on his bed, thinking. He'd gone to sleep in his clothes the day before, not bothering to change into night attire as he was too preoccupied with all the thoughts in his head. His thoughts wandered from his own predicament, and then to Jirall, then to Calista and Zael briefly before coming back to Jirall.
Was there a way to reach Jirall, even, if the heir of Rambaldt came back to life?
Arganan felt his chest get warm, and he looked down to see the mark on his chest glowing a bit.
"What the—"
He disappeared in a heartbeat.
Jirall paced about one of the ship's rooms, lighting a lantern with a match he found from a small box earlier. He held it upwards, looking around. The sun was setting, he was hungry and thirsty and sore, and no ship had been in sight. He figured that no ship would be out right now, that he would have to hold on until morning to see if anyone would arrive.
His head felt clear. That was good. It felt clearer than when he dueled Za—
Don't think of him, Jirall, stop it. He whispered to his own mind. It's not making things any better right now, just stop it. You need to survive.
What if no one came? The fear struck him almost like lightning. He shuddered, wrapping his arms about himself after putting the lantern on a nearby table, before grabbing a grimy blanket and trying to wrap it about it himself. He didn't care that it was grimy right now, he just wanted to stay warm—
Footsteps suddenly resounded. He flinched.
Those footsteps were on this ship.
He threw the blanket off himself, holding up his lantern and listening, standing. The footsteps were getting closer. A voice from outside, obviously male, was cursing slightly as the footsteps approached his door. The echoes of footsteps stopped. Jirall looked down to see through the slit under the door that there were feet there. Tha someone was standing right in front of his room.
Mustering up what little courage he held, he gripped the handle of the lantern tightly, sucking a deep breath into his lungs as the door opened.
One person, one very familiar person opened the door, standing in the doorway and staring at him with near terror on his face.
"Jirall?"
Jirall couldn't believe what he was seeing. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his other hand not holding the lantern, and he stared again.
"You." He managed, after a moment.
Count Arganan stood there, opposite him. The older man looked surprised, and his clothing was disheveled slightly, but otherwise he looked the same as he always did. Wait—
No, there was something different. That bluish mark on his chest, glowing from underneath his shirt, had not been there before.
The heir of Rambaldt (no longer the heir, Jirall reminded himself, he'd been disowned by his own family after being arrested for the crime he never did.) stared at the mark, before hearing the older man cough slightly. Looking up so that they were seeing each other literally eye to eye, Arganan spoke up.
"So," He managed after more silence, "You came back to life, too."
Jirall didn't know how to react. What the hell was the Count talking about?
"What do you mean?" He spoke, wincing at his still hoarse voice. "This isn't a damned dream?"
Arganan shook his head. "No, Jirall, it's not. I'm alive, you're alive, and—" He looked around, his expression turning to frustration. "I have no idea how I got here in the first place, dammit."
Jirall stared at him in disbelief. "How the hell can you just suddenly appear on this ship and not know how you got here? Were you kidnapped or something?" He snapped.
The older man gave him a cold look. "No, and all I know is that the I was in my room in Lazulis Castle and now I ended up here." He went silent, closing his good eye. "I was wondering where you were. Being Mitra's Bride, I wouldn't be surprised if I have the power to teleport to where others are if I think of them."
Jirall blinked. "Mitra's...what?" He managed.
Arganan's face went slightly red, and tried to regain composure. "Mitra's Bride, alright!? If you're going to laugh, go ahead, but this particular role does not mean I'm married to a Sentinel Beast!"
Jirall knew that he had no idea what the older man was talking about, and chose to refrain from laughing, or even commenting. Taking a deep breath (one, two, three, must restrain the anger it won't help, channel it into something else) he tried to think of what else to say other than frustrating, angry things that wouldn't help either of them. Thankfully, he did come up with something.
"If you thought of finding me...could you think of getting back to Lazulis Castle with me? Could be our only way off his grimy shipwreck."
Arganan looked up at him, gazing at him for a moment as if making sure he heard it correctly, before nodding.
"That does make sense, I suppose." He put a hand over the blue glow under his shirt. "I remember touching this while thinking about you. That's how I got here, I suppose—through teleportation. I can't think of how else." He bit his lower lip, looking up at Jirall and extending a hand towards him. "I can get us both back to Lazulis Castle. I think I can, at least, if your theory is correct."
Jirall hesitated. Could he trust him—could he trust the man that threw him in prison once already?
Well, better than being on this ship, yes? Jirall took a deep breath, taking the older man's metal hand in his—
"And that's what happened." Arganan finished telling to Calista and Zael.
Although it was good to know that Jirall was now fine and in a decent mental state (better than what Zael described in his one duel with Jirall), it did not help Arganan that after returning to Lazulis and explaining the whole Mitra's Bride thing to Jirall that the disowned Rambaldt started laughing a little.
"B-bride!? D-dammit, you—seriously? Did you already consummate it?"
"Shut the hell up before I decide to send you back to the ship!"
Yes, that had been awkward. Arganan decided it was better to not tell Calista and Zael about that part.
Calista nodded. "I see." She looked to the door to the guest room Jirall was resting in at the moment. "I'm glad you were able to find him, uncle..."
Zael looked to the guest room door. "I think I'm going to talk to him as soon as he wakes. I...I need to talk to him." He spoke quietly. He looked down, guilt making itself apparant about him.
Calista frowned as she looked to her husband. "Zael, this wasn't your fault. It's not your fault Jirall went mad, it was Zangurak's. We've been through this."
Arganan winced. He didn't know how bad this discussion had went through his niece and his nephew-in-law, but he didn't want to know at the moment.
"Erm, I think I'll go rest for now. I'll see you both later." He managed.
Both Calista and Zael both said their goodbyes. Arganan walked down the hallway, putting a hand to his chest. He shuddered slightly. Even when wearing all his clothes properly he could still feel the mark on his skin, even when it wasn't glowing and emanating heat. Lowering his hand, he stopped as soon as he heard voices.
Zesha and Zepha's voices, to be exact.
"Do you think Lord Zangurak will be in existence in this world?" Zesha was heard speaking. "You heard Zael and Calista earlier..."
"I believe so." Zepha responded, voice solemn as always. "He must be. It would make no sense for him not to be—especially since the former Count of Lazulis has come back, as well as the disowned Rambaldt that Lord Zangurak once allied with, and General Asthar also."
"What about Dagran? He allied with Lord Zangurak. It would make sense for him to come back, too."
Arganan felt a heavy hand on his shoulder, and he turned to meet who it was.
Dagran's golden eyes bore right into his one good eye, and he put a finger to his lips.
"Hey." His voice was low, in a whisper. "Don't say a word. Pretend you never saw me, okay Count?"
"Dagran?" Arganan managed, after stunned silence.
He came back to life too.
Arganan backed away from Dagran, who let go of him and walked down the hallway, turning the corner presumably to face the Gurak brothers.
"Hey, what are you saying about me?" The mercenary leader spoke up, crossing his arms. "I could hear you from down the hallway. You might want to be a bit softer, you know."
"You..." Zepha was heard speaking, his voice coming into a growl. "We know what you did."
"Yeah, I know. I figured you would." Dagran responded, still standing where he was, keeping his gaze on them it seemed. "Can I pass by you and request that you tell no one about my presence right now? It's important."
"And why should we?" Zesha responded, nearly coming into a snarl. "What do we get out of this, Dagran...?"
Dagran didn't even flinch. "You get word of silence from me. You won't hear of me going and telling everybody rumors about Zangurak resurrecting."
Zepha could be heard gasping. "You know about Lord Zangurak? Tell us!"
Dagran took a deep breath, letting his hands drop to his sides. "Well, he's alive. And he's pretty pissed, though lacking an arm and weapon right now. Don't know where he is, but when I last saw him he said something about wanting to regain power."
He's alive.
He's alive he's alive he's alive he's alive—
The words echoed through Arganan, and the Count couldn't get himself to stay any longer, retreating to his room instantaneously.
Zangurak is alive, too.