Chapter 26

Hot. Sticky, sweaty... Something was weighing him down, holding him in place.

He fought with the heavy coverings and finally managed to free himself, but it took everything he had. Something cool touched his forehead, mopped his face and neck.

"Shh. It's okay," Aster said. "You're safe now."

Even though it didn't make any sense, he was reassured and quit fighting for consciousness.

Richter opened his eyes to find a dark room, lit only by a sliver of moonlight sneaking in through a crack in the curtains. He tried to sit up, only to find he had no strength and could only lay there helplessly as he tried to identify his surroundings. He felt disgusting; damp with sweat, hair tangled like someone had used the wrong soap to wash it, itchy and aching.

'This isn't hell. I'm alive.'

He sighed in resignation.

A door opened, blinding light briefly illuminating half the room and giving him the chance to see that he was in the hotel at Altamira. The light switched off as whoever had exited the bathroom closed the door and stumbled through the dark back to a chair that was pulled up beside the bed.

Richter squinted, not daring to breathe.

'I'm hallucinating still.'

Aster groped blindly and found the cold damp cloth that had slipped off Richter's forehead and soaked the pillow. He paused to touch the half-elf's cheek and made a satisfied grunt before setting the cloth aside and settling back in his chair.

"Aster?" Richter found the voice to say.

"It's okay," Aster said. "You're safe now. Get some rest."

"Aster... You're... actually here?" Tears choked him.

The lamp beside the bed switched on. Aster looked exhausted but healthy. He smiled. "Of course I am. See? Everything is all right."

Finding the strength to lift his hand, Richter made to touch what was sure to be an illusion brought on by fever. "I'm sick," he said, "you're not here."

Aster caught his hand. "Sick yes, but I'm no illusion. I'm here, Richter." He squeezed Richter's hand with both of his own. "Get some more rest."

"But how are you here? I didn't... do something stupid did I?"

Shaking his head, Aster smiled again. "No. It's a long story though."

"What about the demons? Alice and Decus?"

"Ratatosk made a new gate, the battle is over," Aster said.

He shook his head again. "No... too convenient... that doesn't make sense..."

Aster laughed tiredly at him. "You've been raving all night, keeping me awake and now you're worried about things making sense?"

"Obviously I've been sick," Richter pointed out, mildly irritated now. "I need a bath."

"In the morning," Aster patted his hand. "I'll get new sheets and if Jude says it's ok, I'll help you into the bathtub and wash your hair better."

"So you did that? No wonder." Richter glared at him.

"Jude wanted to cut it," Aster said. "You're lucky I convinced him that you'd kill him if he did. That mud was gross." He wrinkled his nose.

"Wasn't... mud..." Richter's hand tightened, clutching Aster's. "What happened to Alice and Decus? They were there. Why didn't they kill me?"

"You nearly were dead," Aster said. "That Cruxis crystal you were wearing is the only thing that saved you."

"What happened to that?"

"Tenebrae took it. I think he gave it to Ratatosk."

Richter sighed in relief. "At least it didn't go to waste."

"Get some more rest," Aster said and reached over to shut off the lamp.

"No."

Aster paused and looked at him.

"Leave it on..." His voice trembled.

The blond gently squeezed his hand again then released it as he stood. Richter watched helplessly as Aster moved away and had to hold his breath to keep from tearing up when his friend climbed onto the other side of the bed and laid down next to him.

"Now that you're done thrashing around," Aster said and reached past to grab the pillow from his chair. "Get some sleep, Richter. I'm right here. I'll be here in the morning. Promise."

"Thank you." His voice cracked.

Aster smiled at him. He stretched out on the bed, an arm draped over Richter's waist, fingers laced with his hand. He silently ignored Richter's tears and reassuringly breathed against his shoulder, falling asleep almost instantly.

...

The lamp was still on, but morning sunlight pierced through the curtains, painting the room with a golden glow. Richter looked left and found the bed empty.

'I knew it couldn't be true...'

Faced with another lonely day, he tiredly stared at the ceiling for a moment before finding the strength to prop up on his elbows and use the headboard to push upright.

The door to the hall opened and a young man with black hair entered. Something about him reminded him of Aster and Richter sighed, putting it together. This was who had taken care of him while he was delusional with fever. Not Aster. Aster was dead.

The young man was carrying a tray, which he set on the night table beside the bed. "I'd yell at you about sitting up," he said with a slight smile, "But it actually makes things a little easier." He went to the window and threw the curtains open before returning and taking one of Richter's wrists with cool fingers. "At least you're not trying to crawl out of bed when your legs don't work."

Recognizing the behavior of a trained doctor, Richter relaxed and allowed the young man to continue his examination. "Looks like you're throwing that infection pretty quickly. I don't suggest using any healing artes on yourself right now, though. It could exacerbate the situation instead of helping. You still need at least a few more days of bed rest, but given how Aster talked of you, I doubt you're going to listen to me."

Jaw dropping, Richter could only stare as the young doctor piled pillows behind him and pushed his shoulders to make him lean back in them. "Here," the doctor said, placing the tray in his lap. "You need to eat."

Something thumped against the door just before it opened and Aster stumbled in, arms loaded with bedding.

The doctor turned a sighed. "That was hardly enough time."

"I ate!" Aster objected. "Marta made me! I just promised I'd be here when Richter woke up." He sighed as he looked at the redhead and approached to dump the clean bedding on the foot of the bed. "How is he?"

"Much better," the doctor said.

"Can he get a bath today?" Aster asked. "A proper one?"

The doctor sighed and looked at Aster with the slightest frown before looking back at Richter. "You promised him that too?"

Aster smiled broadly.

"As long as he's not trying to walk by himself. I'll bring everyone here in two hours."

"Okay!" Aster lifted a hand in salute as the doctor left, closing the door behind him.

Richter closed his eyes and rubbed them with his fingers.

He felt weight settle on the bed beside him and lowered his hands in time to see Aster frowning at him with a raised spoonful of broth. "I'm not going to have to pour this down your throat am I?"

"No..." Richter said in a small voice and took the spoon from him. After swallowing his second bite, the half-elf met Aster's gaze again. "You're actually here..."

"I told you I was." He started counting his fingers. "Eighteen times last night."

"I don't remember that."

Aster snorted. "Of course not. You don't remember trying to punch me either, do you?"

"No."

"Well good, because you'd be incredibly embarrassed," Aster said, "Didn't even bruise me." He shifted, pulling his sleeve up to show a blotch of purple on his arm. "That's from running into the door just now."

Weakly, Richter laughed, reminded again at how easily Aster seemed to pick up mysterious discolorations. He shakily returned to eating, amusement fading as the reality of the situation hit him.

"So what did you think of Jude?" Aster asked.

"He reminded me of you."

"Yeah, he's pretty smart," Aster agreed. "Sixteen and already a doctor in just a couple years."

Richter wanted to ask about everything else, he wanted an update on the situation, but at the same time... he didn't want to know. Because if he knew, he would be compelled to try to do something about it. He didn't want to have to tell Aster what he had planned to do with that Cruxis crystal. He focused on eating instead, which seemed to satisfy Aster.

"We - he and I worked on a project together some. It wasn't as fun as working on things with you, but he let me use his lab and he has this filing system that's amazing! No books or anything! You just have to touch some buttons." He mimed with his hands. "And boom! The words show up on the screen. It was like Desian technology but it wasn't magitech that just burned mana. Are you done with that?" Aster took the empty bowl and tray and set them aside on the night table. "I found some new clothes for you too, I hope they fit." He peeled the sheets off Richter's legs and boldly helped him to stand, supporting him as they headed for the bathroom. "Jude works for his government too and he gave me a security clearance to work on his project," he continued. "Which I thought was kind of weird, considering he found me in the mud too." He laughed as he carefully helped Richter sit in the bathtub. "But I guess something about me convinced him I was trustworthy."

"Mud..." Richter muttered and could still smell the remnants of that awful sludge that had covered the ground and made every step treacherous and slick. Aster's face had paled slightly at the mention of mud and Richter knew he'd been there too, he had seen it. That thought unsettled him. He didn't want Aster's innocence tarnished. Not like that.

Despite his worries, the blond continued to chatter about a city that was built out of trees and was always night, none of which made much sense. Aster dumped soap on his head and started scrubbing. Richter leaned against the rim of the tub after Aster rinsed his hair, giving his friend access to his back. He lost track of the conversation for a while and woke to the feel of his hair being combed. His fingers had gone numb where they dangled over the side and cheek resting on the cold edge of the tub.

"Good thing I washed your hair first," the blond was saying, "Or the whole floor would be wet."

Opening his eyes, he looked to find that he was leaning against the side of the tub and Aster was soaked. "Sorry," Richter said softly, "I meant to be more helpful."

"Its all right." Aster smiled fondly at him. "You can help me get you dressed."

"Right." Part of him thought that maybe he should have been embarrassed about his nudity, but he was simply too tired to care as Aster helped hoist him up and steadied him as he climbed out of the tub. Feeling marginally stronger, he managed to get back to the main room generally on his own and sat in the chair next to the bed. Aster tossed clothes at him from the pile on the foot of the bed and proceeded to remove the bedding, throwing that on the floor in order to remake the bed.

Getting dressed was exhausting, but the feeling of being clean was well worth it. Someone knocked on the door and Aster went to open it, stepping back to allow Regal in, followed by Emil and Marta, Zelos and Sheena. Richter winced when Genis and Tiger entered. Genis's eyes met his once, then dropped. Jude and two other men entered. Everyone ranged around, finding spots to lean or stand or perch as they desired. Richter stared at the pile of soiled bedding on the floor at his feet, wishing he was dead.

Emil cleared his throat. "Uhm... I guess introductions..." He went around the room naming everyone. Richter glanced up in time to see the three new men identified as Jude, Alvin, and Ivar. "Uhm..." Emil shuffled nervously after another moment of utter silence.

"Start from the beginning?" Zelos suggested.

"Right." Emil cleared his throat again. "Uhm. Someone from another world broke into the Ginnungagap a week or so ago and attacked Ratatosk. We're still not sure what exactly happened, but he used the remaining mana from the roots of the Kharlan tree to twist time back on itself, reviving everyone from the last seven years. Though as the mana has been running out, people have begun remembering things and I'm not sure what the full extent of it is. A few days ago, the same person attacked the Ginnungagap again. Marta, Aster and I went to defend it... The man reduced Ratatosk to core state, and in order to keep him from taking the Gate, I destroyed it. We, that is, Marta, Aster, Ratatosk and I, ended up in another world called Elympios and Rieze Maxia, which is where Jude, Alvin, and Ivar are from."

"What do they intend to do here?" Regal asked calmly.

"Seeing as how your attacker was likely from our worlds to begin with," Alvin said, "We're here to help put an end to that and try to repair relations before things get out of hand."

Jude nodded once. Ivar looked generally pleased with himself and was standing with his hands on his hips.

"The situation in our world," Jude took up, "Is that there is a shortage of mana and a government dependent on mana to survive. We don't have direct evidence, but we believe that a plan we, that is, Alvin and I, have encountered before might be to blame for disturbing your world. Alvin," he glanced at the silver haired man, "Ivar and I, along with others, dealt with that problem before and felt that we would be most qualified to put a stop to it again, if that is the case. As it is, the mana flows of Aselia, Elympios and Rieze Maxia are permanently intertwined due to Lord Ratatosk and Lord Maxwell's cooperation to get the tears into the demon realm closed."

"So," Zelos lifted his chin. "You're saying we're stuck with you guys whether we like you or not."

"That about sums it up," Alvin agreed and grinned, shifting his weight to one hip with a flick of his fingers.

Uncomfortable silence fell again.

Richter took a breath and let it out. He didn't want to speak, but he was the only one left who knew what had happened. "The Centurions reported that they had lost contact with Ratatosk and the gate was destroyed. We believed them dead," Richter said. "The Centurions, along with Martel, created a mana barrier to hold the widening tear closed." He took a breath and slowly let it out. "Alice and Decus attacked Palmacosta at about the same time, destroying much of it. Lloyd convinced the Tethe'allan government, Church of Martel, and Vanguard to work together to help after the disaster while Tiger and Genis went to find the remaining Centurion cores in order to awaken them. I... and Raine... came to Altamira." He had to stop and catch his breath. Even though he was speaking to the wad of bedding on the floor, he could feel their eyes burning into him.

"The Centurions said they couldn't hold the barrier for more than a few days. No one else could think of a better plan, so I volunteered to replace the barrier with my own body using a Cruxis crystal and mana harvested from the battle at the barrier," Richter said. He heard Aster's disapproving growl. "Tethe'allan soldiers and members from Vanguard showed up at Altamira by daybreak and marched to join the monsters already fighting to hold the barrier against demons that were getting through anyway." He cleared his throat again. "Alice... I didn't succeed in killing her at Palmacosta. She was there to harvest mana in order to resurrect Decus. I ended up in battle with her. Raine joined... as did Brute and Hawk."

The silence in the room was deafening. His nails bit into the flesh of his palms.

"So Alice killed Raine," Genis said.

Richter nodded, unable to look at the boy. "I couldn't do anything. If I lasted a minute after she was taken out... I'm sorry, Genis." Everyone was silent again. He could hear movement in the hall outside, people going about their lives, picking up after the disaster.

Sheena put her arm around Genis's shoulders, bringing him against her breast to comfort him.

"Not to... doubt you or anything, but I just don't buy it," Zelos said. "Raine was a strong fighter, and so are you."

Jude cleared his throat, "If I may. Sir, his rib cage had been cracked open and internal organs shredded. I'm not trained as a surgeon and honestly what I did shouldn't have worked. If he's ever capable of more than a brisk walk after this, I'd be surprised."

Zelos shut his mouth and looked away.

Wiping his face with his sleeves, Genis took a breath and let it out as he stepped away from Sheena. "She would want us to keep going," he said firmly. "To fix this and save as many people as we can."

"She wanted to find an alternate solution - something better than Richter's plan," Regal added. "I'm glad Lord Ratatosk came back in time."

Emil snorted and rolled his eyes and Richter realized it wasn't Emil but Ratatosk speaking. "Richter? Replace a mana barrier like that? He wouldn't last more than a year even with the Cruxis crystal. His idea would have worked the first time because my gate was merely breached, not destroyed."

"A year was more than a few days," Richter retorted. "It would give everyone else time to figure out something better."

Ratatosk met his gaze for a long moment before looking away and silently admitting that Richter was right. "My new gate is fragile and could be easily destroyed by outside forces, such as the spyrix," the Summon Spirit continued. "As of this moment the Centurions and their monsters have the gate secured. My priority is to find the one responsible for this disaster and end him."

"End?" Regal asked. "Isn't that a little-"

The Summon Spirit pinned him with a hard look. "After the amount of trouble this man has caused, you would argue for mercy? How many have died or had their lives disrupted by this intrusion? I will not allow him to exist in this world or the world in which he was born. I will make an example of him to the people of Elympios and show that Aselia is not to be trifled with. We will be treated with respect."

Jude was shaking his head. Alvin had covered his eyes with a hand.

"I wouldn't... suggest that as the best approach," Alvin said. "But we can figure out specifics later. I'm not going to get in your way if you're determined to kill the guy, Ratatosk, but please don't make it a diplomatic incident too? You're lucky King Gaius thinks you're useful, but the moment you show hostility towards him or what he thinks is his... all bets are off."

"I could kill him too," Ratatosk said haughtily.

"No you will not," Emil interrupted. He sighed. "We have a multifaceted problem. First there's the spyrix and the man using it. Elympios and their Otherworld Reactor Plan - if that is even what spurred the intrusion into the Ginnungagap. Then there is the stagnant mana flow in Rieze Maxia combined with Elympios's lack of mana, and now Aselia's mana flow being tied to that. Martel has probably noticed by now, I doubt she's happy about it, so I'll also need to go smooth things over with her." Emil looked at Aster. "I think the best option is to have you and Jude work on your invention. If we can solve Rieze Maxia and Elympios's mana problem, that should stop any further action on the Otherworld Reactor Plan and indirectly help boost Aselia's mana."

Richter looked at Aster and raised a brow. "Invention?"

"Oh, I completely forgot!" Aster dived down and opened the drawer on the night stand.

Recognizing the base as the tazer Aster had originally invented, Richter frowned thoughtfully at the modifications that had been made to it, causing the whole contraption to be unbalanced and generally ugly.

"Tada!" He gestured with it. "Using technology from Rieze Maxia, Elympios and Aselia, I've created a self-contained, mana-producing, arte channeling weapon." He lifted a finger and leaned forward. "However, I have high hopes that with a change in the key crest design it can be converted from a weapon to something else entirely. It's only a weapon because that was the key crest example I had available at the time." He gestured with the bracelet he wore. We had planned on going to visit Altessa to see if he would assist, since he undeniably knows more about key crests than any of us do."

"Mana producing?" Regal asked. "How is that possible?"

"This thing here," Aster took the case off his gun, revealing the guts. "This is a booster, which takes ambient mana in the area and amplifies it. This spirit fossil, which Jude and I have determined is the pure state of an exsphere, casts the arte, the user directs the arte, and mana consumption making it possible for anyone to use this to cast spells they normally wouldn't be able to. With this, I can cast Richter's spells if I knew how he did it. I could probably cast healing artes if I knew the calculatrix construction."

"That would be useful..." Sheena admitted.

Aster pulled a wire out of a plug before handing the gun over to Regal. "There, it's disabled, in case someone accidentally hits the trigger."

"I'll go with you to Altessa," Genis said. "He knows me."

Nodding, Aster breathed in relief. "Great! I was kind of worried about that. He's not on good terms with Sybak."

"If he won't help," Genis said, "We'll go talk to Dirk."

Aster placed a hand on Richter's shoulder and squeezed. "Do you mind if he comes along?" The blond looked over at Jude a smiled. "It's really the only way to make sure he doesn't try to get involved in something when he should be resting. And you'll be there..." He looked from Jude to Genis and bit his lower lip.

The half-elf boy looked hardly enthused, but nodded. "It's fine with me."

"So that's one team assembled," Zelos said, folding his arms and shifting his weight to one foot. "Now we need to work on the other parts of the problem." He looked over at Alvin and Ivar. "Which one of you knows more about this Otherworld Reactor Plan that keeps getting mentioned?"

"That would be me," Alvin sighed, lifting his hand. "Man, try so hard to stay out of politics and end up neck deep in them again."

"That's what your scarf is for, right?" Marta retorted. "A makeshift rope to climb out?"

Alvin swept the end of it up and tipped his head. "Or to hang myself with." He grinned. "I guess I'll head back to Elympios and find out what my cousin has discovered."

"Then as a representative of Aselia, I will go as well," Zelos said firmly.

"I second that," Regal said. "I would go but my presence is required here to finish cleaning up and organizing. I think you should take someone else with you."

"Sheena?" Zelos turned towards her.

"Absolutely not!" Sheena folded her arms and scowled.

"I'll go!" Tiger raised his hand and hopped on his toes. "I want to see another world, that sounds fun!"

Alvin looked down at Tiger and quirked a brow, then looked at Zelos. "Eh. All right with me, I guess. But it might end up boring."

"We should always take some muscle," Zelos said. "Never know when he might come in handy."

"If... you say so..." Alvin squinted at the redhead.

"That leaves Marta and me going to Martel." Emil said and looked at Ivar and Sheena.

"Of course I'm going with you, Lord Emil," Ivar said haughtily.

"Why do you call him that?" Zelos asked, wrinkling his nose. "Can't believe he lets you..."

Ivar smirked. "Lord Ratatosk and I have a pact. I provide him mana and he is training me to be a knight in his name."

Sheena leaned around to look at Ivar, eyes wide. "A pact? You can summon?" She turned towards Emil. "Can I go with you?"

"Uhm... yes?" Emil said, looking mildly confused.