JG: Hey guys, I'm finally back! What's it been now, several months? Heh heh…well…anyways, no hard feelings, right?

ATG: You honestly expect them to just forgive you like that? After you left them hanging for God knows how long?

JG: Alex, what are you doing here? I thought you had your own account…?

ATG: To much work to maintain. Looks like you're stuck with me again!

MR: Yeah, I'm here too, along with Thomas.

TP: Yo.

JG: Michelle, go away! All three of you have your own accounts.

ATG: Yeah, but it turns out I can't write worth a damn, Michelle is too busy with school, and Thomas is…Thomas. So, here we are!

JG: GET OUT OF MY AUTHOR'S NOTES!

X Arc 2: The Dragon's Peak X

X Chapter 6: The Djinn's Curse, pt. 2 (Conclusion) X

Luneth charged forwards, broadsword in hand. I wasn't far behind, sword in either hand and magic spells beginning to flow through my system. Arc flawlessly dodged and countered a slice at Luneth directed at his stomach, blasting Luneth overhead with a wave of heat. Not looking back, I cast cure, and heard him stand up and start charging again.

Words began flashing through my sight, giving me accurate descriptions of my enemy:

Name: Possessed Arc

HP: 1385/1500

Weakness: Ice/Water

Suggested Tactic: Use Luneth as a meat-shield, casting cure every now-and-then to keep him alive. When openings are seen, cast blizzard as quickly as possible. Don't stretch battle out, or MP will run out.

Analysis complete. Let's do this.

"Ingus, you idiot, you still with me?" Luneth shouted, shaking me out of my stupor. I shook my head, keeping only Arc's HP In my eyesight.

"Continue what you're doing, Luneth," I shouted.

Luneth shot me a sarcastic thumbs-up before doing as he was told, running forwards yet again, only to trim off a little HP before being thrown backwards yet again.

After Luneth's fifth advance, Arc was thrown a little off balance when he swung to strike Luneth, who was taking hits like it was nothing. In the back of my mind, I had to keep track of his HP as well: 467/700. This was bad, as he was losing HP faster than I could raise it with magic. Seeing an opening to strike, however, I cast a full-strength Blizzard spell that struck Arc in the chest. I was pleased to see the effect: 313/1500. Much more damage than I had accounted for. But there was one major problem: Just like I warned myself NOT to do, that last Blizzard spell had completely depleted my MP. We would have to do things the old fashioned way.

Swapping out one of my swords for a sturdy wooden shield, I joined Luneth in his advances. Slowly, but surely, we were wearing down his HP, using potions when needed. Before long, it was down to the double digits. That's when things REALLY started going to hell.

There was one move I had no idea he could use. And, Gods help me, I did not mean for what happened next to happen. But, the bad thing about being a knight with Analyze Eyes was, when things went wrong, it threw your entire plan for a loop. So, if, say, a demonic warlord is able to cast a Fira spell on your entire team, you have no idea how to react except thinking What the actual hell was that.

And yet, it happened. And it cut down out HP like it was nothing. Luneth's limp corpse flew from the battlefield, his HP reading 0/700. I glanced at my own: 16/534. I used a Hi-Potion I had gotten from the castle's storehouses, but even as I watched my HP shoot up, I could tell I was in for some trouble. A little icon had appeared next to my HP, showing the effect: exhausted. This meant I wouldn't cause as much damage, and would take a significant amount more from Arc. And, as I watched, Arc cast Cure on himself, raising his HP to 202/1500. I would never be able to defeat him alone.

But are you truly alone? a voice rang out in my head, and everything around me seemed to stop. What about those three traveling with you? Luneth, Arc, and Refia? All three of them are dead. You saw Refia's HP hit 0 when her head hit that rock, Arc's hit 0 when he transformed, and Luneth just hit 0 now. Are you really going to let their deaths be in vain? Or will you destroy this demon, and help your friends live again. You're not alone anymore. You don't have to be the lone wolf. You're allowed to have friends.

I closed my eyes, and instantly everything came into focus. I didn't have to look to see Arc coming towards me. I didn't have to look to know there was a gaping weakness at his chest. I didn't have to look to know precisely when and where to stab. These things simply came naturally to me.

There was a wet shink as the blade passed through Arc's stomach, through his spine, and out his back. I opened my eyes and saw Arc there, staring at me with an expression of shock and relief. His HP drained to 0, and I heard and otherworldly wailing as the Djinn was destroyed once and for all, never to threaten anyone again. The screaming died out, and Arc's features slowly morphed back into his own, timid-looking features. He whispered what sounded like a thank you before falling to the ground. I chuckled a bit to myself. Each member of us so-called Warriors of the Light had died once already. I could only wonder if, by the end of this quest, dying would become a normal occurrence. (ATG: It will. JG: GET OUT OF HERE!)

I grabbed Luneth and Arc's bodies and threw them over each shoulder. When I finally reached Canaan, Cid was there, tears in his eyes and babbling on about how sorry he was, but he couldn't get Refia to wake up. I held up a hand to silence him, and asked where she was. He had put her in the inn near the town's entrance, so I checked in and dropped of Corpse 1 and Corpse 2. I returned a few hours later with three separate flasks of to magic voodoo revival water. After being revived, they wasted no time, each pestering me with their own questions over what the hell had just happened.

I held up a hand to silence them (I seemed to be doing that a lot today,) and when they were quiet, I said simply, "I apologize, but I'm in no state to be answering your questions."

"What's that mean?" Refia asked.

"What it means," I smiled, "is I'm exhausted."

They seemed disappointed that they couldn't lay into me right now, but they seemed to understand, and all but Arc left the room. When the others were gone, Arc turned to me.

"W-why did you save me? You could have just ran away and let me be."

"Something tells me that if I were to have run, you wouldn't have just given up on your quest to destroy everything in existence. I knew I had to stop the Djinn. Saving you was just something that went along with it."

Arc looked away shyly, before speaking a single sentence that impacted me in ways you could not have imagined: "Still, I'm glad to call you a friend."

The look on my face must have shown, as Arc instantly looked scared.

"I-I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?" he asked.

I shook myself mentally and put on a smile. "Oh, it's nothing it's just good to see you're okay."

Arc beamed and strode out of the room, looking quite happy. When I heard the door closed, I allowed myself a freakout.

A friend? He would consider me a… friend? Not just an ally. I smiled. I've never had a friend before…

JG: I swear, Analyze Eyes will be explained more heavily in later chapters. For now, just think of it as Ingus's secret weapon.

ATG: Thank God you didn't call them Anal Eyes.

JG: GO AWAY!