3. Adjusting

There were certain things about Zesha that Callista started noticing, during the first few days of her imprisonment.

The first one was that he didn't actually speak much to her, surprisingly, in contrast to what she had first thought. This meant that he didn't say good morning, or goodnight, but he usually just told her to stay out of trouble-as if she could really do much while being in a cage. She didn't really try to talk to Zesha, either, in fear that he would get angry about something that she said. Whenever he was in the room, he would glance at her occasionally in silence while he read through a few reports, or ate with his back to her-probably to ignore her presence as best he could.

In fact, the only person he ever really talked to, the only one he ever truly had conversations with, was his brother Zepha. Of course, the door would be closed, but Callista could easily make out muffled voices from behind, and occasionally they were loud enough for her to hear. It made her wonder if Zepha was the only one Zesha was close to. At least they had each other. For Callista, it felt like there was no one. Yes, it was nice to be with Zael that other day, but she didn't really know if she liked him as a friend or in a romantic way. She couldn't really be sure, for someone she just met.

The second thing was that he was incredibly modest-so modest to the point that he never dared to change in front of her. Ever. He nearly did strip down in front of her, but then he realized just as he was about to take off the chest plate that it probably wasn't a good idea. He retreated to the bathroom connected to his room, closing the door behind him as he cursed his stupidity under his breath.

If there was a third thing she would discover, it would be today. She just didn't know it yet.

Zesha let out a breath as he felt the cold air brush against his damp body. "Damn...you're getting better, brother. Your attacks are stronger-especially that fire-type one."

Both Gurak brothers were sweating bullets as they stood only a few paces across from each other. The two were training-it was something they did in their pastime when they didn't have much else to be doing. Earlier they'd gone through battle plans with Lord Zangurak in case the humans tried to come to the Gurak Continent and get Lady Callista back, and after that came a whole three-to be more precise, three and a half hours straight-of nothing but training, to prepare for the enemy attacking.

No other soldier in the Gurak army could match their skill, and Lord Zangurak had no time to spare for such training (not that he really needed any with the Outsider's power), so what better training opponents for the brothers than each other?

Zepha let out a small chuckle as he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.

"You're improving, too." The magic-using Gurak responded, giving his brother a wry grin. "Ready to continue?"

Zesha merely mirrored his brother's grin, before lunging forwards-

And then suddenly collapsing onto the ground, dropping both the East Wing and West Wing as he held his head with both hands. The next thing he knew, Zepha was by his side, trying to hold him upright in a sitting position with one arm around his chest while the other arm's hand grasped his left shoulder.

"Brother?" Zesha could hear his brother's voice, hinting slowly towards panic. "Are you alright...?"

"I'm fine." The sword-wielder responded quietly, grasping his brother's hand on his shoulder with his right hand. "Just...fatigue."

Zepha turned Zesha's head to face him, full of concern. "You've been under what seems to be a lot more stress than usual, brother. Is it..." He paused for a moment, before asking. "Is it because of that Countess-to-be, by any chance?"

"Well-" Zesha let out a breath, before responding. "In a way, yes."

"Does she dare question you-or Lord Zangurak?"

Zesha shook his head. "No, it's nothing of that sort. It's just that it's...uncomfortable with her being in my room so constantly. I understand that I have to keep watch over her, but it's just..." He paused, before trying to finish. "It's just...unnerving, to feel like I need to be on guard at all times around her, as she is the enemy..."

Zepha helped his brother stand, and he paused before speaking again. "You should get some rest, brother. The stress will not help your wellbeing in any way."

Zesha nodded quietly in response. "I will..."

With that, he left the Courtyard.

Callista was startled when Zesha stumbled through the door, nearly falling over as he leaned against the wall, holding his head with one hand. The Gurak captor was dripping with sweat-which probably meant he just went through some training or something earlier.

"Dammit..." She heard him mutter under his breath. "This hasn't happened in so long..."

Callista was unsure of what to do, and merely observed as Zesha opened up a desk drawer and took out a notebook and a pen, before starting to scribble in it furiously, biting his lower lip to the point that it started to bleed a bit. The look in his eyes was glazed with frustration, and she had a feeling the notebook was there to get rid of the stress. Despite his obviously unwell state, she thought she would try to ask.

"Are you alri-"

She was cut off when her captor stumbled, dropping the pen and notebook as he fell to the ground, hitting his head against the desk and ending up on his side. She couldn't stop herself from withholding a breath-she had never seen him in this weakened state before. If only she could reach him from this cage...then, maybe, she could try to help him. Just because he was her enemy didn't mean that he deserved to be in such a horrid state as the one he was in currently.

"Brother!?" She saw Zepha enter the room through the door, the blue aura about him wildly glimmering with panic. He knelt down by his brother's side, feeling his wrist for a pulse, before he glared towards Callista. "I swear, if you had something to do with this, I'll...I'll.." He gritted his teeth, before yelling out the last few words. "I'll throw you in the dungeon, along the rest of the human filth!"

"...Z-Zepha...?" Zesha's voice, obviously growing hoarse, caught his brother's attention. "What-"

"Don't speak." Zepha responded quickly, undoing the straps and buckles on his brother's armor. Callista looked away out of modesty as she heard him continue to speak. "You're sick, aren't you? Why didn't you tell me!?"

"I-I didn't know-"

"Dammit..." Zepha paused, lifting up his brother in his arms, before speaking up again. "Look, just try to relax. And rest. I'll be right back-I'll just inform Lord Zangurak in case..." He laid Zesha on the bed. "And don't bloody try to move!" With that being said, Zepha suddenly disappeared. Teleportation, Callista realized-being a magic user, Zepha must have had that ability...

She cringed as she watched Zesha writhe on the bed, his breathing becoming ragged, irregular. She had no idea if she could help him-could her healing powers be used to heal illnesses? Injuries, yes, but illnesses might be another case. Still, it wouldn't hurt to try. Slowly, carefully, she extended an arm towards him, trying to reach him. Unfortunately, her hand fell a few inches short of reaching him-she could barely get any closer to him. That didn't marr her efforts, though. She-

-She was forced to pull her hand back as Zepha suddenly reappeared in the room, kneeling by his brother's side.

"Are you still there...?" Callista could hear an almost pleading tone in Zepha's voice as he spoke. "Zesha...?"

Zesha let out a pained groan, his body still trembling a bit. Zepha paused, before grabbing his brother by the hand. Only an instant later, Zesha's body began to glow with a soft white light. Callista heard Zesha let out a trembling gasp, his body going limp as the light shone a little brighter. After a few moments, the light faded. Zepha let out a relieved sigh, before glancing at Callista briefly. He then turned towards Zesha, who let out a quiet breath as he lay in the bed.

"Z-Zepha...?" Callista heard Zesha's voice after a moment of silence. It was still a bit hoarse, but he sounded better than he was previously, at least.

"Zesha..." Zepha took a deep breath, before speaking. "Please...just rest for now. I don't want you killing yourself over all of this, especially not-" He glanced at Callista, "Her."

Zesha didn't say anything, but he tried to nod, letting his head rest on the pillow as Zepha carefully covered him with a blanket. There was nothing but silence.

"Goodnight...brother." Callista finally heard Zesha mumble softly, tiredness leaking into his voice.

Zepha kept holding Zesha's hand, whispering 'goodnight' under his breath as his brother fell into a deep slumber. He paused, before turning towards Callista. He didn't say anything, but the disdain on his face showed too easily to her that he still suspected her of doing something wrong to his brother. It made perfect sense that Zepha wouldn't dare trust her-he, like many of the other Gurak, despised humans to the core. Zepha eventually turned towards his brother again, still remaining at his side as he slept.

Callista noticed the look in Zepha's eyes-not full of malice like he had shown to her just now, but rather full of fear, fear for losing his brother to whatever illness this was. Callista felt like this was all too familiar-when she lost her mother, and then her father...

The two siblings must truly be close to each other. Apart from Zangurak, their loyalties lied with each other. That was the third thing that Callista learned, as the lingering silence lulled her to sleep.