The morning of: trust.
Trust: firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.

Agony.

My limbs were on fire; I wanted to scream, there was so much pain. Surely I had to be dying, but where was the promised light at the end of the tunnel? I attempted to open my eyes and to no avail, I simply couldn't.

"Miracle… he's still alive," a calm voice rang through my head. "However, he will need rest. As for the matter of the..." Silence. I heard nothing. There were no foreign voices, there was no heartbeat ringing through my ears, no sound of my breathing. Was I deaf? Did I-?

A sudden, sharp pain spread throughout my left arm, as if someone had stabbed me, and an icy liquid ran through my veins. I breathed, gasping abruptly for air. The light was there, blocked only by three familiar, shadowy figures.

I was alive again.

Oh, how I hated the daylight.

The fact that Jade Curtiss, the infamous Necromancer, was hovering over my nearly lifeless body made my attitude worsen. Not only Jade was hovering over me - Luke fon Fabre, and Guy Cecil were also there, observing me as if I was some lab rat that they wanted to cut open. How did I end up here? Why are they even in the same room as me? More importantly, why do they want me alive?

Wait. I scanned my surroundings again. Guy? Was Guy really here? I peered at him with curiosity. He had been staring off into the pale green wallpaper while standing at my right side, a cautious distance away. His pupils precariously fell to the corner of his eyes, glaring down at me for a short second. I frowned and broke our stare.

"It's over." Luke said, and my eyes caught his. The room went silent as I was taken aback with disbelief, whereas Jade and Guy had slightly solemn looks plastered on their faces. It seemed as if I was the only person who didn't know what was going on.

"What's over?" I said, and looked at Luke, then Jade, my blood boiling. "Would someone explain what is going on?"

"Van. No one can find him." Guy spoke up, interrupting me, "We went looking for him at the Absorption Gate, and for some reason his sword was gone. We came back to Daath, only to find news that you were alive after falling into the core. You were nearly dead. If we hadn't made it here in time..." His voice trailed off, and he turned his head back to the window, avoiding eye contact with me.

"But why?" I interrupted, "Why the hell would you keep me alive? You know I'm sided with Van, right? I could kill all three of you where you stand!" I was angry now; infuriated, even. Pain flared up from my hips to my head and forced me back down to my bed.

"Healing will take some time; it's best if you don't talk for now." Jade spoke up and his usual dark, sickeningly cheerful tone somehow brightened the room. He pushed his glasses up condescendingly and pulled Luke with him as he walked toward the door. "Guy, if you will."

Guy nodded, while Luke and Jade left the room. He made his way to the chair opposite from my bed.

"Why are you still here? You can leave now," I snarled with false venom laden in my voice.

"I don't have a choice," he retorted.

"Why not?"

"I can't tell you."

I pursed my lips and thought over what I was going to say. Finding that conversation had failed me, I barely stumbled out the obvious, "Why did you stay instead of Luke or Jade?"

"Would you rather have someone else-?" Guy folded his arms and gave me a quizzical look.

"No!" I protested, perhaps a bit too quickly, "I-I mean... I know that Jade would try to kill me and claim it as an 'experiment.'"

Guy gave me a perplexed look, and stifled a laugh. He must have pictured Jade dissecting me in some sort of crazed experiment. "Why not Luke? I'm sure he wouldn't kill you."

'Damn it,' I thought. He had a point. I tried to come up with a reasonable excuse. "I suppose it's just that he reminds me too much of Asch. He complains and whines too much, very similar to Asch."

"Ha," Guy amusingly chuckled. "Don't you have something negative to say about me?" He asked, as if he was having too much fun questioning me. "Surely you've got a problem with me?"

My face inflamed and I felt like my veins were on fire. Yulia, his voice was making me melt. What on earth was this feeling? Was this an adverse reaction to the medication?

I choked on my words. "I don't really feel like saying it."

He folded his arms. "Really?"

"Yes." I frowned and looked in the other direction as I lied. My temperature was rising and I was starting to feel fog cloud my brain.

He made his way over towards me, as if he were reading my thoughts, my wants and my needs. "I'm curious. Do you hate that?" Guy was now at my side, leaning down to me, closer and closer…

I said nothing, and I felt a deeper blush creep upon my face. "How could I... wait," I stumbled over my words as he caught me off guard. "What in Yulia's name are you doing?" I could feel his warm breath on my lips and his hair was starting to brush against my forehead. I felt like I was drunk off of his scent and I could have sworn my hips were pressing upward into him. I was losing control of my body.

He crawled on top of me and grabbed the back of my neck, pulling me closer to him and whispered in my ear, "You heard me. Isn't there something you want to say?" His dominance was making me melt into my bed and I couldn't resist. My nerves were on fire. My body was tingling in a way I'd never felt before. What was going on with me?

"Gods, Gailardia. 'Curiosity killed the cat,' maybe?" I couldn't even think at this point, much less breathe or push him off of me. I felt his lips touch mine, and I shivered.

"I want to show you my curiosity," His hands were fumbling at my sides and his teeth were grazing my neck. I couldn't believe this was happening. I felt like there was no air. There was no gravity to support me. Only he was there, holding me in his arms. If he wasn't there, I would have fallen into the fon belt.

"Guy… Gailardia." I surrendered to him.

"Synch..." I heard his voice drifting away, farther and farther as everything went black. His voice became an inaudible whisper, "Synch?"

Darkness.

"Synch, are you alright?" Guy asked in a concerned demeanor, hovering above me with a hand resting on my shoulder, pulling me out of a daze.

"W-what?" I was drenched in sweat.

"You just blacked out. Are you alright?" I blinked, slowly coming to. He wasn't alone. I noticed Jade and Luke were both on either side of me, and I was just sitting there, wondering what happened. The bright sunlight from the outside momentarily blinded me with its sudden shine as it broke from the clouds, reminding me how much I hated the day.

"I hate the sunlight," I muttered to myself and I narrowed my eyes, looking toward Guy, "What happened?" I asked him directly, pressing him to see if I was really dreaming, "Tell me everything."

Luke and Jade turned to look at Guy, "Luke and Jade left, and we were talking about," he paused, and adjusted his collar with hidden mock confidence, "something - curiosity, perhaps? Then you were out."

Damn it! The way he said curiosity made my blood boil. That ass was hiding something. My jaw clenched angrily at his vague answer. I was absolutely infuriated. It was that moment that I had the idea of tearing his collar off of his neck. I smirked at the thought of punishing him right then and there for his arrogance.

Coming down from my fantasy, I cleared my throat. "Did anything happen between us?" I asked, the room going stiffly silent. All eyes fell on Guy.

He snidely half-smiled and condescendingly looked down at me. "No," Guy said sharply, "What made you think that?"

"Nothing," I said and bit my lip, trying to hide my emotions, "I just thought I had strangled you." As I figured, it must have been a dream. I turned away from the men in the room, glancing out the window as best as I could. There was no way I could keep eye contact with any of them.

"Let's go, Luke," I heard Jade press as footsteps scuttled towards the door. "Guy, please make sure he is properly medicated this time."

"Don't worry, Jade," Guy said coolly, "I will." With that, they were gone.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Guy's dark smile widened as he locked eyes with me. "This will be a fun night."