Chapter 13

Just a Book

The next day, I found myself in the town library, searching for a book to read. I hadn't encountered Zephys since I left him on the beach, and I was anxious to see him again. I dragged my fingertips along the spines of the shelved books and searched for a title that caught my interest. As I neared the end of the line of books, I was suddenly hit with a splitting headache. I groaned and massaged my temples with my fingers in an unsuccessful attempt to make it feel better. I adjusted my vision and the first thing I focused on was a book whose title seemed familiar.

"The Bridge Between Worlds…" I murmured and reached to grab the book from the shelf. A new wave of pain shot through my head, causing my knees to feel weak. Trying hard, I gripped the book and pulled it into my lap before slumping to the ground. Moaning, I leaned my head against the bookshelf and tried to focus on something besides the massive pain in my head. My vision blurred again so I tried to blink it away, but it was no use.

"Luna?"

I heard my name but the pain in my head was so severe I couldn't tell who it was that called me. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to breathe through the pain, but it wasn't working.

"Luna!"

There was a figure in front of me now. I felt hands grip my shoulders and shake me slightly, but I couldn't think straight. I could feel myself beginning to lose consciousness.

"Stay with me!" My eyes opened just enough to see a blur of white hair.

"H…Heroth…" I managed out before everything went black.

When I woke up, I was back in my room. The pain in my head was nearly gone, so I sat up, only to realize that something was in my lap. Zephys was sitting in a seat by my bed, and he had fallen asleep on me. I had to stifle a laugh because he looked so strange. I used one hand to stroke his head. At my touch, he rapidly sat up straight, now wide-awake.

"Luna!" He looked at me uneasily. "How are you feeling? You should lie down. Don't overexert yourself." He put his hand on my shoulder to lean me back into bed, but I resisted.

"I'm fine!" I smiled at him, but he just gave me a worried look. "Zephys! Really, I'm fine." I took his hand from my shoulder and held it in my lap. I tried to meet his gaze but he looked away distractedly. My mind traced to back night and I felt my face turn red. The feeling of him still burned on my lips.

"Luna…" He sighed and pulled his hand away slightly, "I—"

All of a sudden, the door to my room was thrown open. Areck came charging in with Heroth behind him. Zephys stood up and stepped away from my bed.

"Areck!" Heroth was scolding him, "You're supposed to knock first!"

"Luna!" Areck ignored him and rushed to my bedside. "Are you okay?"

I laughed nervously, "I'm fine." I swung my legs over the side of my bed and started to stand, but Areck drew me into an embrace and spun me around in the air.

"Be careful with her," Zephys snarled at Areck and pulled me over to him.

"Luna," Heroth stood with his arms crossed. "What happened?"

"I… I don't remember…" I closed my eyes, trying to think of what had occurred. "I was just looking for a book… Then I saw one that looked familiar…"

Heroth nodded. "Yeah, I read it once I brought you back to your room." He sat down in the chair that Zephys had previously been sitting in and rested his head in his hands, looking at me. "It was an old fairytale." He chuckled, spinning a ring around his middle finger, "There's a legend of a spell you can cast to bring anyone you want back from the dead. It's never been attempted because people could never find the correct ingredients for it."

My head began to hurt again, and my knees buckled. Zephys gripped my arms and kept me from falling.

"Luna… sit down." He placed me on my bed and then sat down next to me.

"Agh… why does my head hurt so much…?" I leaned on my back.

"Do you want me to continue?" Heroth whispered.

"No." Zephys turned to him.

"Yes!" I looked at Zephys, assuring him its okay, "I want to hear it."

"Okay." Heroth looked from me to Zephys and back to me again, trying to read us, but continued regardless, "Well, the ingredients were strange… The blood of a white fox, black rose petals, and—"

There was a knock at the door and, soon, an older maid poked her head in the room. She wasn't able to hide the surprise on her face when she saw all of us around my bed, but she spoke anyway, "Lord Kayif wants to meet with you all…" Then she added when I stood up as well, "Except you, Miss Luna. He requests that you rest some more."

"O-okay…" I stammered and sat back down on my bed, a little upset.

"I'll stay with you," Zephys murmured and looked at me, but I shook my head.

"No, go." I gave a small smile. "It seems like Kayif has something important to talk about with you all."

Zephys looked me in the eyes and nodded. Then, he stood up and walked out of the room with the others.

I sighed and slumped back onto my bed. I stared at the ceiling for a couple minutes, but then my curiosity got the best of me. Tiptoeing and looking cautiously for a maid or someone else, I opened my door and stepped out into the hallway. I tried to think back in my memory to when I might have seen Kayif going into his room, but I could only think of the room where I had talked to him when I first arrived with Zephys yesterday. Feeling hopeful, I walked up the large staircase and placed my ear against the double door entrance at the top. I could hear the faint sound of speaking, so I cracked the door slightly, trying not to make a sound. Just barely, I made out the words of what sounded like Kayif's voice.

"So you think that has to do with Draehkim's plans, Heroth?" Kayif sounded very concerned.

"It makes sense, doesn't it?" Heroth's soft voice was barely audible. "The soldiers were looking for one of the ingredients."

The must be talking about the spell from the book… I thought to myself, but it's just a fairytale… Could it be actually real?

"Why would Draehkim need to bring back someone from the dead?" It was Areck that spoke. There was a hush after his words, everyone pondering what he said. It was Heroth that broke the silence.

"According to the story," I could hear the pages of the book turning in Heroth's hands, "anyone that is around when the spell occurs can bring back someone from the dead." Another silence came after this.

"You mean…" Kayif's voice quivered slightly.

"His men could be bringing back an entire army of people." Heroth's words lay dead in the air.

I inhaled sharply, trying to process what I just heard. An army of undead people? They would have no chance against that. Draehkim would be unstoppable!

"We have to find the Golden Heart before he does." Kayif muttered, "Are there any clues as to where it could be?"

"The Golden Heart is from the spirit world." Heroth's knowledge impressed me.

"Like, dead spirits?" Areck said, confused.

"No," Heroth spoke confidently. "They are living things, just like us humans, except they live in another world. A world much different from ours. And, according to this, when the Golden Heart was brought over to the human world, it was placed somewhere called Redfield Springs."

A memory of my past suddenly flooded back into my mind. Without thinking, I tore open the door and shouted, "I know where that is!"

"Luna!" Kayif looked over. I expected him to be angry for listening in, but he laughed, "You're quite stubborn, aren't you?"

"I-I'm sorry…" I was embarrassed now and my face was growing hot.

"No, Luna," Areck beckoned me over. "Come sit and tell us what you know."

I walked nervously to the table they were sitting at and took a seat next to Zephys. There was a map laid out on the table and I pointed to a spot on it. "Here. That's where Redfield Spring is… I used to go there all the time as a child."

"I've never heard of it…" Kayif said softly and he looked skeptic. "That's almost in the center of Draehkim's forces… are you sure that's where the spring is?"

"I'm positive." I met Kayif's gaze, not blinking.

"What do you all think?" Kayif turned and looked at the expressions of his followers.

"I think we should trust Luna's word." Zephys reached under the table and squeezed my hand.

My heart fluttered at his touch and just that filled me with confidence and joy.

Heroth and Areck nodded in agreement to Zephys's words.

"Then we will set out tomorrow morning." Kayif placed his hands on the table and stood up. He sighed and said, "You are all dismissed. Get some sleep. We've got a long journey ahead of us."

With that, everyone exited and headed back to their rooms. As I began to open my door, a hand grabbed the top of my arm. When I turned, Heroth was standing next to me, holding me.

"Heroth?" I tilted my head in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"Areck told me he found you and Zephys together last night." He gave me a mischievous look and I had to face away from him.

"Y-yeah… He was just making sure that I was okay." It wasn't a lie.

"Mmm… He must have made sure you were REALLY okay." In a flash, Heroth pushed back my hair, revealing the mark on my neck that Zephys had left. "Looks like you two had a good time last night."

My face was red immediately, and I quickly covered the mark with my hand, "N-no, that's… it's not what you… I-I, uh, burned myself…?" I moved to open my door again, but Heroth stepped in front of me, smiling impishly.

"I don't think you did, Luna." He leaned against my door with his arms crossed.

"Heroth, please…" I felt so embarrassed, so I turned and walked away from him.

I heard his footsteps chase after me, "How'd you do it?" Heroth jumped in front of me and began walking backwards to match my pace.

"I…What?" I stopped walking and stared at him.

"Zephys," Heroth smirked. "We get plenty of women around here to please, but he never goes for any. How'd you get his member throbbing?"

"S-stop saying things like that!" I tried to push Heroth away from me but he was way too sturdy.

"Why is your face so red, Luna?" I could tell that Heroth was enjoying himself.

I covered my face with my hands. "Heroth…!"

"What is all this shouting about?" The door to a room opened and Zephys stepped out into the hallway. When he saw Heroth and me, he glared at Heroth. He made his was over to us and said, "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Heroth said, eyeing my slyly, then looking back at Zephys. "Luna and I were just having some…" he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me next to him, "Quality time." He lifted his hand and stroked my cheek flirtatiously.

Zephys's frown deepened. Still glowering at Heroth, he grabbed my arm and tugged me over towards him. He placed his arm around me defensively, and said, "Stop giving her a hard time." My heartbeat quickened as his firm body guarded my own.

"I'm sure she'll give you a HARD time." Heroth winked at me and then turned to go back to his room. I wondered if my face could be any redder than it was now. Heroth could be soft spoken at times, but he could also be a little devil sometimes. I learned not to be fooled by the innocent white hair.

Zephys's arm dropped from around me and he reached for his door handle again.

"Zephys!" I said, not thinking. When he looked at me, my mind when blank.

"What, Luna?" He seemed a little irritated, causing a wave of sadness to roll over me.

"I- uh… I, well… Thanks…" I couldn't think of anything else to say, especially because Zephys seemed like he was in a bad mood. "For, uh… with Heroth, I mean… Thanks."

He paused before entering his room and looked back at me. I noticed his eyes traced my body from head to toes, and then he brought a hand to his head, sighing. His cheeks were beginning to turn a little pink for some reason. He turned to go back into his room, leaving me confused.

"Zephys?" I reached out to touch his arm, but he sidestepped me slightly. Before he had the chance to close the door, I tried to grab him again but, instead, his hand grasped my wrist and pulled me towards him. Surprised, I had to stifle a shout.

"If you continue to tempt me," He whispered into my ear, "I'm not going to be able to hold myself back. Especially when you look so adorable…" He planted a light kiss on my cheek, making my chest tighten. With that, he let go of my wrist and closed the door behind him.

My heart pounded in my chest and I stood staring at his door for a couple seconds afterwards. Those few flashes of romance and sensitivity I got from Zephys were enough to make all the curt ones worth it. I sighed, secretly wanting more, but I knew that I needed to control myself. I returned to my room alone and prepared for bed. There was a long day coming tomorrow and I didn't want to be a burden by being tired. Wrapping myself in the bed sheets, I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

Oh Heroth, you cheeky little thing.