AN: Hope you enjoy reading~

Chapter 7:

"Quit squirming," Samuel chided lightly as he tightened his hold in Ronny's chin in order to clean the dry flakes of blood from his cheek and forehead. He had already healed the young magician's cuts and grazes he had received from their recent battle.

But the young boy, someone he had raised since he was a baby, wasn't allowing him to clean the smears of blood without a fight.

"I can do it myself," he insisted as he twisted himself out of his hold. He lifted the sleeve of his robe and rubbed roughly at his face, doing little to clean himself up. In fact, doing little else but adding to more dirt and grim to the smears.

Samuel shook his head in dismay. Honestly, kids. Ronny was in his rebellious phase, which was alarming. Being insubordinate and unruly never ended well. Not within the laws of Nugatory.

The wardens were never kind to rebels…

"Seedlings are weak against flames," Samuel repeated. "There was no need for you to take to the frontline."

Ronny puffed his chest out in a display of bravado. "I can fight on the frontline. I'll even be better than you on the frontline. You'll see."

The low ambience of voices greeted Samuel as he slowly pulled himself from his sleep. The urge to roll over in bed and go back to sleep was a powerful one, and one he was about to give into to. The only thing that stopped him from doing so was a single thought; when did he crawl into bed to go to sleep?

Although his gaze was blurry and his body ached in protect, Samuel forced his eyes open, and he hurled himself up into a sitting position.

Where?

A sharp pain from his temple prompted Samuel to clutch his forehead. The remnants of the dream suddenly returned, and the image of Ronny took front and centre in his mind. A dream? No, that was…a memory. He was sure of it. Ronny. A Skull. A magician. A magic user.

And seedlings…

"Samuel? Good, you're awake."

Killia's voice immediately caused the memories and vision to slip from his mind and Samuel snapped his head up. He looked to his right, to where Killia moved to stand by his bedside. "Killia?"

"We're back at the Pocket Netherworld," he said simply.

Samuel blinked and he took a moment to finally inspect their surroundings. And, sure enough, he was greeted by the sight of the high-tech and bright lights of the Pocket Netherworld. He wasn't all that familiar of the Nether-hospital, but he recognised the place, nevertheless. Even the bustling voices of their fellow Rebels became more prominent, along with the ambient smells of curry that seemed to waft throughout the dimension.

"How? What happened?" Samuel asked as he turned back to Killia.

"Soon after we liberated the basecamp, you passed from exhaustion."

That caused Samuel to wince. "I did?" He didn't remember that. Probably shouldn't be a surprise. Who remembered passing out?

Killia nodded, his expression stoic, though it's pretty clear he wasn't exactly pleased by that little fact either. He, however, chose not to expand not that, thankfully. "Christo and the others found us moments after."

Samuel perked up. "The others? They're all right?"

Again, Killia nodded. "They're fine. They were transported back to the Pocket Netherworld, like we had thought."

That was a relief.

"So, only the two of us ended up on Sleeping Willows," Samuel mused.

"Yeah. We've been trying to figure out why, but we can only come up with theories. Bloodis must have done something, though we haven't a clue why. Or how."

That world was in need of help, so it didn't make much sense why he would send them there. Especially just the two of them. With one of them injured. What was he hoping to achieve? If he wanted to get rid of Killia, his attempt backfired.

"How are Aloe Vera and the others?"

"They're safe," Killia answered with a small smile. "We're actually going to turn Sleeping Willows into a place of refuge for other victims of the war. We already have a band of Rebels there to watch over them."

And that brought a bright smile to Samuel's face. "Ah, I remember that. That's a relief."

That was the last thing he remembered on Sleeping Willows. He remembered freeing the prisoners. He remembered Aloe Vera thanking Killia for defeating the leader (what was his name again? Stefan?). And he remembered Killia making the request to turn Sleeping Willows into a world for refugees and for causalities of war.

And Aloe Vera had promptly agreed to his request.

He didn't remember anything after that.

That must have been the moment he fainted. How embarrassing.

A murmuring of voices pulled Samuel from his memories, and he lifted his head up in time to watch as a group of very familiar demons enter the hospital area. All in one piece, and healthy, just like Killia had said. Of course, he believed him. But it was good to see them for himself.

Zeroken spotted him first. "Samuel, you're awake!"

Usalia scurried over to his bed. "How are you feeling, plip?"

Samuel smiled at the two youngest members. "Ah, I'm fine. Sorry for worrying you. Though, it's odd, how Killia is the one with the injuries, and I end up being the one who ends up in the Nether-hospital."

"You did an amazing job taking care of Killia's injuries, however, so I don't suppose it should be much of a surprise that you're the one who ended up with the exhaustion," Christo added.

Ah, so Killia's injuries had healed nicely? Good to know. His exhaustion was worth it.

At the back of the small group, Red Magnus flexed his muscular muscles in an overly dramatic fashion. "Red Magnus is super annoyed that you and Killia fought the Lost Army on your own. Red Magnus wanted to fight, too!"

Yeah, Samuel imagined he would have enjoyed liberating a Netherworld from the Lost. Well, he would have just enjoyed beating up the Lost Jabronies, as it were.

Seraphina frowned as she turned to glare at Red Magnus. "If it was just you and Sir Killia on that Netherworld, you would have made things worse."

Red Magnus lowered his arms and folded them across his chest. "Oh, and you wouldn't, Sera? You couldn't heal a papercut. You're just super jealous."

And with that, like a tale as old as time; Seraphina bristled wildly, retrieved her guns, shot Red Magnus, Red Magnus, went down, Seraphina sulked and smirked simultaneously at her handiwork.

The usual.

It was getting pretty old, honestly.

But Samuel was pretty sure there were a few more gunshots than usual. Red Magnus must have hit a sore spot with his little observation.

Killia looked over at the two and sighed. He shook his head before he turned his attention back toward Samuel. "You need to eat something. I'll make you some curry."

He didn't wait for confirmation or protest. In fact, he moved like a man on a mission, bypassing Red Magnus as he laid crumpled on the floor without a backward glance. And by everyone else, who stood to watch him, seemingly in mild surprise.

"S-sir Killia?" Seraphina stuttered as she moved to follow. But Killia moved too quickly and was unconcerned with her presence as he was clearly preoccupied with other matters. This did not sit well with her as she paused in her steps and stood still. Pondering. Glaring at the back of his head until he was out of sight.

She then slowly turned back around. To glare directly at Samuel. She bristled wildly once more, but, thankfully, she did not reach for her ever-present guns. Which, honestly, was quite the surprise. "Why is he making curry for you?"

Oh, Seraphina was not at all happy that Samuel had been the one to have been stranded with Killia, her Sir Killia, on an unknown Netherworld for several hours, while he was in a vulnerable state. Alone.

And she was sure to let everyone know.

"He already answered that, plip," Usalia replied readily, and with a bright smile. "Besides, Killia makes us curry all the time."

"B-but Sir Killia has been acting strangely since his return," Seraphina returned. "I'm just worried." She abruptly caught herself and flushed while attempting to put on a mocking laugh. "A-about my top servant, of course! I will not allow my man servant to escape from me that easily!"

Of course.

But acting strangely? He wasn't going to ask how as he was unlikely to get a straight answer. He didn't seem to be acting strangely to him. But, of course, he had only been awake for a few minutes.

Christo threw his hands up with a sigh before he walked over to Red Magnus and set about healing him and waking him from his stupor. He could help him with his stupidity. No one could help him with that, so he had to settle with just healing his injuries.

Usalia watched Christo and Red Magnus for a moment before she turned around to face Samuel and patted his arm. "Samuel, there's something Usalia wants to ask you, plip."

Samuel tilted his head in Usalia's direction. "Hm? What is it?"

"What is Samuel fighting for?"

That question took Samuel aback for a moment before it dawned on him what she was inferring. "Oh, you mean why am I fighting in this war?"

"I've wondered that, too," Zeroken immediately piped up, even going as far as to put him hand up into the air as if he wanted to be called upon in a classroom. "Usalia has her parents and homeworld. I'm here because of my master. But what about you?"

Samuel scratched his cheek. "Well…I don't really have a reason."

The two kids, as they were, fell silent.

"Huh?" Usalia uttered.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Zeroken finally stuttered out after a brief moment of shock.

"I, ah, have a form of amnesia."

Realisation flittered across Usalia's face. "You're missing your memories, plip?"

Hm? He hadn't mentioned his amnesia to the two before? Weird. Were his memories that bad?

"Well, we seem to think so, at least," Samuel returned with a half, awkward smile.

Zeroken shifted on his feet. "What's it like? Having no memories?"

Usalia gave him a nudge as she scolded him. "Y-you can't ask something like that!"

"It's fine," Samuel pacified. "It's a fair question, though I can't really answer it because I don't know. I have…memories, but I don't know if they're real, or if they're false."

The two fell quiet once more as they each tried to digest the information he had given them. Honestly, though, he was surprised he hadn't mentioned it before. At least Killia hadn't. To be fair, at lot had happened, and they had their own troubles and problems. Their own memories to contend with.

His memories, or rather lack of, weren't a priority. And they shouldn't be.

"It must be hard for you, plip," Usalia finally broke the silence.

Samuel shrugged, purposedly dismissive. "In a way." More than he cared to admit, even to himself.

Zeroken gave him an unexpected poke on the shoulder. "But you must have a reason to fight, though, right? Otherwise, you wouldn't be so good at it."

Oh, a compliment from the Wolf Pup.

Samuel sat in silence for a moment. Why did he fight? Well, the answer was fairly simple. "Well, I guess I do have a reason; I'm fighting for all of you. I'm fight for Killia, for Usalia, for Zeroken. For everyone here. You're my reason to fight. And that's enough."

And that was enough.

"Aww, Samuel is so nice," Usalia murmured.

"Wait, so you and Bro aren't from the same netherworld?" Zeroken suddenly questioned. "You and Bro are so close I kinda just thought you were."

Samuel blinked, not entirely sure where that observation came from or why Zeroken had decided to just blurt it out. "No. We met on Blood Parch, after he saved me from the Lost Army."

He realised that he wasn't wearing his bandana, it likely having been removed in order to make him more comfortable in his hospital bed. With his left hand, he pushed back his white strands of hair to reveal the jagged scar that marred his forehead, showing the kids, and letting them gawk at it as he continued his story.

"It was just after I woke up without any memories of how I got there. I still had fresh blood on my face from the head injury we believed caused my amnesia. He agreed to let me follow him until my memories return out of pity, I suppose."

Lucky for him. He truly had nowhere to go, no one else to turn to. He really was lucky to have found Killia first. Rather, for Killia to have found and saved him first. He truly did save him that day.

"Oooh," Usalia murmured again, but this time with a tone of understanding. "Killia is so nice, too, plip."

Samuel laughed as he allowed the strands of his hair to fall back against his forehead. "He really is. A demon with a heart of gold."

No matter how hard he tried to deny it.

"By the way, Samuel."

Samuel couldn't help but twitch. It always kinda (ok, really) annoyed him how Seraphina would say his name. Her tone was always quite condescending. It was quite (ok, really) obvious that she only tolerated him for Killia's sake.

Which, in itself, made him wonder if Killia himself had said anything about it.

Never mind that; how long had she been standing there?

The two youngest of the main crew dutifully step back, but stayed well within sight and hearing rang just in case something drastic was to go down as Seraphina strode up to the foot of Samuel's hospital bed. And stood there, rather menacingly.

"What kind of relationship do you have with Sir Killia?" Seraphina asked, completely unexpectedly.

Samuel arched an eyebrow. "Relationship?" He wasn't sure on how to answer that. Friend didn't sound right. Comrade and ally didn't fit either. "I suppose he's my best friend."

That probably wasn't the answer she wanted, but hey, if he was going to be shot, what better place than in the hospital?

Seraphina placed her hands on her hips and stared at him. Stared at him hard. "Is that so?"

"Why do you ask, Seraphina?"

Seraphina continued to stare at him, gauging him for a reason he didn't know. For a reason he didn't want to know. Then she, suddenly, pointed a finger at him dramatically. "From this point onwards, you and I are rivals."

That was not the response he had expected. "R-rivals?"

Seraphina took a half step back to place one hand on her hip as the other raised toward her mouth to do her famous head-thrown-back-in-a-haughty-laugh stance. "I do loathe to use such a term as there is no way anyone could compete with someone as mesmerising as me. Oh-hohohoho!"

"Of course…" Never in a million lifetimes would Samuel ever understand that girl.

"What's going on?"

With curry in hand, Killia chose to re-enter the area of the hospital at the exact moment of Seraphina's laughing, which was sure to set anyone on edge. But she soon played it off with a bright and wholly flirty smile.

"Oh, Sir Killia, now that Samuel has his curry, don't you think he needs some rest?" she began. "He must be utterly exhausted with all this noise around him."

Killia made a sweep of the room with his eyes before he nodded. "I was just about the suggest that myself," he replied smoothly. "I had wanted to talk to Samuel about something. In private."

Seraphina twitched. It wasn't overtly obvious, but Samuel caught it. He supposed that was one point to him on the rivalry scoreboard, or whatever. Seraphina would need to find a way to counter it, surely.

Poor Killia.

"Good idea," Christo replied before he pointed toward Zeroken and Usalia. "You two, help me drag Red Magnus' corpse to the fountain. A bit of water should wake him up."

Although rather reluctant, Zeroken and Usalia nodded. Zeroken immediately moved to where Christo stood with Red Magnus. Usalia, however, shuffled over to where Seraphina stood. Where she stubbornly refused to budge from.

"Let's go, Seraphina. You've lost this round," she said, far too cheerfully, before she made her way over to Christo and Zeroken, and then helped in grabbing Red Magnus by the ankles and began in the slow progress of dragging him away.

Seraphina, of course, wanted no part in being a body mover. Not that Samuel could blame her for that. Red Magnus was heavy. Especially when he was a dead weight.

Samuel and Killia remained silent, watching in either mild amusement, which was Samuel's primary emotion, or in tired exasperation, which he assumed what Killia felt as the high-pitched squeaking sound of Red Magnus' face sliding against the tiles faded from earshot.

"What happened?" Killia asked as he handed Samuel a bowl of pork curry and rice.

An ache in his back saw Samuel shuffling back to rest against the headboard. "Apparently, Seraphina and I are rivals now," he answered as he readily retrieved his offering, only realising then, as the smell of curry touched his senses, just how hungry he truly was.

Killia looked positively sceptical. "Rivals? For what?"

"I haven't the faintest idea," he answered quickly, deciding to leave out the little titbit that it centred around Killia himself. Though, why exactly and what was going through that girl's head, he didn't know. "And that's a problem. I don't look forward to randomly being shot at any time in the near future."

Maybe he could hide behind Red Magnus.

Samuel had to remind himself to take small bites, as tempting as it was to inhale the whole curry all at once. Then again, Killia's cooking was notorious for inspiring anyone into forgetting their manners. "Anyway, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Killia didn't immediately answer. He pulled a chair toward the bed and sat down, his movements purposely slow, as if he needed a bit more time to choose his next words. "Aloe Vera told me what you did for me," he finally said. "I don't know if I can repay you."

Samuel nearly choked on his curry, and he looked at Killia in surprise. "What are you talking about? You've saved my life already."

Besides, he didn't do all of what in hopes that Killia would see himself indebted to him or something. He was hurt, they were in a desperate situation, and Samuel helped him. That was…normal, wasn't it?

Killia shook his head slightly. "That was different."

"Really." Despite his hunger, Samuel sat the curry down onto the bedside table. "Was allowing me to tag along until my memories returned also different?"

"This is different." Killia suddenly sighed in a self-loathing way, his shoulders drooping forward as his head also dropped forward. "I'm a hypocrite."

His response was surprising, and Samuel studied the other demon curiously. "What do you mean?"

Killia clenched his fist atop of his right knee. "All this time I've wanted to be a loner, claiming that I'll face this war on my own, that I wanted to battle against Void alone. And yet I dragged you along with me the entire time, pulling you into needless danger without another thought. As you said before; you have no stakes. You're fighting for my sake. And that…"

Oh…

Oh, was that what Seraphina meant by 'acting strangely'? Was it guilt?

It was guilt that he was feeling, right?

But…

No, was Killia asking him to…telling him to…leave him? Now? After everything.

No. He couldn't. Where was he-? He didn't-!

Before Samuel knew it, he reached across the bed to snare Killia by his wrist. His right wrist. His movements and touch surprised Killia, prompting him to lift his head, to look at him with a slightly furrowed brow.

"W-well, what else am I supposed to do? Sit back and just watch? Now that I know what's going on, just how much pain and suffering is going on; I can't do that. I can't just peace out now and not fight."

Not when he had nowhere to go. Not when he…didn't know where Nugatory was. Not when he didn't know where to begin looking for it. Not when there were still gaps in his memories.

Not when the only thing he was sure of was his trust in Killia and the Rebel Army.

"Whether you like it or not, Killia; I'm still going to fight for you. I'm going to place myself on the battlefield next to you, for your sake. That is my reason to fight."

So, don't ask him to be anywhere else.

Don't tell him to leave.

Killia remained silent and continued to just stare at him for the longest moment, his piercing golden eyes studying him carefully. After a moment he uttered a sigh and shook his head. "I can't talk you out of it, can I?"

There was resignation in Killia's voice, but not exasperation or annoyance. There was also something else. Relief?

That was certainly what Samuel felt.

"Nope. I've made up my mind," he returned as he released his hold on Killia's wrist.

He could have done without that…scare. But he could understand where Killia was coming from. He felt guilty about what happened. With Samuel fainting afterwards didn't help. Still, he didn't regret any of it.

"Ah, good, you're both still here."

Christo's voice was both unexpected and sudden, thankfully neither of them reacted negatively, and just merely watched as the green haired…man approached the two of them.

"Hm, Christo?" Killia questioned.

"Pardon the intrusion, gentlemen, but here." He then held out his hands, one toward Killia and another toward Samuel, an object in each.

"Hm? A phone?" Samuel murmured as he picked up the one offered to him.

Christo nodded as he pulled back and readjusted his glasses. "Surprisingly, or perhaps unsurprisingly, it was Seraphina's idea. We can't have Sir Killia jaunting off to another Netherworld on his own, can we?"

The corner of Samuel's mouth twitched in a half grimace. "Especially we just little ol' me for company."

Killia sighed. "That sounds about right. But it's true. We can't afford to be separated again."

"I've been instructed to give a phone to Killia specifically," Christo revealed. "But I managed to get one for Samuel, also."

Samuel glanced over at Killia's new phone. "Ah, Seraphina's number already logged in?"

Christo smirked. "Several times, under some very creative names, I might add. But I fixed it for you, Killia."

Killia winced before he shot Christo a grateful look. "Appreciated it. Did you add Samuel into contacts?"

"Of course."

"Good."

Samuel could safely assume that Killia was already in his contacts, so he didn't need to check.

"While it might be impractical, I haven't told Zeroken or Red Magnus about the phones," Christo added before he suddenly shivered. "I can only shudder at the thought of those two with phones."

Zeroken might not be that bad, but Red Magnus? Yeah, no one wanted or needed him anywhere near a phone.

"I-It is a little impractical, but I see your point," Killia promptly agreed, doing his best to suppress a wince. "Maybe just entrust the two with emergency teleporters for now."

"Yes, that's a little less dangerous…I think."

…One way to find out.