"How is it that I figured that I would see you here again Zeke? Granted, I didn't think it'd be so soon, but here we are.." The captain rumbles in a low tone, sighing afterwards as he looks over Vector and myself, the robed silent man huddling himself in a corner away from the both of us, his face at least revealed. I shrug and give the looming man an awkward smile. Thankfully dragging Edward here was uneventful, I was truthfully worried about Vector trying to skimp out on this, something in me tells me that it'd be better to drag the man here.
"Hey, I was in the right place at the right time, it wasn't my fault this time around. You were closer is all." I respond to the man tersely, crossing my arms as I look him in the eye. I'll stand by that for the rest of the conversation god dammit, while I feel like I was on the verge of figuratively shitting myself I wholeheartedly believe that it'd turn out for the worse if I wasn't there. Lucas lips twitch up in a small smile, chuckling softly.
"I don't recall saying that it was a bad thing Zeke, nor did I say it was your fault, trouble seems to follow you very easily." I sigh and rub my temple. He's very right about that, I feel akin to a lightning rod for trouble. My chest twitches, a hand moving to rub at it lightly, 'lightning rod' is very apt wording.
"You're not entirely wrong, but I like to imagine it as 'excitement' instead sometimes, positive outlook and such, this time I literally ran into it though. How's he looking?" I ask him, biting my lip as I look to the closed door of the medical bay. Kedrick basically shoved me out to look over Edward in silence, it worries me. Is he going to be okay?
"Despite your raving worry for the issue, Kedrick will figure out if he's poisoned or not. Given how he seemed beforehand, it's not likely that he's been afflicted with such, nor is it probable that he'll have any permanent wounds. He'll probably have to keep his head wound under wraps until it fully heals and take it easy, but it shouldn't be too long, hopefully there's no underlying issues related to it, but Kedrick is a good cleric, he'll find it out. He'll have a pretty painful headache for a while though, I imagine he can handle it." A breath of relief flows from my lips, it feels like a weights' been lifted off of my shoulders. I don't know the man very well, but I'd like to imagine that he's a trustworthy medic. He did take care of me after all.
"Hey, I was rightfully worried about the poison. I don't think he'll be happy about being forced to take it easy for a while, pride and all." Lucas shrugs, his eyes shifting to the shut door and the silent Vector.
"If he has an issue with the way it's being handled, he can talk to Kedrick." The mental image of the stoic and burly man looming over me scares me, let alone Edward being stuck with the man.
"He doesn't sound like he's much for conversation."
"That's because he isn't, and there won't be much chances for discussion, he's very 'firm' with his magical application of healing. What happened? If I have to deal with more paperwork, I'll have your head Zeke." He glowers and looks over to me with a threatening eye, the man really doesn't seem to enjoy paperwork very much. I wouldn't either, quills looks like it sucks to write with… could I invent pens here? It'd sell like mad. That's slightly off track, not like I know how to make a pen anyways.
"Chill, Cappy, that's why I had this fucker come with us, fill in the details and whatnot." I wave the captain off halfheartedly and jab a thumb towards Vectors direction, the man moving from foot to foot absent mindedly. Can't imagine he wants to still be here.
"Call me that again and I WILL have your head. You're Vector right? What's your side of the story here?" He threatens me with a growl before moving his eye over to the hooded man. He's silent for a while, the only mention of him actually acknowledging the captain's question is a small movement of his hood.
"No." He finally and abruptly answers as he looks over Lucas's way, squinting brown eyes lingering on him for a few short moments before looking away again. I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose, the captain's reaction being a surprisingly tame rise of an eyebrow and a slight frown.
"Come on Vec, Lucas is a nice guy, and you'd wanna get back to Gerome right?" I carefully explain to the man, nudging my head towards Lucas. I really want this dude to open up about what happened, it's probably not that bad, hopefully he wasn't doing anything illegal that'd royally fuck us up. Then again, Gerome didn't seem to like Templars very much, and he manages to skirt around the law, even just barely through the will of Edwards uncle.
"No, and yes." Another short and abrupt answer, and another pinching to the bridge of my nose, exhaling sharply through it. Right then, very useful, at least it's more than a word this time around.
"Right, forgot how amazingly talkative you are. Would you prefer to wait around until Eddy comes back out?" Sarcasm drips off of my tongue as I speak, though I end it with a genuine offer for the man, maybe he's just not comfortable about the situation itself? Who knows, might've been spooky for the man, he's not quite the fighter from what I know. Not that I can recall an incident where he's been needed to fight. He's silent for a few moments, fingers tapping against his legs as he looks around, eyes finally settling on me.
"...maybe." He finally says, eyes darting away once more. I sigh to myself, closing my eyes as I lean against a stony column. Probably the best we're gonna get out of him, at least for now, it's better than a straight no I guess.
"How is it that you manage to find the more interesting characters on Mekkan, Zeke?" Lucas pipes up, an amused chuckling rumbling in his chest as he side eyes me, a small but tight smile on his face. I raise an eyebrow to him.
"The hell does that mean?" I ask curiously, head tilting slightly. Fuck, the head tilts back, I swear I haven't done that in a while, god dammit. Makes me feel like an almost animal, or a cat.
"I've had more indulgent conversation with stone, and I've never met a person as unnerving as your scholar friend." The stone comparison is admittedly a little humorous, but scholar friend?
"Do you mean Lucy? She's not quite a friend." I reply after a bit, scratching at my chin absentmindedly. She really isn't a friend, not quite yet, nor do I think I'd like that thought, eaugh.
"She acted like one when you were in the medical bay, Edward seemed accepting of her too, so we assumed she was with you."
"I'm almost entirely sure she was hanging around to see if I'd scream."
"That does explain a few things." I sigh again, a long pained sigh, ignoring Lucas's continued amused chuckles. I'm surprised I don't feel a god damned headache building up again thinking of the little lady.
"Why did you even let her in to watch me anyways? Edward I can understand, but her?"
"As I said, we believed her to be with you, Edward didn't speak up either, furthering the assumptions of it." He answers sharply, nipping the questions in the bud with what sounds like a mentally pre-planned explanation. Maybe I'm feeling on edge cause of Lucy being brought up, he is a captain, he's probably used to speaking like this. Something stirs in my chest, scratching at it lightly as I think to myself
"...do you think she's around? The more I speak of her the more I expect her to show up." I quickly ask once more, my eyes darting left and right to gloss over the room, I don't see anyone like her, but who knows what tricks she has up her sleeves. I hum in annoyance to myself as Lucas chuckles again, that little soft smile on his face seems more teasing and smug by the second, I'd take a jab at him but I feel like he'd take my head off if he took it the wrong way.
"I personally haven't seen her around here lately, can't speak for anyone else though." It's not quite a perfect answer, but it is one nonetheless. I still feel minutely paranoid, but it's at least alleviated somewhat.
"She has a vial of my blood Lucas, just solely my blood to look at it and examine, is that normal here or is that fucking creepy?" I hiss to the man, tapping my fingers against the stone. He hums and cups his chin, taking on a faux thinking face as he looks upwards.
"No comment." He finally replies after a few almost tense moments, chuckling as I groan, thudding the back of my head against the column.
"You're a great deal of help aren't you?" He chuckles again but doesn't speak afterwards, instead standing tall and awaiting near the door. There's not much conversation to have afterwards, it's not as if Vector's gonna pipe up with a conversation topic anyways. The more I have to wait for something to happen, the more my stomach seems to writhe and flail in my body. Is he actually okay? Is something going on? Is he having the same reaction to magic that I did? Is that normal? I squeeze my eyes shut and exhale, ever so slowly. It's okay Zeke, he'll be okay.
I bite down on my lip as I continue to look up to the door, then down again, tapping my fingers against each other, pacing back and forth to pass the time. It feels like it's been an age to wait for results, but the other two seem to be okay and patient. Shit, am I annoying them with my pacing? I'd be annoyed with my pacing to be honest, I should stop. My thoughts derail quickly as the door squeaks open, an otherwise okay albeit wincing Edward stepping through. His normally pointy hair hangs down and covers his bandaged forehead, but he walks with his back straight and proudly despite his slightly pained face. He's okay Zeke, told you he'd be okay. The deep grumbling of a man, I assume to be Kedrick, whispers from behind him baritone and low to the point where I can't properly make out the words, the door slamming behind him soon after.
"Eeeyyyy Eddy my boy, you feeling alright?" I chirp happily as I slide next to him, wrapping my arm around him. I jostle him lightly with a one armed hug, looking over his bandaged head. There's a tinge of worry in me still, even if Kedricks meant to be a fantastic cleric and healer, I can't help but check anyways. Just in case.
"Tsk, my pride's more wounded than my head Fuzz." Edward scoffs, brushing my hand off with his own, though I can still see his lips twitch into a faint smile. I'm really glad that he's okay.
"Hey, don't beat yourself up about it too much, I'm glad you're safe though. Besides, the only beating you should be getting is when we spar."
"If I recall, the score's just one to one for either of us." He bites suddenly, a smug grin on his face as he chuckles. I huff and whap at his arm with a hand.
"Gods dammit, the first one doesn't count. I slipped!"
"I'm counting it as a win for me." He continues to snicker aloud as I glare at him, whapping his arm yet again, a little bit harder this time. The fucker, here I am worried about his safety and there he is being a smug little bastard. A small cough from Lucas interrupts the both of us, bringing us to attention, Edward clasping his hands behind his back and standing upright.
"Sorry to butt in here, but could we fix this up? I've other things that may require my attention,after all." He questions, looking between the both of us. Edwards face looks like a mix of sobered and tense as he addresses the captain. It's an odd expression
"Sorry Captain. After splitting, uh, with Zeke this morn, I spent the new few hours just wandering the town and the market. I ran into Vector here, and seeing as he is one of our charges, I opted to shadow him for a while. He was approached by a group, of which I felt compelled to step in, after which they turned aggressive. Loathe as I am to admit it, one of them got a good hit on me as I dragged Vector away, hence the head injury. I tried to move away from any citizens that could've been caught up in the fight and closer to the tower, they caught up to us and I held them off for a while until Zeke came charging in, he cleaned up the fight and ran them off." I can almost see him bite the inside of his cheek as he speaks, his hands twitching behind him as he finishes. I give the nervous looking man a squeeze on his shoulder, as well as a small nod as his eyes shift towards me before looking back to the captain. His pride must really be torn up, at least a bit, I don't think i've seen him like this before. Maybe it's because he's reporting to a Templar captain? Said captain hums to himself, as if he's mulling over his thoughts.
"Mn, I see. What's your story then 'Vector'? Did you know those people?" He addresses the still mostly silent man, his head jerking up as Lucas speaks his name. He fiddles with his hands and says nothing with terse lips for a few moments before shrugging.
"Hired thugs from rival merchants." He replies lowly and shortly before leaning back against the wall. A very short answer, very Vector. At least it explains something. Lucas hums once more, eyes squinting very lightly, scrutinising Vector
"They didn't look like they were professional mercenaries or whatnot, they looked like random villagers, just armed and with intent to harm." I pipe up and side eye Vector myself with a raised brow. They scattered like the wind pretty soon after I showed too. He shrugs again.
"Cheapskates." Another short answer, at least that one gets a small snicker out if me. Something about how blunt it is is amusing.
"How about you then Zeke? What's your side of the story?" Lucas questions again as he puts his sights on me.
"Me? Uh, split off from Eddy, went looking for him around midday, ended up tracking him down from some blood splatters and found the two of them surrounded. They scattered pretty quickly after I socked one in the jaw, I don't think they wanted to try to fight the both of us at the same time, even if Edward here wasn't in the best condition, he's still a fighter." I inform the man as I give Edward a grin and another one armed huh, chuckling as he sighs exasperatedly, a deadpan expression on his face. Lucas retreats back into his thoughts, likely to ponder about the situation revealed to him. Truthfully, I don't imagine much would happen beyond him keeping it in the back of his mind, I don't exactly know what Templars do, but I'd imagine that they wouldn't try to seek out random sellswords that have little to do with them. They're not exactly police from what I know.
"Well judging from you three have told me… No citizens or Templars have come forth with complaints or details of being harmed, there's no collateral damage, and Edward here's been patched up. Unless more concerns arise, I don't think there's much else to do, though you coming to inform me of this is something I'm thankful for. Thank the masks, I don't have to do any more fucking paperwork." The captain lets out a relieved sigh, a grin on his face as his body relaxes. The man looks genuinely happy for it too.
"Lucky you, huh?"
"Lucky you, I detest paperwork with a fervent passion, now get your asses out of here. I don't want to be seeing any of you for the next god damned week, stay out of trouble dammit." He growls and jabs a thumb towards the door, a rather not so subtle gesture to get us the fuck out.
"Yes sir!" Edward says as he salutes the captain, quickly moving away. I give the captain my one sloppy salute before following him, Vector skittishly trailing close behind. Teh doors shut behind us with a solid thudding, stretching my back and arms out with a delighted groan as I shoo ta smile to Edward.
"I say that went pretty well, don't you?" I ask him with a growing grin on my face and a friendly nudge of the elbow, a small dip of a frown forming on his face as he sighs, rubbing at his bandaged head with a hand.
"My head's fucking killing me Fuzz, I'm irked that one of them managed to get a lucky hit in cause I was focused on Vector." He grumbles underneath his breath, frown deepening lightly. My smile turns soft as I squeeze his shoulder again.
"That's just details, I'm glad you're okay Edward, I was a little worried for ya. Where are you off to now Vec?" I ask the merchant as I flick my eyes over to him, his face dour and unsmiling. Very Vector, I do wonder why he's like that though.
"I leave, go to Gerome." He eaks in a low tone while he stiffly walks past us, head hanging low. He stops for a moment, as if deep in thought before he flicks his head to us.
"...thank you." He mumbles before returning his stiff march into town, I assume to try to find Gerome, disappearing into the mess of the crowd and the town.
"You know, I think that's the most I've heard the man speak ever." I remark as I walk forward, taking the lead, Edward following close behind. The sun continues its dip into the sunset, chilly air washing over my face as I take in the scent of the sea, getting back to Erics would likely be best. It'll keep us out of trouble, also I fucking love this salty smell, god bless the sea.
"I prefer less talkative charges actually, and companions." Edward ribs, nudging at my arm with an elbow. I give the man a mock theatrical gasp, hand raised to cover my lips.
"Edward! Here I was thinking that you loved our little back and forths, as well as our time together! I believed myself to be a friend, not just a mere companion!"
"Don't flatter yourself too much, Fuzz."
"Heh, I'm glad you're okay though, I was… A little scared to be truthful." I admit to him, my voice wavering lightly as I sheepishly scratch at the back of my neck. Edward raises a brow as he tilts his head backwards.
"Why were you scared for me, Zeke?" The way he asks that seems so… strange what sort of question is that? A fucking dumb question that's for sure, the hell is this?
"The hell do you mean 'why were you scared'? We're friends you dolt." I deadpan and give him a small whap to the arm, did he magically forget that or something?
"Zeke, you know why I was thinking that, you know…" He trails off, rolling a hand as he stares. I blink, what's he talking about? Oh! Right, we had that ah, small little fight.
"Edward, you're stupid, but I'm dumb as a brick sometimes myself. I detest that you hate keidrans, and I don't like being an exception to it. But, fuck, how do I say this? I think that it's a good step, perhaps in the right direction, and I'm glad to be considered a friend by you. I don't know why you hate keidrans, and I can't magic your thoughts away into whatever I want it to be, that's just not right, it doesn't make you you, know what I mean?" I try to put together an explanation for it, but my throat feels so dry now, is that because of the nerves building in my chest? I can't believe I forgot about the little mess with him, I guess my mind was busy with other things.
"Well, you are dumb as a brick, that's for sure." His lips twitch into a small smile as I roll my eyes, nudging him with an arm as we continue our walk towards Erics. The town is oddly peaceful this afternoon, there's no chattering or murmuring, no side eyeing either. It's a good peace. The silence between us is broken by Edwards sigh, running a hand over his face.
"...I'm sorry for shoving you Zeke, truthfully. It's been eating at me for a while, I'm just not good with all this stuff. You're a good friend now, much to my surprise, and maybe that's why my Uncle wanted to push you to go on this mission with me. It's been surprisingly pleasant, and I've enjoyed it for the most part." He finally admits, it takes him a while to try to choke out the words though, twisting over his tongue. I smile, a soft and comforting warmth in my chest battering away the overly familiar chill that takes a hold of it.
"Hey, don't beat yourself up for it Eddy. I stepped out of line, and said something I shouldn't have because it slipped my mind. I hurt myself more than you hurt me, so we're cool now right buddy man?"
"Yeah, we're 'cool', don't call me that though."
"Cmon, famalam, it's not the worst thing I can call ya."
"I've changed my mind, the masks can send you to hell for all I care."
"Come on Eddy boy, you know you love me."
"I detest you."
"Love you too Ed." The ribbing and the back and forth brings a hearty chuckle from my chest, Edwards own laugh mixing with mine as we continue our walk, an odd happy pep in my step. That's finished, it's all good now, praise the fucking lord. I don't think it's a good thing to be so attached to a friend, but what else do I have here? Not very much, at least at the moment, and to myself anyways.
"...So what about the other 'issue' that arose then Fuzz?" Edward suddenly asks, his eyes shifting over to me. I hum in thought, the gears in my head turning and grinding.
"Eh? What other issue?" I ask inquisitively, I really don't have an idea on what he's talking about. Edwards face contorts into a bewildered one, brows creasing.
"You know, the whole magic thing? You shouldn't be physically capable of doing it, with or without theoretical experience or whatnot, did you forget about that? Did you pull it out of your ass, or did you figure it out in the time we were separated?" He continues. I blink, what sounds like static buzzing around in my empty skull. I fucking forgot about that, how did I forget about that?
"Oh! No fucking idea where it came from, I just let out whatever was tingling and writhing in my skull and thats what happened. It felt nice to get it all out in some way, I guess I did say that I didn't wanna talk about it so it probably slipped my mind after a while, I was a bit more worried about you after all."
"You forgot about yourself using magic? Something you freaked out about loving just a day prior? Are you okay in the head Fuzz?" He flicks at the side of my head with a finger, chuckling as I hiss at the fucker. Asshole.
"Hey! I'm okay, I think, I feel okay at the moment anyways." I assure the man with a wide and boisterous grin, who hums to himself.
"I'm glad for that, but that's still worrying, immensely worrying. That's not how magic should be feeling, nor should it be how it's released, nor should you just forget that it happened. I don't know what magic can do to a basitin either."
"Eh, what can ya do about it? I'll deal with it as it comes." I wave a hand dismissively, Ed grumbling under his breath again as he rubs at his temple.
"You worry me Zeke."
"And I'm awfully flattered for it, your worry is appreciated after all Eddy."
"You're taking it all very, what's the word, casually?" He frowns as he looks over my face, a look of worry covering his face. My heart strings tinge as his frown deepens, fuck, he's pretty worried about me then huh? Cmon Zeke, lets get through it.
"Am I? I'm confused as fuck and pretty damned worry about it all, even if I don't seem like it at the moment, I think Anna mentioned that I'd break my mind if I touched some mana crystals that she had, or something along those lines. I imagine that having to actually use magic would implode my head after a while."
"How can you be saying these things while seeming so calm?"
"No clue, just another issue to run through my head to go onto the pile of other shit I guess, despite that though I feel just fine. "
"You feel fine?"
"Better than that actually, I feel good, it felt amazing to do that. It's mother fucking magic Edward, that shits exciting!"
"Did you have any idea what you were doing? Do you know how to actually use magic?"
"Nope! I wanted them out and away from me, it got the job done right?" Edward groans, louder this time, rubbing at his temples with a renewed fervour
"Fuzz, magic isn't a type of toy to just play with." He hisses in a chiding tone, whapping my arm gently. I roll my eyes and lightly jab him in return, what a brotherly way of showing affection, just fucking hitting each other. It feels odd, but welcoming
"I'm well aware, I don't think it's a great idea to be brooding about the potential consequences of it just yet. I think I'm still on an adrenaline high kind of, while I do realise the issue of it and I'm confused, it hasn't completely hit me yet. Give it a few hours though and maybe I'll start to panic a bit more."
"You're a strange person, Zeke."
"I'm a strange friend, right?"
"Yes Fuzz, we're friends, despite our little spat." I cheer internally and pump my arm, ignoring Edwards snide chuckling.
"Fucking booyah."
"...How do you think Lucy would react to this, well, development? She did seem pretty interested in you, and she is a mage." Suddenly, every fiber of my being jumps in alarm with the mention of her name, the hairs on the back of my neck spiking upwards, along with my ears as I quickly look around the area. Is she around? She scares the shit out of me, fucking Lucy.
"I swear to fuck, you and Lucas is gonna jinx me to make her show up, I don't want her to show up Eddy. She scares me, the whole magic schtick just makes me more worried. I feel like you fuckers want her to show up." I hiss and give him a less than gentle jab again, a small flicker of smugness in my chest as he hisses and rubs at the sore spot. The fucker deserves it, the injury is on his head after all, not his arm.
"Mn, I partially do, it's entirely to spite you too." He snickers at my discontent huffing, still checking my blind spots for any potential sightings of the little mage. I've no clue why she unnerves me so, is it because she's a mage and magic puts me on my ass? Is that one meeting with her enough to put me off of her so much? It's probably the blood vial still, fucking weirdo.
"You're an asshole, I'm gonna hook you up with Kathrin or another of Erics slaves to spite you." His disgusted blanching is a rightful comeuppance for being an asshole, it brings a warm delight to my chest as I laugh aloud, Edward eventually joining in as we continue our trek up the hill, ever so closer to Erics home. God, I need to thank him and Kathrin for all their doing, I feel bad for taking up their space dammit.
I hum to myself and twist my head, looking towards the Templar tower, my lips pursing as thoughts run through my head. Very, very strange. I don't have a headache from that place, nor did I feel even the beginning of one while I was in the place, even though it's just a concentrated epicenter for magic. I feel like that's important, but I don't know why. I'll keep it in the back of my mind.
I feel like I'm forgetting something else too. I shrug to myself and hurry myself up to Edwards' side, haven fallen behind him while stewing in my thoughts. It's probably a tad less important than the magic thing, and it's just another thing to throw onto the pile of shit. It should be fine.
Hopefully anyways.
Authors note: Hey, the story's going to be more or less back on track from here on out, unless something else pops up that'd interrupt it. The size of a chapter is something that I wanna hear about from you though, I normally limit myself to ~5k words for a chapter, it's small enough for me personally to read in a few minutes, though I know it's different from person to person.
Last chapter was more ~10 k though, and it was a fucking great deal bigger, but it also had more things happen, and having so many chapters while at the same time not actually doing enough to progress the story, or at least progress character relations and background is something that weighs on my mind constantly. Because I do want to keep you all entertained at least, but I'd like to hear from you.
Would you prefer slower uploads with more words like last chapter, or would you prefer the more usual sized chapters instead? Either way it'll have the same content in the end, but the first choice is just larger, know what I mean? I'm leaning more towards the second option, because it's more chapters for people to read, and I don't want to fall behind on my own internal schedule, but I'd like to hear from you all.
Update: I last looked at this chapter in June 2020, I never realised I fucking double posted the same chapter
I don't know how I managed it.
It should be fixed now.