Halo - An Etrian Odyssey Novel (Chapter 31/50)
Notes: Oooohhhhh~ tHis marks the final arc in the novel, get ready for some major SH*T (do I have to censor myself on Tumblr? Idfk)
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Piercing yellow eyes could barely will themselves to lift higher than the sink in front of him, hands clenched around the porcelain edges as he glared into the water, the door to the bathroom closed and locked and the windows barred, making escape from this self-made prison impossible. The room was foggy from the heat of the shower, but his guilt made him feel cold and clammy. Even spending nights in the Labyrinth alone as a child never felt this cold and humiliating.
He hated himself for what he'd done, but he didn't have a choice. They forced him, that's what he told himself, tricked him and manipulated him into using these strange and unnatural abilities. They promised him no one would get hurt if he cooperated, but how could he have believed those easily spoken lies? Wasn't he smarter than that? His family, the only family he ever had, gone.
A pounding at the bathroom door tore him from his hateful thoughts, eyes flashing over to the doorknob as it wiggled, "You've had enough time to pretty yourself up, the boss needs a report! Now! Unless you want to hear your friend screaming again!"
He tensed up and snarled as he yanked the plug from the sink, yelling back, "I'm coming!" before his eyes lifted, but quickly averted away from the mirror before he could get a good look at himself.
After what he'd done, seeing his own face would just make him vomit from disgust.
He opened the door to the bathroom and followed the guard standing outside down the halls of the building and into the receiving room where the mastermind of this entire downfall was sitting in a chair, slumped back with his arms folded and not looking very amused.
"We sent you to get rid of that wolf," the man spoke, and the guard shoved the recipient of the snarled words to his knees, "Where is it?"
Yellow eyes shifted away, and he shrugged, "Got away, that's hardly my fault. It's a wolf, they don't exactly sit still and wait to be captured for torture or murdered by Labyrinth monsters," he dared a chance to glare at the psychopath in front of him, "I already told you it would take a lot more than me searching for the damn thing to capture it. He's smart."
"He; it's an animal!" the man sat straighter and threw an arm out, "Set traps! Trick it! Pretend to be its friend! That's nothing you've never done before, is it? Go make friends with it before capturing it!"
The young explorer ground his teeth before gritting out his disagreement, "I've already tried that, but he doesn't trust me, and I don't blame him. Why does it matter anyway, just let him live in peace in the Labyrinth! He's domesticated, he'll be killed or die eventually! You got what you wanted, didn't you? So just leave the dog alone!"
The man scoffed and sat straighter in his chair, "It doesn't matter that I got what I wanted, there are still people out there who know about it. That wolf, although it can't very well speak, was still affiliated with Historia. And while we're on the subject, two of the guild members are still missing."
The explorer sighed in frustration and bowed his head, "For the last time, I killed them. Why don't you believe me?"
"Why? It's in your nature to lie and deceive, isn't it? Why should I believe you?" the man paused before continuing, "In any case, I have a lead on those two," he snapped his fingers and the guard stepped forward, searching in his pockets while the man added, "Granted I haven't found the one who disappeared in the Labyrinth, but this one was easy enough to find."
"What are you talking about?" the man on his knees asked in utter exhaustion, "Historia is gone, all five of them are either physically dead or emotionally," he dropped his head to glare at the ground, "I killed them, all of them, that should be enough for you."
"It would be if you were telling the truth," the man snapped, sitting straighter in his chair before taking to his feet, dark robes pooling onto the ground and chains singing as he glided forward with a piece of paper in his hand, stopping in front of the bowed explorer, "After years of searching, no, decades and centuries of searching, I managed to narrow down the identity of the guild harboring what I've been looking for. Even though I have all of them now, they won't talk. I know Historia has it somewhere, maybe on a necklace or something, but even after stripping them of their belongings, I've found nothing! So, the logical assumption is either the wolf has it, perhaps on a collar-."
"He doesn't," the explorer rolled his eyes, but the man ignored him.
"-or the missing explorer has it on his person, lost in the Labyrinth, possibly decomposing somewhere. Then there's the last possibility, that this one has it," he tossed down the paper and it fluttered to the ground in front of the explorer, who visibly tensed up, slowly reaching out for the paper, "A contact of ours found that hanging on the request board at the bar," he stated, crouching down and holding a hand out.
The explorer crumpled and gasped, grabbing at his left wrist as it was pulled up by an unseen force, his eyes inevitably locking with the man's in front of him, "What was it you said about killing all of Historia?"
"I-I didn't know," the explorer hissed between grit teeth, wincing from the agony that was tearing down his arm, "Stop!"
The man released him from whatever hold he was in, letting him drop to the floor, gasping and hugging his arm against his stomach as he stared down at the poster, "For all we know, he has it," the man said, standing, and the explorer grit his teeth, "Go to Flaus Inn, find him, and do something right for once."
"Why are you doing this?" came the whispered demand, "Is there a point? How is this item so important that it merits so much death and suffering?"
"That, my boy, is something I'm dearly hoping to show you. Now go, and hurry up. I think I'm going to go question the others while you're out, so don't take too long."
"Bastard," he hissed as the jingle of chains faded from the room, the pain in his arm fading finally so he could reach down and pick up the poster, cursing as he sat back on his heels and shaking his head, "You stupid idiot, why are you still in Lagaard?" he asked aloud before reading the words below the picture.
Found: green haired survivalist, comes to the name of Sage, enjoys salmon and tea, if you have any information on this survivalist, contact guild Halo at Flaus Inn.
"Halo," the explorer repeated before folding the poster and slipping it into a pouch on his belt, "It's almost ironically fitting."
~
"Hey, look who's finally on his feet!" Vien sang when Dyria sat down at the table, "How are you feeling?"
"Better," Dyria answered, smiling when Sage took the seat beside him, unconsciously sliding as close to the protector as he could manage so their shoulders were pressed right against each other, "Happy to be allowed out of bed."
"The rest of us are pretty happy about that too," Iliad assured, "Now we just need Zed to be better, huh Em?"
The medic sighed from where he was sitting beside Iliad, across from Sage, "No kidding."
"Is he not any better?" Dyria asked, and Emery shook his head.
"He is, but every time I think he's getting better, something else happens. His fever goes down a little and he starts having trouble breathing, when he can breathe easier he starts throwing up, when that stops more of that weird black blood starts pouring from his eye, I don't know what to do."
He dropped his face into his hands and Iliad squeezed his shoulder as Sage spoke up, "Has he eaten anything today?"
"A little, but that's bothering me too," Emery admitted weakly, "He usually has such a big appetite, but lately he can barely stomach soup and broth. He's just getting worse and worse."
Sage chewed on his bottom lip, watching Emery flip through a notebook with a frustrated and panicked look on his face. Under the table, he sought one of Dyria's hands, their fingers twisting together as he clung to the protector and tried not to outwardly show how panicked he was. He didn't want anyone in this guild to be hurt, or even worse, to die. There had to be something they could do for Zed, right?
"Y-you said, from what Zed explained, this illness is the direct side effect of a hexer's curse that was cast on him when he was younger, right?"
"Yea," Emery answered, and Sage thought about it for a little before sighing when he couldn't come up with anything.
"Maybe Dr Stiles has some experience with dealing with hexer related illness," he suggested finally, "Or maybe there are books in the hospital that could help you get a bearing on what's wrong with Zed."
"I've tried that," Emery rebutted, "There was plenty about hex related curses making people sick, evidently there was even an epidemic of hexers going around cursing people left and right for fun a while back, but I couldn't find anything even similar to what Zed is going through now. Maybe if we had a hexer they could explain a few things. I mean, what if this isn't just a playful hex? Zed told me the man who cursed him told him to die painfully, slowly. Can hexers do that? Kill people?"
"Hexers are necromancers," Dyria explained, "They die in order to control death, in a way. It probably isn't as far-fetched as it sounds to think they could control someone's life or cast a curse on them that slowly leeches them of their health and strength."
"Who was in charge of that epidemic?" Sage decided to ask, "Was it Dr Stiles? Maybe he can help," Emery visibly bristled and closed his notebook, glaring down, and Sage frowned before realization dawned on him and he smiled, "It was Lynus, wasn't it?"
"If no one and nothing else can help, why would he be able to?" Emery demanded harshly, "There's no way he can magically mix up some herbs and cure Zed when no other healing can!"
"He is called the miracle medic," Iliad muttered against a mouthful of food, eyes looking off to the side like he was avoiding Emery frustrated glare, "It's worth a shot since nothing else has worked."
"He might be able to help," Sage said softly, "Nothing else has helped, like you said, so there's nothing to lose. I know if you asked him he would help, he's that kind of person. I know you're not comfortable around other medics, and I know it's gotta tear you up when you have to ask other medics to help, but I'm worried about Zed too, if he's suffering like this... would you rather let him suffer, or are you willing to put your pride and insecurity aside for once to help him? Do you care enough about him to do that?"
Dyria squeezed his hand as if to say "too far", but it had to be said, and Sage didn't mind being the bad guy if he could get the words across to Emery, who slowly stood up and backed away without responding.
"I need to get back."
"You haven't eaten," Dyria called, and Emery turned his back.
"Not hungry."
They watched him leave the dining hall before looking back at each other, and Sage sighed, dropping his head, "I'm sorry."
"That wasn't your fault, it was true," Iliad assured as Dyria wrapped an arm around Sage's shoulders, "I can tell something about Emery has changed, he somehow broke through some part of his insecurity to use his abilities, even something as small as a refresh spell, so maybe he's grown up enough to shove the rest of that bullshit aside to ask for help."
"Don't worry so much, Sage," Vien tried to reassure him, leaning forward and smiling over at the survivalist, "Everything will work out. I know!" he held a finger up, "Dyria still needs to get replacements for his armor and stuff, right? Why don't you and he take a walk? By the time you guys get back, everything will be fine."
Sage stared down at the table top and sighed, nodding, "Alright, only because Dyria needs replacement supplies."
"There you go, it'll be a nice break after having to babysit our dumb injured leader," Vien clapped his hands together, "Bring Na'axri too, he probably needs to socialize with people."
The wolf companion lifted his head from where he was lying under the table on top of Iliad's feet, and Sage laughed, standing up, "Yea, okay. Come on pup, let's take a walk."
Dyria squinted a little at Vien as Sage crouched down to meet Na'axri, "What are you doing?" he asked, and Vien smiled brightly.
"Emery is busy so I'm interfering for him!"
"What?"
"Are you two married yet?" Iliad asked, "Because that's their goal."
Sage squeaked a little as Dyria looked back at Vien, "Have you and Emery been aiming for that this whole time?"
"Well it was just Emery at first, then I noticed you two were obviously in love and decided to join in," he held a finger up, "Binah and I came up with several game plans to get you two together!"
Dyria rolled his eyes and stood up, "Too slow," he stated, holding his hand down to Sage, "Come on, let's leave them to contemplate what they're going to do now we're actually together. They lost their hobby."
Sage blushed furiously and stood up, taking Dyria's hand as Vien squealed, "Holy shit you two!"
Iliad snorted, "I didn't know amnesiacs were your type, bro."
"Yea?" Dyria looked directly at Iliad, "I didn't know gunners were your type."
Iliad slammed his hands onto the table and stood up, "What was that you prick?!"
Dyria just turned and stepped towards the door, hiding his smirk as Arcan's cheeks turned red and Sage tugged on his sleeve, "That was mean," he said as they left the dining hall, and Dyria smiled at him, slowing his steps so they were walking side by side.
"It's my job to tease him," he said, leaning closer and placing a kiss to Sage's cheek, "He'll get over it."
~
Emery was sitting in a chair at the table he'd dragged over to Zedimir's bed, leaning over the top where his notebook was sitting along with dozens of other books, papers, and bottles of medicine and elixirs. He wanted to be as close to the dark hunter as possible so he'd dragged both the table and chair next to the bed, sitting so he was facing the door and could reach over to feel Zedimir's forehead whenever he needed to.
He was flipping through yet another report he'd borrowed from the hospital about a paralyzing curse a rogue hexer had cast on some unsuspecting civilian, but nothing he'd found so far was anywhere close to being similar to what Zed was going through now, therefore entirely useless.
The tug on his coat had Emery turning his attention down to where Zed had rolled onto his side and reaching out, clinging to his coat with sleepy eyes, making the medic smile and reach down to rake the dark hunter's fluffy blue hair back with his fingers. The smile wavered when he felt how hot Zed's forehead was, casting a quick refresh spell before massaging the sick explorer's head with the pads of his fingers.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, and Zed murmured, tightening his grip on Emery's coat and furrowing his brow.
"Chest hurts," he croaked, and Emery turned in his chair to face Zed, reaching over to rub his shoulders.
"Roll onto your back and sit up, slowly," Emery ordered, and Zed mumbled, not releasing his hold on Emery's coat as he slowly rolled onto his back, cringing and coughing as Emery slipped an arm behind his shoulders and propped him up, "Easy, take a slow breath in."
Zed nodded and did as he was told, breathing in slowly before exhaling, but when he tried to inhale a second time he lurched forward coughing, and Emery gasped a little when red sprayed onto the covers over his lap.
"Oh shit," Emery breathed, grabbing a handkerchief from his pocket and holding it to Zed's mouth to wipe the blood from his lips and chin, "Okay, easy, lie on your side," Zed didn't say a word as he laid on his side, coughing into the handkerchief as Emery rubbed the back of his neck, "Has this ever happened before?"
Zed nodded, holding the handkerchief against his mouth as he continued to cough, tears in both eyes as he shook furiously from his fever. Emery pulled the covers higher, letting his hand hover over Zed's chest as he whispered a few refresh spells one after the other, then did the same with his fingers against the dark hunter's temple. After what felt like hours he finally stopped coughing, spitting into the handkerchief before letting Emery take it from him.
The medic cringed when he noticed how much blood was staining the cloth, throwing it into a trash bin before grabbing another cloth from his bag and soaking it with water before cleaning off Zed's chin and lips and helping him settle down against the mattress and pillows, pulling the covers even higher before carding his fingers through the dark hunter's hair until the other explorer had fallen asleep.
Emery dropped his head forward against the mattress, taking a shaky breath in before sitting up again and staring down at the dry blood on his hand, wiping it against his jeans before standing up. He stayed in one place for a long moment, staring down at Zed before taking a determined breath in and turning, quietly shutting the door when he left the room and curling his hands into fists as he stalked forward.
When he reached the tearoom he was insanely grateful to find the door closed, and part of him was hoping when he built up the courage to open the door he would find the room empty, but that was pretty unlikely. So, Emery just stood there numbly for a long moment, staring at his hand and trying to talk himself out of what he was going to do.
He was sure he could think of something to help Zed eventually, some kind of medicine to at least stall the effects of the curse, but... by the time he did so, it could be too late. Emery didn't have time for trial and error, he needed to figure out a way to help Zed now. That dark hunter was the first person Emery had ever met who understood his anxiety and insecurity, the only one who ever clung to him like he was afraid of Emery abandoning him.
They both had such similar fears, being abandoned, being exiled, Emery couldn't turn his back on Zed the same way the medic's in his home town turned on him. He didn't have enough confidence to admit it out loud, but he'd grown to really enjoy Zed's company, and truly cared about him. Emery couldn't risk losing him.
Knocking would have been a little weird, since it wasn't as if Emery was entering someone's bedroom, so he just opened the door and stepped into the room, tensing up when he noticed nearly the entire Guardians guild was lounging in the tearoom, their conversation ceasing the moment the door opened, which instantly put Emery on the spot and panicking enough to pass out. The way Axel narrowed his eyes didn't help his anxiety either.
Their guild leader was sitting in an armchair in the corner with a newspaper, which he folded down to glance in Emery's direction before holding it back up, "Can we help you?" he asked, and Emery held his hands up defensively.
"U-um, I'm sorry to interrupt, I-I just h-had to talk with... L-Lynus."
"What for?" Axel asked, and Lynus gave him a short, scolding look before standing up.
"It's fine," he said, walking around the couch to face the other medic, "Is something wrong?"
"U-um...," Emery trailed off, playing with the buttons of his coat and dropping his eyes, "I just... um..."
"Are you here to apologize?" Axel suggested, his arms folded over the back of the couch, and Emery tensed up a little more as Lynus rolled his eyes a little.
This probably would have been a lot easier if Lynus had been alone, but Emery figured it was just more karma for yelling at the innocent medic for literally no reason. It was just another challenge he had to overcome, and it probably wouldn't be nearly as painful as what Zed was going through, so he had to suck it up and just deal with it, block out everyone in the room who wasn't Lynus and speak.
Emery falling to his knees was probably an unexpected turn of events, but he didn't bother paying attention to the guild's expression as he dropped to his hands and bowed his head, "I'm sorry," he started shakily, "I know I have no right to do this after yelling at you for no reason, I have no excuse and I don't know how to explain why I am the way I am, all I can do is apologize and assure you I really do feel horrible."
"When did he yell at Lynus?" Emery heard someone whisper, before someone else shushed whoever had talked.
"But I didn't come here because I wanted you to forgive me, I don't care about that. I don't think I deserve to be forgiven when I know it'll take me a lot longer than this to stop being so uptight and untrustworthy. I need your help, please," he felt his head bowing lower, his eyes burning, "I'm not a good medic. I can't heal people like I'm supposed to, I can't do anything besides offer some relief with a refresh spell or medica, and someone from my guild is sick. I can't heal him, I barely understand what's happening to him, all I know is he's hurting and if I don't do something I'm going to lose him, so...," he bowed himself even lower until his forehead was against the ground, "Please help. I'm begging you. As a medic, it's gotta be against your moral compass to turn someone away if they're hurt or need healing. I know I keep screwing up, and I treated you cruelly for no good reason, but don't do this for me, do it because you're a medic and healing people is what you love to do. Please. I'll pay you if I have to, I don't care, I just can't lose him."
He let out a shaky exhale when he was done and stayed where he was, kneeling on his hands with his head bowed and tears on his cheeks, waiting for something to happen. He was expecting Lynus' overprotective guild to kick him out, so when he heard feet shuffling against the ground before stopping in front of him, he tensed up, going so far as to pinch his eyes closed when they knelt down in front of him.
Emery already knew it was Lynus, but it still caught him off guard when the other medic took his shoulders and pulled him into a secure hug, "Of course I'll help," he said softly, and Emery choked on his breath, hiding his face against Lynus' shoulder and reaching up to cling to the back of his coat.
"I'm sorry," he whimpered, and Lynus smiled, petting the back of Emery's hair.
"I know. It's okay."
