Chase awoke with a stir, trying to lean up but instantly meeting the refusal of his aching body.
"Woah there tiger, I wouldn't try to move with those injuries..." Leo chuckled, sitting atop the broken ledge of one of the many pillars, his face covered in bandages and his wild orange hair was illuminated by the vibrant fire light.
Speaking of bandages... Chase looked down at his numb arms, only to see that they had been covered fingers up to his shoulders in bandages of his own.
He sighed. "This is no good... We aren't going to make it to the lowest floor in time..." Chase said solemnly, only loud enough for Leo's ears.
He shrugged atop the pillar, gazing upward at the shattered ceiling as he began to speak.
"I don't see what the rush is... Yall survived plenty long in The Frozen Forest, if rations are what you're concerned about. Even if my stomach begins to eat itself alive, I can just regenerate... As for the others... They are tougher than they let on..." He said, dangling his legs back and forth as he shot a grin towards the group surrounding the fire on the other side of the room.
Chase looked over as well, noticing that even though the team was heavily injured and covered in horrible wounds of their own... They could be found laughing along side each other as they boasted about their trials in life.
He looked back up at Leo, concern lacing his gaze.
Leo returned the look, almost immediately noticing the grim message hidden within his eyes.
"It isn't that... Is it?" He asked, his voice returning to a low grumble.
Chase shook his head...
"No... Earlier, when we were about to enter the ruins... I felt a gaze unlike any other..."
Leo nodded slowly, a frown creeping onto his face upon hearing Chase's concern.
"We aren't alone then..." He scoffed.
Chase shook his head, then looked down at his left wrist, where a tightly clinging shackle hung along his lower arm.
"I am afraid..." He said after several moments of silence.
Leo stared into Chase's eyes for a long moment, before bursting into laughter.
"What is it?" Chase asked, unable to catch what had been so funny.
"The mighty son of Blaze is afraid! We sure are damned to hell with this journey aren't we!?" His laughter boomed and echoed across what had once been a ferocious battlefield.
Chase shook his head, lowered his gaze sadly.
"How is that something you can laugh at...?" He asked, almost bewildered by Leo's joyous mood.
Leo; however, quickly wiped the grin off of his bandage ridden face, staring intently into Chase's emerald eyes once again.
"How did you feel when we sieged Equus...?" He asked with a dangerously serious tone.
Chase almost answered but was cut off near immediately.
"Or when you and a group of first years ventured into the heart of Frostfang... When you stood face to face with The Wendigo...? Or when you battled The King of Corruption within his own castle...?"
"I-" He was cut off again.
"Or should I jog your memory..." He leaped off of the ledge, landing with a deafening boom in front of Chase, causing him to slightly flinch.
He lowered his body into a crouching position, sitting to Chase's right and staring down into his eyes with a violent expression on his face.
"Did you feel fear when you won Phoenix Academy a championship? When I could not have done anything in that situation to truly help the team...?" Leo almost growled the words, as a hidden anger escaped from the bottom of his heart.
Chase stared blankly, unfaltering in the gaze of the Lion cub's glowing topaz eyes...
"I did..." He eventually responded... Causing Leo to remain silent for a moment longer.
"However... I was blinded by rage and a thirst for revenge... I couldn't even see ten steps ahead of me... I only cared about slaughtering Sazir and Rhysara where they stood... Now... I have to learn how to handle human relationships... How to move on from the deaths of friends that I, myself have caused..."
Chase exerting a scarce anger in his own tone, gazed back into the topaz eyes of Leo, causing a moment of tension, before Leo's lips curled into a fierce grin.
"Good... Now you have more to fight for..." He stood up, turning away from Chase as he began to walk towards the group...
But stopped just before he was got too far.
"Do you really think these fools could have gotten this far if it wasn't for your conviction?"
With that, he left Chase with the realization that his journey had only just now begun, while also questioning if this was the same Leo as the one who had shared the same jersey as him years ago...
...
Although the fire was surrounded by laughter and stories, Equan had been silent only looking up from his tattered bow to answer a direct question when asked.
He could not tear the thought out of his mind, an unquenchable anger that had begun to surface once he had woken up from his injuries...
It had taken everything to keep this uncontrollable urge from rising into what could be considered a liability.
However, he was no where near giving up, or even notifying his allies of this. If he was deemed as someone unable to fight for the rest of the quest, what would that make of him?
The word "Useless" echoed through his brain as if he wasn't even the one thinking it, as if some sort of higher being had placed them within his mind.
Then he remembered his meeting with the lesser lunar goddess... And he felt a shiver run down his spine.
'Impossible...' He thought, recognizing that the energy running through his brain was very similar to the same kind that Luna had naturally exerted from her own godly body...
He looked up again, almost as if frozen in time.
His eyes traveled between those of his companions, first he looked at Gabriel who seemed lost in thought on his own, then his gaze ventured to Michael, who was feeding on the remains of a slain monster with a look of disgust on his face.
Gemini was silent, staring silently at the fire that he had created with his own newfound Primis ability... Neveah was waving for Leo to come and take a seat next to her, and Griff was gently brushing his fingers against the strings of his lute with a determined look on his face.
Hans had stood up- standing patiently as he watched Chase from a distance, a look of worry hidden behind his strangely colored eyes, being a mix of purple and dark green.
Reinhart was sharpening his Greatsword, smirking as he told Kaylynn and Michael how he had singlehandedly slain the lesser Vasehead.
Luke... Was the only one of his comrades to return his worried gaze, raising an eyebrow before Equan's heartrate began to speed up.
He stood, stepping away from the fire and ignoring the questioning calls of his allies.
He walked with a panic towards the far side of the room, ducking behind one of the pillars as fear began to rise in his chest.
He began to whisper- No... He began to pray...
"Please... Please... I ask of you Greater God of Storms... Guide my path... Protect me from the danger that lies within these ruins... I beg of you to keep my allies safe... Do not let them fall... I will give you any form of sacrifice, anything you ask... Just-"
"Actor...?" Luke called out, looking around the pillar with a hint of worry behind the black bandanna that covered the lower section of his face.
Equan took a deep breath, forcing himself to chuckle.
"I'm good, thought my energy was going to get too high ya know? I just think I've rested too long... Tryna get back to the fight!" He stood up with a hop, grinning with falsity as he returned to The Crimson Bandit's gaze with only confidence.
Luke shook his head, causing Equan to flinch in response.
"Talk." He demanded, putting his good hand on Equan's shoulder.
Equan frowned.
"About what?" He tried to steer the conversation as far away from the truth as possible.
"You shouldn't let something eat you alive... Let us carry the burden alongside you... That is what Unity means? Isn't it?" He asked, causing guilt to rise in Equan's chest.
However, Equan could not share this burden... He knew that he could not... This was his and his alone to carry, as it would only bring his allies down with him, and that was not something they could afford during this quest.
So he shook his head, turning away from Luke and stepping into the rays of light that shot down from the broken section of the ceiling.
He turned his head, grinning at Luke with yet another act.
"I'm good bro, trust me... I'd say something if I wasn't..." Then he began towards his friends around the campfire once more, leaving Luke with a saddened expression on his face as his favorite student left him in the shadows...