I just want to find anyone. Is there anyone out there? Yes, it was a silly thought, but who cares? By now she was desperate for any sign of life, friend or enemy. The one thing she hated most of all was to be alone. Despite her bruised, battered, and bleeding body, she forced herself onward with that goal in mind. It was ironic; she barely knew who she was anymore. Such a strong woman had been reduced to a pathetic, struggling creature just longing for acknowledgement. …Hah, look at me. I don’t even recognize myself anymore.

As she walked, she clenched her right arm tightly to her side, the angle it was held suggesting that the bone had been shattered. Her now dull silver armor was splattered in dried brown and black blood, though the crimson color was certainly still predominant thanks to her wounds that would not heal due to her forcing her body much past its limits. Her usual beautifully toned skin was now pale and dirty, her nails a wreck, and even her prided hair was unkempt. She did not know how she could have allowed herself to be reduced to this state. It was shameful, both her emotional and physical condition. If not for the slight hope she felt that she would find a sense of reason somewhere soon, she would not have pressed herself onward and survived this far.

A twitch. It was slight, but her senses, even in such horrendous state, still picked up on it. Immediately she made an effort towards the movement, her eyes focused on the hand that had shakily appeared on top of a pile of sticks. She watched in awe as a head poked up, the upper body of the person suddenly slinging over the wood. “Y-you,” the man said to get her attention, his voice cracking horribly. As he finished making out his words, his eyes traveled up to meet hers, his gaze locked there.

Those black eyes of his drew her in, and she dropped to her knees at his side, carefully pulling his body to her. His grunts of discomfort told her he was badly injured, but once she had him in her arms, she could see just how tattered he really was. Deep wounds that seemed to go completely through him were numerous over his chest, evidence that someone had stabbed him numerous times in an attempt to kill him. It was a wonder that person had not succeeded, too, for some appeared very life-threatening. “I’ll assist you. I need to get you somewhere you can lie down,” she informed him, about to try to help him stand, but she quickly noticed his legs were badly burned to the point that even wounds had appeared there.

The man tried to speak, but he barely managed to mouth anything before collapsing completely in her arms. She looked slightly panicked because of that, too, so she did all she could do at the moment. “Please hold on,” she whispered, hoisting him up with her good arm. Glancing around, she tried to find some place to take him, some place that might have bandages or at least cloth that she could use in their absence. Finally spotting a partially intact house, she started dragging him towards it, easily getting inside on account of the collapsed front.

Inside, she leaned him against the back wall, though she had to wince slightly at how hard she realized she had set him down. If only I had use of both arms… she thought to herself, but, she knew there was nothing to be done about that for now. Rather than dwelling on it, she quickly began to rummage through the fallen drawers, eventually locating the bandages she wanted. Then, she moved to dress the wounds as she had planned.

Her eyesight began to cloud as she stepped nearer to him, and the woman fell to her knees, dropping the supplies with her fall. “No,” she muttered to herself, understanding that this point in time was too crucial for her to lose her consciousness. As she slowly pushed herself back up, she noticed the blood beginning to pool around the man she was trying to help. She still had to wonder how he could survive such wounds, but seeing that again motivated her enough to try harder. She approached him now with the bandages, her first goal to free his chest from his shirt.

“Don’t touch me, woman,” the man suddenly spoke, managing to be harsh despite all the wincing he did. She looked quite surprised, but she did not seem to heed his warning, still trying to unfasten his shirt with her good hand. “I said don’t!” he shouted, his hand suddenly clenching her wrist tightly. He glared harshly at her, but he could only manage that for a moment; again he was groaning heavily, his face twisting into an expression of pure agony.

“Straining yourself is not a good idea,” Amaryllis answered quietly, freeing her wrist from him while he was in pain. She decided to not worry about being as gentle anymore now the he was miraculously awake again, just ripping at the shirt to get it off. She could tell he was still trying to object, and as soon as his chest was bare, she saw why, though she only had a hint of surprise. “You’re a Jumi,” she said in amazement, eyes glued to the prominent black gem sticking out of his chest.

“Get away!” he attempted again, crying out a bit after speaking. He began labored breathing, then, just giving up on talking since it was not working well. She smirked a bit, which surprised him, and she went to dressing his wounds rather skillfully for just using one arm. He made another feeble attempt at swatting her away, finally giving in with a sigh when she ignored him once more.

“This explains why these wounds haven’t killed you. However, your core is badly damaged, and I’m afraid I can do very little for that. You are going to have to endure it, but I will help,” she explained as she finished with his chest. She moved down and gently pushed up the legs of his pants, then, to work on those wounds.

He glared at her, but it seemed less hateful this time, his eyes following her every movement. “You…?” he tried, but when it hurt too much to continue asking his question, he stopped again, rolling his eyes now at how pathetic he knew he seemed.

“Do not worry. If I were after your core, I could have easily stolen it already because any struggling you could do would easily render you unconscious again. I have lived with another Jumi and even mothered Jumi children, so there is no need to view me as a threat. Besides, even if that were not so, you are the first person I have seen in a very long time, and I would sooner die myself than rid myself of longed company.” She sat up from the bandaging, looking at him very intently in the hopes that he would understand.

As she finished, he just stared at her in awe, apparently very enlightened by her words. “E-Elazul’s woman,” he croaked, waiting on her nod before he gave a bit of a smile. “T-the famed… Amaryllis.” He nearly grinned as he spoke her name, though the strain of speech suddenly threw him into a fit of coughing. It did not last too long, though, so he seemed unaffected by it, just wiping away the blood that had leaked from his mouth and returning his gaze to her.

She nodded once more. “That is my name, yes. However, do not think of Amaryllis as this. I have disgraced her and Elazul thus far,” she explained, starting to blink quite a bit since her vision was giving way once more.

“Non-… nonsense,” he argued, giving a slight turn of his head to disagree with her. He was about to try to further the argument, but before he could manage, her body suddenly slumped forward. As if on instinct, he caught her, wincing heavily at the pain it caused him to have her body up against his. “Amaryllis,” he repeated in a bit of amusement, his own words fading as he, too, slipped out of consciousness.

* * *

Arms. Such strong arms holding me. Elazul… Did you find me? Amaryllis opened her eyes, turning her head upward slowly to look at him. She blinked several times when she noticed that she was looking at a man with black hair, long enough that it swept down and covered the left half of his face. It was similar to Elazul’s, only parted differently and just a bit longer, but it was certainly not him. He appeared to still be asleep, but further inspection showed her that he was indeed holding her to him, to which she had to blush slightly. Her memory returning, she realized this was her fault, so she quickly pulled herself away from him, finding the position rather uncomfortable, anyway.

The second she pulled herself from his arms, the man grunted, her shift in position changing the pressure he had grown used to on his wounds. He slowly opened his eyes, too, glancing at her and then around the ruined home they were in, acting as though he had never seen it. However, he took a breath after a moment, returning his eyes to her. “You’re awake,” he commented, completely ignoring the fact that he had been asleep. This time, his voice sounded much better, so the rest had done him some good.

“Yes. I apologize for collapsing on you. I hope I wasn’t out too long to put you in any discomfort,” Amaryllis commented, glancing him over now. Blood was visible through the bandages, so she knew she needed to dress them once more. As she reached for where she had left the bandages, though, she realized they were no longer where she left them. Instantly she discovered her own arms were bandaged and even the broken one set in a splint, and the same could be said of her lesser wounds. Why, even her armor had been removed, leaving her in a simple black shirt and skirt. “What?” she questioned, not remembering ever doing any of this.

“You’ve been straining yourself too much. I’m aware of how strong you are, but I didn’t realize how masochistic you must be, too,” he said rather harshly, but he was not trying to be unfriendly with it, either.

Amaryllis had to narrow her eyes at that. “Masochistic? I think not. If I did not continue even with my injuries, I would just be lying there, waiting for death. I would never do such a thing,” she explained to him, grabbing for the bandages and moving closer to him to redress his injuries.

He shook his head, but he did not try to stop her, either. “You’ve been out for two days. Your body obviously understood how badly you were treating it, so why can your mind not accept it? And don’t give me that ‘lying there to die’ crap. You could have easily waited for your injuries to heal. So tell me, Amaryllis, what drove you to push your body so hard?”

Since his words slightly angered her, Amaryllis pulled tightly on his bindings, though it did not satisfy her much when she heard his wince. She sighed, calming herself down because it would not do her any good to be rude to him. “I am more afraid of being on my own than I am of dying. I thought if I kept going, I would find my family or my friends. And soon, anyone was good enough.”

“Interesting. The strongest woman–no, the strongest person in this world is afraid of being alone? I didn’t realize I was dealing with a child,” he commented, a grin coming to his face.

She stared at him for a moment, tempted to say a few things, but she forced herself to dismiss the thought. “There is nothing wrong with feeling that way. No one can exist alone, both for practical and selfish purposes. Especially in a world like this, we need one another to survive.” When she finished with bandaging him, she set the supplies to the side, standing up to go explore the home in better detail.

The man stayed quiet as if thinking on her words, not saying anything for quite some time. She was already rummaging and pulling out various objects from the cabinets and drawers that she could open when he finally decided to talk again. “I do take that back. You’re much more of an adult than anyone I’ve met. I apologize,” he told her, sounding a lot more agreeable than he had previously. “I can see why you’re his woman, Amaryllis.”

With a shrug, she just continued to collect things, finally gathering a pile together and then starting to stack it all neatly on the center of a cloth. “What is your name? And what do you know of Elazul and myself?” she decided to ask, finding herself too curious to not ask the question.

“Dian, an Obsidian Knight of the Jumi, though I left the Bejeweled City a little after Florina was killed. I don’t think you can name a single Jumi, or even a Human, for that matter, that does not know of Elazul, and your name is quite prominent due to your involvement with him and your victories in Geo’s tournaments. Plus, it’s very hard to not know nearly everything about the generals that I served under during a war as large scale as what we’ve just been through. Did you really believe you would remain so secretive after all that?”

Amaryllis decided it better not to answer that, instead trying to tie together the makeshift sack she was making. However, with one hand, it was a very difficult thing to do, and it quickly frustrated her. How did I get so useless? She continued trying to no avail to hold both the string and cloth simultaneously, up until she was suddenly shoved out of the way. Amaryllis glared at Dian, only calming when she saw he was tying the package together for her. “You should not be moving around,” she said, her eyes falling to his bandaged legs.

“And you shouldn’t be trying to do more than you’re physically capable of. You just gave me a speech on needing others to survive, so don’t act like a hypocrite,” he told her, acting like he was perfectly fine despite his injuries. “Here,” he said when he noticed she was not going to be replying, handing her the package. “Now, where are we going?”

“I don’t know. I just do not feel we should remain here. We can stop and rest wherever necessary, but this place has no food or water. Besides, I have a family to find. For some reason I cannot sense any of them, which I assume is due to my current state. So, the only thing I can do is search in this way,” Amaryllis explained, starting to lead him out of the house since she figured he would follow her.

“This war wiped out a lot of people. I’m aware of how strong your family is supposed to be, but you’ve had time enough to recover for something as small as a sensing ability. Did it ever occur to you that they might be dead?” he asked, not really caring if he was cold. He was not going to lie to her.

“Elazul does not die so easily. Nor would Jaeden, and I have high expectations of my other children. Do not treat them so casually if you wish to remain around me,” Amaryllis retorted, clearly angry with what he said. No. I would feel it if he were gone. If any of them were gone, I would know.

“You contradict yourself. I thought you didn’t want to be alone?” he persisted, edging closer to her as if he was intentionally trying to get her angry. It seemed to be working, too, for she started speeding up the moment he drew too close. Unfortunately for him, when he attempted to match her pace, he was forced to remember just how injured he was, and with a bit of a cry, he toppled to the ground.

Because he had succeeded in angering her, Amaryllis just turned and stared at him, watching him coldly. “You are not at liberty to continue your accusations towards me if you, too, are contradicting yourself. Answer me this. Can you stand to travel or not?” she questioned, glaring hard as she waited on his answer.

Dian scoffed, forcing himself back to his feet. He gently brushed off his pants as though it would actually help to clean the dirt, but it was more than likely just a nervous response that he did not care to admit. “My body can move past its limitations because my life solely depends on this core. Don’t you dare make a comment to me again like that, woman. You may be the great Amaryllis, but right now, you’re a weakened and practically helpless Human female with a broken arm and very little energy. I can only imagine what harm I could do to you if you pissed me off, so don’t try it. Got it?” As soon as he finished, before she could argue, he stormed off ahead of her, deciding he wanted to lead the way rather than allowing her to be in charge.

* * *

The sun had long since set again, the moon casting an eerie glow down on the two travelers. Despite their worn conditions, they had managed to walk a good bit of the day without stopping to rest, their bodies very resilient from their previous fighting experience. They spoke very little, avoiding any wasted use of energy to make sure they could travel for as long as possible. Oddly enough, they had found their way into a less-ruined area, and just ahead was what appeared to be a mostly stable village.

“We should rest there for the night,” Amaryllis pointed out, finding that she was growing tired even though she refused to admit that out loud. She wondered why Dian had said nothing yet, but one look at him showed her his eyes were almost glazed over, which did worry her slightly even if she would not say that, either. “Dian. Did you hear me?” she tried once more.

He blinked, looking at her rather oddly for a moment, but he soon turned his eyes to the village. “No. Unlike you, I don’t want to be around other people. You can stay there if you like, but I’ll wait until I see an abandoned shelter to use instead. There’s no reason for me to have to be around Humans,” he explained, quickly turning to the right to just randomly change their direction.

Amaryllis glared, not very fond of what he said, so she found herself grabbing hold of Dian’s arm to stop him. The second she did, he turned around and backhanded her, knocking her to the ground. “Don’t you touch me like that,” he warned her, shaking his hand a bit as he turned since it hurt him to hit her the way he did.

She absently licked at the blood on her lip to remove it, her glare now deadlier than ever. She did not like being made a fool of, and this counted as just that to her. The second he was done speaking, she kicked out, easily knocking him to the ground. She pinned him down, then, with her legs, her good hand hovering over his core with her nails curled at it. “No, you should not be touching me that way. If you continue to mock me and to act in such a rude manner, I will kill you. Do I make myself clear?” she threatened, gently letting her nails touch his core, but she knew enough to not actually damage it.

Dian now glared back at her, but he knew he could not do a thing without making her scratch his core, and he really did not want to be set back on his recovery time. “Fine. But I am not speaking to the Humans. You can take care of that. I certainly hope you feel safe sleeping under the same roof as someone you just threatened to kill, my dear Amaryllis,” he said, managing to grin by the end since he had found the right wording to gain back his pride.

Though she looked like she was about to smack him, Amaryllis got up, offering her hand to him even though she knew he would not take it. “I’m not worried. You are far too weak to harm me,” she replied, turning and walking off towards the village without another word to him. She had more to comment on, but she felt her words were more effective if she left it at that.

She was right, too. He continued to glare, but he obediently followed her into the village, feeling a bit too embarrassed anyway to speak since he had just been bested by a girl. Once inside the town, he lightened his attitude towards her, instead focusing his evil eye on the people they passed. They were not returned, though, for many people in their same conditions were all about the place, apparently trying to salvage what life they could. Dian had several comments he could have made, but he chose to keep his mouth shut since even he had to admit he respected what they were trying to do. Everyone had the right to try to live normally, after all.

Amaryllis led them straight to the inn, glad to see it was not part of the town that had been destroyed. However, upon further inspection, it appeared that many others had the same idea they did, so the place was rather crowded. “It wouldn’t be fair to take your money. Please, we’re offering the lodging free, so find you a space and set yourselves up there,” the innkeeper explained to her, quickly ducking behind the desk. She produced a rather beaten up sleeping bag. “Here,” she then offered, handing over the bedding to Amaryllis.

She had to blink, but Amaryllis nodded, offering a bow of her head in thanks to the innkeeper. Dian muttered something under his breath, but she chose to ignore it, instead leading him away to find a place they could at least sit. After they were out of earshot, he finally decided to speak. “Is that it? We have a sleeping bag to share and barely any space to even do that.”

He watched her for a reaction, but Amaryllis blatantly ignored him, finally spotting a place and gently laying out their bedding like nothing was wrong with it, setting her belongings off to the side. He continued to watch her, waiting on some sort of response, but she refused to give him any this time. Finally, he sighed, doing so in such a way to suggest that he was now annoyed. “I’m not used to the company of others,” he pointed out, sitting down on the floor next to her since he did want the rest, too.

“So I noticed.” She took to sitting, too, finally resting her gaze on him.

And it unnerved him. Those eyes… He looked rather taken aback by having her watch him, honestly not sure what she was getting at by it. He could not tell if she was upset with him or not, and being unable to read her was something he definitely did not like. “…I’m sorry for hitting you earlier,” he said with a more realistic sigh, figuring he did owe her that much. “But you must understand. I’m not a Human sympathizer just because I don’t agree with all of the Jumi’s methods. I’ll tolerate you because you understand, but I am nothing like your Elazul. Expecting me to be just like that is unfair of you.”

Amaryllis looked a bit startled then, staring at him for another few seconds before turning her gaze to the ground. “Yes, I am aware of that. You really do not have to keep reminding me of it,” she replied rather coldly, giving a silent sigh as she slowly laid herself down on the bedding, turning her back to him. “Perhaps you just do not understand. What makes you yourself has not been ripped away from you,” she whispered, closing her eyes as though she were in pain.

Immediately, Dian drew a hand to his forehead, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. He did this as silently as he could, though, not wanting to upset her further since he had not realized that a warrior like her could be so attached to some relationship. What the hell? This woman and her stupid problems. What does she have to make me feel so bad for? Gah…

After a bit of musing on it, though, he did figure he needed to do something. Slowly, he let himself down next to her, wrapping an arm around her from behind and pulling her to him. He had to give a silent wince at that, too, since having anything against his wounded chest hurt. He then took her hand and held it before she could do anything about it, though he was slightly surprised to find no resistance. “Look, I’m not even going to pretend I have a clue about that. From what I’ve seen and heard, though, you are a strong person, and you will make it through this. I don’t know where your Elazul is or if you will ever see him again, but I will do my best to help you find him. Is that fair enough?”

Amaryllis opened her eyes, turning her head slightly to look at him. She was half expecting him to be grinning and making fun of her, but she knew when she saw his face that he was serious. She locked her eyes on his for a few silent moments before turning her head back again, closing her eyes once more.

Dian was about to sigh since he figured he had failed, but he soon felt her squeeze his hand a bit, something that reassured him beyond even his own beliefs. He had to give a smile at it, too, closing his eyes with a breath of relief. He did not quite understand why it made him feel better knowing she was a bit happier, but for now, he did not feel the need to question it since it was bringing on a rather peaceful sleep for the both of them.

* * *

Dian sighed, just watching her carefully as she slept. He had not been up for long, but it was long enough for him to hear her softly saying Elazul’s name several times. It upset him slightly, too, both because his attempts at comforting her seemed to have failed, and, well, he would have to put up with that. Somehow, though, he genuinely felt bad for her now, only able to imagine what it was like to be ripped apart from a family that sounded hard to building the first place. Plus, he believed they were dead since the majority of the people were, now, so she would not be seeing them any time soon.

“Why can’t you be like a normal warrior and have your heart turned cold to everything else? It doesn’t make any sense to me why you would allow yourself to be so attached to someone. You know there is a risk every time you both go into battle. You should be prepared for this sort of thing,” he explained to her, not caring if she was asleep. He actually preferred that, finding it easier to speak without her arguing back.

Of course, he did not take into account that Amaryllis does not sleep through much of anything well. “These emotions you want me to rid myself of have made me stronger. I would not have accomplished so much if not for the motivation it gives. I would have died long ago fighting only for my survival without any real reason to try in the first place. That is no way to live,” Amaryllis explained, sounding a lot less upset now despite the subject.

“It’s strange. Everything I’ve heard about you led me to believe you were a strong, intelligent, but cold-hearted warrior. Elazul, too. But I guess you can’t believe all the rumors,” he commented, gripping her hand a bit more. He raised it up slightly, looking rather amused as he studied it. “Your hands aren’t stained with blood at all.”

Amaryllis followed their arms up to their hands, studying her hand carefully now that he had mentioned it. After seeing it was indeed covered in dried blood from her earlier wounds, she narrowed her eyes, jerking away from him. “Do you take that much pleasure in taunting me?” she accused, quite angry with the statement since she just found it rather rude of him to blatantly point out that she was a bit dirty at the moment.

He had to stare at her, very confused as to what just happened. When he finally figured it out, he chuckled a bit, just gently shaking his head. “No, I meant you aren’t a killer like I would have imagined. That’s all,” he replied, his hand gripping her shoulder for a moment before he finally decided to sit. “But you’re right. You do need a bath, too. If there’s one rumor about you that I don’t want to be a lie, it’s that you’re quite the beautiful woman. Prove it.”

To that she glared hard, wondering how he could keep changing constantly from being kind or rude. “Fine. I insist you do the same,” Amaryllis countered, speaking rather coldly even if she decided she was no longer upset with him. “After we wash up, it would be a good idea to get new clothing and supplies. I will not force you to be in this village or any other for longer than necessary, so we will need to be prepared.”

“I’ll take care of it. You just get cleaned up,” he answered her, immediately beginning to eye her up and down, and he made it rather obvious he was doing so. “Turn around,” he said after a moment, making a motion with his hand.

“Do not even think like that,” she snapped, turning to walk away, but when she noticed he continued to eye her, with more detail, she had to face him once more instead of storming off like she planned. “What is it that–?”

“Your measurements. I figured you’d smack me like most girls would if I asked, so I was figuring it out myself since you weren’t volunteering that information,” he said flatly, shrugging and then turning to leave. “I’ll see what I can find. I doubt they have anything you’ll really like, but we’ll see,” he added, waving a bit as he exited the building.

She sighed once he left, shaking her head a bit at him. He certainly did not make it easy for her to understand him well. But he is right. I cannot keep acting this way. If only he would quit taunting her, she probably would not have been in that state, but still, she could only blame herself.

After finding the rather modern shower, Amaryllis undressed herself and slipped into the shower. The second she was alone under the water, she started scrubbing hard to try to get rid of all the dirt and blood, very tired of feeling so gritty. Yes, she did not act very feminine, but she was very adamant about keeping herself looking decent. Just because she was a warrior did not mean she had an excuse to look horrible, talk crudely, or behave unjustly like others might.

Further inspection showed her just how injured she really was. She knew her arm was shattered and that it would take a while to heal, but she had not realized how many slashes and stabs the rest of her body had taken, even if she was supposedly wearing armor during it all. She could not see it, but she could also feel scratches and bruised skin on her face. Her hair was only in better condition because no one could see where bits and pieces of it had been cut or burned during her fighting; that upset her the most since she did pride herself in how nice she kept her hair. It was actually rather depressing for her to be in the shower and thinking how awful she must have been looking. Amaryllis sighed heavily, just putting her hand to her head as she stood idly under the water, trying to calm herself down since it was silly to be upset about it.

“Amaryllis, would you hurry up? I really don’t want to waste more time than necessary,” she suddenly heard. Her eyes snapped open and she looked ahead, only now realizing just how long she was taking in the shower, especially if Dian had made it back already. “Well?” he asked again, more than likely not knowing her reaction since an opaque curtain separated them.

Removing her hand from her head, Amaryllis quickly shut off the water, figuring she was done if she was letting her mind wander like that. “I apologize. I have quite a bit on my mind,” she explained. Sliding back the curtain, she quickly grabbed a towel and started drying herself off, not caring too much that he was in the room. Of course, he could not see her until she stepped out of the shower, towel wrapped around her neatly. “It’s yours, now.”

While it was rather odd, Dian acted as gentlemanly as he could, keeping his eyes away from Amaryllis to allow her the privacy she should needed. He just assumed once she was walking around that she was decent enough, though, and he finally looked at her. “Oh, thanks,” he said, trailing off a bit since his attention was not at all on what he was saying. His face now slightly flushed, he found his eyes were almost glued to her body; it was very easy for him to see how attractive she really was. “I, er-…” he tried, suddenly blinking and coughing to try to get rid of how flustered he was at that moment. “Clothes for you,” he finally managed, holding out what he had bought her.

It was not hard for her to figure out why he was acting like that, but Amaryllis ignored it for now. She was about to take the clothes from him, but when she realized what removing her hand from her towel would do, she decided against it. “Could you set them down for me? I will dress myself while you shower,” she said, hoping he would not ask too many questions.

“Oh, right,” he said a bit nervously, setting the clothes next to her old ones. He then stepped past her, starting to undress himself without caring if she was watching or not.

Of course, Amaryllis had no interest in that sort of thing, so she did not pay him any mind. Her attention was on the clothing, now, a little upset by it since it just was not what she was used to wearing. She could tell without unfolding it that it was a longer dress, that immediately making her nervous since she needed her mobility. Whether it was from his own taste or him trying to meet hers, it was at least black, so she would have to live with it.

“There wasn’t much of a selection. I tried,” he noted to her, tossing his clothes and wraps to the floor next to what he would be wearing next. His wounds had healed significantly since the night before, so he would not be needing those again. After laying out another towel for himself, Dian slipped into the shower, leaving Amaryllis to herself in the room.

She let her towel drop when he was out of her sights, immediately attempting to dress herself. She was glad she could abandon the bandages as well, but her arm was still going to be out of commission for quite a while. Because of that, she soon found that even dressing herself was practically impossible. Unfolding the dress showed her it was a manageable style for a fighter like herself, the dress splitting at her thighs and having no sleeves to hinder her movement. It took her quite a while to manage to slip her undergarments and that dress on, though, taking nearly the whole time Dian was in the shower.

Dian turned his attention to her the second he was out of the shower, not even bothering to dress yet and just wrapping a towel around his waist. “You’re going to need my help for a while, aren’t you?” he mused, ignoring the slight glare she tried to give. “Here, let me.” He immediately started pulling down on her dress a bit, straightening it out for her before buttoning the few silver fasteners at the top.

“Thank you,” Amaryllis said, but Dian held up a finger to silence her. He then began to fasten the silver braces similar to what she had previously. She gave him an odd look when he slipped behind her to fix her hair for her the way she normally wore it, too, not too sure what to think about his help. He even tied a sash around her to hold her weapon, which he slipped into it where she would be able to reach it with her good arm. Amaryllis was rather amazed with the care he took, not fighting it since she knew she needed it.

“There,” he said rather proudly, taking a step back and looking at her up and down once more. “Just as I’ve heard,” he absently muttered, smiling a bit. “I can afford to have a Guardian like you.”

“I am not your Guardian,” Amaryllis commented, idly slipping her hand under her collar to pull her necklace to the outside of her dress instead. She gently twisted the crystal on the end in her fingers, watching him rather smugly since she had refused his offer.

Dian immediately fixed his eyes on the crystal she had, ignoring her comment since it was not all that important if she believed it or not. “Your necklace emanates some energy to it. Why?” he asked, pretty curious since stones like that were very difficult to find.

“It is my link to my youngest daughter. She has the same pendant, and they are able to locate one another,” she explained, shaking her head slightly as she let go of it. “I don’t understand why it is not working now. Even if my energy is low, it should not affect the workings of the crystal.”

He sighed, shaking his head to her as he turned to go find his clothes and dress himself now that she was done. “They don’t work if the crystal was destroyed,” he finally had to point out, keeping his back to her so he did not have to see her response. “And, assuming she keeps it around her neck like you do, that probably means something happened to her for it to be damaged.”

Amaryllis winced silently at that, turning her eyes away from him both so he could dress and because she was a bit upset. “No. I would prefer to assume it is related to the destruction of the Mana Goddess. I am sure that changed the flow of energy significantly in this world,” she decided, preferring to think that way since just assuming her child was dead did not settle well with her.

“Fine. You can prefer it all you want, but it doesn’t make it true. I wish you wouldn’t deny what is the obvious truth. It’s not healthy,” he explained, pulling his cloak over his head and situating it properly. “Now, I’m ready to go. I’ll carry everything, so just follow along. At least until your arm heals, I will be your Knight, and in exchange, you are my Guardian. Let’s be off,” he said, walking past Amaryllis and out the door. He did not even have to glance back to know she was following him, a silent agreement to his proposal.

* * *

“You have yet to tell me anything about yourself. I do not have any intention of staying around someone I know nothing about for very long,” Amaryllis finally brought up after a long stretch of silence, actually finding it strangely awkward to continue to follow him without a sound.

“What’s there to tell? I gave you my name and my origins. There really isn’t much else about me,” Dian answered her, lightly shrugging in response. He threw his head back against his shoulder, eyeing her with a smirk. “Why? You that interested in me already?” he joked.

She shot him a glare. “You think too highly of yourself. I was merely asking because I cannot bring myself to trust someone like you, someone who hides his identity behind such irksome banter such as that.”

“You don’t trust me? I would think if I was going to harm you, I’d have done it already. You’ve let your guard down several times with all the uncertainty you have at the moment, so no matter how powerful you are, I could have easily taken you down. As I said before, you’re a weak Human girl at this moment. So don’t even make me laugh with comments like that.”

“You fail to consider exactly what I know and what I can do. If you think I am so weak as to solely rely on my arms in a battle, you are very mistaken. The prestige I’ve gained is not without merit. I will admit you have your points, but you have little to back them beyond your words. Now, all I asked for was a more detailed description of yourself. I wasn’t intending to start a petty argument over which one of us is stronger, because strengths are to be determined by subject matter, not overall. Will you answer me or not, Dian?”

He sighed, then, giving quite the smile. “I was beginning to think you were so wrapped up in your own world that you didn’t even know my name,” he answered her smugly, completely ignoring everything else she had said to him since the last word was all he cared about from it.

“Do you have to be so ignorant? I asked you a simple question. Answer it,” she suddenly demanded, getting very tired of the game he seemed to be playing on her.

“Amaryllis, there are some things better left unsaid. You should know that, too, since I don’t see you volunteering much information to me. Now, would you quit it with the nonsense? If you want to know about me, you should ask rather than having some stupid excuse with it, and if I say no, then stop pressing me about it. It’s so very simple.”

She continued to glare at him, narrowing her eyes a bit more after a moment. He had only been giving her a few random looks, but he stopped then, matching her gaze. After what appeared to be a heated staring contest, Amaryllis turned her head up rather proudly. “Don’t you dare speak to me that way,” she said mockingly, almost a complete change of tone.

Dian suddenly looked angry, flicking his wrists skillfully. His sleeves tore as two curved blades shot out from beneath them, and he got into a battle stance in front of her. “Do you want to say that again, woman?” he said to her coldly, moving his arm a bit to threaten her.

“You really think you can harm me?” Amaryllis replied, a smirk coming to her face. She was very grateful then that she could fight with her left hand alone, and she quickly pulled the hilt of her weapon from her belt. When she held it before her, the reddish beam shot from it, producing her blade. “Just try me,” she challenged.

“I think I will,” he answered, grinning a bit before launching himself at her, attacking her right. At the same moment, Amaryllis attempted to attack his right, too, both easily breezing past one another. It took very little time for a few nasty screams to be heard, their weapons tearing into the bodies of a few hidden creatures that had been lurking in all the debris of fallen trees.

“Only fools would fall into such an ill-planned ambush,” Amaryllis said, jerking her neck a bit as a sign for whomever else was hiding to show themselves. Dian just reached out and tried jerking the people on his end out, tossing two armored men to the ground between him and Amaryllis. She just watched as a third with his head hung low moved to join them, leaving his fallen comrade there.

“You’re knights? How insulting to your people that you’ve become such petty thieves! I can smell the blood of those you’ve killed out of your greed! Was this world not already damned enough without you damning it further?!” Dian yelled at the men, waving an arm about rather angrily since he hated to see such cowardice from people that were known to be so noble. “I ought to slit all your throats now.”

“There ain’t nothing left. You gotta kill to survive in a place like this. And don’t be spittin’ off that righteous crap to us when I bet you’d do anything to live, too,” one of the men spat, still nursing his arm from where Dian had sliced it. He got rounds of agreements from his friends.

“I’d never reduce myself to such trash!” Dian shouted in return, about to strike the man when suddenly a young girl leapt out of the bushes at him, tackling him to the ground. She somehow easily pinned him by sitting on his chest, holding his arms down so he could not cut her. “What the hell?!” he said in surprise.

“Shiny…” the girl began, her eyes focused solely on his core at the moment. As if she had totally forgotten what she was doing, she let go of Dian’s arms, her hands headed for the black gem embedded in his body.

Amaryllis was on that quickly, grabbing the girl by her collar and pulling her away from Dian. “If you don’t wish to die, then I would advise against touching that. Now who are you?” she had to ask the girl, caring more about her than the bandits. Anyone able to slip through their detection had to be pretty skilled, and this was clearly just a child.

“Hey, never mind her!” Dian protested, getting up just as the other men started scrambling away from them during the distraction. He made a move to follow them, but when he realized that would be pointless, he turned back to Amaryllis and the girl. Immediately he grabbed the child out of Amaryllis’s hold, shaking her quite threateningly since he was angry. “What were you thinking, girl?!”

Amaryllis simply glared at that, shaking her head. “Set her down. No one is going to answer a raving lunatic, so please do not act like one,” she said to Dian, who immediately looked embarrassed with his behavior.

The girl giggled. “Yeah, Lunatic,” she said as he set her down on the ground, grinning wildly. Or, at least she would have, had Amaryllis not taken that moment to smack her solidly in the jaw, knocking the girl to the ground. “That hurt, you wench!” she screamed back.

“I did not intend to bring you amusement with that. You have attacked my partner, and I demand to know who you are and why you have done it,” Amaryllis replied, completely ignoring the girl’s comment. Dian looked like he was about to do something instead, but she simply held a hand up to stop him.

Rather than answering her, the girl stuck out her tongue, withdrawing it only when Amaryllis threatened the child with her hand again. “Okay, okay! My name is Jasmine. I attacked you because those thieves were after you, and I thought that maybe I could get the money instead. If you give me that shiny gem, I’ll leave you alone, though,” she said with a smile, pointing to Dian’s core.

“No way,” Dian snapped immediately, looking quite annoyed with the girl. “Let’s go, Amaryllis. She’s just some Human brat,” he said right after, walking towards Amaryllis to pull her along. He managed to grab her shoulder, but since Amaryllis did not budge, he could do no more.

“What need do you have to be a thief? I am sure your family is worried about you. You should go to them,” Amaryllis tried, sounding somewhat compassionate for the girl, now. She broke away from Dian’s grip, kneeling down before the girl and holding her hand out to help her stand.

Jasmine glared at first, but finally accepted Amaryllis’s hand. “I need the money because I’m alone. I got separated from my parents in one of the raids, so I can’t go to them. But if you give me some money, I can get someone to help me!” she explained fervently, clasping her hands together in a pleading manner.

Amaryllis shook her head. “No, I have no money to offer you, and you cannot have his core or any of our supplies. The best I can do for you is to offer to help find your family with you. Will that suffice?” she tried, giving a bit of a smile to show she was serious.

All Dian could do was roll his eyes, knowing better than to try to talk Amaryllis out of this. The second the girl mentioned family, he had known that, since it hit too close to home for Amaryllis to ignore. He sighed heavily to show his displeasure, but of course he was ignored. I hate Humans. I hate ‘em.

Unfortunately, Jasmine heard it, and that just sealed the deal for her. “Really? You mean it?” she said happily, immediately springing at Amaryllis to hug her. “Thank you so much! And after I attacked you and everything! Thank you!”

Another smile crossed Amaryllis’s face, and she gently placed her arm around the girl. Dian saw this, actually giving a bit of a smile himself since at least it seemed to make her happy. “Well, whatever. Let’s get going, ladies. I didn’t intend to stand around all day.”

Jasmine gently pulled herself away from Amaryllis, looking at her and then acting very curious when she looked at Dian. “Why do you hang around such a stupid guy? Is he like your brother or something?” she asked, sounding like she had no clue and that it was an innocent question.

But it certainly angered Dian. “Girl, don’t even try to mess with me. Amaryllis and I are partners, not siblings. And if you call me stupid again, I’ll-”

“That’s enough, Dian. Let’s be on our way,” Amaryllis interrupted, not going to sit through an argument between him and the girl. Instead, she started walking, and Jasmine immediately skipped behind her to follow, though it took Dian a few moments to finally agree as well.

* * *

The girl proved to be quite a talker, not shutting up the entire walk. Because of that, Dian grew tired a lot faster, and Amaryllis had to agree with that as well. Jasmine was full of energy and did not really understand their need to stop in the middle of nowhere when she could keep going, but she at least did not argue. Instead, she sat down with them at their makeshift campground, trying to remain calm while Dian set up a tent.

“Hey, Amaryllis, why are you really traveling with him?” she asked once Dian was preoccupied, leaning in closer on her hands and knees. Jasmine was grinning wildly, obviously up to something. “Is it because he’s cute? Because he’s a jerk, but he is cute. And I swear I’m gonna scream if he’s your boyfriend!”

Amaryllis blinked, looking a bit taken aback by that, but she shook her head. “No, it isn’t like that. I found Dian while searching for my own family, and we have just been traveling together since for convenience. I am already very much in love with another, so it is impossible for me to be thinking like you say,” she explained, though the girl did not seem like she would understand well.

“In love? Oooh, I see. So you already have a hot boyfriend. And your family? Just your parents, or brothers or sisters, too?” Jasmine persisted, now stretching out on the ground to talk to her. She lay down on her stomach, propping her chin up in her hands, tossing her head back and forth a bit. “I bet you miss them.”

“I actually left my parents and sister long ago. I do not regret that, and I will not call them my family,” Amaryllis replied, sounding a bit colder with that statement, but she softened up quickly. “No, I am searching for my lover and our children. They are my family. We were also separated in the war, like you and your family.”

“Wow, someone as good looking like you has kids? I thought you were too young for them,” Jasmine said with a giggle. She briefly glanced at Dian as he came to sit next to Amaryllis, grinning a bit at him without a word since even that agitated him. “Don’t you think she looks too young for kids?” she asked him.

Dian looked surprised at that, his face reddening slightly as he looked between Amaryllis and Jasmine. “I… I guess. But it’s only because Elazul must have made her ageless at a young age,” he quickly replied, not really wanting to fall into the trap Jasmine was apparently trying to set.

“I’m sure she still would have been really pretty now, though,” Jasmine said in a singsong voice, turning her attention from Amaryllis to Dian instead. “So do you have kids or something, too? Or were you too jerky to get a girlfriend?”

He glared at her, again looking flustered since this girl just annoyed him easily. “I don’t have any kids. People like you make me glad I didn’t. And no, I haven’t had a girlfriend because no one has interested me like that. I-”

“Oh. So you just can’t get one. I thought so,” she interrupted, giggling quite a bit at Dian’s immediate blushing. “Too bad. Maybe if you stop acting all mean and actually be nice for once, you could get someone as cool as Amaryllis. Next time we hit a town, you should try it and see. You don’t look half bad, so yeah, it’d work.”

“Jasmine, why is it that you are so interested in our relationship status? I’m certain that if Dian wished to be with someone, he would have been already, so there is no need to be so rude to him, all right?” Amaryllis tried, noticing that it would not be a good idea to continue to aggravate Dian for much longer. He looked relieved at that.

“Oh, just curious, is all. I’ve never had a boyfriend, but my friends used to tell me pretty stories, so I’ve been interested. You should tell me all about yours some time, Amaryllis,” she piped up, nodding enthusiastically. Then, she gave a yawn, sitting up and stretching. “But I’m getting tired now, so I think I’m gonna go to bed. I’ll see you in a bit, Amaryllis! Have fun sleeping outside, Dian!”

“Good night, Jasmine,” Amaryllis replied as Jasmine headed for the tent, watching her carefully until she was gone. Dian muttered something that might have been a reply, but more than likely it was an insult. Luckily, Amaryllis was not paying enough attention to know what it was.

“She’s a brat,” he said flatly as soon as they were alone, not even going to hide the fact that he did not like her.

“No, I do not think so. There is more to her actions than you are aware of,” Amaryllis said, shaking her head somewhat since even she did not know why she understood what the girl was doing. “I also had a daughter similar to her. She was the only one of our family that refused to fight, or do anything useful, for that matter. All she cared about was herself.”

“That’s called a brat, Amaryllis,” he answered, not too sure where she was going with that. “Anyway, I didn’t realize you had a child like that. I thought all your children were powerful and making a name for themselves. Your eldest daughter especially is a popular subject.”

She shook her head to that. “I have five children. Jaeden tried very hard to be like her father, so of course you have heard of her. Lazale has been doing the same, and Acacia follows in my footsteps. Erid and Ariné, however, have much different goals. Erid can fight, but he focused more on his studying, and I am glad he has chosen for himself what he wants to be. I do not know anything of Ariné’s status anymore, even before the war began…”

“Even before? Why, what happened? Was she kidnapped or did she run off with some guy?” Dian asked, actually rather interested even though if he realized that, he would have kicked himself for it.

“Elazul threw her out. He had to after she continually displayed her selfish behavior, even to the point of harming my youngest girl,” she explained, looking a little upset about that. “We have not seen or heard from her in at least fifteen years.”

Dian nodded, noticing she was upset, so he scooted a bit closer to her. “Do you miss her? Even if she did something that bad?” he had to ask, wondering how she could have an attachment to someone that just sounded like a failure in every shape and form.

“I do. She is my daughter. After the way my parents treated me, I refused to treat my children like that. They wished for me to be something I was not. If Ariné was not a fighter, I could not force her to be. She grew up being herself, and that is all I could ask her for.”

“…But don’t you think you could have at least taught her not to be a brat? Sure, you didn’t have to force her to fight, but, uh, most parents still teach their children common etiquette,” he had to say, already cringing since her figured he would anger her.

And he did, slightly. “I am well aware of that,” she snapped, closing her eyes so she would not anger herself too much. “I did not say she was without faults. And yes, allowing a child to go unpunished creates a brat. That is our fault, too. Our attention was on training Erid and Jaeden, and Ariné was neglected quite a bit. By the time we even thought to consider that, Acacia had been born, Erid had become quite the demon child, and the damage was done to Ariné. I do not know what you want me to say to you. Ariné, Elazul, and I all had our faults in her upbringing,” she concluded, hoping that would satisfy him since her errors being pointed out to her upset her even more.

Dian just watched her, regretting a bit of what he said since he knew how upset he had made her. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I was just curious. The Jumi don’t embrace failures like that. There’s always been strict training to avoid it, and more training until it just won’t happen. I just wanted to understand why you thought the way you did since I don’t understand it myself,” he explained, reaching out to gently touch her shoulder.

She stared at his arm, finally reaching up and laying her free hand on it. “I see. Then just understand this: she was my daughter, and I loved her. As much as I hope for Elazul’s, Jaeden’s, and my other children’s safety, I also hope for hers.” When she finished, she fell silent, letting her head drop a bit to hide her face. That had easily made her tear up, and she knew that while she was not sobbing, there were a few tears running down her cheeks.

The second Dian noticed her tears, he grabbed her and pulled her to him, embracing her tightly. “Amaryllis…” he said, not too sure what to tell her. All he could think to do was just hold her while she cried, though he wished he could do more. “I told you I’d help you find them. I mean it. We’ll find them.”

Amaryllis did not say a word to him, nor did she start crying any harder as he probably expected her to do. She just tried to stop her crying instead, though since she knew he was expecting some sort of feedback, she let her good arm slowly wrap around him. It was not the most comfortable position, but it would do for now. “Thank you, Dian,” she whispered after a while, owing him at least that much. So she had lied to Jasmine. Dian was not a simple convenience; he meant so much more to her than that. He was her friend.

* * *

“Come on! It’s faster if you run!” Jasmine shouted at them, skipping on ahead since her hyperactivity had returned. A few days had passed by since she had met them, but she was certainly enjoying the new company. Never once had they seen the girl without a smile, and her cheerfulness seemed to rub off onto Amaryllis and Dian as well.

“Slow down, would you? You’re not all injured like we are,” Dian muttered, giving a roll of his eyes at Jasmine’s actions. He still had to smirk, though, admitting to himself again that this girl was exactly what they needed rather than just a brat. “Besides, I told you thousands of times already that we don’t even know where we’re going, so it’s pointless to be trying to run there.”

“Nuh-uh! If we run, then maybe we’ll find where we’re going and then we’ll be there that much faster. Geez, don’t you know anything?” she retorted, giggling as she turned around to face them. She slowed down this time, just walking backwards and grinning at the two of them.

“I think she’s got you there, Dian. That is a rather difficult thing to argue with,” Amaryllis said with a smirk, though she gave a slight shake of her head. “However, Jasmine, if you don’t mind, I would much prefer to walk. We may be in a bit of a hurry, but that is no reason to exhaust ourselves or to miss important details out of our haste. You do understand that, right?”

“Aw, okay. But only because you say so, Amaryllis!” Jasmine replied, immediately falling back. She latched on to Amaryllis’s left arm, clinging to her affectionately.

Since she had started doing that from the day they started traveling with her, it was not an unusual thing, so Amaryllis allowed it without much thought. “I will admit my surprise, though. Are you intentionally avoiding any towns and cities, Dian? I would have believed that we would have at least seen one by now. I haven’t even noticed remnants of one in days.”

“I honestly don’t know. We’ve long since passed the areas I knew how to navigate, so I’m just going in the direction that feels right to me. You could always lead if you prefer,” he offered, stepping out of her way with a sweep of his hands to show he was serious about that.

“He’s gonna follow the girls because we’re that much cooler,” Jasmine said, gently jerking on Amaryllis’s arm. She wanted to lead, having a better idea of this place even though it was still quite unfamiliar to her, but at least she had grown up nearby. Amaryllis always seemed to comply with her, just walking in the direction Jasmine pulled her. “I think my parents would be in a town, so yeah, we need to find that. What about you guys? Would your kids go to a town and ask around and stuff, Amaryllis?”

“No, not my children. They do not do well around large groups of people, and I would not expect them to be in any town. If anything, I expect them to return home to regroup there. That is where I plan to go when I figure out which way that is,” she explained, managing to say it quite calmly. The past few days with Dian and Jasmine had calmed her considerably, so she was not randomly upsetting herself anymore.

“Do you really think if you can’t even find your home that they can?” Dian asked, and Amaryllis immediately turned to look at him. The second that happened, he quickly added, “We’re more likely to find them on our way there instead. If they’re lost, too, then I think that’s a higher possibility.”

“Shh, you’re hurting your chances with her when you make those sorts of statements,” Jasmine replied, putting a finger to her curled lips. “I know you don’t want to do that.”

Dian sighed, rolling his eyes yet again. “How many times do I have to tell you I am not doing anything like that?!” he yelled at her, not even blushing this time since he had actually grown used to her teasing him over the very same thing. “It’s just more likely that-”

“Thank you, Dian. I am aware of that,” Amaryllis interrupted, not allowing the fight to continue any more than necessary. Both quarrelers fell silent immediately. “In any case, perhaps we should find a town. Our food is running low, and I have also not seen many animals to hunt to fix that problem. Is that all right?” she said, only asking since Dian had expressed his dislike for Humans the last time they were in a town.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll let it slide this time. A decent bed for the night wouldn’t hurt, either. The ground is hell on my back,” he replied, throwing the last bit in there as more of a joke than a complaint. He was more than willing now to let Amaryllis do whatever she pleased since it seemed to make her happy.

“You sound like an old geezer if the ground is hurting your back,” Jasmine added, sticking her tongue out at Dian. He looked slightly angered by that, and when she realized that, she let go of Amaryllis’s arm and ran forward, taking off before he could catch her. “Let’s go this way!” she called back to them, following her own whims this time.

By mid-afternoon, Jasmine had located a town with her incessant dashing here and there. She proudly pointed it out, holding her chin up high as she and the others strode into it. “See, I’m so great at this, aren’t I?” she beamed.

“Of course you are. You’re so great at being annoying that you make my head spin,” Dian snapped, though since he was in a particularly good mood, he sounded more like he was just joking with her, and perhaps he really was.

“Ha ha, very funny. You know, you should be a comedian, Dian. …Hey! Your name goes well with that! Comedian!” Jasmine suddenly pointed out, laughing very much at that.

He immediately looked very flustered, not too happy with what she had just said. “My name has nothing to do with comedy. I am an Obsidian Knight, not some cheap harlequin, and I don’t appreciate you even comparing me to that,” he argued, definitely not going to let her get away with it.

“Could have fooled me. And you don’t look like a Knight. Where’s your fancy armor and sword and horse? And your army, for that matter? Some Knight,” she scoffed, shrugging. Dian was about to protest again, but Jasmine quickly seemed to have her interest sparked by something else, and she ran off down the street.

“Dian,” Amaryllis cut in, gently grabbing his hand to stop him from going after her. “Do not take what she says to heart. She does not understand your definition of a Knight. Otherwise she would see just how true you are to the title,” she said to him, gently squeezing his hand a bit.

Though he seemed a little surprised, Dian could not help but form a smile with her compliment. “Thank you. You certainly do your duty as a Guardian,” he answered, returning her squeeze of his hand.

“No. It has nothing to do with that. I would not lie just to follow a duty of a Guardian,” she replied, shaking her head somewhat since it disappointed her that he would think the words were not truly her own.

He gave a slight laugh, reaching out with his free hand and pulling her hand closer to him. “I know, I know. I was just surprised to hear you praising me, is all.” Dian paused, then continued, “Your words touch me, my lady.” When he concluded his sentence, he brought her hand to his lips, gently kissing her fingers before letting her go.

Amaryllis felt her face redden, but she let him do as he pleased, turning away a bit when he was done. “Perhaps you should be one of the other sorts of Knights. You seem to behave more like them than I last figured,” Amaryllis said with a slight smirk.

“Aw, not you, too! I was only teasing you again,” Dian explained, acting a bit childish now since he really did not want to be taunted by her of all people.

She chuckled, nodding her head to him. “I know. I just thought I would return the favor.” Amaryllis then reached for his hand again, starting to pull him with her into the town. “Now, let us go find Jasmine. With her energy, she is probably almost through with this place, and we have quite a bit to gather before we leave.”

“Yeah, she’s a handful, all right. But I guess she’s not so bad. She seems to have energized you, and so I at least owe her thanks for that,” he said, following along beside her willingly. He did not even seem to mind the random women and children giving them looks as they walked by, which was odd considering his previous protest about being around Humans.

“Hey, guys! Why do you always take so long?! I hope I never run into any trouble and need your help because I’d be dead before you got there!” Jasmine called out when she finally saw them, waving her arm like a lunatic to get their attention.

“Hold your horses, Jaz,” Dian called out to her, shaking his head at what she said.

“No way! You’re the Knight, so you should have the horses to hold. Oh, wait, I forgot!” Jasmine retorted, immediately bursting into laughing again.

Dian let out an exasperated sigh, wishing Jasmine would give up on that. He did have to act a bit surprised when he started getting some rather obvious looks from some of the women around there. “…What?” he asked one nearby, genuinely curious about it since he had not ever seen someone look at him in that manner. He just had to blink when the woman looked fearful and scurried off into a house.

“Dian, stop scaring off all the people! They didn’t do anything to you, so it’s not nice,” Jasmine told him as she got closer, frowning at him. He was about to protest again, but she just held up a hand to stop him. “Come on. The inn is this way. You wanted a bed, so come buy us one!”

He sighed, looking around again at the people, but only when Amaryllis gave him a reassuring squeeze of her hand did he finally decide it did not matter. “Okay. Let’s go,” he said, motioning for Jasmine to lead the way to the inn.

* * *

Night had fallen a few hours ago; the three travelers had easily purchased a room that would comfortably hold them. Dian had plenty of money tucked away, which had angered Jasmine when she found out since she thought they were nearly broke, but she had long since gotten over that. Instead, she was stretched out on the bed, watching Amaryllis closely as she listened to more of her stories of her family. Dian had headed off for a shower, so it was currently just the two of them there.

“He sounds so mean,” Jasmine replied after Amaryllis finished telling her a bit about Elazul, not really getting the whole awe factor about him. “Oh, wait, are you one of those girls that like the bad boys? Because, yeah, I think he gets that category. But yeah. He sounds really mean.”

Amaryllis almost glared, but she stopped herself, shaking her head quite a bit. “No, not at all. He is just cautious. How would you feel if the people you fought for suddenly disowned you? If someone you loved turned against you? There is so much more to it than being ‘mean,’ Jasmine. I have never met a more loving person in my life, nor do I expect to or even wish to,” she tried explaining. The look Jasmine gave her showed she probably did not do a very good job.

“Maybe you haven’t because he was the first guy you met, so you don’t know any better? Because when my friends talked, their boyfriends were always really affectionate and sweet. This guy sounds like he cared for you and all, but not like he ever showed it unless it was jumping into some battle and getting killed. But even then, people do that all the time for others they don’t even love. If he loved you, wouldn’t he save himself, too, so you won’t have to grieve? It’s kind of selfish if you ask me.” Jasmine rocked her head a bit in her hands before turning over, spreading her arms out as she fell down on the bed. “Just selfishness to say ‘hah, I died for you, so I win.’ That’s not love.”

“No, you are wrong. You just can’t understand it,” Amaryllis replied, speaking through practically clenched teeth. She could not blame Jasmine for her opinion, but she did feel the girl should not have the audacity to speak like that when she really did not have experience with the subject. “It was never like that at all.”

Jasmine just ignored her, her eyes now closed as she lay on the bed. Her breathing was starting to become normal, too, implying she was going to sleep already. Apparently she really did not care to hear Amaryllis’s side of the story, only approving of her own singular opinion of the matter.

Amaryllis gave a bit of a shudder since she was quite angry now, forcing herself to stand up so that she did not take that anger out on the girl. The first door she saw took her out to the balcony, and she was very glad for that escape. It was a bit cold outside, but at least the chilly air gave her mind a different thing on which to focus, though she wished both of her arms worked so that she could try to warm herself. The view was not spectacular; all that she could see was another endless stretch of land, more of which would keep her from her home.

“You shouldn’t stand out here and freeze,” Dian spoke up, gently draping his cloak around her shoulders. “Are you all right? I really would have thought you to be smarter than that, Amaryllis,” he said, moving to stand next to her since he figured she would be uncomfortable if he hovered behind her for too long.

Amaryllis gently pulled the cloak more around her, turning her eyes towards him after he stood beside her. “I am fine. Jasmine just said a bit more than I wanted to hear. It’s nothing, though, so I am trying to think of something else,” she replied, actually caring to share what was troubling her now.

“Eh, that girl doesn’t know when to shut up. But I wouldn’t worry about it, really. You see what she does to me all the time. She really likes you, so I’m sure she didn’t mean to offend you the way she does to me,” he tried, sighing a bit since he did not understand why Jasmine acted like that.

She shook her head, sighing a little. “No, she does not mean to offend you at all. She is teasing you because she has a crush on you,” Amaryllis said suddenly, just watching him for his reaction.

“…A crush? What? No way,” Dian replied immediately, looking quite taken aback by that statement. When Amaryllis did not admit to joking, though, he realized she was serious, to which he just had to ask. “Why would you say that? I haven’t done anything nice for her, and she hasn’t done anything nice for me.”

“That doesn’t matter. The first things she said about you were that you were cute, and she wanted to know if you had a girlfriend. She only asked me because she was disguising her question. She may be clinging to me most of the time, but it is only to make you jealous.” She acted almost coldly towards him, too, as she spoke, though she did not actually intend it.

Dian just blinked. “I don’t like her like that, Amaryllis. She’s just a child, and that bratty stuff really doesn’t turn me on any. I wouldn’t even have her with us if it weren’t for you,” he insisted, looking a little desperate to make her believe him.

Amaryllis merely nodded. “You have nothing to worry about, Dian. You do not even have to tell her that you know. She will more than likely never say a word to you about it,” she assured him, able to tell how distressed it made him.

That did not seem to satisfy Dian. “No, Amaryllis, I mean it. I don’t have any feelings for her.”

She just shrugged, looking at him a little curiously. “I understand that, Dian. You do not have to convince me of it,” she answered, not too sure why he was trying to hard.

“I just want you to understand that I don’t,” he replied, gently reaching out for her shoulder to turn her towards him. “I’m here for you, not that girl. You know that, right?” he persisted.

Amaryllis stared at him, her coldness she had been showing disappearing for the moment. When she saw how he was looking at her, she had to return it with a bit of compassion, though it also frightened her a bit even though that part she did not understand. “Dian, I love Elazul,” she had to tell him, hoping he would not go any further than he already had.

“Elazul is dead, Amaryllis. I’m sorry, I told you I would help you find him, I know. But he’s dead. You would have sensed him by now if he weren’t, and even if by some chance that didn’t work, he would have found you. That’s the only explanation, so please, stop denying it. I’m really sorry, but please believe me. Please,” Dian pleaded with her, pulling her closer to him by her shoulders.

She flinched, looking like he had just struck her harshly. The fact was that she did trust Dian now, and to hear him tell her Elazul was dead was very conflicting. His earnest speech also made her want to believe him, but how could she ever believe Elazul was gone? “He isn’t-”

“Yes, he is! Please accept it! Amaryllis, I only want what’s best for you. I wouldn’t be telling you something that I know is hurting you if I didn’t believe it. So please, stop telling yourself he is. Move on…”

“Move on…?” Amaryllis repeated, slowly starting to shake her head since she did not want to do that. She could not if she thought Elazul was still alive, yet here was Dian, telling her otherwise. “I can’t…”

“Yes, you can. Please. You can move on with me,” he suggested earnestly, getting quite a shocked look back from Amaryllis. Rather than letting her reply, Dian immediately kissed her, pulling her to him as lovingly as he could. “I love you, Amaryllis. So please, don’t torment yourself anymore. We can be happy together.”

Amaryllis again resumed her staring, still torn in what she wanted to believe. However, when Dian kissed her again, she did not try to fight it, not really feeling right in refusing it. But Elazul… Dian… She did not know what to believe right then. When he pulled back from her lips once more, Amaryllis just grabbed hold of him, hugging him to her as the best response she could give for the moment.

* * *

The door slammed open; Amaryllis immediately woke, untangling herself from Dian’s arms so she could sit up in the bed. Dian followed her, looking just as confused as the two of them laid eyes on a group of armored men coming towards them. Neither looked at each other; instead, both rolled off to their respective sides of the bed, immediately grabbing their weapons and brandishing them before the men. “What is the meaning of this?” Dian asked, looking as threatening as he possibly could in the hopes that he could make the men leave.

“All able-bodied men in this village were ordered by Lord Frederick to join the army. Did you think we would not find a deserter like yourself?” one of the men spoke, holding up a piece of paper that supposedly held the decree on it. “You are to be arrested, and you can either take your place in the army, or you can suffer in the depths of the dungeon. Either way, you aren’t getting off so easily.”

Dian glared. “I’m not a part of this village, and I won’t join an army for a kingdom in which I hold no loyalties. Now, leave us, and I’ll forgive you for disturbing our sleep,” he attempted, waving his hand as if he really did control the men.

All five of them just stared in surprise for a few moments, finally bursting out into a round of laughter at how Dian was behaving. “Did you hear him, Jacques? ‘Leave us,’ he says. He’ll ‘forgive’ us! Hah!” one of the men spoke, bursting out into even more laughter with his friends.

Since Dian had not handled it well, though through no fault of his own, Amaryllis stepped forward. “I am General Amaryllis Youran of the Pursuit forces. Surely you would not dare defy me, if you value your life,” she said, not about to allow them to arrest Dian.

Again the men broke into fits of laughter. “This girl thinks she’s a mighty general. Get a load of these people!” one hollered, slapping his knee from the humor he found in her statement. However, since he had to at least feign politeness to women, he tried to calm himself for a moment. “With all due respect, ma’am, you look like nothing more than a fragile girl. You’re surely not the General. Please don’t make this any harder than it should be. Your boyfriend’s coming with us, so step aside,” he continued, making his way towards them.

Amaryllis did not budge, instead pointing the beam of her sword outward, stopping the man in his tracks. “Do not take me lightly. I will kill you if you intend to touch him or the girl,” she threatened, her attention focused on his movement now. If he did one thing she did not approve of, she could easily slice through him with the sword Lucas had made for her; when she found him, she would yet again have to praise him for it.

“What girl are you talking about?” the man asked, turning his head all about the room. “First you tell me you’re the great General Amaryllis. Now you’re saying there are more people here than there really are. You’re delusional, girl! The next thing you’re going to tell me is that you expect me to believe that weapon of yours is real! It looks like a badly made flashlight!” he joked, beginning his laughing yet again.

He did not laugh for long; Amaryllis wasted no time in thrusting her blade into his chest. “Then if the child is not present, I have no need to hold back on your deaths,” she answered him, pulling the blade upward and making a quick downward sweep, his body falling into pieces. She then glanced back to Dian. “Where is Jasmine?” she asked him, sounding a bit frantic with that since she did not want the girl taken into custody on their account.

Dian shook his head, quickly scanning the room, but he saw no signs of the girl. “I don’t know,” he answered, quickly returning his attention to the other men that were staring at him and Amaryllis. They seemed to be both horrified and angry at the same time, which was not a good combination. “We’ll find her after we deal with them. She’s fine, I’m sure,” he explained to her.

“You! You killed him! You’ll pay for that!” one of the other men shouted, immediately leaping for Amaryllis. She just looked up at him, acting as though his leaping were no big deal, and it probably wasn’t since she could eliminate anyone easily. He, however, was not aware of that, and he swung at her with his blade. When the sword split into two as it hit hers, he just stood there, dumbfounded. “W-what?”

“Pathetic. Now stop this and leave before you, too, lose your life. I do not think that is an unreasonable demand,” Amaryllis told him, hoping to avoid more bloodshed since she did not take pride in killing. She did what was necessary to accomplish whatever goal she had at the time.

The man half-glared at her, but he stumbled back, glancing at his comrades. “We’re under orders. We have to-”

“You have to go away if you don’t want to die,” Dian cut in, taking his place next to Amaryllis. “Leave, or you’ll end up like him, as my partner clearly explained to you. It’s a fair deal,” he reiterated, mostly doing so to feel important. No matter how strong Amaryllis was, he was still a man that had a bit of pride to keep.

The man called Jacques suddenly stepped forward, though he did not approach either fighter. Instead, he gave a toss of his head to the men. “Bring in the girl,” he said to them, one of the men immediately slipping out of the door. “Well, you seem to have lived up to your reputation, General Amaryllis,” he said, almost taunting her. She merely glared, so he gave a sigh in response. “But you are a war deserter, are you not? And here you are, defying orders of a great lord. You can’t expect your actions to go unpunished.”

“No, wait a minute. Amaryllis never intentionally left the war. If she did, she wouldn’t be wandering around in this god-forsaken town listening to idiots like you,” Dian interjected, about to say more when Amaryllis shook her head. He took that as a sign she did not want him to explain, so he silenced himself.

“That may be true, but as a general, it is her duty to win. She and those Jumi generals… They freed us from the Goddess just to be enslaved by that damn Emperor Cain!” Jacques protested, about to brandish his own blade when his friend stopped him. “You’ll get yours. You’ll pay for what you’ve done,” he muttered, clenching his fists together tightly to try to contain his anger. “Where is that girl?!” he suddenly shouted.

Amaryllis and Dian both suddenly lost their confident glares when two men dragged Jasmine into the room. She was struggling with them, obviously not wanting to be in that position. “I said lemme go! This wasn’t a part of the deal!” she screamed, trying to kick at the men, though she did not manage to get herself free.

Dian blinked. “Deal?” he repeated, immediately shifting closer to Amaryllis since they were in a bit of trouble with Jasmine being held captive like that. He felt it was his duty to protect her if something went wrong now.

“Yes, our deal. This girl approached us last night with information on the two of you. All she wanted was a good sum of money in exchange for your lives,” Jacques said, immediately drawing his sword and pointing it at Jasmine’s neck. “But since you seemed so protective of her earlier, I thought I’d do you all a favor and let you see each other. You see, Amaryllis, you are a traitor to our kind, and you’ve gotten exactly what you deserve. Everyone will betray you like this girl has done. If you weren’t whoring yourself out to that man, I’m sure he’d do the same.”

“Shut up!” Dian suddenly shouted, not going to take something like that. Amaryllis looked utterly shocked, still staring at Jasmine even if the man had been talking for quite a while now. “Don’t you dare speak to her like that! I’ll slit your throat if you say one more word. If that girl betrayed us, then what the hell makes you think we’d care if you kill her?” he said, his gaze again shifting to Amaryllis since he was quite amazed with how ignorant she seemed of the situation at hand.

Jasmine looked quite upset as she listened, blinking away a few tears since she was both scared and upset at this point. Hearing Dian say something like that hurt her, too. “I heard what you said last night! It made me so angry, but I-!” she tried shouting, but the men holding her jerked her a bit to silence her once more.

Amaryllis blinked, then, giving a nod even though there was no one she was really answering. “Do not worry, Jasmine. You made a mistake, is all,” she said, not going to blame her even if things looked bad.

Dian gave an aggravated sigh, but he knew what he had to do after hearing that. “All right, fine. Release the girl. I’ll go with you, and you can leave Jasmine and Amaryllis in peace,” he offered, retracting the blades on his arm-weapons to show he was serious.

“Hell no. Our original intentions may have been to arrest you, but you’re practically worthless to us now. We want the so-called ‘general.’ Making her pay for her indiscretions is far more important than getting just one more man to go out and die for the lost cause of our war. You got lucky today, boy,” Jacques answered, turning his attention to Amaryllis. “Well? I’ll leave your friends alone if you come without a fight.”

She glared, not liking the options very much, but she really had no choice. The man’s weapon was far too close to Jasmine’s neck for her to intercept it in time, so unless she sacrificed more lives for her own, which she was not willing to do, she had no way of avoiding this. “As you wish,” she answered, the light blade on her sword dying with her words. She then tossed it to the floor, smirking a little.

“Why are you smirking like that?” Jacques immediately countered, threateningly pressing the blade closer to Jasmine’s neck, waiting to hear her whimper before he pulled a bit away again. “I’ll kill her if you try anything funny, woman.”

“You are all fools. It does not matter to me what you do to my body. You will never make me believe the nonsense you’ve spat out at me. You will never truly make me pay because you can never touch who I am,” she said, seeming rather pleased with herself for it.

“Amaryllis, you’re not really doing this,” Dian protested, looking a bit shocked when Amaryllis started walking towards the armored men. “Stop it!” he said, immediately grabbing her arm. “I won’t let you! I won’t let you damn yourself like this. Your children! Remember them? We can still find them if you just don’t do this,” he persisted, not letting go of her.

She shook her head. “Have more faith in me than this. You helped show me who I was once more, and for that I’m grateful, Dian. So please have faith in me and let me go through with this. Take care of Jasmine, and I will see you both again,” she concluded, immediately shaking her arm from him.

“You guys are so full of crap,” Jacques said in response to their sappy goodbye, immediately grabbing for Amaryllis as she approached him. Once he had a firm grip on her, he smiled rather evilly. “We’ll see if you still talk that way after you’ve seen Hell.”

“I’ve both been to Hell and come back in one piece. I apprenticed under the very ruler himself, even,” Amaryllis retorted, to which Jacques and his men all kind of looked at each other, unable to respond back.

Jacques just jerked angrily on her arms, causing her to wince because of her slowly-healing broken bones in the right, at which he grinned widely. “Oh, I’ll enjoy torturing you if that makes you squirm,” he said lowly, though Amaryllis did not respond back. “Release the girl, and let’s go,” he said, watching his men shove Jasmine at Dian before he turned to head out with their new prisoner.

Dian could only watch them turn before he realized he could not take this. “…I’m a Jumi! My core must be far more valuable than the opportunity to torture a woman that won’t respond no matter what you do to her!” he suddenly shouted, a bit surprised with what he came up with since he was not really thinking about it.

The men turned, as did Amaryllis. She looked rather horrified at his statement, silently pleading with him to change his mind. He had certainly gained the attention of the men, though. “Oh? A Jumi, eh? You don’t look like much of a Jumi,” Jacques replied, shrugging.

“But I am. I am a high ranked Obsidian Knight of the Jumi. And I am offering you my core for that woman’s freedom,” Dian repeated, sounding quite brave for someone that was bargaining with his very life. “Think of all the money you would make out of this,” he continued, loosening his shirt to reveal his obsidian core. “You could buy all the women you want. Hell, you could buy your own kingdom and torture everyone if that’s how you get your laughs. The fact is that you’ll have more money after selling this than you’ll ever know what to do with. And all you have to do is let her go.”

Jacques stared at the core, almost mesmerized by what he saw. Such a large black orb, so very valuable and rare. And here it was being offered to him for the life of a worthless woman. Wait, what am I saying? This is General Amaryllis, fabled for her strength, powers, intelligence, beauty! Someone that satisfies that cold-hearted Elazul has got to be so wonderful in bed, too. And she’s all mine without even a struggle! …But a Jumi’s core offers so much…

“You’ve interested me, Jumi. I’m inclined to agree to your offer,” he suddenly decided. “Men, seize him as well. We’ll decide this at the castle.” He pointed to Dian as if they were not bright enough to figure out what he wanted, and the men went to grab him. Dian proudly let them take him without a struggle.

“That was not a part of our deal,” Amaryllis protested immediately. “Release him or I-!” she began, having to stop when the man began twisting her broken arm. She shouted in pain, doing her best to silence herself since she knew she could endure more than that.

“I call the shots, woman. If either of you fights, I’m killing the other, got it? Now, be a good little girl and boy and listen,” Jacques said, starting to laugh at how pathetic he had made the two warriors sound. His men sounded off his laughter, too, very pleased with their tyranny.

Jasmine just sat there on the floor staring as her friends were taken away to the castle. “I didn’t want it like this…”

* * *

“You fool! Why did you insist on such an idiotic thing?” Amaryllis yelled at Dian, glaring quite angrily since his intentions really did not matter to her. Had she not been bound to the wall upon arrival to the dank dungeon cell, she might have even hit him with how angry she seemed.

“I wasn’t going to let him just take you! I wouldn’t do that to you!” Dian replied, though he sounded a lot calmer. He was not thought of as a threat like she was, so he was free to move as he pleased. Even so, he chose to simply sit down on the ground, an arm propped up on his raised knee as he watched her. “You can’t blame me for wanting to protect you. I am a Knight, after all.”

“No, you are a fool. Do you really believe I could have been contained for long? They would have nothing to hold me here after you and Jasmine were out of our sights. You’ve not protected me at all, but instead given them exactly what they needed to keep me from escaping,” she explained to him, dropping her head after she finished. “I asked you to have more faith in me. I do not make any moves without careful thought, so I had my plan.”

He gave a bit of a groan, immediately slamming his head back on the stone wall behind him. It hurt him, but he felt like he deserved it at the moment since he realized how irrationally he had behaved. “I’m so sorry, Amaryllis. I wasn’t thinking like that. All I could see was what they might do to you. I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t-”

“It’s all right, Dian. Stop,” Amaryllis interrupted, not wanting to hear him acting that way. “That helps neither of us. If you want to be rambling off about something, try to come up with a way for us to escape. I can do nothing with my hands bound this way,” she tried, trying to jerk her wrist of the arm she could move freely, but with the shackles directly rooting her to the wall, she was not able to get the momentum she needed to break them.

“Yeah…” he muttered, burying his head into his extended arm, trying to think of anything he could say or do that would be of use now. After a few minutes of thinking, he lifted his head again, standing up to go over to her. “Maybe I can break them for you,” he suggested, though he knew how likely that idea was to fail.

“If I cannot break them, then surely you will not be able to,” she explained when he was standing in front of her, turning her head to watch him. He apparently ignored her words, doing his best to slip his fingers under the shackles to pull on the thick metal. “You see?” she told him, watching him struggle for nothing.

“Why are you suddenly so pessimistic again? What happened to that whole ‘have faith in me’ thing? Why don’t you have some faith in me?” he tried, still jerking on the restraints even if they were not so much as warping with his strength. “I’ll set you free somehow.”

“It isn’t pessimism, Dian. It is a simple analysis of the situation. I did not say we would not escape. I am only telling you that futilely wasting your strength is not the way we will do that,” she answered, waving him off the best she could with her fingers.

“Damn it!” he shouted after he struggled a bit longer, slamming his fist into the wall next to her. He looked a bit surprised after he did, too, realizing he could have hit her. “I’m sorry, Amaryllis,” he immediately said, giving her an apologetic look since it was all he could offer now.

She shook her head. “Don’t. We will figure something out,” she replied, relaxing again since he had stopped like he had been asked. “I understand your want to help me, but the best way you can do that now is to do nothing. Stay calm, and allow me to think.”

Dian kept watching her after she said that, trying to figure out how he could just do ‘nothing.’ It killed him to just allow this, even if she asked him to do that. “Amaryllis, if there is anything I can do…” He moved himself right in front of her, gently taking hold of her hands and slipping his fingers in between hers. “Just say the word.”

Amaryllis closed her hand over his, finally letting her eyes rest on his even though she had mostly been avoiding it. “Just stay with me like this, just for a while. Your presence helps more than you realize,” she said softly, leaning her head back against the wall. She closed her eyes, determined to try to think of something.

While he loved what she said, Dian was slightly disappointed in the fact that Amaryllis went straight to thinking rather than returning his affection. She still loves Elazul too much to let go. But even still, I love her. Whether I am in her heart or not, I will do whatever it takes for her happiness. He gave a silent sigh, leaning his head forward to rest against her shoulder. While he found himself turning his head so that his lips could almost touch her neck, he restrained himself, just doing his best to stay silent and comforting for her.

* * *

“Dian,” Amaryllis whispered, though she certainly made sure it was loud enough for him. He had fallen asleep against her in the very position she had asked him to remain in, only just now realizing that he had when she finally woke him. As he sleepily lifted his head to see what she wanted, she said, “Back away from me and shield your Core. I still do not have full control of my powers yet, but I can feel that they are returning.”

“Why only now? You fought just fine earlier, and I’ve felt that your energy has been rapidly increasing for a while now. There’s no way you’re just getting it back now,” Dian replied, not understanding what she meant. Even still, he pulled back from her as she had told him, not wanting to aggravate her any more than the question might.

Amaryllis watched him back away from her, closing her eyes once she figured he was far enough away for her to begin. “It has nothing to do with that. I am sure you are familiar with the phrase ‘mind over matter.’ My powers… I can create using my mind. That is the basis of my attacks, even if it would appear otherwise when I use elemental magic. If my mind is not in the proper condition to focus on this creation, my powers do not exist,” she explained, clenching her fists, together. She made a bit of a face since she was using her broken arm, too, but she did not let herself focus on that. “I meant it when I said you were helping me.”

He nodded, slightly understanding what she was telling him now, but that just opened up more questions in his mind. “Did something that bad happen to you to make you lose so much concentration? I knew you were upset, but-”

“I was upset. I normally do not allow myself to be so. I am not even sure why I allowed myself to act that way. Elazul would hate it. Jaeden would probably even slap me for it since she understands, too. If I let myself down, then I let the people I care about down. With such a mindset, it is no wonder I could nothing,” she continued, just interrupting him since she knew what he would say. “Shield your core.”

The second Dian turned his back to her, the wall around the shackles exploded, rubble flying around the small cell. He heard her grunt from getting hit by it and even heard it clattering against the wall in areas, but somehow he managed to avoid any of the debris. When the dust started settling, he turned back to her, grinning when he saw she was now standing freely. “You did it!”

Amaryllis gave a nod, rubbing her wrists gently to try to rid herself of the red marks the metal left. She was bleeding again, but it did not seem to bother her. “The sentinels upstairs are sure to have heard that. I hope you can fight well enough without your weapons,” she told him, pointing her hand to the steel bars keeping them locked in that cage. As the wall around her shackles had exploded, the stone holding the bars began doing the same, only this time the explosions were somehow better controlled and did not backfire on either one of them. “Go.”

He did not even look at her after the order, taking off out of the cell the second they were free. He heard her light footsteps behind him, so he was not worried about her, but the heavy clanking of metal boots ahead of them sure did worry him. “There’s four. Maybe five. We’re going to have to hit hard to do any damage if they’re wearing that much armor.”

“It’s four. The extra noises you hear are polearms they have no sense to keep off the ground to keep us surprised. They are all very large men, even factoring in that the heavier steps may be because of the armor,” Amaryllis answered, acting like a bit of a show-off with her abilities since he had not done so well on determining what they were up against in a moment.

“Your sensing powers are back?” Dian asked in amazement, holding his arm out to stop her since they were not going to make it much farther. He immediately braced himself for the oncoming attack, sure they would be there before she finished answering.

“No, but my ears work well enough,” she said, jerking her head a bit to indicate they were done talking. She eyed the four men in front of them, recognizing one or two of them from their capture, though the others were not the same. Amaryllis shifted so that her good arm was ahead, holding her own fighting stance since she and Dian were not going to be taken back to that cell.

“You thought we’d let you get away so easily? Do you know how much you’re worth if we turn you into the Emperor? We could have anything we desire,” one of the men said, stepping forward and pointing his polearm at Amaryllis. “You will fetch us our freedom, and that Jumi will make a nice stipend for our trouble.”

“You poor fools. You’re delusional, and that’s just sad,” Dian retorted, immediately diving toward one of the men on the sides. The man countered with the swing of a large axe, but Dian simply jumped, using the axe as leverage to get over the man. Once he reached the other side, he kicked out, wrapping his foot around the man’s leg and dragging him down to the ground, fist just waiting for the man’s head to collide with it.

“They are beyond lecturing, Dian. Just dispose of them,” Amaryllis explained. She had her hands wrapped tightly around the pole of a spear belonging to one of the men, and she quickly rid herself of him by twisting his arm and shoving the end of the pole under his chin. She promptly pulled the spear in the opposite direction when the man lost his grip, sweeping the spear under the legs of another and knocking him to the floor.

Dian was about to turn around to punch at the remaining man, but before he landed a single hit, Amaryllis had thrown the other spear at the man’s wrist and knocked his weapon from him. It startled Dian, but only for a moment; he quickly carried out his original plan and knocked the man squarely in the jaw. “You didn’t have to help me, you know,” he pointed out to Amaryllis as he stepped on the guard’s back for good measure, walking over to her.

Amaryllis shrugged. “We need to go,” she said to Dian, ignoring any small talk as she walked over the guards to go on toward the exit. However, instead of going that way, she continued, her eyes darting back and forth as she continued past the staircase out of the dungeon to go deeper into it.

“Where are we going?” Dian finally decided to ask, his eyes staying on the staircase since he was certain that was the way to escape. “What if more guards come? We need to leave, not explore. I didn’t think I’d be telling you that,” he had to admit, slightly worried now.

“Our weapons should be stored down here somewhere. Lucas made my sword for me. It is too important for me to simply abandon to the enemy,” she told him, sure he had to understand the sentimental reasons behind it.

And he did; or, well, he would have, if he knew who Lucas was. “Wait, what about Elazul? Who is Lucas? Did you have two lov-?”

“No,” Amaryllis quickly snapped. “Lucas is Jaeden’s lover. He is like a son to me,” she said in a bit of a calmer voice, not able to get angry with Dian when he did not know. “He was often trying to fashion new technology, and that light sword he gave to me.”

“I see. Then let’s get it back. I was kind of hoping for my own weapons back, anyway. Custom made stuff is not cheap,” Dian joked, grinning at Amaryllis before lightly grabbing her arm, starting to pull her with him as he took the lead. “I’ve been in more dungeons than you, so let me lead.”

Amaryllis narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, but she let herself relax, nodding and following along. When he started loosening his grip on her arm, she pulled her hand back just enough to hold his, finding that to be a lot more comforting even if she had to admit she did not even feel the need to be comforted any longer. Maybe she just liked it. “Dian, I-”

“Shh. I think this is it,” he suddenly whispered to her, pulling Amaryllis up against the wall as he peeked around the edge of an open chamber. Dian scanned the room, noting that there were indeed several weapons scattered all over the place, and, oddly enough, the room was unguarded. “Seems we’ve gotten lucky. Let’s go on in.”

Amaryllis was skeptical about it until she saw the room was empty herself, but even then, she still was a little suspicious of it. “They were very confident that we would not escape if they are not holding our weapons in better care,” she said, sifting through a pile of various swords and daggers on a table. “If they are here, that is.”

“They’ve got to be. This seems to be the central weapon storage. And I bet they didn’t think you’d manage to break out of that cell. I know I sure as hell didn’t think you would get out that easily,” Dian replied, glancing back at her as he searched through some of the other weapons. “That was pretty neat, by the way. I had heard you had some rather interesting powers, but I never knew what they were until now.”

“You will more than likely see more of them now that they are returning to me. I will be able to find my family much faster with them, too,” she explained, her eyes suddenly lighting up as she spotted Dian’s elbow blades. “I found your weapons,” she told him, turning to hand them over before she kept looking for hers. She figured he could at least keep guard while she kept searching.

“Thanks,” he said back, starting to fit the weapons back under his sleeves, looking pretty happy to have them back even if he had not acted like he missed them much. “Keep trying to find yours. I’d help, but I’ll do better to make sure we don’t get caught,” Dian said, patting the blades once they were concealed. He then headed towards the door, but he suddenly stopped, sniffing at the air a little oddly. “…Do you smell that?”

Amaryllis just stopped what she was doing, immediately trying to smell what he was talking about; the second she realized what sort of gas she was smelling, she put a hand to her mouth. “So they did expect us to get here. Clever,” she muttered, though she oddly enough continued to look for her weapon since she knew she could stand fumes for a little while longer.

Dian, however, was not up to her plan. “Amaryllis, we definitely need to get out of here. We’re in trouble if you are knocked unconscious. At least if you’re awake you can return,” he ordered her, lifting his arm so that his sleeve covered his mouth as a filter for the air. He faltered a little, then, suddenly feeling weak, and then his eyes went wide. “Shit…” he mumbled, starting to fumble with his weapons again since it was easy enough for him to figure out what had triggered the gas.

“They must have slipped something into the fastenings. If we dispose of them, we will be-” she began, but she suddenly cut herself off when she realized what she was saying. “…My weapon isn’t here. How was I so foolish? Dian, get-!”

“Damn it!” he shouted, looking like he was trying to pry his arm off from how hard he was pulling on the fastenings of the blades, but they were not giving way. Dian seemed to be in pain, too, and for good reason; the skin around his weapons seemed to be bubbling and burning as though acid had been poured on it.

“You are the fools,” a robed man suddenly said, stepping up behind Dian and resting a hand on his shoulder. “To think, you didn’t anticipate a kingdom of such high status having a few higher class mages. My specialty is with toxins, so rest assured, this Jumi will suffer.”

It was all Dian could do at that moment to not scream out in pain, the burning sensation spreading quickly throughout his body. He keeled over after enduring it for a few moments, not able to keep himself up no matter how hard he tried.

Amaryllis clasped her hand around one of the swords, but when she caught a flash of the villain’s eyes, she released it. “You are also fighting with a very capable mage,” she threatened, knowing very well what would happen if she picked up that sword. “Release him from your powers and I will not kill you.”

The mage just laughed at her. “And what could you do to me? Your powers barely allowed you to escape from that prison cell. I don’t care who you used to be. You’re nothing now, and I do not fear you,” he said, grinning quite a bit when Dian started shouting.

Amaryllis ignored that, clenching a fist and stepping forward to face the man physically. The moment her foot hit the ground, Dian let out a loud yell; blood was starting to soak his dark clothes and visible skin. She actually flinched; she was in a bit of a bind now. “What do I have to do for you to stop this?” she asked, not going to allow Dian to continue to be in such pain.

“Oh? So you will cooperate with me? You’re such a weak woman to be swayed by this man’s condition,” the mage told her, making Dian scream once more before finally considering her words. “You will return to a cell, and if you dare try to escape again, this man will die. Do we have a deal?”

She just nodded, closing her eyes and standing there waiting on him, still looking rather prideful despite the situation. Once the man decided to believe her, he snapped his fingers, and Dian suddenly fainted. Two guards filed in, one lifting Dian, and the other going toward Amaryllis. She waved him off, starting to walk after the others. “I can lead myself to my own incarceration,” she said indignantly. The guard did not feel the need to argue.

* * *

Amaryllis nearly rolled her eyes at the fact that they decided to put her in the exact same position as before; she was again shackled to the wall, arms stretched out and feet just touching the floor. She could not help but say something. “If this could not keep me before, what has possessed you to believe it would keep me now?” Of course, she could not complain about that; it would be very easy to escape later since she was sure to have better control of her powers this time she tried.

The mage knelt down next to Dian’s unconscious form, lifting him like a doll. A hand poked itself out of the long sleeves of the robe, stroking Dian’s cheek ever so cautiously. “This Jumi will be an interesting test subject for me. He will not die no matter what pain I inflict, no matter how badly I poison him. I could liquefy his organs and he’d still survive…”

“Fair enough. You have made your point,” Amaryllis agreed, turning her eyes away from the mage and Dian. “Leave. You have my word I will not be making an escape attempt in exchange for his life,” she added, not particularly wanting any enemy around longer than necessary, even if it thwarted any plans she had by making such a promise.

“Your word means nothing to me. You can say whatever you like, and the second I leave, you can break that promise. I’ll not be tricked like that.”

Amaryllis glowered at him. “I am not such a cowardly person that I would rely on such trickery to achieve my goals. I will find another way to do so instead,” she said, not very pleased with him calling her any sort of a liar.

“No, I suppose not. You are much too prideful to use such a simple way out.” He chuckled, pushing back his hood gently to reveal his longish-blond hair. Surprisingly, he was not too bad looking, to say the least. However, he leaned his head down, gently kissing Dian’s lips.

She was actually rather shocked at that, staring at the scene in a mixture of surprise and horror. A man kissing another man like that was not something she had seen before now, so of course it was odd to her. “Un-unhand him immediately! Your indecent displays are unnecessary by far,” she ordered, though really, she knew she had no claim in being able to force him to listen.

The mage finally drew back, running his tongue along Dian’s lips in jest toward Amaryllis. “Your lover tastes wonderful,” he said, watching her unsettled response to it. He gently lowered Dian to the ground, standing up to walk over to her. “Would you like to taste?” he asked, trying to lean in and kiss her as well.

Amaryllis turned her head sharply, avoiding his kiss as best she could. “You disgust me,” she told him, not entirely sure of what sort of game he was trying to play at the moment. “Elazul is my lover. Now, leave my presence at once. You are not touching Dian, so I can easily destroy you in a matter of seconds no matter how restrained I am.”

He chuckled again, his long fingers touching her chin and forcibly guiding her gaze back to him. “I have infected your lover with a poison I will not name for you in case you know how to treat it. He will suffer horribly and die within the next few days if I do not remove it,” he calmly explained to her, leaning in to kiss Amaryllis now.

She could not object this time; she knew exactly what he meant by what he told her. Now that she knew the man’s motives, though, she held her lips closed as tightly as she could, determined to keep him from poisoning her as well. My body, mind, and soul belong to someone else, so this cannot hurt me. Despite what she thought, though, Amaryllis felt a little shaky from it, probably the remains of her uncertainty and doubt after the war. But she still had her pride, and that was what she desperately was going to cling to since it kept her believing in herself and her thoughts.

“Your pride is astounding,” the mage said flatly, his thumb tugging on her lower lip to try to open her mouth. “Do not resist me, though, or I might forget to help your Jumi. And don’t worry, I won’t be damaging your body with my poisons. You’re much too lovely for me to harm in such a manner if I can avoid it. Just cooperate and we’ll all be happy,” he explained, though she did not seem to budge.

In fact, she stayed completely silent and barely blinked, her cold gaze the only sign that she was still there. The man stared hard at her, determined to do something to break that spirit. His cold fingers soon found their way to her hip, slowly edging their way underneath her skirt. “Well, I guess we’ll have to try another place if you won’t cooperate,” he said, his hand gently rubbing against her underwear.

“If you believe I will let a lowly vassal such as yourself harm me, you are surely mistaken,” Amaryllis told him, still retaining her composure since she was sure if the man acted like this, there would be no problem in her resisting him.

She was met with a slap, to which Amaryllis just turned her head, staring at the wall without so much as flinching otherwise. Needless to say, that irritated the mage more than anything else. “Just accept your fate, woman! You’re a lowly prisoner now! All those battles you fought meant nothing. You could win a million wars and it wouldn’t matter, because you’re here in a dungeon and all those you ‘saved’ don’t give a damn about you!” he shouted at her, jerking her underwear off since he decided the slow torture did no good in her case.

“That may be so, but it doesn’t matter. I fought for myself and for my family and friends, not for them,” Amaryllis responded calmly, though it got her another slap in the opposite direction. She felt two rough fingers suddenly force their way inside her, too, the jagged edges of his fingernails easily stinging her insides. However, Amaryllis did her best not to flinch at it; the only sign that it even remotely hurt was the slight movement of her mouth as she locked her jaw to keep herself from even hissing at it.

“And where are these ‘family and friends’ of yours? I see only a washed up Jumi lying out of commission on the floor. And he certainly didn’t seem to care what happened to you when he was threatened by my toxins earlier, now did he? These people you speak of have abandoned you. For how long have you suffered without them?” he questioned, beating his fingers into her as roughly as he could. “And it’s not even a fraction of the time you’ll continue to suffer because you’ll never see them again.”

“You know nothing,” she said defiantly, still being perfectly calm; her body would not even respond to his ministrations since she knew how to easily ignore something so ‘tame.’

His plan was not working, and the mage again grew angry. He slammed his free fist into her jaw, knocking her head roughly against the wall. When she shut her eyes, no doubted from the pain, he pressed his knuckles further into her cheek, going to make her pain as great as possible. “I wouldn’t speak like that to me if I were you. I’m not the one who is locked up in a dungeon to rot until Lord Cain requests to see your corpse.” Quickly he shoved two more fingers into her body, forcing their way in as harshly as he could. “All you are is a dirty plaything or a nice punching bag for us now. You don’t even deserve a name.”

Amaryllis was in pain from being shoved up against the wall like that, and of course his lower hand was getting to her as well since he was not making things easy for her. However, she felt a little invigorated by this entire situation; she knew she was still okay. “Hmp,” she managed, just saying anything to prove he could not outdo her.

The mage was now fuming; he removed his hand from her face, immediately clutching her arm that he knew was still not fully healed. He squeezed as hard as he could at her wrist, a rather twisted smile coming to his face when he managed to get her to gasp out in pain from that. “Oh, look, so you aren’t as invincible as you think. How pleasant,” he beamed happily.

She tried to think of something to say in defiance, but before she could get a word out, he had his dripping fingers inside her mouth rather than elsewhere, threatening to shove them down her throat. He pulled down on her jaw, too, fingernails cutting into her tongue. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to talk anymore, my little whore. Don’t make me cut your tongue out. After all, I know many of the guards here prefer oral, and it just wouldn’t be the same.”

Amaryllis opened her eyes to stare at him with the same cold look she had earlier, and his pleasure in her situation suddenly dropped again. He moved his hand from her arm to punch her in the stomach as hard as he could, shoving his fingers further down her throat when the force of his hit made her hunch forward. “You will be obedient to me in every sense. It’s the only thing left for you in this life. You have no family or friends or fame. You have no power. You’re nothing, so feel honored to even be acknowledged for your nothingness,” he said, punching her stomach once more.

That easily made her choke since his fingers that far back kept her from breathing or swallowing properly, but there was nothing she could do about it. It hurt, too, but it was not enough to change her look. This is nothing. It will not mean a thing once we have escaped.

Still those eyes were there. The mage glared hard, removing his hands from her and immediately tugging his robe aside and his pants down enough; before Amaryllis could have much time to react, he had grabbed hold of her throat, pressing his fingers harshly into her neck as he forced himself into her as painfully as he could. He wasted no time in thrusting into her, hitting as high up as he could no matter her resistance.

Amaryllis let out a few choked gasps, her face twisting a bit since she did not seem to like that. Of course not; even Elazul was not allowed to threaten her breathing since it was the one thing she could not stand. She could not help but flinch, then, her arms just naturally trying to move to pull him off of her, but the chains would unfortunately stop her from that. She barely acknowledged in her own mind that he was even inside of her since her asphyxiation was all she was worried about at the moment.

“You’re such a helpless woman,” he said with a smile, really pleasured by her state of distress. “You could die like this, you know? You don’t have to be alive for us to hand you over. And it’s not like we can’t use your body for our own fun once you’re dead, either. That’s all you’d be. Our fun little toy. You’ll die all alone, without anyone you ever cared about. It’s such a nice thought!”

She was really struggling now, possibly even looking like she was about to cry from the thought of dying like that. Even though she knew for a fact he would not kill her since if he was trying, he would have already choked her to death, she still could not get the idea out of her head. Suffocation was a bit of a fear of hers even though she probably had not even admitted it to Elazul–though he would have certainly figured it out after their time together.

“That’s it. That’s what I wanted to see!” the mage called excitedly, his entire body feeling the same excitement as he released himself into her. He did not stop, though, continuing with her since he knew her state was rare and he was not sure if he could produce the same effect ever again; he would not lose this opportunity.

Amaryllis could tell by how he regulated the pressure on her neck that he was purposely keeping her alive in such an agonizing state, but she still had to admit, if only to herself, that she was afraid of it. She was almost sobbing from it now even if she tried to stop; calming herself was not an option no matter how foolish she knew her fear was. And she was letting him see her like this, too. That hurt just as much.

“You fucking bastard!” The mage was about to turn to see who in the world said that, but his eyes suddenly went wide, his expression frozen that way. His grip tightened on her and he threatened to just snap her neck for a moment, but his hold suddenly went limp and he fell to the floor. Dian stood behind him, wrist blades covered in blood, and he immediately went into a blind rage of slashing the already dead man, determined to rip him to shreds for what he had just seen. “You should have never touched her! Never!”

Amaryllis barely acknowledged the hack-and-slash going on in front of her, instead gasping for her precious air. Once she had finally gotten enough to at least know she could breathe again, she started sobbing no matter how silly she knew it was.

He had told her that so long ago, but where was he? Nothing she had ever been through compared to how she was feeling now. “Elazul!” she cried out desperately, demanding his presence even though she knew he was not coming. Amaryllis was just not used to such fear or pain, and that was the only way she knew of to react.

Dian flinched when he heard her call for Elazul, but it at least pulled him from his enraged maiming. “Amaryllis…” he said softly, getting up and slipping his weapons off of him easily. He immediately wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly to him to try to be of some comfort. Of course, he thought she was just upset about the rape, but no matter the reasons, he knew he needed to be there for her.

Her eyes shot open when Dian grabbed her, and Amaryllis just looked at him in fear. Most of it was due to what had just happened, but as she slowly calmed down, her expression still remained. Soon, she closed her eyes again, leaning her head against Dian and crying. “…Why did you do that? No…” she gasped, realizing what it meant.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t help you sooner. I shouldn’t have been so careless and he wouldn’t have touched you,” Dian apologized, guessing she had not believed that he would rescue her.

She shook her head against him. “I-I don’t want you to leave me…” she muttered, her crying again turning into more sobbing.

“Whoah, calm down. I’m not leaving, okay?” Dian tried, not understanding her at all now.

“…He poisoned you. God,” she managed through her crying, not even caring how pitiful she was acting in front of Dian at the moment. Everything had just went to hell because she could not get over such a foolish fear.

“Shit,” he muttered, looking a little worried, but he just held her tighter. “Look, don’t worry about me right now. I’m a Jumi, so I’ll be okay. And even if I died, it wouldn’t matter. I’d do the same thing over again to help you. So don’t worry,” he assured her, lightly kissing her forehead since he did not know what else to do. “I’m here for you.”

* * *

Amaryllis had calmed herself down, but her usual composure had not fully returned. She had a certain sadness in her eyes, though at least whenever the guards came to check on her or Dian, she did not let them see it. Dian had been thrashed severely for killing the mage, and to make matters worse, the poison had started taking effect the next day, so he could barely move. That was more or less the reason Amaryllis could not recover her prideful demeanor; it was obvious to her she was about to lose the only person she had left.

“Damn Jumi. I hope you rot in hell soon enough.” The guard kicked Dian in the stomach, shoving him into the pool of blood still left from the mage’s demise. He merely glanced at Amaryllis before shrugging, making his way out of the cell since he had delivered the meal rations and completed his job. If Dian had not tried to lash out at him, he would have been spared any harm. After the death of the mage, the guards were pretty careful not to spend too much time in that cell since they did not know what would happen.

Dian just choked up a laugh to enrage the guard as he left, though the second he was out of sight, Dian’s laughter turned into coughing. “Ugh,” he groaned as he lifted himself from the ground, crawling over to sit next to Amaryllis like he had been doing. He propped himself up against the wall, glancing up at her since he knew she was watching him. “Are you hungry?” he asked her, knowing he would have to feed her since they had not let her down from her chains.

She shook her head. “I cannot eat at the moment,” she said a little apologetically, actually feeling a bit nauseous. Dian had cut the mage up so well that pieces and blood had remained even after the cleanup, and it did not take very long for the smell to get to her. “How are you feeling?”

He smiled, gently hitting his breast with a fist. “I’m just fine. I told you not to worry about me. Those guys suck at hitting, and, well, I’ll probably bleed all the poison out at this rate,” he said without flinching, though he realized maybe he should not have said that since he was trying to ease her mind.

“I see,” Amaryllis replied, knowing very well he was lying. She fell silent, her gaze falling to the floor, and she just traced the lines of blood seeping through cracks in the stone floor to entertain herself. “Are you not going to eat, either?”

Dian scoffed, looking to be in a lot of pain the second Amaryllis turned her eyes from him, though he made sure not to sound like it. “Nah. I don’t really even know how they can call that stuff food,” he said, glancing over at the meal plate left for them. He then braced his arms against the wall, pulling himself up to stand next to her.

He gained her attention with that, and Amaryllis turned to look at him as he pulled himself up in front of her. He leaned against her, too, probably without realizing it; he was too weak to stand up straight on his own. “What are you doing, Dian?” she asked a little curiously.

“Trying to get your attention, still,” he explained, adding the last word since he knew she did not care for him like he cared for her. She opened her mouth to answer that, but he cut her off with a kiss, easily slipping his tongue between her lips since she did not resist him.

Blood… Amaryllis easily recognized the metallic taste it left in her mouth, only proving her theory further for her. She could not return his kiss, but she just let him do it anyway. The second she felt his hand suddenly on her thigh, though, she could not help but flinch, not particularly wanting that.

He felt it, and he backed off immediately, pulling his hands back up to her shoulders as he lifted himself off of her a bit. “Sorry. I won’t hurt you,” he assured her, chiding himself for what he had just done. He knew why; he was afraid of dying without getting to be with her, but he needed to do his best to not get carried away since her feelings were important to him, too.

“I should apologize, not you,” she replied, not going to blame him for it. “I do appreciate everything you have done for me. I owe you my life, and even more than that.”

Dian smiled at her, about to kiss her once more, but he quickly turned away and started coughing quite a bit. Amaryllis said his name worriedly; he did not acknowledge her, instead gently pushing away out of concern. He clasped both hands over his mouth as he continued coughing, blood trickling through his fingers. “Damn it,” he sputtered, desperately trying to stop, but the pain only got worse for him.

She watched in a bit of panic as Dian suddenly collapsed to the ground, his consciousness leaving him. “Dian?” Amaryllis jerked on her shackles desperately since she needed to help him, but she was not going to be getting free of them. “Do not do this. You said you wouldn’t leave,” she tried, sounding worried even if she tried to put some anger into it. Of course, he did not get back up; the only comfort she could take was that when she fell silent, she could hear the faint sound of him taking in what little breath he could get.

* * *

“You’re such a fun toy, you know that? It’s a real shame we’ll have to hand you over whenever we hear word from Lord Cain.” The man in front of Amaryllis focused on dressing himself again as he spoke to her, not too worried about paying attention to her now since he had his fill. He expected no answer; she had not spoken a word for weeks, maybe months, now, as far as he could remember. It actually made her seem very pleasant, at least to him.

Amaryllis blinked away her remaining tears, keeping her head tilted away from him since she was trying to hide it, but she just could not manage that. Every time they made sure to point out how alone she was. Every single time they reminded her of his death.

She closed her eyes tightly as the words all continued to play in her mind. She shivered when she heard the cell door close, a sign that she was all alone once more. In fact, she had to wonder if she was even against the various guards that wanted some fun with her; at least they kept her company for a moment as they fulfilled their needs. But no, that was not what she wanted. What she wanted was gone or too far out of her reach to ever be a reality again. And what was left? The guards were right.

Though Amaryllis had not bothered to count the days, she knew she had been alone for a long while now. Each day she was put through the same torture, unless, of course, they found other ways to break her. It seemed like a game to them to see who could force her to react the best, and she no longer found any reason to not give them what they wanted.

Escape? What was the point in that? She was alone, without anyone, and if she found someone, could she really deal with this again? No, she did not even want to; all she could do was wait for her demise while she spent her eternity in the living hell.

“Hey, Amaryllis! It’s really you! Oh my god, I’m so glad to see you!”

Amaryllis blinked, wondering where her latest thoughts had come from; no, she realized the last was not something she had heard before, and she immediately looked up as she heard keys jingling. “…Jasmine?” she said weakly.

Sure enough, Jasmine was fumbling with the lock, hurriedly opening the door the second she heard the click. “I’m so sorry! I really, really didn’t mean to hurt you! And those sneaky bastards lied, anyway! They weren’t supposed to do any of this, and they didn’t help me at all. I came as soon as I figured out how to distract them enough for these!” she explained, all the while trying to unlock Amaryllis’s shackles.

Since Amaryllis had been in that position for so long, she nearly collapsed on Jasmine from no longer having the support on her wrists. They had taken her arm braces from her, too, so the shackles left many permanent scars on her wrist from how tightly she had been jerked around against the rough metal; it actually stung now that the bindings were not there. In fact, her whole body was bruised and scarred in various places; the only covering they had allowed her was her dress. They did not even allow her underwear or shoes, and even though she protested–actually, probably because she had protested so much–about it, they took her necklace as well. “Why did you come for me? You should have stayed somewhere safe.”

“Aww, I missed you guys. You and Dian were awesome. You’re not mad at me, right…?” Jasmine asked, putting on a bit of a pouting face to try to get her sympathy.

It was not necessary. “Not once,” Amaryllis answered, reaching out and affectionately laying a hand on Jasmine’s head. “You need to go. Thank you for your help, but I don’t want to see you in danger.”

“Not yet. We gotta get Dian out, and then we’ll all go together. Where is he?” Jasmine said, looking around the room curiously before returning her eyes to Amaryllis. She grinned, though. “Well, if he’s in another cell, let’s go find him. Stupid guards are so easy to steal stuff from when they’re asleep,” she added with a giggle.

A sudden rush of sadness came over Amaryllis at hearing that, and even though she did not cry, tears were in her eyes. “Dian died. I would not cry for them, so they decided to try killing him in front of me to get what they wanted,” Amaryllis explained, leaving out all the details of it since Jasmine did not need to hear about the gruesome methods they decided to torment him with before finally ripping his core from his body.

“What…? No!” Jasmine said in shock, looking horrified at the thought of his death. “But he didn’t do anything wrong! He was really arrogant, maybe, but he didn’t deserve anything like that!” How Amaryllis was not crying was a mystery to Jasmine; she suddenly started up, very upset to see the results of what she had done since it was not supposed to turn out like this.

Amaryllis just nodded, her body quivering a bit, but she knew she had to ignore the sadness for at least a moment. “Jasmine, come on, now. I cannot allow anything to happen to you. We will escape this dungeon and get you to safety. Then I’ll return to find my necklace,” she said, going to make sure she was safe first even though her one link to her daughter had to be saved as well.

“Oh!” Jasmine suddenly replied, snapping out of being sad. She shifted to pull the knapsack off her shoulders, opening it to produce all of what she remembered belonged to Amaryllis: her necklace, braces, shoes, sash, saber, and even her underwear–the latter Jasmine just blushed and giggled over. “I figured that was yours, too. All your stuff is so pretty, even your panties,” she said in a rather amused tone.

Amaryllis also blushed a bit, taking the sack from Jasmine and quickly redressing herself. She knew her body was very dirty at the moment and she was going to have to wash everything and certainly mend her clothes, but she would focus on that later. “Thank you. Now let’s go,” Amaryllis instructed, clenching her sword tightly now that she had it back. Her hand was very unsteady since she had not used it in so long, but she was sure she could at least wield the weapon if she needed to protect Jasmine.

“Right!” Jasmine said enthusiastically, immediately moving as close as possible to Amaryllis as she followed her out of the cell. The second they were out, though, she forced her way to the front, deciding to lead even though she knew Amaryllis wanted to do it. “I got in and managed to steal all that stuff, too, so I know the way out.”

The two of them easily snuck out of the dungeon, and when Jasmine led Amaryllis to the main hallway, she discovered why. The light from the windows indicated it was the dead of night, so most people, probably even the guards on duty, were sleeping. That made their escape very simple, and Jasmine even managed to lead her to a window that she said she had come through to save Amaryllis in the first place. However, she stopped, not going through it. “Wait, you said they took Dian’s core, right? Why don’t we go get it back? It’s that big huge obsidian stone, isn’t it? So we could easily grab it and run.”

“It’s too dangerous,” Amaryllis answered immediately, not wanting to even consider going back since she did not want to risk Jasmine’s life any more than they already had. “I can come back by myself to retrieve it later. He would understand,” she said, lowering her voice so that Jasmine did not hear it break.

“Nah. Hey, I stole all your stuff back, right? Dian’s stuff wasn’t so readily on hand or I would have grabbed it, too–they must like smelling your stuff or something in the sentry hall. But anyway, I’m a master thief! I can grab a gem, no problem. That’s, like, my specialty,” Jasmine boasted, immediately grabbing Amaryllis’s hand and starting to drag her down the hall in another direction. “Gems would be in the treasury. Gotta be extra sneaky there…”

Amaryllis had no choice but to follow her along, though she was almost sweating from how worried she felt. She knew she must just be overreacting, but it was an odd feeling; there was so much she had just cast aside, so all these feelings were unusual to her. Sure, she had been uncertain, and she had been nervous. But fear? It terrified her, and no one was around to tell her it was okay. “Jasmine, we should go back.”

“Shh, we’re almost there,” Jasmine objected, letting go of Amaryllis and skipping forward a bit ostentatiously since nobody was around to catch her acting like a fool. “Wait right here,” she instructed, putting a finger to her lips as she slipped into a room. Not even a minute passed before Jasmine came rushing out, the black gemstone held securely in both hands like a ball. “Score!” she shouted in a whisper.

Amaryllis had to admit she was very surprised Jasmine managed to do what she claimed, but at the moment she could not afford to stop and praise her. She jerked her head in the direction they were supposed to leave from, and both girls took off down the hallway again. Without hesitation, Amaryllis jumped out the window when they arrived at it, landing and turning around to catch Jasmine after she jumped, too. They had made it out of the castle.

“We did it!” Jasmine shouted excitedly as they ran, grinning widely since she was so glad she had managed to help out her friend. A sudden rumble suddenly sounded, though, and Jasmine stopped, her eyes slowly shifting down to reveal a bullet-shaped wound in her chest. “W-what is this?” she asked in surprise, feeling a sudden warmth also start to trickle down her chin. Guns were not used by many, so it confused her as to how she had been injured since she had not seen that weapon before in her short life.

“Jasmine!” Amaryllis exclaimed, catching her immediately before she fell to the ground. Her whole body was trembling from seeing her friend shot, but Amaryllis just picked Jasmine up, continuing to run since they needed to get out of there. “Just hang on, okay? We have to get out of here before I can treat you,” she tried to tell her, knowing the gunman and probably others were around still. As to confirm her suspicions, she heard more gunshots and saw where the dirt kicked up around her when they struck the ground; they were aiming for her, and if not for her habit of varying her speed to avoid prediction of her movements, she would have been killed already.

Jasmine did as she was told, but she was slipping in and out of consciousness from both the overwhelming pain and the blood loss. The bullets used by the men were not very advanced, either, so her wound was very severe. The gunpowder forced the bullet to explode on contact, and the lead and explosive were easily poisoning her bloodstream from the inside. No major organs had been hit, but with the hole so close to her throat, vital passageways for both blood and oxygen had been shattered. She was holding on, but barely.

Amaryllis could do nothing but continue to run with her for what seemed like hours; finally, she tripped and nearly fell with Jasmine, deciding when she caught herself that she needed to stop. She immediately set the girl down against a tree, starting to dig through the knapsack for bandages. She only briefly had to glance at Jasmine’s wound to know how hopeless it was, but she still did not care. “It missed all of your organs. That’s a good sign,” she lied, realizing just how desperate she was since she hated lying even in the worst situation.

A smile crossed Jasmine’s face when she heard that. “Yay,” she mouthed, only realizing then that she could not speak above maybe a breath’s worth of noise. She let Amaryllis bandage her up, then, looking to be in a lot of pain with every slight touch Amaryllis gave. When she finished, Jasmine meekly tried to hold out Dian’s core to her. “He… You…”

Gently Amaryllis pushed the core close to Jasmine. “Dian is with you right now. He wants you to live,” Amaryllis tried, remembering Jasmine’s affection for him. “Do not let him down…”

“I helped,” Jasmine said proudly, Closing her eyes and letting her head fall back. She knew Dian would appreciate that, especially considering how much he loved Amaryllis. And she knew Amaryllis appreciated it, too, so she was happy even if she was in extreme pain at the moment. She clutched the core to her, though, hugging it for her strength since she was losing it all so quickly.

“You did, but I wish you hadn’t. You would not have been injured,” Amaryllis said back, getting a little frantic from seeing Jasmine slowly letting her limbs fall limp. In fact, it scared her enough to bring tears to her eyes, and she gently leaned forward to the girl. “I wish you would have left me there. You’re going to die because of me, too…” she choked, no longer even able to pretend to believe she would be fine.

Jasmine did not answer her, just gasping for air since it was getting harder for her to breathe every second. “Mom…” she uttered after a while, smiling happily to herself. Amaryllis just held on to her and burst into tears.

* * *

That had been her last conscious breath. Amaryllis knelt somberly before the new mound underneath the tree, crying without any reserves on it since no one was around, and even if they were, she would not have cared. She had a right to be upset, and she was asserting it at the moment before the grave. She had buried both Jasmine and Dian’s core together; she had thought of reviving him, but she doubted she would ever see Claire to do that.

Since she had taken a few days to fix her clothes and wash up and recover physically, she finally forced herself up, starting to walk rather aimlessly away from the tree to anywhere else. She had no idea where to go or what she wanted to find anymore. If she found her family, would they meet this same fate? Could she even see them after all this? She knew she was not the same, and they might not want to see her like this. She could not stand herself as she was, anyway, so she would not blame them.

Fatigued as she was from all the crying, Amaryllis ended up collapsing not too long after she started out on her journey. When did you become so weak? …Or does it even matter? Maybe you can finally die here. It’s not like anyone is waiting on you. You have taken too long, so it is too late.

“Mother?!” Amaryllis barely forced her eyes open, and even then, she could barely see because of the grass in her face. She saw a figure coming toward her, and before she knew it, she was being lifted. “It is you! Thank goodness… I knew I would start finding everyone soon,” Jaeden said almost happily, hugging her mother to her.

“…Jaeden…” Amaryllis finally acknowledged, wondering if this was some sort of dream since she knew her daughter could not possibly have found her. She blinked, realizing what this could mean. “No, get away!” she suddenly shouted, not going to be the cause of Jaeden’s death whether she was a dream or not.

Jaeden did not resist her mother, but she was very shocked to be pushed back. She even looked a little hurt, but she forced that aside in her mind since she could tell by the way her mother looked, cleaned up or not, that something bad had happened. “What’s wrong, Mother?” she asked in concern.

“H-how are you here…?” Amaryllis replied, looking around a little frantically for any sign of danger. When she saw none, she relaxed a little. Though she calmed herself down for the moment, she was nowhere near convinced everything was okay.

“A Jumi nearby contacted me with his core. He said ‘someone I love very much needs help, so please, help her since I am no longer capable of doing so.’ I was looking for another Jumi, but I seem to have found you,” Jaeden said, very curious about that even though she was more concerned than anything else.

Amaryllis stared at her, immediately grabbing hold of Jaeden and bursting into tears again. Jaeden was again startled by the unusual behavior, but she gently wrapped her arms around her mother, not too sure of what else to do. Then it hit her. “Oh! No, don’t worry. It wasn’t Father, I know that much. I would have known if it was him. Besides, I’ve been tracking rumors since everyone speaks of him, and he seems to be very much alive,” Jaeden assured her, hoping that would calm her. Well, at least she was glad she managed to understand her mother’s crying.

That did not help Amaryllis much. In fact, it made things a bit worse for her, since she had to wonder where Elazul was and why he had not come to her yet. He had promised to protect her from things like that, after all. She shook her head, trying to force the thought out of her mind since there had to be some good reason. “Dian… But his body is gone, so that is impossible,” she answered Jaeden, explaining what she thought about the call Jaeden received.

“Dian? Who is that? And he must have gone to great lengths to contact me about you if his body is gone…” Jaeden replied back, slowly lifting her mother’s arm off of her while she spoke. “What happened to you? You never let your skin get this scratched up and bruised before. Your hair is still a mess, too, and the mending you’ve done to this dress is horrible,” she chastised, though she was not doing it to be rude. “There’s a town a little ways back, so we’ll go there and I’ll help you get all cleaned up. Come on.”

Amaryllis muttered a bit of a protest, but Jaeden easily lifted her, propping one of her mother’s arms around her shoulder. “Are you bleeding, or are those stains someone else’s?” Jaeden asked, just waiting for her mother to shake her head before she nodded in return. “Just wondering.” She could easily see her mother had no intention of telling her what had happened just yet, so Jaeden started leading her off instead of badgering her. She could do that later.

* * *

Jaeden had easily become sympathetic to her mother’s condition as she helped her clean up in the bath. Of course Amaryllis could have cleaned herself, but Jaeden insisted on doing just about everything for her, even that. She could clearly see scars, bruises, and traces of certain substances all over her mother’s body, so she easily pieced together what could have happened and did not ask about it, just trying to be there for her.

Amaryllis could not form an opinion on what was happening, though. She was confused as to how Jaeden could really be there, and at the same time, she wanted her gone since something could happen. She knew she wanted her daughter to be at her side, but she did not believe it was right for her to be there. “Why?” she vaguely asked, raising the back of her hand to her head. She was now sprawled out on the bed in the inn room, covered only by a towel since Jaeden had taken her clothing away from her.

“Why what? You’re my mother,” Jaeden answered, though she was confused as to what she was answering. Normally, she and her mother could understand each other even without words, but something about her now made it nearly impossible for Jaeden to even tell what she meant out loud. She shook her head, leaning forward as she went back to her sewing, trying to stitch the dress properly now that she had undone all the mending her mother had done halfheartedly.

“You should not be here,” Amaryllis told her, closing her eyes as though it would make Jaeden disappear. Of course, it did nothing, but she had to try, anyway. “You need to stay away from me.”

Jaeden scoffed. “You never stayed away from me when I wanted you to,” she argued, though she had to smile a little at it. “And I never really thanked you for it, either,” she added after a moment, knowing how much that had helped her get through so much.

“You did not understand what you were saying when you told us that. You had no grasp on the situation and you were just upset. We would have hurt you worse if we left you alone,” Amaryllis explained, not wanting her to compare the situations since she thought they were different.

However, Jaeden thought they were remarkably similar. “Right. So why should I leave you now? I’ll help you recover if I stay instead of leaving you. Judging from how I found you, you aren’t capable of being by yourself, anyway,” she said, finishing up knotting the seam before setting her needle and thread aside. “Here.”

Amaryllis opened her eyes at Jaeden’s last word, feeling her dress now on top of her since Jaeden had just thrown it at her. “But I need to be by myself. You cannot understand because you are too young,” she said, sitting up to start dressing herself again. It certainly felt a lot nicer now that Jaeden had gotten all the crusted blood, dirt, and even semen off of it. Her father had taught her well.

Jaeden had to glare a little at that. “I’m old enough, and I’ve been through enough. If you want to use that to your advantage, then remember, I went through the same things, only I was too young then to understand how to handle them. You should know how, and I’m sorry it happened, but you can deal with it.”

After watching Jaeden for a moment, Amaryllis looked away again, crawling back into the bed. “I apologize. I did not mean to bring up memories you would rather forget,” she said, curling up a bit since she did not want to dispute the rest of what Jaeden said. I don’t know. I never learned, so I cannot… I-…

Amaryllis’s thoughts were interrupted as Jaeden slid into the bed behind her, gently wrapping her arms around her mother. “You’re frightened, aren’t you, Mother? I’ve never seen you like this. You could hold back all your pain when Father died all those times, but why not now?”

She did not answer; Amaryllis felt herself crying again no matter how much she tried not to do it. “Jaeden, it’s not the same. I’m not that strong. I tried. But how can you expect me to believe like I used to after all this? Elazul isn’t here…”

That actually upset Jaeden quite a bit, but she tried to not show it. “You are. You are the strongest person in this world, both in power and mentality. I’ve always tried to be like Father, but I’ve also always tried to be just like you. Don’t tell me I was trying to be something that didn’t actually exist,” she pleaded.

“But that isn’t who I am anymore!” Amaryllis said immediately. She drew her hands up to the back of her head, elbows extending to cover her face completely. “I called so many times and he wouldn’t come! I needed him, and he wasn’t there. Nobody was…” she trailed off, her sobs drowning out anything else since it upset her to admit what she was really thinking at the moment.

Jaeden felt herself tearing up, too, but she just tried to hug her mother. “I’m really sorry, Mother,” she managed, her voice breaking a bit. “And I’m sure Father is, too. But I’m here now, and we’ll go find him. We’ll find everyone, and everything will be okay again. You’ll see, I promise. Just believe me…”

Amaryllis shook her head. “I can’t. I cannot go with you. I don’t want you to die, too. If you died, Jaeden, it would kill me, not just because you’re my daughter, but because you are my daughter. I lost people that were dear to me, but losing you…”

“Don’t think about that,” Jaeden said a little angrily. “Don’t even think that I would allow myself to die. I can’t. I have too much here to do. I have to find my children. I understand why you wouldn’t let yourself cry when Father died; you saw what happened to Lucas. He can’t find them, so I have to. And I will. I have to,” she assured her mother, not going to die when she had such an important thing to do.

Amaryllis winced, realizing what pain Jaeden must be going through now that she brought that subject up to her. “I’m sorry, Jaeden. Lucas-”

“Lucas isn’t here. But Father is. You just have to find him again. And you have to keep believing in him, because you’re the one person that he needs to believe in him. You know how much I love Father, but he needs you, not me. You’ve heard all of this before. You’ve told me most of this before. How am I supposed to believe it if you won’t?”

“I needed Elazul, too,” Amaryllis answered, hating herself for blaming him even a little since of course he could not have helped. She should have been able to escape, anyway, or at least have been able to endure any torture. But no, she had lost her nerve, and then she lost all that strength she was thought to possess. That was her fault.

Jaeden could not decide whether to be angry or try to understand what her mother meant by that. “Father would never let anything happen to you if he could prevent it. You can’t blame him. And if you need him so badly, let’s go get him. Don’t just sit here and mope because that’s not going to help. If you’re not willing to do anything, then how can you expect him to be? We need to-”

“Jaeden, stop! Stop it!” Amaryllis shouted at her, pulling away and trying to cover her head even more. “You can’t understand it. You won’t. I can’t face your father now. I can’t face anyone. Just stop it and leave me alone…”

Slipping out of the bed as quickly as she could, Jaeden just stood next to it, looking very distraught from all she had heard. “Mother, don’t tell me that. I wanna help you. Everything can be okay if you’ll just come with me.”

“No!” Amaryllis answered her, not caring how immature she knew she sounded. It was the only way she could think of to get Jaeden to stop. “Just go away! You can’t help me. I am nothing but a lost cause, so just leave! You’ll be better off that way!”

Jaeden gasped, still staring at her mother since she was no longer as confident in her beliefs of what should be done. “Mother, I-” she began, but she stopped when she felt tears dripping down her cheeks. “How could you do this? How can you be the mother that I-…?” She could not finish that; Jaeden was too upset to continue. She clenched her fists tightly and immediately ran out of the room, trying to avoid yelling at her mother.

Amaryllis heard the door slam, and she rolled over on the bed, grabbing the pillow and just breaking down into even more tears. She had just made her daughter miserable, she knew, and that was something she never wanted to do. But she could not allow herself to be near her. She could not face her, either, and she wished she never had to even try to do it. “I’m so sorry… But it’s better this way…”

Though she would cry for hours, Jaeden would not return to her. Amaryllis knew she was alone again; it scared her to death. But that was how the rest of her never-ending life was going to have to be.