Medurio left the room with Scrulo following closely behind. He wiped the sweat off of his brow, the ordeal had left him mentally exhausted. Believing that reminding himself of his new partner would be bothersome, he wandered in a random direction. After discovering that Scrulo would not stop following him, he stopped. “Right,” he said aloud, garnering a raise of Scrulo’s brow. “Perhaps I should decide what needs to be done next.”

Scrulo nodded, "Major action should always be predetermined by thought. The first ingredient of that concoction was water.”

“Simple enough. There is a well nearby. And perhaps even the fountain from outside?

Scrulo’s face contorted in disgust. “I don’t believe it would be wise to fall any lower than heresy. Has it ever been cleaned? Better yet, let's not dwell on it, the well is where we should go.”

Medurio frowned and had not paid much attention to Scrulo’s blabbering. “We’ll need a container for it,” Medurio thought to himself, he would not like to use one of his own cups. It was silly, but he thought it could become evidence in the wrong hands. “It’s just a cup,” he intelligently determined. “I can easily get another.”

“I should have a cup in my room.” Scrulo said before heading in its direction.

“That should work,” Medurio said with a nod, his most recent internal argument proven pointless. Despite his annoyance towards Scrulo’s constant babbling of philosophy, Medurio thought that it would be useful to have someone to blame when the time came.

Scrulo quickly returned, flaunting a tan, cylinder cup as if it were a trophy. “Now begins this treacherous adventure of ours. Although, I hope that we do not run into any catastrophes on our way to collect water.”

“The nearest well will no doubt suffice”, Medurio thought to himself as Scrulo produced many useless words from his mouth. “Let's go.” He ordered, moving without making sure his companion followed.

“To the well I hope?” Scrulo said with some aggravation.

Medurio was becoming more and more bothered each time Scrulo spoke. He did not need his help, and “morals” less so. It was strange. Why would “morals” involve aiding in his blasphemy? After pondering this for a short while his mind finally interpreted the words Scrulo had just said. “Yes, to the well.” he answered, far enough from the original question that Scrulo looked at him strangely for a second. He said enough words to be understood. His steps increased enough that he could potentially outpace Scrulo without the man noticing.

“I apologize for asking, but your unpredictability will lead me to ask many questions.”

Medurio shook his head. He was not unpredictable, everything he did he believed was rational. “Question all you’d like.” He opened the door. The skies had shifted to a darker blue, accompanied by a soft breeze.

A smirk crossed Scrulo’s face. “Fine then, here’s the question which attempts to break through my mind.” He gave a dramatic pause which caused further irritation for his companion, “Why did you choose to steal the text?”

No time for this, Medurio had lost all interest in speaking to this man in particular. As if he would give a fruitful answer, considering that it would make Scrulo bombard him with even more words. “I was interested in it, that is all,” he answered without much thought.

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The answer caused Scrulo to frown. “That’s all? You simply committed one of the highest forms of sacrilege because you were interested? What sort of reasoning is that? No, I don’t believe you. A man such as yourself, I understand you have a great affinity for alchemy but t-”

Medurio physically shushed him. “Shut it, someone’s coming.” A fellow taller than the both of them approached from the opposite direction. The bottom of his face was covered by a stubble that connected to a short, brown head of hair. His chin was roughly edged, and his eyes looked down on the two as if he recognized them. As a matter of fact, Medurio may have known him as well.

The man walked straight towards him, with an obvious frown on his face. Now recognizing him, a slight amount of worry began to build within Medurio.

“Ah, good to see you friend!” Scrulo said to the man. The three of them came to a stop, Medurio felt it completely unnecessary to do so.

“To you as well, Scrulo.” The man said, forcing a smile. “Although,” He now stared down menacingly at Medurio, who looked back at him with disinterest. “I cannot say the same for you, you cheating bastard.”

Medurio and Scrulo were both taken aback at the insult. Medurio’s temper flared for a second. “Who are you again?” he said in honesty.

The man’s face visibly contorted as if he was attempting to prevent anger from leaving his body. “We have met twice before, Medurio, and both times you have slighted me. Do you truthfully not care enough to remember my name!”

Thinking hard, Medurio tried to remember traces of the man in his memories. A fencing match and another thing? No name. “Sorry,” he shrugged. “Nothing comes to me.”

The man shook his head with a disgusted scowl. “Siegfried,” he said roughly, “Siegfried Rodulphus. Who you pushed out of the way when I was only asking for directions. Who you hideously insulted during a fencing match at the entrance examinations!”

“Ah,” he his mind slowly began to filter the man’s bothersome words.

“Medurio.” Siegfried said, taking a deep breath. “You are a coward! A bastard! And the greatest scum I have ever laid my damn eyes on! If I were any lesser man I would have put that ugly face of yours straight into the ground!” The two companions nearly fled as the man exhaled hsi rage and only stared at him dazed as he became silent, breathing deeply after the tirade.

Medurio was spooked for a moment but that was only because of the physical threat that the man possessed. Now he was growing annoyed, his mind had received enough lectures to recognize them in advance.

Siegfried turned to Scrulo, who inched away under his gaze. “What are you even doing with the likes of him? It is obviously more important than your studies if you went so far from your room.” He asked, much calmer now.

“It is, it is.” Scrulo said as Medurio blankly looked away. “I am watching this one because he is exactly how you described. As Quintinus once said, may he ever be in the gods’ light, a man who cannot help purge others of their foul minds has himself a mind most foul.”

As Medurio groaned, Seigfried nodded with a smile. “You are as attached to philosophy as I am to soldiery. I don’t exactly agree with you, but I’m curious of the chance that you prove me wrong.”

“Quintinus tells no lies friend, I have walked his path and have learned much from it.”

“But what exactly has this human rubbish done to gain your attention?” He glared at Medurio but looked away as the man was too gone to redeliver. “Has he slighted you in any way? Treated you with disrespect?”

Scrulo shook his head, “Nothing of that sort. Lets just say that he has landed himself in a troubling situation and I am watching over him like a caretaker.”

Newfound interest now overtook Siegfried, “Troubling how exactly? Perhaps something he can be punished for?”

Scrulo hastily waved the idea away. “No, perish those cruel thoughts. I am making sure that Medurio can rethink his actions. I will not allow you to get in my way.”

Siegfried nodded respectfully, then approached him and whispered, “What exactly has he done?”

He thought for a moment, internally praised his decision, then spoke. “I’ll tell you, but only if you agree to help us.”