“What did you do to her!” Viran screamed at Marcus and Jules as he ran behind them towards the tent Marianne stayed in.

“Marcus don’t let him!” Jules screamed towards Marcus as he stepped into the tent, Marianne’s scream still reverberates throughout the entirety of the forest.

Marcus immediately stops running and his feet slide directly over the forest soil creating a small dust cloud. The sudden foe does not deter Viran however and he plans to directly run through Marcus. He can feel the sudden warmth of mana and his blood begins to heat up considerably.

Viran wasn’t willing to let Marianne die. Yet still he understood clearly that he was inadequate and inexperienced in all walks and manners of life. He understood clearly that he was useless in almost everything, but he still needed to be there for her. Marianne now was the last pillar for Viran among strangers that could hurt him at any moment. Hours of fighting and waiting to die, days of waiting to die, a betrayal from his own brother, his mental stability had gone through so much in the past few months. Though he was finally able to relieve the whirlpool of emotions that had piled up last night, it didn’t mean he was magically fine. He couldn’t help himself at all, losing Marianne now may just make Viran lose himself completely.

Once Viran is ready, he activates the spell with an energized movement. The soil caves in underneath him and he runs directly towards Marcus with a fury. Just as Viran is preparing to leap and kick through Marcus, he can feel the mana fluctuating near Marcus and a black glow emanates from him. Viran’s legs instead jump high and above Marcus, his icy demeanor had been broken within a second and Viran relished that.

Viran’s feet land and he rolls just as he feels Marcus’ hands reaching towards him. He rolls into the tent and jumps up high. His eyes look around the large tent, and situated in the middle is a gruesome sight. The tent itself was normal and plain looking, but the inside was completely different from what Viran is used to. What laid in the corner of the tent were boxes piled over each other with scraps littered all over the ground. In the opposite corner sat a large table with runes engraved within, a simple look at the runes made Viran’s roots unconsciously writh and his mana spins. On top of the runic temple were different colored fungus, plants, and animal parts. Mortars and pestles were situated next to vials and bottles filled with numerous chemicals foreign to Viran. Situated in the middle of the room was the familiar glow of Marianne’s golden hair, and a bare golden body laid out in front of him.

“You…” The sight of Marianne’s body terrified Viran. On top of her skin were numerous scars and blotches. Words now unreadable to Viran were written onto her stomach. Whip scars were evident on her back. All around her body were signs of burns, slashes, and stabs that had remained on her body for years. The woman he had spent hours talking to, days traveling with, was writhing around the table in pain was blood excreting from her nose.

The shock Viran had from the sight went straight through him. Just looking at the scars reminded him of many things. His own abuse, his own beatings, the corpses he walked over, the man he had killed. But most importantly those scars reminded him of what Marcus had said when he had first laid eyes on Marianne, he had mentioned that Marianne being a Kieller was sad. Viran’s eyes dim as he looks upon the convulsing body, and it pained him. But the bloody sight he saw now wasn’t caused by them, he knew that much.

“My… Apologies…” Viran despondently said as he sat in an empty corner of the room, cradling his knees with his arms. His face was tense, yet his eyes were calm and serene.

To this Marcus stopped and merely stared at Viran for a few moments before looking away. He had expected the kid to make a fuss, but Marcus supposed that he was wrong. Maybe the kid wasn’t completely bad like he originally thought?

‘Whatever.’ Marcus thought as he walked back out of the tent and squatted down in front of the tent. He picks up a simple piece of grass from the ground and blows into it to make a whistle sound, yet even he couldn’t hear the noise of the grass over the terrifying screech that Marianne was making. He wondered just how Viran processed all of that? Marcus had already seen how Viran views Marianne, and how she sacrificed herself before to save him for even a second longer.

Though Marcus didn’t want to, he couldn’t help but stop thinking about Viran. He was honestly unnerved by the kid and his showing in the forest, his screams of desperation and the blood that clung to him. In that moment Marcus was sure that Viran wasn’t even able to recognize anything around him, he became purely instinctual and was planning on killing anything around him. Like an animal fighting with its last hinges of life left… That’s what Marcus thought of Viran.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“... I’ll talk to the kid.” Junia said as she passed by Marcus to which he smiled in response. Rufus and him knew about Junia very well and her usual act, despite her violent and hurtful exterior she was caring at times. Marcus felt glad that Junia thought the same things he had, except she was better equipped to console the child not himself.

Admittedly, Marcus was not good with dealing with children whereas Rufus and Junia excelled in. Marcus could not help but feel envious of that.

Viran’s face barely changed when he stared at Jules offering incantations and incantations of spells to fix Marianne, and the repeated failures of said spells. Seeing these failures, Viran had trouble keeping himself calm. Internally he was losing control and was slowly becoming anxious as he scratched his fingernails together, he merely tried to focus instead on the pain there rather than the pain he felt from watching Marianne contort and scream in agony.

“Hey, Jules is a great healer. You can trust him to get the job done, do you want to come with me and leave here?” Junia asked with a gentle voice that eased the ears of Viran.

The gentle words she spoke were sweet to Viran, and enticing as well. Her gentle tone had given him fuzzy feelings, he had never been able to relish in the warmth a Mother could offer their child and the tone that Junia gave was what he imagined a Mother would be like. He was tempted by her, yet he still stayed. He knew that staying wouldn’t be of any help to anyone around him, yet he didn’t care. He felt that if he left now he would be filled with even more worry and anxiety, he just needed to be here for Marianne.

“Nn.” Having come to a decision, Viran shook his head and grunted lightly to Junia. Her gaze dimmed, clearly saddened by the boy’s refusal. She understood him clearly and was able to discern what he was feeling and thinking.

In response to the boy she sat right beside him, the warmth she gave off transmitted to the cold-smitten boy. Junia wasn’t willing to leave the boy beside her alone, she knew not his name nor his origins but that didn’t matter to her at that moment. Something like this was akin to her natural instinct, and a clear change from her own disorderly and violent conduct.

Junia’s gaze never left Viran for a second.

Outside not far from the tent was a shivering little girl, Elena. Her entire body shivered like a frightened animal and her silver hair danced as she squeezed together next to Rufus. The two were currently sitting side to side in the back of the cart as Elena shoved herself into Rufus. Rufus himself didn’t mind at all, after all Elena was still only a child and someone everyone in their band regarded with utmost care.

“Why-why is she yelling.” Elena cried while hugging Rufus.

“She’ll be fine Elena, you’ll be fine, and the kid will be fine. She’s just experiencing something more than she can handle, but now Jules is with her. Right? Jules is a master at healing so he can surely do something to help.” Rufus said whilst trying to comfort the crying girl.

“Y-yes you’re right. Jules is the strongest.” Elena said, her crying had stopped but her sniffling would continue through the night.

To this Rufus smiled lightly, in actuality his own heart was warmed at the sight of this. After spending years with Marcus and Junia he already regarded them as family, and now after spending just over a year with Jules and Elena he had gotten considerably closer with them as well. He regarded them as family as well, as though Elena was the niece he never had. Even on the run he has made a considerable amount of good memories, and for that he was grateful for the people around him. Only around them did he feel at peace.

Elena began to wipe her tears away on Rufus’ clothes, but he didn’t mind much at all. After all, the little girl he consoled now was already someone that he treasured greatly. To Rufus, they were a greater kindness he did not deserve. Yet he still treasures them all the same.

‘Dammit!’ Jules cursed inside his head.

Jules' hands were becoming numb from the excessive amount of mana that surged through them. He had already tried the basic foundational spells he knew, and then stacks even better spells on top of those. But still none of it worked.

His gaze descended towards Junia consoling Viran and the pain in his heart inflamed. Before he had only been trying to save Marianne for the simple fact of her background, yet now seeing the eyes of the young boy in front of him he thought more. He wanted to try his best for the simple fact that the boy in front of him prayed for the life of her, he knew he needed to try better than his best.

His hands weren’t shaking, his nerves were steeled, and his muscles tightened and untightened in rapid succession. His fingers gripped the glass handle of a vial filled with a blue liquid and dumped it over Marianne’s closed eyes, a simple remedy to halt the degradation of the mana inhabiting that area. More spells were cast, more potions were spent, more ingredients were used on the body more akin to a corpse than a person. Yet he still did not falter in the face of faulty ingredients and lack of preparation.

His eyes burned from the amount of mana he spent within his own eyes, to look closer at the abnormalities swirling through her own body. Him trying to save Marianne Kieller was now more than the shame he felt over their treatment by the Empire, and the insidious acts he had committed in the name of the Empire. It was now a simple healing mage trying to bring back a woman to a young boy waiting to see her, and that was all it needed to be for his inspiration and will to be inflamed.

The final droplets of a potion fell on himself, the wet sensation was remembered deeply by him. The sensations of the tools he gripped in his hands were remembered deeply. His eyes descended to look directly into the terse eyes of the young boy.

The noise had dimmed, and silence befell the forest once more.