Through effort, you have gained +1 to the Magic Resistance attribute.

Lucius' eyes slowly opened. He was lying on his back, staring at the tunnel opening above him. By now, the sun had moved to the other side of the sky, and the amount of light coming in through the opening had greatly diminished. The circle of light that once covered this position had made it's way to the other side of the room by now.

"You're finally awake!"

Maryanne was sitting by his side with Whisper in her lap. The two of them had been intensely focused on the storybook in her hands. She was explaining one of the stories to the mythical creature, pointing at the pictures as she described one event after another from memory. She wasn't able to actually read the words on the pages yet, but she was able to recite a few of the stories by heart. When Whisper followed Maryanne's gaze away from the book and noticed that Lucius was awake, his ears shot straight down around the sides of his face as he disappeared into the storage ring.

The pain in Lucius' arm was immense; it was probably what had awoken him. Lucius pulled a bottle of Tylenol out of his med kit while he continued to lay there and dumped a triple dose into his throat before washing it down with a large mouthful of water. Then he began adding free attributes into Vitality, one at a time, spending a full five points before the warmth spreading through his body started to dull the pain. Now, at least, he felt like he could move without worsening his injuries. Increasing his Vitality did not actually heal his wounds, but it empowered his flesh, allowing it to survive greater damage and increasing it's speed of recovery. It probably did other things that he did not fully understand, as well. Soon a soft voice entered his ears.

"Are you okay now?"

Maryanne stood up from her spot and walked closer to him, looking down toward his injuries as she tightly squeezed the book between her crossed arms. Lucius noticed that the long-sleeved shirt that he had only managed to pull halfway on his body was now fully in place. Whisper and the child must have helped him finish dressing himself after he collapsed. Carefully lifting his head off the ground, he pushed himself into a sitting position with his good arm. As he did so, a cool piece of wet cloth fell down from his forehead. He smiled as he picked up the cloth, noticing that it was one of his socks. He held it up towards Maryanne as he spoke.

"What's this?"

"Oh... Your head got really hot when you were sleeping, and you started sweating a lot. Don't worry, it's clean! Whisper helped me get it from your ring."

"I see. Thank you for taking care of me. How are you feeling, by the way, Maryanne?"

The girl moved her head back and forth a few times, placing one hand on her neck, testing the condition of her injuries.

"Still really sore, and I have a lot of bruises, but as long as I don't move too fast, it's okay!"

Lucius nodded at the girl's explanation. It seemed like he had done enough, and she would no longer be in danger of dying. Lucius slowly climbed to his feet, being careful to move his injured arm as little as possible, and pulled another shirt out of his ring once he was standing. He let the shirt hang down toward the ground, stepped on one end and pulled with his uninjured hand, tearing the clothing into a long strip of cloth. He slung the strip around his neck and did his best to tie it into a knot, which was quite difficult with one hand. Eventually, Maryanne stepped forward and helped him complete the knot. Afterward, he took a few deep breaths before lifting his arm into the sling.

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The pain was shocking, and Lucius could do nothing but stand still, clenching his teeth with an ugly grimace on his face until it subsided. Once the worst of it had passed, he walked over to a large rock and sat down, looking up at the hole they had fallen into earlier in the day and thinking about how he was going to get them out. He noticed that Maryanne kept glancing up at him as she rubbed her hands, but whenever he returned her gaze, she quickly looked away.

"What is it, Maryanne?"

The hand rubbing intensified as her gaze passed back and forth between Lucius and the storage ring on his hand, before scrunching up her lips with determination and looking him directly in the eyes.

"You... Need to say sorry!"

Lucius raised one eyebrow as the unexpected words left the child's lips. He looked down at the storage ring following her gaze and realized what she was talking about.

"You mean Whisper?"

Maryanne nodded her head resolutely as she maintained her tough facade, but her shaking hands revealed how nervous it made her to make such a demand. Nevertheless, she continued to stand up to Lucius to protect her friend, her miniature foot stomping once against the ground as she continued her explanation.

"You hurt Whisper's feelings! So you should say sorry!"

The girl had mostly behaved in a quiet and kind manner ever since he had met her. Starting a conflict was the furthest thing from her natural disposition. Lucius looked down at her silently for a few seconds before he decided that he had prolonged her suffering enough, giving her a smile to show that he was not angry. Her stern expression fell from her face as she looked away with reddened cheeks, her hands squeezing together tightly beneath her chin.

"Whisper, come out here."

The pitiful creature obeyed the command, but when he appeared, he did so behind Maryanne's legs, holding on to the child's ankle as he peeked around and continued to hide from Lucius' line of sight. Lucius did his best to suppress the regretful sigh that threatened to escape his lips. His fear and desperation at Maryanne's deadly condition had led to the angry outburst, traumatizing the child-like creature and severely damaging the relationship between the two of them.

"Will you please come over here? I promise I'm not going to hurt you."

The purple bat's shoulders trembled a bit as he looked up at Maryanne, who gave him a nod of encouragement, before he slowly unwrapped his wings from her leg and started to walk over towards Lucius. As Whisper's tiny feet padded along the ground towards him, Lucius noticed that much of the fur on the bat's left wing was missing, and the skin beneath was shredded and covered in holes. When he arrived, he stood with his face pointed toward the ground as he waited for Lucius to speak.

"What happened to your wing?"

Whisper lifted his head, glancing over toward his left wing in fear as the recollection of how he had received his injuries clearly disturbed him.

"Our l-lifeforce is connected, f-father."

Now the sigh could not be restrained. Lucius let out a heavy breath as he realized that he had not only traumatized the creature but had proceeded to painfully torture it immediately afterward. He had not intended to do so, but by using Matriarch's Fury against himself, he was using it against Whisper at the same time.

"I see. That was an oversight, I didn't mean to hurt your wing... Whisper... do you understand why I got so angry with you earlier?"

Whisper shook his head from side to side as he continued to stare at the floor. Lucius rubbed his chin for a few moments as he thought about the best way to explain, looking over towards Maryanne as he considered his options.

"Do you like spending time together with Maryanne?"

Whisper thought about the question for a few moments before slowly nodding his head.

"Right, so how would you feel if you weren't able to do that anymore? What if someone came and took her away forever?"

"I would... get her back."

"What if you failed?"

Whisper considered the question for a long time, looking back at Maryanne every few seconds as the idea settled into his mind.

"I would be very sad, I will not allow that to occur."

"Right. That is what death is like for humans. We aren't like mythical creatures that can be reborn. So we should always do our best to keep humans alive. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Father."

"Good. I'm... Sorry for the way I spoke to you earlier."

Lucius reached down and rubbed the back of Whisper's head as he gave his apology. The nervous tension in the creature's body visibly diminished as he did so. Once that was out of the way he turned his attention back towards the more pressing issue.

"Okay, now we need to get the hell out of this hole."