Noah's dreams were quite feverish.

He had lost his family when he was just a little boy, but now Noah found himself sitting across the dinner table from his parents and baby sister. His mother doted over his little sister, while his father told Noah to finish everything on his plate, so he'll grow up to be a strong man, just like his dad.

When Noah remembered how this ended, a terrible sense of dread built up deep within of him. Noah turned to look at his mother, but she was nowhere to be seen. When he fixed his gaze back to his father and baby sister, they grinned.

Their grins were impossibly wide. The look in their eyes was blissful, as though they were in on a wonderful, hidden secret.

Mercifully, as the sense of utter trepidation became almost unbearable, Noah faded back into nothingness.

After a time, Noah found himself back home, sipping coffee and enjoying a slice of carrot cake, prepared by his grandma. She was asking Noah about his adventures outside of The Arc, with a kind and loving expression.

Just looking at her made Noah feel better. Jeffrey was there, as well. Sitting atop one of those ugly and uncomfortable chairs that his grandmother liked so much. Somehow, Despite Jeffrey's hulking hybrid form, the chair miraculously held under his weight.

An image of Jeffrey, riddled with bloody puncture holes, unresponsive, had flashed in Noah's mind.

"What's wrong, my little goblin?"

"N-nothing." Noah suppressed that awful image, burying it deep within himself.

As Jeffrey shared an awful pun, the abomination slithered into the house, through the window. Or was it Voidstrider? Either way, she appeared so sad and afraid.

Noah couldn't help but feel sorry for her, as she was tearing everyone limb from limb.

After she had her fill, Noah retreated once again into the welcoming embrace of the void. In this all-encompassing nothingness, he no longer had to fear being hunted down or suffer the loss of those he held dear.

After a time, a radiant green sphere had blossomed from a seed. Fearing he would be consumed by it, Noah transformed himself into a radiant sphere as well.

Neither form desired it, but it was only a matter of time before one would absorb the other. And so, they continued to grow and expand.

"Come on, you have to eat."

"Huh?"

Noah awoke from his slumber to a bloodcurdling sight - a hulking demonic being with a jaw full of large, razor-sharp teeth. Noah instinctively yelped and jumped off his bedroll, upon catching sight of Jeffrey.

"Oh, you're finally awake?" The werehuman was delighted but couldn't help himself and ended up chuckling at Noah's reaction.

Jeffrey was sitting at Noah's side in his hybrid form, his body was wrapped with strange leaves that Noah had never seen before.

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"You're not d..." Noah stopped himself before saying 'dead,' remembering just how gravely injured Jeffrey was as he carried him during their escape.

'Wait, where the duck are we at?'

It was after dark. The only source of light came from the flickering flames of a campfire and the scent of roasted meat filled the air. Looking around, it appeared as though Jeffrey had made camp in the cover of some trees and shrubbery. However, Noah didn't understand how they got here in the state that everyone was in, after they had fled the underground station.

Noticing Noah's confusion, Jeffrey explained: "Your skeleton friends are very loyal and tenacious. Well, at least these two."

Jeffrey motioned towards Steve, who was vigilantly guarding over the camp and the still one-armed ape, that was gathering branches to add to the campfire.

"This one has some issues, though..." The werehuman pointed towards Claws. The undead reptile's legs were still shattered, and it lay on the ground, glaring at Noah, seemingly demanding to be fixed already.

"Anyway, they carried us to safety and watched over us until I was able to move again."

"Wait, how long have I been unconscious?"

"Three days, you really had me worried!"

"Huh?! Three days?"

"Don't worry though, I know how urgent it is for you to get back home, so we've been carrying you while we kept marching towards Arcturus City."

Noah was utterly dumbfounded, not only because he was unconscious for so long, but also because it implied that his minions had been acting far more independently than he had assumed they could.

"Here, you really need to eat."

Jeffrey handed Noah a massive chunk of roasted monster meat, skewered on a stick.

"Thanks..."

Noah inquired about many things while he ate.

For starters, as Jeffrey explained it, he possessed impressive regenerative abilities, naturally recovering swiftly. Additionally, he had gathered leaves from a plant with medicinal qualities, some of which he also used to wrap around Noah's broken ribs, under his shirt.

That's how Jeffrey was able to transition from being on the brink of death to marching while carrying Noah, though the werehuman was still on the mend.

As for cooperating with his minions, according to Jeffrey, they did not react when he asked them to do specific things. This made sense, considering two of the skeletons were monsters, and the third was from another world and likely spoke a different language when he was alive.

However, using hand motions, Jeffrey was generally able to convey his meaning, at least to Steve. Noah could only assume that the undead warrior understood that Jeffrey was caring for him and thus went along with the werehuman's plans.

'Huh...'

As for the fact that Jeffrey had attempted to sacrifice himself in order to save Noah, and Noah had almost died in order to save Jeffrey, no one brought it up. There was no need. They were simply happy to have survived and enjoyed each other's company.

After all, tomorrow morning, they would part ways.

Jeffrey had taken Noah as close to The Arc as he felt comfortable. The farther they headed towards Arcturus City from this point, the higher the chance of encountering an expedition. Jeffrey was worried that his appearance would turn them hostile towards Noah as well.

And so, they spent their last evening together reminiscing about their perilous journey, while Noah poured his essence into his hard-working minions, finally restoring their broken forms.

At dawn, Jeffrey led the group up a hill, pointing towards a sprawling plain with occasional long-abandoned structures dotting it, and explained to Noah the path that he would need to take.

"Jeffrey, are you sure you don't want to come with me?" Noah recalled what Silas had once told him about Jeffrey. About how he was chased away by the Order of the Blazing Path. "I'll vouch for you; we can find a place for you in The Arc."

Noah knew how unlikely it was to actually work out, but felt it was too unfair for such a kind, albeit terrifying looking person like Jeffrey, to spend his days as an outcast.

"I'm sure." Jeffrey patted Noah's back with his massive, webbed arm. "But, once you sort thing out, maybe come visit me, if you'll set out on an expedition, yourself, one day."

Noah nodded.

He knew that if by some miracle, he would manage to return to The Arc, he would never leave. They would never see each other again. Noah wanted to tell Jeffrey how utterly and truly thankful he was for everything that he had done for him. But Noah was too choked up in order to speak.

Instead, Noah embraced his friend tightly, into a hug, before turning around and resuming his journey home.