Yurika couldn't have been out of it longer than a few minutes, but her head throbbed with pain that was crashing against her skull like waves. She groaned, pushing her body with her arms, blinking away the blur to her vision.

"Are you okay?" Marc asked.

"Where are we?" Yurika mumbled. At first, the darkness of the place confused her. For a minute or two she couldn't make out anything at all but the dark lump of rocks and the mass of sand and dust all around her. She could smell musty damp air. When her eyes started to get used to the blackness, she found herself inside of a dead-end passage with a large wall of stone was blocking the only way out.

"Still inside of Poroiwi. I just promptly pulled you in one of the tunnels. I didn't have enough time to check if it's a dead-end or not," Marc mumbled, "and the boulder's fragments just trapped us in here in the end, sorry."

"No, don't be sorry. You did what you think best at that time. I was the one who fainted and became a burden."

"You are not a burden," Marc refuted, he then made a shuffling move noise and groaned a bit.

"Are you okay?"

"I am fine."

"You don't sound like you are fine though," Yurika tried to move closer to the man. Making her way carefully with her touch. She stumbled a few times before she reached him.

"It would be better if you could conjure some light magic," Yurika suggested.

"I would have done that, if I could, ouch--," Marc grunted when Yurika accidentally touched his shoulder, "I have lost my staff and... my glasses somewhere around this place. I am pretty much blind without it."

"You are hurt!" Yurika panicked, "I should try to find them for you. I can't really help with your wound in the dark." She started to feel the ground around her to find either his glasses or staff.

"Why don't you conjure light magic?"

Yurika stopped and turn herself facing him, "I don't know how. I haven't learned the mage skill."

"With the way you destroy that boulder? That fire spear is a no joke," said Marc incredulously, "you were using some fireballs too before it."

Yurika sighed, "would you believe me if I said that fire spear isn't really my power?"

"You are confusing me."

Yurika sighed once more, she decided to stop searching for his staff and sat down.

"I don't know how are you going to interpret this... if I got to make it simple I think the easiest way to describe it to you is that Fetuu La Rossa isn't just a power gem," Yurika explained as best as she could. She was fiddling with her finger as she continued, "it has a soul and it was the one who conjured that fire spear."

Marc didn't say anything back for a couple of seconds, "I think you are probably right. I still remember when the Goddess first brought it at the election day. She did say that Fetuu La Rossa has its own soul."

Yurika face went sour, remembering that part of Eireen's life. She then recalled the mysterious whisper Eireen heard at that time. She wondered if that was the Goddess' voice or the Legendary Gem.

"Anyway, so Fetuu La Rossa also behind the fireball?" asked Marc breaking Yurika train of thought.

"No, that one was on me."

"I thought you said that you don't know any mage skill?"

"I don't, I was just mirroring what I have seen," she pouted.

"Mirroring?"

"Urgh... it's complicated. I am still learning with this whole 'chosen one' power. But essentially I can copy any skill I have seen," she explained.

"That's some power you've got there," Marc said in amazement.

"However, it is just a shell. If I don't know the core or essence of the class, the skill I copy is just an empty shell," Yurika continued, "looks the same but not even 10% of its true power."

"I see," Marc nodded, but he grunted after it. It seemed that any movement he made caused him pain. Yurika wondered how badly injured he was.

"Anyway, I should go back to what I am doing," Yurika mumbled as she returned to carefully inch by inch feeling the ground."

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Well, it will be easier if you mirror my light magic," Marc said matter of factly, "you did see it at least once."

Yurika stopped, as it dawned on her that she did saw him do the skill before. She then giggled sheepishly, "Oh my Goddess, I can be an air-headed at times."

Marc was chuckling a bit but he quickly had to hold himself as he groaned once more, "well, at least I am here to remind you."

"Thank you, then?" Yurika said between her giggle. She found herself feeling more comfortable talking to him. Compared to the others, Marc was the only one so far in Eireen memory that didn't really make her shudder or gave her a bitter taste in her tongue. She then wondered if Eireen ever seen this side of Marc before, he always seemed so quiet and reserved in her memories, even when he tried to comfort Eireen back then.

She shook off her thought, there were more important things to do right now. She then pulled out the image of the cloud of light that Marc did before in her mind. She held her hand out with her eyes closed. She felt her fingers tip tingling with a warm sensation and a calming wave envelop her.

'Is this light magic? It felt different compared to the fire magic,' she thought to herself. Then her closed eyes sensed the change in the atmosphere. A soft light caressed her eyelids as she slowly opened her eyes. The cloud of light was just as big as her palm but it was good enough to illuminate her surroundings.

"It's so small," complained the girl, "it is not as big as yours before."

She turned her attention to the direction of where Marc's voice came before and her eyes widened at his condition.

"Oh no! There's so much blood!!" She rushed toward him to get a better look. As she got closer she quickly did an examination on him

"Do I look that bad? Pretty sure, I wasn't hurt that bad," he sucked his breath between his gritted teeth, "I think one of the rocks hit my head and my right shoulder when I was dragging you here."

"I'm so--," she stopped herself. 'Stop saying, sorry!' Lucia's voice rang in her head.

"T-thank you, for not leaving me out there," she finally said.

"No problem," he smiled and his brown eyes looked gentle, without his glasses he looked much younger than he really was.

"I think your shoulder might be broken," Yurika disclosed her quick examination as she touched his right shoulder carefully and checked on his bleeding temple. "there's a cut here, but the blood seems already stopped."

She cast healing magic to give him first aid, then she untied her ribbon. Her wavy ivory hair fell down, bouncing softly on her shoulder, the strands cascaded down her back. As she leaned forward to put the ribbon as Marc's arm sling, her hair moved with her, hiding her face until she straightened and flicked it back over her cloak.

"Okay, that should help a bit, but you will need proper treatment," she reassured, "now let me try finding your glasses and staff."

"Thank you, hmm... how should I call you?" Marc mumbled, "I am not really used to call anyone I just know by their first name..."

"Just call me Yuu. I don't really remember my family name anyway," answered Yurika while scanning the surrounding ground with the miniature light cloud hovering on top of her head, the light was not as bright as the original but it was much better than the total darkness. It didn't take her long before she found his staff stuck between the rocks and his glasses that were already crushed near the wall of stones. She took the glasses or what's left of it and brought it to him.

"Your glasses..."

He made a dejected smile as he felt on the remains of his glasses, "how about my staff?"

"It is stuck between the rocks. Let me go check it," she went back to where his staff was and took a closer look at it. Despite being pinned between the rocks it looked fine, not a single crack or even fracture on it.

"Your staff looked perfectly fine but it is stuck between the rocks. I hope the part under the rocks is okay too."

"Well, it's a family heirloom. I expect it to be able to sustain it at least," his face glowed with pride, "is there any way for you to pull it out?"

Yurika carefully held the staff and tried to pull it out, but after a couple of tries, she had to give up. The staff didn't even move.

"No, sorry ...," she muttered, "now what? Should we wait for the others to come and help us out?"

"They had already left--"

"What?!" Yurika blurted out.

"Marama is under attack. They had to leave us," Marc calmly explained, "including your friend had to go there. Lucia stayed behind though. She is trying to find another way out from that tunnel to the main dome and to us."

"Oh no! We need to get out fast!"

"The feeling is mutual, but we can't really do much for now," he sighed.

Yurika moved toward him and sat next to him, "by the way how did you know all of that? Did someone send you telepathy messages?"

"Yeah, Jace did."

Yurika raised her eyebrow in surprise, "Are you saying that he has your True Name? and... did you just call him by his name directly?"

"Yes, I had given him my true name since long time ago and we haven't been using the mannerism for a while now," he carefully leaned his head on the wall behind him, "ever since he lost the kingdom..."

"Why?

"What do you mean by why? Why did I give him my true name ? or about dropping the manner?" Marc tilted his head toward her.

"Why did you give him your true name?" Yurika then remembered when she was with Zeke at Fractured hill dungeon. Where Zeke also got some telepathy messages from Jace.

"Wait the minute, don't tell me that he has all of your true names?!"

"I am not sure about Scry, but pretty much yes he has our true names," Marc tapped his left cheek, "for the why... I guess for myself, it's because I trust and respect him. I don't know about the others."

"Trust and respect?" Yurika muttered, she couldn't see any reasons to respect especially trust Jace with something as crucial as a True Name. Prominently because of Eireen's memory about him. But she didn't really want to question Marc further, worried that it might spark curiosity in the man's mind.

"Anyway, I am thinking, that maybe we should make an opening through that stones of the wall," Marc said breaking the subtle silence, "even if Lucia knew where we are, I don't think she is strong enough to break through the wall."

"But... you are hurt and I can't break the block with my strength," Yurika put her hand over her pendant, "I am not sure if I could invoke Fetuu La Rossa again. Even if I could, how would I know if I am not going to destroy everything and bury us alive instead of getting us out of this place? I might even eradicate your staff in the process too."

"That's why, I am going to teach you the basic of Mage class," Marc countered.

"Ehh! Here?! Now?!" Yurika exclaimed.

"Yep," Marc grinned confidently.