Qeeny approached with his hands up and closed his painted-on eyes. His hands were shaking with concentration while Victor waited impatiently.

“Stay awake, Lillie. Don’t fall asleep now!” he urged her, shaking her body in his hands.

He was so utterly transfixed with the sight of her that he didn’t even notice that the other Altesians had started to gather. Amadeus watched as the entire mine came to surround them, quietly observing Qeeny from afar.

“The girl. May we approach?” one of them asked, it was a deep red Altesian who bore wrinkles on his face but no facial hair. Amadeus took a glance back at Qeeny, who was still struggling with the healing, before he nodded.

Slowly, the Altesians approached the lying girl. Once they were in range, they mimicked the motions Qeeny had used, and at once something sparked in between them. Their hands too started glowing a deep red. Amadeus felt a tingle from being so close to it, and he noticed only then that his cuts were starting to itch.

Lillie had the most drastic transformation. Purple and red wounds all over her body were fading slowly. Her shoulder was righted into position while her cracked lips sealed right back up. In a minute or two, she looked entirely normal apart from her clothes.

It was only then that the Altesians stopped and took deep breaths. The effort had tired them out, but it had borne fruit.

“Vic, is she…” Amadeus asked.

Victor shook her awake one last time and this time she stirred. Her voice came out in a slurry before she opened her eyes. And then she sighed.

“We’re still here? Wake me up when we get home,” she said, like it’d all been a dream. Amadeus let out a chuckle and the sea of red Altesians behind him started cheering in response. Victor seemed more annoyed by them, and Lillie most likely, so he just let her down softly on the ground and stood up.

“She’s going to be fine, but I’m not taking any chances. Am, you stay with her,” he told his friend.

“And where are you going?”

“Yes? Where is your next destination, Mr. Amadi?” Qeeny asked him.

“Our next destination. You’re going to guide me to this ally of yours so we can see who he is once and for all.”

“Oh! Of course!”

Qeeny seemed excited at the prospect and literally started bouncing over to the entrance to the mines. The others gave them room and opened the heavily locked gate that barred entry.

Victor looked inside of the mines and found it a bit dull with everything considered. He’d thought they’d be mining metals that were specific to their world, but it was just the same as what was available on earth. Just some copper and iron.

What was peculiar to Victor was what he saw besides the mining equipment. There were jail cells built into the walls of the mine, holding prisoners long dead or dying. The smell that filled the air in that section of the mines infiltrated his senses and forced him to cough.

“How much further in, Qeeny?”

“This way! Or was it that?” Qeeny replied.

“You’re not even sure yourself?” Victor asked, grunting.

“No, but… they must be keeping him in a super safe place, aren’t they?” Qeeny asked in reply.

Victor walked past the Altesian, ignoring his comment and instead searching out the place himself. His phone light guided him further and further into the mines, until he finally found a door that looked less damaged than the others.

“Maybe they left their keys ar-”

Victor kicked the door off of its hinges and entered. He shined a light left and right before it settled on a malnourished figure on the ground. He looked Nepalese, but his eyes were sunken and face horrid. He had a stringy beard and loose robes fit for a traveller, with many little pouches in between.

His hands were in the worst condition, wounds visible from chaffing against their bonds on the wall.

Qeeny hadn’t entered yet, so Victor leaned down and pulled out his water bottle.

“Hey, old man, wake up,” he shook him gently. When that didn’t work, Victor slapped him slightly across the face until he moved a little.

“….Huh?” he said in a hoarse voice.

“Don’t talk. Drink up first,” Victor told him. But the man recoiled once he opened his eyes a little more.

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“Flattered, old man, but I’m not good looking enough to be a Daughter of Mara. Now, drink up, we’re here to break you out.”

The man nodded slowly and took the most refreshing drink of water he’d ever have in his life. Once his parched throat was wetted, Qeeny came back in with a ring of keys. The little Altesian tossed the ring to Victor, who undid the locks on the man’s arms.

The old man fell forward without the strength to help himself. Victor grabbed him mid-fall and realized that it wasn’t just the time in the cell that had done in his appearance. The Nepalese man was old, bald and didn’t look to have the greatest constitution.

He waved his hands through the air a little and suddenly stopped shaking as much.

“You can let go, young man. I’m not as frail as I was a moment ago,” he coughed into his hand and stood up. To Victor he looked the exact same, but there was a change in his disposition, which is why he let him stand on his own.

“Ah, you’re Qeeny, aren’t you?” the old man said, straightening his beard with one hand.

“Yes! We came here to rescue you, Mr. Amit!” Qeeny beamed at the old man.

“I thank you for that, little Altesian. Your people have been gracious hosts,” the man, Amit replied as he dusted off his marred brown skin.

“Let’s get you out and met with the others, then,” Victor told him.

“You need to meet the others, Mr. Amit! Need to!”

“No. I need my equipment first,” Amit told the Altesian, quieting his cries.

Without a word the old man left the room and started a trek down the hall. A ball of light appeared over his hand to light the way, signalling to Victor that he was a Wielder.

When he did that little display of magic, he looked back towards Victor.

“Pray tell, where are you from, boy?” he asked as he continued onwards into the dark.

“Charleston. And my name’s Victor.”

“Ah, an American. Should’ve expected.”

“And you?” Victor asked.

“I’m a foreigner, if the accent wasn’t enough of a tell,” Amit said, turning a corner and reaching the end of the caves.

“It should be around here…” Amit said idly as he began his search.

Victor didn’t want to wait around so he joined in and helped find the satchel Amit identified as his. When he looked inside it though, he wasn’t pleased.

“They took all the Seeds, tsk,” he said in annoyance. Sighing, the old man still pulled it over his shoulder and started the trek outside.

“Daughters of Mara took them! If we fight them, we can get your Seeds back, Mr. Amit!” Qeeny told him. The Nepalese man looked at him with a soft grandfatherly expression.

“Would that I could, Qeeny. But I need to leave this instant.”

“W-what?” Qeeny stuttered.

“I can’t stay here. I have powers, yes, but nothing so grand as to take on the Daughters of Mara. Moreover, I still have a report to make to my superiors.”

“If you haven’t noticed, the world’s ended, old man. I think you can quit your day job now,” Victor told him.

“Not that kind of job, Victor,” Amit shook his head.

“Then what kind of job is it?” he asked. For a brief moment Amit looked him up and down, then shook his head.

“One of great importance.”

“You’re deflecting.”

“Because I’m not going to tell you what that importance is. The world may have fallen, but my organization hasn’t. And only so because they don’t know how to target us. Now, if you would excuse me, I need to find the nearest Gate,” Amit said.

“B-but, we need your help! Without you, W-we won’t be able to take back the village!” Qeeny cried out for him.

“I’m sorry, Qeeny. I can’t save every little village when my entire world is in danger,” Amit replied.

“Please! We’ll give you all our Seeds!” Qeeny begged, stepping in front of the old man with hands raised. “All you could want, Mr. Amit. You and Mr. Amadi both!”

“My knowledge of what’s happened here is more important, Qeeny. A loss of a few Seeds, no matter how powerful, is nothing in comparison. Now, step aside,” he said those last words with such seriousness that Qeeny ended up freezing. Amit swept past him and kept walking, ignoring the sight of the despondent Altesian.

Victor didn’t know why he stuck around. Maybe he just found Qeeny so depressing that he couldn’t leave the little puffball by himself. The little Altesian’s mission had failed after all, and his one hope was leaving unceremoniously.

“…Your mission is done, Mr. Amadi. There might be a few Seeds around the caves we could pick up to repay you…” Qeeny said.

“We’ll accept the payment later.”

“What?” Qeeny asked.

Even Victor knew what he was doing was foolish. But; at least he had a few lives to spare, right?

“I said I’ll take the payment afterwards. When we’re done liberating your town together,” Victor offered. The young Altesian piped up instantly.

“B-but, I thought you only wanted to help rescue Mr. Amit?”

“You saved Lillie. We owe you one for that, and I don’t like leaving a debt unsettled,” Victor said as he began to move. “Now, before common sense kicks in, tell me what I’m going to have to deal with out there.”

****

Lillie awoke again in the span of an hour or so. She was groggy and sweating by the time she opened her eyes. In front of her stood three figures and a thousand little balloons beside them.

“Oh, so cute…” she started idly rubbing one of them, but the texture felt off. Halfway between skin and a smooth balloon.

“Uh, Mr. Amadi, Ms. Aster is awake!” Qeeny said from under her heavy hand. She smiled at him but the Altesian felt embarrassed.

“Your third is awake. Can I still not interest you with a reward if you escort me to a different mining spot instead?” the old man asked of them. Lillie assumed that he was the prisoner they were sent to rescue.

“No, you can’t,” Victor replied.

“That’s the prisoner?” Lillie asked.

“Yeah. And Amit here doesn’t feel like helping,” Amadeus said with a slight frown.

“That is my choice to reserve. But I still require Seeds, and would be willing to help you acquire som-”

“So, he’s leaving instead? Are you sure we should let him?” Lillie asked, ignoring the old man’s words.

“I can assure you I’m more than capable of keeping myself safe. The escort was just in case of… exceeding circumstances,” Amit told her as a small ball of light appeared over his hand.

“Huh, I didn’t expect you to have powers,” she said, before raising herself off of the floor.

“Many don’t. Now, if you won’t help me, I suppose there’s no more reason for me to stay. With that, goodbye.”

Amit left the camp without another word as Qeeny stared on.

“Right, change of plans. We’re going to be the ones to free Pepin village,” Victor told the gathered crowd.

“You sure we have the power, Vic? We barely made it out this time?” Lillie asked.

“That’s why I salvaged these two for you guys.”

He opened his hands to reveal two Seeds nestled within. One looked like two roots twisting into each other in a spiral, while the other was an ever-changing flame that didn’t seem to burn Victor’s hands.

“You’re going to need these. Because the next few days aren’t going to be easy.”