The First Game, The First Night (7)

A floor covered in blood, disheveled hair, torn clothing and a sickly face were the sights that greeted Imran one after the other as he watched Cyrus scoop up the unconscious Minerva and carry her to the exit. Upon the opening of the door, the full sight and stench of it all was revealed.

Imran who just moments before wanted nothing but to tear open the very door that had just opened before his very eyes, was unsure of how to react for a moment. His panic leaving him, and by extension his reason returning, he made quick use of his wit and depth of knowledge to reason out what exactly had just gone down.

Deciding to play it safe, as someone close to him was quite literally in the clutches of a potentially dangerous individual, he probingly said

"Care to explain?"

With his words said, Cyrus' eyes refocused from a place unseen to the world around him once more. Imran could have sworn he heard him mumble, "Quiet down, I have not lost it yet" but he pushed that aside as more important things were at stake.

The brown eyes of Cyrus focused on Imran, a flash of wildness and obsession could be seen deep within before disappearing like a wisp of smoke causing Imran to doubt if they were ever there.

With a slight smirk Cyrus said,

"I know you have many questions, of which I will answer as it is owed to you. Quite frankly, I am in awe of your self-control. I was worried I would have to knock you out, if you had let your emotions take over instead of your reason of course."

Seeing the cool and confident visage of his ally, Imran himself was starting to believe that Cyrus could easily do as he said despite having just gone through an intensive and exhaustive battle. Especially when he was reminded of what he was truly capable of… of the scenes of carnage and terror that he so easily created during their exam…

Shaking his head of such thoughts, as they would be of no help, he forcibly pushed down all the various useless emotions that would threaten this negotiation.

"Yes… a negotiation. A merchant must always keep their cool in such a situation, else they will be on the losing end of the deal. This situation is no different…cool, calm and rational. A perfect merchant is what I must be" thought Imran.

Looking at Cyrus once more, this time his normal self, said with his usual bravado and smile to boot

"If I want to aspire for greatness, of course I need to have mastered such a simple skill set. Now, as for the reason for the conflict I do not care in the moment, only that she will be okay. I am aware of her stubborn personality, how she may do things that seem to make no logical sense. This is not even the first time I have seen her decide to fight someone who she was otherwise quite cordial with."

Nodding in understanding Cyrus said,

"Stubborn, is one of the nicer words I would use to describe her actions. From my perspective we were to just fight to see the depth of the other's skills, to see who was on top, and to perhaps learn from the experience. However…when she was defeated instead of conceding she decided to do the exact opposite and turn a match into a fight to the death… how insane."

Imran shrugged to that as it was out of his control, all the while taking careful note of the currently out of sync Cyrus. While he was talking with a tone of disbelief and confusion, the pleasure on his face was all too apparent to one as versed as Imran was in the art of reading people.

Pushing that oddity aside once more, still focused on the big picture as always, Imran said

"I have never seen her on the losing side before, perhaps this is considered normal behavior to her but I had never the chance to witness it before. Nevertheless, let us focus on treating her wounds first. Then we can contemplate the meaning of life all we want"

Hearing this, Cyrus followed Imran's line of sight towards the splotches of blood on the ground that looked similar to a scene of some kind of ghastly accident.

"Do not worry, I have made full use of my Vita domain to heal her. While I may not be comparable to a true healer with my tricks, when it comes to damage done due to death essence I believe to be as good as any. Most of the damage was superficial, just breakings of her skin that caused bleeding to sprout in a few areas. The only real complication she has is that a large amount of her bodies naturally occurring essences were depleted by the mist I deployed. As far as I am aware, that is outside the realm of magic and can only be solved by nutrition from food and rest from sleep" said Cyrus, having regained his normal stone-cold demeanor.

Breathing a sigh of relief, having no doubt of the words coming from one who he considered to be his better in regard to the Arcane, Imran said with a slight drip of cheeriness in his voice

"That is good to hear, relieving to say the least. Let us not delay and have her rest in her room above, not to mention if she stirs while you are carrying her in your arms I imagine her reaction would be quite…intense to say the least."

With that, Cyrus began walking towards and up the spiral stairs that led to the rooms above with Imran following behind.

"This ally of mine, while he is extremely competent his actions are a mystery to say the least. Multiple personalities from a trauma he experienced in the waste land or perhaps insanity… At times he is cordial and warm like any other, while his usual self reminds me of the coldness and distance of Minerva…except… its more feral and wilder at times, more of a beast than of a man. I will need to watch him carefully, taking his own words as advice: will not stand idly by and allow potential harm to come to that which I hold dear…" thought Imran, a dark and grim look taking hold on his face before being erased.