You got a kiss and I got an old man?!

"You did WHAT?!"

Ethan, so caught off guard by the sudden screaming, nearly jumped out of his skin.

When he finally collected himself realized that it had suddenly gotten dark and their was a wretched smell assaulting his nostrils.

Raising his head slowly, Ethan suddenly came eye to eye with Grant who was bent over with his face directly mere inches away from his own.

Blood that had splattered onto his face was slowly dripping to the ground and their was a hatred burning deep within Grant's eyes.

"Please, tell me all about how you were out on a date while I was learning about the 'keys to victory!'"

Ethan swallowed deeply and shrunk back in fear.

"Um, okay? Can you maybe, I don't know, back up a bit?"

"Oh no, no I will not! I don't want to miss a singgllee detail about your night!"

Ethan tried to crawl backwards in a crab crawl to put some distance between himself and Grant, but every time he managed to move back a bit, Grant would simply take a step forward and maintain the distance between the two of them.

Realizing he had no choice, Ethan finally gave up and started to tell Grant about what had happened the night before.

"Well, after you ran away yest..."

"I did NOT run away! It was a strategic retreat, got it?!"

"Uh yes, yes, sorry. Well, after your 'strategic retreat' yesterday..? I was still pretty tired from fighting the ants so I decided to go back to the hospital and rest.

When I got back to the hospital, I ran into Aubrey at the information desk, and after talking with her for a bit, I gathered up my courage and asked her out on a date.

And she actually said yes!"

"No way! It all makes sense now! I couldn't figure out that she said yes after you already told me you WENT ON A DATE!"

"You don't have to be a jerk about it Grant. You're the one who asked for the details. I'm just telling you the story..."

Realizing he had allowed his emotions and mood to get the better of him, Grant apologized. To show his sincerity, he took a few steps back and sat down on the ground in front of Ethan.

Although the stench of death and rotting flesh was still noticeable, it was greatly reduced by the distance and Ethan was grateful for that, so he continued his story.

"Okay, well, after she agreed, I ran upstairs and started to get ready right away. But that's when I realized, where the heck was I supposed to take her for our date?! I mean you've been outside the walls, the world is a cesspool of death and destruction!

So of course, I was freaking out.

But thankfully, I ran into Zach when I was wandering around trying to come up with some ideas and he helped me out a ton.."

Ethan went on to tell Grant all about how Zach's wife had been a chef before The Path's emergence and when Zach and Ethan had gone to the house where Zach and his family lived, his wife, Tammi, had readily agreed to help.

While Tammi was preparing dinner with some ingredients that Ethan provided from his own personal stash in the cafeteria, Ethan managed to round up flowers, candles, and some nice place settings to create a romantic mood at a small table in the corner of the cafeteria.

"When I went to pick Aubrey up from her room, it was the first time that I've ever regretted not owning a camera.

She was so beautiful Grant! You don't even understand man... She had on this long purple dress with a slit running up the side that showed part of her leg. It had a nice v cut for the neckline and she had borrowed a curling iron from someone she knew which she used to make her hair all fancy looking.

I swear I stopped breathing for a moment when I first saw her man..."

Ethan was fairly loose on the details on how the rest of the night went and what the two of them talked about which Grant found odd at first but realized was probably a byproduct of how Ethan had always been a fairly private person.

In fact, he was quite surprised that Ethan had shared so much already.

He was expecting a short recounting of events, like how your dumb jock friend would describe a situation; We hooked up, it was hot.

Grant just attributed part of it to the fact that Ethan was so happy that the first real date in his life had been so successful which made him overshare a little bit.

And the other part was how close Ethan and Grant had become after spending so much time together recently.

Eventually, Ethan reached the end of his story, "And then, after dinner, we walked around the hospital yard for a bit before I took her back to her room. I was too afraid to kiss her so I just wished her a good night and told her I'd love to do it again soon before I turned to walk away...

But before I could get even a step away, she grabbed my arm and stopped me. She suddenly jumped up, wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me a kiss!!

Ah, God is great and Aubrey is even better! Uh, I mean... forgive me god... I got carried away there for a minute."

When Grant didn't say anything in response to his story, Ethan looked up only to see Grant slowly nodding his head up and down with a complicated look on his face. It looked as if he was trying to convince himself of something, but Ethan had no idea what it could be.

"Um, are you okay Grant? You don't look so good..."

Grant suddenly leapt to his feet, raised his head to up and looked up at the sky.

"No! I'm not okay! You got to have a beautiful night while I was living a nightmare!

To top it off, you got a kiss and I got an old man!!! AHHHHH I FUCKING HATE THIS WORLD!!!!"

Ethan, even more confused than he had been all day, which was saying something due to how Grant had been acting since his return, didn't know what to say.

But he didn't have to worry about any awkward silences, because Grant continued on!

"You know how many 'Keys to victory' there are Ethan? No? Well, I don't either! I lost count after 50! Stupid geriatric gladiator busting my ass all night!

But no matter how hard he rails on me, I will never let him break me!"

Ethan didn't know why, but he suddenly had a strong urge to vomit. The way Grant was phrasing things were making images appear that he had never wanted to imagine.

"Um, Grant?"

"WHAT?!"

"What are you talking about? What geriatric gladiator? What key's to victory?"

In the most sarcastic tone Ethan had ever heard in his life, Grant began to ramble on once again in response to his questions.

"The key's to victory are what my foundation is being built upon. I need a strong physical foundation to wield a sword effectively.

I may be strong, but I do not wield my strength properly so I must fight without my sword to improve myself.

I fight like a 5 year old girl and I am worthless apparently!

Thank The Path above that spirits are a thing so that I may be guided to greater heights!"

Ethan suddenly froze upon the last sentence and interrupted Grant before he could continue.

"Did you say spirits? Do you have a spirit? What kind? What does it do?"

It was Grant's turn to be confused, "Why do you sound like you know what spirits are?"

That was confirmation enough for Ethan to realize that Grant not only knew about spirits but probably had one himself so he decided to tell him about what Couzar had told him about the spirit following him around.

Grant was surprised, jealous at Ethan gaining one before he even hit 25, and then happy at the fact that someone may suffer as much as he had suffered at the hands of his own spirit.

For the next few hours, Ethan and Grant went back and forth discussing about spirits. Since Ethan had only been told so much about them by Couzar, it was mostly Grant telling Ethan about his own experiences.

The more Grant talked about Maximus, the more scared Ethan became. He silently prayed that whoever his spirit turned out to be, that he or she was nothing like Maximus.

After talking for a few hours, Grant suddenly sensed something and jumped to his feet and reached back to grab his sword only to realize it was still being held onto by Maximus.

Even now, he didn't understand how a spirit could seemingly steal his sword from him and hide it away, but he didn't have time to think about it so he took a fighting stance and prepared to engage the coming threat.

Ethan, confused by Grant's movements, didn't react until a figure appeared directly in front of the two of them.

Eventually, they both realized, Couzar had returned.