“Stay with me a bit longer.”

Jodeus and Ektes hiked for a few minutes more, an eerie feeling they couldn't shake was looming over them.

It made the hairs on the back of their neck rise, random chills grazing them, making them tense up. Faint noises surrounded them, unsure if the other was gearing it or if it was just themselves.

They walked through trees cautiously, their makeshift masks covering their nose and mouth just in case another bizarre plant or flower released more dangerous pollen.

Jodeus exhaled, a shaky sigh escaping his lips. Although the Sun was up, the tall trees barely let light through. And even with their Whistling stones, the thick atmosphere made it difficult to see.

As they trekked deeper into the forest, they began shivering with the temperature. When a blanket of fog settled in, they glanced at each other. They nodded simultaneously before continuing to walk.

Not even a minute later, the blanket of fog had thickened, obstructing Jodeus' sight to the point where he couldn't see anything that wasn't directly in front of him. When he turned to where Ektes was, he was shocked to see that he wasn't even near him.

"Ektes? Where are you, Ektes?" Jodeus unsheathed his dagger, his eyes flitting, trying to search for the missing Ektes.

"Jodeus!" His head snapped to where the voice came from, trying to see who was there.

"Ektes? Is that you?"

"Jodeus!" The voice sounded like it was much closer to him, the hairs on the back of his neck standing when he whipped around.

"Who are you? Reveal yourself." He forced himself to stay calm, the whole situation confusing him. His voice was shaky and his heart was pounding in his ear.

"Jo." He swallowed the lump in his throat at the… familiar voice?

He closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down, taking deep breaths while ignoring the loud and fast beating of his heart.

"Jo…"

…

"Jo…" Jodeus opens his eyes, immediately greeted by Brytos' garnet ones.

"Are you alright?" His hand was on Jodeus' shoulder, his face barely an inch away from his. Brytos called his name again, his voice making him blush.

He closed the gap, meeting Brytos' tempting lips into a passionate kiss, cut short by Ektes clearing his throat behind him.

Jodeus groaned as Brytos pulled away, chuckling as he stood up from the forest floor.

"Let's spare your friend's eyes for now, alright?" He nodded in reply, giggling.

"Now, let's get you off that floor." He reached out a hand to Jodeus, which he eagerly took. Straight after being pulled up, Jodeus planted another quick kiss on Brytos' lips, Ektes rolled his eyes again at their flirting.

Dusting himself, Jodeus looks up at Brytos. "Why was I on the ground? What happened?"

"You don't remember? Jodeus, you tripped on a rock and fell, I was almost worried but it was hilarious." He rolled his eyes at his lover's words, smiling fondly. His eyes caught Ektes' impatient gaze on them, leaning against a tree, he nods at Jodeus to keep moving.

"That's enough joking around then, we still need to find that Archius guy for Meradeath." Brytos nodded at his words, turning north and starting to walk again.

While they walked, Jodeus couldn't stop stealing glances from the man beside him.

He smiled as he stared at how beautifully the natural light hit Brytos' skin, making it shine. He was entranced by his lover, he looked like he was glowing. A halo of light surrounded him as his eyes met his, a small smile playing on his beautiful lips.

"Jodeus, stop staring." He stepped forward, tapping Jodeus' cheek lightly, a chuckle escaping his lips.

"I'm sorry. You're just so beautiful. I am so glad Meradeath managed to help you, Bry." He rested a hand on Brytos' cheek, his soft touch making the man smile more. Their eyes locked and they moved closer, a smile on both their faces, happy to be in each other's arms.

"I love you, Bry." "And I love you very much, Jodeus."

With their eyes closed, they narrowed the gap between them.

"May I remind you that we still need to find the man, Archius? I know that you two have missed each other but I am still present. So if you two may." They both backed away, Jodeus rolling his eyes as Brytos jokingly sighed.

"Alright, we're sorry for that. We'll be toning it down whenever you're around. Now please, lead the way Ektes." With another sigh of mock exasperation and Ektes turned north, leading the way further into the forest as the two lovebirds stuck together behind him.

From the moment Brytos was finally healed by Meradeath, after all the restless and exhausting days, the both of them never left each other's side. They were almost seemingly glued to each other.

Thankfully the Uvites and King Malue were willing to help the Carnelian. They were enraged and suspicious at first but they, fortunately, pardoned him, in exchange for serving the kingdom.

Ektes handled both him and Brytos in combat, oftentimes putting them against one another which they both enjoyed, playfully sparring while Ektes kept an eye on them. All the while, Jodeus learned healing magic and other spells from Meradeath, wanting to thank her by healing Uvites and running the clinic.

Brytos often offered Jodeus to help, but he would insist that he could handle it and that Brytos needs to rest and train himself simultaneously to make up for the time he was stuck as a gem.

The stress of all three, combat training, spell training, and running the clinic, rarely affected Jodeus other than his usual lack of sleep. But there had been one incident when Jodeus had brought the stress of the clinic and learning Uvite symbols to combat training, leading him to unintentionally hurt Brytos.

…

Jodeus came to combat training after a particularly frustrating day with spell learning. He butchered a spell more times than usual and he felt tired from all the blessing usage.

The clinic wasn't much help either since there was an accident in the town's market, leaving almost ten people injured. And they were all sent straight to Meradeath's clinic.

He even almost yelled at the man who caused the accident, being brash and rude to Jodeus and the other people while he was being treated.

He was greeted by a smiling Brytos, covered in sweat from the previous training session he had with Ektes.

Jodeus nodded in reply instead of the usual smile back and a kiss on the cheek. Brytos raised his brow at his odd behavior. The mentioned commander was sitting on a large rock, giving the two lovers a few moments to greet each other before walking across to them.

"Rest and after five minutes, you will spar, with your blessings and your weapons. " The two students nodded, giving each other space to prepare which Ektes grew curious about because they would usually chat before, during, and after spars.

When the spar began, everything was unusual. Jodeus started in offense, jumping the exact moment Ektes signaled for them to start.

The usual banter was also stale, with Brytos jokingly mocking Jodeus and him being increasingly irritated.

Jodeus lunged at Brytos, his ice dagger quickly turning into a saber as he ran across to where his opponent was.

He swung and it was blocked. Pushed back, he was a bit stunned but he quickly recovered, attacking again.

Blocking the blade again, Brytos was taken aback by how Jodeus looked. He was annoyed, and it wasn't even the lighthearted kind.

The blue in his eyes grew deeper under his furrowed brows and squinted eyes. He has rarely seen Jodeus look this mad before, and when he did, it definitely wasn't directed at him.

"What's with you, Jo? You seem a bit… slow." As his plan, Jodeus grew more annoyed, completely disregarding all logic and attacking him blow after blow.

After a few minutes of restless striking, Jodeus stopped. He stood a good distance away from Brytos, catching his breath while his glare still pierced through his opponent.

Squinting, Brytos could see Jodeus' huffs turning into a misty cloud like they would in cold weather.

"I guess you're all worn out now." It was now Brytos' turn to attack.

He ran to where Jodeus stood, swinging his sword and his side, which Jodeus barely managed to block. He unfurled his wings to distract Jodeus, as he tried to knock his opponent's sword off his hand which failed because Jodeus seemed to take no notice of Brytos' phoenix wings.

Instead, he crouched and tried to sweep Brytos' feet off the floor.

"Well, that was stupid." Brytos jumped up, flapping his wings to add height to his jump before quickly landing behind Jodeus, who was too slow to react.

He took Jodeus' wrists, twisted them to his back, and successfully captured him.

The defeated man, who would usually give up and take the loss with good sportsmanship at this point, began struggling out of Brytos' hands. Trying and failing to headbutt and body slam him.

His mind, clouded with frustration, unintentionally covered his arms with frost. Brytos quickly let go of the frost-covered arms, looking down at his frostbitten hands in pain.

Realizing that he had hurt Brytos, Jodeus' irritation quickly turned into guilt and worry, rushing to heal Brytos' hands.

"I'm so sorry. I don't know why I did that. I'm sorry Bry." He closed his eyes, a few tears falling as he heals the frostbite.

His hands glowed as they held the hands they hurt, his lips barely touching the discolored skin as he murmured the words to the healing spell he had created. A few seconds passed and Brytos' hands were fully healed, Jodeus refusing to look at him in guilt.

"I'm very sorry, Bry. Sorry I hurt you." Brytos placed a finger under Jodeus' chin, raising his head for their eyes to meet.

"It's not your fault Jo. I'm sorry I pushed you, knowing that you were already frustrated and annoyed."

"You literally got hurt, dumbass. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too. It's just, you look hotter when you're angry." Jodeus jokingly slapped Brytos' shoulder as they both chuckled at his words.

Their heads both snapped to where Ektes was when he cleared his throat, clearly tired of seeing the two being all lovey-dovey with each other.

"Again, and now with less brute force and more thinking, could you manage that Jodeus?" Jodeus nodded.

"Good."

…

Jodeus looked to where Brytos was walking beside him, taking his hand and placing a kiss. The light kiss on his hand brought a small smile to Brytos' lips, glancing at his lover before continuing to walk.

They held hands while walking, both hiding a small smile and light blush. The innocent gesture made them both flustered.

Looking back up at the trees, Jodeus squinted in confusion when the trees' colors seemed faded. He rubbed his eyes before looking back, rubbing them again when they remained the same.

When he moved to rub his eyes again, his actions called Brytos' attention, stopping Jodeus' hand, he looked at him worriedly.

"What is it? Stop rubbing your eyes or they might get irritated." Still staring at the oddly colored trees, he replied.

"It's just that…" Jodeus turned to look at Brytos, "what… happened to you?" He stared at him in terror, confusion painted on Brytos' face.

'He looked… different. Was he really this pale? This tall?'

The confusion he felt was dizzying, he almost wanted to throw up.

The trees shifted again, their leaves changing color. When he turned to Ektes, who rested a hand on his shoulder in concern, he looked… off. His hair was long, then it was short, then it became gray, then pale yellow.

Both of them looked like they were talking to him, but he couldn't hear them. He can't remember their voices.

The silence turned into a chorus of voices, they were all Ektes and all Brytos. He shut his eyes tightly as he covered his ears.

The voices were loud, even covering his ears couldn't shut them out. He desperately tried to focus on one voice, attempting to drown out the others.

A distant voice called his name, followed by the other voices.

"Stay. Stay. Stay." They all told him.

"I love you, Jodeus. Stay with me a bit longer."

'Wake up.'

"We should move into a floating island high up so we could watch the sunset together."

The voices all spoke at the same time, their words and sentences garbled by the disunity.

The darkness surrounded him, the voices making sure he wasn't alone, but in the sea of noise, he preferred isolation. It seemed that the longer he kept his eyes closed, the deeper the voices will bury him.

He couldn't speak, his voice drowned out by the many.

Finally, he opened his eyes, taking a deep breath as if he was being strangled just seconds ago.

The trees were still shifting, their colors changing erratically.

When he turns to look at Br-

'Who?'

He turned to look at a man, his skin pale, then tanned, then paper white. His lips chapped, then plump, then thin, then gone.

He was a blank slate, his ??? lips opening to talk to Jodeus but there was no voice, instead a ringing in his ears.

Turning to the other, he was nothing but sand, a sword pierced to where a sheath may be. Where was he?

He began to walk but his legs failed to work, he tried to crawl but his arms became ice, so he lay there, still.

The being moved towards him.

'Running? Walking?'

When the figure arrived beside him it towered over his still body, then it was smaller, then it was a giant.

Jodeus tried to talk once more, "Who-?" His voice was taken from him again.

'He wasn't. Nor was the being.'

The figure went closer to him, and under all the lines and all the nothingness, garnet.

"Wake up."

And he did.

…

"Jodeus, wake up."

Jodeus sat up, breathing heavily and covered in sweat.

The fog that once surrounded him was gone, replaced by Ektes who knelt beside him. He was handed a bottle of water which he graciously accepted. He chugged the whole bottle, hoping to recover from feeling drained.

"What the hell happened? What was that?" Jodeus' eyes tried to focus on Ektes, his vision still blurry from the odd dream(?) that just happened.

"It was Μια ομίχλη μνήμης, the Fog of Memories. When you are completely engulfed in it and breathe enough of it in, the fog will provide a false memory." He paused,

"The memory it creates is often a pleasant one, to keep you from being distracted while it slowly erases all of your genuine memories. Luckily, I barely breathed it in and I managed to wake up and help you. It's also likely that you yourself had helped wake you up." He barely understood the words that came out of Ektes' mouth.

His mind was still in mayhem, trying to grasp this reality. Unknowingly, tears had started to fall from his eyes.

He had almost forgotten Brytos. He 'did' forget Brytos for a few moments.

"Are you alright?" Ektes' voice faded out, completely being drowned out by the static noise in Jodeus' ear.

He couldn't understand what was happening. He tried to look at Ektes but he was unable to move, his eyes trained on his hands.

They seemed distorted, too light, too long, too big.

'What's happening? Am I still in the dream?'

His hands started shaking as more tears streamed down his cheeks. His tear-filled eyes jumped back and forth from one hand to another.

He heard ringing in his ears, along with the erratic beating of his heart and his blood rushing.

Everything was too overwhelming.

He tried to focus on Ektes' voice but it seemed too loud, so he drowned it out again. The combined sound of static, ringing, erratic heartbeats, and blood flowing overwhelmed him, he couldn't breathe.

'What's happening?'

"Close your eyes." Ektes' faint voice said, so he did. He closed his eyes, then tried to breathe properly as per Ektes' advice.

A few dozen deep breaths and he no longer felt lightheaded, and the sound of his beating heart no longer assaulted his ears. He felt a bit calmer.

When he opened his eyes, he was met by Ektes, standing a few steps away from him. He kept his distance, careful as to not touch or tower over the overstimulated man.

It took a few seconds before Jodeus' sight finally focused on him, and when it does, Ektes spoke in a low, calm voice.

"You're alright. You're going to be alright." When Jodeus heaved a sigh, looking at Ektes questioningly, he started to explain what happened.

"I forgot to mention that waking up from the Fog of Memories can cause psychological torment, like dissociation, panic attacks, hallucinations, etcetera. Do you want to rest for a while?"

Jodeus wanted to answer and tell him yes, but he felt exhausted, unable to even find his voice so he just nodded.

While Jodeus gathered his bearings, Ektes started to set up camp, careful to set safety measures around them. Wordlessly, Jodeus remained seated on the ground, watching as Ektes moved.

…

That night, falling asleep was a difficult task. Jodeus' mind repeated the incident again and again.

The way his mind slowly deteriorated, along with the memory of Brytos' face and voice.

The way Brytos' face morphed into an inhuman creature, the way he turned into lines and noise.

The image was stuck in Jodeus' head.

Trying to recall the good parts of the fake memory, he smiled to himself recalling Brytos' warmth, voice, and smile. He closed his eyes to try and sleep on a good note.

Brytos' garnet eyes were the last thing he saw before he fell asleep.

…

Jodeus woke up at sunrise, refreshed. Although he was still a bit tired and shaken, he felt better than yesterday.

A few minutes after he woke up, they packed their camp up and resumed their trek across the woods, thicker makeshift masks prepared for when another magical fog or flower tries to harm them.

They ventured for another whole day until they reached the end of the woods without another problem. Walking a few more minutes, they found an abandoned village, its structures in ruins.

The village seemed as though it has been abandoned for years, presumably because of the cursed cave that should be at the northern end of the small village.

The heavy feeling remained, growing heavier with each step toward the cave's direction, but they both ignored it, set on finding the author, Archius.

As it was sundown, they set camp near a particularly large building, perhaps a community center or a town hall. They also looted the houses and other structures, finding nothing but dust and cobwebs.

Jodeus handed Ektes a piece of bread, which he accepted with a thankful nod. The former has been mostly non-verbal since the Fog of Memories incident, but Ektes understood so he said nothing.

They continued to eat in silence, a silence that was oddly too silent.

There seemed to be no insects or animals near them, not even the sound of water or rustling leaves. But they took no notice of it, noting that the heavy magic most likely drove away any animals or insects and made the atmosphere feel stiff.

After eating their bread, they rested and head to sleep.

…

Jodeus woke up first, his shirt soaked by cold sweat after a few hours of fitful sleep caused by the now recurring nightmare.

The Moon was still up and the Sun hadn't started rising yet. It seemed to be an hour or so before sunrise.

He wanted to stay, lying down on his uncomfortable sleeping bag. Unfortunately, he felt restless and like he needed to stretch his legs.

It was odd, considering that he had been walking the whole day prior.

Groaning, he stood up from his stiff sleeping bag, stretching his back. Not wanting to disturb Ektes, he went on a walk at a distance.

During his stroll, his mind unintentionally brought back the 'better' part of his fake memories.

'Would that really be what would happen if Meradeath did manage to heal Brytos? Would they be training together, maybe even living under one roof?'

Jodeus sighed as he dropped down, sitting on a creaky wooden bench. He clasped his hands together, turning them to look at his ring's cracked and flickering gem.

"I miss you, so, so much. I promise you that I will never forget you. I swear on the Stones." He brought the ring to his lips, kissing the warm gem.

"I don't know if you can see but we're currently in Azurite, Bry. I've seen the islands but I haven't been on one yet. Once Archius heals you, we could build a house on one of the highest islands. It would be just us, and maybe Ektes if he wanted to visit. The two of us would watch the sunset every single day as we sit on the edge of our island."

…

When he returned to their camp, he found that Ektes was already awake. He barely caught the bottle of water that was thrown at him by the man.

Jodeus had forgotten that his shirt was still soaked in sweat. He nodded as a thank you before downing the bottle's contents.

A few moments later, the both of them started to get ready for the cave. They both felt that they had been underprepared, especially because of the incidents with the αναισθησία flower and the Fog of Memories.

With those in mind, they prepared more secure masks for themselves, along with sharpening their weapons and checking their food inventory.

…

Finally, the Sun rose.

The both of them had agreed to wait for the Sun to rise before they entered the cave. They had their torches ready as they walked to the cave's entrance, but there seemed to be something blocking their way.

The cave's entrance had a wall blocking it, most likely constructed by the townspeople to prevent people from entering, or to prevent something from escaping.

Without warning, Ektes made a mallet out of his sand. Seeing the tool, Jodeus moved away from the wall, not wanting to get hit by the bricks and especially the mallet.

Ektes started to bring down the wall, taking him four solid blows before it was completely demolished. He then entered first, gesturing for Jodeus to follow him into the cave.

The cave looked magical, there were glowing ferns and other plants hanging on its ceiling. There were also symbols carved into its walls, some Jodeus and Ektes knew, some they didn't.

Jodeus resisted the urge to feel the stone's carved surface, where it seemed like quartz peeked through the carvings.

While Jodeus stared at the carvings, Ektes studied the plants and the flowers.

There seemed to be no magical pollen being released into the air, and most of the magical plants he knew of. While he was examining a glowing flower that seemed to have glowing, apatite-like petals, he heard Jodeus' voice for the first time in two days.

"Should the heart and soul be taken

And its vessel will be damned

The brain it shall madden

Cursed shall be its unguarded land"

Ektes walked to where Jodeus was as he repeated the words in his head trying to decipher their meaning.

"The Azurite Stone was here? In this cave?" Ektes nodded at Jodeus' question. They walked deeper into the cave.

All of the plants in the area were rotten, the glowing quartz inside the cave's carvings seemed to flicker, and the altar where the Azurite Stone seemingly used to sit was cracked.

Looking down at the cave's floor, it was also cracked in the middle, seeing the same crack as they looked up.

It was a miracle that the cave hasn't collapsed after years of being basically split into the middle. It seemed like being a sacred place, even when the Stone had been stolen, had helped this cave remain erect.

After they had studied the symbols and carvings repeatedly, they came out of the cave with nothing. There seemed to be no clue where the stone or Archius was so they were left with the last place on Jodeus' list, the tower on the highest floating island.

Resting for a bit, they walked for hours before arriving at one of the bigger towns in Azurite, hoping to hitch a ride to their destination.

While walking through the town's market, Jodeus' eyes catch a certain booth that would help them in their journey. He quickly beckoned Ektes to follow him as he rushed to the booth.

"Hello, Sir. May I ask how much would it cost us to be flown to the highest island?" The man at the other side of the counter looked at him like he had said something impossibly outlandish. It took him a bit before he had recovered from his shock-driven state.

"Surely you are an outsider, Young man. Nobody in their right mind will risk flying that high and that close to the cursed tower. The highest anyone would go is at least five islands away from the highest island, and even that will cost you an arm and a leg." Jodeus heaved a sigh at the man's words.

"How much will it be?" He asked, pulling out his pouch of Uvite coins. Pulling out a couple of the coins, he places them down in front of the merchant.

"Will this be enough?"

The man's eyes glittered as he ogled at the tower of coins in front of him. "I reckon that it'll be enough. Is that all you two need?" Jodeus stopped to think for a minute, looking at Ektes if they needed anything else.

"Is there any other way to ascend to the higher islands? Climbing gear, anything?" Nodding at Ektes' words, Jodeus looked at the merchant.

"Are you two sure you wanna try and climb those islands yourselves? You best give up on trying to reach the highest, boys. You two will only end up hurt, or worse, dead." The two stood firm, unbothered by the man's warnings.

Surely, they've done more dangerous things.

"Alright then. It's your funeral. I've got these and this." He plopped down advanced mountain-climbing gears and a scroll.

"These grappling hooks can shoot from island to island, along with these ropes that could reach the heavens, you can climb to your heart's desire." Jodeus nodded, his eyes still trained on the old scroll. Noticing Jodeus' interest, the merchant picked the scroll up and exhibited it to the young man.

"And this…" he paused,

"This is one of the air scrolls that the mysterious Archius had created. Some none believer found it near the cursed cave and sold it to me. It possesses a temporary Azurite blessing of lightness and air resistance, making it not only easier to climb but also safer because anyone who uses this will fall as slowly as a feather." As he explained further, the spark in Jodeus' eyes grew brighter, fascinated by the thought of getting temporary blessings from scrolls.

In the midst of the merchant's ramble about the scroll, Jodeus cut him off by excitedly pulling out more Uvite coins, "We'll buy it!"

A smile was plastered on the merchant's face when he was handed his payment. He gestured for the two to follow him, taking them to their ride.

Jodeus' curiosity grew when they arrived not long after, his mouth almost gaped when he saw what they would ride on. There were large baskets, large enough to fit five people, connected by sturdy rope to a huge sheet of nylon.

Jodeus watched how the vehicle worked. A blessed Azurite would enter the large basket and with their blessing they nonchalantly filled the attached sheet of nylon with air, making it adapt an almost oblong shape. Only then will the paying passengers enter the vehicle, the whole contraption then floating away.

The 'air balloon' ride after that was quiet. Jodeus was intrigued but the thought of him being so high up made his stomach churn.

When they were dropped off on the island, Jodeus felt relieved that the ride was over.

Jodeus pulled the scroll and his Whistling stone out of his pack.

He slowly rolled it open, afraid he might tear or damage the old paper. When the scroll was fully opened, there were warnings and instructions written in messy but legible writing, along with what seemed like the spell and a translation in cleaner cursive.

"Ελαφρύ σαν φτερό

Μαλακό σαν βαμβάκι

Μπορεί αυτό το κάστερ

Δανειστείτε αυτήν την προστασία"

"Light as feather

Soft as cotton

May this spell's caster

Borrow this protection"

After he read the scroll's discretions, he passed the scroll to Ektes to let him read it too.

"The spell only lasts for an hour, so we better climb fast. It also says here that the spell can only be cast one time before the scroll is useless." Jodeus nodded at Ektes'words.

He closed his eyes, sitting on the island's dirt and Ektes followed suit. Jodeus chanted the incantation in his mind multiple times, gathering power from his blessing and the Whistling stone in his hand.

And for the last time, he spoke the incantation aloud, his voice emitting power.

When the spell was finished, they both chased their breaths like they had been holding them the whole time. Jodeus jumped to his feet, falling slower than normal while Ektes slowly stood up, trying to adapt to the odd new feeling of lightness.

Not wanting to waste any more time, the two grappled their ropes onto another island that was higher than where they were, quickly securing themselves before climbing.

Jodeus' heart pounded, willing himself not to look down as he climbed. The climb was unnaturally easy because of the spell, it felt less tiring because they needn't carry their weights. A few minutes pass by and they successfully climbed up to the first island, immediately grappling their ropes into another island and climbing.

…

Half an hour had passed and they'd climbed three islands already.

They were a bit out of breath but not wanting to waste time, they grappled into another island. Both of them were panting when they arrived at the top of the island.

They both chugged some water to rehydrate before they grappled to their last climb, it was a longer climb than their previous one so they braced themselves for another unbearable climb.

They were halfway through the climb when they felt the spell wear off, immediately feeling their weight.

The sudden change almost made Jodeus slip off the rope, but his reflexes saved him from falling, although making him lose progress. Begrudgingly, the two continued to climb the rope wearily, irritated that the spell had decided to wear off halfway and not at least until they reached the top.

Apparently, it wasn't just them who was thrown off by the sudden change.

The rope, unknowingly to them, started to tear before snapping. The loud sound alerted Ektes before Jodeus' sudden descent.

"Jodeus!" Ektes looked at Jodeus' falling form, arguing with himself before letting go and jumping after him. Jodeus was in a panic, his heartbeat was so loud he was sure that anyone would hear it.

'Is this how I'll die? After going through all those hurdles I just fall to my death?'

Seconds before hitting an island's surface, sand surrounded him making his eyes flit around to look for Ektes. Without thinking, he poured all his magic creating a thick blanket of snow under Ektes, stupidly forgetting to do the same for himself as he landed with a thump.

…

Ektes was the first one to regain his consciousness, the combination of his sand and Jodeus' snow softened his landing.

He was sure that his knee was broken and his shoulder was dislocated, a concussion was also very likely.

Groaning in pain, he stood up and immediately searched for Jodeus. He stumbled on his feet, nearly falling every time he took a step.

Eyes fuzzy and unable to focus, he finally saw Jodeus' blurry figure. When he limped closer, he saw that Jodeus took the brunt of the fall, evidently having multiple broken bones and a bleeding head injury.

His eyes flitted when he heard a sound his ears barely registered, painstakingly turning around to see if there was anyone near before facing Jodeus again, drawing his weapon at the man who was now kneeling beside the unconscious form.

"I come in peace! I come in peace. Don't kill me and I might be able to help you and your friend!" Ektes squinted at the man.

"Healer and author, Archius?" The old man nodded, lifting Jodeus up into his arms before nodding towards a house near the island's center.

"Why don't you follow lil' old Archius into his house, young man? I will be able to help you more there."

…

Ektes watched as Archius swiftly ran from one place to another.

He had patched up Ektes' dislocated shoulder, popping it back in before putting his arm in a makeshift arm sling.

Jodeus was still unconscious, Ektes currently putting pressure on his head wound to stop it from bleeding. His concern towards the beaten-up man beside him only grew as he watched the healer Archius clumsily stumble around, gathering what seemed like ingredients for something.

"Don't worry, Uvite. These are for your unconscious friend." Archius said, not even pausing for a second to look at Ektes.

After a few more minutes of the healer shuffling around, he approached the bed where the two men rested, holding two bowls of the mixture he had made. He handed one to Ektes before sitting beside Jodeus' head.

Looking at the bowl's content, Ektes gagged, almost vomiting only by the mixture's sight and smell alone.

"Don't be an infant and drink! It'll help with your shoulder.." He ignored the fact that Ektes rolled his eyes before glaring at him, pinching his nose and tightly shutting his eyes before downing the disgusting mixture.

All the while, Archius tied the cloth to Jodeus' head and whispered an incantation to his ear, immediately waking him from unconsciousness.

He slowly raised his torso just enough for him not to choke before helping Jodeus drink the mixture.

"It's medicine, SWALLOW IT." Begrudgingly, Jodeus stomached the mixture and swallowed all of it, instantly feeling a tinge better.

A few more minutes passed and Ektes' concussion fully healed. His vision was no longer hazy as he watched Archius stitch up Jodeus' head injury, who was unconscious.

While stitching, the healer's left leg kept on bouncing, although his hands were miraculously steady. When he finished stitching Jodeus' multiple head wounds, he continues to examine the rest of his body, humming to himself when he feels something broken.

"Your friend here, excluding his head injuries, has multiple broken and dislocated bones. There are at least three broken ribs, alongside all those injuries. I can't do anything else that would make them heal quicker, along with your broken knee, but the mixture you both drank would quicken your healing process. For now, I will continue to do more of the medical doctor stuff and you should rest."

He began to relocate Jodeus'dislocated bones, unfazed by the pained groans of Jodeus who was slowly regaining his consciousness.

A certain pop made Jodeus scream from the sudden pain, finally making Archius stop.

"Oops! I was too distracted by the sound of popping joints." Baffled by the old man's words the room was filled with silence.

The silence was only broken by a kettle whistling, Archius quickly stood up to grab whatever he had brewed. After a few minutes, he came back with two cups of warm liquid, handing it to the two injured men.

"Here, to help you two relax, you're both so tense and serious." Traumatized by their past experience with the healer's medicine, they both hesitantly accepted their cups.

The both of them braced for whatever atrocious beverage their cups contained.

They were both pleasantly surprised when they took a sip of the warm cup of tea. It was sweet, with a hint of honey, although neither of them could guess what tea it was.

"This doesn't taste half bad. May I ask what tea it is?" Jodeus asked. Archius smiled at the man before answering.

"It's made from the αναισθησία flower's petals and leaves with a hint of my now deceased cat's droppings, but she just ate tea leaves and other clean and healthy vegetables. I also cleansed her droppings so humans could consume their benefits without the downsides." Jodeus almost spat the tea in his mouth on Archius' proud face, reluctantly swallowing it before putting his cup down on the bedside table.

On the other hand, Ektes sneakily spat the tea in his mouth into his cup before placing it down beside Jodeus' cup.

"Well then, you two seem to be tired so I'll let you rest," Archius said, taking the cups from the nightstand and retreating to the kitchen.

Ektes and Jodeus both turned to look at each other, shivering at the thought that they drank something with cat droppings mixed in it.

…

Jodeus woke up in a fright when he heard a loud voice, followed by Ektes groaning beside him. When he opened his eyes, he was met by Ektes trying to read a book, brows furrowed due to the loud commotion near the kitchen.

Curious as to what was happening, Jodeus stood up, wincing as he felt everything hurt all at once. Grabbing and unsheathing his dagger, which thankfully didn't puncture him and injure him further during the fall, he turned it into a dull, longer saber to help him walk.

When he stumbled and almost falls, he heard a sigh behind him. It was followed by a sound of a book closing and Ektes making his way to his side. The both of them slowly made their way closer to the noise's origin.

They were speechless when they watched as Archius, the renowned author and healer, wrestled with a live chicken.

"STOP! RESISTING! I created you out of nothing for the sole purpose of eating you!"

…

The three of them ate in silence, mostly. Archius successfully put down the chicken. Ektes offered to cook and after persisting, was allowed to.

"So, do you guys enjoy the food? I got fresh chicken." The two nodded.

They both ignored the way Archius was spitting out some of his food while talking, opting to enjoy eating something other than bread and rations.

"OH! I forgot to ask you if you wanted some coffee. Or maybe more of my tea!" Jodeus choked at the question, quickly recovering to tell the healer that water was just fine.

After breakfast, Archius excused himself to make their medicine again.

"You two need to drink it twice, every day! Twice! If you want to heal quicker. It may not taste good but I. DON'T. CARE. It's medicine!" A few minutes of him pacing passed and he returned to the dining table, placing the ingredients on the table before going to get a mortar and a pestle.

When he came back, he started mixing the ingredients, telling Jodeus and Ektes every ingredient before putting it into the mortar and grinding it.

"Lizard tail, which is very easy to get since those damn lizards get to regenerate their tail up to a DOZEN times! Why can't humans just do that? I did try to make a regeneration potion! But it failed and now I have NINE TOES." He bursts into laughter as he shows the two men his missing middle toe, putting his foot on a chair.

"And then frog tongue, this was also really easy to find! A single frog gives me tons of tongue servings!" He continued to list the ingredients, telling the two mortified men a story about how he got the ingredient, sparing none of the odd and nasty details.

Jodeus and Ektes barely heard anything the old healer was saying despite his loudness. Disgust filled them as they see every revolting ingredient being added in.

Cockroach antennae, large centipede feet, pig anus, and a couple more disgusting animal or insect body part was added in and ground together.

"AND FINALLY!" Archius cracked an egg in each bowl, adding in equal parts of the ground monstrosity before mixing it all together and handing it to the two men.

They both gagged as they looked at the bowl's contents, thinking about how ignorance was bliss as they were both forced to drink it.

…

After a whole day with Archius, Jodeus and Ektes' injuries seemed to have healed a bit more, the injuries hurting less whenever they moved.

With most of his injuries healing quicker than expected, Jodeus' priorities return to Brytos.

When Ektes, who volunteered to help clean the kitchen, had finished cleaning, the three of them sat in the house's living room. Deeming the timing right, Jodeus finally brings up the reason why they sought Archius.

"We were actually looking for you when we fell onto this island."

"Lucky you then! You landed right into my front yard quite literally!"

"I was hoping you could help someone…" Jodeus fidgeted with the ring on his fingers.

"Well then why didn't you say so! Gettem up 'ere so I could work my MAGIC!"

"He's… actually here." He carefully removed the ring from his finger and showed it to Archius, who squinted at the weak and flickering gem.

The ring was furtherly damaged from the fall, the warm glow was too faint to see and the red gem was almost fully shattered. The ring looked so fragile in his hands.

Slowly taking it from Jodeus' hands, he examined it closer.

"Gimme a minute, lemme see what I could do!" He walked into his room, closing the door behind him, and not even five minutes passed, and he was back.

"This, my boy, is impossible. It is BEYOND repair. The shattered condition along with the barely existent flickering light paired with the powerful, and I mean POWERFUL, LAYERS UPON LAYERS OF CURSES?! I don't know what happened to him but whoever did this was ANGRY, I tell ya!! As far as I know, this gem is as good as dead." Archius ranted as he handed the ring back to Jodeus.

It felt like everything stopped

The healer's words shattered Jodeus.

'Brytos… is dead?'