"Don't leave me"

"GET IN THERE!" Thran yelled as he shoved Lucian by his head into one of the meeting rooms. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were beaming with rage. "Fei stop following us, this meeting has nothing to do with you." His voice lowered in a gravely tone. Fei immediately listened and stood at her spot. The door shook violently when Thran forced it shut with all his strength. 

Fei walked to the right of the door and lowered her entire body to the ground, then she brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them. A lapse of time passed- It was broken by Thran's booming voice, nearly causing the room to shake.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU JUST DID?! YOU ASSAULTED ANOTHER ADVENTURER!" 

"They wer-"

"BE QUIET YOU WERE NOT ASKED TO SPEAK!" 

Fei folded her ears down due to the excessive noise coming from inside. Thran's screams quickly dissipated, it nearly lowered to his normal tone.

"Lucian, do you have any idea what you could've gotten yourself into?" 

There was no verbal response, only a follow up from Thran. 

"If you did not have that bruise on your cheek, you could have been fined massively from the guild. Do you understand that? Fei's staff you rented from my old friend would not even cost a fraction of that fine." 

"I ha-"

"You do not have permission to speak, you will only speak when I tell you to." He sighed before continuing.

"Good, there are a lot of things I must say to you. First of all, I am severely disappointed in your actions today; I expected much more from you. I do not care for your reason, assaulting and initiating a fight between members is forbidden under the adventurer's rulebook." 

Fei unfolded her ears, yet they laid flat as she intently listened into Thran's scolding of Lucian. Her heart ached with every word that was said. 

"Second, if, I am saying, if you were caught doing this again your adventurer's license will be revoked immediately, there will not be a second chance, or a third. No more after this, this does not affect you solely, it also affects me since I am your representative." 

'W-Why did you have to do that… Lucian? I-I'm not worth the trouble…' Fei thought, her head lowered. Knowing Lucian's dream was becoming an adventurer and exploring the world, these words jabbed at her heart, causing the aches to worsen. 

"Do not give me that look, you did this on your own volition, you will suffer the consequences of your-"

"Hey, what's wrong, little white?" A cheerful voice overshadowed Thran. "Ah, you're that demi-human Thran took under his wing aren't you?" Fei slowly lifted her head, tiny droplets of tears rolled down her cheeks. "White hair- odd blue eyes, cut left ear… hmm… hmm… yep, seems correct!" 

A mature woman with short brown hair and the same colored eyes looked down at her. She had a smirk carved onto her face. 

"What's bothering you? I may be a different receptionist, but you can talk to me; that's sort of what the job comes with." She said she sat next to Fei just enough to be on eye level. "Ah? You don't like to speak or is it you're afraid to?" She continued when Fei only looked at her without responding. "Nevermind, nevermind. So you've decided to become an adventurer? That's pretty tough for a demi-human." 

Fei only nodded, showing her being in agreement. Thran's voice raised enough to catch both of their attention. It died not even a nanosecond later. 

"Is that your partner in there? He do something to warrant Thran's wrath?" She asked, her smirk transformed into a smile. "That poor guy, it's not often we hear of Thran getting mad." Fei turned her head slightly at her statement. She lowered her ears even further. The woman questioned if she didn't want to listen more or that made Fei feel worse. "Ah, ah sorry, sorry I was trying to lighten the mood!" 

"I told you! I only did that since they were talking bad about Fei!"

"And I told you, I do not give a damn about your reasons! Nor will the guildmaster care about that reason! You must abide by the rules!"

An audible chuckle came from the woman, she then turned her view to Fei. "He must care a lot about you to do that, or whatever he did." She stopped for a moment before muttering. "I hope this won't end up like those usual stories…" 

Fei's body shrunk a few times- or it felt like she did, her body became much colder as 'that' crept into her throat.

"W-Woah what's with the sudden chill?!" The woman sprang up when the air around her dropped in temperature. Her breath became opaque just from the cold. "Must be a br- breeze, well, see you! I hope your partner doesn't get punished too much!" She exclaimed before scampering off. 

'P-P-Please… please, please don't let it be true…' Fei repeated, she held her head down. Her eyes were snapped shut, and her lips quivered with the thoughts racing through her mind. Frost formed on the walls, floor and on her body, her fear ate at her mind. It was stopped only by the door clicking open and Thran entering through it.

"What is with the cold?" Thran commented, instantly he rubbed his hands together. 

Lucian stepped through with his shoulders lowered and his head hung.

"Oh, there you are, Miss Fei, I hope we did not make you wait long. Please be here tomorrow, with this ignoramus, there is something important that you two must do before you can continue being adventurers." Thran said, he pat Lucian's shoulder with a slight smile. It was rather odd to an outsider, his eyebrows twitched constantly during his actions. "You best remember it, Sir Lucian, remember; do not ever repeat what happened today, okay?" His patting switched to holding tightly onto Lucian's shoulder. 

"I… Understand." Lucian confirmed, he slowly nodded his head. His face looked distraught, even through his messy hair being influenced by the earth's gravity. 

"Good, good. See you two tomorrow, make sure to get a good night's rest."

With Thran's dismissal, they left the guild disheartened in many ways. Their walk was quiet, neither were mentally sound enough to initiate the conversations. This continued even when they made it home, silently they got dressed and went to bed– Barely getting enough rest to count as sleep.

'I don't know what- what to do…' Fei thought, she looked up towards Lucian. His eyes were glued onto the street in front of them. Visible bags were under his eyes, his lips were carved into the frown. 'I-I'm so useless… I–I can't even, even cheer him up…' Her lips quivered. Nothing came to her mind, she racked her brains many times, even before they left. 

"U-Um… Do, do you want to d-do a request today…?" Fei asked out of the blue. They were a quarter of the way there to their destination. Her body jolted from the side-eye Lucian had given her.

"No." 

"I-I-I see…"

"..."

"..."

"..U– W-What do, do y-you want to do today?"

"I don't know."

Fei fell silent. Never has Lucian been this distant with her, even when they were growing up– 'It's all my fault…' She thought, the memories of all the times he had gotten frustrated or irritated with her resurfaced. Never once, has he been this distant with her, nor the length of time. 'I'm.. Sorry.' 

Every so often, she tried to get him to talk. She stopped when they walked through the doors. Inside, a good amount of adventurers stood around, drinking, chatting or playing card games. Directly in front of them Janus barely stood, his entire face was as swollen as a gigantic balloon. His eyes were so bruised, it was likely he couldn't see what was directly in front of him, his mouth was swollen to the point he would most need to drink food from a straw. His support was Catelyn, who tried her best to keep him up right. 

"You-! You, apologize to him! Look at what you did to Janus you heartless bastard!" Catelyn screeched when Lucian entered her line of sight. "He did nothing to you, yet you did this to him!" 

"He took what was meant for you." Lucian said. His blood began to boil, due to her comment and her voice. "I won't apologize, at least until you apologize for what you said to Fei." 

"What do you mean?! And I didn't say anything to her to cause this! You just attacked us out of the blue!"

"You said mean things to her, of course that would cause me to try to punch you." 

Every adventurer watched this scene from the side. They froze every action, and turned their bodies to watch the show.

"Another fight in a party, that guy looks to be pretty messed up." 

"Yeah… That dude must be pretty skilled at fighting, or just got lucky."

"Probably lucky, I mean, look at what's behind him. He's only harming his chances to find another party."

A loud clap resonated through the entire hall. The source continued to clap his hands, slowly removing the veil– or well walking into the hall. Thran slowly trod into it, his facial expression painting his disappointment between both parties.

"Sir Lucian, I ordered you to apologize to these two.." Thran said, he stood in the middle and crossed his arms. "Sir Lucian, you initiated a fight between you and Sir Janus and Miss Catelyn. You will apologize or I'll temporarily suspend your adventurer's license."

"...I apologize…" Lucian finally gave in. 

"I'm sorry, can you speak up?" Thran feigned deafness, he moved his hand just behind his ear. 

"I apologize!" Lucian exclaimed. His fists clenched as he apologized. "I'm sorry for beating you up, Janus and I'm sorry for trying to hurt you Catelyn." His teeth gnashed as he continued. 

"Good, good." Thran said. A slight smirk crept onto his face. He then turned towards the other two. He bowed to them. "As his representative, I too, must apologize for not disciplining him enough. Please accept our apologies." 

"Hmph, make sure to discipline him good, he's a danger to others if he doesn't get put on a leash." Catelyn grumbled. With much struggle, she guided Janus outside. 

Everyone fell silent after the show. Thran's head turned into a swivel, watching them gawk at him. Releasing a sigh of relief, he then turned to Fei and Lucian. He couldn't contain his pride in them; he managed to actually apologize despite the entire lecture Thran gave him.

"Well, good job Sir Lucian! You've managed to safeguard your license!" Thran exclaimed, he clapped his hands together. Although he felt pride about them, he felt a sense of anger lingering in his chest. 'Was that rulebook lecture for naught?' He questioned.

"Thank you."

"No need to mention anything." 

"We'll be going." Lucian said, his exhaustion and embarrassment felt overwhelming. 

"Have a good day, you two."

"Yeah."

His side of his hand hit the doorframe, he grit his whilst his eyes snapped shut. The words 'I don't want to do this.' Felt like a broken record throughout the entirety. 'Why did I have to apologize to that- They didn't deserve it!' His frustration flared. 

"U-Um… E-Even-" 

"I don't want to hear it!" Lucian exclaimed, his voice was loud enough to draw attention from a few passersby. 

"O-Okay…" Fei mumbled. She clenched her hands. Her legs felt weak, if she took a step forward she would most likely fall. 'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for everything I caused…' 

"Oh, ho looks like another demi-human-human party is going to split." 

"It's about time he's going to leave her!" 

"Hm… Hey Rothie, isn't that the duo Thran mentioned?" An elf with tanned skin, her brown eyes glanced at the man to her side. Her short, forest green hair hung downwards due to the way she tilted her head to look at his face.

"I don't know." The man next to her responded. He stood at minimum a head above everyone near them. He looked at them with a disinterested look. 

"Alright~ I'm quite interested in this, let's see what will happen then." 

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't of snapped at you." Lucian said moments later, he managed to control his breathing to calm himself down. He looked over, the sound of sniffling coming from her alerted him. 

"I-I-I'm sorry…" Fei managed to let out. Teardroplets rolled down her cheeks, they split into a million pieces once they struck the ground. Her entire body trembled, whilst her breathing was frantic. "I-I-" Her voice got caught in her throat. 

"F-Fei, hey, hey." 

Lucian reached out to touch her shoulder, but instantly changed directions when she dropped to the ground. 

"Hey, hey, Fei, what's wrong…?"

"I'- I- I- I'm sorry,,," Fei could only mutter in between sniffles. Lucian lowered himself to be at her eye level, only resulting in her turning away. 

"Why are you apologizing?" He asked, his voice was filled with worry, and tenderness. He reached out to her, his outstretched arms caused her to shrink.

"I'- I'- I'm only… burdening you… I- I alw- always…" She fell silent for a moment, she began to breath heavily. Streams of warm tears sprinted down her face. "Always… have caused- you…" 

"So much trouble…!" She cried out 

"Fei, no you haven-" 

"You always get into fights because of me! You always get injured due to those-! Please stop lying to me! Say I've been a burden!" Fei covered her head with her hands. "I'M THE ONE THAT MADE YOU GO INTO DEBT BECAUSE I CAN'T EVEN USE MAGIC CORRECTLY!" 

Lucian's mouth fell slightly. How did she overhear that? Nevermind that, he felt an ache in his heart. "Fei- Please listen to-"

"DON'T LIE TO ME! Please… just… say I'm a burden… I was… always a burden…" Fei fell quiet. She sobbed uncontrollably into her own arms. 

"..." Lucian shook his head, without questioning himself he embraced her. Her sobs worsened. "Please… Listen to me Fei." 

"You were never a burden to me, never once you were." Lucian whispered. She shook violently, he could hear her struggling to catch a breath. 

"B-But… You always get into trouble…Because of me." Fei quietly said.

"So what?"

"..."

"Fei, look at me, please." Lucian requested, he loosened his arms around her. She hesitantly looked at him, despite the tears in her eyes causing the world around her to blur. His face could barely be seen. But, a gentle smile could be made out. "I don't think of you as a burden… " 

"But… The staff… And everyone looks at you so weirdly…"

"So what? That staff is worthless compared to you, and yeah? Just learn to ignore it, let them stare." He scoffed for a moment. 

"I can't… Do anything right… A-Are you sure…?" 

"Yes, I'm sure." 

"..."

A waterfall of tears began to stream from her eyes, Lucian held her tighter, putting her head into his shoulder. He listened for a long time, ignoring the bristling cold that battered at him. 

"...Please… Don't… Leave me." 

"I promise to never leave you." Lucian muttered he hugged her slightly tighter.

"Looks like we were wrong, that kid still won't leave that useless demi-human-"

"Tsk. What a fucking weirdo." 

"Let's go." 

"That's so lame, I really wanted to see a demi-human being dumped." 

"Hm… Rothie, what do you think?" She playfully played with her bangs as she looked at the giant man. Her tone of voice never changed, despite witnessing what occurred.

"I don't know." 

"Aww~ You're not any fun. Well, let's go talk to Thranie."