In Memory Of....

"In memory of Etern who did his very best until the very end, I'm sorry. Looks like whoever signed this had their name faded out over the years but I can still make out a name somewhat."

Pushing some of the dust out of the way he read it out loud.

"Dusk?"

Looking up at the giant stone Xilo had no doubt in his mind this wasn't a gravestone anymore and that this was the place Tearia asked them to head to. Running his hand through his hair he began to turn around as he felt a presence appear in an instant behind him." Freezing his body couldn't move as he saw a tall man with black hair approach them. "Strong, so strong." Feeling it hard to breathe he felt the wind stop blowing at the man's presence as the flowers parted ways for him. Trying to move his head he looked with his eyes as best as he could to check on Xelfia and Relia as the man approached them.

As the man arrived beside Xilo he basically ignored Xilo and his group's presence entirely. He thought he might have been someone sent to take care of them after their first attempt but this man seemed to not have any plans for that leaving Xilo confused. Staring up at his face the man looked extremely young with a sharper face similar to his, with golden eyes that shined slightly. His nose stuck out sharply along with his chin, combined with his clean face the man was extremely handsome. In some ways the black haired man kind of looked like an older version of Xilo himself yet the way they carried themselves was entirely different.

"And the eyes..."

"Hmmm? Oh, I didn't see you there, sorry about that. Please excuse my rudeness, I was just a little lost in my thoughts."

Looking down at the young boy who appeared out of nowhere the man felt a little embarrassed with his rudeness. "Come now, I was taught better than this." Calming down he retracted some of his presence to give some ease to his guests. "A couple people here is rare, especially for today." Seeing the two women as well nearby he wondered why so many people were here today. Usually this place was empty whenever he came to visit. Extending his hand he did his best to smile as he met a new person.

Seeing the man's extended hand Xilo felt the pressure get released on him as he went to shake hands with him.

"Don't worry about it, I didn't mean to get in your way. Though if you don't mind me asking, why are you here?"

"I was just about to ask the same thing to you young man. Not many people come by here from what I've noticed but I'll go first. I'm visiting an old friend. Once a year we have a good long chat and catch up with each other. Though recently I've been a little busy and have been putting it off. Now you know why I'm here, what about you young one?"

Listening to his story he still hadn't seen Xelfia or Relia move an inch after losing the pressure. He slightly wondered why but he left it alone for now. Since this stranger seemed so kind even with such power Xilo didn't want to appear rude. He could have been a spy or his enemy was just tricking him but Xilo doubted it. He heard the sadness in his voice and with such power the three of them could have died ten times over already. "Besides this is a public place anyone can come to." Being so paranoid wasn't a good thing to always feel.

"Me and my friends we're looking for a certain flower here."

"...Oh? Why would you want a flower here of all places and for what purpose."

Hearing some slight edge get added to the man's voice Xilo froze up for a second as he replied.

"There's this town..that got sick and one of the doctors there, that's our friend told us about a plant that grows here that would help them. So we came out here looking for it to hopefully find it in time."

Xilo didn't quite understand why he told this man the full truth so easily but he had a small feeling something bad would have happened to him if he lied. Glaring down at the young man he let go of his hand with a smile. "I see, helping others." If that's all their little group was after then he didn't mind. Of course if it was something else then he might have had to take action but just that was fine. No one was allowed to disturb this place as long as he was around and he would make sure of that.

"What does the plant you're looking for look like? I don't mind helping."

"It's a flower that has purple and red petals and is quite small but are you sure you don't mind helping? You said you wanted to talk to someone after all."

"Pay it no mind young one, I've already made them wait this long, they can wait a little longer. Now just give me a second here....ah there's a few overr there."

After searching the area quickly he used some of his energy and plucked a few flowers from around the field and handed them to the young man beside him.

"Are these enough?"

"Ye-yes more than enough. Thank you."

"No problem, I'll be having my chat then, I'd like to be alone though if that's alright with you."

Counting the plants in his hand Xilo called out to the other two."

"That's fine, thank you, Xelfia, Relia let's get going you two, I got the plants."

"Xelfia, Relia...if that's those two's names what would your's be young one?"

"You can just call me Xilo, goodbye and I hope your chat goes well. I hope we didn't get in your way to much"

"Xilo eh? While it was a pleasure meeting you, Rarely do I find people working so hard for others so it was a nice surprise for the day. Goodbye, Oh, I almost forgot. I didn't tell you my name either, how rude of me. You can call me Dusk."

"Dusk is it, I see. Pleasure meeting you as well."

With that Xilo began to walk away after grabbing Xelfia and Relia's hands and pulling them away with him. Walking away they still didn't say a word to him as he made sure the plants he was given were safe. "Dusk, someone that powerful and so kind." Thinking about their little encounter Xilo turned back to see the man standing in front of the gravestone as he turned smaller and smaller. With the plants they needed obtained now they needed to start running back to Tearia. This little encounter thankfully saved them some time so they should be on good pace to make it a little bit earlier than planned.

"Dusk..."