Not What He Expected

Eventually they had finally left the Astral Zone and started to make their way down a familiar path for the both of them. Xilo didn't pay too much attention to that and just mechanically followed Tearia step by step as they made their way to her grandmother. After a little bit longer they finally stumbled upon the place she was talking about and somewhere Xilo instantly recognized when they arrived and he snapped out of his thoughts.

"Dirshel Inn?"

"Yep, this is the place. Heard of it?"

Xilo obviously had heard of it. Hell he was living there recently. Wondering if she was just messing with him he turned to see her open the door and enter inside before he could ask any questions. Stuck outside alone he knew he had no choice but to follow along flabbergasted. If this really was the place then they had been living beside each other the whole time without evening knowing or seeing each other the whole time.

"Small world..."

With that he followed behind Tearia and made his way into the all too familiar inn himself. Entering he spotted Tearia up at the front desk talking to the old man he saw everyday though he wasn't sure how true that statement was with how different he was currently acting around her but he had no time for questions as they soon finished their conversation and the old man left into the back.

"He is?"

"My grandfather."

"I see."

Waiting for a couple of minutes in awkward silence eventually another person came walking out of the back area that Xilo once again recognized. "It's her." It was the women who guided Xilo and Xelfia to the inn when the first arrived in Belturn but just like the old man she was also completely different then the last time he saw her. "What a family.." Guessing that was the grandmother Tearia was talking about Xilo became tired in a completely different sense. With a sigh he kept quiet as she walked up to Tearia and took a once over at him.

"So you needed me?"

"Yep, yep"

Turning to look at her granddaughter for confirmation and seeing her nod her head she turned to examine the man beside her. A little surprised to see the man beside her as one she could recognize from a couple days ago she gave him a quick once over until she spotted the lizard in his arms. Seeing her lightly breathing and the look in her daughters eye she had an idea of why she was called out. Sighing she contemplated what to do for a second until she met eye's with Xilo. Shivering at the sight she recoiled back a little bit as she remembered that intense gaze. She had seen it time and time before back in her prime and it was still something till this day that scared her immensely. The only times it ever didn't scare her was when it came from her husband. It was a Trauma for her in a way "That crazed...." Switching her gaze from Xilo's she also noticed a hint of it in her daughters eyes as well and sighed tiredly.

"I'll help, from the looks of it I can help her so I might as well."

Before Tearia could reply Xilo jumped in.

"Really!?"

"Settle down, I can help yes but there is still no telling when she'll wake up."

"Oh.."

"Don't be too down , she'll most likely wake up when she recovers her energy. From what I can see she has immense fatigue combined with a couple other injuries that shouldn't be too hard to fix. Most likely she went unconscious to protect her mind from breaking from the exhaustion."

"..."

Seeing him finally calm down she walked to the back room calling them both over to follow them as she brought them to a private room where Xelfia would be staying for the time being. After some hesitation Xilo followed along beside Tearia after being reassured by her. Entering the room there was one lone bed with a couple of chairs where Tearia's grandmother sat at a desk getting out some supplies.

"Just place her there."

Placing her down on the bed Xilo sat himself onto a chair and moved it as close as possible to Xelfia.

"She isn't going to disappear you know?"

Embarrassed hearing that Xilo rubbed his head shyly but didn't reply. After a couple of seconds of grabbing different stuff Tearia's grandmother got up and started to treat Xelfia. After a half an hour of watching and waiting she finally finished as Xelfia breathing became more stable and less brittle. With a sigh of relief Xilo felt his exhaustion completely wash over him knowing she was fine now.

"She should be okay now. I'll check up on her every so often but other than her recovering her energy now there's nothing else I can do."

"Isn't there Energy recovery types of medicine?"

"There is but it isn't most efficient method to cure someone at her stage unless you want to damage her."

"Damage her?"

"Currently she's massively absorbing all the Astral Energy around her like an endless black hole. If I were to give her some of that medicine that process would stop and potentially cause a backlash. Otherwise I would have."

Shocked at the answer he tried to sense what she was talking about but he couldn't see anything of the sort.

"No matter how hard you look, you won't see it. Well she wont breakthrough or anything she'll definitely see some improvements when she wakes up so don't worry too much okay?"

"...Okay. Is it alright if I stay here for the night."

"You can, but make sure you get some sleep, okay? Your health is just as important as hers. What if she wakes up to see you in bad condition what would that do for her?"

"Alright I'll keep it in mind."

"Good. Now come Tearia we have some things to talk about ourselves and we should give them some privacy."

"Okay."

With that they stood up and walked out of the room together leaving Xilo and Xelfia together in the lone room. Scooting next to her a little more he leaned over and gently rubbed her scales as she laid there. Tearia's grandmother was right, at the moment Xilo was incredibly tired after all that had happened but he didn't want to sleep just yet.

"Don't know if I Love..eh? Wonder who I'm trying to kid."

Sadly he grabbed her little arm and held it for over an hour before he eventually passed out in the chair beside her himself. All that was left in the room was the sound of two breaths overlapping and every once in a while a sound at the door of someone coming to check on them.

"It'll be tough for all of them...I hope it works out though."