A Life No Longer For Her

He couldn't sense Xilo too well but the other two women with him were easier to notice. Standing next to the tied up people he fell into silence as the sounds of Tearia's heavy breathing filled the room. Slowly she was regaining her bearings as she pulled out a couple things from her bag. Her vision was blurry and unstable no matter what she did but she knew was in pain and needed to fix it. The blood dripping down her stomach was a constant reminder to keep doing things.

"Little...more."

Bandaging herself up Aeon heard a small knock on the door however before he could even try to open it the door was pushed open revealing three figures.

"Welcome back you three."

Bowing to them Aeon welcomed Xilo and his group back like normal. Ignoring Aeon's greeting, Xilo noticed Tearia's condition as he rushed to her side. Standing next to her Xilo put Relia down on a nearby chair as he examined her to make sure she was okay. Walking up to Relia, Xelfia put her hand on her head and rubbed her head as she watched it before turning to Aeon. If Xilo wasn't going to ask Aeon anything she had no problem doing it for him. Tearia was her friend too and seeing her get hurt while they were gone was painful. "I wonder how Relia is feeling about this." She knew how close those two were so she was probably hurting the most.

"So Aeon, what exactly happened here while we were gone?"

"Some people managed to sneak in and attack Tearia, It was my mistake so I take full responsibility for it."

With the same calmness as he always had he answered Xelfia's question without hesitation.

"How'd they slip past you?"

"From the looks of it these people beside me seem to be patients so I assume they were hiding in the crowd before we even arrived. I failed to check anyone who was sick since I didn't think they were capable of doing anything. How the one who injured Tearia snuck in though I do not know."

"So you let the one who attacked Tearia this badly, escape."

"He had a tool with him that even I couldn't stop him from using and Teleported away. I'm sorry, Otherwise I would have captured him alive."

"Hmmm...when we were coming back we didn't see the guards anywhere outside nor were they inside their tent. Have you seen them anywhere?"

"No, I didn't find any hint of their presence when looking around the place...Which means they are either dead somewhere or let them in without a fight."

As they talked back and forth Xilo listened in as he helped patch Tearia up. Once he made sure they had stopped most of the bleeding he gave her some water along with some of the medicine for healing that she kept around. Propping up her chin he gently put the pill in her mouth as he fed her water. Watching it disappear down her throat with each gulp her pale skin got some colour back. Putting the water away, he dropped some plants on the table. "She should be alright now, just needs some rest." With everything major taken care of he pressed her body against his as she leaned her head against his stomach. Holding her like that for a couple of minutes he eventually broke off from her and stood beside Xelfia. Slipping his hand into her's, he joined their little conversation.

"We managed to get the plant Tearia was looking for, How are the patients at the moment?"

"They seem to be holding on still but we need to be quick about it. I don't know how they'll be in the morning. Everyone is getting more tired as we speak, keeping them going."

"That's good but they need to push through a little longer while we wait for Tearia to recover. I already gave her the plants but she needs some energy. Doing it in her current condition is a bit much."

"You're right, hopefully it'll be enough. Afterwards I want to talk about this little attack some more. I may have an idea who's behind this now."

"Sounds good, We'll-"

Listening to their conversation, Tearia jumped in with what strength she had left.

"..Wait, I can do it now, Just give me a couple minutes. I'll be good after that."

Everyone in the room stopped and looked at her hearing those words. She was still a bit pale and her eyes could barely stay open yet she still said them. They all couldn't believe what she was saying but Aeon was the one who disagreed the most. He had seen how much energy she had been wasting this whole time and knew that she still had one more phase left. Doing it so soon was basically throwing away all that work she went through. "And for what? A bit of Pride?" He wouldn't encourage such stupid thinking. Out of all four of them in the room he was the first to speak up against Tearia.

"No you won't be Tearia, Don't do anything stupid. Just rest up and make sure you're confident in what you do."

"But...people are counting on me. Without me people could die."

"And if you fail now then even more people die. A couple of lives compared to all of them is a massive difference."

"But…."

Hearing Aeon speaking so strongly about this, Xilo was a little surprised. He usually was a very calm person. Looking at Tearia he studied her face as he swapped back to Xelfia and Relia to see their thoughts. They didn't speak up though as they quietly watched. "Choosing to not interfere with Tearia's decisions eh?" Tossing the idea back and forth in his head he wondered whether he should agree with Aeon and stop her or let her do as she wants. "Haaa...this is stupid." Coming to a decision he cut off their little bickering.

"Tearia, you know how stupid of a choice that is right?"

"I do Xilo but I know I can do it."

"Then fine, do it. Aeon, she's made up her mind so just let her do it. We trust her."

"...Very well."

There were some things he still wanted to say but changing someone's mind who was determined wasn't an easy thing to do. "That look." Maybe he should have pushed harder to get her to stop seeing as other's lives were on the line but the way her eyes burned with power, confidence and determination he couldn't bring himself to say anymore. " Just like you did in the old days, Katrin." Remembering that crazy woman who dragged him into the underworld life he looked up at the ceiling lost in the memories of her. "I wonder how you're doing now?" He had pushed her out of his mind for years on end but she always managed to sneak back in when he least expected it. "Are you happy now or sad?" He could still remember the last words he heard her speak.

"This life isn't for me anymore Aeon. We've grown together and now…"