Chapter 41

The rest of the squad turned in alarm. Solaris dove after Shadow and scooped him out of the air before landing gently. After they landed, Shadow blinked his eye open. Solaris helped him stand as the others ran up to him.

"Are you ok?" Eclipse asked.

"I'm fine." Shadow's voice was weary. "I didn't recover my magic like I should've last night because I've been sleeping poorly. Sorry, I didn't want to worry you guys so I didn't mention it."

"This feels like more than just magic depletion." Solaris said in a quiet voice. "Even if you don't sleep well, magic regeneration happens from inactivity of magic. You should have recovered your magic whether you slept properly or not. And even so, your magic shouldn't be this depleted just from using magic more often that you should. I can sense almost no magic flowing through you." Shadow's eye widened slightly at the news and his left hand twitched. He then put on a tired smile.

"I'll just go get some rest. I'm sure it's nothing." Shadow tried. He started hobbling back towards the lodging. He was clearly unsteady on his feet. Solaris wrapped his arm around his shoulder and helped him walk back to the lodging. Solaris laid Shadow down on his bed and watched him. His breathing was heavy and his face was pale. He looked uncomfortable. "What's with the morbid look?" Shadow laughed. He was smiling at Solaris. "You'd think I was about to die." Solaris narrowed his eyes. He then just shook his head.

"I forbid you from leaving your bed until I come check back up on you, ok?" Shadow looked at him for a moment before a cheery smile played on his lips.

"Who's going to make lunch now that your chef's sick in bed? None of you can cook five star meals like I can!" Solaris smiled slightly.

"We've managed this long. Nothing could be worse than incurring your wrath." He then left quietly. Shadow watched him go, then turned his look to the ceiling. His eyes narrowed in concern, his right arm softly brushing his left arm as he thought. He easily drifted to sleep.

Solaris returned to the squad, feeling uneasy about leaving Shadow alone but being unable to do anything more without invading his privacy. He could tell that something was wrong, that Shadow wasn't telling him something. He continued overseeing the rest of his squad's training and took over Shadow's role of cook. After dinner, he went back to check in on Shadow. He was sound asleep. He was looking a little better and Solaris could detect more magic flowing through his body than before. He enhanced his sight to make sure. He was relieved to see his colorful magic flowing steadily through his body. Eclipse walked up next to him.

"How's he doing?"

"He seems to be doing much better. I still can't shake the shock of seeing him fall like that though. He's usually much better about taking care of himself. He sure won't let us neglect our health."

"You said it."

"Keep an eye on him when I'm not around. I can tell that he's not telling us something, but it's just like him not to." Eclipse nodded. They then parted, each taking to their own bed for the night.

When Shadow woke up, he was feeling a little better. He still felt drained but he didn't feel on the verge of passing out again. Eclipse was still fast asleep. Shadow slipped out of bed and headed towards the kitchen. As he did, he paused for a second and held a hand to his head. He slowly lowered his hand before continuing to the kitchen. He made breakfast without issue and served it with his usual smile. While he was eating, he paused and stared blankly at his dish for a second. Solaris, who was sitting next to him, nudged him and he started.

"Are you ok?" Shadow looked at him for a second before putting a smile on.

"I'm feeling good as new! Thank you." Solaris glared at him skeptically. "A-Actually, I have been a bit spacy this morning. Nothing to worry about though! I'm probably just taking longer to wake up since I slept for so long." Solaris gave him a questioning look but continued eating.

"If you say so." After breakfast, Solaris marched them towards the training grounds. As they were walking, they suddenly heard a thud behind them. They turned and Shadow was on his knees, holding his head with one hand. Solaris rushed to his side. "Ok, this needs to stop."

"Sorry. I just felt… a little dizzy all of a sudden." Shadow gave a shaky smile. Solaris enhanced his vision. His magic flow was steady, but the actual magic was thin. He then noticed a lack of magic in his left arm, branching out into the rest of his body. Solaris grabbed Shadow's left arm, ignoring his wince of pain, and pulled the glove off his hand and rolled up his sleeve. Shadow's fingers were starting to blacken at the tip, his entire hand was gray, and the black markings slithered like tendrils up his arm. Everyone, even Shadow, was shocked.

"It's a curse." Solaris said in a grim voice.

"A curse?" Shadow looked up at him with an alarmed eye. 

"Whatever this curse is, it's eating your magic. That's probably what's been causing the unusual amount of magic loss."

"At first, it was just small pains, but then the pain got stronger, and I've been feeling dizzy and low on energy." Shadow finally admitted. Solaris whacked him across the head, making him even more dizzy.

"This is why you tell people about stuff like this before it gets to this point!" Shadow shook his head to regain composure.

"I didn't know it would get this bad!"

"Your magic veins have turned black and your skin cells are dying! You didn't think something was seriously wrong?!"

"No!" Shadow retorted with such confidence that Solaris stared at him with almost impressed confusion. He whacked Shadow over the head again.

"You're such an idiot!"

"Stop hitting me!"

"Curses are easy to remove if you take care of them during the first few stages. They could take days to remove the later the stage is, and depending on the curse, it could kill you before we even know what we need to remove it!" Solaris glared deeply at Shadow. "Because you decided to be stubborn and hide this from me, we're gonna need more ingredients for the ritual than it would've required had you let me know from the very start! You've caused me such a headache, you know that?"

"I'm sorry." Shadow said, defeated.

"You can't force yourself to keep moving and neglect your personal health, got that? That's how people like you end up dying."

"I didn't think it was that bad, honestly!"

"Depending on how long it takes, you might lose functionality of your left arm and worst case scenario, if we can't remove the curse ritually, we'll have to amputate the arm before treating the rest of your body." A new look of horror and shock crossed Shadow's face. Solaris stood up and dramatically pointed at Shadow. "Now, I condemn you to a lifetime of staying in bed indefinitely!" Shadow gasped dramatically.

"I can't believe you!"

"Seriously though, you're not to leave your bed until I say so."

"I'm fine though. Really!" Shadow tried to lift himself up on unsteady feet. Solaris caught him as he stumbled.

"No, you're not. For once, let us take care of you." Shadow just let out a sigh. Solaris wrapped Shadow's arm around his shoulder and turned to take him back to his bed when he saw his squad staring at him. "What?"

"I never thought I'd see the day when my boss started role playing like a toddler." Fia said quietly with disbelief.

"I know right? He's usually so serious all the time!" Rolla smiled. Solaris blushed under his mask.

"I-I can be a fun person sometimes! I'm just usually so focused on work and…"

"Suuuuuurrrrrrreeee." Fia squinted at him skeptically.

"Anyways, you guys know the workout routine for the day! Get to it!" Solaris then headed off down the hallway. He laid Shadow gently back into his bed again. Shadow looked tired and pale again and his breathing was unsteady. "How are you feeling?" Shadow looked up at Solaris, his eye half focused.

"I'm mostly just tired right now."

"Get some rest then. I'll make sure to figure out how to remove the curse as fast as possible." Shadow gave him a tired smile.

"Don't go breaking your back over me. I'm strong! I can wait as long as you need." Solaris gave him a worried frown. He then raised a hand in front of him and a band made out of pure magic materialized. He tied it around Shadow's right wrist before making one for himself. Shadow's glowed a soft green while Solaris' glowed a faint yellow.

"This will keep track of your health while we're apart. In order to get the materials required for removal rituals, we will have to go fight some monsters and go exploring so we won't be able to stay here to keep tabs on you." Solaris explained. "If your health ever drops to fatal degrees, the ring will turn red and then black, and I'll make sure to rush over here as soon as possible." Shadow nodded. "Now get some rest." Shadow nodded again and closed his eye. Solaris returned to his squad. He shortened their training session and took them to the library after they finished.

"So, what are we looking for?" Eclipse asked.

"I have some books about removing curses from people." Solaris opened the doors to the library. "If we find one that looks like Shadow's curse, then we just need to find the right ingredients and he'll be good as new." They all looked at the extensive book cases reaching high into the ceiling and far into the distance and hesitated at the daunting task before them.

"So… do you remember exactly which book it is we're looking for?" Eclipse asked.

"No, I hardly read these books anymore and it's been so long I don't even remember which books are which." The group let out a collective sigh. 

"I guess we just start looking then."