Karen woke up in a soft bed and a warm pile of blankets. A familiar roof was over her head. It was peaceful and secure. 

She lazily turned over and tried to snuggle further into the bed. "Five more minutes."

As she turned over she caught a glimpse of a figure. Her sleep laden bleary eyes struggled to make sense of the image. Then, it all snapped into focus in a sharp intake of breath.

Zephyra had laid down next to her on the bed and was sleeping peacefully. Her golden hair framed her face perfectly. The morning sun shone gently through the window slats and illuminated her soft slumbering smile. 

"She's beautiful." Karen thought to herself with a content heart. "It's really nice to wake up next to- wait… fuck."

The memory of the previous events rushed through her head. Her body tensed. She averted her eyes from Zephyra. A small groan of protest escaped from her mouth. 

Karen felt the soreness of her body come rushing back. "Oh, fuck. I died."

 She was exhausted. Her legs and muscles felt like slime gelatin. "I don't think I can move…"

She glanced back at the adorable napping necromancer. "I guess I'm only alive because of her."

The thought cause her breathing to tense up in a panic. She remembered. All of it. The death defying glowing green eyes. The battle as she floated and watched her body dying. The unbearable pain of the needle sinking inside of her. The cold grip of mana. 

Her body began to convulse at the memory, her breathing became ragged and hectic.

She tried to focus on slowing down her breath.  But, it felt like she was lost. As if she was drifting away from her body again.

Zephyra quickly sat up as the bed began to shake from Karen's convulsions. Her hair was a mess and splayed in every direction. She leaned over and gently touched Karen on the shoulder.

Her mana flowed around her patient and told her everything that she needed to know about her health.

Zephyra let out a sigh of relief.

"Hey, you're okay. You're alive, take it easy. It's okay. You're okay." 

Zephyra's voice was soothing and commanding. Karen could feel her body forcing itself to calm down at her command. She willingly latched onto Zephyra's voice and listened intently, desperately trying to follow her instructions. 

"Breathe. Deep breaths. Try to relax. You're okay."

Karen's breath slowly began to settle. Her convulsions dimmed down to a mild twitch. A few stray tears had escaped her eyes.

The loss of control over her body had frightened her. It wasn't like any experience she had ever had. 

"There we go. Good girl." Zephyra softly cooed. 

Karen threw her arms around the small mage and started to cry. She pulled Zephyra close as she could and just bawled her heart out.

In between all of the sobs, the snot and the tears, Karen thought, "Gods, I hope that I don't make her sick like Ted did."

Zephyra had balked a little bit at the sudden contact. But, she quickly relaxed and held Karen until she calmed down. 

"There now. I promised that you wouldn't die. I've got you." 

"Karen", Phil slowly stood up. He had fallen asleep in the corner of the room. He wobbled and had to adjust his balance as he reached full height. He wiped a little bit of drool from his sleep off his face, and rushed over to the bed. 

"You're awake! Oh, thank the gods." He lifted her hand and held it tightly in his hands. 

"Wh-what happened?" Karen managed to croak. Her throat felt like she hadn't had water in several days. And, she hadn't completely calmed down, so it was a bit of a miracle that anyone could understand.

"You were injured." Phil said slowly. 

Zephyra interrupted before he spoke further. "We can talk more about that later. Um, just know that we got back to town and that everyone is safe."

She carefully extricated herself from the embrace and gently laid her back down onto the bed. Her hand subconsciously stroked Karen's cheek and wiped away the tears. 

"You're safe. You'll need to rest. Um, you've had a very bad time." Zephyra stood up and started to push Phil out of the room with her. "We'll go get something to eat for you. Take a moment to yourself. Um, just don't try to leave. You're pretty weak right now still."

Karen laid back back in bed. She had hardly been awake for five minutes and she felt that she could sleep for another week. "Yeah, I don't think that I can walk right now."

"I'm glad you're safe, Karen! Yell if you need anything. I'll be there for you." Phil called over his shoulder as he was cajoled persistently out of the room.

The door shut behind them quietly.

Karen gazed around the room in a daze. "What happened to me?"

Her mind wandered back to the fight with a shudder. She quickly shut out the memories and began to try and think of something else. Eventually, she settled into staring listlessly at her hands. 

"She was really soft and warm, huh?"

Her eyes drifted closed and dreamed of warm summer nights and glowing green eyes.

***

Zephyra leaned against the door after she had closed it behind her. "I hope she'll forgive me."

Her cheeks slightly heated up as she remembered Karen's body pressing against her. It felt different somehow. It was different than her father. It was definitely different than Ted. Somehow, It felt… nice. 

Zephyra shook her head and headed toward the stairs and lightly chided herself, "Breakfast first, space out later."

***

Ted roamed around the streets of the town. He sang quietly to himself as he searched through the shops for an appropriate gift. Intiallty, he had spent a lot of time running errands for Zephyra. He grabbed various medical and magical supplies. And, even helped bring food back to their room.

He wanted to contribute. He wanted to help. If he even could help, even if it was in a small way.

It had been three days since they had returned. Three days since their misadventures. Three days since they had defeated the knight. Three days since… Karen had died. 

He couldn't stop thinking about it. 

Even though the street was packed with people, adventurers, merchants and civilians alike, he could hardly register any of it around him. 

"Wait!" He could hear himself yelling. He had begged for more time. He had convinced himself that it would work out. He was wrong. Time ran out. 

He had gotten his friend killed. If Zephyra hadn't been there… if Zephyra hadn't been there he would've gotten them all killed. 

Phil had a plan. It was a good plan. Or, at least, it wasn't a bad plan. He didn't think it was at least.

"Why didn't I listen?"

It took him a moment to realize that he was staring at his reflection in a window. The song on his lips had long since died. But, there was still a sorrow filled tune in his heart. 

"Drain!" The undead knight rattled inside of his head. He saw Karen fade away in the grip of it's hand. It turned toward him and pointed. "It should've been you."

He swung away from the store hurriedly and kept wandering. 

He spoke in a whisper to himself and repeated the heart broken lament. "It should've been me."