In a cold sweat, Misumi rapidly sat up from a supine position as if waking from a terrible nightmare, and each breath was an exhausted wheeze like her lungs were poorly ventilated. She was back in the dorm—the room she and Kenji shared. The air felt so warm, like a howling winter’s day by the fireplace. And as her dilated eyes shrunk upon taking in midday light from the window, as she noticed three candles lit upon the desk, she found herself alone with little memory of what had happened.

All she remembered was being in the Rupture, running from goblins, searching for Crow’s Watch. Now she was back at the guild. Who brought her there? When? And where were her friends? Various possibilities crossed her mind, stirring her to wobbled out of bed, only to collapse on the hard wooden floor with the dizzy sensation of vertigo.

“Crap…” she hissed. Intense nausea forced her to clench her stomach and curl up, tightening her eyes to help block out the pain. “Kenji!” she cried. “Are you out there? Kenji!”

In seconds, the bedroom door burst open, but it was Amelia who rushed to her side.

“What are you doing out of bed?” she asked in a worried, maternal voice. She helped Misumi crawl back into bed, then proceeded to tuck her in, chiding her in the process: “You should have called out to me. I was only in the next room with Cleo.”

After a few seconds of lying down, the dizziness wore off and Misumi could see straight. “So she’s okay? Please tell me she’s alright.”

“Yes, she is doing well. Worse than you, but well. It is imperative you stay in bed until your symptoms have gone away, is that understood?”

“Yes ma’am…but…where is Kenji?”

Amelia sat down in a chair near Misumi’s feet, holding perfect posture. “At the local apothecary. Sapphire sent him to retrieve medicine that will alleviate the pain and nausea you are experiencing. He is quite late, but I do believe he will return soon.”

“Good,” Misumi uttered. He voice was weak, raw, and cracking. “So everyone’s okay…”

“Not entirely.”

Sinking like a stone in the ocean, Misumi’s heart drowned with anxiety, wondering what those foreboding words meant. Had someone been killed? Wounded even more than her and Cleo? She gulped, too scared to ask for an explanation.

However, Amelia gave her one anyways, her eyes wandering to the floor in a sheepish gaze. “It is Linette. Her wounds are not serious, but I am afraid the mental trauma has overwhelmed her, as she refuses to leave her room or speak to anyone, even her father. Flanigan is allowing them to stay here for now, but I think the population density of the guild is causing her great stress. Honestly, I do not blame her.”

“Has she said anything? Is she eating? What room is she in?”

“No, and yes—well, maybe, but possibly not—and it is on the second floor at the far end of the hallway. She has all but barricaded the door.”

To Misumi, every breath was a chore and every thought needed to be unwound manually in her brain, yet when it came to Linette, her feelings were easily experienced. They hadn’t known each other for very long, but their relationship was what caused the bakery to be destroyed, for Linette and her father to be abducted and put through terrible things; even if Misumi had no recollection of what went on at Crow’s Watch, she could use her imagination. It must have been terrifying—especially for someone who wasn’t an Adventurer.

“I wish we could talk…” muttered Misumi. “What happened to her?”

Amelia proceeded to explain the obscene torture Linette faced whilst dangled over a pack of hungry wolves, how she was inches from being torn apart. And then there was the arrival of Unknown, who used a strange magic to literally turn the fortress into a bloodbath. For someone who had worked in a bakery their whole life, it must have been horrific.

Underneath her blanket, Misumi repositioned herself until she was laying on her side, and she curled up, facing Amelia. “I don’t understand how Septic Eel can be so evil. She doesn’t deserve any of this, she’s too innocent and kind.”

“I agree. She is a very benevolent girl.”

“Do you think she’ll still wanna talk to me? To us? It’s our fault all of this happened.”

“It is impossible to say,” answered Amelia. Her voice died into quietness. “But I doubt she will desire to maintain contact with people so dangerous.”

As Misumi sank into depression, she melted into the pillow and bedsheets, wishing things had gone differently. She wanted to rewind the clock, go back and stop them from ever meeting so that nothing bad would have happened, but of course, like all fantasies, that would never come true. She lingered in the bed, sulking.

However, she wasn’t allowed to do that for long, for the bedroom door flew open, granting access to none other than Kenji, who hunched over once inside, out of breath and panting. He had apparently just run a long way.

“I’m back,” he huffed and puffed. “Finally back…” Without noticing that Misumi was a wake, he stumbled over to a chair and dissolved into it like molten lava, clutching a leather satchel he let droop to the ground. “You have no idea what I went through to get this stuff. The first apothecary didn’t have any white cassia, but they had larromin, and the second had a line so long I wanted to chisel a hole in my skull and let my brains leak out. Then I ran back here because I was late, of course. The whole thing sucked.”

Kenji was like a wax candle slowly wilting into liquid form, but as he rested and began to perk up, he noticed Amelia staring him, bewildered.

“What? Is something wrong?” he asked. “Did something happen while I was gone?”

Finally, he noticed Misumi, whose was boring her tired eyes right into him, though she was still just a fetal lump under the blankets. His face went pale in disbelief as their stares met.

“You’re awake?” he exclaimed, jolting up from the chair. “Since when? We weren’t expecting you to be conscious for two more days!”

Misumi grinned at his excitement. It was nice to wanted. “Well, I’m conscious now, so…sorry if that disappoints you.”

“Disappoint me? Why would it disappoint me? This is great!” he said. “Have you eaten anything? If you want, I’ll go downstairs and get something. Anything. Just ask.”

“I’m fine,” she answered. “Having you guys here is enough.”

“Yeah, but…” Kenji scratched the back of his head, glancing toward the window, the floor. “…you sure?”

There was something in his eyes like remorse, as if he blamed himself for the position she now found herself in, or like he wanted to make the situation more digestible by doing kind things for those he falsely assumed were disappointed in him. In response, Misumi changed her mind, knowing it would make him feel better.

“Actually,” she said. “I think I’d like something to drink.”

“Right.” Kenji nodded his head and scurried toward the door. “I’ll be back as fast as I can!”

In the seconds that followed, he had exited the room, leaving them alone and in a dense silence. His eagerness to help was good, but unusual. He was too kind. Too cheerful. It felt like he was trying to make up for something.

“He has been that way ever since we left the Rupture, you know,” stated Amelia. “He waits on you and Cleo hand and foot. I have never seen him so meek before, and to be honest, I am quite fascinated. Usually, he is quite rowdy.”

“Has he talked about what happened?”

“Only to me. Flanigan chided us for disobedience, but has yet to discuss what transpired in the Rupture. Nobody talks about it. As for Kenji, he blames himself for everything, and of course he believes it is his fault you and Cleo are ill.”

“But why?” Misumi asked. “I volunteered to go after Linette.”

“Yes, but he believes it was his fault she had been abducted in the first place.”

A barrage of quick footsteps came rushing up the stairs, and Amelia rose up from her chair, bowing as the bedroom door opened.

“Now I must observe Cleo, so please excuse me,” she insisted, braid dangling to the floor. She straightened up and gave a ludicrously overdone wink, like she had no idea what the gesture meant and was just repeating what she saw someone else do. “You two should talk. I am sure there are many things you could discuss.”

And as Misumi tried hard to contain laughter at her silliness, Amelia turned around and departed from the room, letting the door click shut upon leaving. With her gone, everything was so quiet. So still. And by the wardrobe stood Kenji, holding a glass of water as he refused to look Misumi in the eyes.

“You startled me…” he began. “Before, I mean. I really wasn’t expecting you to be awake so soon.”

She smiled, then tried sitting up in the bed, scooting up close to the headboard despite feeling dizzy. “I’d apologize, but I’m just happy to be awake at all.”

“Yeah…”

They delayed in further communication until Kenji suddenly remembered he had the glass of water in his hand, and he handed it to her, letting Misumi grab it with both trembling hands. She sipped from the glass before speaking:

“Listen, Kenji…”

“Yes?” he interrupted. “You okay? Need anything else?”

“No, it’s not that.”

“Want me to get Sapphire? I’m sure she can make the medicine quickly.”

“No, Kenji,” she insisted. “Just listen to me. I’m fine, so you don’t need to worry.”

As if smothered by a blanket, his voice was muzzled in an instant, and he yet again could hardly look at her. Misumi, however, knew exactly what she wanted to say.

“What happened to Linette wasn’t your fault,” she declared. “You know that, right? You stood up for her at the bakery, just like you stood up for me at the Expedition Hall. You can’t blame yourself for the actions somebody else takes.”

Kenji hesitated, now eyeing her with a burdened grimace. “But I provoked Septic Eel and almost got four people killed. You make it sound a lot more simple than it is.”

“Because it is simple. Septic Eel are the bad guys, so they’ll do bad things no matter what we do. Without you, Linette’s family would’ve been in debt permanently.”

Kenji shook off her comfort and spat with a raised voice. “But now they have no livelihood! No home! And if Unknown hadn’t shown up when he did, Linette would’ve been torn to pieces by a pack of goddamn wolves! I’m not saying I regret standing up for her—I don’t. But I do regret being so reckless. You and I are supposed to make it back to Japan, remember? Well, if you had died back in the Rupture, I wouldn’t even bother with that dream anymore. It wouldn’t be worth it.”

Suddenly, Misumi also turned speechless, blushing at the same time. They did make a promise to reach the top of the Spire. They had a dream to see home again. And as her cheeks drained of their rosy warmth, she acknowledged his feelings.

“I’ve thought the same thing, you know.” She coughed into her first, lungs raw on the inside. “About what I’d do if you were gone. And to be honest…I still don’t have an answer. It’s like my head won’t let me think of a future like that.”

He stayed quiet.

“But Kenji, your outrage at the bad things people do is completely justified, and I’d never ask you to change. Neither would Amelia. And though Cleo is stubborn, I know she appreciates it too, because you’d stick up for her even if the odds were against you. I think that’s something to be proud of—not ashamed.”

“Don’t you think I could’ve handled the situation better, though? Wasn’t there a different way? A compromise?”

“Of course not,” Misumi hissed with a disgusted face. “We shouldn’t compromise with guilds like Septic Eel. No one should. So despite how they responded, I think your attitude is what they need to be humbled. They need someone who isn’t afraid to push back.”

She could tell Kenji wanted to retort, but he lacked the words to do so, and instead just sputtered a few brief syllables before glancing back to the floor. She was right and he knew it. Everyone knew it. And now that they had made clear enemies of Septic Eel, there was no going back, not for any reason. They had to place one foot forward and keep walking if they wanted to find out where the current path would end.

Suddenly, the bedroom door opened and in walked Sapphire, who was unamused by the dead silence she stumbled upon. She just glared at them with a sharply raised eyebrow like she was already tired of their teenage drama.

“So,” she grumped with a detestable expression. “Can I make the medicine now, or do you two need to stare at each other a while longer? Just hurry it up—I’ve done so many favors recently I think I’m starting to get sick.”