The three, one of whom was barely able to stand up, watched as the field in front of them was cleared and they were given their small moment of respite before the next enemy would appear.
"Unfortunately, I do not think that I will be able to be of much help in the next fight," began Cyrus as he struggled to sit up, "even if I am lucky enough to repair most of my wounds by the time the next enemy comes out, I will have used up most of my Will. Not to mention that the next enemy will most likely not even be within our means of tackling.
"Next week things should be different, as yesterday's duel has opened up a new path for me to take. I will be spending all the time I can to be able to widen up that path for myself, so that I can fully complete my Mors way of combat. With that done, I will be far stronger and more useful than ever before."
Although he expected Minerva and Imran to accept what he said without much in the way of argument, Imran simply smiled awkwardly while stepping away as if a landmine was about to go off.
Cyrus was confused for a moment, but the malevolent smile on Minerva's face coupled with her signature glare started to clue him in on what went wrong.
"Oh great hero, without you it seems that us two common folk are doomed."
Silencing Cyrus' rebuttal by hushing his lips with her finger, she met him dead in the eye and said,
"I will be the lead for the next battle while you and Imran support me. I will show you my worth, witness it with your own two eyes."
Turning around without another word, she took two gloves from Imran that he usually wore and placed them on her hands.
Stoically looking towards the gate where her next victim would come from, she waited with crossed arms and steady breathing.
Cyrus thought for a moment as to where he went wrong, but the dark half could have spent the next ten years considering the question before stumbling onto the answer, unless of course his better half came through to assist.
'Your words implied that without you they are useless,' began the bright half who decided to speak after a long while, 'that they are lesser than you and only through you carrying them to victory there is a chance of making it through the trial.'
'But they are weaker than me? Without the strongest sword in the arsenal, how will we be able to stand a chance? The entire last strategy that they employed was completely reliant on me, so how will they suddenly do better this time around?' replied the dark half, confused with his counterparts wording.
'Did you not have me give Minerva our mentor's notes so that she could strengthen herself? Or was that just you giving a treat to your new pet...do you truly wish for these two allies of ours to grow alongside us, or just be vain tokens that require our help to do anything' chided the bright half.
While the darker half of Cyrus has many flaws, one of his clear strengths is that he is more than willing to abandon anything that does not serve his best interests.
'While there is always the danger of them growing stronger than me, at least combined, which could make them more likely to betray if the circumstances are right...I suppose it would be worse if they could not provide real assistance to me when I require it. I see now...'
In the world within, the bright half was pleased that his words had easily reached his counterpart but his pleasure was stifled when he understood the true calculative manner in which the dark half thought of his allies.
'If you forge close enough bonds with them, then they will have less of a reason to betray you in the end. In an ideal sense, you would be able to become so close to them that they would rather die than betray...that is something that no amount of money or intimidation can warrant you' said the bright half, hoping that he could get his point across.
'I do not even think I am capable of that' began the dark half, 'for when I consider myself in relation to others my immediate reaction is to measure how much of a threat they are and how I could possibly kill them or bend them to my will. Its reactive, instinctive even.'
The bright half was stumped when hearing that, as he struggled to explain something that he had thought was only natural. Pacing around in the world within, the bright half scoured the shared memories of the two and tried his best to find something that could aid him.
'Okay, how about you and Minerva then? It is clear that you are starting to warm up to her, even if you see it as the relationship between master and servant or owner and pet...or whatever twisted view you have. But the key thing is that it is a relationship, it's a good start when compared to how you normally view people at least. All you have to do is hone in on that feeling you have, that bond as small as it is, and nurture it until it grows into something more concrete'
The dark half was still not fully convinced, but he was clearly somewhat interested. His counterpart picked up on this and with a cheery voice that did not reveal the obvious manipulation he said,
'Do you not think that human emotions are interesting, despite their flaws? The bonds between people are those emotions manifest, such as the stories of a man sacrificing himself for his loved ones or one going on a path of revenge for the sake of another. You can use yourself as an experiment to see this firsthand, and who knows, if it works out and you become inseparable then you will finally have a person whom you do not need all those tedious calculations for'
The words of the kindhearted half were like honey, playing directly into the calculative half's sweet tooth that was in reality his unending greed for knowledge and the pursuit of whatever satisfies his interests.
'All right you have convinced me, I will give it a try. But you will need to help me, this is completely new territory. Know this though, I am not only doing this because I find it interesting.
'The main allure of this proposition of yours is that it could net me a powerful and completely loyal ally, but if this bond stuff you trust so much in turns out to not be all it's cracked up to be,' said the dark half with a twinkle of malicious intent, 'then it will be severed.'
The sanguine half in the world within was pleased that he had gotten his antisocial partner on the correct path, or so he thought, but the last words he heard sent a shiver down his spine as he contemplated the violent reaction his partner might have if things do not go as planned.
Thinking to himself,
'It seems I need to quickly solve my own problems so I can focus on my troubled partner, lest he have a problem with this new idea and do something irreparable and irreversible...'
The two halves of the whole had conducted their conversation with lightning speed, for that was the benefit of communicating with the mind, but even so it took up enough time for the next enemy to finish in their preparation.
The bright half had been lending his aid all the while, assisting in the recovery of their shared body which accelerated the process due to two hands being better than one, which meant that he was almost combat ready.
There were still a few moments of respite left, and even more so as this upcoming battle would not be like the ones that had come before it.