Now on a normal day in his past, Calibri wouldn't have had a second thought about going outside to collect some medicinal plants to make an Elixir. But, it was not a normal day, and he was not in the past, and he was most definitely not supposed to be standing in Haochen's bedroom in the Zhang Castle within the Zhang Sect in the Living Realm.
He paced along the floor in front of Haochen's bed while the man in question lay unconscious.
"I could go out." Calibri reasoned to himself. "But they may not know what he's done."
For the last hour, he'd searched every inch of the bedroom, thinking that he'd find at least some sort of medication, but to his surprise, he found absolutely nothing. He knew he needed to wake Haochen up, but he had no smelling salts, herbs, or oils, and splashing droplets of water on Haochen was ineffective. He was getting worried.
"Maybe I'm not looking hard enough. Perhaps he's gotten into the habit of hiding things." Calibri said as he paced. Halting, he looked around the room. It was so unnecessarily massive and there were so many possible places Haochen could have hidden it, like the tall shelves along the walls crammed with books, or in the walk-in clothing chamber, or the washroom just beyond that. The room was a hotspot of hiding places.
Calibri sighed and used both hands to rub his temples. He had an awful migraine to add to his current dilemma. "If only I could…" He began to say but froze mid-speech.
"No, no. I can't. I shouldn't. Besides, I don't cultivate anymore, and it would be so disrespectful to do so in this realm." He said.
His eyes wandered to Haochen. He snapped his head away. "And I haven't practiced in years, I may blow up this entire castle. Then he'll definitely be in trouble. Everyone will know I'm here and-"
He glanced black to Haochen. "… But what if they already know I'm here, they must have felt something shift when he summoned the Gatekeeper."
He groaned and pulled at his long hair. "What do I do? What would Alexei… do…"
Calibri lowered his hands, looking down for a moment after saying those words. Ever since he was sent to the Underworld, he developed the habit of asking himself the question 'What would Alexei do?' whenever he was confused about what course of action to take. The phrase had evolved from 'Alexei, what should I do?', but since he couldn't ever see Alexei again, or get his advice anymore, it had to change.
As he stood there, he wondered what Alexei would say if he saw him again. He wondered how he would feel to see his best friend again. Alexei would most likely say, "Your majesty! Look at your skin! You look malnourished and sickly! What have you done to yourself? Have you not been eating? What's wrong with your eyes? Why are your pupils dilated like this? What filthy thing were you touching to have your fingers and your toes stained like this?"
And he would most likely keep talking and berating him for not taking care of himself. Calibri let out a laugh, not realizing that he'd begun to cry, but as he tasted the salty tears, he couldn't help but cry harder and laugh more.
If Alexei saw him, he'd tell him, "Your majesty, I've already told you, if you cry over these little things, everyone will call you a crybaby. Don't cry, you'll ruin your appetite. Let's go play with the Koi fish."
He put his face in his hands. Time moved so differently in the Underworld. Calibri felt like he'd lived thousands of lifetimes already and rightfully so, because in the underworld it had been thousands of years already.
It was a long time to be missing someone. He'd gone from having Alexei practically attached to him like a limb, to not knowing if Alexei was even alive or well anymore.
He was sad. He missed his family and his friends, and his pets too.
Calibri sniffed. "No, stop it. You can't be thinking like this. You know you need to go back Calibri." He said, swiping his tears away. With a few hiccups, his eyes scanned the room again.
"The sooner the medicine is found, the sooner you can leave." He said, feeling a small pang in his chest. He didn't want to leave Haochen so soon. He missed him more than he could explain, even if Haochen didn't consider him a friend.
He'd only seen him conscious for a few moments. But it wasn't as if he had anything to say to him if he was conscious.
Actually, that was a lie, because had plenty to say to him, but he couldn't say anything to Haochen because Haochen was Haochen.
Calibri took a calming breath and walked towards the bookshelves. People usually had the tendency to hide things in secretly compartmentalized books. "Why are there so many books?"
As he started to briefly check each book, and then climb the shelves like some sort of cat, Haochen began to stir. His eyes creaked open to see Calibri checking the books.
"This man. If he knew he was going to be like this a small warning would have been wonderful." Calibri muttered.
Haochen quietly grinned as he watched Calibri checking his books. In reality, because of his cultivation level, the slight bouts of anemia and hypotension were irrelevant, and he'd had a few hours of sleep before he'd summoned the Gatekeeper too. His body's ability to replenish itself was astounding. Of course, Calibri didn't know that, and he didn't have to know that.
Calibri had already checked two of the bookshelves and began to move to the third.
"But no. He didn't think of that. Or maybe he did and assumed I'd stay to take care of him." Calibri hmphed. "The nerve. The entitlement." He suddenly spun around to look at Haochen who had been biting back his laughs. If he wasn't so well-versed in his ever-present stoic persona, Calibri would have realized he was awake.
"You'd better not think I'm staying here after you get better. As soon as you wake up, I'm leaving, and you can't stop me." Calibri said, turning back to the bookshelf.
"You're technically a breathing creature, and to leave you here to die would be cruel. I don't believe in animal cruelty. Consider yourself lucky."
Haochen raised a brow and opened his eyes as Calibri climbed the shelves. The tips of his long hair had changed color many times as he spoke.
"But if I were not a vegetarian, I would have cooked you and devoured you whole by now for making me move into positions like this. I've not had this kind of exercise in years." Calibri said, slightly wheezing as he climbed, and a few bones popped as he said it, emphasizing his point.
Haochen's face turned red at the choice of words. He berated himself, knowing that Calibri was as innocent as they came, and those words were utterly pure while it was him who was the pervert.
"Of all the nonsensical things I've done in my life, how could I become attached to you? Now look at me, climbing shelves for you and risking snapping my neck from this height, all in the name of love."
Haochen's heart jolted, and Calibri stopped climbing. His ear twitched and he craned his head towards Haochen who had hastily shut his eyes. Calibri frowned and jumped down from the high bookshelf, and his hair settled after the fall. Despite his words, he'd grown up in a forest, and climbing was as simple as breathing to him. Even after years, the skill remained.
But, what should NOT have remained was that strange heart palpitation that Calibri suddenly heard Haochen have.
He made his way towards the bed quickly with narrowed eyes. Haochen's face was still red from earlier, but to Calibri, the symptoms didn't look good.
Haochen had broken into a cold sweat at the thought of getting caught. Calibri looked at his face in worry, going to check his temperature. At the feeling of Calibri's fingers on his skin his heart squeezed for a moment and then sped up.
Calibri gasped. "He's finally dying."
'Finally?' Haochen thought.
"Oh no, he's going to have a heart attack. Oh, heavens, how could I forget about his violent heart palpitations!" Calibri smacked himself on the temple.
"I don't have medicine Haochen, what do I do?" Calibri said, starting to panic. "Oh goodness, Haochen if you die they're definitely going to think I murdered you."
Calibri whined. How did he always end up in these suspicious, incriminating positions?
"Alright, let's stay calm. You'll be fine, it's only a little elevated heart rate, light-headedness, cold sweat, flushed skin, and heart palpitation, that could mean anything. That could be diarrhea." Calibri reasoned as he sat down on the bed and placed his hand on Haochen's chest to rub the region of his heart.
Immediately Haochen's heart rate began to spike. He was so embarrassed that his face had turned a darker shade of red, but he couldn't bring himself to open his eyes and let Calibri know that he was awake and listening to him talk to himself.
Calibri squeaked and jumped away from the bed. Why was it that every time he tried to help Haochen he always made his condition worse? He bit his lip, beginning to pace again. He could summon the medications. It was a simple incantation. It was such a small amount of energy expended too.
He glanced back at Haochen with bated breath. When Haochen still didn't move he released it with a groan of frustration. The problem was, if he did use his powers again everyone who had a piece of his soul in the living realm would know, and since his cultivation techniques were a mix of techniques from the mortal world and Heaven, Heaven would definitely feel that someone used their techniques in the wrong realm.
But it was a desperate situation, and desperate situations called for desperate measures. It wasn't as if he was hurting anyone, and he would be going back to the Underworld right after anyway! He had a serious case of impending doom on his hands! And they weren't the ones who'd get blamed if the Grandmaster died while he was in the room anyway.
He swallowed and looked around wearily, lifting his left hand and writing down the incantation in the air. The strokes glowed a rich golden color as he did so. He hadn't used a single cultivation technique since he'd left, he didn't think it was possible with only the 'dark parts' of his soul existing, but the flow of power from his soul flare was still strong and so familiar.
He flicked his wrist and the golden writing split into several parts, going straight to several hidden alcoves in the room, retrieving all Haochen's hidden Elixirs and medications.
But unbeknownst to him, the moment he cast the incantation, a momentary jolt of power emitted from his body. It was slight, but the moment the invisible ring of power flowed outward the orb of the necklace around Haochen's neck glowed and got warmer for a second.
The next few seconds happened incredibly fast. All the things Calibri had summoned had flown towards his feet in a neat and orderly manner. But at the same time, a lightning-like light shot through the roof and suddenly a man with golden eyes and mercury hair was staring at him angrily. His attire was ethereal. And of course it was. He'd dropped right from Heaven into the room.
"You're here?" The man did not look pleased in the slightest. Calibri's eyes widened, but before he could speak Haochen had already grabbed his hand and teleported them from the room.