Being back in his bedroom, Ether laid on his bed silent. He was alone, everyone else was busy doing other things. Including Oria, who had to return to Etek Dur because one of her sisters was having a baby.
While alone in the candlelit room, Ether thought about where his life was heading. He was aware facing off against Kas, Dire, and Alise was essentially suicide.
But he didn't care. If he was going to die, he wanted to die like a true member of the Coros lineage: passing away with a restless spirit who had enough fight to last a thousand wars.
Cold air flowed inside the room, making the candle's warmth seem like it was only a light. Ether shivered, but he didn't want to move too much.
If he tried moving his body properly, it could break the Thawed ritual. And he didn't want that, he wanted to heal as fast as he cold to return to the battlefields of Koroth.
Someone slowly opened the door. At first it was only a little crack, until they opened it a bit more to get a better look inside the room.
Ether noticed the visitor, he watched them stare at him. Until the visitor walked inside, it was Pearl. She brought a warm plate of food for him and a wooden cup filled with wine for him to drink.
"Heard Eteni and potatoes were your favorite. Thought I'd bring you something special," she calmly said.
"From who?"
"That Feral Jakery keeps pairing you with. I stopped to talk to her before she left and she mentioned a lot about you," Pearl placed down the food on the table next to Ether. "It's obvious she sees you as a friend."
Ether picked up the wooden spoon and began eating. The flavor brought Ether out of his bloodthirsty mind, making him remember he was also Yonie.
"This... this is so good! I loooove itt!" Ether accidentally blurted out.
Pearl looked surprised by Ether's strange shift in voice. She wasn't expecting him to be able to reach those kinds of pitches with how rough he looked.
"Excuse me?" she asked.
"Wha? Oh. Oh! It's my voice! Sorrryyyy," he responded.
She turned around and walked over to the window. Then she closed it, making sure the cold air coming in was moderate enough to let Ether warm up a bit.
"Are you actually half Thresher? I've never seen a Yonie before - it's weird... speak like that again!" Pearl sounded excited.
Ether blankly stared at Pearl. His eyes randomly expanded, making the whites in his eyes more dim. But also making Ether look a lot more innocent and frail.
"No. No. I don't want to! No!" Ether refused, but still kept the same tone.
Pearl giggled, making him feel uncomfortable. It was already odd seeing Thawed males and females lifting heavier objects for Ferals, but seeing a Thawed laugh at him was even weirder.
"Do all Yonies act like this? Gah! That's so adorable, do it again!" Pearl encouraged Ether.
Instead of responding in his Yonie tone, Ether switched back to his Zegus voice. "Why? I'm not too proud of having this... thing... Even it wants itself gone."
Pearl's smile faded, her former judgmental stare returned as she made her way towards Ether. She took a small towel from out of her armor's pockets, then wiped Ether's face.
"All done, you're now Zegus again! For now at least!" Pearl tried making light of the situation.
But Ether instead saw it as an insult. It was as if she thought it was a joke. To him, having two polar opposite sides was a struggle.
He was always at war with himself, trying to tell if it was right to leave families without a member because they were ordered to fight him.
"You think this is a joke, don't you?" Ether's voice began to crumble.
"What?"
Ether dropped the spoon on the floor and used the same hand to cover an eye. "I've always been fighting with himself. Each time someone pays attention to this side of me, I always feel conflicted."
Pearl noticed Ether was starting to tear up. "Oh... I'm sorry. I was just trying to get closer to you, if that makes sense."
"Why? Why don't you explain the reason why you're here anyways?" Ether snapped back.
"Because I had enough of Talis saying he was my husband, Kas' disrespect to his warriors, and their inability to understand I have my own fears. There're monsters that want to come for my neck every time I step outside," Pearl paused.
She looked into Ether's eyes before continuing. "I just want to break away from the fighting. I may be a big and mighty Thawed, but how mighty can I be if I can't catch breaks?"
Ether frowned as he saw Pearl crumble before him. "Really? Wow... I mean, that's true. I'm sorry for stopping your moment, I can talk like that again if you want me to?"
"No, it's fine. You're in a worse position than me, with that wound and all. Sorry for bothering you," Pearl tried to end the conversation.
Her attention shifted to the door. Her footsteps echoed in the almost silent room, right as she closed the door, Ether stopped her.
"Yonie, Yonie, tedera ya! (Yonie, Yonie, needs you!)" he said.
"What?" Pearl tried to decipher the strange words.
Ether puffed up his cheeks and threw himself deep into the pillows. "I'm bored! I want to talk to a friend! Pleaseeee!"
Pearl carefully walked inside, her eyes and ears were screaming at her saying Ether was being serious when he talked. But she didn't want to believe Ether was being his Yonie self for her.
"What happened to you not liking this side of you?" she cautiously asked.
"Peeeearl! Come! Come! I want to play games with you! I wan't to tell you stories!! Pleaseeeee!" he ignored the question.
She cautiously walked up to the bed, and waited for Ether to tell her a story. But he didn't do it right away. He moved towards the right of the room, making space for someone else to jump in with him.
"Thawed are very big and cold! Brrrr! Come in, I'll warm you up!" Ether smiled.
"Uh... sure. I don't want to make you colder with my armor. I'll put them away then jump in," Pearl finally gave in.
-Several minutes later-
Pearl walked back inside the room, this time without any armor. She was wearing a pair of orange wool pants with a blue shirt to match.
"What story are you going to tell me first?" Pearl said while she made herself comfortable beside Ether. "Wow, your bed is comfortable."
In response, Ether wrapped Pearl in a hug. "I want to tell you how cool you areeee! Tani, tani!!! (Yeah, yeah!!!)"
Pearl listened as Ether mindlessly spewed out words in Bakano and Icitru trying to make a good story about her. But she didn't mind. Because she knew she earned the love and trust of Infinus' leader.