"Are you sure you're okay with coming with us?" Arin asked as he slung his bag over his back.
"Yeah, the way I see it if I stick with you guys for a bit I might get to see what's left of Theseus," Nero replied and Arin just nodded at him sadly.
"I'm sorry you had to find out like this," Loki apologized and Nero shook his head.
"Don't blame yourself, you had no control over this," Nero replied and Loki just looked down, unable to meet the spirit mage's eyes. I gently placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him. I knew that I wasn't strong so at the very least I should be able to support him.
"Thanks, Christa," he muttered, looking up to meet my eyes making me smile a bit.
"Well then we should hurry up and get moving," Sasaki said as Jun walked over to the still sleeping Yuna.
Jun crouched down beside her and got right next to her ear.
"Wake up!" he shouted at her and the now awake girl shot up and slammed her forehead into his. Loki just stared at the scene in amazement.
"How did you not expect that?" he asked as he stared at Jun who simply chose to flip him off. I giggled a bit at the exchange.
"Do you guys know where we're headed next?" Nero asked and I turned to Loki.
"Was Villia the capital of Valiheim two hundred years ago?" I asked and Loki nodded.
"I believe so," He replied as Nero turned to us.
"If you have a question about two hundred years ago you're free to ask me," he said, clearly having heard us. I turned to him and bowed my head.
"I'm sorry, I didn't want to be insensitive," I apologized and Nero just shook his head.
"Don't worry about it, it's not your fault," he reassured me with a small smile and I just smiled back.
"Come on, we should get moving," Jun said as he slung his bag over his shoulder and started walking through the desert.
"Hey, Nero?" Yuna asked and the spirit mage turned to her in confusion.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Have you ever seen a giant?" she asked and Nero nodded.
"Yeah, they were all over Valiheim back when I first got here. Are they not around anymore?" Nero wondered and Jun answered for Yuna.
"No, they went extinct about one hundred years ago," Jun explained and Nero sighed.
"That's disappointing, they were such peaceful creatures," Nero lamented and I turned to him.
"I had always heard that giants were dangerous and violent," I said and Loki sighed sadly.
"They were very territorial creatures, but they were peaceful. But the last king of Valiheim didn't like the damage they cause to trade caravans and he ordered his men to slaughter them. The Giant war lasted for about five years, at the end of it, there were no living giants left," he explained and Nero scowled but said nothing.
"Did anyone try to come to the Giant's defense?" I asked and Loki nodded.
"The kingdoms of Aria and Setsuna both decided to aid the Giants, but Setsuna fell to insurrection, and Aria was forced to retreat," Loki explained with a somber expression on his face.
"Insurrection?" I asked and Yuna nodded.
"Yeah, Setsuna was taken over by a nobleman that turned the country into a slave state where everyone lives only to serve the king," Yuna explained, her disdain barely hidden. I chose not to press her any further on what was obviously a sore subject for her.
"Hey is that a village?" Arin asked upon seeing a small group of houses in the distance.
"Yeah, that's the town of Pelagius," Jun pointed out.
"Do they have water?" Yuna asked with a small smile and I sighed, it was clear that another detour was on its way.
"We can make a short stop but we really shouldn't stick around too long, we have to get to Villia as soon as possible," Loki explained and we all nodded in understanding.
I was happy to finally get some water and shade, we had left the Labyrinth a few days ago and hadn't gotten a chance to rest since. I imagine everyone else was happy about the prospect as well but they weren't as vocal about it as Yuna was. Then again I doubted there was a living being on this planet that was more vocal than Yuna.
As we approached the village I noticed Sasaki tense up a bit. I was immediately on edge at this, as was everyone else. I wasn't sure what to expect but I knew it wasn't good.
"I smell blood," Yuna announced, my eyes widened at the statement and Jun quickly drew his dagger, not even bothering to attach his prosthetic.
Loki took point and led us forward before an arrow fired in front of his feet. Our eyes shot up and we found the archer standing on a small hut.
"Turn back now!" a man's voice ordered and I frowned at the man.
He had long red hair, a red beard, and black eyes. He wore golden centurion armor with red cloth underneath.
"We mean you no harm, we simply wish to pass through," Loki explained, trying to reason with the man.
The man quickly shot an arrow directly at Loki, but the arrow was split in two by Sasaki. The Izunan Samurai glared at the centurion and looked as though he was getting ready to fight when a female voice rang through the village.
"That's enough Leo!" a girl demanded as she ran over to us. She appeared to be much younger than the other man. She had long blue hair that reached her mid-back and ocean blue eyes. Her attire consisted of a long white dress that covered her entire body.
"She's pretty," Nero muttered, I'm not sure if anyone else heard him though. I chose to spare him the embarrassment.
"Cassandra we really shouldn't trust these people, we still don't know how this plague came about, for all we know they're the cause of it," Leo countered and Cassandra shook her head in response.
"Or they could help us, we should at least hear them out," she replied before turning to us. "I apologize for my brother, may I ask you what your reason for coming here was,"
"We're travelers, we were hoping to find water and something to eat here," Loki explained. "It seems as though we've chosen a bad time,"
"Yes I'm afraid so," Cassandra sadly replied. "A deadly plague has befallen our village,"
"A plague?" Arin wondered out loud. A look of concern crossing his face.
"How can we help?" I asked and everyone turned to me.
"Christa?" Jun asked.
"Look I know we're in a hurry, but we can't just leave these people, especially not when we might be able to help them," I explained, steeling my resolve.
"Very well," Loki agreed "I couldn't in good faith leave these people anyway,"
"Please allow me to lend my aid as well," Nero offered. "between mine and Christa's magic we might be able to find a cure,"
"So you'll help us?" Cassandra asked with a hopeful look in her eyes.
"We'll do our best," I assured her and she began jumping up and down excitedly, this girl was more energetic than Yuna.
She must have realized what she was doing because she stopped jumping and shyly stared at the ground.
"Sorry about that," she apologized and Nero shook his head.
"It's fine," he assured her and she smiled slightly.
"Come with me you two," Cassandra said, gesturing to Nero and myself. "Leo will show the rest of you to where you may stay while you're here,"
"Good luck," Loki whispered to me as he walked off with the others, and Nero and I followed Cassandra towards a large stone building on the farthest side of town.
"Can you tell us exactly when this plague hit you guys?" I asked and Cassandra nodded.
"It couldn't have been more than a month ago, even still we've already lost 17 people in that time," Cassandra sadly said "you two can still back out you know, this plague is very contagious,"
"That doesn't matter, I still need to try, if I can do something but don't then I'll regret it for the rest of my life," I argued and Nero nodded.
"I couldn't have said it better myself," he agreed, and Cassandra smiled.
"Thank you so much," she said, a few tears escaping her blue eyes.
She led us into the stone building where we were greeted by the sight of at least 30 mats with sick patients on them.
"The symptoms are fevers, tiredness and some of them have even coughed up blood," Cassandra explained and Nero nodded, drawing a magic circle and clapping his hands together.
"I call upon the spirit of light, Solaris," he chanted, and a soft light fell upon the room and Nero stood. "that should help with any pain they're feeling,"
"Alright, let's get to work," I muttered to myself and approached one of the sick patients and began using my magic on them.
_____________________
I had been at it for a few hours now, Nero had left about an hour ago at my request so now it was just me and the dozens of ill men and women.
"Christa?" Cassandra asked as she slowly pulled the door open.
"Cassandra, what do you need?" I asked and she pulled me away from the sick people and out the door.
"Christa you need to take a break," she said and I raised my eyebrow.
"Huh why?" I asked and she sighed.
"You've been working non-stop since you got here, you're friends are getting worried. Please come with me and get something to eat at least," Cassandra begged.
"Fine, I'll come to eat dinner," I relented and followed Cassandra out of the building. We made our way across the village towards the small hut the others were staying in. The rest of the group was trying to stay as far away from the sick as possible.
"I appreciate all the work you did today," Cassandra said and I smiled.
"I'm glad I could be of use," I replied with a soft smile. After another minute of walking in silence, we arrived at the hut and pushed the door open.
"Hello everyone," Cassandra greeted and everyone turned to greet us.
"Welcome back Christa," Arin greeted.
"We were getting worried about you," Yuna stated, and Jun snickered a bit.
"Some of us more than others," he joked, glancing at Loki as he said that. Loki just blushed in response and I smiled at the exchange.
"You don't have to worry about me, I'll be fine, now come on, let's eat," I said and Leo entered the room.
"Hi, Leo," Cassandra greeted and Leo just tiredly nodded before laying down on a cot.
"Looks like Christa isn't the only one working herself to death," Jun pointed out, and Cassandra sighed.
"Tell me about it," she bitterly laughed. A look of worry was drawn on her face.
"Don't worry, Christa and I will figure this out in no time," Nero said and the girl smiled at him and nodded.
"Thank you, now come on, let's eat already," Cassandra replied. Everyone was so happy that night. Unfortunately, tomorrow wouldn't be nearly as cheerful as today.
____________________
"My head hurts," I complained as Yuna sat at the foot of my bed.
"Well, it's your fault for working yourself so hard last night," she replied and I frowned at her. I slowly tried to climb out of bed before collapsing onto the floor.
Yuma immediately rushed to my side, a look of worry on her face.
"Christa are you okay!?" she asked as I heard the door swing open.
"What's wrong? we heard shouting," Arin asked as he entered the room. Followed by Loki, Jun, Sasaki, and Nero
"Hey, Christa, what's wrong?" Loki asked, kneeling by my side as I began to violently cough.
"Is she okay?" Sasaki asked, keeping his distance from me.
"She's really warm," Loki pointed out before Jun gasped, causing Yuna to turn to him.
"Jun what's wrong?" She asked and Jun motioned to the floor in front of me.
Blood. Blood had erupted from my mouth as I coughed.
Nero looked on in horror and only two words managed to escape his lips.
"Oh no,"