𝙁𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣 [𝙆𝙖𝙯𝙪𝙝𝙖 𝙭 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧]

𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙏𝙬𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙮 𝙏𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚

i wiped the beads of sweat that fell from my forehead. taking care of injured, whiny soldiers was not something i enjoyed.

i finished giving out the meals to the soldiers. sighing, i flopped onto the floor in the middle of the infirmary and lay there. i closed my eyes and covered my face with my hands.

i heard someone walk up to me, and shuffle slightly to sit next to me.

"n/n. teppei's back." kazuha whispered in my ear, before removing my hands from my face and helping me stand. i wiped off my clothes and glanced around for teppei excitedly.

"where is he?!"

"i was kidding, but one of the patients got discharged, so can you go wash the sheets off his bed?" kazuha asked as he walked over to the bed, throwing the sheets at me.

"well, supposedly i have to."

i walked outside towards a small stream that ran nearby. i dampened the sheets and began scrubbing at the dirty marks on it. (gross😐)

"whatre you doing?" i heard a voice from behind me. i glanced over my shoulder to see aether walking towards me, taking a seat next to me.

"kazuha's making me wash these for the infirmary. it's late, whatre you doing out?" i enquired as i continued scrubbing the sheets. "paimon was eating all of my food, so i decided to get some more, but i saw you here and decided to talk to you instead." he smiled as he poked at the water with his fingertips.

"how's kazuha? did you both talk?"

"yeah, we did."

"and?"

i didn't answer, instead, i kept my eyes focused on the sheet that was slowly becoming cleaner in the water. "are you two..?" aether gasped. i rolled my eyes and shoved his shoulder.

"yeah. but please don't say it to anyone, they'll tear at us about it."

aether imitated zipping his lips shut and throwing away the key. i nodded and furrowed my eyebrows as a thought popped into my head.

i should ask about the shogun, since we're alone.

"aether?"

"hm?"

"i heard about the 100th vision ceremony.. how did you withstand a fight with the shogun, let alone divine punishment?"

aether went quiet as he thought deeply about this.

"well, it just happened, i suppose." aether shrugged and went to grab the sheet that was floating away in the river, but i stopped him.

"aether, you've killed an ancient god, you've slaughtered dvalin, and just a few days ago you withstood divine punishment from a powerful archon. i haven't been through even an eighth of what you have, but i need to know. how did you survive divine punishment?"

aether sighed. suddenly, some gems on his outfit began glowing a lush purple.

"i'm not from tevyat."

——————————————————————

aether explained everything, from losing his sibling to finding them with the abyss. i was speechless.

"aether.. i'm so sorry." i looked down and placed a delicate hand on his. "if you need help, i can try my best to help you." i smiled before taking back my hand and continuing to wash the sheets.

aether glared at me in disbelief. "that's all you have to say?"

"well, what do you want me to say?"