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He looked at his friend one last time, knowing fully well, that the next few hours will be a race against time. Knowing, that Albedo's fate now depends on him. This is a huge responsibility, so he was afraid of doing something wrong. That he wouldn't have time to get that goddamn blue mixture. Either way, he was grateful to the world, that he had managed to find his friend, when he needed help. What if he found him too late? What if no one found Albedo? He would...
He took a deep breath and mentally slapped himself in the face. There is no time to worry in advance. There is no time at all for anything other than going to alchemist's camp.

                         *°• ☆ •°*

  He walked through those goddamn cold dragonspine paths. The fact that it was snowing a lot now and the snow was falling into his eyes all the time, didn't make his trip any easier. That was quite annoying. But he can handle it. He will handle it for Albedo. That was his very strong motivation, because he really cared for his friend. Albedo is really important to him.

When he finally reached his destination, which was Albedos Camp, he came across something very unexpected. And unwanted.

The thieves took advantage of the fact that Albedo had not been here for a long time, and began to take his belongings away. I mean, steal his belongings away. How dare they?
- Oh hell no... - without waiting or hesistating, Aether took out his sword and rushed towards the enemies. They're not gonna steal Albedo's stuff. No way.
- Who the hell are you?! - one of the intruders asked, seeing the blode running towards them, who clearly had no good intentions. As all of them heard that, they got ready to fight for their lifes. But they have no chance against Aether.
- Who the hell are YOU?! Cause you surely dont own all of that stuff! - Aether answered, as he swung his sword at the nearest enemy. He missed.
- Well, now we do own that shit - replied another one, who lunged at Aether. The boy managed to move back a few steps, still having his sword right in front of him.
- Look, we can do this peacefully, because I'm a little busy right now. Leave the stuff you stole and I'll leave you alone, okay? I'll just let you go.
- How can we be sure, that you will not try to take revenge on us later, huh? - one of them laughed - plus, there are more of us, you have no chance kid. Better surrender, while you still can.
- Oh, I do have a chance. Better let go, before you gonna regret it - he clenched his fists tighter on the hilt.
- But you already lost, idiot - now everyone laughed, strangely confident of their victory. They just didn't know that the traveler wielded the powers of all visions, and that he is capable of powerful things... but they're about to know.
Suddenly he heard some footsteps behind him, he barely had time to turn to look at the source of the footsteps, and got hit on the head. Everything was enveloped in darkness and inertia... he tried to fight it, but to no avail. He lost consciousness.

•°♤°•

He woke up after... he didn't even know how much time had passed.
He tried to get up, but he was tied with some ropes. He could barerly even move. And his head was hurting so much. He must have been hit very, very hard...
- Damn it... - he said to himself, trying to get out, but that was just pointless. There's not much he can do about it.
- Oh, look! The "brave" guy just woke up - one of the thieves pointed at him, and some of the others looked at traveler. He could hear some quiet laughs.
Aether noticed, that most of the things had already been packed on some kind of vehicle. Camp looked... very empty now. Much time must have passed. And Albedo's still waiting for him, all alone...
It looked like the thieves had already finished penetrating the area, and were ready to go... god knows where. Blonde boy woke up at the perfect time. What if he woke up too late?
- Wait! Listen to me... Alright, take whatever you want, just give me the blue mixture. This is all I am asking for... - travele begged - I won't go after you, nor attack you. Nothing at all. I promise.
- Do you really expect us to just give it back to you? For free? When you're tied up? Hmpf, pathetic. - one of them said, clearly irritated. He didn't seem to care much about Aether, since they defeated him, so he went back to his "work".
- It looks like this potion is very valuable to you, since you're willing to let us take it all away. Give us something equally or more valuable and we will think about giving you that blue drink - suggested another one. It seems, that he hoped that traveler is rich or something. Oh, he would be so wrong.
- I dont really have anything... - traveler said quietly, thinking about any solution to this situation. But he couldn't think of anything right now. What a shitty situation.
- You actually have something - the thief smiled and pointed at sometnig next to the boy. So he looked there.
- My sword...? - at first he wasn't happy with the thought of giving up his beloved magic sword, but it quickly dawned on him, that Albedo's life was more valuable to him. He sighed - ...okay. Take it. Take whatever you want from me. Just give me that goddamn potion - he begged once again. He felt a little pathetic begging like that, but what else he can do?
Two of the thieves smiled at each other, as they took his sword. They seemed to be very happy to have it.
- So what, are we giving him this potion?
- Hmm, I don't know... I don't know...

Aether couldn't believe his own ears. Has he just been scammed? They're not going to give him that potion? It's impossible. He has to get it back. He really has to. He's gonna do whatever it takes.
- Actually, what can we do with such a potion? We don't even know what it is or what it does. We're not selling this.

Traveler felt relieved after hearing that.

- Yeah, you're right - the thief replied, then reached into the bag, from which he took out a bottle, that was very desired by traveler - eat your blue shit - then he threw it at him -...if you can catch it, heh.

His heart skipped a beat at the thought, that the potion might break.

And it did. The bottle broke.

- No! Why would you-...! - he began to struggle, trying to get off the ropes. Still to no avail. But at least he tried.
The thieves laughed at him again that day, then got quickly on the cart and drove away.

- Shit, shit, shit... shit! - Aether looked at the bottle, that very important bottle, which just broke. It fucking broke!

After he calmed down a little, he noticed that there was still some liquid inside, so not all is lost. There's still hope.
First he had to get off the ropes. He needed something sharp. And he knew, where he could find anything useful.
He crawled with difficulty to the desk at Camp, which luckily had a small knife. What a luck, really.
Somehow, he grabbed it with his hand that was sticking out from behind the ropes and began to cut it as fast as he could.
It went surprisingly quickly and easy. Thank god. As soon as the rope dropped from his body, he kicked it away, still pissed at those damn thieves that did it to him. He can't keep his promise now. They broke that very important to him bottle. If he will ever see them again, he will take his revenge. For sure. But thats not the most important part right now.

They most likely didn't steal the empty bottles, so he started looking for some. Someone like an alchemist must have had those somewhere. He looked into the nearest cupboard, but all he found were some herbs and plants. They smelled really nice, but this is not what he needed. He moved to go to the next cupboard, but his gaze wandered back at the camp. It was so empty here, so Aether began to feel guilty. Very guilty. He didn't stop these thieves, he lost to them. And he let them steal things that belonged to Albedo. He sighed, disappointed with himself, then returned to his search. He didn't know, how is he going to explain himself from this situation. He hoped his friend would just understand.

He found a bottle that was even the right size. Perfectly. He carefully picked up the cracked bottle with blue liquid, and slowly poured the contents into a new bottle. There is not much liquid left, so he hoped it would be enough to save Albedo. He damn prayed for it.

He started walking back to Dragonspine Heart Core. Only now did he remember, that he had no idea how long he had been unconscious. What if the albedo at that time has already... gone crazy? Or maybe something bad happened to him? With that thought he quickened his steps.

Most of the road went smoothly, only at the end he encountered a certain... obstacle.
He noticed a wild boar, which was running towards him very quickly. Aether confidently raised his hand, wanting to take out his sword and start the fight immediately. But he forgot that he gave his one and only sword to thieves and is now without any weapons.
- Oh fu...- he did not manage to dodge and was hit by that wild animal. He fell to the ground, and the bottle fell from his hands - No! - he immediately felt faint. But he was lucky. He was lucky to catch that potion. Safe and sound.
- Ugh, that stupid boar... - he sighed. But he was happy, that he saved blue potion. His heart was beating like crazy.

He got up, all dirty in the dirt and snow. However, he didn't care about that. He didn't wipe it off, so still like that he ran the last bit of the road until he finally saw him. He saw his friend.
- Albedo! I'm back, I've got the potion!

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⏰ Last updated: Apr 07, 2022 ⏰

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