After defeating Irif, everyone assumes that the hardest part is over, and that they can finally relax for a moment. But while flying back to Enoria, Kaleth and the others are attacked by an ancient enemy, who they thought was long dead. And he has a...
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Once Nef put Nira onto a bed and stared at her sadly for what felt like hours but was probably just a couple of minutes, he sighed and went to look for his brother. This was a bit too similar to what had happened all the way back in.... Actually it hadn't been that long, but it definitely felt that way. Well, the point was Nef wasn't happy with this. But he also knew—hoped—that this would be just like last time, and Nira would eventually wake up and be okay. She seemed to be okay physically, from what little Nef could tell. He was mostly judging by her heartbeat and breathing, but those were good indicators, right?
As it turned out, he didn't have to look for Alor for long because he bumped into him almost immediately. Or actually, Alor bumped into Nef.
"Oh, thank the gods, you're alive!" he exclaimed, hugging Nef way, way too tightly. But he couldn't even bring himself to care. He just grinned, hugging Alor back as tightly as he could. And dammit, he couldn't stop smiling. It was like a weight fell off his shoulders. There were still a couple more, but this really made it easier to breathe.
Only figuratively, of course, since Alor was not being nice to Nef's ribs. Just when it was really starting to hurt Alor let go, still grinning down at him. And then suddenly Alor's eyes widened, and somehow he found a way to grin even wider. Nef didn't think he'd seen him this happy. Ever.
"I.... I remember now," he said, sounding a little dazed. And his smile was gone. Great.
"Remember what?" asked Nef, frowning. Alor smiled at him, but it was that sad. Nef sighed internally, preparing himself for yet another crisis.
"I, um, it's a long story," Alor said, scratching the back of his neck. Was it embarrassing? Nef hoped it was embarrassing. "You see, I kinda got captured and made into an Eternal?"
Nef blinked at him. And then he just continued staring blankly. That wasn't funny or embarrassing. That was just.... How was he meant to process that?
"And I kinda got mind controlled, and with that came amnesia, apparently," Alor continued, making Nef's brain short circuit further. "And I could remember some things—like you!—but yeah, I've mostly just been very confused."
Nef continued staring for a few more seconds before shaking his head. "I leave for like two weeks...."
Alor huffed out a laugh, pulling Nef into another hug. This one was easier on Nef's ribcage though. "I was so worried about you, little brother."
Nef grimaced, pulling away. "Yeah, sorry about that. I got...busy. And I was dead for a little bit...."
As soon as those words left his mouth, Nef berated himself. Why had he said that? Alor would freak out now and, um, yep, there he was, looking at him with pure horror.
"It's okay, it's fine. Kaleth brought me back. Somehow," Nef said, waving his arms in a way to indicate how fine it all was. Alor's face quickly changed from super horrified to very conflicted and kind of guilty. Was that better? Nef wasn't sure, but at least it was easier to handle.
