Cease the Suffering - Etrian Odyssey II (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Lynus was awoken from his sleep by something jumping on his bed, startling him greatly when the weight settled on his legs. He immediately tensed and snapped his eyes open, spying a mass of pink hair, despite his eyes being bleary from sleep.

“Morning, Lynus!”

“Binah,” Lynus sighed, his body relaxing after realising that there wasn’t a threat. He lay back against the pillows and rubbed at his eyes with the palm of one hand. The young girl was lying on top of the sheets and across his legs. She was smiling brightly, kicking her legs in a carefree way.

Well, that was an unusual wake-up call. Starkly different to what Lynus had experienced before. It was good.

“You’re up early,” Lynus commented as he turned to look out the window for his bed was the closest. The sun appeared to have just risen, soft sunlight steaming through the buildings and trees surrounding the inn.

“Yeah, well,” Binah said as she shrugged, still kicking her legs. “I’m kinda hungry.”

Now that she mentioned it, Lynus was, too. “Maybe they’re serving breakfast downstairs?”

“…I didn’t want to go alone.”

“Well, I’m up now,” Lynus said as he sat up, nudging at Binah with his legs to allow him to get out of bed. She rolled over and continued to roll until she was off the bed. She didn’t hit the floor, though. She thankfully landed on her feet. She seemed quite excited and perky today.

“Ah, I’m up, too.”

Pushing back the sheets, Lynus placed his feet on the floor and smiled up at Lirit, the other Troubadour already dressed and clutching his lute, as usual. “Good morning, Lirit.”

Lirit returned the smile with a bright one of his own. “Morning!”

“Did you two sleep well?”

“Like a log,” Lirit replied, sounding undeniably happy about that.

“Yeah!” Binah immediately agreed as she jumped onto Lynus’ bed again. “These beds are comfy.”

“They certainly are,” Lynus said as he ran a hand through his light orange hair and reached for his white coat. As he did so, though, he noted that the fourth bed was empty. It had clearly been slept in, but empty nonetheless. “Where’s Rahas?”

“He left earlier,” Lirit answered, fiddling absentmindedly with the strings of his lute. “He said he wanted to train.”

Lynus felt a sense of fear touch him. “He’s not going to try to enter the Labyrinth alone, is he?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Lirit said, shaking his head. “He went into the forest, though.”

“I see…” Lynus sighed, not entirely pleased. But there wasn’t anything he could do about it. While it was good that Rahas was embracing his newfound freedom, he just hoped that he wouldn’t do anything too reckless. “I hope he at least got something to eat.”

That boy was skinny enough as it was.

“What are you going to do today?” Lirit asked.

“Well, I thought I’d visit the hospital,” Lynus said as he tugged on his black boots, taking on the appearance of a medic. “With the Labyrinth and this many explorers wandering around, I might be able to get a job there or something. I have to find it first, though.”

“Maybe you should ask the Inn lady?” Binah suggested.

“I think I will,” Lynus said, smiling when he recalled the older woman at the front desk. “After breakfast, though.”