Cease the Suffering - Etrian Odyssey II (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 16

AN: Thanks so much to SakuraiYoake and Irish_Moon_Dreamer for reviewing the last chapter! And to everyone who celebrates, I hope you have a safe and happy Halloween! :3

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Chapter 16:

It was almost as if it was nothing but a dream.

And yet, as Lynus laid there in his bed, he could hear the steady breathing from the next bed over. He lolled his head to the side to see the sleeping form of Axel, lying on his back, one arm behind his head, the other draped over his stomach. As the morning sun peeked through the blinds, it almost appeared as if it was nothing more than a mirage.

But it wasn’t.

Axel was real. He was actually there. They had found each other again, despite all the odds.

Rolling over onto his side, Lynus rested his head in the crook of his elbow, spending a few silent moments simply gazing at Axel. Watching as his chest rose and fell as he breathed. It was still hard to believe that he was really there. He had dreamt this sight so many times in the past and had awoken to a pain unlike any other.

He had to keep reminding himself that it wasn’t a dream. Not anymore.

Two days had passed since Lynus and Axel were reunited. They had spent most of that time together. They weren’t around each other 24 hours a day, but close enough. They were sharing a room now.

It was nice being able to reconnect with each other after those long eight years. And it was easy to do, which was probably not all that surprising. Being able to open up to Axel, tell him everything that happened without fear of judgement or reprisal was so calming. Therapeutic, really. Axel knew what he had done, what he had to do to survive, what he did to escape. He knew it all.

And he stayed with him.

Just being with Axel made the eight years Lynus had suffered under Toksony’s iron control fade away. While the scars (mental and emotional) would take a while to heal completely, they were beginning to fade. The realisation that he was not going to go ‘back there’ ever again was completely and utterly reassuring.

Lynus had always told himself and the others that they were free, that they weren’t going to be held captive anymore. But to have someone like Axel, firm and resolute, take him by the shoulders, look him square in the eyes and say; “That will never happen again” really brought it home.

Speaking of home…

Lynus still didn’t know how to feel about the news of what happened to his and Axel’s childhood home. There was a mixture of emotions; sorrow, grief, regret, guilt. Sorrow and grief because of those he had grown up with were no longer alive. Regret and guilt because it was from a virus, which he might’ve, in some way, been able to cure.

But…if Taksony had not kidnapped him when he did, and Axel not taking the incentive to leave their village to become stronger; they both could have been killed by that virus. Or worse, Axel having succumbed to it without Lynus ever knowing what had happened to him.

That thought alone scared the hell out of him. He didn’t even want to consider that one.

But he was glad that Axel was honest with him, though.

Lynus was abruptly pulled from his thoughts but the sound of metal clanging together repeatedly and feet marching purposely loud up and down the hall outside the room.

“Wakey, wakey!” Matron sung as she bashed two cooking pans together. “Breakfast time!”

Axel immediately sat straight up in bed, floundering for a moment from the startling noise. His eyes were wide and his hand immediately began searching for a weapon that wasn’t there. He then groaned and promptly fell backwards onto his pillow a moment later, coming to his senses.