Cease the Suffering - Etrian Odyssey II (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 18

AN: Thanks sooooooo much to Irish_Moon_Dreamer and SakuraiYoake for reviewing the previous chapter! I hope you’ll like this chapter as well! Enjoy!

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Chapter 18:

Making his way through the streets of Lagaard, Lynus felt a sense of community when he began to recognise some familiar faces. Most he knew names of, others he remembered from the hospital where he offered them some aid. In return, those familiar seem to remember him as well.

A smile. A nod. Or a simple look of realisation.

It was actually kind of nice. It meant that he was becoming a part of the community. That he was settling in himself. He had been so worried about Binah, Rahas and Lirit, and whether or not they were allowing themselves to enjoy their freedom, that Lynus hadn’t given himself much thought.

Was he feeling content?

He was. Why shouldn’t he be? He met with Axel again, had a steady job at the hospital, a roof over his and his ‘family’s’ head and was making a lot of friends.

So, yeah, he was happy. He had almost forgotten what it felt like to simply be. He wasn’t on guard; he wasn’t waiting to be useful. He was making his own decisions, doing things on his own.

Despite the eight years of being a captive, it was a surprisingly easy transition.

With another request in hand from the hospital, Lynus was making his way to the ever familiar Stickleback Bar. It was a simple request, merely asking any guild to gather more ingredients to make Medicas. Something the guilds themselves would benefit from.

Besides, he also wanted to check up on Lirit. He had a sore throat yesterday, but Lynus didn’t have the chance to see if his throat had healed that morning as he had to rush to the hospital to offer a healing hand with the sudden influx of injured solders.

It had been a rather busy morning. Thankfully, he had the rest of the afternoon off.

He was becoming accustomed to the daily events of Lagaard.

But, as he stepped into the bar, he wasn’t expecting the sight that greeted him. The bar was sparse, not too unusual this time of day. However the familiar group of explorers that were gathered around a table, stripped down to their undergarments, were.

“What?!” Tiffany shrieked as she grabbed her hair in despair, her usually blue coat and fur hat were missing. She was even missing one boot. “How could you win again?!”

Dressed in only a pair of shorts and a shirt, Gerald sat on a chair with a look of utter disgruntlement on his face. “This is ridiculous,” he said, folding his arms over his chest in a standoffish way.

In even less clothes was Simmons, wearing only a pair of shorts, but still in the possession of his axe. “Did I lose again?” he asked, looking at his fellow guild-members with a bewildered look.

“Shut up, Simmons.”

Sitting silently in the middle of the three, with no emotion on her face, was a female Hexer. She was wrapped in a red and orange coat, her dark eyes half-lidded, making the red marking on her skin to stand out more. Around her was a treasure trove of items, including clothes, weapons and items.

And scattered out on the table was a deck of playing cards.

Lynus soon realised what had been going on and he quickly made his way over to Barkeep Cass, whom of which was wiping a glass with an air of mild amusement of what was going on around him. “Er…Strip poker? In the middle of the bar?”