Cease the Suffering - Etrian Odyssey II (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 27

AN: Thank you so much Irish_Moon_Dreamer and SakuraiYoake for commenting! I've been noticing that the chapters are getting longer as well! Shocked and surprised.

Ah, this chapter is a bit of a filler, I suppose you could say. I just wanted to write something slightly humorous and we get to see Lynus somewhat jealous in this chapter. Enjoy!

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Chapter 27:

After having a quick breakfast (Lynus wasn’t all that hungry, but Axel refused to allow him to leave the Inn without having something to eat), offering a few words of reassurance that he was fine (to a surprising amount of people) and inquiring where Rahas had gone (no one knew…), Lynus had finally made his way back to the hospital.

Axel was with him, of course, having received a few orders by the others to keep an eye on him.

Walking up the stairs, the outside of the hospital didn’t look that bad. It was nothing but a facade, though, as the inside was where everything took place. And stepping through the front entrance, Lynus couldn’t help but wince. There were two very distinct smells; one of powerful disinfectant. And the other smell was that of burning of flesh.

The upper parts of the walls and ceilings where covered in a light layer of soot from some kind of fire attack. Piled into corners were blackened debris, having been swept there in haste and waiting to be disposed of. There were also mounds of destroyed furniture, some that could be fixed, while others were beyond repair.

But what made Lynus feel really devastated were the damaged medical equipment. Substitutes weren’t easy to get a hold of, and replacing them was nearly impossible.

“This place is a mess,” Lynus said with a sigh, folding his arms over torso, feeling deflated.

“It’s actually better than it was,” Axel muttered as he scratched the back of his neck.

“Lynus!”

Hearing his name, Lynus turned to see Angie running over to him, relief on her face. And behind her was Darrell, his two fellow healers looking rather haggard and frazzled. Still, it was good to see that they were both alright.

“How are you feeling?” Angie asked him.

“I’m fine. Really,” Lynus answered, what felt like the umpteenth time that morning. “Where’s Dr Stiles?”

“On the warpath,” Darrell answered with a somewhat wary expression. “He’s been really quite terse all morning. No surprise, really.”

“Yeah,” Angie agreed, nodding. “And he’s been in a bad mood.”

“I see…”

Before Lynus could ask any questions, maybe even offer some assistance as was his nature, Dr Stiles appeared. He stalked out of a room, his face creased into a look of pure displeasure. Disgruntlement, even. His usually pristine coat was rumbled, covered in dust and black soot.

Suddenly, Dr Stiles turned to look in Lynus’ direction. And his eyes promptly narrowed. “What are you doing here?” he asked as he stomped over to him.

Lynus found himself hunching his shoulders meekly. “I just-”

“No, you don’t,” Dr Stiles said, his nerves fraying thin as he poked Lynus on the forehead. “You were poisoned. You’ve done more than enough. You’ve got today off. So I don’t want to see you anywhere near the hospital today. Clear?”

“But-”

Dr Stiles’ eyes narrowed menacingly. “Did I stutter?”

“No, no no,” Lynus squeaked obediently, clearly intimidated by the ominous presence Dr Stiles was emitting. “I’ll just…yeah.”