Part II: More Magic, More Fantasies

Chapter 42: Crystal Chronicles

There was so much activity that ensued, it took until you were back, settled in the guild house, to really parse what had happened.

After you'd all helped Gladio, giving him a potion and a bottle of water, he'd explained what had happened. The whole group had gotten to the edge of the warp space, and the survival team had seen them struggling. So they'd run to their aid, having to fight a foreboding shadow dragon because of it. They had defeated it, but the resulting explosion of darkness had knocked everyone unconscious and covered in dust.

So, with Gladio recuperated enough, the seven of you then dispersed to try to find everyone else. This was a task that took hours, and was increasingly difficult the more dark it got. Eventually, after double-checking the list of everyone who was gone, you had been able to account for everyone in the guild, as well as everyone in your brigade.

Once you'd gotten them all into their rooms, and in beds, everyone branched off. Iris, Mumford, and Izana had set off to work distributing medicine and administering first aid, and had pressured Gladio to rest in bed to recuperate. Meanwhile, you worked with Serah and Snow to scramble up some quick food for everyone. Every now and again one of the first three would run into the cafeteria for water, and you'd be the one to fill up a pitcher with ice water. Snow had a recipe for quick bread buns in his head, so he'd made those in a flash, and ran off to dole them out as you and Serah had continued to assemble your hastily made pasta. You both had pretty much just thrown all the boxes of fettuccine into the largest pot you could find, and heated up both red and white sauces. There wasn't any time to prepare meat, so you silently hoped that pieces of fried ham would be enough of a protein boost.

And now that you'd finished that, you'd returned to your room and collapsed on the bed... only now to hear Izana screaming in one of the rooms.

You rose to your feet, arriving at Melusina and Thancred's room. "Everything okay in here?" you asked.

"No," Izana whimpered, lifting his hand. Melusina was nibbling on it in her sleep.

"Oh. Hey! Hey! No!" you said as you tried to pull his hand free. "We need to... wake her up, Izana."

"I know, but how? Not even my screaming made her budge."

"Good point. Uh... oh! Let's get her closer to the food. If she smells it, she might wake up to eat. Help me pick her up."

"Uh. How?" Izana lifted his hand again.

"Right." You nodded, scooping Melusina out of her bed. Luckily, she was relatively light, for a human adult. "This way."

When you and Izana had gotten her to the cafeteria, and you'd placed a plate of pasta in front of her, she finally released Izana's hand, but her face slammed into the plate- but then, you heard the soft sounds of gentle noms.

"Mm...mmm...pasta..." Melusina said softly, before sitting up, realizing where she was. "Oh! I am back home!"

"Yeah, we hear it got pretty gnarly out there," you told her.

"Mm!" Melusina nodded, still eating. "The darkness... so large, so powerful... oh... I am hungry and sleepy at the same time..."

She almost fell back into her plate, but Izana caught her. "I'll take her back to her room. You should get some rest. You look exhausted."

You were, truly. "Thanks. You get some rest too, all right? You're still recovering, after all."

~~~~~

You woke up in the middle of the day, and the house was plenty quiet. Most of the people there were still resting, so that made sense. One thing you'd noticed, though, upon waking up: for all the trouble you'd gone through, you still didn't have the crystal you sought.