"I . . . I know," she sighed, "You're right . . ."

Emma folded her arms over her diaphragm and squeezed her hands upon her ribs. She still felt the urge to hurt something, and causing a little discomfort in her ribcage was sipping away at that urge. Sadly, it wasn't at all productive, so she stopped soon after and resisted another sigh. There was nothing she could do. She just had to pull herself together and move on. So sincerely she tried to. Or, at the very least, took a step towards it. She nodded slightly to Fenix, stepped forward from him, turned, and unclipped the knife from her shirt.

"Here," she said as she handed the knife off to him, "When we get back, I'm gonna go get my sword. I don't think I'll be needing this anymore."

Her sword was lost somewhere near where Fenix fell. She remembered it being up in the brush. It wasn't going to be hard to find at all. They just needed to get back to camp, first.

Fenix nodded and accepted his dagger back, placing it on his belt for the time being. "Alright, let's go." It wasn't until he was climbing the steep staircase that he betrayed any sign of how fatigued he was; he could hide other signs, but being completely out of breath after the short way up was something he couldn't.

After a moment's rest, he nodded in a direction. "This way." He had a good sense of direction, fortunately; he quickly recalled where the hole was and the layout of the complex, and figured out where they needed to go.

Incidentally, the route would actually take them back by the hole--allowing Emma to search for her sword.

"Yeah," Emma nodded and followed by Fenix's side.

Though, something was a little off about Fenix. More specifically, he wasn't doing all that great. Emma looked around them. They probably still had a ways to go. If she'd been in a better mood, she'd have issued a number of curses before proposing this idea. But as is, she was still feeling down, and Fenix had been kind of sweet in trying to make her feel a little better--so . . .

"Do you need any help?" she asked him.

Fenix was worn out beyond compare, and if she left him to his own devices, he'd probably wind up collapsing somewhere in the middle of the forest--maybe even falling down another hole. Emma offered an arm to him. The least she could do was help him walk. Granted, he was almost two feet taller than her; if he fell, he was probably taking her with him, but any support was probably helpful.

Fenix shook his head. "I'll be fine; I'm just tired." He'd had more energy as of late, but exploring some kind of underground place at this time of night was a bit much for him. Using his magic, even if only as a light source and short demonstration, probably hadn't helped matters.

It wasn't terribly far back to the camp, in any case, and he got a short rest in as Emma searched for her sword when they reached the hole. By the time she found it he felt he could get back to the camp. Hopefully Mayako would be waiting for them, and hadn't wandered off looking for them or anything.

"Well . . okay, if you're sure," Emma said with a shrug of her shoulders.

She was willing to help Fenix out if he needed it, but if he didn't, or if he at least did not wanted to accept her offer, then she was fine just pressing on. And press on she did. They wound up passing by the hole in the ground, where Emma rummaged around in the brush 'til she found her wooden sword, and it wasn't long after that they get back to camp. A camp occupied by a very frustrated and sleepless young girl. They were met by Mayako Takamine within the second they stepped close to the tent; she darted out, raced for them, and stopped before them--hands on her hips, lower lip pouted, and brow furrowed.

"Emma! Mis--" Mayako exclaimed, then stopped to correct herself ". . . Fenix! B-- by Saqin-- where have you two been? I-- I've been so worried!"

Initially, Emma looked up to Fenix and cleared her throat, but looked back to Mayako soon after. "We went on an adventure," she said.

"A-- a-- what?" Mayako stammered, "A-- an adventure? A-- and you didn't even warn me? Wh-- what if you two never came back!"

Again, Emma cleared her throat. "We found something pretty awesome."

Mayako crossed her arms over her chest. "Tha-- that is not even a remotely good excuse, Emma. It'd better be something that could fight a whole army, or--"

"Actually, yeah," Emma interrupted, "At least, it'd let us do that."

Mayako lost steam entirely. "Wh-- what?"

Emma held out the medallion, "It negates magic. All magic. No matter how strong it is. If it's magic, this medallion breaks it apart."

"I . . . " Mayako stared at the medallion; with each passing second, her eyes grew wider. "C-- can I touch it?"

"Nope!" Emma brought the medallion back down by her side. As she passed Mayako by, en route to their tent, she added: "I called it, I found it. Go on your own adventure if you want a sweet magical item."

While Mayako was preoccupied with Emma, Fenix slipped by and sat on one of the logs they'd arranged outside the tent to catch his breath. He needed some rest; unfortunately, it looked like it was probably going to be a bit later in the day before they got moving tomorrow because of it.

"It doesn't feel any different than a normal medallion," Fenix said. Which went contrary to popular image. That part sometimes made selling magic items difficult, because most people were convinced that anyone could tell if an item's magical simply by looking at it, or feeling it.

"And it would only let her beat an army of mages," he added, figuring this needed clarification. "A more conventional army swinging heavy or sharp metal still poses a problem."

Fenix's correction made the medallion seem a lot less powerful, but before Mayako could return to scolding Emma for being gone so long, the girl brushed by her and climbed into their tent.

"I'm okay with that," Emma said from inside the tent, "At least people with swords and stuff can be reasoned with."

That was the last that she had to say, though. Emma was already laying down, snuggled up with a pillow, and trying to get some sleep. She knew it was impossible, at least in her current state of mind, but she at least wanted to try. Otherwise, she might be a little angrier in the morning than if she didn't try at all.

Mayako was still a little bit fuming, but at least they were safe and sound. It was just rude of them to leave her worrying like that! Mayako plopped down on the log next to Fenix and held her chin in her hands. It would be obvious, even to him, that she was all kinds of mad, even when she wasn't speaking.

Fenix remained silent as Emma went inside the tent. He understood why she was angry, but he hoped she wouldn't inherent her brother's grudge. Not all mages were bad.

"Sorry," he said to Mayako after she sat down, seeing she was still upset. "Fell into an underground building, and Emma fell in trying to get me out. We found that while searching for the exit."

While Emma had certainly gotten caught up in the idea of an adventure for a bit, the fact was that they returned as soon as they could.

Mayako could certainly fume about something for awhile when she was given right and reason to, but Fenix said something to douse that immediately. Instead of being upset with them for essentially abandoning her to worry for a long, long time, she became instantly concerned.

"Wh-- oh my goodness," Mayako quickly looked Fenix over.

He didn't look like he was terribly hurt. But looks were usually deceiving when it came to matters of health and injuries. She had no idea how high this fall was, but any unexpected fall could end with a serious injury (for Fenix especially). Mayako's nurse instincts clicked on in full force.

"Are you okay?" she asked, "You two didn't break anything, did you? O-- or hurt yourselves at all?"

Fortunately, Mayako seemed to quickly understand that it wasn't their fault for being late. Emma was a bit too antagonistic for her own good, but this time he couldn't fault her for not taking the time to explain.

"I'm fine; just tired. Emma though...I think she might have hurt her feet. She was barefoot the whole time, and I think she was bleeding." He hadn't brought it up with her because there hadn't been much he could've done about it, but now that they were back at the camp with their supplies it was probably best she get looked at before she fell asleep.

"Wh-- what?!" Mayako exclaimed.

Okay, sure, she was really happy that Fenix was unharmed, but Emma cut herself and didn't even tell her?! She was probably planning on just going to sleep without taking care of it and everything! Mayako stood up quickly and began her march towards their tent.

"Emma? H-- hey, Emma!" she called out, "I need to look at your feet!"

"Already sleeping," came a low, falsetto groan from within the tent.

"Y-- you are not!" Mayako cried.

"Look at them in the moooorrrrniing," Emma replied sleepily.

"No, I am going to look at them right now," Mayako said, trying to sound as stern as possible (which was kind of laughable, more often than not), "If-- if you're cut and bleeding, you could have an infection by morning!"

"I'll take my chances." And then there was the sound of Emma burying her head in a number of pillows.

"Y-- you will not!" Mayako declared promptly, before disappearing into the tent.

Fenix, outside, would not see what transpired within. He'd only hear the commotion. There was a lot of shouting and halfhearted struggling, and even a few insults thrown around by Emma, who at least once claimed that Mayako had a foot fetish of some sort (Mayako, however, refrained from making a return quip, as Emma still wasn't too fond of her sister). In fact, Fenix wouldn't even be able to tell if Mayako had managed to look over Emma's cuts and the like, as the commotion didn't really die down until later.

These shenanigans were bound to continue until they all went asleep . . .

Fenix remained sitting down for the time being; it wouldn't exactly be terrible restful to enter the tent at the moment. Instead, he leaned back and stared at the starry sky. To they'd stumble upon something like that by chance. No doubt his mentor would have seen it as a lucky break, but he couldn't help but feel differently. Luck had certainly not been on his side lately...

He was anxious to be home, he realized suddenly. It wasn't just a matter of wanting to find out if his mentor was there, or had visited recently. He longed to see familiar faces, to ensure that after his nine month absence everything was okay. Even if he spent most of his time away from it, he valued having a home to return to.

I suppose I should help out inside. Knowing that the sooner he went to bed, the sooner he could wake up and continue onward, he entered the tent.

"Emma, just let Mayako bandage your feet. You're not getting any rest until she does anyway..."

******

A few days later, they were well off the beaten trail. After passing through a small outpost it was mostly woods, with a barely recognizable road to follow and only Fenix's assurance that they were on the right track.

But just as the sun was beginning to set, the woods suddenly opened up into a large clearing. It wasn't too hard to figure out why; foundations where buildings once stood remained, not quite entirely hidden by seven years of overgrowth. At one time a town had stood here, but it had been razed to the ground.

Only one building remained standing: a large stone church, well maintained especially compared to its surroundings. Weather had eroded away the symbol of faith above the large double wooden doors, making it impossible to tell what religion it once stood for.

It hardly mattered now. The church was many things, but it was no longer a place of worship...

Walking this long was starting to take a toll on Mayako and Emma, though the latter refused to acknowledge it. Emma pushed on, despite injuries to her feet and the threat of infection if she wasn't careful. Not that anyone else mentioned that much to her, though. Emma was a bastion of medical knowledge. She knew what risks she was taking, and quite honestly didn't care. Mayako, on the other hand, seemed to get slower and slower by the day. It went without saying, though. Mayako was a book worm. She stayed at home and read. She didn't go out hiking or traveling or adventuring. This was so far out of her element and it genuinely hurt to keep going after awhile.

Finally, though, they encountered something that lifted Mayako's spirits tremendously.

"Oh, wow!" Mayako chimed excitedly.

A church this far up north? She'd hardly believed it was possible! They were close to the border, right? Or maybe even beyond it and well outside of Algeroth? It -- well, it didn't matter. There was no real civilization up beyond that point to her knowledge, so a church being up here, even if it was in the middle of an overgrown burnt out village, was still a pleasant surprise. Actually, it reminded her of her father's church by the look alone. To Mayako, it was like seeing a familiar face.

"I-- I wonder what they worshiped before . . ." she then surveyed the buildings all around it, busted up, caved in, burnt out, and overground. "U-ummm . . ."

"Nothing, now," Emma grunted (which didn't sound much like a grunt, with her voice being a high alto and all), as she pressed on by a standing Mayako. Emma had been pretty quiet about it, but she wanted to rest soon, and this looked like as good a place as any.

"It was once a church to the Holy Goddess," Fenix replied. "However, the last priest died seven years ago."

As they continued toward the church, they'd pass a peculiar spot: there was a patch of dirt that appeared to be where a house once stood. What was peculiar about it was that nothing else was growing there now; not so much as a single weed.

There was a figure in front of the church--a young man in profile, carrying firewood. He glanced over at them, then did a double take and dropped the wood, wincing when some of it hit his foot. Not letting it phase him for long, he leaned into the door of the church to shout something before turning and waving to them excitedly.

Smiling, Fenix waved back as a trio of girls practically tripped over each other getting outside. The quartet began to make their way towards the approaching trio, with one in particular, a petite red-headed teenage girl, sprinting ahead of the rest.

Fenix's smile wavered slightly as he braced himself and put his pack on the ground, the reason quickly becoming evident. "Feeeeeeeeeniiiiiiiiix!" the girl shouted as she flung herself at him, bowling him over despite his best efforts to resist it.

Other people being here was a noticeable surprise to both Emma and Mayako. They both simultaneously expected there to be nothing here, just a bunch of abandoned buildings providing some shelter and warmth as they hunkered down for the night and got some well deserved sleep. The reality, though, was that there were people here. A teenage boy. And also three girls. Probably more than that, too, but . . .

When one of the girls practically tackled into Fenix, Emma felt a small twinge in the back of her mind that manifested with a small twinge behind her eye. That was unfamiliar and she didn't exactly like it. She was probably just tired, though. Yeah, that was it.

"W-- wait, is this . . .?" Mayako asked sheepishly.

"H~uh," Emma observed, "Looks like it."

For now, Mayako felt a bit like a stranger, like someone who shouldn't have been here and was watching a reunion too personal for her to intrude on. Emma, on the other hand, felt slightly put off, but for vastly different reasons, but was fine just waiting for the inevitable introductions.