A Learning Experience - Etrian Odyssey IV (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 2

“Brothers, huh?” Varuna commented dryly as he turned to look at Bryce. “A little family outing?”

“You could say that,” Bryce replied as he began to roll his shoulders, stretching his arms over his head, seemingly limberly up in anticipation for the labyrinth. “This quest we’re on is apparently easy, so we decided to let the munchkins have some time in the labyrinth.”

“Stop calling me a munchkin!” Fletcher suddenly demanded.

Turning toward the source of the voice, a terse retort on his lips, Bryce unexpectedly paused when he realised how far up the rigging Fletcher had climbed during his and Varuna’s short conversation. Even Varuna was surprised, and concerned, by how quickly and effortlessly he seemed to move about. He appeared recklessly fearless.

“What are you doing up there, dumbass?!” Bryce yelled rather loudly and angrily, bristling wildly. “Get down from there!”

Fletcher cheekily poked his tongue out at him, staying defiantly high amongst the ropes and rigging. His older brother, Falkner, didn’t seem to be remotely worried, though. He glanced over his shoulder, looking up at his little brother and shot him a wide grin.

“Oh, he’s fine!” Falkner said in regards to Bryce before turning to give Fletcher a thumbs up. “Great view from up there. Right?”

“You bet!” Fletcher yelled back, grinning broadly and rather childishly swinging back and forth.

“Fine, he’s your little brother,” Bryce muttered tersely, his eyebrow twitching. “You deal with him.”

Varuna remained silent during the whole thing, a little surprised by how carefree the four were. Well, three of the four were. Bryce seemed to be a little hot-headed. Although, he barely knew him, there was something about Bryce that screamed honesty. It was like ‘what you see was what you got’ type of feeling.

He couldn’t help but think back to his own ‘family’. Nitish was haunted while Isiah was serious and aloof. Varuna wasn’t entirely sure what to do or say around people so…cheerful. He had never been a people’s person…from what he could remember, anyway.

“Anyway, we’re known as the Phaedrons,” Bryce continued. “Means spiritual leader or something.”

A small feeling of unease washed over Varuna as he watched Bryce mutter something else under his breath, fold his arms over his chest and lean against the railing of the gondola. “…Why am I here?” Varuna asked.

“It’s wise to take five people into the labyrinth,” Bryce explained plainly before he shrugged carelessly. “Besides, you looked bored.”

Varuna deadpanned at the answer. He was kinda expecting something a little more…detailed. “I looked bored?”

“Yeah, restless,” Bryce stated casually as he started to flex his muscles, going back to limbering up.

In all honesty, Varuan didn’t know what to make of his answer. He had been feeling some boredom as of late, but he didn’t expect a man, a complete stranger, to actually pick up on his restlessness and call him out on it. Was it a lucky guess or was Bryce actually more observant than he appeared?

“Hey!” Bryce suddenly yelled over to Falkner, pulling Varuna from his thoughts. “Are we there yet?”

“Almost!” Falkner shouted in reply as he turned the wheel to the left. “We’re coming into view now!”

Intrigued, Varuna ventured to the bow of the airship in order to see the labyrinth as they approached. He had never ventured from the city limits before. Especially not this far. Yet, he wasn’t all that afraid. There was a bubble of excitement and anticipation growing in his chest.