Ancient Words Unspoken

12▫️ The Return Home

Morning came around quickly and the sun shone through the thin curtains, illuminating the rune mages face who tossed and turned in his sleep. He had been restless the entire night, a niggling feeling at the back of his mind that something was wrong keeping him awake. Upon eventually falling asleep, he was met with nightmares and interrupted sleep the entire night. And so, when the sun awoke him early in the morning, he decided to stop fighting it and dragged himself out of bed. After cleaning himself up, he decided to check out of the hotel and set off home as soon as possible and so, he made his way back down to the reception, brushing off the rushed thanks from the person at the front desk and starting the long walk back to the next town.

It was still fairly early when he reached the train station, around midday and his tiredness had done nothing but increase tenfold however, he got on the train without any issue and let the rocking of the train carriage lull him to sleep for a while.

He was lucky to wake up before the train pulled into the station in Magnolia later that day, having fallen into a deep sleep which remained uninterrupted even through the movements of the train. Stretching his arms above his head, he felt his shoulder pop as he stood up, collecting his belongings before stepping off the train, breathing in the fresh air.
"I should probably head home, whatever happened last night, I'm sure Y/n was involved," he spoke quietly to himself and began walking in the direction of his house, feeling his unease grow the closer he got to the building.

His magic power seemed to become uncontrolled as he walked and he found himself quickening his pace, breaking out into a run soon after. The sick feeling that bubbled in his stomach when he saw the front door made him dizzy. Large holes in the ground outside the door where someone had clearly landed. Hard. The runes around the house seemed to have been weakened slightly and as he moved to open the door, avoiding the destroyed ground, the door swung open easily, completely unlocked.
He rushed inside and his eyes widened, heart almost stopping at the sight. Y/n was slumped against the wall opposite the door, her head lolled forwards and the back of her head seemingly bleeding and bruised. She didn't move when he called her name which did nothing to help his fears and he found himself dropping to his knees in front of her, avoiding the two daggers which had been dropped haphazardly on the dloor.
He quickly glanced over her for any other injuries and checked her pulse before rushing into the bathroom to grab the first aid kit.
When he returned, he soaked some cotton in antiseptic and began gently wiping the dried blood from the back on Y/n's head, getting a better look at the injury before dressing it.
Luckily, the wound didn't seem too deep however, a dark swelling bruise had formed which concerned him. After a quick debate with himself, he decided that it would be best to move the H/c girl from the hallway and so, he gently manouvered her so that he could pick her up, carrying her limp body through the house and moving her to lay on his bed.
She was still unresponsive as Freed sat next to her and he gently brushed some H/c hair away from her face.
Some time passed of him simply sitting beside her and watching, waiting for her to wake up before he decided to start cooking some food in case she did wake up. He found his worry start to disappear as he moved around the kitchen, preparing something that could be easily reheated later on. Exhaustion began catching up with him as he was clearing away the dishes he had used whilst cooking, memories of their fight the other day surfacing even when he tried to force them back down. If he was lucky, the H/c girl wouldnt bring it up and they could ignore that it had ever happened. With this thought, he filled a glass with water and grabbed some painkillers, making his way back to where Y/n was still unconscious.

Opening the door as silently as possible, he entered the room and went to place the glass and pills down on the bedside table, hearing Y/n's breathing much heavier than usual. He turned to look at the H/c girl, seeing her forehead furrowed and her hands clenching into fists as she turned restlessly. A quiet mumble came out of her mouth and he had to focus intently to catch what was said.
"No....stop...."
He frowned and began gently shaking Y/n's shoulder trying to wake the H/c girl. After a couple of minutes, she shot up from where she lay, her head almost colliding with Freed's as she breathed heavily in panic. Her eyes darted around the room until they landed on the rune mage, her racing heart calming slightly when she saw him.
"Are you alright?" Freed asked, his hands still resting upon Y/n's shoulders.
She nodded quickly, almost trying to convince herself as well as him.
"Yeah...yeah...just a stupid nightmare..." She spoke quietly, her heart still pounding in her chest, calming slowly as she controlled her breathing

"How long have I been unconscious?" She asked, her eyes wide and the rune mage moved to sit on the other side of the bed.

"You tell me. When I got back earlier, you were unconscious." He explained before standing again "I'll get you something to eat, you should take the painkillers, they should help,"
Y/n nodded absentmindedly and sat up further, taking the glass of water and the pills and waiting for Freed to return after taking them.

The rune mage entered the room a short while later with a steaming bowl of hotpot with a spoon, handing it to the H/c girl who began eating. Freed returned to the other side of the bed, taking a seat again as silence filled the room. It was broken a moment later when he asked

"What happened whilst I was gone though? Did someone attack you?"

The H/c girl appeared to be deep in thought before she answered.

"Yeah, when I got back here, someone knocked on the door...I thought it would be someone from the guild but it was some man I've never seen before, he tried to attack but the runes stopped him. Whenever he hit them, there was a sort of strong wind, and it happened when I attacked too, I must have hit my head then..."

"Do you remember what he looked like? We could report it the and see if anyone in Magnolia sees them," The rune mage suggested but Y/n shook her head.

"I don't remember much detail....how are you though? You look exhausted..."

Freed shook his head and responded with a small smile.
"I'm fine, don't worry about me,"

The H/c girl gave him a small glare and reached out to grasp his wrist, trying to pull him to lie down beside her.
"You should sleep..."
Freed gave her an annoyed glance and pulled his arm away, shaking his head and moving to stand up.
"You should worry about yourself Y/n, I'll be fine,"
He didn't get far before Y/n's hand wrapped around his wrist once more, tighter this time as she pulled him back more insistently.
"You're not fine, I can see how exhausted you are, just sleep for a while? Please? It's getting late anyway..."
The rune mage appeared to be conflicted as he looked back at the H/c girl before he gave in, removing Y/n's hand from his wrist again and explaining
"I'll go and get changed first,"
With that, he left the room, reappearing a few minutes later changed out of his usual attire.
Y/n's eyes followed him as he settled on the other side of the bed, looking towards her.

Laying this close to the H/c girl, he remembered how terrified she had been when they had first met her and he remembered that she had lived alone for most of her life. He also realised how little he really knew about her, why had she lived alone? Why was she so afraid?
A small cough snapped him out of his thoughts and he realised that he had been staring at the H/c girl who giggled when he looked away again.
"You must be tired, you never let yourself get lost in thought," She commented.
"I guess my magic power was drained more than I thought," The rune mage admitted, his eyes feeling heavy.
"That man attacking your runes probably didn't help..." Y/n added which the rune mage agreed with.
"That explains what I was feeling,"
A yawn escaped the H/c girls mouth and Freed gave a small smirk as he commented
"Who's tired now?"
Y/n playfully stuck her tongue out at him, her eyes slipping closed as she spoke
"I guess I am kind of tired,"
Silence settled in the air and they both found themselves beginning to slip into sleep. Just before sleep overtook him, Freed heard Y/n's voice speaking quietly again.
"Goodnight Freed..."
A small smile slipped into his face and his hand moved to cover the H/c girls
"Goodnight Y/n,"