Drake's POV:
~A few minutes earlier~
We've been rapidly moving along with training. I've taught Armen what I know: teleporting, aura sensing, replenishing mana, other things would require books or items. Smoke and light are what we're currently working on, although they're not dangerous it's useful for distractions and Armen will need this in the future. I'm annoyed at how he put himself in danger just to get some berries, he could've forced that purple haired guy to do it, but no! He's wanted by the empire, it's not like we're all wanted. I snap back into reality as I hear a light thud. I look down to see Armen lying on the floor, pouting.
"Hey, you'll get it at some point. Magic takes time." I reassure him.
"I know I know. This is just getting tedious..." He says, standing up with a determined smile on his face, "Either way, I'll carry one!"
"Great to hear. Now, we need to-"
"No!" I get interrupted as a noise comes from the side of us, we turn around to see what's happening. Grayson is standing there with that assassin. He fails to meet our eyes as he goes bright red and storms off, I wonder what's wrong but I ignore it, ready to continue teaching, however the boy starts to approach us, continuously glancing back and forth before stopping, he avoids eye contact with me as he goes to talk.
"Armen, Grayson's hiding something; it seems to be hurting him... I understand we're not on the best of terms but... if you could have a look - it should be in a table drawer - please consider it, it might help both of you." He quickly says, almost leaving before finishing his sentence.
It leaves both of us in confusion. I wonder what this could be about, Grayson is acting weird but I don't think it's bad, let along hurting him... I wonder... I feel a tug on my shoulder; I glance down to see Armen looking at me with hesitance.
"We shouldn't. I can tell you want to, but Grayson's pretty emotional and I don't think snooping around his stuff will make that any better." Armen rationalises, I look away as he continues, "Currently, you and I need to keep to ourselves. Grayson is trying to figure out some things and we can't help him with it. Hell, I made it worse... so, it's best if we keep away."
"I..."
What if this is about you?
"I..."
If it's dangerous then it could hurt you.
"..."
It could hurt Armen.
"I'm sorry but I need to know. If it's harming him then it could harm you and I never want that to happen." I say, voice wavering with uncertainty as a headache starts to form again.
"It won't hurt me, I don't-"
"How the hell would you know?! Either of us could hurt you at any moment and I- I..." I shakily take a deep breath, "I'm going to have a look. If you don't want any business in it, then don't follow me."
"What do you mean-" he cuts off as I head off, footsteps rush after me.
It's clear Armen's worried, rubbing his arm as we approach the shed. The door creaks open with the slightest push, instantly revealing the room dancing with dust in the golden light. Random materials are dotted around the room, the only place that's clean is the desk where an old rotting chair is at a slight angle to the desk. The table has six drawers, three either side of the chair, from what I remember the bottom two are locked, the key lost before I arrived. I take a look in the right two whilst Armen checks the others. The top one only has a couple of maps and notes placed within. The second drawer holds a compass along with some utilities that seem to barely get used. I glance over to Armen to see him staring at a book, eyes wide in shock, hands slightly trembling. I take a look at the cover, a sudden rush of pain hits me; I stagger back as I clutch my head.
"He... he- why does he have this?" Armen mutters to himself in disbelief.
I want to say something but nothing comes out. The headache continues to pound, going faster and faster. Déjà-vu, that's what it's giving me; why do I keep on getting it? Why can't I remember things? Why is everything a blur? I shake off my own feelings to make sure Armen's ok; he's not. His grip on the cover has tightened and his shocked expression has turned to anger and betrayal. I place my hand on his shoulder, seemingly snapping him back into reality.
"Drake! I... Grayson lied to me, I-" he cuts himself off.
Words still refuse to leave my mouth as I see Armen struggle with his own. I don't understand what happened between the two of them but from what I can tell, it doesn't seem good. After years of knowing Armen, I know how much a promise means to him. He takes them really seriously, too seriously if you ask me, nevertheless we need to leave, we've got the book, and sticking around any longer could result in-
"Drake? Armen?" A voice of betrayal calls out from behind us.
I turn around to be met with Grayson, eyes flicking between us with disbelief. His arms shaking slightly as his eyes lock on Armen who's still focused on the book; his surprise turns into sudden anger as he starts to approach.
"Why the hell are you in here!?" He shouts.
I take a defensive position as I stand in front of Armen, stopping Grayson in his tracks.
"This is still technically my shed. We can be in here if we want." I state.
"Oh don't you dare pull that card! It may be your place but this is my fucking room with all my property. So. Leave." His emerald eyes glare at me with rage I've never seen before. It would be scary, but, I've seen worse.
"No! You were acting weird and we were worried!"
"Worried? Neither of you are worried for me so why should I believe it?!"
"Because of this." I hint behind me, both now locked on that stupid book.
Grayson holds his breath in worry, "Armen... I... both of you, leave, and give me back my book."
"Make me." I glare down at him, I'm not just going to do what he says. I won't take orders from him.
"Happily." he retaliates, surprising me with his boldness, "I might not kill you but I sure as hell will hurt you if needed."
"Hurt me? Ha! You can't hurt me." This makes both of us stop, I grasp my mouth and he glares at me in fear. Armen decides to step in whilst there's a chance to.
"Both of you, stop! Drake, I will talk to you later. Grayson- what the hell!? You have the book, the one book you promised me you'd burn! You promised..." his grip tightens on the book. Burn? He plans to-
"I... I did?" he mutters to himself before shaking his head, "Even if that was true, promises mean nothing, you've never promised me anything so why should I care about this 'apparent' promise!? You two just stick together and leave me out of everything!"
"What. Firstly: I made a fucking promise, and unlike you, I plan on keeping it because; promises are meant to be kept." he grabs his right hand onto his scarred arms, "Secondly, what do you mean!? We didn't leave you, we've talked to you, included you, you left off on your own to clear your head and that's okay! But you can't blame us for something that never happened! Look, I'm keeping this, and I will burn it."
"Don't." I say sternly, shock sets in immediately as I turn away.
"What...?" Armen questions, "Why not?"
"It's..."
How are you going to explain this? I won't allow it to be burnt, so, are you finally going to tell him about little old me? It might make this conversation a bit easier~
His mocking tone stings my mind. Resting my hand against my head I speak, "I... it's a bad idea. I wouldn't do it. It's probably a mistake." I falsely. I don't want to risk Hero hurting Armen. That'd be a horrible outcome.
Silence is shared between us; I try to find a reason for why I said that... did I even say it? It's getting worse. When this first happened it was such a rush of pain and emotions that I didn't take in what truly happened. Now, I'm unsure, I have no idea what he's planning to do but I know it's not going to be long before I... before I'm gone... I shake it off as I hear Armen sigh, thankfully ending the silence.
"I'll think about it, but I'm still going to keeping this." He states, turning towards Grayson, "I can't trust you to not read this..."
He already has.
A shiver runs down my spine as I spot Grayson rolling his eyes, a grimace spread across his face. He nudges past Armen, picking up a shabby backpack before turning back and throwing it at him with no warning.
"Take that and keep it, I don't want to carry your stupid shit anymore. Now. Get. out." He grumbles, glaring us dead in the eyes.
Neither of us retaliate; instead we both head out, leaving him to be moody on his own. The bag Armen got is a second hand, not the best but I assume Grayson wasn't aiming for quality when he got it. He places the book in his bag before turning to me in frustration.
"Drake, what was that?! How you were acting it was weird..." I block him out as I start to wonder, I don't fully remember what happened, I was arguing with Grayson and it's about that book but everything else, the words, the specifics. Everything is going too quickly and I'm missing it all.
"Drake!? Are you listening to me?!" Armen yells.
"I... no." I admit.
"Urgh! Well listen this time! You need to stop staring arguments! This is the second time you've just started one, is there something wrong with Grayson? Is there something he's doing that's angering you? Or are you just looking for a fight?" it's clear he wants to shout by the strained tone in his voice. God, he's actually angry.
"I... I don't know..." I murmur as I avoid his gaze in shame.
He gives a very audible sigh, "Drake... I don't know what to say. Grayson's off doing his own thing, and I don't care about that right now. You. There is something wrong and you are not telling me. You've refused to tell me once but you don't realise how hurtful that was. I can't help you nor can I understand you unless you tell me what is happening!" he takes a deep breath, he's right but I... I can't bring myself to say anything.
With my silence he starts to talk again but I just block him out, I'm trying every day to keep it hidden, to keep in control against this constant headache, against this bastard in my head. I know the inevitable will happen, I know there's no hope, but I won't drag him into this, I won't let him know, he thinks he can handle it but he won't. I don't deserve his help anyway. I don't deserve a lot of things to be honest, let alone someone like Armen. Urgh! I wish this was simpler. I wish he could just leave me alone. I wish he'd realise I'm hopeless; I don't want him to fix a broken record that deserves to stay broken...
Be careful what you wish for ~
??? POV:
I rest against a cold and distorted rock, despite the discomfort I can't reveal my position. I followed Luke here after my team split up, and now I don't quite know what to do. I know my mission but the execution of it is... complicated. I have my sword but I left all my armour back at base, well, I forgot it but I'm sure I'll be fine.
I shift my position in irritation as I peer around the corner, there are two people talking near a small unstable building. I assume they're having an argument as the smaller one waves their hands frantically, neither of them are recognisable. I scan around the area and quickly duck as I footsteps approach. I pull out my sword. I prepare myself. Then they walk by and before they can react I pull them in, quickly going behind them making sure my sword is right by their neck. I only realise who it is once the recognisable penguin hat slightly slips down, revealing his well-known lavender hair.
"Luke?" I quietly ask, not faltering from my position despite secretly wanting to.
His head slightly turns as his orange eye peers around, meeting with mine, showing pure shock.
"Markus!?"