Garden Of The Abyss

"Is something funny?"

Sirius asked, looking sharply at Lucas after clearly feeling as if he was being laughed at.

"Yes; quite funny in fact--a grown man who doesn't know how to properly use his mouth. I believe that skill is acquired when one reaches the age of, say... five years old?"

"Oh, "haha", funny, really funny."

Taking an aggressive bite out of his red-skinned apple while maintaining razor-sharp eye contact with Lucas, Sirius chewed the juicy contents of the fruit with the same fearsomeness.

"I've got a question for you."

Lucas began to rummage through the supply sack after speaking softly, earning a side glance from the apple-eating man.

"Let me guess: it's about me not being able to chew properly?"

"Not that; this is about our mission."

Sitting back down, Lucas had retrieved the map from the tan material, sprawling it out across the even floorboards of the carriage, running his pale hands over its surface to smooth out the creases.

"What about it?"

Sirius asked with a mouth full of fruit as he leaned in towards the map to watch as Lucas' finger trailed over its contents before finding the path they were on.

"We need to assess where we're likely to first encounter these husks. Unlike normal monsters, these pose a much heavier threat."

"Do they really? If they're just infected villagers, I kind of doubt they'll be much of a problem."

"If you opted to dedicate even a portion of the time you spend honing your mage for reading, you'd likely understand the potential danger these husks pose even to us. These aren't just mindless, frail, rotting "zombies" like you seem to think."

Being reprimanded for his lack of literary knowledge, Sirius let out a quiet, nervous chuckle while scratching his cheek in an attempt to subvert the berating, emerald glare that Lucas seemed to always hold.

"...Anyway, "Husks" are a multi-stage hivemind that evolves as they assimilate more into their ranks and feast upon both mana and flesh. If we're lucky, they're still in their initial stage…"

"What's that?"

"I only know what I've read, but their first stage is similar to what you originally had in mind; slow, stupid, and overall not much of a threat. However, I doubt that's the case from Beatrice's words…I believe that's why she wanted us to use a behemoth instead of some other cart-pulling beast like a gargotiger; its hide and overall tank-like existence will prove to be a valuable asset against these husks."

Watching and listening carefully to Lucas' analysis, Sirius couldn't help but respect the natural intellect the young man possessed--realizing now that this is why he was assigned to this mission.

"If I'm the "secret weapon" and Sora is our "brawn", then no doubt--Lucas is our "brains". Actually, I believe Ren would say something like: "You're the DPS, Sora is the tank, and Lucas is the healer!", yeah...that totally sounds like him," Sirius nodded to himself a few times at his correct guess at Ren's own mindset, finding himself missing the slightly obnoxious brother of his.

"So, what are these other "stages" of husks you're referring to? If it's really as urgent as you're saying--I'll take this seriously then."

"As you should; all of this information comes from a single journal, one of the few documented cases of something from Belmon. With that said, as this stems from one man who seemed to degrade in his mental state as the writing went on…"

"It's a bit of loose information?"

Finishing Lucas' thought for him, Sirius watched as the young man nodded his head slowly. While Lucas' verdant orbs scanned over the map, the sound of the creaking wheels of the carriage moving and the constant, dense steps of Bemo were all that accompanied their hearing.

"That sage didn't give us any sort of numerical value, only saying there were likely "hordes" enclosing on the village. Being safe, let's assume this means there are five-thousand of these husks--Beatrice thought this was a threat enough to merit a Phantasm-level threat."

"Is that the threat level of the current horde or their potential growth from this stage?"

Sirius asked, crossing his arms as he engrossed himself into this; looking at the map as he attempted to engrain the information into his mind.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out. Everything changes depending on the nature of her statement. If the husks have already reached a number of five-thousand...They've reached the third stage, likely."

"And that is?"

"The "Gluttony" stage."

Lucas bit his thumb softly, a mix of concentration and worry plastering itself on his expression as he recalled the information he knew.

"...In the first two stages, the husks are set on infecting and converting organisms and adding them to the horde. Once enough bodies are added and enough husks are mad, the third stage commences, shifting their demeanor entirely; instead of opting for conversion, the husks now strictly feed upon anything they come in contact with."

"So...a "kill-mode", right?"

It was a simple but effective conclusion to come to, at the very least, Lucas was glad that the hot-headed companion of his was quick to understand.

"You have to remember husks aren't human or beast; they move purely on the smallest, minute instincts without any care for their own state of being--they will claw their way to you even if you strip them of their flesh. Make sure to take them out without any hesitation; none can be spared with potential numbers like this."

"...Is it an absolute must to wipe all of them out?"

"It is."

Lucas affirmed, keeping his verdant eyes locked with Sirius' own azures. That look in the eyes of the fair-faced man was something Lucas knew well--they all knew well. As long as he had spent in a world full of cruelties; Sirius had never abandoned his sacred heart, for better or worse--his humanity had never dwindled.

--Even though he plans on returning to Earth when this is all over...He wants to leave this world a better place than when he arrived. I don't know whether it's admirable or downright naive; I'm glad people like him exist, nonetheless.

Looking the man up and down: the uniform of a somber silver, striped with blue--it was something manifested from Sirius' own grandiose dreams--Lucas recalled so clearly on how Sirius explained the meaning of such an outlandish outfit.

"I want them to know without a doubt when they see me; cape fluttering behind my back, the golden buttons running from my torso down to my belt--"that's Sirius Federov-!", once we remove that king from his ivory tower, they'll see this uniform as the symbol of the hero that saved them!"

Remembering how serious he was when he explained that to the stone-faced Beatrice, yelling it at the top of his lungs with such passion, Lucas found himself smiling; earning a perplexed look from the man across from him as a few more bumps were hit on the road.

"Beatrice mentioned husks were the result of a spell, right? If we take out the caster, the spell will be lifted, no?"

Asking this, Sirius circled his index fingers around one another to represent a string being untied. It was asked calmly; a result of Sirius putting his emotions on the backend, but the lavishly dressed boy knew well why he was asking this.

"I'm afraid not--well, more specifically: I don't know for sure."

"Then--"

"Now, hold on."

Given a single piece of rope with this idea, Sirius spiraled quickly back into the true nature of his question: rescuing the infected. Lucas was fast to cut him off, not wanting to allow any hopes of his to build up, more so not wanting the man to get any reckless ideas.

"You're not forgetting the mission we have, are you? It's not our job nor our responsibility to handle the husks--we're trying to avoid them completely, if possible."

"...I get that."

"Good. Then--"

"But we can still save them."

Those steely, blue eyes of his left no room for doubt; it wasn't the first time Lucas encountered this stubborn nature of his.

"Are you an idiot or something? Have I not explained in enough detail the danger we could be facing?"

"I could ask you the same thing!"

Sirius retorted quickly, jabbing his finger towards Lucas, who had been left dumbfounded for a moment at the quick, childish response.

"Did you train all of those days, casting spells until your lips bled and your tongue cramped up, exhausting your mana until the strength left your body until you felt like you were going to die from sickness--did you do all of that to gain this power--just to abandon those who need it the most?"

"...Sirius…"

"They might think we're monsters, devils, you name it--but we're not. We know that--or have their maledictions led you to believe we really are heartless villains?"

For a long moment after those words that came deep within the gut of the snow-born man, Lucas could only sit in silence as the rickety wheels of the shoddy vehicle rotated, feeling the constant vibrations that traveled through the wooden planks beneath him.

"...Is that what Sebastian would want, Lucas?"

Following up his words, Sirius asked this with a gentle voice, his words quickly drawing Lucas' eyes up to him as they became coated in a plethora of emotion.

"Why would you...Why would bring his name up now?"

"You're scared of repeating that day. I get that, but he gave his life to save that village, remember? I had to drag you away; you wanted just as badly to stay back with him...I was so weak then; powerless and pathetic--all I could do was promise him I would get you back safely."

Sirius was now sitting on one knee, keeping his face close to Lucas, who now desperately tried to hide his pained expression by looking down towards his hands.

"Sora!"

Calling out without turning his sight away from his companion, Sirius beckoned the attention of the man heading the carriage, being met with a quick response.

"Yeah?"

Sora had to yell over the ruckus caused by both the carriage being drawn forward and the thundering, meaty footsteps of Bemo.

"Are you up for a bit of friendly competition? Whoever finds the bastard responsible for this husk-bullshit and takes him out wins."

"Hell yeah! You're on!"

Hearing the agreement on this subject by his two companions, Lucas slowly raised his gaze to meet with Sirius' beaming smile.

"Are you in?"

"...That's not fair."

Looking at the unchanging smile on Sirius' expression as his abyssal hair flowed against the moving winds, it was that same stubbornness again--only a "yes" or "no" would be sufficient; Lucas wasn't sure if even a "no" would work.

"Fine. I'm in."

Lucas' answer was quickly subsided as his hair was met with a rough ruffle from Sirius, who let out a chuckle.

"--Cut it out!"

"I'm just trying to warm this noggin' of yours up!"

"Huh?"

"You're our brains, right? We need a plan to stop the mage behind all of this."

In all honesty, Lucas knew going into this mission that pairing Sirius and Sora up was a decision he could only classify as "absolutely risky". They were kindred souls in that they were wild, free, and loved battle--they were also the two given the most freedom by Beatrice herself to act out their own way.

--She had to know they would come to this conclusion, right? Sirius and Sora would never abandon innocent people--did she expect me to rein them in? No...I have no say of what these two do. She wanted this, didn't she? She just didn't want to see it outright...The choice was left up to us.

He brought his emerald gaze back up to Sirius, who was now scanning his eyes over the map, running the fabric of his white glove over the brittle material.

--If there is one person capable of pulling off a miracle such as this--it's Sirius Federov.