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“Uh… Frieren?”
Begrudgingly, Frieren looks up from the wall she’s been inspecting for a secret door, only to find Himmel staring wide-eyed at the empty space in front of her. Beside him, Eisen stands, fists clenched and trembling as his eyes flit between her and… something else.
How odd.
Either a fearsome foe stands before her, or–
“Not again,” she says, half expecting the entire wall to turn into a mimic.
It doesn’t, though, and she frowns as she turns to poke it again with her finger.
Squishy?
“Stop poking it,” Himmel hisses, frantically gesturing for her to rejoin them. “Can’t you see– don’t you see that?”
“I see it,” Eisen says, slowly sliding his axe from his back, and, finally, Frieren looks up.
Ah.
No wonder.
Hovering above her are five large tentacles. Each connected to the wall, or the thing that she thought was a wall—mana completely undetectable. In the center of each, a wide red eye bores down on her. Five of them, all swaying, waiting, watching…
She doesn’t move; doesn’t blink.
“Frieren–”
One of the eyes twitches, and, without a second thought, her staff appears in her hand, forming a barrier just as the first tentacle smacks into it and then recoils. Even behind the barrier, the air it leaves behind is strange—almost electric.
For some reason, she feels a little lightheaded.
Another attacks, and her barrier blocks it. A third, and her barrier disintegrates.
Interesting, she thinks as she falls to the ground, her mana almost entirely depleted. It’s a good thing she’s here with her friends.
She really wanted to know what was behind that wall.
***
It’s hard to know if it’s an hour or day that’s passed when she finally comes to under a starry night sky. There’s a faint rustling in the grass as Heiter moves in his sleep and the sound of an axe chopping wood. Not far from her feet, the warm embers of a dying fire break down as they burn, and, above her, wispy clouds pass over stars that are soft and twinkling.
None of it compares to the presence at her side.
“How do you feel?” Himmel’s voice is soft and concerned as she blinks the stars in and out of focus. Her body hurts all over, and she feels…
“Probably like Heiter usually does,” she says, and, nearby, Eisen chuckles.
“In that case, you’ll recover just fine.”
“Do you want to sit up?” Himmel asks. His face comes into view above her and she frowns.
“The stars were lovely.”
“So am I,” he gives a gratuitous wink as he offers her his hand. “You should look at me more often.”
“I don’t know what that would do,” Frieren says. Eisen's hand comes to a rest on his shoulder as he pulls her up.
“Don’t take it to heart.” Eisen says. “It’s been a long day.”
Frieren isn’t sure what he means.
“It’s alright,” Himmel says. He’s got that soft smile on his face that warms her from the inside out. “Do you feel any pain? Heiter wasn’t able to fully heal you, but we have some herbs... Just tell me what to do. I’ll help however I can.”
She is in pain, she realizes. Not much, but a sharp throbbing right at her middle. Nodding, she eyes the herbs in his lap and points to a few with prickly leaves.
“These ones.” she says. As long as her wounds don’t continue to bleed out her mana, they should do the job just fine. She leans forward to take them, but the pain is... persistent. How troublesome.
“She may need help,” Eisen says, and Himmel’s arm suddenly shoots out in front of her, blocking Eisen from view.
“As the hero, I should do it!” he says, presumably to Eisen. “Unless…” He turns back to Frieren. “Unless you’d rather Eisen did.”
“I don’t care who does it,” Frieren says. “If you don’t want to, Eisen can.”
“Oh, he wants to,” Eisen says, then pats Himmel on the back, who seems a little too pleased. It’s only medicine after all. Still, he carefully shuffles around her to check for injuries. First to her back, then to her front. Then,
“Can you– show me where–” he says, face flushed as he averts his eyes.
“Here,” Frieren says, and he quickly looks back as she points to her stomach. “But in the back.”
Taking a deep breath, he moves to sit behind her again.
“Here?” he says. She winces instinctively at the thought, but his touch is featherlight against her skin.
“Yes, there.”
From behind her, she can feel his panicked gaze on her back. As he looks from Eisen to her, then back to Eisen, who rolls his eyes and wanders off to check their surroundings.
“Can I remove this?” Himmel’s voice wavers as he carefully touches her shoulder, then the back of her neck where her cape is clasped.
“Yes,” Frieren says. “The shirt too.”
“W-what?! Frieren, you–”
“I have my underclothes on.”
“Ah, y-yes. Well, that obviously makes it okay.”
Slowly, carefully, his hands drift up to unbutton the cape from her neck. It slips off her shoulders and pools at her sides.
“And the shirt?” she says when he still hasn’t lifted it. “Are you afraid to look at it?”
“No… No, it’s not that.”
“I’ve done this for you before. Many times.”
“Yes, well–” There’s a deep breath behind her and the back of her shirt lifts just enough to bare the wound to the air. A little chilled, she shivers.
“Does it hurt?”
“A bit. But the herbs will help if you manage to do it before tomorrow.”
“Okay,” Himmel laughs softly, relief hitting the back of her neck with a puff of warm air. He rests his forehead there for a moment, then sits back up and crushes the leaves in his palm. “I don’t like when you’re hurt.”
With a smile, Frieren looks back to the stars.
“This isn’t so bad.”