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“God that was pathetic.”
Hawk stood over his fallen victim, sheathing his swords as the insult escaped his lips. Nobody knew how to fight anymore. The young man beneath him was bloodied and beaten from the now concluded fight, albeit far from death still. He laid on the floor in the fetal position, ready to accept whatever fate his assailant deemed fit. The violent Monstrum sighed in frustration; nothing was helping, not even picking fights anymore. He ran a hand through his hair to get it out of his face before walking away from the scene, leaving the man on the floor. Someone else will take care of him; it wasn't his problem.
Once far enough away from any possible prying eyes the young knight reverted to his civilian form; patting down nonexistent dirt on his uniform as he returned to the barracks for the day. All Hieroglyph knights had been given their own room, their needs also taken care of for as long as they served; money, food, clothing, whatever it may be. All of the surrounding knights in his assigned hallway knew to leave him alone, none of them wanted to be the next person to get dragged into a fight with the violent knight. Credo closed the door to his place and stripped out of his armor, dropping it to the floor, and plopped down onto his couch to sit in silence.
The room wasn’t impressive by any means, but it was up to his standards. Credo never cared for a fancy– or homey– place. One main room, where his bed and a small dining table were at, and a small bathroom. A few paintings of his were scattered on the walls. Once in a blue moon Credo would pick the hobby back up, usually it’d be due to something catching his eye in such a way that he just had to paint it; the view from the top of Mount El Dore being an example.
Ever since the Monstrums broke into the alchemy lab, killing Chatelard and meeting Zola, he’d become constantly agitated; a constant primal urge to fight anything and everything. He’d had his fair share of dealing with such, but this felt different. Way worse than he’d ever experienced. Every waking moment was a battle to not completely lose himself; anger was all he felt. In the past, picking fights with random people helped diminish it. Now the only thing that alleviated it slightly was the Grimwald Noxes when the team got to let loose on Lemures; the more there was, the better he felt after. Unfortunately even that was reaching its limit. Nothing helped anymore. Credo didn’t bother to bring it up to anyone, though. No point in letting them know. What are they going to do, tell him to take a moment and breathe? Besides, Adol was already dealing with enough; with the nearly dying and all.
A drink or two sounded nice right about now.
Groaning to himself, the young knight stood back up and grabbed his jacket from the table. To the bar he went.
The Dandelion was always a bit slower this time of day; only having about four customers when Credo walked in. The place had that familiar smell of booze he'd come to find comfort in. Chante was behind the bar chatting up one of the older gentlemen that was sitting on one of the stools, while Silhouette was cleaning up dirty plates from a now empty table. The rest of the Monstrums, as well as Dogi, were there all sat at a table talking. Credo ignored the red head's waving to get his attention, and instead went to the bar to take a seat on one of the bar stools. The bartender excused himself from the conversation he was having and slid over to the young knight.
“I have to thank you for saving me dear, that older gentleman was keeping me hostage telling me his whole life story,” Chante murmured before clearing his throat. “Now, what can I get for you?” His eyes seemed to glitter as he spoke.
The purple haired monstrum scoffed at his remark and rolled his eyes; who knew even Chante had his limits with people's yapping. “Just a pale ale for now.” His arms crossed mid sentence.
“You got it!” The bartender winked as he received the order, going straight to work. Within mere moments the beer was received. Credo was always silently impressed at how fast he was at the bar. “Years of practice, love,” is the response he’d always be given.
“So what's gotten to you this time, dearie?” Chante inquired, leaning on the bar counter as he did. He'd known the young man long enough to pick up on how he felt depending on what drink he ordered.
Credo drew back from the counter as he grabbed his beer, taking a good swig before bothering to respond. “What's it to you? You ask as if I plan on actually talking.” A snarl emitted from his face as he barked back.
The pink haired manager put up his hands in defense, offering a simple smile in return. “Now there’s no need to be like that love. I will always be kind to those who aren't; never know who might simply need some kindness.”
God he was annoying sometimes, Credo could never understand how Chante could be so cheerful all the time. Adol too. Speaking of the devil, the swordsman waltzed up to the young knight and tapped on his shoulder for his attention.
“What do you want?” he asked the redhead. “If I wanted to talk I'd be over there already.”
Adol gave a soft smile, blissfully ignoring his comment. “Come join us at the table. We wanted to talk about something as a team.”
“I said no already. Now fuck off, leave me alone,” Credo snarled as he took another swig of his beer.
The swordsman rolled his eyes as he grabbed ahold of his friend's forearm and pulled, “I wasn't asking!” Credo audibly grumbled the entire way of getting dragged to the table, getting sat in the spot left open just for him.
“The gang’s all here!” Announced Dogi, lifting up a now empty water cup. His face brimmed with a smile at seeing the knight join them.
“Not of my free will,” Credo sneered. “What do you want? I didn’t come here to have a chit chat.”
Yufa placed her hands on her hips, flashing a pouty face. “We wanted you here so we could all talk about a job that was posted on the board. Is that too hard to ask?”
The knight scoffed and took one, final big swig of his drink; rendering the cup empty. Good, an excuse to get up as soon as possible. “Unless it involves kicking someone’s ass, I don’t care. That’s Adol’s jurisdiction, not mine,” He jabbed a finger towards the red head, who had seated himself next to Credo.
“Warden Belger was the one who posted the job,” Doll piped in, turning her attention to him. “In it he described mysterious beasts had been spotted on the Estate Road wandering around and requested that we dispose of them quickly; He feared the beasts would attack anyone traversing the road. We’ve all collectively deduced the ‘mysterious beasts’ Belger spoke of is none other than lemures.”
“Well yeah,” Credo scoffed, placing his empty mug on the table and crossing his arms. “I think anyone who isn't dumb as a rock would assume the same.”
“We’d like you to come with us to take care of them in case it’s more than just a couple strays,” Krysha asked.
Credo crossed his arms as he listened to her. The idea of being able to let loose on a few lemures sounded fun. “Yeah, whatever. Fine, I’ll go; give me an excuse to fight anyway.”
A friendly smile encompassed Adol’s face at his friend’s agreement. He promptly stood up, grabbed the knight’s empty cup and returned it to its home with the bartender.
“Hey! I wasn’t done with that!” Credo shouted as he quickly stood up; giving Adol a nasty glare. The swordsman kept his ever so aggravating smile and nodded, “I'm aware. We're leaving now, though, so you don't have time to get another drink. The beer will be here when we're done,”
The knight sighed in agitation. As much as he hated it Adol had a point. He stormed out of the Dandelion, letting the gang know he’d meet them at the gate.
—---
Credo was leaning up against the gate wall waiting when the rest of the Monstrums arrived, the tingle for more alcohol a lul dull in the back of his mind.
“Thanks for coming Credo,” Adol tapped his shoulder in admiration, a gesture promptly rejected by the knight pushing his hand off.
“Yeah, yeah,” He snarled. “Let's just get this over with. I'm itching to fight.” Without waiting for any sort of response he promptly walked through the gate, the rest of the group following suit.
Krysha stretched out her arms once exiting the gate, turning into her Monstrum form shortly after. “It's so nice being able to leave the city walls now and again!”
The sun shone bright on the group, a slight breeze in the distance to keep them cool; a truly beautiful day for an outing. Although, where there would normally be wildlife wandering around, little to none could be found. There were no bird chirping, no small critters running to the bushes to hide.
“The report mentioned the creatures being somewhere further down Estate Road,” Anemona announced, now into her monstrum form.
The red-haired swordsman nodded in agreement, turning into his Monstrum form. Yufa and Jules did the same, with Credo being the last to switch. The group began their journey down the road, talking amongst themselves about the upcoming festival; each person had their own differing opinion on the matter. Not far into their trek they quickly got interrupted by a group of local wildlife beasts running straight at them.
“Watch out!” Crimson King called out, instinctually unsheathing his sword. The rest were just as quick to action. Together they promptly dispatched the group of beasts without even breaking a sweat. The now dead creatures hardly attempted to defend themselves, despite having charged at them in the first place.
“Surely that wasn’t the ones from the report?” The Raging Bull inquired, slinging her weapon over her shoulder. “Warden Belger wouldn’t have asked for our help just for some local beasts.”
White Cat shook her head. “That couldn’t have been them… Did anyone notice how little of a fight they put up? It was as if they didn’t even want to fight.. Could they have been running away from something?”
“Tch..” Whispered mumbling could be heard coming from Hawk’s direction. “Can’t get carried away..”
Yufa, having heard his mumbling, turned to her companion as she stored her hammer. “Carried away..? What do you mean?”
Credo completely ignored her question, not even bothering a glance in her direction. Instead, he closed his eyes for a moment before pacing off ahead of everyone else. “Whatever– Let’s hurry up and find the lemures.”
The rest of the Monstrums exchanged confused looks amongst each other. Hawk always had an off-putting and irritated demeanor but this seemed different than usual; Adol had a growing hunch something was wrong with his feathered companion. Regardless they hurried behind, catching up with the seemingly distracted Monstrum. Fortunately the group did not have to walk that far down Estate Road, thanks to Doll’s Gift a group of Lemures were spotted hiding around the fallen trees near the deserted village. There wasn’t a lot, but enough to warrant exercising some caution.
“So it indeed was Lemures,” Doll nodded. “Let’s take care of them before any harm can be done to travelers coming this way.”
The group prepared themselves for the fight about to ensue, unsheathing their swords and offering some encouraging words to one another. Credo, though, was completely silent. His focus tunnel visioned on the oncoming fight.
The Monstrums had gotten close enough for the Lemures to catch on to their location. In an instant the monsters were racing towards the group. Crimson King and Hawk met them in the middle, throwing themselves into the thick of battle. Their fighting was that of a silent dance with how easily they fought together; one would parry while the other sank their weapon.
White Cat joined in, picking at the Lemures by their side. She swiped and punched so effortlessly, her skills far exceeding when she first met Adol. Raging Bull charged her Gift up, meeting White Cat’s opponent for the final death blow. While the two girls exchanged a high five, Renegade and Doll together took on the outliers with relative ease. One by one, they grouped up together once the monster’s numbers slowly diminished.
Their team practicing for so long up to this point had led to the mini horde of Lemures being dispatched in record time. Weapons were sheathed as the Monstrums cheered for their victory.
“Easy enough!” Raging Bull cheered, pumping her fist in the air.
“We don’t know why they were even here in the first place, though,” White Cat voiced her concern, gazing over at the now bloodied grass. “Who’s to say more won’t appear?”
“I would assume it has something to do with the festival,” Renegade announced, using his staff weapon as an aid to help stay standing. “Lemures are born out of human negative emotions, and there’s a lot of that in the area right now.”
Crimson King nodded in agreement. “That could very well be it.”
“Speaking of the festival, where is Aprilis?” Raging Bull placed her hands on her hips as she pouted. “We haven’t heard a word from her at all.”
White Cat shook her head. “I hope she’s okay...”
“All we can do is wait, and trust she’ll come back on time.” Renegade pointed out.
“No…” Hawk mumbled to himself. He was so disconnected from the group no one picked up how distant he’d become after the fight, unresponsive even. “Not enough…”
“Credo?” Krysha’s attention directed towards her companion. “Are you okay?”
His eyes closed as he continued to speak. “....Kill me..”
The Monstrums were taken aback by his statement. Kill him? They knew Credo wasn’t the happiest of people but no one was expecting that sentence to ever come out of his mouth.
“W-what are you saying-”
“I said KILL ME ALREADY!” Hawk’s eyes jolted open. They now shined bright red, threatening to burn anyone who looked at his eyes too long. A violent, red lightning aura surrounded his body as he unsheathed his weapons. “I DARE YOU TO TRY!”
That power.. Adol recognizes it. The exact same thing happened to Credo before when he fought Chatelard all that time ago. “Credo-!” Before the group could attempt to help their friend another group of stronger, bigger Lemures spawned by them, raring for battle.
“Talk later!” Crimson King unsheathed his own sword.
“He had to of summoned them!” Renegade shouted. Everyone took their positions as the monsters made their first wave of attacks. Hawk cackles at the idea of another fight, carelessly throwing himself right into the middle of it.
—---
“..Huh?” Credo’s arms screamed and ached when he finally came to, his eyes returning to their normal blue hue. Before him laid a dead lemure with its blood coating his weapons and hands. A flash of disgust entered his mind as he realized he’d completely blacked out; he had no idea what he’d been doing or if he hurt anyone. “Did I do this?” His gaze focused behind him to see his companions watching. Krysha stepped backwards in fear when he faced them.
…..
“Y-Yeah. And up until just now you’d lost all sense of reason,” Raging Bull was among the first to speak up.
“What got into you?” White Cat mustered. Silence followed for a moment, everyone too tense to say a word.
“Suppose there’s no more hiding it,” Hawk finally responded, shaking his head as he sighed. “You guys are aware I tend to get… worked up during fights. But ever since the ordeal at the alchemy lab I’ve been strugglin’ to keep it together,” His eyes flickered red, threatening to take over once more. A wave of anxiety followed. No. He couldn’t let it happen again.
“It’s never happened to this extent, though, I completely lost myself until now.”
“Credo…” Krysha placed a hand to her chest. “How come you never said anything?”
He scoffed at the question. “No point in it. It’s not like any of you could help anyway.” The young knight closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He knew what he had to do.”Yeah, I think now is as good a time as any to go our separate ways.”
“What are you saying?” Yufa’s eyes filled with sorrow as her mind put the pieces together.
“I’ll still help with the Grimwald Noxes, but this little charade we’ve been doing? I’m out,” His facial expression became unreadable as he began walking away, only to be stopped by Adol grabbing his hand.
“We can work this out Credo, let us help.” The adventurer’s gaze softened as he spoke, his worried eyes piercing into the knight’s soul. Gods, he wanted Adol’s help.
Credo promptly pulled his hand away and snarled. “There’s nothing to work out. I’m done.”
As much as he wanted to stay, he would never forgive himself if he did something to this group. He’d gotten too close to them already– too close to Adol– to risk anything happening. He didn’t need a repeat of his past. Without another word, the knight turned around and marched his way back into town. The rest of the group stood still, dumbfounded over what just happened.
“..There has to be something we can do,” Adol offered while he watched his companion disappear behind the bend of rocks. It killed him to see Credo suffering.
Anemona clasped her hands in front of her. “Perhaps we should head back to town for now. There’s nothing we can do while out here.” No one had any objections to that. The group dispelled their Monstrum forms once they returned to the gate and entered the city.
—---
Credo absolutely despised this time of year. The Victory Day Festival would bring in so many people there was nowhere he could go without hordes of visitors also being there. So many of them had zero spatial awareness, he’d lost count how many times today alone he’d been bumped or ran into. There’d been a few who attempted to strike up a conversation with him, albeit quickly taking back their words when Credo would glare and spew some explicit words towards their direction. Today was not the day he wanted to deal with lousy tourists disrupting him.
He wanted to head back to the Dandelion to drown his thoughts in the comforting feeling of alcohol, but that would mean the young man would have to meander his way through all the visitors and deal with the ones in the bar; not to mention dealing with Chante again. The rest of the Monstrums were bound to have told everyone there about what happened and his decision to leave. Whatever. Even more irritated, Credo gave up on going to the bar and decided on going back to the knight’s barracks for the night. He’d get a drink in the morning. To avoid the hordes of people, he weaved through any and all alleyways he could. Halfway into his trek, an all too familiar sight cut him off in front. Adol and Aprilis. Great, what did they want now.
He scoffed at their appearance. “If you’re trying to get me to come back, forget it. I’m not going back. You’re not changing my mind.”
Aprilis offered a disarming smile, crossing her arms. “You appear to be very skilled, would you honor us with a duel?”
A duel. Credo wanted to laugh at the mere idea; did she hit her head or something? By the looks of it Adol had no clue what she was talking about either– he seemed just as surprised by her statement. “Kaha, don’t make me laugh. We can’t fight each other even if I wanted to thanks to this horseshit curse.”
Adol turned his attention to his mentor, agreeing with the young knight. “He’s right about that. Last time we attempted to fight it ended in Credo being tied up on the ground.”
“Shut the fuck up don’t remind me.”
Ignoring Credo’s comment, Aprilis shifted the weight on her legs around as she uncrossed her arms. “The circumstances have.. changed since. In a sense, Adol is no longer the same Crimson King as he used to be; combining that with the power of the Beserker is enough to lift the restriction. In other words, you two can now cross swords.”
Beserker? Adol knew that power. He’d seen it before in one of his earlier travels, in his Shield Sister as a matter of fact. The mere mention of finally being able to fight the swordsman changed Credo’s demeanor almost instantly; he was now smirking with a glimmer emanating from his eyes.
“You don’t say? That’s the best news I’ve heard all day.”
“A warning Credo,” Aprilis’ intensive gaze remained on the knight. “Losing yourself to the darkness is not the way to victory. You must awaken your truest self; to who it is you really are.”
“I don’t understand what you're blabbering about, but I don’t give a damn as long as I get to fight Adol,” His smirk remained as he responded, each passing second the more he itched to fight there and now.
“And a fight you’ll receive. I’ve already prepared a venue, if you two will follow me.” Aprilis nodded towards them both before leaving the confines of the alleyway. The trio had to nearly hold hands with how much weaving through foot traffic they had to do. The streets were getting busier and busier the later in the day it got. Their mentor brought them to the entertainment district and directed them inside the coliseum. The air immediately shifted once inside– going from a loud and crowded bustling street, to a quiet and empty building. A massive breath of fresh air to Credo. It felt eerily too quiet for the coliseum, you could hear a pin needle fall on the ground.
“I’ve never in all my years seen this place so empty,” the knight scoffed.
“You can thank Krysha’s father for that. He reserved it just for you two to duke it out.” Aprilis directed them into the fighting rink area of the coliseum. Every seat surrounding them was completely barren, aside from one isle of chairs near the top on the right side. Occupying those chairs were the rest of the monstrums; Krysha, Anemona, Jules and Yufa. The girls were standing when they entered the arena– Yufa frantically waving her hand upon seeing them– with Jules sitting down in his chair. They talked amongst themselves as Adol and Credo took their places in preparation for the fight, though they were too far to hear what was being discussed.
Aprilis stood in the middle of the two monstrums, glancing over at both of their directions. “I, Aprilis, shall bear witness to this fight. I trust the both of you are plenty prepared.”
“I’m not gonna hold back,” Adol announced as he switched to his Monstrum form.
“Kaha– with your tears maybe,” Credo cackled, changing to his Monstrum form as well.
“Enough!” Their mentor bellowed. “Stand ready!” Without another word the two men unsheathed their swords. The same red lightning from before engulfed Credo; he intended to start the fight with it.
“I’m sure I don’t need to tell you this, but I ain’t showing you a lick of mercy,” Hawk threatened, changing his posture to attack as soon as she said the word.
“I hoped you wouldn’t,” Crimson King jabbed.
Aprilis and Crimson exchanged looks once more, before she held out her hand.
…
“Begin!”
Hawk sped through the air towards Crimson King’s direction. At odds with one another in equal strength, a cacophony of clashing swords heralded their flawless forms. Hawk, imagining he was nearly perfect in battle, threw all of his strength into besting his opponent. Adol, however, had the better of their stamina. Instead of trying to get the upper hand so soon, the King paced himself and continued to fight defensively; making the occasional attack at any openings in his opponent’s movements.
The violent aura surrounding Hawk began to dissipate when his attacks eventually slowed to an exhausted pace. In this state, Crimson King easily took the advantage and began overpowering him. Every time the knight lost his footing, he threw himself back into battle just as quickly. When both of them finally lost the strength to maintain their Monstrum forms, Credo rose one last time and charged at his opponent, only for Adol to strike him straight back down with his sword.
“Damn it,” Credo huffed out in between gasps of air, his throat burning.
Aprilis, content with how it ended, approached the fallen knight. “How about it? Had enough yet?”
“Like hell I am,” He sneered in response. He made an attempt to stand up, only to fall down onto his back once more. His shoulder stung with a searing pain. “I… can’t move my body. You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“This is what happens when you succumb to the darkness without the knowledge on how to control it. Although it’s impressive you’d managed to last this long in life while carrying it inside you,” Aprilis folded her arms and shook her head. “I suppose you have Chatelard to thank for that.”
Credo couldn’t tell if it was just the exhaustion or if Aprilis was talking bullshit. “What’re you talking about?”
The monstrum’s mentor stayed silent for a moment. “For the longest, your main goal was to defeat Chatelard. That pure determination kept the negativity of your darkness at bay and helped you maintain a balance.”
Credo could be heard scoffing at her response.
“When Chatelard was finally killed your goal was gone and your determination diminished, because of such there was nothing left to hold back the darkness within– it now had free roam over you. You, Credo, are a homunculus of a warrior known as a Beserker. Their strength and darkness are two sides of the same coin. Does any of this sound familiar?”
Adol had joined the two in their conversation after having a short breather, nodding in agreement with their mentor; his thoughts reminiscing about his time in Obelia Gulf– how Karja had to learn to control it herself.
The young knight sighed, turning his gaze away from the two of them. “...Ever since I was a kid, I was good at pretty much everything I tried without putting any effort into it. I never understood how people could be so dedicated to things for the longest time,” he tried to sit up as he spoke, only to groan in pain and lay back down.
“But the day I got myself into a sword fight for the first time..the fear and thrill that came out of avoiding death with every swing– And the resulting euphoria from surviving the life threatening ordeal. For the first time in my life, I felt alive. Like I finally found meaning in this existence. It was something I’d never felt up to that point.”
Credo’s voice faltered slightly as he continued. “Soon after.. I watched Sister Lisa die in front of me. I started challenging random strangers– anyone who’d put up a fight. I only ever felt alive when I was staring death in the face.”
Aprilis’ face softened upon listening to Credo’s past experience, kneeling down to get close to the monstrum’s level. “Contrary to belief, you aren’t a fight, Credo. Excelling at everything made you feel nothing was worth the time and energy to dedicate yourself to. But then you found something you weren’t able to pick up immediately. For the first time in your life, you felt the desire to improve yourself,” A small smile appeared on her face.
“The satisfaction you feel stems from being challenged and overcoming your weaknesses. This.. instinct, is the very darkness within you and is the source of a Beserker’s power. There’s a thin line between conquering it, and being conquered by it.”
“As you lay there helplessly unable to move, what do you feel?”
Credo let out a small chuckle, laying his eyes on Adol. “Royally pissed off I didn’t stand a chance against this idiot.”
The young swordsman rolled his eyes and smiled. “Now you know I wasn’t bluffing after all.”
“If you were truly angry, Credo, would you be smiling?”
“I…am?” Huh. Apparently he was. The young knight finally mustered some energy to sit up.
“Perhaps you’ve found what you’ve been looking for? You must've felt the same way when you originally lost to Chatelard.” Aprilis stood up, nodding. “Warriors like you need a fair fight to reach their fullest potential. For as long as you know and understand all of this, you’ll never be swallowed up by your darkness again.”
“Doctor Noah told me something while I was gone,” Aprilis continued. “Chatelard and Sister Lisa were childhood friends. It’s very possible Lisa asked him to watch over you as you got older… With everything you’ve had to go through, I am as much to blame for putting you in that orphanage to begin with. I’m sorry, Credo.”
Credo was silent as he eyed Aprilis up and down. Off in the distance, he could hear the rest of the Monstrums entering the arena. “That’s a whole lot of jabbering just to try to embarrass me. As someone who’s called a saint, you sure are a pain in the ass, y’know that?” He sighed once more, turning his attention to the rest of the group who’d just arrived.
“I give up, you win alright? I guess I’ll hang around you guys a little longer.”
“It appears all is well now,” Anemona reported, nodding sagely.
Jules smirked and crossed his arms, leaning ever so slightly forward towards the hurt knight. “Hey Credo, how’s it feel to be dragged home by mummy after running away?”
“Come closer and say that shit again!” Credo boomed, glaring at the younger monstrum.
Ignoring his little outburst, Aprilis turned her attention to the group as a whole. “I need to speak with all of you about what’s to come, and we’re running short on time. Adol-” she addressed the red haired adventurer. “-Would you please carry Credo back to the Dandelion?”
“Never in a million years!”
Jules laughed, making the most of this opportunity. “What’s the matter? Big boy Cwedo can’t walk on his own?”
“Laugh it up you little shit. Enjoy it while you still can.”
Adol chuckled and shook his head as he approached his fallen companion. Ignoring the many explicits and threats being thrown his way, he put his hands underneath Credo’s body and picked him up bridal style. Together, Aprilis and all six monstrums paced their way back to their headquarters at the Dandelion. Credo finally gave up on cursing Adol out around the halfway mark, and instead stared off into the distance, very visibly pouting. As much as he would be caught dead admitting, being carried by Adol was rather enjoyable.
The sun was beginning to set once the gang arrived at the Dandelion. Seeing Credo being carried made Chante nearly have a panic attack– Aprilis and Adol had to convince the poor man that the knight would be perfectly fine with bed rest for a few days. Adol took his companion to the medic room down in the basement, getting Saradhi to examine him for any possible injuries that would need attending to. In no time Credo’s shoulder was bandaged and he was now set to bed rest for the next couple days.
Every member of the Dandelion had dropped by at some point to talk to him, which greatly annoyed Credo. There was no need for every single person to personally check on him. Once all was said and done, Adol had come back down after a while with a freshly made bowl of Bouillabaisse for his dinner; setting it on his bed’s nightstand. He then sat himself at the edge of the knight’s bed.
“I’m sure you’ve been asked this a hundred times by this point,” Adol joked. “But how are you feeling? Shoulder’s okay?”
Credo groaned in annoyance, plopping his head back on his pillow. “And for the hundredth time, I’m fine. My shoulder will be fine. It’s not even that bad.”
“...What about you? You barely even broke a sweat out there.”
The adventurer smiled and shook his head. “I’m fine, nothing a meal and a good night’s sleep can’t solve. Speaking of,” he pointed towards Credo’s dinner. “You better eat that before it gets cold if you don’t want to get another scolding from Chante.”
“You’re not my dad,” Credo retorts before complying anyway and taking a bite out of his meal. Adol stayed to watch him take a few more bites until he was content that he was actually going to eat the rest of it, sitting up. He attempted to walk away only to be stopped by Credo grabbing his hand.
The bedridden knight was silent for a moment, his gaze piercing Adol’s. “Hey, Adol. Uh. I just wanted to say.. Thank you. For today.” His speech was strained while attempting to thank him, it wasn’t like him at all to show gratitude towards people.
Adol merely smiled, getting close to his bed once more. He leaned in just close enough to give Credo a quick, small kiss on the cheek, before quickly letting go of his grasp and breaking for a quick exit out of the room. “You’re welcome!” he called out as he left.
“Wha- hey!” Credo was stunned from shock. “You asshole!”