Chapter Text
It had to be this way.
At least, that's what Verso kept telling himself, anyway. That this man would be more trouble than he's worth, that keeping him alive would just put a hindrance in his plans. The desperate cries of Alicia- no, Maelle- won't tug on his heart enough to help. That he wasn't suddenly moving forward as Renoir was about to land a final blow to that damned engineer.
Merde.
He wasn't even thinking properly enough to parry the oncoming attack, instead taking the hit meant to kill, blood now pouring from the left side of his face, down to the base of his neck. Verso bit his lip hard enough to bleed to keep quiet, his eyes simply staring at the man he called his father. Renoir absolutely wasn't expecting this outcome in the slightest. The old man steadied himself, planting his cane firmly on the ground.
"What do you think you are doing?" His voice came out with a growl, knuckles white. Of course his priorities were elsewhere. Verso didn't reply, simply looking behind him at Maelle and Gustave, who was half dead on the ground.
"Take him down to your friends. I got it from here."
Maelle looked at his injury, then back up at his face. He could tell she was going to protest, but Gustave, at that moment, moved his hand to hers to stop her. He wasn't going to let her be in harm's way, and Verso was secretly grateful for that. She bit her tongue and simply nodded, dragging Gustave towards the cliff edge. Verso turned his gaze back to Renoir. He hadn't stopped looking at him, and at the fresh wound he left. Verso would be fine, of course, but this new wound would leave yet another scar out of spite.
Renoir took one step forward. "Do you know what will happen, if they succeed? Do you want to destroy this family?" He knew the answer. They both did.
"…Go back to her. Leave them alone." Verso didn't give him time to reply before turning around, glancing down the cliff. Without another word, he jumped like the rest did, landing quite ungracefully on Esquie. There were noises of surprise and concern around him by the expeditioners, but he decided to ignore that for now. "Esquie, take us somewhere safe, yeah? And hurry."
They all arrived at the campsite, with Verso and Sciel carrying a now passed out Gustave towards the fire while Lune cast her healing chroma over him. Once they had gotten him situated- Maelle at his side, of course- Lune started with the questions they were all asking.
"So. Who are you, and what happened? And why are you wearing an Expeditioner uniform? You're not one of ours."
Verso knew that was coming. He had his own answers rehearsed for these moments, and it was easier to focus with an unconscious Gustave. "My name is Verso. I have this, because I, too, am an Expiditioner. And as for what happened, I saved your friends from being killed by my commander." Never the whole truth, always sprinkling in some lies. He still had to be on his guard, even though he messed up his own plans with keeping Gustave alive.
Lune and Sciel exchanged looks, while Maelle's brows furrowed. "You… don't look like anyone we know. And the old man… He's your commander? What Expedition are you from?"
"Zero. The very first one."
What followed after, Verso braced for. After all, people usually have different reactions to finding out there was an immortal walking along them, especially here on the continent. He gave his answers carefully, blaming his immortality and Renoir's motives on the Paintress. The group listened carefully, though he could tell there was still some doubt in their minds, but none was going to question it.
Beside them, there was a groan. Gustave was waking up, finally, his wounds nearly all healed now. His eyes fluttered open, and the first person his gaze landed on happened to be Verso himself, and oh, how his heart skipped a beat. …Why was it doing that. No, heart, stop that nonsense.
"You… you saved us. From that old man." His voice was slightly hoarse, but he cleared his throat a little. Verso gave a nod.
"I couldn't stand by and watch you die to him. You have promise." The words tumbled out without thinking. He still had no idea why he decided to take the hit, but he already decided to unpack all of that later, when he was able to get away for a few moments. Gustave gave a small hum in reply, seemingly satisfied. He attempted to sit up, and found himself struggling. He seemed to forget the fact that his arm had broken off. "…Merde. This needs to be fixed, I- I can't be as useful without it. I need materials, I need…" His voice trailed off, fading into mumblings as he made mental notes about the upcoming repair.
Well, that certainly was a problem. If they were able to get that arm fixed, Gustave would definitely be powerful against the Paintress. The only thing was getting any materials he needed. They could probably loot from previous Expeditions, surely? Or perhaps they would just have to make do with whatever they could get their hnds on. Well, that was a problem for the morning. "You all should rest, non? We can get our bearings and plan in the morning, surely. There was much too excitement for today."
Verso didn't wait for them to reply before going off, partially to talk to Esquie. It had been a while since they saw each other last. The legend himself seemed quite happy to see his old friend, wrapping him in a big hug. "Verso, mon ami! Oh, you got hurt again! Do you need healing?"
"No, no. I promise I'm okay. See? Blood isn't fresh. I think I'm due for another scar, though. People seem to like them." Verso grinned up at him, though he could still feel Esquie's worry. "You've been okay, yeah? Seems like you've taken a shine to these Expiditioners here."
"Yes! They're all very nice. And you helped the really nice one, too! You're sticking around, right?"
"Yup. They're going to need help if they want to successfully reach the Monolith, let alone the Paintress. I think we'll even need another to join, you know? How do you feel about seeing Monoco again?"
Esquie smacked his belly in delight. "Momo! It would be good to see him again! Hasn't it been ten years?"
It sure had. Monoco and Verso's last meeting ended on a bit of a sour note, with the Gestral vowing to never join up with him again. Gave some bullshit excuse that it was for the Grandis. Verso missed him dearly- Monoco was there for him through so, so much, and it always felt like there was something missing when he travelled these days. The Gestral made things more fun, more lively, in his opinion.
"Well, I know what we need to do now. Perhaps Monoco could direct us to somewhere we can get an arm for that one there." Verso's eyes lingered to where Gustave lay, chatting quietly with the others before they decided to sleep. Esquie could see a certain look in his eyes, and gave a small laugh. And, of course, refused to elaborate when Verso asked about it.
Finally, the immortal decided to lay out his own bedroll, a bit away from the campfire and everyone else. They may have seemed to accept him into the fray, but he knew to keep them at arm's length. He had to, for his own sake. He can't get attached. Not again. His dreams that night decided to plauge him with old memories, people from previous Expeditions, ones he loved and ones he had inevitably lost. He couldn't do that again. Not when he felt like he was so, so close to the end goal.
He didn't feel Gustave's eyes on him, when the engineer couldn't sleep. How he watched with such intense curiosity, wonder, and confusion, and that maybe, just maybe, he felt a pull towards the secretive, handsome stranger.