Understanding

The silence was what got to Heather the most.

It wasn't the strange rusted metal walls that were cold to the touch and gave off an eerie purple glow in the vast darkness around them that seemed to consume any form of outside light save for the purple glow coming from the similarly colored lines that ran through the metal with seemingly no destination or order. It wasn't the idea of having a horde of ancient mechanical beings that were trying to snuff them out and were decayed from age and neglect. It wasn't even the idea of dying that got to her. When she had taken her oath to the Light Mage Accordance she had already been ready to die without a single regret. But no, it was the silence that currently surrounded them and was almost deafening in a way, it was almost impossible to think. She couldn't even hear Arcus' breathing- and he breathed so heavily in these situations she wondered if he'd just end up exhaling his lunges sometimes, but this time he was completely still and quiet. The only thing giving away the fact he hadn't been taken was his own glowing purple eyes, they weren't that bright and they didn't have that sparkle they normally had, something she came to associate with him a lot. 

Things were already bad she had known that, but they felt worse with Arcus being so... unlike himself. 

A sigh escaped her lips that made her companion jump a little and snap his gaze to her so quickly she visibly flinch from the thought of how much that would have hurt. If it did hurt, she couldn't tell- it was impossible to tell, Arcus made it very hard to figure out what was going on with him. It was a major annoyance she had with the Void Mage, for all that concern and all the good he wanted to do for others he never let anyone else do the same for him. Even when she tried her hardest to try and get him to open up to her about the problems he was facing or had, he tried to spin things around to focus on her- and often times it either worked or ended with her being too frustrated with him to want to continue speaking. Which normally lead her to getting even more frustrated with him since whenever she was angry or upset- he seemed to gravitate towards her to try and make her feel better. 

Another slightly annoyed sounding sigh escape her lips, her one hand not covered in steel armor pressing to her bare face- feeling the bits of scar tissue that made up her brand pressing against her face. It felt rougher than the rest of her hand, which was surprisingly soft despite the conditions of everything. 

"...Are...are you okay?" Arcus' voice finally came out as a concerned whisper, his gaze set upon hers- his own purple eyes piercing into her light blue ones.

"Yes, I am fine." Her voice came back filled with annoyance due to her previous thoughts as she slowly slid down to the floor and sat there- her armor making a soft clang that echoed throughout the entire complex. A normally soft sound was brutally deafening in the intense silence, it made Heather cringed slightly and clench her fists. It reminded her when she was a child whenever she tried to stay up late or sneak out of the house, and it seemed the entire world was deadset on being as loud as possible in order to get her caught. Each groan those wooden boards made, the creaking of the door hinges, and of course no matter how slowly she ever tried to shut the damn front door it made as much noise it possibly could.

Though, she never had gotten caught.

Arcus hadn't reacted to the noise visibly, no he hadn't even registered it- his mind was too full of thoughts and concerns to really pick up on the noise. His mind filled with possibilities and reasons. Possibilities and reasons for why Heather had given such an annoyed response, had he done something wrong? Did he say something stupid? He had just asked if she was okay, yet she acted like he had said a really stupid or obvious thing. Slowly his hands came up and he began to slowly rub his arms, the sound of fabric moving along thick fabric making an audible scraping noise due to his rough hands along his black cloak, Heather had helped to make his cloak much thicker to help him with colder temperatures, he had nearly cried when he found out she had decided to do something so nice for him.

Now he wanted to cry because he was worried he had annoyed her and was worried she'd end up being made at him during their possible final moments.

"Can you stop that? It is making a lot of noise." Heather's voice suddenly broke Arcus from his thoughts, it made his heart sink a little since she still seemed annoyed as well as concerned now- he hadn't even realized he had been rubbing his arms. Slowly, he lowered his left arm while his right arm raised up- bringing his hand to his chin as he began to slowly stroke it with worry. "...S...sorry." Arcus mumbled gently with guilt, worry, and slight bits of concern evident in his tone. Heather sighed and suddenly shot up and stared at him, her eyes glaring back into his as his eyes slowly changed angle before vanishing- signifying to Heather he had looked down towards the floor. Heather shook her head and stepped towards him, placing her hand firmly under his chin making Arcus let out a gentle gasp as she forced his gaze back up to look into her eyes- the Void Mage slowly shying away towards the floor- now at least a foot shorter than she was due to him crouching down. 

"What, is, wrong?" Voice just as firm as her own grip on his chin she stared him down waiting for his response, pausing a few times during her response in order to inform him of how annoyed she was with this. Swallowing harshly, the Void mage took a moment to respond to what she had asked- her pauses hadn't exactly made him feel much better about this entire situation. "...It...is nothi-" His stuttering soft tone was instantly cut off by her gripping his chin harder making him let out a soft gasp of pain. She paused, for a moment looking a little guilty as she loosened her grip on him, tightening her grip wouldn't make him speak. "Don't, don't give me that. It is something." Her tone was stern but seemed to waver a bit, sounding slightly upset in the very back of her voice. Arcus knew why she was, it wasn't that hard to tell with him. "It is okay...Heather... it didn't really hur-" He was cut off again by her losing this guilt and staring at him sternly. "Stop that, stop changing the subject! What is wrong with you?" She snapped quickly staring at him as slowly frowned, his eyes watering slightly as he tried his best to avoid her gaze.

This only served to make her more frustrated.

"Arcus, what is wrong? Why won't you ever just talk to me about these things!?" Her voice snapped as Arcus managed to force his chin out of her hand and quickly began to walk backward with Heather swiftly following after him. "Why?" She demanded much more aggressively, making Arcus shudder a little as he inhaled sharply. "B-because it isn't important!" Arcus quickly snapped aggressively looking at her, making Heather pause in place for a moment with slight surprise at his tone. Instantly the Void Mage looked guilty as he stared right back at the ground. "Y...you already get so annoyed... I don't... I don't want my issues...making things worse..." There was a small pause. "...I...I don't want you to leave..." His tone towards the end was so shaky and barely held together like he was about to burst into tears any second. 

Heather stared at him, and let out a soft sigh and felt a strong surge of guilt enter her chest. "...Arcus, yo...you know I wouldn't leave you right?" She asked him before pausing, hearing a soft sniffle as she realized Arcus was indeed crying right now. "...I...I f-feel like y-you a...all would a-anny...d.da..y.." His words nearly illegible from his crying and soft sobs and inhalations of breath. Heather blinked a few times before folding her arms. "What? What sense does that make Arcus! Especially with Morgan- you are all she has left! You saved her life years back, she has a connection to you- why would she ever leave you?" Her voice stern again but not annoyed, being careful not to let any annoyance show since it had apparently made him feel horrible before.

"Be...bec...cause...wh-wh-what d-do yo-you gain fr-from being a-around me?"

That question caught Heather off guard, she had to pause for a moment to comprehend if he had really just asked her that or not before she could even begin to think about how to respond to his question. Arcus looked away by this time, however, clearly thinking he had been correct in assuming there was nothing to gain from knowing him. He began to cry a little harder, realizing that wanting them to be around him was so... selfish. They could have normal lives and not be hunted down if he hadn't ever convinced any of them to come with him. They'd be better off if he was just strong enough to face the world alone-

He suddenly gasped as he was spun around again by Heather.

"I'll tell you what I gain Arcus." Her voice stern and determined. "I gained an ally who is extremely selfless and wants to go against an entire planet of people to try and prove to them the Void Purge was WRONG! I was taught mercy when I really should not have been shown any by you when we first encountered each other." She still wondered why he had decided not to kill her, especially since even after she had been beaten to the ground she kept trying to kill him, still screaming obscenities towards him in an attempt to make him lower his guard or just end her. "...You showed me what a friend was really like." The Void Mage blinked a few times seeming surprised to say the least due to his widened eyes. "...I had friends before but they... they didn't care like you do. They only wanted me around when I could use my possession of authority to get them free things, or when they needed someone to do some heavy lifting. Or to be intimidating." Pausing, she shook her head and placed both her hands upon his shoulders. "But you actually want me around you... at all times." A sigh escaped her lips, one of slight guilt. "...Even... if I don't always deserve that." 

Arcus instantly shook his head and he placed his hands on her shoulders. "N-no you do deserve it- you deserve all of it!" Arcus was quick to protest as he stared at her- eyes watery from his early bit of crying. Lowering his gaze slightly he let out a shaky sigh. "I...If anything I don't deserve you... I always make you annoye-" Heather put her index finger over his mouth- thankfully she used her unarmored hand to do so as the cold metal armor would have hurt him. "Arcus, I grew up in the Terran Military and the Light Mage Accordance Fieldron group, and... had parents a lot like myself." Pausing she cringed a little at the thought of being anything like those two. "...No one really ever spoke to anyone else except with either mild tolerance or annoyance. That was how things went." It took a lot of her willpower to not become annoyed with what Arcus had said before, but she was actively trying right now. 

"I'm not used to it being any other way." She got a tad more firm in her gaze as it narrowed. "And Arcus you should know full well I wouldn't be here right now if I didn't think you deserved having me around. I wouldn't have stuck around you this long, I wouldn't have come inside this death trap of a Spire to help you find answers, I wouldn't have helped you reunite with Morgan-" She paused and gripped his cloak tightly. "And I wouldn't have thickened your cloak."

Arcus contemplated her words long and hard, as she said them to him and for a good while after she had spoken them. Part of him kept telling himself that it wasn't true, that she was just saying it in an attempt to make him feel better... but the other part of him knew it had to be true, it wouldn't make sense otherwise. Why else would she stand against the world with him? Why else would she go to all this trouble to make him feel... better? Why else would she have helped him and Morgan reunite? And why else would she be here now with him, trying to help him find out the awnsers to his one and only dream... 

Help him find that place between realities.

Tears fell down his face as he began to shake, and he suddenly threw his arms around the woman as she gasped a little in surprise, hugs being something else she hadn't been used to until she met him. "...Doesn't it... hurt?" She questioned in reference to her cold armor, and it was true- it sent waves of radiating pain throughout his bare hands that were placed upon her armored back but he ignored it. He wanted to hug her, he ignored the question and the pain to hug her as tightly as possible. "Thank you..." He whispered softly in her ear making her heart stop for but a second at the thought of truly helping him. He had always helped her, and everyone else but no one had been able to help him... not until now. She felt special like she was finally at long last getting somewhere with him.

She slowly nodded and broke away from him. "Of course." She stated but noticed he seemed a tad disappointed when she broke away from him, and she let out a soft sigh. "I don't want to hurt you." She informed him bluntly as he let out a soft sigh of disappointment and nodded. "Yeah... I know..." He kicked his feet slightly, looking towards the floor. "..I just...like hugs." Arcus had never gotten much in the way of comfort, aside from his cloak but that hardly compared to having a living person touch him and make him feel appreciated and wanted. Heather slowly sighed and shook her head. "Well... how about when we get out of here, I can take off my armor and then we can... share a hug? Where you won't be hurt?" She suggested to him with a small shrug of her shoulders. Snapping his gaze towards her Arcus looked shocked, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly agape. 

Suddenly Arcus pulled his blade out from behind his cloak- a sword without any blades and only a pointed tip, more of a blunt force object for now with a hole in the center of the sword with a line running all the way up to the pointed tip, slowly swinging it around before surging his magic through it- his eyes lighting up brighter as the sharp sides of the blade came shooting out from inside it- making the normally blunt sword as sharp and as deadly as ever as two blades of pure Void Energy surrounded the edges of the sword, spinning it around a bit as he looked her in the eyes. "Let us find that map," Arcus stated with a new found determination and spark, a fearless expression on his face and the sparkle in his eyes return-

Could the promise of a hug really do that for him?

A soft laugh escaped her lips before she pulled her broadsword out of her sheath, the sound of metal scraping along leather echoing as her hand igniting with light magic scattering light throughout the room they were in illuminating the room and their persons- letting their features be truly shown. Arcus' tanned skin and black messy hair revealed, and Heather's white as snow hair and skin on full display. if they were going on the attack now then there was no reason to not have a way of seeing correctly. Nodding to him as she put her forearm vertically making Arcus blink a little with surprise, but instantly the Void Mage gasped and did the same as they pressed their vertical forearms together and nodded together in unison. It was a sign of respect commonly shown between members of the Fieldron Unit, and Arcus felt honored that she trusted him enough and respected him enough to do this with him. "Let's scrap some ancient machinery." She said with amusement as a grin came upon her face, the Void Mage nodding as they moved their forearms apart and spun around towards a hallway in front of them-

Where the sound of echoing footsteps faintly began...