Fredrick trudged across the forest, struggling just to move. Every part of his body stung, black smoke drifting from burns all over his body and a black stump of brittle crystal where his left arm once was. Thank whatever gods exist I can fix this... He thought to himself as he looked at the stump. Even if I have to wait 24 hours... With that in mind, he began thinking about Xaunus. What was it that brought him here...? Given my father's been laying low, maybe he came here of his own accord? Or maybe... As the thought occured to Fredrick, he glanced again at the brittle crystal. If Xaunus was trying to create life forms...maybe he was trying to do more than just creating dragons...I mean, why splice dragon and monster DNA into humans? Hadn't they learned from when they created m- Fredrick's eyes widened. They had learned; learned the kind of power the liquid had, how dangerous a weapon it could be. Could it be possible... that they were planning to create more liquid shadow monsters, with Xaunus's experiments as a basis...?
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Back at the charred bed of ashes that was once the mountain, a single individual stood over the half-incinerated remains of Xaunus, his mask hiding all but the eyes from view. "Well, this was a wasted investment." The stranger sighed, looking rather disappointed. "It's a relief you sent over your samples a week ago, though, so I guess it wasn't a total waste." The man chuckled as he looked at the corpse. "You've played your part in all of this well, Xaunus, old chap, and your death shall not be in vain. That, I promise you." After he was done speaking to no one, he adjusted his cane in his grip and walked a few steps before vainishing into the air rippling around him, as if some invisible mouth had swallowed him.
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"You are one lucky son of a b****." A villager sighed as he wrapped Cyrus's wounds. "If you didn't get here any sooner, it's likely you would've died."
"Jojo! What did I say about using bad language?!" An old woman yelled from outside the hut.
"I'm not a little kid anymore, Grandma!" Jojo snapped back. He then turned back to Cyrus and finished wrapping him up. "There, that should do it. Now get the hell outta my house."
"Thanks for the help." Cyrus said as he walked out.
"Yeah yeah, whatever." Jojo replied.
Stepping off the porch of the hut, and giving thanks to Jojo's grandmother, he went over to the hut where Jeanne was being treated to check on her. Aside from a few broken ribs, the only injuries Jojo found were the bruises. Cyrus was relieved to hear that he hadn't done his girl much harm, though when he found her lying in bed, his heart still ached with guilt.
"What's with the look?" Jeanne asked, laughing a bit at the face he made in response. "I'm fine, Cyrus. Better to wind up being beat up by a friend than killing them, right?"
"I guess..." Cyrus sighed, sitting down in the chair beside the bed. "I'll be taking off soon, though, to go look for the others. With all the fighting done, I probably don't need to worry again about overexerting myself."
"Okay...but could you at least stay here for a bit...?" Jeanne asked sleepily.
"Yeah." Cyrus replied. "Sure."