"..."

In complete silence he opened his weary eyes, empty they seemed for he had returned once more from the nothingness that haunted his sleep

His dull eyes took the surroundings in and found Ellis and Anput sleeping by the side, resting against the wall as the newest addition to their small group watched over everyone

He weakly pushed against the ground to get up, a painful breathe through his nose was all he managed when the injured hands touched the ground, he already knew they were badly hurt but only after taking a good look at them did he realize just how severe their condition was

His right hand which was already injured had its flesh mangled like it had been put in a blender, it was bandaged with a cloth, definitely by Ellis, but this did nothing to hide the gory sight

Still, that was much better than his left hand which took the brunt of his new skill's reckless execution, flesh was no longer a concern for it at all as only bones remained of his fingers, clearly both hands were maimed

"Haaah, I just started fighting and I'm already going to have to take the bench once more"

His laminating words woke up Ellis from her light sleep, the sleepy swordswoman instantly focused on her Master the second she opened her eyes

"...."

"....Let's go"

Silently she moved to lift his one-legged no hands self in a piggyback, then started making her way out of the once beautiful grotto

All this happens under the Orelic's watching eyes, but before it could follow he motioned for it to stay and guard the hound, when that little one wakes up he would commune with her through thought and tell her what she needed to do, for now though he did not want to wake her from the well-deserved sleep

"Back in the vehicle, follow my words to turn it on"

Once back under the purple sky he wasted no time in getting to the machine before telling Ellis how to operate it, he could probably do it with his feet if he was forced but why go through the trouble when there was an able and ready subject on his side

"Rotate that handle sixty degrees to the right, pull the yellow lever, now pull the red lever, quickly insert some of your energy into the smallest crystal on your left..."

It took a bit of effort to get the tires spinning again and a lot of time for her to set the direction correctly but eventually she started to get the hang of it and he could close his eyes once more

'I wish I could sleep'

His mind was rested by the small nap he took even though he could guess it's been barely a day since he fainted, a miraculous recovery, sadly the same couldn't be said for his body as all he got in response to his will of moving it was the constant state of fatigue

'Cant keep still or it's going to become a habit'

Even though his body was tired, languid and feeling sick he still stood on his one foot and started to do squats

If one trained their body in a certain way then the body will adapt to the habits, good or bad, so if you pushed your body every single day then you would suffer fewer repercussions when you overexerted yourself in battle

While he was busy trying to wake his body from its languid state Ellis was staring at his figure with conflicted eyes

'Why….why did he come back to save us'

This question has been lingering on her mind ever since the struggling battle

'He could recruit other beings so why come back for us…why come back for me?'

She could understand if he came back for Anput, the hard working obedient hound never disappointed her master, she on the other hand only came off as an incompetent stubborn follower when compared to her and the previous battle proved the little one to even exceed her in quick wit

'Why did he….choose me'

At the beginning of this all, back when they were still on earth, she thought he wanted her because she was talented, because she could learn and get stronger faster than others, she even blamed him for not taking her constant when he recruited her, now though all she could think of was just how weak and slow in improvement she was compared to the rest of her comrades, even that giant stone had such great improvement when it was stronger than her to begin with

All these questions hit her pride hard making her realize she was not special, whether it be a dog or a slab of stone they were better than her

'No, it's safe to say that they became better under his hands'

Looking at the now maimed hand she recalled all the times her strength improved because of him, whether it be the blood purification he did in Hortus or the training he had her go through on their way here, even the small tips he gave before then were things that would take months or even years to think of, if left alone she would be just like the normal humans back on earth, slowly fighting while trying to find someplace to call home, awaiting calamity to strike

'No, who even said I would be alive'

Sure half of the dangers were caused by the little hound but the other half was caused by her, that aura clash moments with the Gardelos was something she could never forget

'I'm useless, stubborn and useless, yet he still protects me and works hard in order to make me stronger'

He could have chosen any number of others to replace her yet here they were, leaving her stronger companions together for someplace she guessed was beneficial to her, otherwise, why could only the two of them enter it

'Even after he did all this why do I keep questioning him?'

She asked herself but the answer was always there, it's always been there from the beginning of time, it's her human nature

Humans, they questioned everything, whether it was scientific or spiritual they demanded reasons causing wars to be waged and blood to be shed, yet it also brought them improvements and knowledge, there was bound to be someone who discovered the right answer and help the race move forward in the millions who asked 'why'

'I can't help it, I will always ask, but…'

She couldn't change this part of her curious and doubtful nature, but…

'...I can follow first and ask later'

The path before her was decided so why not walk it and question its integrity after stepping through it

Following her decision aura leaked out of her and started floating toward him

YuJu instantly felt the dignified aura congeal around himself, he looked toward Ellis and saw her locking her gaze with him as the two entered a silent commune using their perception alone

For a few seconds this still moment continued, both of them then returned to their task at the same time as if nothing had happened, YuJu was focused on squatting while she kept her eyes on the road

'She finally got attached to me'

This was something he wanted her to do for a long time but couldn't force the issue, it happening came as a welcome suprise

'This is going to make things easier, I wonder what triggered this sudden change though'

Ellis was out of her mental debate and now it was YuJu's turn to try and wrap his head around his followers thought process, then again his mind was always debating one thing or the other thus it wasn't anything new