An indescribable time spent in the void of his own consciousness was spent before he suddenly parted his eyelids. His eyes met with the somber, dark-brown ceiling of wood above him, feeling the sensation of cushion under his body.

"Is this Heaven? Hell?"

"It's my room."

The familiar, soothing yet skin-crawling voice met his right ear, nearly causing him to have a heart attack at the sudden presence of another entity.

"--Beatrice? What happened?"

As he sat up on the bed that inhibited softness comparable to the fluffy clouds in the sky, he let out a sharp breath as his head throbbed, reverberating the aching pain that felt as if a nail had been slammed into his head with a hammer.

"Wait, I was-- I was fighting that thing, where's Iris? Is she okay?"

"I'd worry more about yourself."

Beatrice's calm words in conjunction with her stellar optics lowered to his body caused him to look down.

His entire body was wrapped in bandages as if he were dressed up as a mummy, each finger diligently wrapped, he dared not to check--but even his lower region felt as if bandages reached even the forbidden fruit.

"You were lucky. Lucas and Charlotte happened to notice the explosion you unleashed and quickly brought you back to the tree after you had fallen unconscious. By the time you were brought here, you were more blood than man, whatever was left of your skin was dyed in blood, or burnt to a crisp. Further, most of your bones had been shattered by the shockwave of the explosion. Honestly, it is a miracle you didn't die that day."

"--That day? How long have I been asleep?"

"A week."

His eyes widened for a moment at her response, before he let out a sigh, moving his arms as he realized they didn't feel broken at all.

"You can thank Charlotte for that. She spent entire nights tending to your wounds with her healing magic."

"Wait--why am I even in your bed and not mine?"

"I was also personally assisting in rebuilding your tattered body. My quarters flourish with natural mana, so naturally, it was the optimal place for you to recover."

Curiosity usually took the better of him, but what lied under the neatly wrapped white was something he was too scared to confront.

--I'm alive...I'm alive. I'm alive. I'm alive. I'm really alive.

It suddenly clicked with him the very fact he was still on this mortal coil. In the moment, he accepted his mission and parted with life, accepting the eternity of nothing that awaited beyond that. Sitting there, alive, albeit at a price of his own physical condition--he could feel nothing but joy. He took a deep breath to settle his heart before releasing a gentle smile.

"She's okay, right? Iris, I mean."

"Yes. Charlotte told me that whatever you had been fighting was reduced to nothing but scrap in the explosion."

"--I just don't get it. Why did that monster bring that reaction out of her?"

Beatrice closed the book she had open on her lap, sitting on the chair beside her own bed that he rested on. He watched as she ran her graceful fingers through her platinum, silken threads which draped down her head.

"Are you truly curious?"

"I am."

"Hmm. I suppose I can part with some knowledge."

As always, she wore that vacant smile across her lips, her celestial irises always seeming as if they were detached from reality itself. Like an old lady trapped inside the body of a young maiden, Beatrice always seemed joyful when engaging in conversation.

"--"Pale Stalker", that's what the monster you encountered is called. It isn't anything special in terms of strength in the grand scope of things, but they do take the lives of many inexperienced adventurers every year."

Her fingertips traced the cover of the closed book as she spoke, using her other hand to wrap a piece of her silver locks around her index finger. Despite her eccentricity and overall unreadable air that surrounded her, the picture-perfect figure she held, with toned legs, pale and without blemish, the sable dress that clung to her hips--it was hard not to be bewitched by Beatrice's beauty.

"In summary, such a creature would be easily manageable by someone of Iris' strength."

"But she broke down at the sight of it?"

"There is a reason for that, as I can see you're impatient to find out."

As he waited for her to continue, the urge to scratch the itch that inhabited his skin underneath the layer of bandages was tempting, but he managed to hold out somehow.

"It had been fifteen years ago, when I decided to summon the first Outlander after I had formed my plan. The information accessible to me relating to those I summon is limited, in most cases--I don't specifically choose someone. Rather, I have a general idea in my head for the type of person I need: personality, strengths, weaknesses, mindset."

"So you summoned a three-year-old?"

"I'm sure even you can guess I did not plan on summoning a child. The person I planned to summon and did bring in, was a man who possessed the charisma I needed, someone I could appoint as the leader of this new group. However...as fate would have it, when I summoned him into this world...in his arms, he held a young girl."

"Iris…was that…?"

Before he could finish, Beatrice confirmed his question with a slight nod before continuing, a gentle breeze tugging on the velvet curtains that drape around the bed.

"That man was Iris' father. Gentle and caring...he wasn't as I expected. Leon...the image of those olive eyes of his, smiling...forgive me, I'm...never mind. The presence of his daughter kept him from studying the theory of magic, from training, even thrust into this unknown world, he spent every moment he could with her. As a result ...he wasn't ready that day."

"What happened?"

By the fact that this man wasn't someone he had ever met or even heard of, he had a faint idea in his head as to where this was going--something he wished fervently to be wrong.

"--Out gathering fruit and visiting the lustrous forest of Grandeuve with his daughter, he was ill-equipped when a Pale Stalker had set its sights on him. By the time I had noticed something amiss, arriving at the scene--the cruel creature had twisted his body, taking joy in conjuring screams and tears from his daughter."

"--"

"The shock it sent her through, not speaking or eating for weeks...it seemed her mind suppressed those horrific memories in order to heal itself. I'm sure seeing such a creature again awakened those hidden memories."

Remembering those eyes vacant of life as tears overflowed, unable to force a sentence out from her throat--he understood it now.

A rare sign of emotion made itself known on Beatrice's fanciable overlay, her opulent, platinum hair. It wasn't joy or sorrow, but a look of regret. The remorse seemed as if it were something that had been with, taking its toll as her eyes had lost their luster.

"Thank you, Ren."

The unexpected words of gratitude left the Sage's lips as he spun his gaze over to her with perplexion coating his expression.

"For what?"

"For saving her. As the one responsible for you in this world, I must reprimand you for your reckless behavior, still. As such, I forbid you from training until your injuries are fully healed."

"--And how long will that be…?"

Ren gulped as he looked down at the white lines of protective material that wrapped around his skin, knowing that the injuries he sustained weren't ones that could be slept away.

"Two months should do."

"I see…"

After a moment of still silence fell in the room, the bedroom door suddenly burst open.

"I knew I heard him talking. Ren's awake!"

Sora's muscle bound body blocked the doorway as he yelled out.

"Out of the way! That's my little brother!"

Sirius pushed through under the crimson-haired man's log of an arm, rushing over to the side of the bed.

It wasn't long before the room filled with the boisterous presence of the Outlanders, making the grand quarters become small.

"You really gave that thing hell, didn't you?"

Fai stopped himself just before slapping Ren on the back, almost causing him insurmountable pain.

"Looks more like I gave myself hell."

Raising his arms to display the state of his body, Ren let out a dry chuckle.

There was one person who stayed quiet, the one voice he wanted to hear the most. Noticing his persistent eyes, the group nudged the silent girl forward as her cheeks flushed over with scarlet.

"—I'm glad you're okay."

"I don't know if "okay" is the right word here—but thank you."

His joke didn't work this time as the already present glimmer of guilt in her damp blue eyes deepened.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry...if I hadn't acted like that...you wouldn't have…"

"I'm just glad you're okay, Iris. Would've been pretty embarrassing if I wound up like this without getting my heroic moment in."

Stopping her as she sunk herself in guilt, Ren gave her the biggest smile he could muster.

"You're such a dummy sometimes…"

A smile finally manifested across her lips as she looked up at him.

"Thank you."

That's all it took. A simple "thank you" paired with that rejuvenating smile was ten-fold better than a gloomy apology.

Just seeing that smile made it all worth it. Content with just that, what came next was a bonus he didn't expect.

Gently, Iris wrapped her pale, slender arms around him as she brought him into an embrace. For a moment, he felt embarrassed with the others in the room—but the heartfelt smiles they displayed put him at ease as he accepted her embrace.

The subtle sensation of droplets falling down against his chest, originating from the girl he held, only made him want to hold her even tighter.

—I'd save her a thousand more times for another smile, and ten thousand more for this embrace. I guess that means I'll have to work hard as soon as these injuries leave me.