Chapter 9: Blackmail and Limits

Crimson and the [Priest] stared at each other in an oversized office. It was done in white stone like the rest of the Temple, which made for a good contrast between it and the dark stone the rest of Falst was made of.

It was a sparse room despite its large size, having only a single bookshelf, desk, wardrobe, and a small bed in the corner.

The [Priest] himself was a well kept middle aged man who had salt and pepper hair and a closely trimmed beard. He was only a bit taller than Crimson, but had an air of nobility that he would never be able to mimic and he hadn't reacted when they'd made eye contact. The air around the man was crackling with unseen mana that would go unnoticed by almost all -if his research was to be believed- but he could sense it rolling off the man.

He was probably using some kind of [Skill] - no other human Crimson had met released mana like that, but then again, he hadn't ever really met a powerful magic user, maybe they would let off mana. Regardless, what made him think it was some kind of [Skill] was the fact that the mana was patterned and regulated despite the apparent chaos of it. He could even feel the strong belief running through it.

The [Priest] spoke softly, "Welcome, my name is Damus, I am the Assistant Temple Overseer, I ensure that the Falst Temple is well cared for and clean."

After speaking, he fell silent and watched Crimson with piercing eyes.

After a moment, Crimson bowed, "I am Crimson, I took your request."

"Yes, very good of you. The Guild Recommendation spoke very highly of you, so I hope you live up to that trust. My usual assistant informed me that he would be taking this day off, so I stood in need of a replacement, that being you."

Crimson stared at the man and kept his face carefully neutral as he listened to the man's explanation. He needed an assistant, so he immediately turned to an outsider? That would make as much sense as a CEO grabbing someone off the street to balance his checkbook because his accountant was busy. There are other people to turn to first. What did this old [Priest] actually want?

The person in question continued, "For now, I want to dictate a letter to Count Banner. You shall record it in your best handwriting, if it is not up to my standard we will have an unpleasant conversation regarding your pay."

The general perception of Adventurers really was quite low for this to be happening for the third time in a day, those who hire them must really be used to sub-par work.

Crimson quietly took the proffered paper, pen, and ink bottle before settling into the chair in front of the desk. Damus began to dictate, and Crimson recorded it with his eyebrows climbing higher and higher as the [Priest]'s game became as obvious as flashing lights and a sign.

Were Adventurers really that bad for people to give them sensitive information with the intent for them to share it? Was the trust for them that low? This [Priest] was just using him to spread rumors! True, mildly interesting rumors, but rumors none the less.

It wasn't helped by the fact that this was an indelicate way of doing things, Crimson's pay would probably have more to do with his ability to start rumors with this information than his ability in writing it or, at least, it would if the [Priest] was being honest about his intentions.

Regardless, he'd need to double check Damus' intentions, if the man wanted him to compromise his integrity he'd need to pay extra. Crimson could already think of a few ways to help him out if his deduction was true.

Damus turned to him, "Allow me to check it to ensure the quality is to standard."

Crimson handed him the paper and the [Priest] looked at it with a stunned expression, before clearing his throat and handing it back after a moment.

"There are no issues."

"Very well, I assume there is other things you need me to do?"

Damus nodded, "Yes, I need you to go assist the apprentice priests in cleaning the chapel for the services tonight, I will be the one preaching, so my assistant needs to be the one to clean the stand personally. You are dismissed."

Crimson stood quietly for a long moment then spoke, "Before I go, I would like to clarify something."

Damus frowned, "Whatever could that be? My instructions were quite clear."

Crimson smiled coldly, "It wasn't about your instructions, but your intentions." His eyes flashed as he continued, "I would like to make it clear that the information you shared with me isn't something I will go around sharing unless you pay me."

The mana in the air around the man started crackling and a tendril of it reached out to Crimson and touched his forehead. Before it could do anything he used his own mana to push it back. Unweaving any spell was easier than creating it - especially once it entered his body.

Damus spoke, clearly not realizing that his [Skill] hadn't worked, "Why ever would I pay you to share this information? It is of a sensitive nature, and should never be shared, but if an irresponsible Adventurer just so happened to mention it while deep in his cups, how could anyone be blamed? You understand?"

Crimson stared down the [Priest], the man flinched for the first time during eye contact, "Please be clear Damus, do you want me to share this information or not? If it's "yes" then you'll need to pay me. If it's "no," then you can rest assured that this information won't go anywhere.

"I'm fairly certain you can tell I'm telling the truth, that skill you've been using since I stepped in here is one that detects lies, is it not?"

The man stared at him in mixed horror and shock, "How do you-"

"Secret, just like this information will be."

The noble facade broke down a little as the [Priest] gritted his teeth then spoke, "I can just hire someone else, Adventurers are known for their loose tongues, and this information is something that anyone will sell in a heartbeat for its value."

Crimson replied in a mocking tone as he laid out the plan, "Yes, the Falst Temple offering a nice premium on [Lesser Litch] hearts to Count Banner -who has a team outfitted specifically for the [Hallowed Graveyard]- would be very nice information. After all, [Lesser Litch] aren't difficult to kill, but take a long time as you yourself said, and oh! How sad that the Temple can only afford to outfit one full team for the dungeon!"

Crimson's eyes bored into the [Priest]'s and the man flinched once more, "Look, let's not play dumb. The plan is to have me leak the information to the Adventurers at the guild, since the [Hallowed Graveyard] makes an exception to the [Minimum Level Requirement] for parties that have someone with a [Priest] [Class]. The Adventurers will get it into their heads that they can go hunt the [Lesser Litches] for their hearts, since they aren't a difficult monster to kill, and make a huge profit by selling them to the Temple at a price less than the "Premium" you offered to Count Banner."

Damus slowly sank into a chair as if he was being crushed and couldn't seem to break eye contact with Crimson.

"You'll oversaturate the market, get them for even cheaper, and you'll make money off the Adventurers who come to the temple to hire your [Priests] as escorts to enter the [Hallowed Graveyard], it's a good plan, but it won't happen if I don't help."

Crimson raised a finger, "Now, to respond to your threat to hire someone else, go ahead. You only stand to lose time, something that we all have a finite amount of even if increasing our Levels lengthens our life spans. However," Crimson let a warm/threatening smile crack his face, "If you use my services, I can spread the information fast. I know several methods to allow me to do so," time to bluff a little, he could get screwed on this one, but even if it failed it wouldn't lessen the impact of the rest of what he'd said too much, "you won't even need to use that [Skill] you tried to use on me earlier. If I'm not mistaken, it was a [Hypnosis] [Skill] of some kind? Quite unbecoming for a [Priest] who declares the God of Truth to stand above all the others. It's one that stands more in line with the Goddess of Darkness. Though, I'm not interested in making you an enemy, so you can rest assured that your little secret will be kept."

The [Priest] lowered his head and stared unblinkingly at the ground. Internally, Crimson could only sigh in relief that the stakes of his request were so low. If they were high, the man might kill him outright, but at these stakes he'd just get mad, then give in or move on. It was a good thing that he could feel that Damus was still using his truth reading [Skill], or Crimson might have raised the stakes too high for himself to handle just then.

He stood quietly and allowed Damus to gather his thoughts once more. After a moment, the man looked up at him and spoke, "Very well, we can negotiate, what do you want?"

Crimson smiled pleasantly, "I want access to the spells kept here at the Temple, in exchange you can call on me anytime you need something similar taken care of."

Damus' eyebrows shot up, "You don't want Royals?"

Crimson snorted, "For what? I can make money on my own without any issue. I already proved that to myself earlier today. Instead, why not use this as an opportunity to gain something that could be difficult or impossible to obtain otherwise?"

Damus looked troubled as he questioned, "What are you going to do with these spells?"

Crimson responded casually, "Learn them."

Damus snorted derisively, "You don't have your [Blessing], there's practically no way for you to lean magic on you own-"

The [Magic Light] on Crimson's fingertips shut the man up.

"There is no issue with that, please don't worry yourself."

His eyes fixed to the [Magic Light], Damus asked, "Are you aiming to become a [Priest] when you gain your [Blessing of the Gods]?"

"No, I lack any interest in occupying the position of a healer full time, but neglecting healing spells is something I can't feel is allowable. Also," Crimson scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, "I just want to learn more magic."

Damus stared had him blankly for a long moment, then started laughing, "Very well then! I will accept your proposal, but we shall do it in a more controlled manner, yes? I will call upon you on occasion and ask you to disseminate information. For every time you succeed I will allow you to study one of our spells. I think you're aware, but this is overpaying in the extreme, spell books are rare and expensive, but I think your desire is admirable, so how can I not support it?"

Crimson was a bit nonplussed, he'd started with an insanely high request with the understanding that Damus would negotiate down -which he did- but Crimson had been prepared to go far, far lower than what had been offered. He just wanted a basic healing spell since he hadn't seen one in the Guild Library, they're mostly basic attack spells and a few defensive ones. Well, he would of course accept. He had no reason not to.

"I will accept your terms, you may call upon me whenever you need to."

Damus nodded with a smile, his noble atmosphere returning once more, "I will see to it that you are leant of copy of [Treatment], would you like one for [Life], [Holy], or [Purity]?"

On an impulse, Crimson replied, "[Purity]."

He'd need to experiment to see which [Affinity] he was best suited for. [Purity] just seemed like one that aligned most with his ideals since he didn't consider himself [Holy] and as far as [Life]… Well, his track record should bring him more in line with [Death] than [Life].

Seeming pleased, Damus responded, "Very well, please send in one of the apprentice [Priests] on your way out."

Crimson nodded, left, and send in the nearest passing priest, who wore a simple yellow robe instead of Damus' yellow, green, and white one, and went to the task that Damus had assigned him: cleaning the stand.

It wasn't a particularly difficult task, a quick chat with a [Priestess] who was cleaning the pews got him some cleaning supplies and he got to work scrubbing, dusting, and mopping the stand.

It was a raised platform at the back of the chapel that had several seats for high ranking officials to sit and over look the congregation with a podium in the center. It was done in an elegant brown wood that blended harmoniously with the white stone of the Temple and seemed to bring peace to the soul, or so Crimson thought sardonically to entertain himself through his boredom. He may be working with his hands, but his mind wasn't engaged in the process; he started adding mana control practice to the process to actually DO something with his mind - Chapter 9 of [Magic Light] was going to give him a headache that night, he already knew that. With a sigh, he continued the work and by the time an hour had passed the stand was spotless and the polished wood shone.

He stepped off the stand and wiped the sweat off his forehead as he ignored the smattering round of "oohs" from the scattered crowd of [Priests] and [Priestesses] who were looking at it. His task was done, and he needed to report to Damus.

After returning the cleaning supplies to the now distracted [Priestess] he went to Damus' office where he knocked on the door.

"You may enter."

Walking into the room, Damus seemed surprised to see him.

"Yes, what is it? I was under the impression that our negotiations had concluded earlier."

Crimson nodded shortly, "Yes, but I finished cleaning the stand as asked, and I would like the Proof of Completion for this job. The payment we negotiated earlier is between you and I, it's unrelated to the request I accepted - regardless of your true intentions in the matter."

Damus seemed surprised as he responded, "Yes...indeed. Very well, here is how we will do things, once I see the results of your information spreading, you shall receive your...special...payment. I will request you for another assignment at that time to act as a cover for what we are really doing, and if you are as successful as you claim you will be, we shall give you yet another task for the matter."

Crimson nodded silently and accepted the signed Proof of Completion. With a bow, he turned and left the room.

Moving quickly, he passed through the Temple to see people filtering in and taking seats on the pews, slowly filling up the great space.

To his surprise, as he passed the [Priestess] by the door, she shared a quick "Thank you" with him. For what? If it was about the stand, then what was the point in thanking him for doing what was expected of him?

Regardless, he decided to respond kindly, and told her "you're welcome" before hurrying away. Something about how she had been looking at him made him uncomfortable, but she didn't seem to have ill intentions, so he decided not to worry about it.

He moved swiftly to return to the guild, the sun was starting to get low in the sky, and he wanted to be back in his inn room before too long to be on the safe side. Living so near a dangerous place really restricted his active hours to an unpleasant degree, but the cost made it worth it. If he didn’t have any way to train in his room it would be a different story.

Entering the crowded guild, he quickly decided on a facade to sell the story. This method probably wouldn't work when he'd been around for a while and people understood what kind of person he was, but it would work for the moment.

Moving with an uncharacteristic amount animation and energy, he waved enthusiastically to Sherry -since he didn't see Emma around- and moved over to her and shared an overly loud greeting.

"Hiya Sherry!"

She looked at him with a mixture of amusement and confusion, "Hello Crimson, was your last request so enjoyable?"

Speaking way more loudly than was needed he bobbed his head and spoke with a smile, "Yeah! [Priest] Damus was awesome! He had me write a letter for him!"

Immediately, he could feel mana brushing through the air around him, he had to hold back a grin as the eavesdropping [Skills] or spells -he wasn't sure which- wrapped around him and Sherry. Playing up the act a little, he looked around like someone who was about to share a secret, and carefully lowered his voice, to a point where he could be sure that what he said could be heard by the eavesdroppers, as well as some of the more nearby Adventurers, but still make it seem like he was trying to keep a secret.

"By the way, why are [Lesser Litch] hearts so important?"

Sherry looked worried, "Why would you mention them? The Temple uses them in special alchemical mixes, they're the only one who can use them because the [Priestess]/[Priest] [Class] is the only one that can use the [Skill]: [Holy Purification], but they don't really need it that often, so there's no point in trying to make money off it."

"Really?" he said once more raising his voice while pretending it was an accident, "But the Temple just offered to pay Count Banner 15 Royals per [Lesser Litch] heart!"

Peering out of the corner of his eye, he could see several adventurers in the crowd who had been listening in. To his amusement, he could practically see the Royals in their eyes.

One of them stood up and walked over, grabbed his shoulder and turned him around, then spoke, "Oi laddie, is that true? Did that old coot Damus really offer Count Banner 15 Royals per [Lesser Litch] heart?"

"Um, um" Crimson looked left and right as he pretended to panic, "uh, no? Forget I said anything!"

There was jeering in the crowd as a few people called him a liar. With that, half the guild started talking animatedly with one another - making plans to visit the [Hallowed Graveyard]. After some arguing, they all decided to standardize the price they were going to offer the Temple at 13 Royals per heart.

Crimson took that opportunity to hand Sherry his Proof of Completion and she processed it. When she returned she informed him, "Look, Damus is going to be furious if he finds out what you've done, I'd recommend you pray that your name doesn't get mentioned in all this and that you lay low for a while." she sighed, "Give it a day little snack, your payment will be in your account, yet another 50 Royals for you. I hope you would consider treating a...special someone in your life kindly using that money while you lay low."

Crimson glanced at her casually, "Your teasing has gone down in quality, are you losing your touch?"

Her dark face actually turned red and the tips of her long ears twitched, "Little snack, little snack, I am worried for you, how can I enjoy watching you blush and tremble if I'm worried?"

She was met with a deadpan expression, "I've never done either of those things."

"Oh, but you will little snack! One day you will!"

"Pass. Also, pass my regards to Emma, I'm sorry I missed her."

He left the pouting Dark Elf and headed out of the guild, the guild members were too wrapped up in their conversations to notice the startling personality difference between the Crimson who entered the guild, and the Crimson who left. The only noted exception being the elf -Verity- who Crimson noticed was staring at him with an amused expression from the corner of the room. Well, there was one person who wasn't going to fall for it. Didn't matter in the end, she couldn't stop everyone else, and they'd think she was trying to take all the money for herself if she told them otherwise.

Crimson returned to the inn using his newly decided home turf -the secret passages- and got to work on Chapter 9 of the [Magic Light] spell, but wasn't able to make any process. He still wasn't able to guide the mana into place from a long distance away, it just stopped reacting to him once it got far enough away and dispersed. The imagery for Chapter 9 just wasn't helping! He knew what he needed to do, he even knew how, but he just couldn't get it to work! He continued to work at it, and went to bed late, having failed to make any progress.

Waking up first thing in the morning with the irritation of the proceeding night still hanging over him, Crimson ran to the guild during his morning run to burn off steam. Since he'd had some extra time, he didn't go straight there, but used the run to explore the deeper passages and started to learn his way around them, he even checked where some of the switches let out so he could find them on the street level.

Once he'd finally arrived at the guild, he discovered that he was still early, so he settled on the front step and refocused on his mana as he tried to slow his breathing. Even after more work he just couldn't guide the mana how he wanted to. With a sigh, he decided to back off for a moment. If brute force wouldn't work, he'd need to think of another way to complete Chapter 9. At this rate, it didn't feel like he'd ever be able to think about Chapter 10, much less finish Chapter 9.

Crimson focused instead on his body, he'd actually wanted to try meditation before this point in his new world, but had never really made the time. He'd been focusing too much on his training and his mana, but if meditation turned out to be useful, he'd need to keep doing it.

Well, more useful than the obvious stuff, he'd tried it back in his previous world after all, and had enjoyed it there, having something he could do even with his crippled body was nice.

Crimson quietly meditated as he focused on the different parts of his body, from his feet to the hairs on his head and back, shifting his awareness and carefully controlling his breathing. It was nice, but he had to resist the urge to add mana control to the process - he needed a break from it.

A short time later, he heard Emma call out to him and he glanced over at her. He was about to respond to her greeting, but was distracted by an ominous sight: two Bear-Kin stood behind her. One was the familiar form of the Guild Master - Lars, and the other was an unfamiliar bear-kin who -almost impossibly- stood taller than Lars and had brown fur around his bear ears. Their faces were identical, but this new bear-kin had fewer scars on his arms.

As he looked at them he had finally guessed what Lars' plan was, but it was still only a guess - he couldn't be sure without one more little detail.

Refocusing on Emma, he responded her greeting, "Hello Emma, good morning to you. Good morning to you as well, Guild Master."

Lars grunted with a nod in response, then turned to the bear-kin next to him, "Mars, this is the kid I was telling you about."

Crimson and Mars stared each other down, and Crimson did his best to pressure the man with his eyes. He finally had a decent guess on how they worked based off what had happened yesterday, but he needed to be sure.

----

"Mars, this is the kid I was telling you about."

Mars turned to stare the kid in question down and was surprised at the will he saw in the kid's eyes, he was supposed to break this one?

Mars smiled and felt the excitement in him rising, "Name?"

"Crimson, you?"

"Mars, I'm your Guild Master's younger brother."

"I can see the resemblance."

They carefully watched each other for a long moment. Mars was slightly disappointed, aside from his eyes, the kid was nothing special, he was on the smaller side, unnaturally thin, and just didn't seem like someone who you'd ever associate with "strength," well, aside from his eyes of course.

The staring match continued with both sides refusing to back down before Emma cut in, "Could you two have a real conversation?"

Mars and the kid looked at her in unison, they both had a single raised eyebrow.

She raised both hands into the air and backed off, "Okay okay, if that's a real conversation to you two, so be it, but Crimson," she glared at the kid, "You better have real conversations with me."

Mars found it interesting that the most standoffish of the Guild's Receptionists was being so open with someone she'd met just over a week ago, what had he done to get close to her, not just quickly, but period?

"Why wouldn't I?" the boy responded without seeming to care about the unspoken threat. Either he had guts, or he was stupid. Maybe a mixture of both. Though, it was possible that he was certain that she wouldn't follow through with the threat, but that belief would actually put him in the stupid category - Emma followed through on threats.

A Basic Rule of Survival for any Adventurer: Don't make the [Healer] your enemy - not even the [Guild Suppressor] could stand against her and even Mars would hesitate a little.

The two humans continued to go back and forth with some kind of weird banter as the [Healer] unlocked the door. Mars couldn't be bothered to follow the conversation, and chose to interrupt it by clapping a hand on the boy's shoulder and "gently" leading him to the training field out back. He had to ignore the protests from Emma, but it wasn't that different from a fly's buzzing.

Once in the field, he released his hand from the boy, who had silently allowed himself to be pushed outside, and pointed at the space.

"Run laps until I tell you to stop, if you drop your pace, I'll make you run for longer."

To Mars' surprise, the boy didn't speak and turned instantly and started running. That was the other part of his surprise - the boy didn't start jogging, he started running! He truly was a fool! He had just heard what Mars had said, yet chose not to pace himself! He would make this kid run himself into the dirt as a lesson!

His ferocious glare weakened after half an hour, this kid had run half an hour at that pace?! For someone with their [Blessing] it was well within the realm of possibility, for some [Classes] it would even be easy, but he was only a fifteen year old kid!

The kid continued to run and tore off his top, miraculously not losing any speed as he kept moving, and discarded the shirt. Mars had a high enough [PER] stat to see that he was absolutely coated in sweat, so the action didn't come as a surprise, but what came as a surprise was the fact that the kid had started smiling.

What...was he?

Yet another half hour passed as the run continued, but the smile never faded, and his run never slowed, but Mars could see it taking its toll, his eyes had become unfocused, and the moment he started coughing up blood was the moment Mars woke himself up from his trance and realized that he needed to put a stop to the exercise.

"Get over here kid!"

The boy didn't respond and kept running. By the God of War, this boy was running in a haze!

Mars stepped forward and as the boy passed once more he grabbed him and carefully pivoted on the spot to prevent the sudden stop from doing any damage. He didn't completely succeed as the boy's right shoulder let out a loud crack, his high [CON] had meant the rescue had felt like running into a wall for the boy, if he hadn't reduced the force of the impact he probably would have killed him, the rebound from a [STR]-[CON] difference was nothing to ignore...

The boy stood there breathing hard and appeared barely conscious, but he hadn't reacted to his shoulder breaking. Probably a good thing he was so out of it.

Mars decided to go grab a [Healer]...but the only one that would be there at that time of day would be Emma...how could someone who was only Lv. 30 strike such fear into his heart? Just the thought of what she would do once she saw the boy...

As he started to rethink grabbing her, the choice was taken out of his hands as the person in question stuck her head out of the door.

"Hey Mars, when you and Cri- BY THE [BLESSING OF THE GODS], WHAT IS GOING ON?!?!?!"

He winced, she was swearing by the [Blessing]...he was screwed.

Emma brushed past him and focused on the boy, instantly seeing what was broken with whatever [Skill] she had, and started mending him.

Any other [Healer] would have taken minutes for what took her seconds, it would probably take someone who had performed [Breakthrough] twice to be able to rival her. Usually, a Lv. 30 [Healer] of any type of [Healer] [Class] would only be able to efficiently heal at max someone who was Lv. 40, but Emma had polished her skills and had bonuses from titles to the extent that it pushed her into the territory of healing people 25 Levels above her, which was a huge benefit because healing someone without a [Blessing] is extremely difficult. She was truly awe inspiring [Healer], and the blue-silver light coming off her hands let him know that she focused on the [Purity] Affinity - something Lars had failed to mention while bragging about her to Mars.

When she finished patching up the boy, she turned to Mars with murder in her eyes.

He had made the mistake of angering the [Healer].

----

Crimson slowly came to and felt groggy beyond belief. Just how hard had he pushed himself while running? The last thing he remembered was a sense of stubborn refusal, he refused to stop, but then was brought out of the self-induced trance by a flash of pain emanating from his shoulder. That was the last thing he could remember.

Steeling himself, Crimson forced himself to sit up and instantly hit his head on someone else's head.

Blearily opening his eyes, he saw Emma sitting behind him and holding her forehead with both hands, there were tears in her eyes, and her cheeks were puffed up.

Out of concern Crimson spoke, "Sorry, are you okay?"

At the question, her watery eyes became alight with anger and she spoke, "Am I OKAY? What kind of question is that? You nearly killed yourself and Mars broke your shoulder! You are in no position to ask if I'M OKAY!"

He looked at her with a "are you serious?" expression and spoke once more, "Are you okay?"

Her anger faded some and she spoke stiffly, "I am fine, thank you." The ferocity returning in full force she spoke once more, "Now, what were you thinking? You almost killed yourself!"

Crimson shrugged, if he had to say why...he didn't want to break. Mars was clearly sent to break him and make him give up on a combat [Class] in favor of "something" else - Crimson wasn't in the mood to play along. Besides, there was no downside to doing what was asked, it would help him improve faster. So what if he almost killed himself there? The important thing was that he didn't, and if it would help,` he would do the same thing every morning until he got his [Blessing], and maybe even beyond. All to become stronger.

A primal part of him had to admit that he even enjoyed the experience, it helped him understand something he hadn't before: his limits. Oh, he'd been tired before, he'd felt like passing out or breathing out his lungs, but he'd never truly tested his limits. He got close there, but it was close enough, he now knew his limit.

"How long was I out?"

"Just half an hour, you're pretty resilient."

"Good, Emma?"

She tilted her head, "Yes?"

"Would you be willing to heal me again later?"

She practically screamed her response "WHAT???"

Crimson placed a hand over the ear closer to her and continued speaking, "I still have plenty of time today, and I don't know if Mars will have me do something like that again, so if you could be around to help I would greatly appreciate it."

Emma clapped her hands on both sides of his face and reeled him in close to make eye contact, she recoiled a little for the first time in a while, but he could see her grit her teeth as she forced herself to continue, "You will do no such thing! If you do so, then I won't heal you!"

"I'll do it anyway, you can just reduce the amount of time I'll spend lying on the ground passed out."

"You won't do it!"

"I will."

They both refused to break eye contact, and stared at one another for a long minute before Emma breathed out a long sigh and let him go.

"Fine then! See if I care!"

Crimson looked at her for a moment feeling touched, then started laughing, "You do! You wouldn't try to stop me if you didn't," his laughter ceased and was replaced by an uncharacteristically warm smile, "Thank you for caring."

Emma looked at him for a long moment before she turned and walked away. Stopping for a moment, she fired over her shoulder, "Mars is sitting in the loft."

While she'd tried to hide it, he still noticed the smile that had graced her lips as she responded.