The Abyss Watcher silently stared at Caelan, his eyes glowing a brilliant purple. He glanced over to his party members, all of which also observed Caelan with caution, none wanting to step forward to see what on earth was going on. As soon as the mysterious glowing began it stopped, Caelan staring upwards blankly, a neutral expression on his face. He looked back down, gaze switching between each of them. His gaze stopped on the Abyss Watcher, who stared right back at him with a curious look in his eyes.

His eyes filled up with water, face contorting as he began to quietly sob. The floodgates broke soon after that as Caelan sprinted forward, crying his eyes out as he hugged the Abyss Watcher's legs desperately. The Abyss Watcher stared down at Caelan in shock, looking to his party for aid yet only finding greater looks of confusion.

Beginning to panic at the unfamiliar situation he looked back down at the crying child, who had buried taken to burying his face, slightly muffling his sobs. Sheathing his dagger slowly, he tentatively reached out his gloved hand, hesitating for a second before resting it on Caelan's dark grey hair, causing the boy to freeze up. It didn't last long though as the sobbing continued tenfold, accompanied by the tightening of his grip on the Abyss Watcher's legs.

The Abyss Watcher gulped as he slowly stroked Caelan's hair, attempting for a soothing manner. He really wasn't good at this stuff. This continued for a while, the Abyss Watcher's panic only growing as Caelan's cry didn't fade but instead picked up again. That's it. Time to go all in. He thought internally as he lowered his sword from his shoulder, gesturing for Alissa to come over. This successfully brought her back out of her own shock, as she obliged, stepping forward and cautiously and grabbing the handle of the sword with both hands.

As soon as the Abyss Watcher let go of his own grip, Alissa let out a yelp of surprise getting pulled down with the sword onto the ground, Xander immediately going to her aid. Ignoring Alissa's curses he looked back down at the crying Caelan. Here goes nothing.

He slowly lowered himself onto his knees, causing Caelan to lose his grip and stand their sobbing. The Abyss Watcher looked at Caelan, who stared down at the ground, familiar grief filling his eyes. Nervously he wrapped his now free right arm around Caelan's shoulders, drawing him into a hug, his left hand still stroking his hair. Caelan didn't stop crying, and instead took to moving his crying face onto the Abyss Watcher's chest, his arms shaking at his sides as he sobbed.

The Abyss Watcher gulped as this continued on for quite a while. He had never been this...emotionally outward to anyone. But then again, he couldn't just push off a crying child that had run to him. He glanced over to his party, silently hoping that they would take action to come to his aid. His hopes fell upon seeing Alissa and Xander struggling to pick up his sword, despite holding it from both ends, and Skyla only staring straight ahead, eyes betraying no emotion.

He looked back at Caelan, blinking in shock to find the boy staring up at him, his sobs having stopped and been replaced only by the occasional sniffle. He stared back into Caelan's dark grey eyes, which were filled with an unimaginable amount of pain and grief. He could only stare back, unsure of how to comfort him. He really wasn't prepared for this sort of situation. He was a warrior. He could deal with blood, guts, and the deaths of his comrades, but a crying child? He had been fighting for an eternity, not resting for a second in his fight against the [Abyss].

He blinked. He had been fighting for an eternity. Without rest. He had been doing it for so long that he had forgotten what he had done before. He frowned. What was he doing? He shook his head. He was an Abyss Watcher. He fought the [Abyss] wherever it showed up, so that none would have to face it's horrors. But what was he other than that?

He stared into Caelan's eyes, the once constant stream of tears having slowed down to a trickle. He wasn't even sure what his goal was. Why was he here, in this [Dungeon], hugging this crying undead child? He was...aimless. Sure he had a couple of short term goals, but after that? Nothing.

"Thank you." Caelan suddenly said, interrupting the Abyss Watcher's thoughts. The Abyss Watcher stared down in shock. Thank...you?

He had thanked him. He couldn't remember if someone had ever told him that before. But this crying child, who he had decided to attempt to comfort, had said just that. He smiled underneath his mask. It felt nice to be thanked. He nodded in response, standing up as he decided that Caelan was emotionally stable enough to be left alone for now.

He turned to face the others, Xander and Alissa visibly straining to hold up his sword, and Skyla staring at both the Abyss Watcher and Caelan. Perking up as he remembered something, he twisted around to the small satchel on his belt, fishing through it to grab the quest that they had been given, showing it to Skyla. She looked at the paper, gaze flicking between it and the Abyss Watcher.

"Hmmm, yes I do think we should actually get along with the quest that is literally the reason we came here." She said, gaining the attention of both Xander and Alissa, "Come on you two. It's time to get going. That scepter ain't gonna find itself." She gave Caelan a final glance before turning around, moving further down the corridor.

Shrugging, the Abyss Watcher walked over to Alissa and Xander, grabbing his sword and placing it effortlessly back onto it's usual place on his shoulder, both of their mouths dropping in response.

"Bloody hell, Adamantine adventurers are on a whole other level." Xander said, shaking his head in disbelief as he walked after Skyla.

The Abyss Watcher turned to Alissa, finding her frowning as she gazed at Caelan who was in the process of rubbing tears out of his eyes. He then looked up at Alissa, likely sensing the gaze she was giving him. Their eyes met and Alissa's own widened. Her gaze switched to face the Abyss Watcher. Her eyes widened even further, what seemed like a bit of panic filtering into them.

"Hey! What the hell are you guys doing!" Xander suddenly yelled, bringing both of their attention toward the two that had continued walking further onward, the light around the three that had stayed behind beginning to fade.

"S-Sorry! We'll be right there!" Alissa shouted back, taking a final nervous glance at the Abyss Watcher before hurriedly walking after the two.

The Abyss Watcher narrowed his eyes as he looked back at Caelan, wondering what she had seen. He observed Caelan, looking for anything that would stick out. His dark grey eyes widened as he looked into Caelan's own dark grey eyes. Despite not having access to mirrors, the Abyss Watcher still knew what he looked like. Particularly what his eyes looked like. And he noticed how they were almost the exact same as Caelan's.

He looked back at Alissa who was still hurriedly walking after the others. She occasionally glanced back nervously, but stopped with a quiet yelp once she noticed his gaze. His eyes narrowed even more.

This could be problematic.