Markus can only look at Oscar as he strides away. The old butler moves toward Versa, stopping to watch as she continues healing Eclair. His mind is racing with words and explanations, but he stops himself. Oscar clearly knows his true origins. There isn't any point in hiding it now.

“Grab a towel and put it on the cushion so I can fix you up.” Aurora says to Markus. She then lands softly on the couch beside him.

Doing as told, Markus leans over to grab a clean towel from the leftover pile on the floor. He spreads it out over a cushion, placing his left hand open on top of it. Aurora walks over to his wounded hand. Kneeling down, she starts examining the cut closely. Her hands then drift over the wound.

Aurora's fingertips begin to glow, the unmistakable sign of magic. Markus watches closely, his eyes intensely focusing on his own cut. The wound is clean, but blood is starting to pool inside again from all the recent agitations.

Markus soon starts feeling a burning sensation at the edges of the cut. Looking closer, he finally sees the effects of the healing magic. Each end of the cut is mysteriously closing, but healing magic of this world isn't what he was expecting. The process is slow and the burning sensation hurts.

“So... can you use any other magic?” Markus asks Aurora in a soft tone. Talking is the only thing he can do to preoccupy his mind as he waits.

A few moments pass before Aurora replies saying “No, this is the last of it. You've seen all the magic I can do now. Not the best way to find out though.” She gives a smirk to Markus.

“I see. A magic barrier, translation magic, and healing magic.” Markus responds. He then sits quietly thinking to himself. The thumb on his left hand twitches periodically from the burning sensations. Suddenly, Markus straightens himself as he realizes a thought. “Oh, I get it. You learned the best magic to help with your scouting. Protection, communication, and survival.”

“Very good. That's exactly right. Scouting is all about getting the information to the right place. Everything else is secondary. At least that's how I was trained.” Aurora says with a flashing smile, but it vanishes soon after. “However... I've got a lot left to learn. Already made mistakes since leaving Little Creek. I definitely should have noticed the thugs in the alley.”

“It's fine. We all have a lot to learn now.” Markus says back. He then notices Oscar walking to the side of the couch. Out of the blue, the old butler picks up Markus' assault rifle.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing?” Markus yells out. Everyone quickly turns to look at Oscar.

The old butler walks a few paces to the middle of the main lobby with the assault rifle. He looks over the weapon, flipping it over a few times, before pressing the back button to release the folded stock. The stock is then brought back to its natural position. Oscar immediately takes aim around the estate, taking shooting stances as if he were trained.

“Lovely weapon, but it's not standard issue I believe. What branch of American military are you in? Army... National Guard? Oh! Maybe you're with the police forces.” Oscar calls out to Markus.

Markus feels his heart sink. His guard was down only shortly, but he's already been completely disarmed. Looking over to the table with the empty pistol, he knows he can't do anything to change the situation. He glances over to Aurora, who's looking back with concern on her face. With a visible nod, Markus let's her understand it's okay to continue with the healing.

The right hand of Markus runs over his hair as he thinks about what to say next. After a few moments, he says “I'm not a soldier or a cop. I've never had any sort of training like that. I might have had a few military buddies, but that's it. Everything I know except some hunting is self taught.”

“What!?” Oscar yells out. He walks over to Markus in a hurry. He holds the rifle flat in his hands and says “You're kidding? Not part of any military? No advance scouting group or expeditionary force?”

“No! I'm just a dumb ass that walked into a portal. I just happened to prepare myself for the trip.” Markus replies in anger.

Silence fills the air as everyone is quiet. After a short time, Oscar starts to laugh. He says “Ha... a heavily armed civilian then? I love it!” Oscar then drops Markus' assault rifle onto his lap. “As a student of warfare, I can't get enough of your country.”

“What do you mean?” Markus asks while cautiously gripping his rifle.

“America, for better or worse, is constantly at war. Countless weapons, veterans, and stories have reached Ronoa. I've fought in almost every conflict on this continent for thirty years. One of my early teachers was from your world. A veteran of Vietnam.” Oscar says with a passionate smile. “Sly one he was, eluded the government till the day he died on a battlefield. Taught many of us his techniques.”

“Well... that certainly explains a lot.” Markus says with a concerned smile.

Oscar walks over to the wall and grabs his own Noverran rifle. He says “We've created such good copies, only for them to be trash because of ammunition issues.” He tosses the rifle back to its spot. “Since retiring, one of my hobbies has been following news or publications. Specifically about wars or weapons from your world. I've got a wonderful library now.”

“I'm done! Tell me how it feels.” Aurora interjects. She smacks Markus' hand several times to get his attention. “I'm sorry... I couldn't make it completely better.”

Markus brings his left hand close to his face, closing and opening all his fingers to test its function. A visible scar remains just below the thumb, but otherwise the wound is completely gone. He presses the location of the wound. Nothing. The immediate area around the scar no longer feels touch.

Smiling, Markus gently pats Aurora on the head. He says “You did well.” He then turns to focus on Oscar to ask “I don't understand. Why tell me all this?”

“Because we need to know each other. Especially for all the killing we're going to do soon.” Oscar says with grin. “We've been dealing with the Crimsons for a while, trapped in our own home cuss of them. They're asking for ransom. Preventing any help, food, or medicine from reaching us. But... now that you've arrived. Everything changes.”

Markus is genuinely surprised by the change in tone from the old butler. He quickly replies “I'm a good person. Certainly not a killer. I-” His voice trails off “Shit... I hope I haven't.” In his mind, Markus replays all the images from the men shot as he escaped Montillo. “Goddammit, I tried aiming. I wasn't trying to kill anyone.”

“Oh? Shot more than just the guard outside the estate?” Oscar asks with curiosity.

A deep sigh leaves Markus. He says “Ya, that's right. Several Crimsons that chased us through Montillo. I was trying to wound them. Hitting arms and legs.”

“Ah, too bad. Those men are certainly alive.” Oscar responds immediately.

The comment perks Markus up. He asks “How are you so sure?”

Oscar provides another grin while saying “As a vet, best piece of advice I can give you is make sure you kill whoever you fight. You always have to make sure. Especially on our world. For example, a damn good portion of humans know some healing magic. I promise you as soon as you left those wounded Crimsons alone, some of their friends were already patching them up.”

Markus' eyes open wide. This information was unknown to him, making him ask “You can't be serious. Healing magic is that common?”

“Sure, but only trained people are good at it. I guess the old saying 'easy to learn, hard to master' applies. But even basic healing magic can stop massive bleeding, seal wounds, and more. Allows plenty of time for a real doctor to clean up after.” Oscar replies back.

A massive weight comes off Markus. His face shows visible relief at the information. Leaning back in the couch, he rubs his face as he tries to process everything.

“Oscar! They're gathering at the front gate like you said they would.” A woman's voice calls out from the second story. Markus looks upward, but can't see the person from his position.

“Alright, we need to finish our chat later.” Oscar says as he grabs his rifle from the wall. He starts walking to the front door, but stops to turn around. “Well? You coming kid?”

Sitting quietly, Markus begins to open and close his left hand anxiously. He thinks to himself while looking at his recently healed wound. After a minute, he stands up with his own rifle in his hands. Markus then walks over to the decorative table and grabs his empty pistol. Leaning his rifle against the wall momentarily, he starts to swiftly reload the pistol. The empty magazine swaps places with a fully loaded one from his combat vest. The pistol slide racks itself close as the weapon returns to its holster.

“You girls stay here and watch over Eclair.” Markus says while grabbing his rifle again. As he walks to Oscar, he sees the old butler with a big smile. Oscar pats him on the side and laughs. He then pushes both of the front doors wide open.