Braden did not expect to ever open his eyes so he was very much surprised, and grateful, when he did.

“You’re awake!” Orrin screeched from the bedside while Braden winced.

His head throbbed and the back of his throat was dry. He coughed a bit before he croaked, “Water.”

Orrin helped him sit up, flinching when his brother touched his back and feeling a twinge of phantom pain that faded an instant later. They were in a squarish room with pastel blue walls, a small bench flush against the wall, and a couple of stools. The bed Braden was on was narrow, and the mattress was a bit stiff. There was barely any room for Orrin to stand between the sleeping bench and Braden’s bed.

The water was tepid but he drank it so fast that he coughed and spat out more than he drank.

“Slowly!” Orrin said belatedly.

Frowning, Braden did so. His stomach started growling too.

“How long was I unconscious?” He could remember a few flashes of images, almost dreamlike, but nothing concrete. “What happened and where are we?”

“We’re at Faron’s Crossing, at the Temple infirmary,” Orrin began slowly. “It’s been a couple of days. The reinforcements from Rumiga City have finally arrived and they’re beating back the Wave. Well, we’ve already done the hard work anyway.”

Braden looked at his twin blankly, “What do you mean?”

Orrin puffed up with pride. “Our first team was instrumental in defeating the Will of the Wave. The Wyldings are without direction and can be mopped up with a bit of effort.”

Braden felt his jaw drop. “How?”

Orrin grinned. “With the princess, of course, hie hie. Yuriko managed to bond with an artefact and it helped us defeat the Will.” His grin disappeared and was replaced by worry. “She’s unconscious though and unlike you, she didn’t wake, not even briefly. Still, the attendants assure us that she is mostly on the mend and will wake up in a couple of days.”

Braden nodded numbly. “What other news?”

Orrin shrugged. “Well, Uncle Colin had visited a couple of times in the past days and I’ve recovered from keeping you alive.”

“Our Anima bond?”

“What else?”

Braden shrugged. “Were you injured?”

“No, just tired.”

Bonds such as what the twins had weren't common but they weren’t too rare either. Most twins seemed to have it, though sometimes triplets or quadruplets developed an Anima bond upon experiencing their Atavism Ritual. It was a natural evolution of something most twins already developed. Braden and Orrin could sometimes feel what the other was thinking or feeling even without the other twin saying anything. That was true even before the ritual.

“What happened with your team?” Braden eventually asked.

“It was mostly running and hiding. At least until we found the village ruins and met this giant boar who happened to the forest’s Avos.”

“Giant what now?” Braden blinked in confusion.

“Giant boar. As big as the troop transporter,” Orrin continued. “Well, we had it rough, had to build shelter and the girls wanted a bathtub, of all things. Well, it worked out in the end.” Orrin gave him a conspiratorial wink and Braden huffed.

“When we met Shillogu, he asked us to go for the artefact though he wanted us to pay him in Chaos shards. Leader Yoran told us later that the Avos had a standard rate and we were given a discount; well, I asked for one anyway. Nobody will be able to find that tomb without Shillogu’s say so since it's in his domain and all that. Well, joke’s on that scammer since Yuriko got the artefact.”

Orrin shook his head. “You wouldn’t believe how strange she seemed when she was using that thing. I hope the Empire takes it away to study it properly. Yuriko almost got Chaos poisoning because of it.” Orrin cleared his throat. “By the way, why were you with that squad? You only put yourself in danger.”

Braden shrugged. “I wanted to find you guys.”

“Ahh.”

Braden couldn’t quite recall what happened during those dreadful moments with the details slipping out of his mind the moment he tried to grasp at them. His head began to throb when he pushed too hard to remember. He decided to stop and rest instead.

They sat in silence until Braden’s stomach growled again. Orrin wordlessly left and came back with a bowl.

“That better not be ration bar porridge.”

Orrin thrust the bowl at him and he sighed in relief to see it was a clear broth.

“Beef soup. I’ll get you something more substantial when the attendants give the go-ahead. Don’t try to use Recovery until you have something solid in your belly. You've lost some weight.”

Braden nodded while he drank directly from the bowl. “What happens now?” he asked.

The door opened as he spoke as though intending to answer his question...though it was all likely a coincidence. Uncle Colin wandered in, eyes snapping to Braden, and he smiled widely.

“Welcome back to the land of the living,” Colin laughed, clapping Braden’s shoulder.

“Ow.”

“Oh, sorry, sorry.” Colin snorted. “Good to see you awake lad. Well, the tonics the attendants fed you would have cost a fortune if we weren’t in a combat state and if the Will hadn’t been vanquished, you would have been on the low priority list. Either way, good job for surviving that nasty camp.”

“Uh.”

“In any case, I talked with your instructors and you all will receive a recommendation letter, even though you technically didn’t finish the training camp,” Colin grinned happily. “That’s good and it means we won’t have to stay any longer in Faron’s Crossing.”

Braden and Orrin exchanged reluctant gazes. He didn’t want to leave quite yet; at least he wanted to wait for Yuriko to wake up if only to know which Academy she would be attending in Rumiga.

“Oh, here, I brought you some real food.” Uncle Colin gave him a paper-wrapped sandwich. “It’s fine,” he added, when he saw the look on Orrin’s face. “The attendants told me he could eat as long as he has regained consciousness. And well, you’re supposed to activate Recovery afterwards to make sure you’re on the mend.”

The package contained a couple slices of bread with some greens, ham, and a sweet and sour sauce made with green lavan berries and tomatoes. Braden devoured it and was licking for crumbs afterwards.

“I’ll bring more later,” Uncle Colin promised. “Anyway, I have to ask, did your team secure a lot of Chaos shards or dust during this entire debacle?”

Braden shook his head. “We only took down that one target. My teammate, Janus, gave it to the instructors for Sovereigns.”

“A pity. What about you, Orrin?”

“Oh, we have a little bit left. We had to trade away the shards for a chance at the artefact. Oh, I think I still have the one I used to repair the Plasma Caster,” Orrin mumbled.

“You have a shard with you?” Colin’s eyes brightened for a little while then frowned. “I suppose you reported it to the instructors?”

Orrin fidgeted. “No, actually, I forgot about it. Though one of the others might have already.”

“Hmmm, do you mind selling it to me? You can just give out the Sovereigns to your team.”

“Um, aren’t shards supposed to be given to the militia?”

“Only those acquired through official missions. Your official mission was to hunt a single Wanderer right? But you used the shard to get to the artefact. That was what was reported to your instructors. The one you have technically doesn’t come from a mission target and besides, I’ll pay full price for it, instead of the thirty percent that the militia will give you.”

“Oh, oooh! Uh, I’ll have to ask my other team members though.”

“You do that,” Colin said airily.

“Sure, Uncle Colin. I’ll tell you the team’s decision afterwards.”

“Huh. Funny, that was just a temporary team, right? It’s not as if it's a formal militia or Legion team. But I suppose going through life and death does that to you. Well, go on. But I’d like to know before we have to leave. Hmmm, Legion Vagaris might prohibit travel until the Wave is officially done; I’ll go check if that’s the case now. Rest well, Braden.” With a cheery wave, Uncle Colin left as quickly as he appeared.

Braden nodded to Orrin who shrugged. “Legion Vagaris?”

“Yes, they arrived just this morning, well the command staff did. The scouts came the day before. We just arrived at Faron’s Crossing then, the outpost and Northwold had been overrun.” Orrin sighed. “You were lucky to be unconscious.”

“Cierra?”

“Mostly untouched. The Wave headed up north for Shillogu. It wasn’t apparent earlier but the Seeker was after the Avos all along.”

“Ah.”

“Hmmm, anyway, how are you feeling?”

“I still feel some…pain on my back.”

Orrin frowned. “That shouldn’t be the case. There isn’t even a scar left behind.”

“I don’t know. I have trouble breathing too.”

“That isn’t right. I’ll go ask the attendants. Will you be fine without me for a bit? I need to talk to other members of the first team too.”

“Sure, go ahead. I’ll be fine.”

“Right, see you in a bit. There’s more water over here and I’ll ask someone to bring you more food. Use Recovery, alright?”

“Yes, yes. Go.”

When Orrin left, Braden leaned back on his pillows sighed deeply. In truth, he felt only a bit of a twinge on his back, right side near his shoulder blade. His chest tightened as his mind brought him back to that terrible moment when that Wyldling’s hand had gone into his back. The horrific pain and the inability to breathe haunted him.

He curled up, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and shuddered. His face grew a bit wet from sweating. He didn’t know how long he stayed like that and it was the sound of footsteps from outside his door that jolted him out of his state. Wiping the sweat off his face, he looked up expectantly at the door but the footsteps continued past.

Sighing, Braden forced his mind to something else. Now he honestly wished that the camp had seen fit to allow the twins to be on the same team. Aside from the fact that their Facets had been complimentary, he wouldn’t have had to experience what he did. Well, he would have welcomed being on the same team as Yuriko.

Odd how, when he thought of her, she seemed like a beacon of light that washed out everything else, even his pain. Well, he could just keep thinking of her then. What did Orrin mean when he winked earlier? Baths? Oh. Chaos! Now he really wished he had been in the same team.

While his mind went into wild fantasies, he latched at another odd thing. Why was his uncle so fixated on getting the shard? He was subtle but pushy, now that Braden thought about it. Uncle Colin wanted the shard. He was sure of it. Why though?

It couldn’t have been for economic gain not when he was offering to pay the team full price. Further, Braden expected the price of shards and dust to lower in the coming weeks, at least locally. There was an oversupply after all.

‘But I never tracked the price of dust and shards.’ Braden thought. ‘Dad said something about it being as good as gold though. Did that mean shards and dust held a relatively stable value?’ Considering that almost all of them were bought by the Empire and the tariff to trade with foreigners was steep, perhaps he intended to bring it over to Haveena? Well, it was hardly worth the trip there for a single shard.

“Unless he managed to convince more kids? Or he went hunting for them himself?” That wasn’t unlikely. Uncle Colin was a Knight after all, though his initial Facet wasn’t too combat-oriented, nobody got that strong without knowing how to defend themselves.

Shaking his head, Braden scooted over the side of his bed and tried to his feet. His knees wobbled and he almost toppled but using the walls and the bed frame, he managed. His patient’s gown flapped around his knees as he staggered over to the table that held the jug of water. He drank a cup then hunted down his clothes.

His forceweave jacket had a hole on the back and was utterly useless now. It would have to be broken down and rewoven. In short order, he put on a shirt and trousers. Most of his clothing had been lost with the outpost, he realised. Huh. Well, Orrin should have a spare pair of shoes.

He would have wandered out into the hallway if not for the fact that he was out of breath. So he sat on the bench and tried using Recovery.

“Ahhh!” He screamed when the technique started. He felt pins and needles all over his body and he was instantly drenched in sweat. “Chaos,” he muttered.

Whatever they did to him to patch up his chest had left tiny injuries everywhere else. No wonder he felt so sore all over.

“Better this than dead,” he said grimly.

He started up the technique again, powering through the pain, but he couldn’t really last long. A few minutes’ Recovery felt like hours and he stopped, though mostly because, this time, someone did open the door.

A young woman with a red coat that flared out from the hips and with several silver insignia on her chest peeked inside. Seeing him awake, she entered. “Braden Foster?”

“Uh, yes.”

“Decanus Killane of the Legion Vagaris,” she said perfunctorily. “I understand you were part of the group that encountered the Chaos Lord during the Wave. I am to debrief you.”

“Oh, sure. My pleasure.”

“Thank you. I understand this is a painful subject to you but consider yourself lucky since the Weavers managed to put you back together. Now, please tell me of the events that led to the Wave: what you encountered and what your observations were during the entire debacle. I apologise for having this done while you had just recovered but we need the information as soon as possible.”

“I don’t really mind,” Braden said, “but why the urgency?”

The woman snorted loudly. “Events aren’t as simple as they seem, now please begin with your first encounter with the entity known as the Seeker of Delights.”

Braden sighed but he struggled to remember every detail. He could only wish he wouldn’t encounter another of those monsters for as long as he lived.