Hiro’s Light spell weakly fizzled out and, with a sigh, he crumpled. Alphonse caught him when he was halfway to the ground and lowered him the rest of the way down gently. Hiro sat on the floor, clinging to his staff and panting, sweat gluing his shoulder length black hair to his forehead.

Alphonse didn’t sheath his sword as he looked between Blaze and Alyss and the stranger, Luce. Shoulders heaving with large breaths, he glared at Blaze and Alyss and indicated Luce with a jerk of his head, “you know them?”

Blaze nodded, “yes, they-”

With a stamp of her foot, a red faced Alyss with puffed up cheeks interjected, “they’re a stalker who won’t take no for an answer.” As she spoke she slowly shuffled in front of Blaze to block her from their view.

Luce lazily tossed their bow in the air and it dissolved into sparks, “that’s such a horrible way to put it. I just saved you, you know.”

Alyss crossed her arms over her chest, cocking her hip out, and glared, “And how did you know we were in danger? You were following us like a creepy weirdo!” Alyss leaned forward as she spat out her words, finally snapping her whip at them in the end, though still too far away to reach them.

At the crack of her whip, Luce raised their hands in the air and backed up half a step, “No need to make it sound so sinister! I told you, I admire the legacy of the Golden Coin guild and wanted to help its remnants.” They leaned to the side, craning their neck as if to look around Alyss at Blaze, “you know I don’t have any bad intentions, right?”

“I...” Blaze started, with a frown and a furrowed brow.

“As if!” Alyss snapped, striding forward to crack her whip at Luce again; this time she would’ve reached them, if it weren’t for Hiro rising to his feet and blocking in front. Hiro took a strike across the chest. Droplets of blood scattered and he cried out in pain, stumbling back against Luce. Luce caught him with hands on his upper arms, finally looking a little concerned.

Alyss froze with her hand outstretched the tip of her whip still resting on the ground where it landed. Eyes red, Alphonse stomped on the whip, pulling it out of Alyss’s slackened hand. He raised his sword, pointing it at her, “I dare you to do that again,” he growled.

“Al!” Hiro scolded, clutching his wound, hand glowing with healing magic, “it was my fault, let it go.” Then he turned to the guilty-looking Alyss. “I don’t know what’s going on with you and them but they did save us so maybe whatever it is can at least wait until we’re out of the dungeon?”

Staring at the slowly healing wound she inflicted, Alyss sheepishly nodded, then bent down to pick her whip back up. But when she started to coil it back up she found that Alphonse was still stepping on it. She looked up at him and he snorted coldly before lifting his foot and, finally, sheathing his sword.

Hiro sighed in relief, his shoulders slowly relaxing with the exhale, “Alright, let’s keep going.”