Among a domain of pure white was him and him alone.

Augen felt his eyes twitch, and he felt a pair of hooks locked into his eyelids and dragging them down with weights attached on the other side before he strained and fought to lift it up with all of his strength. That was when a beam of light finally pierced through the scarred layers of his skin as he opened his eyes for the first time in a long time.

With blood dripping down his face, he forced himself to focus his vision forward as he caught a glimpse of a bald girl with dark skin and crimson eyes. Her muscular outline was unmistakable, yet what made Augen instantly aware was her unshakable confidence.

“Fatera.” Augen smiled lightly, reaching a hand forward as he tried to move towards her, “You’ve come here…Necrovia of all places.”

Fatera smiled at him, and she placed one hand on her wide hips before waving back at him with the other as she turned around and started running. In a single stride, she had already disappeared to nearly the edge of the horizon as Augen hurried to chase after her.

“Wait…wait up! I can see you again! I can finally see you!” Augen said quickly, his feet slipping along the non-existent ground as he tried his hardest to bounce off each step, yet each only sunk him into the ground further.

Soon, the vibrant outline of Fatera was all but a dark dot.

“Please…don’t leave me…” Augen plead, swimming through the whiteness underneath as he fought his own sinking body. Then, the dark dot blinked out as he bit into his lips with his eyes became sealed shut again, “please don’t leave me alone…”

“Augen?” A familiar yet unrecognizable voice came from behind him, and Augen struggled around to see a skinny girl with short black hair, beautiful blue eyes, and golden caramel skin with her hands behind her back.

“You…?” Augen tilted his head and tried his hardest to remember her, yet nothing came to mind.

“You…don’t remember me?” She asked, hopping way too close as her face started to blur the closer she got to him, and when she stood inches away from Augen’s face, her facial features were all but a set of obscured lines and dots, “Then I will make you remember.”

“Ah!” Augen sprung up, and the bed underneath his body bounced in response to his rapid movements. He scanned around in a panic, his mind immediately picking up a handful of Wave signatures around him. He felt for the scarring over his eyes before reaching for the left-hand bedside table where he usually puts the bandanna. However, he only felt the warm wooden surface that had been heated by the sunlight piercing through the windows.

His initial shout startled the feminine Wave signature right by the bed, and she rocked awake too before cracking into a smile, “You are up!”

“Tonya…” Augen smiled with relief as he let out a sigh and laid back down.

“You are safe.” The two said at the same time before Tonya chuckled and covered her mouth lightly.

“I only heard you got taken to join the main squad, then…Zmey ordered Beardy to kill you…” Augen said as he realized that his voice was way deeper than usual now that he's asleep for a little while, and he wondered if Tonya had noticed that, “I should have been able to catch him before that, but…he’s more slippery than I thought.”

“If Beardy ordered the rest of the group to attack me, I probably would have died…” Tonya said, looking at Augen’s outlines before she picked up the bandanna from the right side of the bed and placed it in Augen’s hands, their fingers lightly brushing against one another.

“Did he hurt you?” Augen asked quickly, trying to sense if Tonya had been hurt anywhere, though any usage of the Wave beyond the most basic levels sprung pulsing pain all over his body, “Shit…”

“I am fine!” Tonya said, placing a hand on Augen and keeping him glued to the bed and resting, “He’s probably still walking in the middle of the desert or something…but compared to me…you were far more reckless! And stupid!”

“I know…” Augen smiled and shook his head, “I know…but I cannot risk letting you get hurt…”

“I know…” Tonya said, placing a hand over Augen’s, “Thank you. For everything. Again.”

“So…what now?” He asked when one of the servants brought a bowl of light soup for him as his stomach growled in response to smelling the aroma of the spices in the air.

“Well…now that Zmey’s gone, the people wanted a new ruler, and uncle Zhad is working to set up a trade deal with some of the merchants…However, I will make sure that the matter of water is the first itinerary of discussion.” Tonya said, “The talk is set to begin soon.”

“Shouldn’t you be there then?” Augen asked when Tonya picked up the bowl and a wooden spoon before scooping up a small portion of deliciously smelling food.

“I am exactly where I need to be.” Tonya smiled as she blew on the spoon lightly before moving it towards Augen’s lips, “Say ah~”

“This is demora-” The spoon was pressed against Augen’s mouth before the fluids slipped into Augen’s mouth. He closed his mouth instinctively and licked away every last drop of that soup from that spoon as the floodgates of hunger opened.

When Tonya pulled out the spoon that was licked clean, Augen had become silent.

“This is what?” She teased before scooping the second spoonful when Augen blushed and opened his mouth in anticipation.

"Delicious."

It turned out the soup was not even close to being enough food for Augen. After overusing his Wave and pushing way beyond what his limits were, his body had gone into overdrive for compensating for that overuse. Therefore every breath he took felt like a labor, and his use of the Wave was limited to the one thing that he had been using all the time ever since losing his eyes.

As the servants continued bringing more food, and Tonya’s feeding tools went from spoons to forks, Augen had given up trying to persuade Tonya to leave him alone, enjoying the luxury instead.

When night time came, Ver came and took Augen into her domain to clean up and handle his needs before dumping him back on the bed, and this time, he felt Tonya’s presence right next to him. As she changed into her nightgowns and sunk into the bed next to him, he turned and faced straight at her as she took off his bandanna for him.

“You shouldn’t get into bed with a man before you get married.” He said when Tonya pinched him in the nose lightly as punishment.

“What if you die in the middle of the night?” She said, “I need to watch over you properly!”

“You could have let the s…” Augen muttered when Tonya placed a finger over his lips and groaned with annoyance.

Her fingers were boiling hot, and Augen soon felt her heart beats through the sheets as he swallowed and faced towards the ceiling, “Maybe I should learn to shut up sometimes…”

“Yes.” She said.

Even though Tonya talked a big talk about taking care of Augen in any case of emergency through the night, she was the first one to dose off as Augen listened to her slow and steady breaths. His Wave was still unrecovered, and his entire body still ached with even the slightest of muscular tension, though whatever discomfort he was filling was soothed with a full stomach.

He rolled over to Tonya, who was shivering lightly under the chilling night of the Dune’s Diamond. With his fingers moving gingerly, Augen covered her exposed shoulders before sitting up and slowly stepping off the bed one foot at a time. His very first step caused a loud creak in the floor, and he kept his attention on Tonya’s Wave before he moved to the door, opening it and making his way down the corridor.

The room towards the end was half-open, and a trio of people sat around a table and conversed quietly over a small container of wine when Ver teleported Augen right beside them with her Whirlpool Purple.

“And here I thought being an engineer was impressive enough.” Wu’s voice came from behind him as Augen gingerly sat down, though even the pressure of the cushions was enough to make him wince.

“It is impressive.” Augen admitted, “And far less stupid.”

“You have no idea how much you worried the girl,” Ver said, placing a cup in front of Augen as he reached forward and grabbed it with his hands. His friends watched his every struggle, and they waited for him to move the cup towards his mouth before taking a zip with him, “Be good to her.”

“I am trying…” Augen said, the cup slipping through his weak grip when Wu reached over and took it, “But I don’t want to tire her with taking care of me…”

“Right now, that’s what she wanted to do.” Wu said, reaching into his pockets and placing a few of the freshly charged fuel rocks into Augen’s hands before helping him slip them into his pockets, “Just sit tight and get better. Then, we will plan what’s next together.”

“Sounds good…” Augen smiled.

“Don’t worry, Augen.” Lera smiled, “We won’t leave you alone.”

“How much of that did you hear?!” Augen protested when Ver laughed and surrounded Augen with her Whirlpool Purple.

"Too much to make us feel bad for you." Ver smirked, a whirlpool purple forming right underneath Augen's butt before he was teleported away, “Get your ass back to the bed. She’s waiting for you.”

When Augen’s body flopped onto the bed, he heard Tonya’s voice immediately.

“You are not allowed to move!” She protested, hugging on Augen’s arm and pinning him down, “A girl is here in your bed, and your first instinct is to run away?!”

“I am sorry…” Augen felt his heart shoot up to his throat as Tonya hugged his arms close the sensations of her body felt way too vivid for his mind, and blood rushed through to his head and…something else.

Shit shit shit! Not now! Not now!

“Hmm?” She looked all over Augen as a small tent was propped up around his hip, and Augen squeaked with embarrassment before rolling to the other side.

“Hey!” Tonya said, “You are going to make me mad if you keep moving about!”

“I won’t now!” Augen surrendered, “Do…do whatever you want!”

“Whatever I want…?” Tonya gasped and covered her mouth before she wiggled to right behind Augen’s ear and whispered, “You sure? You think that’s a good idea? What if…what if something really happened…? Are you ready to take…responsibility? I am a princess...you know? I am not even married...”

“Where did you even learn to talk like that!” Augen complained, “Have you been talking to Ver or something?!”

Ver let out a massive sneeze and nearly sent a snot rocket into Wu's wine glass.

“No…?” Tonya hovered her hand over Augen’s shoulders and hesitated. Then, she sighed and dropped it straight down, her fingers staying inches away from him, “Never…mind. Just go to bed…”

“Good night…” Augen felt his heart race as he tried to steady his voice and breathing.

“Good night…” Tonya spun and faced the other way, her own heart racing at a different clip.