Chapter II
An overwhelming stench of fear and death. The cries of terror and despair. The heat of roaring flames billowing overhead. The normally, bright blue sky now painted red. A deep, crimson red.
It didn’t matter where he looked, the scenery was all the same.
Corpses littered the cobblestone pathways, buildings were demolished and in ruin, still set ablaze in a fiery inferno.
No matter what...All was dominated by that same, endless red.
Right before his eyes, a brilliant, white castle towered above it all, ethereally standing out against the deep crimson all around. Those glistening, snow white towers dyed in the same, fiery colors.
He felt as though the image had seared itself within his mind...That image alone would forever remain, branded into his eyes.
The sight of everything he knew and fought for burning away before him, engulfed within that fiery abyss.
He cried out, his voice seemingly trapped within his throat. No sound would escape him.
He couldn’t bear to see it.
Turning his gaze away, he refused the very existence of this memory, even if it would continually play against the backs of his eyelids. Over and over. Like a broken record, forever on repeat.
He desperately willed it away.
He didn’t want to see.
He heard voices, muffled and inaudible...Yet, somehow, they continued to grow nearer, rather than farther away.
Emerald eyes eventually opened slowly, blurry vision refocusing onto a gray ceiling he didn’t know, the memories of his ‘dream’ already growing distant.
“Ah, he’s awake!” A voice called out as the fox turned his gaze to the side, what appeared to be a doctor only mere inches away from his face. One might even say he was practically breathing down his neck.
A...Doctor?
He immediately shot upright, fur swelling out in alarm as a low, threatening growl rumbled from within his throat. His pupils narrowed into needle thin slits as he glared the man down, but the doctor didn’t seem the least bit phased by his display of aggression.
“Oh! You poor thing, you’ve gone all fluffy!!” One might say the doc looked almost ecstatic to an uncomfortable degree, his chocolate brown hair slicked back as he stared the little fox down almost hungrily with honey colored eyes. “You’re a Farronian Demon, aren’t you? I’ve never had the chance to study one up close before...Oh, I can barely contain myself!! Tell me, do you see in color, or is your range of vision limited? Does it resemble a dog's? A cat's???” The doc was practically fogging up his own glasses as he bombarded the poor fox with a myriad of questions...Not that he gave the fox a chance to even answer a single one of them, of course. He seemed to be incapable of restraining his excitement, and this gave the fox a different sense of danger entirely.
“Sage, that’s enough. You’re scaring him.” A voice called out from just behind the man, and this, in turn, had the man turning around, rubbing his hands together excitedly.
“Oh, yes of course, I would be more than happy to study you as well, Eon!”
“...That’s not exactly the issue here.” Eon frowned, looking exasperated with the man. “If you’re done, how about reporting this back to headquarters?” He suggested before finally managing to shoo him away.
“Fine, fine. I’m sure I’ll get more chances once you return with him.” The Doctor, apparently going by the name of Sage, frowned, admitting defeat and leaving the room.
Eon couldn’t restrain the small sigh that escaped him as he turned his gaze back to the little fox, who was glaring daggers at him the entire time.
If looks could kill, he’d probably be dead a hundred times over with that look he was given.
“Yeah, yeah, glare all you want, it’s not gonna get you anywhere.” He grinned smugly with an amused flick of his long, black tail. “You should be thanking me for taking you in. I didn’t have to, after all.”
...Taking him in? The fox couldn’t help but narrow his eyes even more than before.
“After incessantly hounding me, throwing me to the ground not once, but twice, and dragging me off to who knows where? Forgive me for not leaping with joy.” He spat, flattening his ears and rolling his eyes sarcastically.
Eon’s brow twitched slightly in response, staring down hard at the little fox.
The fox held Eon’s gaze, however, refusing to break eye contact. Doing so would be the same as admitting defeat. Once their eyes met, he had to hold his gaze. Such was a tacit rule between Demons, and he sure as hell wouldn’t submit to this one.
The two locked gazes for several, drawn out moments, testing boundaries...Until finally, Eon sighed, the charged atmosphere deescalating.
“...Stubborn, aren’t you?” He frowned, crossing his arms in slight annoyance.
“Hmph.” The fox scoffed, finally turning his face away, his gaze dropping to realize he had been carefully bandaged.
He could still feel mild pain, but compared to before...That pain was significantly lessened.
“How did you get those wounds?” Eon questioned, as though somehow being able to get a feel for what the fox might have been thinking about.
However, perhaps because he was still upset, the fox didn’t answer, as petty as that was.
Silence ensued, as though Eon refused to not get an answer from him...But no such thing came.
“...Are you usually this bratty?” He muttered, growing ever more agitated with the fox’s unnecessary, stubborn attitude. “What about your name?”
Still no answer. The fox wouldn’t even look at him.
“...Well, I can always change my mind about shooing the Doc away. I’m sure he’d be more than happy to get a nice look at you. There’s a slight chance he just might decide not to take you apart, after all.”
Finally, a response was given to him as the fox’s ear gave a slight twitch.
“...Max.” He mumbled, tossing Eon a sideways glare. “It’s Max.” He repeated. “Do you usually make a habit of hounding people so unfairly? Or is there a small chance that you’re not really as unpleasant as you seem?” He snapped, practically spitting his words at the man.
“Unfortunately for you, this is my usual. The real deal. Pretty good package, if you ask me.” Eon grinned, feeling victorious with Max’s response. “Now then, Max…” He began, making his way over and closing the distance between them as he lifted Max’s chin, forcing him to meet his gaze. “Are you gonna answer my first question, or not?”
“...No.” Max replied firmly, jerking his chin away and averting his gaze.
That silence once again passed between them, Eon leaning back and finally giving Max some space.
“...Sage said you were Farronian, yeah? I can’t imagine how you ended up all the way out here.”
...Farronian? Max’s ears perked, having forgotten about that comment during his confusion earlier.
“This...Isn’t Farronia? Where am I??” He questioned, finally lifting his gaze again.
“You won’t answer my question, yet you seem to have plenty of your own, it seems.” Eon rose an eyebrow before looking out the window. “Raoul. Pretty far in too. We’re close to the Capital now. Probably just another week to get there on foot, give or take.”
But the rest wasn’t heard by Max’s ears, his thoughts spiraling off upon hearing where he had ended up.
He was in Raoul, of all places? He suspected he had ended up quite far, but...Not this far. Raoul was across the ocean, for heaven’s sake. He was nowhere near Farronia anymore.
But...Perhaps this was also a blessing in disguise. Surely he wouldn’t be able to handle seeing what state Farronia was in right now.
Perhaps things were better this way.
What a pathetic way of thinking. Honestly, he was just running away. He couldn’t help but silently curse himself.
“Something funny?” Eon quirked an eyebrow, and Max realized a dry laugh had escaped him.
“...No. I just found the situation was a bit ironic, is all.” He replied blandly, letting out a small breath as he finally decided to swallow his pride. “Anyways...Eon, was it? I suppose I should thank you for having me get patched up, at the very least. Even if you were a brute and completely manhandled me for no reason before.” He added in, saying that last bit with clear disdain in his tone. He was still a bit salty, admittedly.
Eon looked a bit taken aback, seeming to not have expected genuine gratitude from Max so soon, even if he did throw in a snarky comment or two.
“...No problem, I suppose.” He replied with a smallish shrug. “Originally, I had intended to just dispose of you, honestly.” He admitted.
“Well then, why didn’t you?” Max questioned, his previous aggression all but gone. He was simply genuinely curious. Given Max’s previous state, offing him would have been all too easy.
“...Why, indeed?” Eon mumbled, looking as though he didn’t quite understand why himself. “...A whim, I suppose?” He finally answered with a nonchalant shrug.
He really didn’t understand it, but at that moment back there, he just couldn’t bring himself to abandon this person.
Eon’s answer was somewhat anticlimactic for Max, but he still found himself being able to respect such simple reasoning. It was thanks to that reasoning, after all, that he was still alive...Even if he didn’t know if being alive meant anything of significance to him at the moment.
An awkward silence ensued after that, the conversation having died off as neither of them seemed to know what to add to it.
“...Think you’re feeling well enough to walk?” Eon was eventually the first to break the ice, his two-toned gaze fixating back down on Max.
Once again, Max found himself seized by that gaze, unable to really understand why, exactly...Those eyes just seemed...So clear. So confident, as though Eon didn’t question or doubt for even a moment as to where he stood, what path he wanted to take.
They were the complete opposite of Max’s, which looked so uncertain. So lost.
Eventually though, he did answer Eon’s question with a meek nod, rather than words.
“Good.” Eon nodded, his long tail giving yet another flick. “Let’s get a move on then. I plan on bringing you back with me.” He explained as he pushed himself off of the wall he had been leaning against. “...Unless you have something better in mind?”
“...Ah, no. Not really.” Max admitted honestly, finally pushing himself out of the bed.
He didn’t have anywhere to go. No where to return to...So, he couldn’t really find any solid reason as to not tag along with Eon at this point. At the very least, it gave him a sense of motive. It was far better than wandering aimlessly.
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