His staff was trapped underneath him and he was lying perfectly still. Rune really had saved the day and their collective backsides in one fell swoop. There was nothing left of the dark magician Lassic apart from the finest ash scattered around the area, enjoying the same fate as his three lowly servants. All was quiet save for the bubbling of lava and the breathing of Rune's friends. Rika was the one left holding the ancient torch and it flickered with a warm and friendly glow, trying to dispel the dark.

As Kyra tried to judge whether this was a dream or not Wren knelt and checked to see whether the fallen magician was still alive. There may have been additional injuries Rune had sustained while away from his friends and lost through the gate into the other world. Visually he seemed older now, if only no more than a few years or so, causing Wren to wonder exactly what it was that the Lutz had experienced in the minutes following his disappearance. If they had been minutes and not longer, he corrected himself. "He is alive and breathing, though I surmise he must be beyond exhausted." He said.

Kyra started to giggle as Wren picked up Rune, simply amazed. Honestly she hadn't expected them to actually do it, merely try, hold out for a little while if possible, but inevitably fail and be defeated. The thought of them walking off to their graves had made her feel sick inside, but really what else could they have done? Wait for the black energy wave to grow strong enough and claim them? Long story short Kyra could hardly believe their great success.

Even while unconscious Rune maintained something of a death-grip on his laconian stave. Chaz peered around his surroundings and also realised the enormity of their accomplishment. Above all they had survived. None of his friends had died. For now they were back on top again. "Wahoo!" The young hunter shouted, leaping and pumping a fist into the air, his shout echoing and bouncing off the cold stone walls.

He was answered by a low, earthy rumble. For a second Chaz thought that maybe he had shouted too loudly and had set off some kind of chain reaction, causing something of a stone avalanche. He looked at his friends and the darkness surrounding them. Rika with the torch in her arms, Kyra pale and shaky with happy disbelief, and Wren calmly carrying Rune. The darkness and the rumbling were incredibly claustrophobic, but it was so much better than having to listen to Lassic's hysterical laughter anymore.

"Um…" He said softly, as if guilty for causing the sound. "What is that? Please don't tell me there's more…"

"Give me a moment to analyse this." Wren requested as he shifted Rune a little in his grasp. It didn't look like he was doing anything different than before, but Chaz knew that behind those grey eyes hundreds of minute calculations were being made in order to ascertain and explain the potentially dangerous situation. Chaz wasn't sure how the he did it exactly, but he trusted the wren-type's judgement.

He blinked and looked up, focussing on Chaz, and the boy knew that Wren had gotten hold of something. "Without Rune's ready opinion I am only able to speculate." He warned Chaz and the others as the rumbling kicked up a notch. "Remember that the Air Castle was partially consumed by faint rips in the time-space continuum. These rips were called into being through Lassic's willpower and magical abilities. With Lassic removed I can only assume that those rips have also ceased to exist, removing the contained matter they were projected upon with them."

"What does that mean?" Chaz asked. Anything coming from the world of quantum was completely lost on him, even if Wren seemed to be trying to explain it in terms he should be able to understand. Judging from the expressions on Rika and Kyra's faces it wasn't very good news. Rika had been educated by Wren and Seed and Kyra's magic focussed specifically on those very matters of time and space. Chaz felt kind of stupid in comparison.

"You don't mean…" Kyra said in a low tone, her good cheer replaced by dread.

"The foundation has been severely compromised. The Air Castle is crumbling." Wren concluded to the detriment of all.

The information hit them all rather hard. They were all trapped in the very bowels of the castle, even if they ran as quickly as they possibly could they would never reach the Landale in time. A huge chunk of the ceiling broke away and fell through the darkness into the lava pit, sending up a flurry of superheated molten rock. Fortunately it had been nowhere near Chaz and his company, yet it was still far too close for comfort.

Chaz nearly burst a blood vessel. In situations like these all the pressure was thrust upon him, and he had a pretty consistent record of panicking while under stress. Chaz practically fluffed up like a cornered animal and started to shout. "Oh gods, we have to do something! We're trapped! We have to get out of here! We've got to escape quickly!" This was followed by some arm-flapping and desperate glances in the hopes of locating a sudden exit.

In the absence of Rune Kyra performed his duty for him and kicked Chaz in the seat of his pants. It was the only way she knew of to properly shut him up. "Calm down or you're gonna make yourself faint! We don't need that right now! If Rune's out of the question then we at least need to have you here and awake!" She yelled, now having to shout over the din of the crumbling castle. Chaz just stared at her in surprise, a hand on his backside where she had kicked him.

He still didn't seem to get it. Trust Chaz and his slow-working mind. If it had been Rune they would have been safe by now. Though, they couldn't be too callous to the boy; next to Rune this day had been harsher to him than anybody else. "You can use your hinas technique to take us back to the Landale." Rika piped up, clarifying things for him.

Oh… right. Duh. In his panic he had completely forgotten about that. Well, there was time to apologise for being an ass later. Chaz held out his hands for the others to take. "Right. Everybody join hands and whatever you do don't let go!" He instructed as the floor cracked underneath him, darting like a lightning bolt through the stone. The platform wasn't going to last for much longer.

Chaz took Rika's hand and touched Wren gently on his upper arm. Wren was already holding Rune, and Kyra very firmly held onto Rika. Together they were all connected and formed something of a chain. The hunter closed his eyes and concentrated, telling himself that they needed to get out of there, and fast. He visualized the Landale. That was their safe haven and it was so close, so close…

Only Chaz and Rune could perform the hinas technique, so this was entirely up to him. The four adventurers suffered a feeling of intense displacement, the biological members of the team experiencing something of a nauseating, woozy rush. Wren's universal positioning system floundered for some moments as well, trying to re-establish where the hell it was, then it found a general bearing and Wren was able to relax again.

The hunter smiled as the pressure on his mind was released. Ooh, using that kind of technique never failed to make him a little tired. Chaz was about to sigh and open his eyes in relief when he was yanked to the side firmly, uttering a surprised squeak as Rika cinched her hand around his wrist and hauled him up along the Landale's ramp. He had forgotten that she was strong enough to do that; drag him around like a piece of flapping cloth.

The exterior of the asteroid had drastically changed, huge great fissures opening up in the already brittle stone. The bottom half of the Landale had already sunken down partly into one of those fissures, making access to the ship treacherous and shaky. Kyra had flown up to the entry hatch and had opened it for the others, letting in Rika with Chaz and Wren with Rune. Judging by the state of things they only had a few short minutes to get out of there.

The ship made a long creaky groan as it sank further and further into the fissure. There was a definite slant to the floor now; Chaz felt that if he wasn't holding onto Rika's hand he would have just slid away. Wren placed Rune a little carelessly off to the side and ran past Chaz, somehow maintaining perfect balance on his own. He went straight to the bridge and the pilot's chair of the Landale, making hasty preparations for immediate takeoff. The hunter wasn't sure what to do next except wait, but he didn't want to be thrown onto the ground during the initial pressure of takeoff.

Rune opened his eyes and groggily pushed himself up onto his knees. By checking his surroundings he realised that he was no longer back where he thought he'd be. The magician held his head as if he had a tremendous headache, but when he asked what was going on it was Chaz he turned to first. He looked sort of sick, so weak that it was hard to believe that this was the Rune which had bugged him so often. "What… what happened to Lassic?"

Kneeling, Chaz put an arm around Rune's back to keep the esper steady. Rika and Kyra had already run off into the bridge area in order to see if Wren needed some help, leaving Chaz there alone with Rune. "You fried him into ash," he reassured his friend, "you did in a couple of seconds what the rest of us couldn't do at all. Why do you always have to show off all the time? You gotta be more careful."

"I could say the same of you." Rune replied, mostly referring to Chaz's reckless behaviour in combat, but of other things also. He was beginning to truly believe that Chaz was the one that Rune had been searching for his whole life; the one who would follow in Rolf and Alis Landale's footsteps. The one who would someday wield the legendary sword, Elsydeon, but he was still not sure. He would not act until he was absolutely, positively certain.

He was also slightly referring to Chaz with Wren in mind. Rune wasn't sure that Chaz was aware of what had happened to him, but if he himself had found out so easily then who else knew about it? Rune and the boy both lurched as the Landale gave another full-bodied bump. They could only begin to imagine what the asteroid outside looked like now. Chaz clung to Rune and the esper let him, but only because he was exhausted and far too tired to shove him away.

Maybe it was because he was so tired in the first place that he was able ask this next question without much thought as to what Chaz's reaction might be. Frankly he didn't care; he just wanted to see if he was right or not. "Hey shorty, are you gay? Are you a nancy boy or something?" He asked casually as the outside world collapsed all around them.

It took a moment for the hunter to grasp the query, and when he did it was like Kyra had crept up behind him and kicked him in the pants all over again. Chaz gaped at the smarmy smirking Rune. "Wh-what? Why the heck would you ask me that at a time like this? Did you leave your brain out there somewhere in the other dimension, Rune?" He demanded, flabbergasted.

"Nah, I just always figured that you were. I mean, you've got Rika hanging around you practically at all hours of the day but I don't think you've even touched her once. If you're not gay, Chaz, then you're the greatest idiot I or any of the other Lutzes have seen in our lifetimes." The esper explained in an a-matter-of-factly tone. Hell, he would have hit on Rika himself long ago if he had not been grieving for Alys at the time.

"So you decide to question my sexuality and call me names while the Landale is probably halfway to falling into a fissure and certain doom?" Chaz accused in sheer disbelief and indignation.

"Given the circumstances that we might not live for much longer I just thought I'd clear up a loose end and make sure I was right! There is no better time!" Rune shouted over the clamour of the engines and the intense rumbling outside, coming in as vibrations through the walls. The sound had been growing steadily in volume ever since they had all leapt inside, and now it was becoming unbearable.

"If you plan on dragging somebody into a closet and doing awful things to them for one last fling before we die then go and grab Kyra instead! If you even try to do anything to me then I'll stick one of my daggers right where you'd least enjoy it!" Chaz yelled right back, blushing in self-consciousness for what he had just said.

And then all of a sudden there was comparative quiet. Wren had managed to get the Landale off the surface of the asteroid and back into deep, safe space. Actually, half of Chaz's shouting had been made when all was quiet. He cringed when he heard the way that his voice seemed to carry in the hallway of the ship. "…or maybe you'd like something like that, I dunno…" He finished in a soft, dreadfully embarrassed murmur.

Rune regarded him as if Chaz had gone, well, completely bonkers. The expression on the esper's face painted a picture that was worth far more than a thousand words. "You… you think that I'm…" He spluttered, choking out the words. Unexpectedly he started to laugh, slapping Chaz weakly on the back. It was a riot. "Oh gods stop it Chaz, I can hardly breathe well enough as it is! Too… too tired…"

"Huh?" Was all Chaz could say.

"I'd rather screw a bladeright with halitosis than even consider touching you! Your height might be contagious, I'd never wanna take the… hahaha… chance…"

Chaz was understandably insulted. "Hey, I'm not that bad." He protested, frowning.

The doorway to the bridge slid open again and the two girl came back to check on Rune. They were a little surprised to see the Lutz awake so soon, held up by a slightly disgruntled Chaz. Kyra went to them immediately and pushed the boy out of the way. Rika kept her arms at her front, holding their treasured torch while also trying to hold her ruined clothes together. "That was far too close for comfort, but Wren says we're not out of the woods just yet. Are you gonna come to the bridge?"

Chaz climbed grumpily to his feet while Kyra shook Rune so hard that she may have expected candy to fall out of him if she tried. He pushed away just to make her stop, holding Kyra by the shoulders, but then she dove forward and grabbed him in a big bear hug, throwing Rune flat on his back. Chaz nudged the both of them with a boot. "Yeah, I might as well. I might get an eyeful of something gross if I stay here any longer." He remarked cheekily.

"Oh, shut up!" Rune and Kyra shouted at Chaz simultaneously. Chaz grinned, it was fun to find new ammunition to bug Rune with. The hunter left with Rika by his side and together they sort of powerwalked back to the bridge where Wren was sitting in the pilot's seat and doing, well, all the things that a pilot was supposed to do. The Lutz realised one thing moments after his other two friends had gone. Chaz hadn't actually answered his question with a simple yes or no, he had merely skirted around the issue. Huh, that was something quite interesting to think about.

It was far more hectic on the bridge than back there in the sparse but somehow safe corridor. Klaxons were blaring and the little lights that were usually soft and mellow flashed angrily at Chaz as he passed by. The whole cacophony made him want to walk faster, so he did. By the time the doorway to the cockpit opened for him Chaz was almost running.

He and Rika burst onto the scene. "Alright, what's going on?" He cried, worried that they might be about to slam into a planet again or something equally unpleasant.

Wren turned his head to look behind him past the pilot's seat. He didn't seem too pleased. "We have successfully escaped the asteroid's collapsing field of gravity however the distance between us and thew Air Castle is still not satisfactory. If we cannot get far away enough from the blast zone…" He trailed off, going back to the controls of the ship.

"What? What will happen?" Chaz demanded, needing an excuse to panic all over again. If Wren didn't like it and he was the captain of the ship then it was bad for all involved.

"There will be a shockwave." Wren clarified, then something changed on his cockpit monitor and the android's body suddenly tensed up. The asteroid was exploding then and there, judging by their distance they only had a few seconds to…

"Everybody! Prepare yourselves!"

There wasn't much time to listen to him. Mere seconds after Wren had spoken a tremendous shockwave ripped through their spaceship as the Air Castle compressed itself and exploded into a magnificent eye of light. The Landale was picked up and carried like a piece of debris upon a wave, tossing the people within like toys. It felt like a nagra technique had been cast upon the ship, slamming everybody into the floor.

The entire ship shuddered with the impact. Nobody knew how Kyra or Rune handled the shockwave back in the corridor, and in the future that matter was never looked into. Upon the bridge Chaz followed his instincts and grabbed into Rika to protect her, while Rika protected herself as she was still carrying with her the eclipse torch. Wren was hurled forward and smacked his chin quite hard against the edge of the ship controls, something that would have been quite painful were he a palman..

Nobody moved until the wave carried itself out and then dispersed harmlessly into space. The bridge seemed quiet and empty for some time, until somebody on the floor groaned and the three adventurers climbed back up from the shock. Wren used the control panel as leverage and got back into his seat, checking the computer readings while Chaz and Rika disentangled themselves from each other.

"Ugh, I bumped you. Is the torch okay?" Chaz asked anxiously as he helped Rika up from the floor. No broken glass surrounded her and she still had the small bowl cradled protectively in her arm.

"Yes, it's fine." Rika answered, feeling for any imperfections in the bowl, like a crack or anything that could affect the torch's powers within. It was pretty damn hardy for an ancient artifact, the holy flame winking reassuringly at the both of them.

Wren made sort of a sighing sound in relief and then relaxed after checking the Landale over for any imperfections of its own. "Damages to the ship are also minimal. We have escaped the asteroid's pull of gravity and blast radius. I am now setting a direct course back to Tyler spaceport; Dezoris. Current mission parameters have been fulfilled."

They had done it. They won. In a sense they had achieved the nearly impossible; beaten Lassic for good this time. A huge weight simply dissolved, using the torch the path to the Garuberk tower was now ready and waiting for them. Raja and all the other victims of the black energy wave could be saved.

About an hour later after their miraculous escape from the Air Castle the mood was light and victorious, if a little tired. Most of the party had moved back into the lounge. Rika had changed out of her ruined clothes and after a brief unfulfilling shower she had put on a space, if older pair of flannel pyjamas. Kyra was busy pampering Rune with a blanket and a cup of tea, and Rune was accepting the treatment because he felt that he deserved it more than all the other bums in the room. Chaz was half asleep in a chair, the eclipse torch carefully placed away in a ventilated safety deposit box. Wren was still on the bridge, content to be on his own for now.

Rune held the cup of tea halfway to his lips, the liquid in the cup warming his hands and his spirits. Frankly he would have preferred something stronger with alcohol in it, but beggars could not be choosers way out in deep space. He yawned, trying not to feel his age in his mind, if not in his body. "Lassic… if you think about it, he was pretty pathetic. He was seduced by an awesome power and the he became nothing more than somebody's puppet."

As Rune took another welcoming sip of his tea Chaz opened one eyes from where he had been half-dozing, half-listening in. He wanted so badly to sleep but he couldn't just yet, not until they were safely back on Dezoris or until he couldn't take it anymore. Anyway, something that both Rune and Lassic had said bonded together in his mind. "Enormous power? Who was the 'He' that Lassic mentioned?"

The niggling, unanswered question was born in Chaz and spread through to the others like a silent, invisible fire. Nobody really knew, not even Rune, though they all had the same guess lingering on their minds. "Was it… dark force?" Rika guessed, the only one with the nerve to say it out loud.

The four friends all exchanged glances solemnly. They had completely obliterated that evil presence on Kuran, it just couldn't be possible for it to pop up all over again. Chaz dropped the hand he had been resting his chin against down into his lap. "He hasn't been destroyed yet?" He sighed.

They just never got a break.

†††

It was very deep into the night when the Landale came to roost in the empty Tyler spaceport. Outside the land was pitch and nearly unbearably cold, streaming with constant snow. The snow was just about the only thing which separated the night from space. They were back on the planet again but nobody left the spaceport or the ship, really, the saner approach was to wait for the sun to arise so the land would become habitable again.

Likewise the environment inside the Landale was quiet, yet warm. People were asleep in various places; Rika curled up against a newly discovered heat vent, Rune stretched out on the lounge. Kyra was somewhere else, but her audible snores could he heard echoing down the hallway. Wren still dozed in his pilot’s seat, more than halfway into standby mode. Only Chaz was awake, sitting up and watching Rika contentedly while she slept.

Hours earlier he would have dropped into a slumber on command had anybody told him to, but after the shock of winning that battle his mind had awoken instead and wasn’t about to quiet down anytime soon. Chaz felt that there were many things left to be addressed, and somehow the middle of the night seemed the best place to think about them. At least none of his friends would bother him while they slept.

Rika was so beautiful, Chaz thought. It was so soothing to watch her with her eyes closed and her hands curled up against her face. The boy no longer felt so guilty over watching her in such a way; he didn’t quite feel like a sneaky pervert anymore. Chaz couldn’t accurately pinpoint the reason why, though he guessed it was better this way. He could talk to Rika without becoming anxious or tongue-tied, yet he sort of missed the giddy heart-pounding fear/desire that had been with him scarcely a week ago.

It still existed in his heart and somebody would have to wipe his memory to make it go away, but admittedly it was milder; less urgent. Chaz wasn’t going to fall into a depressive lovesick spiral if Rika didn’t instantly recognise his feelings for her. Not for a while, anyway.  It would be nice if she did but that would be unlikely. Hard to believe that only hours ago her body had been lifeless and dead. Chaz gave another silent thank you to Raja, whose miracle had been right up there with Rune in saving the day.

Rika had wanted to talk to him about something after Lassic had been defeated. Now that the obstacle was well behind them Chaz began to wonder what it was. He couldn’t really think of anything that warranted discussion, not from her to him at least. The other way around was a totally different story, but the hunter was determined to keep that story quiet. Once bitten, twice shy, after the way the fake Rika had rejected him Chaz wasn’t going to wear his heart on his sleeve anytime soon.

Of course it wasn’t the real Rika’s fault. Chaz wouldn’t want her to believe anything like that. He was just weak in some personal respects and once he had been hurt he needed time to recover. It was the same as with Wren. When the android had first kissed him and frightened him out of his wits it had taken Chaz over a week to do anything about it. Maybe he was a little too slow.

Chaz thought back to the battle within the Air Castle. There was a huge chunk of misplaced time that he just could not explain. Rika had said something about him turning into a zombie and attacking her, and her blood on his hands had been the final, undeniable proof. Chaz hoped she had meant the mindless, brainless kind of zombie and not the other variety, like the ones staggering about in undead torment in the village of Reshel. The thought just made him shiver.

The hunter yawned and then pulled the zipper on the top part of his bodysuit down another inch. The heat vent that Rika was enjoying with catlike delight was sort of making Chaz feel a little too warm. He felt better as he reminded himself that life outside of the Landale was thirty Celsius below zero. His hand brushed across his neck but stopped when he felt something unusual. A forgotten wound from the last battle, maybe? He didn’t remember it being made.

It was painless cut, but that was mostly because there was a distinct lack of nerve endings in that part of his neck. Chaz rubbed the wound lightly, feeling its rough imperfection. He was making it sting and he probably shouldn’t irritate it so much, but Chaz was fascinated. It was as if somebody had tried to stab him in the throat, but had been stopped just in the nick of time. He certainly did not remember anything like that.

And the people who probably did remember were already off in deep sleep. The last thing Chaz wanted to do was disturb Rika with a stupid question when she looked so cute just lying there on her own. The hunter rose and stretched, reawakening all his dozing muscles. The whole thing felt really good, even if he did ache in a few minor places. With a smile at his secret love Chaz left the room.

The lighting in the Landale was turned down and dim, giving the correct impression that it was the middle of the night. There was just enough light for Chaz to see competently and not trip over his own feet. From where he was it sounded like Kyra had fallen asleep in the ship’s infirmary. Keeping a hand to the side of the wall as a safety precaution Chaz decided on his next destination and made his way to the bridge.

He went to see what Wren was up to and was actually kind of surprised to see that the android wasn’t busy with some task or another, or checking something out with the ship’s computer. He guessed that even Wren needed a break sometimes, too. It looked like he was also sleeping, resting his head gently against the back of his seat. One arm was on the armrest but the other had slid off and was left hanging limply by his side.

Wow… when exactly had Wren slipped into the same grouping of adorableness as Rika? It must have been some time when his back was turned. Well, if Wren was off along with the others then he wasn’t going to bother him either. Maybe he ought to go back and just clock off while the night still had length and size. There really was nothing better to do.

But there was that weird question of the cut upon his neck. If he laid down somewhere and tried to sleep he would wind up thinking about it for hours on end. Nobody wielded a weapon capable of making such a mark save for him. Had he fought somebody, been disarmed of a dagger and then…

All Chaz knew was that at some point during his lapse of memory he had attacked Rika and there was the chance that she may have fought back. If this wound was her doing then he guessed he deserved it, but he never wanted that scenario to happen ever again.

Chaz was tired. He really did want to sleep. He leaned forward and gently brushed his fingers through Wren’s short black hair. It was quite softer than he would have expected it to be. Suddenly Chaz had a slight urge to kiss his deactivated friend, but he thought it might have been a little creepy while Wren wasn’t conscious to experience it. It was just as he would have felt if he tried to kiss Rika in the same manner. It would be blasphemy.

Ironically, Chaz was not aware of what Rune had witnessed two days before. Maybe then his opinion would have been substantially different. The hunter withdrew his hand and for the first time in quite a while he subconsciously passed his fingers across his lips, then he made for the door and the exit of the cockpit. When he hit the button which made the door slide open something happened and he did not step through. He heard the pilot’s chair creak.

“… Did you want something, Chaz?”

He had kind of startled Chaz, causing the boy to tense and receive a mind adrenaline boost. Chaz turned a bit, his hand still depressing the key. He smiled as he watched Wren climb out of his chair. “I thought you were out of it. Sorry for bugging you.” He apologised. “You’re not… touch activated, are you?”

“Perhaps I am.” Wren replied, making Chaz chuckle at his enigmatic words. There had once been a time when all the android could provide were strictly black and white responses. That time was long gone now and Chaz was the only one left to blame. It made the boy’s smile slightly wider. “I was not deactivated; I was merely on standby. You were not bugging me.” He clarified.

“It’s not important. I was just going to ask a question but it can really wait until tomorrow.” He paused, a sudden thought occurring to him. “Um, we are on Dezoris now, right? I didn’t catch the announcement and everybody else was already asleep. I think we’ve stopped moving, at least.”

“Given the circumstances I thought it more considerate to suspend all non-emergency announcements until after dawn. We are within the Tyler spaceport, yes. Is that the question you wished to ask me?” Wren explained and then asked politely. The hunter shook his head, taking his hand away from the door and moving to the long bench at the back of the bridge. There were some similarities in the design of the Landale’s bridge to that of the ice digger. It was possible that Demi had been inspired by the original spaceship design.

Anyway, the bench had the same amount of almost-comfortableness he knew quite well from the digger. “No, it was something else.” Chaz said offhandedly, and then figured that because he was already here he might as well ask. He tugged down the collar of the dark undershirt. “Do you know how I got this? I don’t remember anything about a knife.”

The mark was hard to discern in the dim light. Wren moved forward and sat down beside Chaz in order to get a closer look. The android put his hand to his mouth as he attempted to identify the origin of the mark. The battle within the Air Castle had been confusing and chaotic; certainly he could not have observed everything. Nevertheless he searched his memory, looking for the answer.

Chaz waited patiently as Wren thought. Normally he would have felt a little anxious being scrutinized in such a way, but with his friend he felt fine. “If it was Rika who did this you can tell me. I wouldn’t be angry with her or anything. She would have just been defending herself from me.” But if she had succeeded, cut slightly deeper Chaz would have had a hole in his windpipe. He knew enough about stuff like that to be aware that it could have killed him.

Wren remembered. He reached out and delicately touched the skin beside the cut. It wasn’t serious and didn’t require stitches, but it was still a notable mark. “It was not Rika who did this. After you wounded her you attempted to injure yourself. This mark originated from that attempt.” He was completely honest with Chaz. It seemed the most sensible thing to do.

“What?” Chaz exclaimed, surprised at the unexpected answer. Wren took his hand away from Chaz’s throat but the hunter held in his breath, keeping it captive. The thought totally hadn’t occurred to him and it felt like his mind couldn’t accept it. He, Chaz, with a knife to his own throat? Impossible. He laughed nervously. “You gotta be joking. Please tell me about it. I tried to-”

“I suppose it would be more accurate to say that Lassic tried to kill you. He merely used your hands to do it.” Wren clarified softly. It didn’t seem like much of a difference for him but for Chaz it seemed to calm the boy down. Perhaps he was horrified by the prospect of self-harm, but hadn’t he done the very same thing the other day in the glacier? First the scar on his arm and now the slash on his throat. It was just another of the risks that his type of life forced him through.

“When he puppeteered me? After I stabbed Rika. I knew what happened wasn’t my fault but I still feel awfully bad about it. I should have been able to break free of his spell. I should have been able to stop myself from doing that.” Chaz sighed. This was what bugged him and was keeping him awake; a guilty conscience manifest as a wound on his throat. Once again he was dictating all his troubles to Wren instead of taking it to the proper person; his beloved Rika. Maybe his android friend should start charging him a listening fee by the hour. He’d have more meseta than he’d ever know what to do with in no time.

“Using that same logic you could say that I should have been able to prevent your stabbing of Rika, or that I should have been able to remove the knife from your hands in time. She would not have fallen and you would not be marked in such a way. Your logic is flawed, Chaz. One cannot be in control of everything at all times; even I am aware of that. Would you blame me for negligence on my part?” Wren asked his palman friend.

“No, of course not! It wasn’t your fault!” Chaz exclaimed, then realised that he had exactly proved Wren’s point. He smiled ironically and drooped, planting a hand on the bench between them to hold himself up. “Okay then, I’ll try to stop worrying about it. Lassic stabbed Rika and then tried to stab me. I was only the medium.” Another realisation came to him, his mind seemingly working in short bursts of thought. “Wait, you took the knife away from me? You stopped me from stabbing myself?”

At the time Wren had been the only one with his wits properly about him. Who else could it have been? Reassuringly Wren smiled back at the boy, who appeared amazed for no proper reason he could discern. Regardless, it was quite endearing. The android gently put his hand upon Chaz’s shoulder. “I could not allow you to harm yourself. No-one else had the opportunity to intervene. It was nothing special, though I am sorry for striking you in order to break Lassic’s spell.”

Being slapped by Wren was like being hit in the face by a frying pan. Not often had Chaz experienced something like that to draw a comparison, but there had been that one time in his childhood that he’d rather not remember. “It’s alright. Better that than the alternative.” He joked, pulling the zipper of his red overshirt up again and hiding the cut. It was significantly cooler in this room compared to where the others slept, so he didn’t quite feel so discomforted anymore.

The next words Wren spoke sounded like they had been withheld for some time, for reasons unknown. Not even the android really knew the reason why. “I do care about you, Chaz.” He admitted, subdued.

Perhaps the reason why the android had withheld those words was because Chaz’s first impulse was to laugh. It wasn’t to make fun of him or anything; it just sounded so sweet, especially joined by the fact that Wren couldn’t look him in the eye when he said that. He was embarrassed. The android’s emotions were continually becoming more complex. Chaz squashed the urge to laugh and merely nodded his understanding instead.

“I know. I really care about you too. Gods I’m tired…” He yawned sleepily. He had his answer now and his body had delivered to him an ultimatum; that if nothing else interesting was going to happen soon it was off to bed for the night. Without much thought Chaz stretched himself out on the slightly comfortable bench. Like this he could almost fit, almost, if he made a little alteration right there…

Wren watched in silence as Chaz leaned down and rested his head against his leg, practically lying in the android’s lap. He could fit properly on the odd lounge now but wouldn’t it have been easier to simply ask him to move? Wren would have gladly moved if he had asked. His hand that had once been on the youth’s shoulder was now against the back of Chaz’s neck. “That cannot be very comfortable.” He commented from above.

“You’d be surprised.” Chaz replied sleepily as he closed his eyes. He knew he couldn’t stay here for the night and sleep was definitely out of the question, but a few short minutes here in the middle of the night weren’t hurting anybody. Call it… an advance in the reward he’d get for bringing himself and his friends through the battle with Lassic in one piece. “Mm, I wish Rika would let me do this to her.”

“Have you asked?” Wren inquired casually.

“Heck no, she’d probably kill me.” The hunter chuckled. For a few nice, peaceful moments he relaxed, enjoying the luxury but still keeping a firm grasp upon the waking world. After a while Chaz realised with a quiet appreciative sound that Wren had begun to softly stroke his hair. It was possibly for want of something to do, because as long as Chaz was on top of him he wasn’t able to move.

The truth was that this was more of an elective action than anything else. Wren wasn’t sure why he was doing this, or why he wanted to do it, but he was beginning to take a more casual approach when it came to letting things go. He was learning palman reaction and enjoying it, so that was enough. This action seemed to give Chaz a greater sense of relaxation. “Would you like Rika to do this to you as well?” He questioned, keeping his voice quiet and low.

“I’d really love that, but I like this now, too.” The boy breathed. If he wasn’t careful he was going to drop off right to sleep. Chaz opened his eyes again to prevent that, dreamily watching the pretty lights of the Landale’s main control panel. He searched his mind for something to say, hitting upon a seam. He wanted to say something, needed to talk again before they were all swept away into the unknown spire of the Garuberk tower. “Hey Wren?”

“Yes?”

“When the fake Rika rejected me today it really hurt. It hurt so much that I thought that my heart would just give up and burst. I guess that’s to be expected, but the weird thing was that when the fake version of you also rejected me it felt even worse. The thought of losing you hurt more than the thought of losing Rika.”

Wren thought about that for a bit, considering and formulating a reply while continuing his ministrations of the young hunter lying in his lap. “It is possible you were too overwhelmed by the first rejection to accept the second. Perhaps if the order had been shuffled your emotion upon the subject would be vastly different. I’m sorry, Chaz. I still have slight trouble understanding you palmans at times.”

“But you’re still the most insightful person I know.” Chaz protested with fondness. Even if Wren was an android he still counted as a person to him, to everybody residing upon this ship. He wouldn’t have become so attached to anything less. “I think it might have been because the fake you said that you were falling in love with me.”

Wren stopped what he was doing. He didn’t respond right away. Eventually Chaz rolled over onto his back so he could look up at his friend in the face. The hunter was blushing while Wren just looked back at him with an unreadable expression. Maybe he had said the wrong thing. “I didn’t mean you; I meant the fake version of you. I just wanted to know what you thought about it.” He asked, backing up a bit.

“You want to know if I am falling in love with you?” Wren translated, raising an eyebrow. “I am not sure if that’s possible.”

“Are you?”

“I don’t know.”

It wasn’t a yes but it wasn’t a no either. Wren was uncertain and even Chaz could see that the question had affected him in some way. Chaz grinned. “That’s okay, it was just a stupid question anyway. I should probably go back to the others and catch some sleep before it’s all snatched up. Thanks for listening to me.”

“I will always have time for you, Chaz.” Wren promised kindly. There must have been something wrong with him. When faced with Chaz’s question after the initial shock he had actually wanted to say yes. Androids were never known to fall in love before so he had told the truth, but what was true and what he wanted to be true were two very separate things. The truth did not satisfy his… his desires.

His desires. Aside from his duties they were not meant to exist. Instead of getting up the normal way Chaz just rolled out of Wren’s lap and flopped onto the floor. Chaz was on his feet a second later, grinning goofily. Wren didn’t tell Chaz that he was acting like an idiot but the boy guessed that the thought was probably there. “Would you like to walk me to my room? In case I trip over myself in the dark?”

Wren wondered if he was referencing that time he almost tripped over a chair that night in Meese. Well, it was dark and until dawn he had nothing better to do. Wren nodded once in acquiescence and stood. “Very well. I will come with you.” He said.

So they left the bridge together, Chaz carefully watching his step with Wren at his side. They didn’t talk and the whole trip was no longer than two minutes, as the Landale’s interior wasn’t exactly as large as the outside led to believe. Chaz listened to his footsteps and the heavier clomp of Wren’s boots. It was waking him up a little and he hoped the effects were only temporary.

They stopped outside of the doorway to the makeshift sleeping quarters. The hallway remained totally silent. Chaz turned on his heel and looked up at his friend, rubbing tiredly at the corner of his eye. “So I guess I’ll see you in a few hours, then. What’ll we be doing today?” He asked, despite being the leader and the one charged with formulating the plans in the first place.

“We will travel from Tyler back towards Meese and the Garuberk Tower. The duration of the journey will take up most of the day.” That was if they left at a comparable time. A boring day with no fighting, but that was exactly what they needed right now. There was a prolonged silence. Chaz didn’t go back into the room and Wren didn’t turn and head back to the bridge. It could have become awkward but it didn’t, for some reason Chaz could just have stared at him all night long. “Are you going?” Wren said at last.

“I suppose I should.” Chaz reached behind himself and hit the button to open the door. He had to feel around for a bit because he didn’t want to take his eyes off Wren. Finally he broke away and moved to leave. Maybe there would be enough room on the lounge if he kicked Rune onto the floor first. Maybe-

Chaz was grabbed firmly but gently by the arm, pulled away from the door and then spun around once so that he found himself with his back to the wall yet again. His hand slid away from the button and the door locked itself shut. Chaz looked up and was about to protest the sudden manhandling when he was further pressed against the wall, Wren’s hands on his wrists and his tongue suddenly in his mouth.

At first he was surprised, but that surprise only ended up turning into extremely good, sinful feelings. Wren hardly gave him enough time to breathe and each breath was a tiny break, just enough to keep him going. Chaz was immediately wide awake, either from the shock or perhaps from the fact that he had been rendered instantly powerless. He couldn’t push Wren off even if he wanted to, if he ever wanted to.

Wren let go of Chaz’s mouth first and then his wrists a few moments later. He stepped away and touched the side of his head in a very apologetic palman manner. “I am very sorry. I should have asked before I did that. Did I hurt you?” That had been the most reactive thing he had done since the machine centre. He just hadn’t wanted Chaz to leave before he could kiss him. Rika could admit her feelings for him any day now, even tomorrow, so this could be the last chance that he’d get to touch this incredibly appealing hunter.

“Th-that was one hell of a goodnight kiss.” The hunter smirked as he wiped at his mouth with the back of his sleeve. He could still feel the ghostly pressure on his arms fading, bit by bit. Aw, Wren really did look sorry, like he had done something horribly wrong. “It’s okay, couples don’t really have to ask about stuff like that. You didn’t hurt me either. I know that you would never hurt me.”

“Couples?” Wren echoed back to him. “Your statement is untrue. I do need to ask.”

It looked like he wanted to say something very badly. Chaz had talked all night and he didn’t mind listening to Wren speak for once. He loved listening to the android talk about himself, so long as it wasn’t anything that made him upset. Chaz came forward and touched his friend reassuringly on the arm. Wren took him by the hand and held it within his. “What is it?” The hunter asked.

Why had his behaviour changed so suddenly? He thought it was because of what the fake version of himself had said. The chaos sorcerers in the Air Castle had not written the scripts they had followed by themselves, the play designed to hurt Chaz and his friends had been pulled straight out of their own hearts. Wren did not have a heart but that was merely a figure of speech. It troubled him but at the same time it didn’t feel so unfamiliar. If he did have a heart, even if it was just a metaphysical one, perhaps it was capable of love.

But he doubted it. Strongly. Nonetheless…

“Kiss me, Chaz. Please. Let me touch you.” Wren pleaded.

His pleading sent a shiver straight down Chaz’s spine. That had never been requested of him before, all other times the pleading had come straight from him. Wren might have just been parroting his own behaviour but Chaz was pretty certain that was unlikely, as he watched the wren-type looking at the floor so he didn’t have to see Chaz’s face. It was as if he were embarrassed over saying an incredibly dirty thing. Wren was stepping out of his comfort zone just to be able to say that, which made Chaz feel flattered, almost honoured.

Chaz sighed, amused and now as awake as he’d ever been. He knew what Wren could offer him and he’d have to be an idiot to turn him down. A thought occurred to him that they shouldn’t be standing out here in the corridor for anybody to see, but fortunately everybody was asleep. They’d be alright. Chaz leaned back against the cool metal wall. “Damn it, now I’m never going to be able to get to sleep.” He smirked.

“There is always time for that later upon the ice digger.” Wren informed him helpfully. He wanted very badly to tell Chaz about the revelation Rika was going to impart to him very soon, just to be able to get the uncertainty out of this situation. However, that would definitely mean losing Chaz to her. The young hunter already belonged to Rika even though he did not know it yet. He felt it was needlessly selfish of him to want otherwise, but that was the rub; he couldn’t stop himself from feeling that way.

Chaz’s voice shook him from his current stream of thought. “Well, are you going to come down here or what? I can’t kiss you if you’re way up there.” He joked fondly, making fun of Wren’s height or his own height at the same time. It didn’t bother him so long as Rune was well out of the vicinity. Even standing on the tips of his toes he still couldn’t quite reach.

But that problem was fixed quickly. Wren leaned over him and braced himself against the wall, while Chaz stretched himself up and wrapped his arms around his friend; initiating a kiss that was all tongue and blissful heat. Even the minor violation was a huge turn-on for Chaz, the boy gasping into the kiss as he felt Wren’s hand slowly slide up under his shirts, trailing across his skin. It wasn’t cold but it felt somewhat alien, only half aware of what it was doing.

Chaz had put on quite a bit of extra muscle ever since they had first crash-landed on Dezoris, from the much tougher nature of the local monsters. His abs were well defined and so was his chest, periodically blemished by faint, distant scars. This information greatly interested Wren though it had no discernable value, as if some program had been written into his neural matrix without his knowing. His thumb rubbed against a nipple and Chaz flinched, pulling away reflexively but not from the pain. It felt good.

Yet there was pain afterward in the midst of the kiss as Wren softly swept his hand lower down Chaz’s side. He pushed Wren away and broke the kiss, a tiny grimace twisting his features. “Uhn… bruise… from where I was thrown in that battle…” He breathed, removing his arms from his friend. Wren glanced down and pulled Chaz’s shirt up further. There was a dark patch the size of a tennis ball imprinted just beneath his ribcage. It seemed rather tender. “Just like my neck I don’t have any idea how I got that…”

“I will be careful.” The android reassured him, taking Chaz by the chin and tilting his head up a little, exposing the cut that did not have the potential to become a scar. The boy was curious but wasn’t sure about what Wren was going to do, then he felt a hand at his belt; competently unclasping the buckle. Wren kissed the corner of Chaz’s mouth, his lips, down along the jaw line and then finally ending at the hollow of his throat.

It stung, the last kiss hurt a bit as the wound hadn’t begun to heal properly but it felt so incredibly amazing having the bitter pain mixed with sweet pleasure. He hadn’t known such a combination was possible. Chaz flattened his hands against the surface of the wall supporting him and tried to hold his breath, attempting to contain all that he was feeling as much as possible to maximise the sensation.

Chaz had a bit of an aversion to having things pressed up against his neck. As a child he had seen enough people with slit throats to last a lifetime, hell, in that gang he had caused a few himself. It was why Chaz had been so baffled when Wren had said he had tried to slit his own throat. To have a mouth and a pair of lips in such an intimate place, close to the jugular, close to where it really could hurt him was both kind of scary and a relief. Chaz smiled as he thought Wren was trying to kiss and make it all better.

He was distracted by this while Wren loosened the hunter’s belt, undid the button and the fly and then slipped his hand inside. Chaz was already hard at this point, his erection well defined by the considerable bulge in his pants. It was easy to pop it free of his underwear and when Wren pulled away from Chaz’s throat, a rather uncharacteristic brazen smile on his lips, he gently squeezed.

The hunter groaned. He hadn’t noticed Wren was there until now. The problem of their location flashed back to them and he tried to collect his scattered thoughts, incredibly difficult as Wren began to fist his cock jutting straight and stiff from his body. “…wait, Wren please… not here… somewhere else, safer…” Chaz cried between harsh breaths, clinging to the android.

“It’s fine. We are alone.” Wren protested; listening to the soft exquisite gasps and whimpers that Chaz couldn’t hold back. He was quite certain that even if he did stop the first thing that Chaz would do was protest. Wren let Chaz fuck his fist with as much vigour as the youth wanted, caressed the boy’s slender frame with his other hand, and swallowed half of Chaz’s moans and cries with deep satisfying kisses. There was just no way that he could properly resist.

Chaz felt like his whole body was being plundered. There wasn’t a single part of him that wasn’t alive and trembling with desire. Every time Wren did this he just seemed to get better and better at it. It had to be criminal or something. His fingertips were turning white from clinging on so tightly to the android’s armour. Chaz’s hips made short, jerky thrusts and he kissed with adamant fervour, thrilled that Wren was able to match him with just as much energy.

Perhaps Wren should have listened Chaz. Nobody had noticed the one thing wrong with the scene, the tiny detail that had been present when Chaz had left for the bridge and absent when he and Wren had returned again. They were making quite a bit of noise out there in the corridor, well, at least Chaz was. All the boy could hear was the blood pounding in his ears and his heart. They hadn’t realised that they could not hear Kyra snoring anymore.

Kyra had woken up absolutely freezing in the middle of the night. The infirmary wasn’t heated as thoroughly as the nearby lounge was and though the privacy was nice the esper girl decided that crowding was much better than catching a cold. Her footsteps did not echo on the floor; she was wearing only hushed socks. Wren did not sense her in the hallway; she wound up standing just outside his field of detection. Chaz certainly didn’t see her there; he was preoccupied with other important things.

In short, Kyra saw a pretty big chunk of everything. She had walked out in the hallway quietly but casually and heard somebody moan as if they were in pain, or what she had initially guessed as pain. When she turned to look down the corridor she almost froze, bewildered. Kyra stared for several seconds, but then had the common sense to duck back behind the threshold of the infirmary and gawk from there. Chaz and Wren were- what the hell were they doing?

Dark blue eyes peered at them from her hiding place. They were… um… kissing and Wren had his hand down… oh dear…

That was awesome! Kyra had no idea that something so scandalous was going on in their tiny, closely-knit little group. Wren was either molesting him, which wasn’t so awesome, or it was something mutual. By the expression on Chaz’s face it looked like he was enjoying it quite a lot. Kyra smiled mischievously. Did anybody else know about this? Did Rune? Did Rika?

Chaz bowed his head and cried out as he came. His whole body shuddered from the orgasm so Wren put an arm around him to support him in case he fell. The hunter said nothing as he tried to catch his breath, but eventually a thought came to him and he clumsily searched through his pockets until he found his crumpled-up handkerchief, offering it to Wren.

His hand was sticky with come when Wren pulled it from Chaz’s pants. He accepted the handkerchief gratefully and neatly wiped the spunk away. There was something almost studious about the way he did it, afterwards handing it back to Chaz. Tiredly the boy cleaned up the residual mess left in his clothes. Their parting kiss was the softest, most heartfelt. There was something special within it that went beyond mere lust.

“This time I really am going.” Chaz sighed; smiling after the kiss had ended. “Goodnight Forren.”

“Sleep well, Chaz.” Wren replied as he watched the hunter refasten his clothes, then wave briefly and disappear into the lounge. The wren-type didn’t know what drove him to do the odd things that he did, but seeing Chaz smile afterward made all the confusion worth it. He went back to the bridge on his own, in a much better mood.

Kyra was left all on her own in the empty corridor. She couldn’t get what she had just seen out of her mind. She had had no idea that Chaz had been up to dirty games like that, and with Wren of all people! Chaz was a little too young for that. Maybe… maybe she should tell somebody about it, for Chaz’s own sake of course. The esper girl’s smile became devilish. What a secret, and it was all hers!

She walked back to the infirmary and lay down. It was still cold in there but she reckoned she’d wait half an hour until Chaz was asleep with the others and then sneak back in like a shadow. As she huddled up into a little ball on the sick bay recliner Kyra thought that Rika should be the first one in on this juicy piece of gossip. They were friends after all and maybe the numan girl could rationalise what those two were doing with each other.