Chapter 151 - Two Heads Are Better Than One

"--Who headbutts a girl?! Why're you not even hurt?!"

Aiko yelled out as she held her throbbing forehead, feeling her blood rush to the spot of impact, hoping a bump wouldn't form.

"Who randomly starts attacking their partner, huh?! Talk to me! What's wrong, Aiko?!"

He didn't know exactly why he was so riled up, but at least the flowing emotions had dulled the mutually assured pain that came with a raw collision of foreheads.

"...Nothing."

"Don't give me that crap!"

Ren didn't let up, swiping his hand to the side as he brought his face close to hers, not allowing her to avert her eyes.

"...I can't do it."

The words came out meekly from her lips as her pupils trembled ever so slightly, trying her best to look away from him.

"Huh?"

"I don't want to go back to them."

"I get it...I'm guessing it was a scary encounter, but I'm here now."

Trying to comfort the clearly distressed girl, Ren placed his hands on his shoulders to try and get her to look at him. Aiko only shook her head slightly as her lip trembled before speaking her next words.

"...There is something I need to tell you. I should've told you earlier at the keep."

"What is it?"

His soft asking had coaxed her eyes to meet with him once again, it was a scenery he didn't want to see from her; her watered, trembling irises looking at his own for comfort.

"I was a part of Leo's group...I didn't run into them before meeting you; I was escaping."

"Escaping?..."

Ren repeating her last word, processing what she had just told him as he could feel her body trembling under his comforting hold. She gave him a slight nod before sniffling; remembering something that had brought upon this distress.

"They're horrible--the worst."

"You can tell me, Aiko. I'm right here; they're not."

He couldn't help but feel like he was witnessing his own little sister break down in front of him; it was already something he had trouble understanding: why a girl of her age was in a place like this. There wasn't much experience on his part with helping in situations like this, only knowing to keep her close as he caressed her shoulders, finally getting words out of her.

"...When I first entered the second floor; it was by chance. Somehow, the first guardian was already weakened...So I took my opportunity. From that...I wasn't ready for this floor, I died a few times within the first day--until I met him."

"Leo?"

Aiko shook her head, "No. Matthias--he saved me from a giant...I'll never forget the reassuring smile he gave me after cutting down the beast while his blonde, messy hair blew in the wind…"

The very fact that this person wasn't right here by her side made Ren reluctant to hear out the rest of this story, watching as an array of emotions ran across her pained eyes. As distressed as she was, speaking the name of this boy brought upon a melancholic smile for a moment.

"He was strong; stronger than me, more confident, experienced in Purgatory. As powerful as he was, the fact was he had been stuck on the second floor for three years."

"Three years?..."

Hearing that, Ren felt his stomach sink a bit--at the same time, this fact helped reassure him Iris was likely still on this floor if it was that arduous.

"In that time, Matthias found a key--then we found another together after clearing a dungeon. I remember how ecstatic he was that day...He was always so optimistic despite the place we were in. That all came falling down once a sensor had gone off…"

Coming to this section of her memories, Aiko flinched at the dredged up past, closing her eyes briefly and taking a deep breath before she continued.

"It was Leo and his group. There wasn't any negotiating or mercy; he tore Matthias apart right in front of me."

"...Why did you join him then?"

"I didn't. There is no way I would ever join those monsters...They forced me to come with them. The things they did...I..."

Watching her bottom lip tremble as one of the held back tears finally escape her eyelids after her valiant attempt to retain her strong image, Ren brought her into an embrace, gently caressing the back of her head as he stared at the wall behind her, seeing nothing but scarlet at that moment.

"Don't. Not another word. I'll take them down; every last one of them."

He feared that if she continued speaking, there was no doubt his anger would become unfathomable; not a single cell in his body doubted that he would likely kill them if what he thought had occurred was confirmed by Aiko.

It was a shock to himself; the anger he felt was like none other--his entire body ran warm as his blood boiled within his veins.

It was far worse than he had expected; this band of adventurers was a threat to Iris that he couldn't leave wandering around. At first, his only motivation was to take out these hostile adventurers to protect Iris, but something else spawned within his heart seeing how vulnerable the girl in front of him became.

--I'll protect you, Aiko; it doesn't have to just be Iris--I'm strong enough to protect more than just one person.

"We should call it a night and set up camp around here."

After a few minutes of caressing the girl's head, Ren stood up, looking around as he targeted his words towards her.

"I'm fine--"

"No. It's not just you; I don't want to go after them yet."

Aiko gave him a confused look as she watched Ren sit himself down, covering his face with his gloves as he held that stance for a prolonged moment.

--Not right now. If I run into them while I'm like this--I won't be able to hold myself back.

"I know a better place than this...Though, it might be overrun with creatures right now."

Accepting his proposal, Aiko twiddled with her hair as she spoke, looking down at her white boots that had been sullied by dust and dirt alike.

"That's fine; lead the way."

Ren was quick on his feet after heating this, extending his hand to help Aiko stand as she looked up at him for a moment as if examining his state of mind--finally moving forward.

"There is a fountain near this place, so we should check in."

"Good idea."

It didn't cross his mind until Aiko had mentioned it; if he were to die right now by a creature, he would be resurrected quite a distance away.

Finding their way out of the dank tunnels, they were put on a grassy path between two large rock formations leading directly to the place of interest. It looked like an abandoned manor; covered in vines and old, dried-up fluids that tainted the withered stone.

"Is this the place?"

Ren asked, stepping over a puddle of unknown liquid--pushing past low-hanging vines that almost looked like snakes at the right angle.

"Mm. It seems quiet...We might've gotten lucky."

Before Aiko could enter first, Ren pushed himself through the hollow entrance, stepping into the musky atmosphere that dwelled in the lost abode.

As she had said earlier, there was indeed a fountain of resurrection, formed of a pearlescent stone carved into the figure of a winged humanoid. From its palms poured the scarlet liquid of undeath; filling the large bowl as Ren brought himself close to it, taking off his glove before swiping his hand into the lukewarm substance.

Aiko followed suit; leading Ren towards the room occupying the centermost doors of this crumbled manor.

"...Matthias showed me this place. He said it was his "secret base", so I don't think any others know about this place."

Grabbing one of the stray quilts, Aiko formed a makeshift mattress with it before seating herself down on top of it.

From the looks of it, the chamber seemed to function as a library or lounge room, at least it used to. For the most part, the bookshelves were empty, covered in dust if not destroyed altogether. The fireplace was cramped with ashen timber. It would do though, Ren found the singular point of entry to be a good feature for this room along with the extra blankets--he didn't know whether or not if it was weird he already cared about Aiko getting comforting rest.

"I see. Get some rest--I'll stand guard."

Ren proposed, standing near the doors as he propped himself up against the threshold, keeping an eye out as there were just enough holes poked into the exterior of the abode to allow him some insight on what was outside.

"...Are you sure? It should be fine…"

It was clear as day that she was tired, her eyelids flickering a bit as a yawn came out against her own will, quickly covering her mouth. Ren smiled at the sight, giving a slight chuckle as he gently prodded his finger against the still slumbering feline on his shoulder.

"I've got this sleepy guy with me; I'll be fine."

Ren gave her an "OK" sign with his fingers along with a reassuring smile, watching as Aiko hesitantly lowered her head onto the quilt.

Seeing that this clearly wasn't enough, he released a playful huff before sitting himself down next to her.

"Aiko...In my homeland, that name means--"little loved one", kind of fitting."

Commenting this while looking up at the ceiling inhabited by a subtly swaying chandelier, Ren could feel her gaze look up towards him.

"I'm not little."

"That's news to me."

Ren teased, looking down to meet with a sharp glare from the girl whose hair represented beige winds and scarlet flames.

"I'm almost an adult now--I'll be sixteen in a few months."

"...Where I'm from-- you're not quite an adult until you're eighteen."

She clearly wasn't fond of that response, giving him a look that made him instinctively move his leg out of her punching range. Looking at her hands in case he did indeed need to avoid a retaliatory strike, he noticed she was still wearing her steel-bound gauntlets.

"Why're you still wearing those?"

Ren asked, looking down towards her gauntlets as Aiko held them close to her chest. Not earning a response right away paired with the shift of emotion in her eyes, Ren vehemently waved his hands to disregard the question.

"Ah--it's okay, forget I asked!"

Aiko gently shook her head, running her armored fingers over the fine steel of her gloves, "...No, it's okay. I don't mind telling you."

Seeing that gentle smile from her felt like a rare treat, finding himself entranced by that heartwarming expression before swiftly averting his eyes as she faced him.

"My older brother gave them to me when I was still little...It was a parting gift before he set out on his journey around the world. You noticed they look a bit big on me, right?"

Reminiscing on the origin of her gauntlets, Aiko gave him a brief chuckle as she lifted her hands to display the oversized gloves.

"A journey around the world, huh? That sounds nice…"

"Mm."

Aiko nodded her head in response, raising herself from her resting position so that she was sitting directly beside Ren.

"That place you mentioned--"Akitein", right? What's it like?"

"It's beautiful; surrounding the border of the land are a range of mountains, raised by one of the guardian deities to protect our land from outsiders. The mountains act like walls, holding bountiful waterfalls that flow down into our rivers...I miss it. That's how my brother used to describe it to me when I was little."

Seeing that entranced look in her eyes as she spoke of her homeland forced a smile on his lips, but he couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty for likely making the girl feel more homesick.