Nerluce woke up on his futon.

This was very strange, considering that Nerluce couldn't remember how he had gotten there. He sat up slowly, his muscles aching. He gritted his teeth and reached for his belongings, digging through them until he found the bag of chocolates that Taayir had given him to help with this kind of pain. Nerluce popped one into his mouth and let it dissolve under his tongue, enjoying the sweet and spicy taste.

It took a while for the chocolate to take effect. Nerluce didn't really move much in that time. He just laid back down and let everything that had happened to him return to his memory. Rieka... she had been so kind to him only to try and kill him. Nerluce's arm - his left arm, thankfully - had been treated and bandaged. He tried to move his fingers, but they were sluggish and he couldn't really feel them.

Nerluce frowned. That didn't seem... good. He was by no means well educated in medicine, but he was smart enough to figure out that there had been severe damage done to his arm during the attack. Nerluce rolled his shoulder and stretched his back. Oh well. It wasn't like Nerluce had been using his left hand much anyway.

When Nerluce started to ache slightly less, he put on his clothes. It was already midmorning and Nerluce had no idea how long he'd been unconscious for. He needed to go see Taayir. She would be able to explain everything to him. Hopefully.

The first place that Nerluce checked was in Taayir's classroom, but she wasn't there. Then he went to the dining hall but no one was there. Nerluce scowled and turned back. He'd never gone out of his way to find a teacher before so he didn't exactly know where he was supposed to begin looking.

He started walking, just to walk. He got tired pretty quickly, but there were plenty of spots where he could sit and rest. No one said anything to him, even teachers who knew he was supposed to be in class. Nerluce wondered if he had time off - or if he'd just been kicked out. Maybe they were waiting to send him back until he had healed.

How kind.

He kept wandering and eventually found himself at the steps of the main temple. Nerluce hadn't been here since the High Priestess had deemed he had a fire affinity. Nerluce walked up the steps, frowning slightly. Could Taayir be here? It wasn't a forbidden area. In fact, they were encouraged to go here every day and even had free time to do so. Nerluce just... never did.

Entering the temple, Nerluce noticed things he hadn't before. The floors were made of a polished stone and the pillars were painted with images of the gods, done by a delicate hand. Nerluce moved through the pillars to the front of the room where the High Priestess's throne - a large brass thing with angelic wings cupping and twisting around it on either side - was perched upon a dias. The basin filled with oil was gone.

The High Priestess wasn't on the throne. The room was quiet so Nerluce passed through it. He weaved through darkened halls, only catching glimpses of the paintings. Eyeless gods stared at him as he passed. Nerluce walked quickly, lingering nowhere too long. Until that was he heard voices.

He heard them by chance and only came closer because he recognized one voice belonged to Taayir. Nerluce walked through the halls, relieved that his search was over but just when he meant to reveal himself something in Taayir's tone made him hesitate. The urgency perhaps? Or maybe it was just that she had said his name and Nerluce didn't see anything wrong in eavesdropping when she was talking about him in the first place.

"-Nerluce. Why didn't you?" Taayir asked. She wasn't speaking High Itorian, but rather the border dialect, giving Nerluce the impression she didn't want to be understood. "Don't tell me you're soft on an Itorian of all people."

The other person scoffed. Nerluce didn't recognize his voice at first but when he spoke again, Nerluce realized who it was. "That's not the case," Aristide said - also in the border dialect. It was the first time Nerluce had heard him speak it since the night they met. "And it was a wise decision. The High Priestess deemed no further action was required."

Taayir hummed. "It's still not like you," she said. "When we fought on the front-"

"I don't want to talk about that," Aristide said.

"They called you the Angel of Death for a reason Aristide," Taayir said, her voice sharp. "You can't erase your past."

"I don't mean to," Aristide said. "I just wish to atone for it."

Nerluce knew this was too far. He wasn't supposed to be hearing this. This was a private conversation between Aristide and Taayir about their history together. A history that Nerluce had no right to by any means besides his own damn curiosity. So he kept himself pressed against the wall, staring at the open door, waiting to be caught when one of them walked out. He didn't care.

"The High Priestess is raising that girl to die," Taayir said. "You shouldn't get attached to her."

"She won't die," Aristide hissed.

"Yes, she will Aristide!" Taayir snapped back. "And it'll probably be that Wolf Woman who kills her!" Nerluce closed his eyes. Who were they talking about? "And she got away because you ran off!"

"I apologize, Elder Disciple," Aristide bit back, just as vicious. "But my actions resulted in saving someone's life."

"Killing the Wolf Woman might've saved that girl's life!" Taayir said. She sounded really angry now. "Besides. Nerluce is a capable kid. There's very little chance that he would have died." Taayir let out a long sigh. "The Chosen Light..."

"Kierli," Aristide said.

"Kierli," Taayir relented. "She... well.. she's going to grow up and she's going to die to stop the Darkest Shadow." Another long sigh. "And that Darkest Shadow can only be a limited number of people. And among them, the Wolf Woman is the most likely candidate. She's definitely the most powerful of the practitioners of forbidden magic."

Aristide let out a sigh. "I know. But if the Wolf Woman really was destined to become the Darkest Shadow then... well I don't think we could have killed her anyway."

"You're probably right," Taayir said. Her voice sounded heavy. Sad.

Nerluce's heart ached. He wished that he could go in there and say something that would comfort Taayir but whatever they were talking about was way over Nerluce's head. So he just stayed where he was. A silent observer. Just like the paintings. Just like the gods. What blasphemy.

"And what are you doing here, little light?" a voice said from behind Nerluce.

He jumped and spun around to find himself face to face with the High Priestess. Nerluce had only ever seen her when she was sitting down or standing on a dais but up close... she was short-statured. Even shorter than him. Her arms were thin and she seemed unbelievably young.

She smiled at him, her white, pupil-less eyes fixed on his face. "Well?" she asked.

"Eavesdropping," Nerluce blurted out.

Which wasn't exactly a wise thing to say when Aristide and Taayir were both coming out of the door. Aristide's eyes widened in surprise before he bowed. Right. High Priestess. Nerluce gave a sloppy, belated bow as well. Taayir just dipped her head in respect. The High Priestess chuckled, moving her gloved hand to her mouth.

"You're an honest one," the High Priestess said before she flicked her wrist like she was yanking on the chain of a dog. "I was just coming to find Ari." She smiled at the boy. "We've got some things to discuss. Come walk with me. Taayir, please take Nerluce to have his arm inspected. We want to leave as little damage as possible, understand?"

"Yes, High Priestess," Taayir said.

And with that, the High Priestess and Aristide vanished, walking into the darkness together. Whatever they were to speak of was swallowed by that darkness, evaporated forever.

Once they were out of earshot, Taayir turned a ferocious glare on Nerluce. "Who raised you to think that eavesdropping was acceptable?" she snapped.

"It's not," Nerluce said. "But neither is talking about someone behind their back."

Taayir scoffed and turned around, marching Nerluce back the way he'd come. "Believe it or not, you are a rather frequent topic between the teachers," she said. "Half of them want to see you thrown out."

"Well, I guess they get their wish," Nerluce said.

"No," Taayir said. "Unless you're here to tell me you want to leave. Which would be understandable after what happened but-"

"I'm... sorry?" Nerluce asked. "But... I didn't kill any spirits."

Taayir hummed and nodded. "True." She turned to look at Nerluce, warmly. "But I never said that was what you were going to be judged on." She didn't elaborate further on what they were being judged on. "I'm still trying to figure out how you knew the thing was up there."

"How did you know that I..."

"It's a secret," Taayir said with a wink.

"And what we were being judged on is also?"

She smiled. "So, how did you figure out that the spirit was in that tree? Did your Hebikoti masters teach you some trick?"

"How made would you be if I told you it was a secret?" Nerluce deadpanned, glaring at Taayir.

"Very," Taayir said, flicking his shoulder.

"Well, it's not. I... just got lucky," Nerluce said.

Taayir sighed. "Of course," she said. "And what type of idiot doesn't leave his horse tied up? It took Aristide forever to find the thing."

"Eden's alright then?" Nerluce asked.

"I think his pride was wounded a bit," Taayir said. "I doubt he's even been a packhorse before and he didn't like that you were riding on Lilith - actually I didn't think horses could hate until I saw how your horse was looking at Lilith."

"Why... why was I on Lilith?" Nerluce asked.

"Aristide's an idiot," Taayir said, rolling her eyes. "And the fastest rider we have. He rode a full day to get you back here and even then I still think you were in pretty bad shape." Taayir shook her head. "Don't... don't do anything that stupid ever again, Nerluce. I... I care about you, kid. I don't want to see you hurt."

"I-"

"Nope," Taayir said, ruffling his hair. "It's just good to have you back."

Nerluce's heart softened as he preened under Taayir's touch. "I'm glad I'm not dead." He hesitated for a moment before asking, "Did Aristide really ride all day just to save me?"

Taayir hummed. "Seems like you've gotten to him."

"Seems like."