Katy let out her breath heavily as she slipped the coat onto her shoulders. Luckily they had brought actual medical supplies in their packs. Katy had just applied some basic bandaging to Kito’s chest and shoulder, managing to stop the bleeding.

“I know you’re worried,” She said, walking over to Seiko and dropping her pack beside him, “Go and see how Talya is.”

Kito nodded, pulling on a jacket over his bare chest and starting off back into the trees. His sword was back in its place, in its sheath on his belt. The trees seemed to snag at him less as he dashed through the brush. Though he supposed he was also noticing it less. He could sense Talya up ahead, she was definitely alive. Though he wasn’t sure how injured she may have been. How many members of the Masque had attacked beside the three he knew for sure, if any. Kito picked up his pace, bursting into a small clearing, gaze instantly taking in the whole area. Talya was kneeling at the far edge, her claymore stabbed into the underbrush and her breaths coming heavy.

“Talya!” Kito called, rushing over and skidding to a stop next to her, slipping his pack from his shoulders.

Talya shook her head, “I’m alright.” She managed between rasping breaths.

“Doesn’t sound like it,” Kito said sternly, giving her a quick once-over, “Andra shouldn’t have been able to beat you back like this.”

“Dealt with… Andra easily enough,” She said, getting her breathing under control, “Belial…”

Kito nodded, understanding as he saw the source of her issues, “Makes sense, he got lucky.”

Talya caught Kito’s eye as he got back to his feet, bag slipping back on, “He dented my armour… That wasn’t luck.”

“The luck came from you not deflecting.” Kito shrugged. She had clearly taken a hit from Belial’s demonic magic head-on, denting her breastplate and severely winding her. It wasn’t as bad a wound as his or Seiko’s, though it would have taken any of them temporarily out of commission. Kito held his hand out as Talya seemed to have finally gotten her breathing under control.

“Who did you guys go up against,” She said, allowing him to help her to her feet, “Those bandages look serious.”

“Seiko took a worse hit,” Kito mumbled, starting back off towards the campsite as Talya returned her claymore to her back, falling into step behind him, “But it was Mordred, actually.”

“Really? They’re all coming back from the dead, huh.”

“Fortunately I think the only undead around here was Seiko,” Kito’s brow furrowed, “He dealt with me and Seiko way too easily. Katy had to get serious to fend him off.”

“And Belial sensed that. He put me down easily enough before rushing off.”

“I guess it wouldn’t be a Red Mask mission without Le Masque Noir getting in the way, huh?” Kito shot a smile back at his sister, who shook her head with a chuckle.

“I suppose not. So it was just the three of them?”

“Looks like it,” Kito looked up, though they were long gone. He couldn’t sense anything amiss, “Gotta wonder if they got their whole band back together.”

“God, I hope at least some of them stayed dead.”

“I’m with you there.” Mumbled Kito, though his vision blurred for a second, making him stagger. Talya caught him, instantly taking his arm and wrapping it around her shoulder.

“Hey, I’m fine--” He began, but Talya cut him off.

“Quit pushing it,” She snapped, helping him through the trees towards the others, “You’ve always been like this. Took you a decade to start properly relying on us last time. Don’t make the same mistake again.”

Kito was about to protest further, but she was right, and he knew it. He couldn’t afford to push himself as much as he used to. Not when he still hadn’t regained his powers. He silently accepted his sister’s assistance through the woods.

They broke through to the coastline as the first rays of sun started breaking out over the horizon. Seiko was sitting against a tree, looking off into the distance with bandages covering his torso. Katy was wiping her hands down and returning the supplies to the pack when she saw them coming.

“I knew that wound was worse than it looked…” She muttered, moving over to Kito. Talya handed him over to his wife before heading to her own pack. Kito leaned on Katy’s good shoulder and chuckled lightly.

“Guess first aid won’t quite cut it,” Kito said with a smile.

“I could take a crack at it,” Seiko said without enthusiasm, “But I think it’s time to seriously look into getting that healer,” Kito noted a certain edge to his voice that he recognised. Seiko always sunk into a stupor after losing a fight. Especially after losing so decisively.

“A healer?” Talya said, raising an eyebrow as she hoisted a heavy bag onto her back. Her own supplies, undoubtedly.

“For a mission like this, I assumed we’d need a dedicated healer,” Kito said between breaths, leaning more and more on his wife.

“Lucky for you,” Talya said with a smile, picking up another pack, “I have someone who accompanies me on a lot of my missions specifically as a healer. She came with me on this one too. I can ask her.”

Seiko adjusted the straps of the back on his back before picking up two more, “Lucky for us, for sure. You think she’d join?”

“It’s up to her obviously,” Talya shrugged, moving off into the trees, “I think she probably will, but on the off-chance she doesn’t, she’ll at least help us out this time.”

“Then that’s where we’re going,” Katy said firmly, hoisting Kito onto her shoulder for support as they both fell into step alongside Seiko, back into the trees.

The wildlife stayed far away from them as their heavy footsteps crashed through the thick underbrush. Kito would curse every now and then as his foot was caught on a vine or tree root. It was frustrating, that a wound like this had him in such a state. He’d survived far worse long before. The drawbacks of his powers not coming back, he supposed. They were making good time on their way back, with Seiko in the lead helping them find their footing on the way back to the cliffside their boat should have been waiting at. Kito only hoped he wouldn’t collapse before reaching the waves.

“So, what’s this healer like?” Katy asked, not even sounding close to as out of breath as Kito felt.

“Her name’s Alice MacAlpyne,” Talya explained, “I’ve known her since she was pretty young. Her parents helped me out of a rough patch and I agreed to watch over her in return.”

“I see…” Katy nodded, voice tinged with interest, “Where is she from? Did she fight in the war?”

Talya smiled, “She’s from Volaire, a little village near Dursen. And no, she was twenty-three when the war ended.”

“Only in her thirties and already a healer you can rely on?” Seiko looked back, raising an eyebrow, “That’s an impressive credential.”

“She graduated from school top of her class,” Talya said, “Went on to get her medical doctorate at university, and has spent the past couple years putting her skills to the test and gaining experience. She’s pretty handy in a fight too.”

“Does she use physical enhancement techniques?” Kito managed, his interest winning out over the pain.

“Not yet, no,” Talya shook her head, “She knows a lot of advanced healing techniques with her white magic, but the self-enhancement side of things as I understand it is a whole other branch of the discipline that has its own complexities.”

“True enough,” Kito smiled, “That is how Allohallimelle has his legendary strength, after all. I wouldn’t expect it to be easy to pick up.”

“You said she was handy in a fight,” Said Katy, “So how does she fight?”

“Witchcraft,” Talya said simply, smiling back at Katy.

“Now that is fun,” Kito said, coughing afterwards and getting a warning squeeze from his wife.

“I’m excited to meet this Alice now.” Katy smiled, just as they broke through the treeline onto the opposite coast, the sun beating down onto them and blinding Kito temporarily after the darkness of the woods. Kito couldn’t help himself, his grin broke out into a full smile as he listened to the waves rushing against the sheer rock face of the island. And there, bobbing on the surface was Eileen, just as promised.

“I wasn’t looking forward to this…” Kito groaned as Talya began making the climb down the rock face and Seiko simply jumped using the air to slow his descent before landing softly on the rocks below. He greeted Eileen warmly and tossed her one of the large packs to stow under the seat in the boat, then turned back and nodded up to Katy, who turned her smile on Kito.

“Do we have to?” He whined.

Katy laughed, “It’s the safest way and you know it.” She beamed, before pushing Kito off the edge of the cliff. He closed his eyes, the only sound in his ears the rushing of wind as he dropped. Then there was a whooshing sound and he could feel his fall being cushioned, then stopped completely. He opened his eyes just as Katy leapt from the clifftop, sailing through the air efficiently and landing in the same cushioned air pocket as Kito. Her landing was a little heavier due to her momentum, but she straightened quickly, wrapping Kito’s arm back around her shoulder.

“Owe you one, Seiko.” She smiled, and the other man shrugged, though his little grin was clearly visible as he turned to Eileen.

“Yeah thank you, everyone!” Talya called from halfway down the rock face, sarcasm lending her voice a satisfying edge that Kito could understand fully.

“I see you found your friend,” Eileen said, standing at the end of the boat as Seiko took his seat, “But I was not expecting you to be quite this badly beaten up. What kinda wildlife lives here to do that?”

“Pretty nasty beasties here actually,” Kito managed as he carefully sat at the end of the boat, Katy falling onto the seat across from him once again and leaning back, “But this wasn’t them. Ran into some old friends.”

“They seem friendly,” Eileen said sceptically, looking Kito up and down.

“This was just a quick hello,” Katy smiled wryly, “Compared to the drawn-out conversation they wanted.”

“Ah, of course, of course,” Eileen nodded, “You had places to be. The pleasantries would need to wait.”

“More or less,” Kito chuckled, “I was the idiot who took the heaviest hit though, so we’re good.”

“Well,” Katy said, looking up and scratching her chin, “We all took fairly heavy hits. Yours just seems to have been lucky on Mordred’s part. Hitting Seiko is pretty pointless, and he missed all of the squishy bits when he hit me.”

“Phrasing!” Eileen spluttered, laughing to herself as Katy chuckled, rubbing her head.

“Sorry, vital areas,” She grinned, Eileen still laughing too hard to respond, “It would’ve been a disaster if he’d hit those squishy bits.”

“Well, in any case,” Eileen said, wiping tears from her eyes, “I’ll make sure we get back quicker than we got in. You’re looking even paler than you did before, my man.”

“Appreciated,” Kito smiled dimly, “I’ll enjoy the view either way.”

“You don’t think his brain leaked out of that chest wound do you?” Seiko raised an eyebrow, and Kito would have hit him if he had the strength, but he settled for simply agreeing with him, setting Eileen off again.