“What the hell?!” Tiki yelled, as she followed Prota back to the cliff-face they came from. She sped up and got in front of him. “What was that about? I had him!”

“I,” Prota stuttered, uncharacteristically, “I don’t know,” he admitted. “Something felt off. I want to make sure we think this thr…” His sentence was cut short as he felt a stabbing pain in his heart. His hand clenched his chest as he fell to his knees, trying his best to breathe through the pain.

“It’s happening again,” Tiki muttered. “Krain!”

“On it,” he said, handing Tiki the jug of healing water that they had obtained from the sacred spring.

“Here,” she said. Her aggressive demeanor was replaced with concern for her dear friend. She rubbed his back gently as he drank the water. “Better?”

“Yeah,” he lied.

“Let’s call it a day and set up camp,” the older man suggested. 

Prota nodded in agreement. His chest pains never truly subsided… At least, they hadn’t, prior to that encounter with Anta. When he was standing on that sundial, in front of that mysterious man, the pain he’d felt his entire life disappeared. His body had never felt so pain-free before. But once Anta went back down into his lair, Prota’s pain returned. At first, he thought it was just the heat of the moment, that his rage towards that man distracted him from his agony… But when he had cooled down and watched his friends battle, he noticed that the pain really wasn’t there.

Once they set up camp in the cave, Tiki went off to bathe in a crystal clear pond she had spotted on the way in.

“What’s up?” Krain asked, when he and Prota had a moment alone. “You aren’t usually nervous when we fight an enemy, especially not one you’ve been hyped for.”

“Um, it’s hard to explain, but…” Prota began, trying to bring up the courage. 

“Take your time,” Krain said, his usual patient self. He clasped his rugged hands together, with his knees resting on his elbows, as he set his attention to his troubled friend.

“I,” Prota swallowed nervously, “feel something when I’m around that guy. “Like a,” Prota paused, as he tried to find the right word. “A pull. As if there’s a magnetic force drawing me to him.”

Krain was a little surprised. This definitely wasn’t what he had expected. But he was also relieved. “Ah,” he said calmly. A smile spread on his chiseled, stubbled face. “It sounds like you’re attracted to him.”

“No, I don’t think…” Prota was flustered for a moment as Krain gave him a knowing look, but then he looked down to the cave floor, with his hands in fists on his lap. “Actually, I’m not sure. You could be right.” He felt his face get hot, and he could tell it wasn’t just from the campfire. Was it just sexual attraction? He’d felt that way for women before… for Tiki… But it felt different than this. Was it possible for a crush to make his chronic pain disappear like that? And when Tiki cut Anta’s shoulder…

“Look, Prota,” Krain’s heavy hand landed on Prota’s shoulder, bringing him back to reality. “I understand that you must be feeling confused right now. You weren’t expecting the enemy to make you question your sexuality. Granted, it wasn’t the most convenient time for you to make this discovery about yourself,” Krain said with a shrug, “but I just want you to know… It’s okay,” he said with a gentle smile. “Tiki and I are your friends. We aren’t going to judge you for that. I especially can’t,” he said with a chuckle. “I’d been with my fair share of guys before I met Maria.” As he laughed, his white teeth showed against his tan skin. 

Prota got even redder, which made Krain crack up with laughter.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” Krain said as he took his hand away to give the boy some space. “All I’m saying is, it’s okay to think the guy’s hot, but don’t let that cloud your judgement, alright? We have a job to do. I know you know that, but if you feel like your feelings are making it hard for you to get the job done, talk to us about it… ‘Kay?”

“Yeah,” Prota said, as he smiled at his friend. Krain meant well, but as Prota felt the pain in his heart flare up once again, he couldn’t help but feel like there was more to this than met the eye. His mind was more than willing to kill Anta to save the world… but his heart seemed to disagree.