Harvey - Ch. 33 - Free

Ross fell asleep about as soon as he had laid down; Sky insisted he was fine, though, assuring everyone that it was normal for Ross to be exhausted after using his signature “red flare” attack. He didn’t say much else. By the time they made camp in a clearing of the snowy woods, the sunset was in its final stages anyways. Harvey explained to Sky and Deadlox how he and True came to be acquainted with Ross and then the underground fortress, and then True went to sleep not long after starting a campfire. Right next to where he was laying on the ground, Deadlox settles with his back to a tree, watching the leaves sway in the chilly breeze above. After awhile, he closed his eyes, and Harvey assumed he must have fallen asleep, he didn’t move for so long. He then realized that he and Sky were now the only ones awake.

            He turned to the male, and saw him staring into the fire, one hand on the ground, supporting him, while the other was leaned on his knee, which was propped up. He seemed completely lost in thought. Harvey studied him for a long time, before he finally sat by his side. Sky glanced at him, made a small sound of disapproval, and looked back into the flames, but didn’t acknowledge him in any other way. Harvey waited a few moments before speaking.

            “I could heal your burns if you want.” He offered mildly.

            Sky was instantly, once again, reminded of Seto; although, his Seto wouldn’t be asking. He would’ve already done it, and held him down if he had to while doing it. “No, thanks. I’ll be fine.” He muttered.

            Harvey huffed. “Ross’s magic is hot, those burns look really painful.”

            “I’m fine, Harvey.”

            “C’mon, let me heal you! You know I can do it.”

            “Um, actually, I don’t know that. For all I know, you’ll probably make it worse than it already is.”

            “Sky, let him help…” Deadlox’s sudden voice made them both jump. They looked over, and saw the male staring at them with tired, but intelligent red eyes from where he was leaned against his tree. As they stared, he looked back up to the trees, and fell into silence again.

            Sky squinted over at his friend, before he finally sighed. “Fine. You get one try.”

            Harvey beamed and grabbed his satchel, pulling it out and rummaging through until he found the spell book he kept with him all the time. He was getting better at reading the enchanter’s script with how much he had been practicing, so reading it was much easier now than when he started. Sky studied him as he flipped through the old pages, searching his face. In truth, he was sure Harvey could cast a simple internal magic healing spell on his arm. He just didn’t want Harvey to do it because… well, because he knew he would be reminded of Seto again.

            “Ah! Here we go.” Harvey set the book down and stared at it as he rested both thin, pale hands on Sky’s forearm, where the nearly fresh burns were. “Okay… ready?”

            “Yes.” Sky said, seriously.

            Harvey nodded, staring at his book, determination in his brown eyes. He took a deep breath, focusing all his energy on his hands, before they began to glow softly with magic. Sky flinched instantly as the magic started to take effect, and Harvey looked up at him. “Oh – sorry…!” He bit his lip, thinking of ways to distract Sky from the pain while the wounds were closing. “Um… hey… how did you know Bodil before, exactly?” He asked without thinking.

            Sky was quiet, and Harvey was sure he would snap at him about minding his own business; he himself was a little ashamed at himself for asking such a personal question, especially to someone as reserved as Sky. But, to his surprise, Sky answered him not with an insult, but with a story. “…For awhile, I lived on the sea.” He said. His gaze never left the dancing flames as he went on. “It was right after he died, and the team went their separate ways. A misadventure took me to the ocean of another realm by accident, similar to how you ended up here I imagine, and… it’s a whole mess trying to explain how I got back, but that’s… another story.” Harvey swore he saw the ghost of a smile take his lips, just for a moment. “Bodil… he…” Sky took a breath and leaned back a little. “He wasn’t even supposed to be there.” He was quiet for a moment, and winced a little as the pain spiked slightly. “Hey, easy!” He snapped.

            Harvey jumped. “Ah – sorry!” He apologized quickly, and stared at Sky as he turned back to the fire yet again. Cautiously, he urged him to continue.

            Sky sighed softly. “…It was a cheap shot.” His voice had more venom in it than before. “An attack blinded him while we were below deck, and… he got shot. There wasn’t anything anybody could do. He was gone.” Sky stared at the fire for a long time without speaking, as if playing out the scene in his head again. “Buried him at sea…” His eyes narrowed a little, the same, stern look that Harvey knew returning. “I don’t know how he got here, but he must be a restless soul – a ghost, looking for vengeance.”

            Harvey blinked, interested peaked. “Vengeance? For what?”

            Harvey could tell Sky knew, but he didn’t reply again. Finally, he got up, and only then did Harvey realize his wounds had closed. “You should sleep.” Sky said.

            Harvey was about to refuse, when he noticed that the magic had actually taken a lot out of him. He felt a little woozy; how funny, he had done so little and he felt faint, when Ross had managed to do so much more with his magic before losing consciousness. Just showed how new Harvey really was to sorcery. Semi-reluctantly, he agreed, pulling his fluffy hood up around his ears to help keep warm. Sky looked over at Deadlox for a moment, and the two seemed to exchange a silent conversation before Sky simply turned away and went to a tree at the edge of the clearing, climbing up onto one of the lower branches. It took Harvey a moment to realize he was taking watch.

            Harvey stared after him for a long time, forgetting his own tiredness until Deadlox broke through his trance, making him jump. “He never used to be like that.” He said.

            Harvey looked over at him. “Like what?”

            “Serious. Stern. Touchy.” Deadlox nodded over to Sky. “Before everything, when I first met him, he was the nicest guy you’ll ever meet. He was funny, and supportive, and charismatic. Really, I think that’s why the team broke up. Not because we lost Seto, though that was crushing, but because we lost our great leader somewhere in the ashes.”

            Harvey stared at him. “…Losing Seto really changed him that much…?”

            “It didn’t change him.” Deadlox stated. “You have to understand… Seto was his only family. Losing that… it broke him.” Deadlox stared at Sky, before he looked up through the leaves again at the stars, and he didn’t speak again for the rest of the night. Harvey could only ponder on what he said, and wonder what Sky would have been like before as he shut his eyes.

            Maybe he was something more like the Adam he knew.

“Everybody up.”

            Harvey jumped awake, sitting up quickly, blinking in the fresh sunlight of dawn. “H-Huh?” He looked around to see the rest of the team already up at Sky’s command and brushing the snow off themselves. Even Ross managed to get up from his deep sleep quicker than him.

            “I’ve decided to go back for Bodil.” He said as Harvey had just started to get up, making him fall back down in drowsy surprise.

            “What?” True asked quickly, reflexes, as always, faster than the others. “We just got out of there, and you wanna go back in?! Do I have to remind you how hard it was to get out the first time?!”

            “No, I remember, trust me.” Ross snorted.

            “No. I understand what Bodil is going through right now, and he doesn’t deserve to live in eternal torment… Not him.”

            The others hesitated, before Ross lifted a hand slightly. “I knew him just as well as you… I wanna go with you.”

            Sky nodded, rare understanding in his eyes, before he looked to the others and it was gone again. “The rest of you, head back to the Guild. We’ll meet you there within a day.”

            “No way!” Deadlox said.

            “No!” True agreed.

            “If you’re doing something stupid, we’re going with you! That’s how we always do it!”

            But Sky shook his head. “I don’t want your presences there to influence my decision. Bodil is still dangerous, and having you both in the equation will make me… vulnerable.” He looked at them both meaningfully. “Trust me on this. Take Harvey home, and I’ll be right behind you.”

            Deadlox and True exchanged glances for a moment around Harvey, who stood between them, before they seemed to agree on something, and they looked back to Sky. “Alright.” True said. “But be safe.”

            Sky waved a hand nonchalantly. “See you soon.” He said, before he looked at Ross, and the two headed back the way they had come.

            Harvey looked between True and Deadlox, somewhat taken by surprise. “You’re – You’re just letting him go alone?” He asked.

            The pair each grabbed one of his arms and turned in sync, heading the opposite direction of Sky and Ross, back in the direction of the Guild. “You heard the man.” Deadlox shrugged. “He told us to go home, we go home.”

            Harvey’s eyebrows furrowed suspiciously, but he didn’t argue with them anymore, however strange they were.