Melody of the Abyss

Zelos would have grinned when he entered Akzeriuth, if it weren’t for the miasma. He coughed slightly as he placed his arm over his mouth. He’d heard of the miasma, but he’d never witnessed it. It truly was foul. It was shocking, really. The miasma must have been fresh seeing as everyone was still out working in it.

An awkward silence was developing between him and Philia as they walked through the town. Clearing his throat, Zelos took a stab at breaking the silence.

“Nice town, too bad for this blanket of filth covering it. I hope I don’t get sick.”

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"Ugh..." Philia also covered her mouth with her hands, afraid to even breathe in the miasma. She knew logically in her mind that just being exposed to it for a short time wouldn't be harmful to her health, but the dense fog of miasma was still sickening. She rarely left Daath before, but actually seeing with her own eyes this sort of... filth... existing in this world was almost too much to bear.

She couldn't make eye contact with Zelos. "The miasma shouldn't affect us if we don't stay here for too long, Sir Wilder. Only if you inhale it continually over a large span of time does it begin to have affects on one's health... but this town doesn't have very much longer, does it?" Philia noticed somebody collapsing on the side of the road, and ran to him. "I'm sorry, sir; here, try this." She tried to help him, offering him a gel. "My apologies... I'm not a seventh fonist, so this is all I can do for you..."

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Lloyd let out a sigh as he exited the inn. It was always one errand after another. Sometimes Lloyd wished for more. His mind began to drift off into a fantasy of an adventure before being brought back to reality with a cough. Lloyd had remained mostly unaffected by the miasma, but since it recently thickened, he had begun to feel the effects as well.

Lloyd noticed Philia as she rushed over toward the man who collapsed and rushed over to help as well. "We should take him to the infirmary," Lloyd told the green-haired woman, mounting the man onto his back. Not that they could help much at all, but Lloyd assumed it was better than nothing.

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Philia nodded. "I'm not sure how much they'll be able to do, but the best course of action, taking him outside of Akzeriuth, isn't an option with his status. The medics at the hospital should be able to do something, however." She then turned to Zelos. "Sir Wilder, please help with transporting his gentlement."

She then stood up. "I am Cantor Philia Felice, an emissary from Daath, and this is Sir Zelos Wilder. I'm sorry..." She turned to the man, who was breathing heavily and strained. "We can accompany you to the hospital."

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Zelos nodded and slowly made his way next to the red clad local. “Do you uhhh…need any help bud?” he replied rubbing the back of his neck subconsciously and motioning towards the panting man on the brunet’s back. He wanted to get this man to the infirmary as quickly as possible and get the hell out of this sick town before he ended up being hospitalized too. His beautiful complexion couldn’t handle being in such a harsh environment! He had to ask, “What the hell is up with this miasma?”

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"Huh?" Lloyd looked over toward the red-haired man whom Philia had gestured to. It was obvious he didn't want to be here but was accompanying Philia on whatever emissary work Daath had assigned her. "Nah, I've got it. I'm usually the one to carry people to the hospital anyways," Lloyd replied, rubbing his nose and smiling.

The three of them began walking in the direction of the hospital. When he had first heard that they were emissaries from Daath, Lloyd eagerly assumed they were here to help with the miasma, but the red-haired had proven otherwise. "You probably already know that we're a mining town, so we usually have some exposure to miasma," Lloyd explained to Zelos. "But recently it's gotten worse... I think they dug into a pocket of miasma."

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"That would make sense." Philia commented, as she walked alongside the two."So... this wouldn't be the first man who fell ill due to the miasma's effects." She pondered aloud. Turning to Lloyd, she gave a weak smile. "You're doing a good thing, by helping out your neighbors."

Catching a glimpse of Zelos, Philia knew how uncomfortable he was in this place. In fact, she herself felt rather out of place in Akzeriuth as well, considering that she spent most of her time recently at Daath... and Daath's conditions were nothing like this. Her first instinct was to run away, and leave Akzeriuth, but after witnessing this... she had to help them. People living in such squalid conditions, why hasn't their country or even the Order of Lorelei sent out an official plea for help? It was too much to contempate at the time. "After this, Sir Wilder, we can leave after restocking our supplies. Will that be all right with you?"

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“Ohhh yeahh, that’s fine with me!” Zelos beamed happily, grinning in Philia’s direction. He hated this place already! The ominous purple gas that flooded the streets, the sick townies, the dark atmosphere….hell, even the women were too sad looking to be cute! Why should he help these people? They were doomed. To have miasma in the air all year long? How could people possibly live in a place like that?

Zelos didn’t know the area at all, so he couldn’t tell which place was which…let alone a hospital. ‘Might as well keep the conversation going…’ he though as he turned to Lloyd. “You’ve seen first hand the dangers of the miasma, so why do you still live in this town?” He asked in a low voice, dropping his previous grin. It certainly wasn’t his place to pry, but Zelos just had to know. He couldn’t imagine himself living in a place like this, so why would other people want to?

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"It's not that I want to live in the miasma," Lloyd answered, "But Dad's lived all his life as a miner. It'd be hard for him to get a new job." In fact, that would probably hold true for all the residents of Akzeriuth. Besides, he owed much to the townspeople, but he wasn't going to tell them THAT part.

"Where are you guys going?" the young swordsman asked curiously. "Most people don't come to Akzeriuth to visit." Just because he couldn't leave didn't mean he couldn't imagine what it was like outside of Akzeriuth.

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Philia nodded; this Lloyd fellow was quite astute. "We're passing through Akzeriuth in order to go to the border territory, Kaitzur; there's an aggregation of fonons there we were sent to investigate." She attempted to explain. She wasn't allowed to divulge all fo the details concerning Sir Wilder's quest, but this would be satisfactory for sating Lloyd's appetite for knowledge.

They arrived at the hospital, where Lloyd checked in the patient. Once again, Philia turned to Lloyd and bowed. "I'm sorry we couldn't be of more help. Once I report back to Daath, I'll ask them to send assistance here to Akzeriuth as soon as possible."

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Zelos put his hand on the younger man’s shoulder and grinned widely. “Well pal, it was nice to meet ya, but we’ve got to go.” He started walking backwards to the Hospital exit. “Good luck with your uhhh…situation! It looks like you’ll probably need it,” Zelos shouted to Lloyd as he quickly made his exit. Wait wait wait, he was forgetting something. He poked his head back in and whiny-ly yelled, “Philia! Where can we re-supply in this town?”

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Lloyd turned back toward the two travelers after making sure the man was settled in properly. "Thanks for the help," Lloyd told the travelers, rubbing his nose. "The store is out and to the right of the hospital."

The swordsman stopped a moment in consideration before continuing. "Since they're going to Daath, maybe they can pass on the message as well..." Lloyd thought. "Hey uh... when you get back to Daath, can you also tell them that we've found some kind of weird fonic stone in one of the mines? We don't know what it is, so maybe you can help us figure it out at the same time?"

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