The Prince Of Magic

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Arturia exhaled, then turned to face Kieran.

"He is starting to return to his old habits during the war." She answered with a sideway glance.

"I take it that that's not a good thing, is it?" Kieran assumed, grimacing slightly.

"No, it's not." Arturia stated quietly, emerald eyes narrowed. "If anything, it would be detrimental for him, especially in his condition."

Realizing the meaning in her last words, Kieran's eyes widen for a moment before he spoke.

"Is his Mystic Eyes acting up again?" The amber eyed retainer asked, almost whispering.

"Yes, and it seems the pain has doubled than before." Arturia said with a slight nod.

"The hell?" Kieran turned to her with a bewildered expression. "I know his set are special and all, but what kind of mystic eyes is it to cause him that much pain?"

"That, I do not know myself." Arturia shook her head, looking a bit frustrated. "But, Lord Zelretch has informed me that it might be a lot more special than the ones recorded before. Yesterday, when he called, based on the results of his last scan, he found that the magic circuits are expanding, increasing in amount, starting from his eyes and all over his brain, inside and out as the time goes by."

Arturia's grip on the metal railings became tighter, forcing a small groaning sound out of the metal as she did so unconsciously.

"Master had described it to me once how the pain felt like. He said that it feels like his brain was being pricked by a thousand needles, all at once and repeat, as if there was something crawling inside up his brain. He has been doing his best to endure it without causing us to worry more, but in the Zepter mansion, he almost collapsed from the pain." Arturia said.

"Damn, that's rough as f.u.c.k." Kieran was unable to stop his grimace this time. "No wonder he looked kinda out of it these days. He was enduring the pain. I thought he was just tripping on some drugs."

Arturia gave him a deadpan stare, which seems to silently imply 'really?'.

Deep into his thoughts, Kieran didn't noticed it. But a few moments later, his amber eyes widen as a certain memory came to mind, causing him turn to Arturia in shock.

"Wait, do you think that time when he was sleeping in the plane, he was tired because the pain kicked in again?" Kieran asked, suspicious.

Arturia went silent, thinking for a moment before she sighed in resignation.

"Most likely." Arturia agreed. "But, there is nothing for us to help him with that. The only thing that we can do for now is do our best to protect him and support him."

"And what about him going back to that habit?" Kieran asked, looking at her pointedly.

Arturia's green eyes narrowed determinedly, meeting his amber eyes head on.

"I hope you are not implying that we should do something about it." Arturia said with a warning tone.

Kieran rolled his eyes once, unmoved by the glare that can intimidated most people.

"Of course not." He scoffed, a bit disgusted by her distrust in him. "But, we can't leave him like this, especially in his condition."

For once, Arturia found herself reluctantly in agreement with him, which surprised her somewhat but her concern over her Master's health vanished it almost immediately.

"Yes, you're right." Here, Kieran raised an eyebrow, a bit surprised with her agreeing with him, but Arturia ignored it and continued. "But not right now, not while we are here. Master seems too focused on the task that Lord Zelretch has entrusted upon him to notice his recent change in behavior, which might be a blessing in disguise given his condition. Perhaps when we return home, one of us should talk to him about it, but for now, we can only support and protect him since I feel that it is not the right time yet to bring up such a topic while he's on an assignment."

"Fine, but you guys can do the heavy lifting. I'm not exactly good with giving out comforting words and all that shit." Kieran grumbled, slumping over the railing to return staring down at the waters.

Turning her head slowly, Arturia stared at Kieran, who didn't fail to notice her silence and stare.

"Wut?" Kieran asked, brows scrunched up slightly.

"Nothing. It's just that, given your bond with Master, I would have thought that you would like to speak to him about the matter." Arturia pointed out calmly, giving him a knowing look that seems to have gone under his skin for some reason. "Weren't you the one that had a… what was it called? A heart-to-heart talk with him before?"

"Hey, if you must know, during that 'talk', he had one of those gun-thingies in his hand!" Kieran rebutted, feeling indignant. "Who wouldn't be force to sit down and talk to him sincerely after seeing what he can do?! Guy can probably make a meteorite vanish before his eyes with that weird magecraft of his before it can hit him dead-on!"

Without blinking, Arturia huffed at him.

She wasn't against to what he said however since it was true.

Kind, soft and gentle-looking he may seem, Hadrian was still a first-rate Magus, born and raised as one, despite his morals and noble spirit.

Hadrian was even honest enough to admit to her that, while people might consider him to be kinder and thoughtful than most, he can also be cruel and merciless when a situation calls upon it.

Case in point, the way he dealt with Twice was proof of this claim.

"Just try." Arturia encouraged. "I'm sure he would appreciate the concern coming from you. After all, you rarely speak up, but Master always appreciate whenever you do. It goes for the rest of us as well."

"Shit… Fine." Kieran grumbled, massaging his forehead to ease the headache. "But you guys are going first. I might as well go last or something."

"To do what?" Arturia asked, one brow raised.

"Prepare." Kieran answered bluntly. "Like I said, I ain't good with words and shit."

"Ah, yes, that might be for the best." Arturia nodded, recalling Kieran's blunt and savage personality.

Suddenly, Kieran turned to her with a skeptical look on his face.

"Just now, were you thinking of something insulting towards me?" Kieran asked, suspicious.

Thanks to their connection with their Master, all retainers have a passive ability to sense one another's thoughts with Hadrian acting as the liaison.

What Kieran sensed earlier was Arturia's thoughts, but it was more of an echo than actually reading her mind.

"Hmm? No, that is merely your imagination, Kieran." Arturia dismissed, her façade calm and stoic.

Instead of being assured, Kieran's suspicion grew the more he glared at her calm and regal countenance.

If anything, the way she met his eyes head-on seemed as if she was challenging him.

'This shitty lady… Ooooh, if only…' Kieran growled in his mind, annoyed at the fact that she's stronger than him.

The slightly tense silence between them broke when a loud ruckus nearby caught their attention.

In unison, the two retainers turned to look on their shoulders behind them to see Astolfo giggling madly as he ran outside the yacht, looking rightly pleased with himself.

Just as they wondered what had amused the pink-haired retainer so much, a fuming Yan Qing came out right after the latter got passed the entrance doors that leads inside the interior of the boat.

"Pinky, get back here!" Yan shouted, face a bit flush with anger.

Instead of slowing down, Astolfo laughed maniacally and dashed to the other side of the yacht to escape with Yan following after him a second later.

The both of them ran passed Kieran and Arturia, who both looked on after them with bewildered expressions as the two males went to the other side.

Kieran and Arturia wondered what caused Yan's anger this time around when, just before the black haired retainer's form disappeared from their sight, they then saw the source of it.

Behind his back, Yan Qing's usually straight hair was braided and lots of pink ribbons were tied around thin strands to hold them together, causing Yan to look quite girlish from behind.

Also, they noticed something strange about Yan's appearance just before he had passed by.

"… Was he wearing a bit of make-up just now?" Kieran asked, unsure.

"Knowing Astolfo, most likely." Arturia sighed, understanding Yan's anger earlier.

Their exchange was interrupted once more, but by Rider this time, who came to fetch them at their Master's behest.

As they followed Rider, the two exchange knowing glances.

While they may have their differences, Kieran and Arturia do share one common opinion in this moment, and that was for all of them to come out safely from what was about to come.

Most especially, to keep their Master safe and to leave the Spider's Nest without much trouble.

Although, Kieran had his doubts about this.

The world can be unforgiving to everyone, and his Master knows this most of all.

Hence, he has no doubt that Hadrian is preparing himself for the worst in the case that something goes sideways during their visit to the Spider's Nest.

Still, becoming a meal for the Spider was not one of the things on his list to do while in Canada, so he would do his best to help out, despite being the weakest in the group.

Kieran sighed wearily.

'This is going to suck… I can just feel it.'

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