Celeste and Julius gathered by the fire, waiting on Evelyn who was roasting... or rather, burning mountain rabbits for breakfast. The poor girl clearly didn't know how to cook. Even Celeste had to cover her face in embarrassment as she watched Evelyn struggle to turn over the charred meat.

The reason for this mess was because Dion had remained seated by his brother's grave, and Ino, the mother figure of the party, had to stay by his side. Without Ino here to take charge of the cooking, the task had fallen to Evelyn, and the results were definitely showing.

I coughed, fanning the air with my hand as the thick smoke drifted my way. Then after a few uncomfortable seconds, I stood up, leaving the clouds of burnt fur and meat behind, and began walking towards the grave where Dion sat.

Before I reached him, I reached into my inventory and took out a bottle of alcohol. It was the leftover from the one Aika had given me during the night.

Ino, who was sitting beside Dion with her head resting on her knees, turned and saw me approaching. She stood and nodded, and when I returned the gesture, she walked away to give us some space.

As I reached where he sat, Dion's gaze shifted to me from the grave. His face was hollow and drained, with dark circles under his eyes that made him look like he hadn't slept for a single second.

I offered a small smile while waving the half finished bottle of wine in front of him as a greeting.

"I've got a little bit of your favorite drink right here." I said, hoping to coax even a tiny bit of life back into his eyes.

Dion smiled and tapped the ground beside him inviting me to sit.

I had barely sat down when he reached out and snatched the drink from my hand. He took a long, desperate series of gulps without stopping until the bottle was completely empty. Then, he let out a heavy sigh and looked at the empty bottle with a frown.

"It's barely enough to get me drunk," he muttered, his voice sounding raspy and worn out.

"Well, you'll be able to get more when we get to the Puppeteer's Grove," I replied, looking toward the grave.

After a few moments, I asked quietly, "I heard his name was Bryan?"

Dion nodded and leaned back on his hands.

After a few seconds, he muttered. "He used to love duels. His favorite pastime was dragging me and the rest of the guards of the manor against our will, into this arena kind of space that his bonded ability created, after which we would spend hours fighting it out."

He let out a weak, hollow laugh as he stared at the freshly turned dirt. "The bastard never knew when to call it quits, even when he was clearly losing almost every time."

He paused and rubbed his bloodshot eyes before continuing. "...And then, after he'd finally get his ass kicked, he'd just sit there on the floor of his own arena and yell excuses for why he lost. Ha… he was always so loud. Always trying to prove he was the strongest of the Athamas."

Dion went quiet again and the small smirk that had appeared while he was talking faded away. "Now it's just... quiet. I don't think I've ever known him to be this quiet."

Listening to Dion talk about the brother he'd just lost, I didn't really know what to say to that. I wasn't good at comforting people. After a few awkward seconds of searching for the right words, I finally spoke. "You did a good thing, freeing him by giving him the one thing he loved the most. I'm sure he would've enjoyed that last duel with you more than any of the ones back at the manor."

Dion sniffed. "…Right."

He took a look at the empty bottle in his hand, threw it to the side, and rubbed his nose with the back of his hand. "I wanted to kill him, you know? That Yami guy." He cast a glance at me. "At first I was angry you took my kill. But after hearing Aika's reason for your death, I wasn't so mad anymore. Although now I feel empty. Unsatisfied. I have a lot of rage stored up, but I have no outlet left to release it all."

I looked at him for a moment, then stood up and reached out a hand to help him up. I nodded back towards where the others were gathered. "Come on. Let's go have breakfast, or whatever mess it is that Evelyn's cooking up. The sooner we get moving and get to the Puppeteer's Grove, the sooner you can get your hands on enough alcohol to wash down all that rage."

Dion stared at my hand for a second, then gave a short, dry huff and took it. He pulled himself up, swaying slightly as his boots crunched on the loose soil, and spent a moment brushing the dirt off his trousers.

Ino, who was leaning against a nearby tree watching us in silence, also stood up.

Dion took one last look at the grave and his expression went blank for a heartbeat, before he turned his back on it and we all started walking toward the campfire.

***

Everyone settled around the fire and we quickly worked our way through breakfast… or at least the parts of it that weren't charcoal, while also teasing the hell out of poor Evelyn for the mess.

When we were done, Ino reached out, retrieving the whisper-globe from me. Since we all had a bit of knowledge about the desert in front of us which led to the puppeteers grove, we all secured a pouch of water each to prepare us for the long, hot and burdensome trek ahead.

Not long after, Ino led the way as we set out into the shimmering heat of the desert.

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