Garden Of The Abyss

"...The hell are you looking at?"

Waking up from his medically-induced sleep, the first words to come out of Macheo's mouth as he blinked with his dreary eyes were exactly what Iris expected.

"That's the first thing you say after having your life saved? At this rate, you'll never be a man."

Ren shrugged his shoulders, commenting on his first impression of the young, golden-haired adventurer. His words instantly shot Macheo straight up from his relaxed position on the raised bed.

"Huh?! Are you looking for a fight or something?!"

"Sorry, I don't fight handicapped people."

Ren smirked, waving his hand to disregard the offer from the recently awakened patient.

"Ren…"

Being looked at with those damp jewels belonging to Iris, hearing his name said so softly, all of his playful rudeness fell to shame as he nodded his head to the girl, "Alright, alright…"

Calming down, Macheo finally started to take in his surroundings--looking at the structure of the humble cottage with a fierceness to his crimson irises.

"This is Ender village, isn't it? Why the hell am I here? Am I some sort of prisoner or something?"

Asking this, Macheo looked straight at Iris for an answer, watching as the girl's eyes lingered on his left arm. Naturally, he also looked where her gaze seemed to be fixated--not realizing until he checked for himself that his limb was completely different.

"What the?!"

In place of his natural, flesh-formed arm was a replacement of the appendage, created by meticulous craftsmanship of timber. As he released this burst of confusion from the bowels of his being, the wooden fingers of this newly-attached arm wiggled as he further gasped.

"It was either that or no arm…"

Before Macheo would respond with likely some sharp, unkind words to the girl--he stopped himself as guilt was so clearly plastered on her fair face. Besides that, the white-haired man sitting next to her continued to glare at him, having him withhold his words.

"I'm sorry...It's my fault you lost it…"

Lowering her head in guilt, her apology caused a loss of words within the sharp-eyed adventurer, who ran his remaining hand over the form of the new, unnatural limb of his.

"Thanks for saving me."

It came out in a forced mutter, the abrasive adventurer ruffling his own hair as he turned his head to dull the words.

"Eh?..."

"I won't say it again!"

Fluster came over Macheo's cheeks as he looked away, gritting his teeth as he seemed to have already passed his cap on kindness. It was plain as day to Iris what had transpired before her eyes; it wasn't quite a transformation, but an unveiling of the boy's true nature.

Did being defeated humble him?...Or was it being saved? She thought.

"Oh, someone is a tsundere."

Ren teased quietly, holding a smile as he watched Macheo closely--still not trusting him enough after hearing the story Iris gave him.

"I don't know what the hell that is, but I hate it!...Who the hell are you, anyway?"

It seemed Macheo was too busy caught in a stupor as soon as he woke up, only just now taking a moment to ask Ren who he was--a question that seemed to catch a smile from the snowy-haired young man.

"Oh, me?"

Ren's smug smile as he responded caught a worried look from the girl next to him, who knew that his words always led to trouble.

"Ren Nakamura, Iris' personal bodyguard and number one candidate for her heart!"

Announcing himself so fervently, pointing to himself with his thumb--his unusual introduction caused Iris' pale cheeks to turn as red as an apple, letting out an audible, "Huh?!", when hearing this. Macheo shared the same bafflement at this, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't care about all that, but you said "Nakamura", right? I never skipped out on my studies--I know that's an Akitein name, right?"

"Good question. It really depends on what came first--Akitein or Japan?"

Ren responded in a joking manner, using a term that was completely foreign to this world--expecting to draw further confusion from the recently awakened boy. Though, one look at Iris' slightly agape mouth as she looked at him, he felt as if he misspoke.

"...Japan? You're an otherworlder?"

"Huh? You actually know about Japan?!"

Though he was recognized as an otherworlder, Ren didn't sense any fermenting hostility in Macheo's tone--in fact, it seemed he was calmer than ever, sitting criss-cross applesauce on the bed with his hands on each of his knees.

"Ren...Macheo is from Lucrauv…"

"I've heard you mention that place before, but I really don't get what that has to do with him knowing about Japan…"

"That's because you're spending your damn time in Mastorn! I don't know why unless you're looking for a death wish--that place eats otherworlders like you right up. It's also a damn arrogant empire! No wonder why you've never learned about Lucrauv!"

Macheo seemed offended at his ignorance of his homeland, though the anger seemed more directed at Mastorn than anything else.

"...Iris, right?"

Iris nodded her head at the sudden calling of her name from Macheo, whose anger seemed to settle after adjusting to his awakened state.

"I can assume you're an otherworlder as well then, right? If you're with him, it's the most reasonable assumption…"

Asking this, Macheo received a slight nod from Iris, who slid her azure locks behind her ear as she kept her gaze settled.

"What do you mean "with him"?! Is there something wrong with being with me, huh?!"

"Damn right there is! In Mastorn, you'd be beheaded just for being seen talking to an otherworlder without spitting on them!"

As Macheo corrected Ren's playful banter, the response he garnered hit memories he didn't expect to be touched. That accursed day--the bloodied estate, ran through by the hellish Argonaut.

"Ren...Are you alright?"

Feeling a hand on top of his own, he snapped out of the ensnaring memories that plagued him, slowly nodding his head, "Yeah…", looking back up at Macheo, who looked a little guilty despite not knowing what he said wrong.

"Anyway...I'm still curious as to why you know about Japan? And why don't you completely and utterly hate my guts despite my status as an otherworlder?"

"Who says I don't hate you?...Anyway, Lucrauv is a kingdom that used to be two completely separate places--but because of Mastorn's greedy nature, the two kingdoms were forced to merge to avoid being conquered. I suppose in comparison to Earth...The two combined kingdoms are similar to "Russia" and "South Korea"--right?"

Macheo looked at Iris for confirmation, who simply nodded silently once more. Hearing this, Ren nodded his head a few times, taking in this information as if recording it into his brain.

"Interesting, but that doesn't really answer my question."

"I was getting to it! Just merging the two countries together wasn't enough, the leaders knew Mastorn would return sometime down the line, so they opted to start summoning in otherworlders to add into their military."

Explaining the history of his homeland, Macheo caressed his new, wooden arm, running his fingertips along the smooth timber. It seemed speaking about the land of his birth calmed his heart as the usual ferocity to his voice settled.

"Forcing people into your army, huh?...That's pretty shitty."

"Don't get us wrong; otherworlders have to join our forces, but in exchange, they're treated like royalty. They're given land, riches, power--you name it."

"...Huh."

Hearing this, a greedy look came over Ren's expression as he earned a sharp elbow to the arm by the young woman sitting next to him.

"So, this "Lucrauv" place--it actually values otherworlders? That's...different."

"They're blessed with magical talent when coming here; it'd be foolish for any army to ignore valuable soldiers like that. That's why Mastorn is going to go down."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, when I become ruler--I'm storming through those damn pearly gates. I'm sick of everyone living under the shadow of "big, scary Mastorn", enough is enough."

Macheo clenched the fist of his wooden arm, looking down at it as his golden fringes draped over his royal, vermilion eyes.

"Wait, ruler?"

"Yeah?"

"You're the heir to the throne?!"

Ren sat up in his seat, pointing directly at Macheo as if he was meeting some sort of celebrity, holding a bewildered look momentarily as the room fell silent.

"Well, not exactly…"

Seeing how excited Ren was, Macheo seemed a bit bashful having to correct him, scratching his own cheek with a slight chuckle.

"I'm one of many sons of the current king."

"Ah…So, you're not the heir then? If it's like any other place, the eldest son gets everything."

Keeping his arms folded against his sore chest, Ren looked up at the ceiling as he spoke.

"That's not exactly how it works…"

Iris butted in, speaking softly as she couldn't seem to maintain eye contact with Ren for more than half a second.

"It's not?"

"Like I was telling you; Lucrauv values strength. Age plays a part in who becomes the next ruler, but strength does as well. That's why I insisted on being the Purgatory candidate for Lucrauv this year."

Standing up from his place of rest, Macheo finally stretched his body that had been unmoved, his joints popping audibly as he let out a relieved sigh.

Seeing him up in full form, Ren finally realized just how young the Lucrauv royalty really was—shorter than him by far with an innocence occupying the resolve in his eyes.