One Survivor

The door to the adventurers guild was slowly opened. The eyes of adventurers located inside were turned to face the individual. The place was quiet but rumors and small talk were instantly shared between them. "Who is that? What happened to him?" The man, barely able to stand, was still stuck at the door not being able to move forwards. "Isn't that the strong adventurer? I don't remember his name, but I remember hearing that he had a mask, just like that one." The mask the individual was wearing was not only dirty, but chipped at multiple places and a massive chunk of the mask was missing, leaving the lower right part of the face visible. "Should we help him?" The talking continued between the adventurers, the individual was still not fully inside, with the other half of the body still hiding behind the door. 

The receptionist behind the counter had just noticed what all of the adventurers were talking about. The receptionist, was Cherryl, who was very familiar with that exact same mask. "Suya!" Cherryl's scream shocked Yotsuya enough for him to look up and continue walking forwards. As the door was fully out of the way, the site of Yotsuya's condition shocked the rest of the adventurers. As Yotsuya tried to move forwards, more drops of blood were being spilled on the floor. Yotsuya was breathing quite heavily with his mouth, trying to get a hold of anything to assist him walking. Not even halfway to the counter, Yotsuya lost consciousness and fell backwards down onto the cold, hard wooden floor making the air in his lungs go out into the air. The sound of Yotsuya falling down was heard throughout the guild and only one person present there was thinking rationally. "Guys! What are you doing, go and help him! We have to carry him to the emergency room now."

Yotsuya was still out cold, bandages surrounding every wound of his body, making him look like a mummy. "Thank you for your help, but we won't need any more from you. Could you go and get the guild master real quick?" The adventurers were quick to agree as they headed out of the room. "What am I going to do?" Cherryl sighed. "More and more people are getting injured and the basic medicine and healing equipment we have don't even compare to the basic healing we already have once it reaches higher levels." Cherryl continued to tend to Yotsuya. "First it was your friend with a literal hole through his chest. I can't even comprehend how high his healing must be if something like that didn't kill him. And look at you now, Suya. Missing a leg and filled with cuts almost everywhere on your body. You sure do make a good team, in some ways." 

The door was opened only ten minutes after the adventurers had left. "Cherryl? What is it this time?" It did not take long for the head of the guild to look and recognise who it was that was injured. "Yo-- Suya, he's back?" Cherryl looked down at the injured man in front of her. "Yes, boss, Suya is back, albeit not in the best of conditions." The head of the guild was even more confused. "If he's alive. Did they beat the dungeon?" His voice filled with temporary excitement as Cherryl answered with a shrug. "We don't know anything. Suya passed out as soon as he came back and regarding his teammate, we don't know, if he made it or not." The head of the guild lowered his head from disappointment. "I see, so we don't know. Worst case it's still there and we've lost the two most capable adventurers we currently have. At least Suya survived, right?" Cherryl checked Yotsuya's pulse to find that it was still beating normally. But, she was struck back at what happened next.

Yotsuya's upper body went straight up, almost hitting Cherryl in the head. Cherryl was obviously scared from having seen him unconscious one second and now fully awake moments later, but what truly scared her was the way that Yotsuya stared at his hands. Yotsuya's eyes were fully open yet staring at nothing, his mouth was only slightly open, even drooling. Yotsuya's hands were clean thanks to Cherryl but he could see nothing but Velios' and his own blood flowing through the gaps in between the fingers. As memories of what had happened, both real and overdramatized versions, Yotsuya was falling into a world separate from his own. His mind kept on thinking only the most negative things that happened and the worst possible things that could happen, thinking that it was real. Yotsuya let out a gut-wrenching scream, holding his hair in as tight a grip as possible, staring directly down at the bed as the horrible images flooded his mind.

Simply, the head of the guild and Cherryl didn't know what they could do to help him as none of their own words or screams affected Yotsuya in any way. If you tried to even touch him, he would just push it away and keep on thinking the same thoughts, over and over and over. "Boss, is it really okay to leave him like that? What if something happens to him while we are out here?" The both of them stared back at the door as the next round of screaming started. "I think that it's best to leave him alone as is. Judging by his reactions, even if he did clear the dungeon, Velios probably died and most likely by protecting him. He'll probably fall asleep soon enough because of his injuries. If you really care for him, you can go get him some food and water, okay?" Cherryl responded with a simple nod.

The screaming and sounds had stopped as Yotsuya felt like he was all alone, in a big, endless void with nothing as far as the eye could see. His body was still sitting up but it was completely immobile with his arms hanging down, touching the bed in between his legs. In his eyes was no light or emotion no longer visible. It was like the eyes themselves were the vast void, staring into themselves. His face completely expressionless and void of emotions, his dejected mind couldn't handle any more. Even slightly thinking would strain him because of all the over thinking he had done the last hours. Drops of tears were still consistently running down the side of his face. The food, which was prepared hours ago, had not even been touched and was far too cold and soggy to eat and the water lukewarm since long before.

Yotsuya had finally fallen asleep after hours of endless self-inflicted psychological damage. Yotsuya still wanted to have some hope, something that he could believe in so that it all wouldn't be for nothing. Yotsuya didn't want to either believe or even know if he was dead. Simply believing in the possibility that Velios could be alive and is out there somewhere was still lurking in the back of his brain. Yotsuya would do nearly anything to return the favors and the opportunities that Velios had given him by saving him in the most crucial of times. This meant that Yotsuya would do anything to try and find Velios, whatever it takes and that he would not stop until there isn't the smallest sliver of a chance that he may still be alive somewhere. What Yotsuya wanted more than anything was for Velios to be alive.