"Ah..."
Malin scratched his neck, chuckling nervously. "Well, uh, if you're sure you'll be okay and you were able to heal yourself up...I guess it's okay to admit that I'm kind of in a lot of excruciating pain right now and if you think your powers might work on an entity of death it'd be neat if you thought you could fix that at all. N-no pressure, though, I'll be fine."
Bennie raised an eyebrow, moving away from her odd hug with Kayin. "You're hurt? Why didn't you say something earlier? Oh, now that I think of it, you are pretty bloody."
"It's fine," Malin repeated. "It doesn't hurt that much. Life's the priority, it'd take too long to fix me. Unless her powers work in which case it might be okay to use them a bit."
I'm a wuss. A wuss in a lot of pain, but a wuss nonetheless.
Cherry Blossom?
Come to think of it...where was she? She'd gone down to look for Life, hadn't she? Had she found Life?
There was only one way to find out. Alfonso marched forwards, expression unusually serious. "She might know where Life is. We're going to find her."
Ingris raised an eyebrow, then glanced at Niven with a bored expression. "I think Cous wants to peace out. Do we have to go after CB?"
"Yes." Alfonso scowled at Niven over his shoulder, then sighed. "Oh, I get it. It's the souls, isn't it? She must be in rare form today."
Ingris raised her eyebrow again.
"Well..." Alfonso shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "No matter. We need your help if we're going to beat Life's location out of her. And once we find Life, we need to get to her quickly. I can't have deserters now, my sweet prince. You understand, sweetie, don't you?"
Ingris seemed oddly on-edge. She scuffled her heels in the dirt. "What, it's not like you can make him stay."
"No...I can't." Alfonso offered a smile to Ingris, wondering when the chill had returned to his voice. "But you can."
Ingris was silent for a moment.
"How about we make a deal, love?" Alfonso winked at Niven, continuing his stroll towards where he felt Cherry Blossom's presence steadily growing. "Either you come along quietly and help us out for just a bit until I've safely delivered Life to Death's door, or I'll have Ingris petrify your legs in place so you can't run. I really need your help, darling..."
Ingris seemed to have protests, but she kept her mouth shut; whether it was from curiosity or subtle fear, Alfonso wasn't sure.
He just knew it felt nice to be the one in control again.
Much better, Alfonso. You've made it.