Well, Well, Well...

The ache in Asterion’s shoulder could rival the fiercest of battle wounds but waking up beside Daffodil assuaged it immediately. He laid in his bedroll for a few moments, basking in the sight of Daffodil in the mid-morning sun, before the man turned his way.

He yawned so wide it looked like his jaw might get stuck like that and asked, “How’s the shoulder?”

“It hurts like H-E-double-hockey-sticks,” Asterion admitted. “Maybe a kiss would make it better.”

Daffodil rolled his eyes but leaned in closer until they were only a few inches apart. He hesitated, leaving Asterion room to back away if he wanted to. Instead, Asterion closed the gap. Their lips collided not at all gracefully as he struggled to push his body high enough to reach Daffodil’s face. Daffodil was wary of jostling Asterion’s shoulder so was unable to help him. He leaned down to meet Asterion halfway and it was quite possibly the best thing Asterion ever felt. He couldn’t think of why he’d never done this sooner and was cursing past him for being such an idiot.

Before Asterion could deepen the kiss, Daffodil pulled back and said, “Feel better now?”

“No.” Asterion pouted because now his shoulder hurt and he was missing the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Daffodil shimmied out of his twisted up bedroll and grabbed a bottle from his pack, handing it to Asterion. He recognized it as the pain relieving potion and downed it immediately. Within the minute his ache started to disappear.

“I’d like to examine the wound again, just to make sure everything’s good,” Daffodil said. He waited for Asterion to nod his consent before gently unwrapping the bandages. The injury was at an awkward angle that left Asterion craning his neck to see it, and even then he could just barely see the tip of a fresh silvery scar. “It’s healed nicely but you’ll need to stretch out your shoulder. Otherwise the pain will return when the potion wears off,” Daffodil added as he already began to make breakfast. It was a simple affair of whatever food they already had prepared in their packs. They ate quickly and immediately got on the road, Asterion running a series of arm stretches as he walked.

It only took about two hours to reach the small town of Sarina, but it felt like an eternity to Asterion. His arm was still slightly sore and every moment that he wasn’t staring into Daffodil’s eyes felt like a moment wasted.

“The town doesn’t look that crowded with players but still be on guard,” Daffodil cautioned as they started walking past the first set of buildings. He took Asterion’s hand and Asterion blushed at how second-nature it seemed to the man.

The buildings were much smaller and more simplistic, Asterion noted as they traveled through the alleys. There was no main square like the one in Caspia which meant they didn’t need to worry about a large congregation of players, but the two still stuck to the outer ring of the town until they found a group of NPCs completely alone.

Daffodil walked up to them, and the NPCs stopped the conversation they were holding. From the glare they sent his way, it was clear they were wary of strangers.

“Greetings!” Daffodil said, plastering on his most disarming smile. “My partner and I are looking for a certain well that we heard was near these parts. Do you think you could point us in the right direction?”

The NPCs said nothing and Asterion had a brief moment of panic. What if the well was some sort of holy site for the townsfolk and they didn’t want two random outsiders going near it? He refused to let his concern show on his face and finally a woman said, “We don’t usually give that sort of information to tourists. But you seem different.” It’s because we’re also NPCs, Asterion realized. If he had to guess, they were programmed to make it harder for players to find the well. Whether that was the Demon Lord’s doing or the game developers was hard to tell, but it wouldn’t affect Asterion. “It’s a little ways north of here, near the beach. Be careful, though. It’s rumored to be guarded by fierce sea creatures.”

“Thank you,” Asterion said with a polite nod to the woman. He quickly pulled Daffodil in the right direction, so excited about this new development that he started taking the lead of their little group. “Partner?” he asked Daffodil once they were far enough from the other NPCs.

Daffodil blushed. He hadn’t realized he’d said that. “I’d meant it in the business sense of the word. As in we’re working towards the same goal. But I can see how it would be misinterpreted. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

“No I- I liked it,” Asterion admitted. “You could keep using it if you wanted to. At least while we’re still learning what our relationship is.”

Daffodil smiled. He didn’t turn around, but he could imagine the light pink dusting Asterion’s face. “Whatever you like, partner.”

The town of Sarina was not a very big one so it only took a few more minutes to reach the outskirts. They made their way towards the beach, eyes peeled for anything that looked well-like. It didn’t take long for them to find something out of the ordinary.

“What’s that over there?” Daffodil asked as he pointed in the direction of an alcove hidden in one of the taller slopes just past the sand dunes.

“Let’s check it out.” Asterion regrettably had to let go of Daffodil’s hand to summon Ol’ Reliable as the two walked towards the suspicious area. Once they reached the slopes, Asterion realized there were two impressive stone doors set into the dunes, a little taller than he was. They were already open.

“Be careful,” Daffodil said as Asterion pushed through the doorway. “We don’t know what’s guarding this area.”

Asterion started to say, “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine,” but was interrupted half-way through as he tripped on something. He summoned the glowing orb he kept in his inventory and directed it to the spot he’d just stepped on. Illuminated was what looked like a woman, if she was covered in terrifyingly sharp teeth, scales, and gills. A siren, his mind supplied as he jumped back to escape danger. A danger that never came, he noticed, as the siren continued to lie on the ground.

“It’s a corpse,” Daffodil whispered. He didn’t sound too grossed out which Asterion figured was a good thing; he didn’t need the man fainting or throwing up when they were in the middle of nowhere and he wouldn’t know how to help him.

There can’t be just one guardian, can there? Asterion thought and sent the orb farther into the cave. Almost twenty bodies covered the ground, heading all the way to the end of the cave. All of them were sirens.

Asterion gripped Ol’ Reliable tighter and broke into a sprint. Something else had to be in here—sirens didn’t just drop dead after all—and whatever it was had to be pretty powerful to take out so many. He knew he could very well be running to his death, but Asterion needed answers, needed to drink from the well if he wanted any chance of defeating the Demon Lord, and he didn’t want to wait any longer.

Daffodil yelled something. He obviously wanted to stop Asterion from being a reckless idiot, but it fell on deaf ears as Asterion reached a second set of intricately carved doors. He skidded to a stop as he entered a room that had no business hiding under a mound of sand. It was well lit thanks to natural light fixtures hidden all around the room, and it was full of all kinds of plants he was sure Daffodil would have appreciated in better circumstances.

And in the center of the room was a well. It was made of beautiful stones that had been polished to smooth perfection. There was a small wooden overhang that covered it even though nothing would fall in this far underground. Attached to the overhang was a rope tied around a bucket and attached to that bucket was a woman.

That couldn’t be right.

But Asterion’s eyes weren’t deceiving him; there was an armor-clad woman standing next to the Well of Knowledge. She had a half-filled cup in one hand, the bucket in the other, and a look of transcendence on her face. Asterion was about to ask her who she was—because asking why she was here seemed a bit pointless—when she snapped out of whatever reverie she was in. She dropped the bucket into the water with a loud splash, pointed at Asterion, and said, “Holy fiddlesticks!”