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On the one hand, Arle loved Primp, how peaceful it is and especially the people. Out of all possible worlds to end up in, she was happy it was this one. On the other hand, sometimes, a lot of the time, she felt like she had to pull her punches. All battles were through the filter of popping puyos, which would usually be fine. Growing up learning to dungeon, though, meant Arle was taught to hit harder as a baseline than most of the people she's met since arriving in Primp were.
Usually, she didn't mind; the puyo battles were still fun, which was very important, and she could still do them with Carby. Then, when Schezo, Rulue, Satan, and the others arrived, they could all have puyo battles like before. It didn't entirely scratch the itch for a good magic fight, though; somehow, it just didn't come up.
One day, though, Arle decided she had waited long enough and would ask one of her friends. She didn't have a specific person in mind as any of them would say yes. All that needed to be done was finding any of her friends. Arle started her search in Nahe Woods and soon found Schezo sitting by the Donguri Gaeru pond, enjoying their singing. He was annoyed about the interruption, but agreed to a fight after some back and forth, even leading her to a nearby clearing to ensure the safety of the acorn frogs.
"You actually know the woods pretty well, don't you?" Arle asked while stretching. Full magic battles required a bit more movement than a puyo battle, where you needed to stay on your side to pop puyos.
"Of course I do. Do you think I just spend all of my time in my cave?" Schezo was doing a few warm up swings.
"Not all of it, but I almost never see you around," Arle responded.
"You speak as though you want to see me more often," Schezo scoffed.
Arle considered the statement. A special kind of excitement had been in her system since she realized he'd be her opponent. She knew he liked to keep to himself, and she didn't want to see him every day. That being said, seeing him more than maybe two times a month, not counting when some kind of situation was happening, would be nice.
"Maybe I do."
"…Are you ready to be dominated?" Schezo asked, refusing to acknowledge her answer.
"Not like that, you pervert," Arle teased.
"Ggh- blast! I meant-"
"I know what you meant," she laughed. "I'm ready."
"Gugu!" Carby pulled a balloon from somewhere and began blowing it up. "Gugugu!"
Stances ready.
"Gugu!"
Deep breaths.
"GU!!!" He popped it with his claws.
"Ice Storm!"
"Star Strike!"
Large pieces of ice met dark purple stars and exploded into shards. They both ran forward.
"Ice!" Arle aimed for his feet, but Schezo sunk into the shadows before the spell could hit.
"Shadow Edge!" he shouted from behind. The impact of dense darkness knocked her to the ground.
"Oof!" She quickly got back up and spun around while casting. "Fireball!"
Even without shadows, Schezo could sneak up on someone with ease, and Arle hadn't noticed how close he'd gotten. Unfortunately, this meant he didn't have time to properly parry the basic spell.
"AGH!" His sword fell to the ground as he grabbed his now burnt arm and scorched sleeves. "CURSES!"
"Gugu!"
Arle was stunned for a moment. Fireball was generally a ranged spell, and was much hotter upon casting than it was when hitting the target. Her healing spells were a little rusty, but most burns were easy enough to fix.
She stepped closer. "How bad is it? Can I look?"
"I'll be fine." Schezo moved his injured arm closer to his chest.
"That's not what I asked."
"Well, it's not any of your concern!" he snapped.
"I caused it!"
"Precisely! Why should I show you?"
"I know healing spells, Schezo!" Arle reminded.
He picked up his sword. "Hardly a convincing argument!"
"This is not the time to be stubborn! Burns can be serious!" Arle grabbed his upper arm so she could see the damage she caused.
"I'm aware of this! I can treat myself!"
Arle took in the injury. A few spots on his forearm were more burnt than others, but most of it was very red, second to third degree. It spread up a bit further than she could immediately see. They would need to be cleaned before any healing spells could be used. "This is really bad."
"I'll be fine! It'll fix itself!" Schezo insisted through gritted teeth.
Arle wasn't sure what expression she made, but she was definitely mad. How could he act with such disregard for his own health? Schezo's eyes went wide with regret over what he just said.
"Schezo, this could get infected and you could get permanent damage if you just let it 'fix itself!' You are coming over to my house and at least letting me help clean it!"
"Gu gu…"
"That's not- Fine," he conceded. "Wait, you have a house here?"
"I found an abandoned house a while ago. It's actually in decent shape," Arle explained.
"Of course you did."
Arle's house had two floors. The first floor had the living room, kitchen and dining area, and bathroom, with her bedroom on the second floor. For the current matter at hand, they just needed the first floor.
"Okay, take off your shirt and gloves," Arle instructed.
"Pervert." He put his sword on the table.
"It's to make cleaning your arm easier," she replied. "Do you need help with your chestplate?"
"No!" A little pink came to Schezo's face.
"Okay." Did not expect him to be so modest. "I'll get the disinfectant."
"Mhm." He was already focusing on removing his armor with one hand.
"Gugu, gu gugu," Carby said. His appetite could really be insatiable some days.
"Actually, I need to feed Carby first."
Schezo didn't directly respond but muttered something Arle couldn't quite make out. She gave Carby some donuts Lemres had been giving out so they wouldn't go bad. Once he was full, he hopped upstairs to nap in his basket.
By the time she'd washed her hands and grabbed the needed supplies (disinfectant, cloths, and bandages), Schezo was taking off his long-sleeved, blue undershirt. A couple of small scars and a big one on his lower back caught her attention; they were the kind that resulted from getting stabbed. Arle didn't glance at him as she put everything on the table, but noticed how much sleeve she'd taken out; it was too much to repair without it being obvious.
"Sorry about your shirts," she said.
"It's fine. I have spares," Schezo stiffly answered and quickly made his way to the kitchen sink.
"Really?"
"A spare of each," he clarified, turning on the water.
"I promise not to burn those, too," Arle joked.
Schezo didn't respond. He hesitated after turning the water off. If she needed to go over there, she would. When he turned around, Arle's eyes went wide.
"Oh." Scars on his torso and arms. The remains of attacks from various weapons and other things she couldn't immediately recognize. Most of the scars looked a bit strange and messy. The worst one, though, was the one only the two of them knew about, the one she had to have caused. A jagged ring, low on his neck, easy to hide under his clothes.
Arle never thought about how Schezo came back after their first encounter.
He sat down, staring at the table, and she noticed two parallel lines on his right palm and fingers.
She sat down next to him and pointed. "I remember when you got those."
Schezo clenched his hand into a fist. "I have no recollection of… you."
"Want to try that again?"
"Urgh! I have no recollection of what you're referring to."
Arle opened the disinfectant and grabbed a cloth. "Well, I questioned your sword, you said it was also a staff and grabbed the-"
"I remember now," Schezo interrupted and help out his currently uninjured hand. "Can we get this over with?"
"Just give me your arm."
"I am perfectly capable-"
"You said you'd let me help!"
He held it out with a huff. Arle blinked with surprise. "What the heck?"
"What is it?"
The burn was already noticably smaller, a scar already forming where it used to be, and the worst parts were already healed. "Schezo, when you said it would 'fix itself,' did you mean that literally?"
His muscles tensed. "It would appear so."
Dark mages couldn't safely cast healing spells, but with that phrasing, it couldn't be one. The only answer Arle could come up with was he somehow had a regeneration ability. That would allow him to come back after… that. "Is it a dark mage thing?"
"…No."
"Got it. This might sting a bit." She began dabbing the disinfectant on what remained of the burn. He didn't flinch, his arm actually relaxing. His own look of relief and surprise over the lack of prying escaped her notice. Arle didn't need to press further. Knowing a bit about how he used to be made gaps such as the other scars easy to fill in. "Do you go to the pond a lot?"
"When the desire strikes me. Their singing is quite soothing." He had started fidgiting with his right hand.
"And you think the Donguri Gaeru are adorable."
"Their adorableness is a fact! But, yes, that is a factor."
"Hehe, I thought so."
"…Do you also visit the pond?" Schezo asked.
"Hm, well, I usually walk past it in the evening on my way back here," Arle explained, "but I haven't sat down to listen. Maybe I should try that, sometime."
"Their song is different in the evening," he calmly stated.
"How do you know that?"
"Are you almost done?"
"Yeah. Do they have different songs for the rest of the day?" She was curious now.
Schezo didn't immediately answer. Arle put down the cloth and decided to help speed up the regeneration a bit.
"What are you-"
There was a sudden, brief shock of pain up her arm telling her the spell backfired. "Ow! I guess I'm more out of practice than I thought."
"No, you're not." Schezo reached over, grabbed the bandages, and began wrapping his arm like he'd done it a dozen times before. However, he did begrudingly let Arle help wrap his hand, but seemed determined not to watch her do so.
Even after all of that, Arle still felt like she needed to do something. While Schezo was finishing getting dressed, she went to her freezer and got out a grape popsicle. Naturally, she proceeded to touch the ice cold treat to his neck, well above the scar, startling him.
"You-" He spun around, and noticed what she used. "Was that necessary?"
"Probably not." Arle shrugged and held it out. "Here you go."
Schezo looked between the popsicle and Arle a couple of times before taking it. "Why are you giving me this?"
"Both an apology for scorching your arm and a thank you for the fight," she explained.
"Oh. Well, our next battle will end in your submission to me!" he declared.
"And we're back to you being a pervert."
"Don't call me that! I meant-"
"You're going to win and I'll have to submit to defeat?" Arle finished. She was relieved that he wanted to battle again.
"Precisely," Schezo confirmed and opened the door.
"See you later, Schezo."
"Goodbye, Arle, and… they do have different songs throughout the day."
Then he left, and it was time to put the supplies up.
Schezo's mouth was flooded with artificial grape. When he agreed to have a fight with Arle, which, however brief, was refreshing, he wasn't expecting all of that to happen. Someone knew now, and she had accepted it as readily as any normal fact, like she'd figured out his favorite food or color. Maybe because she didn't know why he possessed the ability, but that didn't matter now.
He looked at the bandages. She had been so stubborn about fixing what was ultimately an accident. Admittedly, if Schezo had been talking to anyone other than Arle he would've dug his heels in and gone back to his cave. Someone else patching his wounds felt… a little nice, but there was no way in puyo hell he'd ever say that out loud. He'd still rather do it himself.
If she interrupted his Donguri Gaeru time again, he wouldn't be mad.