There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 279 - 272. Reunion

Chapter 279: Chapter 272. Reunion

"Bas, you really have to calm down!" Han Shin clutched Bassena’s dragon-leather coat and hissed, looking worriedly between his friend and the other people in that lobby.

"I can’t,"

The answer came through gritted teeth. This time, Bassena wasn’t throwing a tantrum and trashing the place. He was still sober enough to know he shouldn’t do that in someone else’s territory.

In fact, he was sitting still, fists clenching so hard on top of his lap. And Han Shin was touching his arm and shoulder, concentrating his mana on mental healing rather than physical ones.

But even then, waves and waves of harsh mana kept on emanating from the esper; a blast of energy that was filled with anxiety. And the heavy corrosion inside of him affected his mana, making it feel stifling and suffocating.

And that was being generous.

It was the lobby of the peak sanctuary, and while there were not as many people as in the other two lobbies, there were still clients and guides there. They knew the Serpent Lord, and at first, they did not question why he would be there. After all, it wasn’t rare for high-rank espers to get their cleansing in another Temple that wasn’t in their territory.

But the man--and the other espers that came with him--did not request for cleansing and only talked to the Temple Management. And then the Saintess came and talked to them for a little bit, definitely not enough for cleansing even though it was clear that Bassena Vaski needed it badly, with those thick dark circles beneath his eyes.

After that, they witnessed the Serpent Lord there, waiting for something or someone, for two days. And it was easy to see how the man cracked as the time passed. He didn’t sleep, he barely moved, just staring at the stairs that no one except the clients and the resident of the Temple could access. He was neither.

And then, finally, he cracked completely.

It started when he inquired, for the umpteenth time already, about something over and over again, desperation all over his face. They could even hear the word ’please’ thrown out repeatedly. But everyone who faced him all shook their head; the Saintess, the management, the templars. And with more of that shaking head, the esper’s mental fortitude broke further and further.

And now they were looking at him in fear. Especially the guides, who were scared of their wits even though the esper only sat there quietly with his clenched jaw and sunken eyes.

"Bas, you have to calm down if you want to stay here," Han Shin, once again, urged him.

"That’s right, Sir. I would have to force you out of the premises if you can’t keep your mana from leaking," one of the Templars, the one Han Shin recognized as the one who took Zein away approached them. His tone was certainly calm, but his eyes were tensing.

Han Shin turned to look at Bassena again, calling for the man gently. "Bas--"

"I can’t--" Bassena gritted his teeth and buried his face in his hands. "I can’t...you don’t understand! I have to see him!" he spoke through his teeth and looked up, staring at the Head Templar. "Please, Gods--I have to see him..."

"You will. Let’s just wait for him, okay?" the healer stroked Bassena’s back. "You can’t be thinking that Zein would leave you, right?"

"That’s not the problem!" Bassena raised his voice, prompting the people in the lobby to flinch at the spiking intensity of the mana leaking out of him.

"Bas--"

"You don’t--I don’t know...I don’t know if he’s...if he’s still there--" the voice grew hoarse and dwindled, until it tapered out into a choked whisper.

Han Shin frowned in both confusion and frustration. "What are you even--"

Before he could finish, Bassena suddenly looked up, amber eyes widened and sharp. He stood up abruptly, and the Templars--who had been on standby all this time--instinctively took a defensive stance and raised their weapons.

"No, no, no--wait!" Han Shin raised his arms and shook his head, telling the Templars that they had no intention to do anything bad.

But then, a soft voice called out to these guards from the stairs. "Let them in," the Saintess said, and without even waiting for confirmation or anything, Bassena walked as fast as he could--because they were not allowed to run inside the Temple.

"Saintess--"

"He’s awake," the Saintess, Irina, said. "If you would come to the guest room, I will inform him of your visit."

Bassena clenched his fists. He hated the way this old lady called Zein as if he was already a part of them. Making him wait in the guest room as if Zein was the ’host’ already...

"Bas," Han Shin grabbed the clenched fist, sending more of his mental healing inside. "You can’t make any more scenes here, alright?"

Bassena was so distraught that he couldn’t even reply with words anymore. He only nodded stiffly, and followed the Saintess to one of the guest lounges, leaving a trail of suffocating darkness behind. But his eyes couldn’t help but look up toward the presence he felt, and Han Shin had to pull him to the right path so he wouldn’t plunge of the bridge to the base of the tree.

At the intersection that led the path to the guest lounge, another priest had waiting for them. "You can wait here while I let him know," the Saintess said, indicating that she wouldn’t go with them anymore. "Don’t worry, he’ll be here shortly."

Again with that tone, as if she already knew Zein for a long time, as if Zein had been living here for a long time. Bassena stared at the Saintess with a deep frown, just shy away from contempt. He knew that if things didn’t go wrong with the Ishtera, Zein might ended up going here for his measurement and education, and he might already became the Saint of Freyja.

That thought upset Bassena, and yet, it wasn’t his biggest fear. Even Zein becoming the Saint would not be more devastating that the other alternative. And that swirling thoughts got his spine running cold.

But right away, he turned his head sharply to the side; to the end of the corridor before it turned to another staircase. And there, coming from the corner with a young girl holding his hand--dragging him--and a white rabbit on his other hand, still in the outfit he used that morning, was Zein.

Or was he?

Suddenly, Bassena couldn’t move his limbs. His heart was screaming for him to move and get his guide back. His lover. His everything.

But he couldn’t move. Petrified by fear and anxiety.

And while Bassena was frozen, so was the guide, at first. The blue eyes recognized Bassena and lit up for a bit, before frowning, and then slightly widened. In a swift movement, he gave the rabbit to the young girl and walked faster, almost on a run, even, to approach the petrified esper.

"What the hell!" Zein grabbed the esper’s cheek, grabbing the back of Bassena’s head so he could look better into the amber eyes. "Why haven’t you got cleansed? Why are you still injured--Shin!"

The blue eyes shifted toward the healer, who flinched in surprise. "I’m--I’m busy taking care of his mental condition, okay?!" Han Shin argued in defense. "And he refused the be cleansed!"

Mental condition...

Zein rubbed the prominent dark circles beneath the amber eyes, observing how haggard his esper was. "Bas, you can’t go around in a red status and leaking mana everywhere," he chided the esper, but his voice was soft and his caress was gentle. "You should have asked for a cleansing--"

Before Zein could finish, he was pulled into a tight embrace that got him gasping from the pressure for a bit. But he didn’t push the esper, who buried his face in the crook of Zein’s neck, and whispered with a trembling voice.

"It’s you..." Bassena gripped the guide’s shoulder tightly, absorbing the scent and the temperature of the guide’s skin, feeling the firmness and the weight of the man he hadn’t held for three--four days already. "It’s still you..."

Zein, belatedly, realized what kind of thought Bassena had been having all this time. He thought the man would get pissed about him going to another Temple who wanted to make him a Saint. But he was wrong.

Above everything else, Bassena was scared that Zein would come out as Setnath.

Zein bit his lips and grasped the esper back, stroking the trembling shoulder and caressing the distressed head gently. "Yeah, it’s still me," he replied, turning his head to kiss Bassena’s temple. "It’s okay, you don’t have to worry anymore."

It was his fault. He should have predicted this kind of outcome. He should have thought about it the moment he thought about conversing with Setnath. He should have looked harder for a way to contact Trinity, to talk to Bassena for a little bit, to assure his esper that he would never leave. To tell his boyfriend to stay there calmly and wait for him.

But he didn’t, and he let this fragile man bear the thought of losing him completely for the whole three days.

He sighed and felt how deeply anxious the man had been through the tremble spreading to his body. "It’s okay, baby, hey--hey," Zein pulled the esper’s face so he could look at Bassena’s face properly; all quivering lips and glazed eyes with unshed tears ready to fall down.

At that time, Bassena wasn’t the youngest Saint-class esper in the continent. At that time, he was just a man. A scared child. A distressed lover.

"I won’t leave you, okay?" Zein said firmly, staring into the amber eyes. "We promised that, didn’t we? You promised me you’d come to get me even if that’s the case, so it’s okay, it’s fine, yeah?"

And this time, the tears were falling as the amber eyes closed in relief. The swirling wave of suffocating mana vanished just like that, as if it had never been there from the start. On the side, the Saintess waved her hand and the leftover negative mana dispersed fully until the air became clear again.

And Bassena, devoid of adrenaline, burdened by exhaustion both mentally and physically, slumped in his guide’s firm embrace, drifting into a dreamless sleep.

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