Xanxus disliked Verte.
They had only met twice before Darrian went and decided that they would've apparently looked appealing to the country as a wedded couple; her, a member of the royal family, and him, an 'outsider' who rose from preferred obscurity to unwanted prominence in a single duel. It was almost like one of those love stories that parents and elderly folk enjoyed infecting the youth with, and he knew that Darrian just wanted to give the people a show. As if Darrian wasn't putting on a show for them already.

[b]"How have I been fairing lately?"[/b] Xanxus reiterated, having already swept through two more flagons of brandy that a waitress frequently came by to refill. He rubbed his eyes and took another swig, washing away another figment of reality. [b]"Before now, killing a bunch of weaklings called Shepherds. I ran into that brother I talked about before. You know, the bean sprout."[/b]

---

[b]"I've had enough,"[/b]

Zaino was dreaming like before, but this time, the only sense he could rely on was sound. Pale darkness clouded his eyes, though the sounds were fairly clear, as if its owner stood before him, concealed by the shadows. [b]"It's [i]his[/i] fault that they're all dead, himself included! We're the only ones left!"[/b]

[b]"Stop,"[/b] Another unfamiliar voice, belonging to a man, interjected the other. [b]"Now's not the time to get angry. We need to recuperate, find the other survivors, and come back to the mainland."[/b]

[b]"Are you blind?"[/b] The enraged voice howled, almost as if it was pained to continue speaking. [b]"Do you [i]really[/i] believe that? [i]You saw it with your own eyes![/i] There is [i]nothing[/i] to come back to!"[/b]

[b][i]"Where there's life, there's hope.[/i] We might've lost everything, but we can keep fighting back. [i]We will prevail."[/i][/b]

[b]"Yeah, keep lying to yourself like he did to us. I don't care anymore,"[/b] The man seemed to calm down, though his rough manner of speech and hint of aggression ceased to relent. [b]"Fight and prevail or not, I've only one enemy. I'm done sitting back like a coward, like how I let a scoundrel like him take lead and march into that massacre. With nothing left to live for, at least I've now got something I can die for."[/b]

The other man sighed. [b]"Then I guess I don't have a choice but to join you in your suicide mission, then? That's what friends are for, right?"[/b]

[b]"Whatever."[/b]

---

And once more, Zaino awoke beneath the blanket of an inn bed in a cold sweat, his forehead pounding. He no longer felt famished or the arid dryness of his throat, unsure of what had happened. He had went unconscious after Ambra tended to him again. He wondered if all of that had been a dream as well, and if all of them had been part of a large hallucination from the hunger and exhaustion.

And so, it turned out that the people were real.
Zaino could hear noises from the wall that his bedside sat against, able to decode a female's voice as the drunkard he had pushed earlier. He blinked twice for a moment before realizing what was actually going on in the other room, cringing slightly. [i]So this is what she was talking about...[/i]

[b]"How indecent."[/b] Zaino shook his head, lying back down and finding that sleep refused to accept his request of escape.