[b][i]Ashton Andrews and Flame Brooks[/i][/b]

There had still been a sensation of fear when shortening Lord Talus' name to 'LT', but it was slight and more managable. Nevertheless, Ashton was surprised and a little uncomfortable when Kimura told too much of the truth, coming close to saying that Earth was another world. But he had to trust the other boy to know what he was doing; Ashton needed to let others have their share of the... Effort. 

In the meantime, he was prepared to theorize about the 'Archbishops', before Flame tugged on his shirt sleeve. Ashton turned towards him to find the latter a bit nervous, even frightened. This was explained by his boyfriend's next words.

"I, Alistair, and 'Father Whiskey' abandoned those monks when we escaped from a few monsters back in our... Starting point. Considering the fact that we had nothing to fight with, it would be understandable to do it if they knew that. But they probably didn't, and as they seem to be [i]warrior[/i] monks, they might demand that we be punished for 'cowardice'."

Ashton nodded in comprehension, before saying to Flame, "I think you should apologize." Upon seeing his boyfriend's shocked expression, Ashton held up his hands and said, "I know, I know! You don't think it'll work. But, the way I see it, you abandoned them in their time of need. Yes, I know you feared for your life and so did the people with you then, and it was probably good that you ran away, but that was then; this is now. And we can't afford making more enemies than necessary."

Flame looked nervous and looked down before he got up to gaze at Aer, then the Monks, waiting for the latter to fully register his presence. Then he cleared his throat and said, "Hey. It's me. One of the three people who abandoned you to that wolf-thing. Multiple wolf-things, in fact. I'm not going to justify my actions; they're not excusable. But if you want a reason that we left, though, it's because we are afraid for our lives."

His expression hardened. "No, we did not do anything wrong. But it was clear that we were suspected of being criminals of some sort, even members of a deadly Cult, and that those who were sent against us were authorized to let go of due process. We didn't want to die."

Then Flame's face softened; cynicism was still there, but it fuelled fear instead of defiance. "I am sorry. I and my companions should not have left you behind. Now we truly [i]will[/i] die, innocence or no innocence."