After a minute of silent saluting, Zephyr brought his arm back down and turned his body away from where his comrade had once been standing. Then, fishing out a vial of black liquid from his belt, he opened it and poured out a single drop.

Just one.

Just one was enough.

Not wasting anything, he placed the bottle back into his belt, and waited as a swirling black portal sprang to life. Then, he stepped through. Athena and Aluna followed.

None said a word.

It was as if the moment of silence was still continuing—not that Finn minded. He had never been a man of conversation. If anything, this quiet was relaxing.

After walking around for several seconds in search of the portal, he finally found it and stumbled through. Thank god the other three didn’t see that.

It was then that he realized just how reliant he had become on Iris. That was bad. Very bad. He didn’t want to rely on Zelestria, but he didn’t want to overly rely on Iris as his eyes either. After all, both could betray him, one day. His top priority was still to get Zelestria her power back, so she can restore his eyes…

Speaking of Iris, the girl had fallen unconscious. Since when, he didn’t know, but after checking with Zelestria, she confirmed that Iris was alright. She should wake up in an hour or two.

“… This is where we part,” Zephyr said to Finn. “Thank you for helping us figure out the Specters’ trick.”

Finn nodded. “Think nothing of it.”

With that, they parted ways. Had Finn been more of a team player, he may have requested to join them, or party up to head inside the Temple again some other time. But of course, Finn was more of a lone wolf. Iris… was an exception. She was all he really ‘needed’.

In the outside world, the sky too was black.

It had gotten late, and since Finn figured Iris would want to wake up in a warm bed, he headed for an inn to stay the night. As per usual, he booked only one room for safety reasons, and received a somewhat questionable glance from the receptionist when she saw the unconscious, innocent girl on his back (not that he was aware of this look).

Thankfully, she didn’t question after seeing how tightly Iris was gripping onto Finn like he was her lifeline, and Finn headed up to their room without delay. Unfortunately, the only one available had one bed only. It is what it is, though.

Once there, he considered helping her change, but realized he would probably get screamed at and/or mess it up somehow due to his blindness. But then again… it couldn’t hurt if he just helped her change the outside clothes.

And so, he went to work…

… And instantly failed.

“Mmn~” Iris suddenly moaned as Finn’s fingers touched her, and he quickly backed away.

*What was that soft feeling, just now…?*

Shaking his head, he stepped back forward and confirmed Iris was still asleep, then tried again.

“Ahn~” She groaned, body spasming a bit, and Finn backed away again.

*What is… Zelestria, help me out here.*

But to his surprise…

[Fufu~ nope~! You expect me to help you undress another girl? Please, darling, that’s too cruel~]

Basically, he was on his own.

*Ah… screw it.*

Finn stepped forward for the third time and went all-out, handling Iris’s body quite roughly, to say the least. He didn’t really know how to treat girls, and quite frankly, he didn’t care. He just needed to make sure Iris didn’t dirty the bed with any Specter goo that may have gotten on her clothes during that whole ordeal, that’s all.

Just as he was about to unbutton her shirt, however, Iris’s eyes slid open.

She woke up at the worst possible time.

“E-Eh? F-Finn?!”

“Lay still!” Finn shouted, then hurriedly undid her buttons to the point where it was almost like ripping them apart. He hated when others interrupted him in the middle of something. Hated it.

“W-Wai- Finn, that’s- no, don’t touch there- ahn~!”

Her body squirmed even more, cheeks flushed pink with embarrassment and eroticism. His rough hands traced over her well-formed chest eagerly. (To her. Finn wasn’t actually eager to do anything.)

“Mmn~! S-Stop, Finn~! G-Give me a little bit of a warning before doing thi- ahh~!”

Because Finn was annoyed, he placed a hand on Iris’s body to hold her still, but that spot just happened to be the same spot she was sensitive at. No one has ever touched her there before, and the simple sensation was making her go crazy. Was it just because of lust? No. It was because of Finn… his blood, his body, was strangely compatible with Iris’s.

Finn didn’t take notice in any of this, however, and continued working on the buttons. After several tough tries, he finally got it done, and took Iris’s armor set off her body before tossing it onto a couch behind him. He didn’t need to look to know there was a couch there, as he had bumped into it on the way to the bed.

“Hah… hah…” Meanwhile, an exasperated Iris lay on the bed, panting heavily and cheeks flushed. Her underclothes were a mess from all the rough handling, and quite frankly, if anyone saw this scene without context, they definitely would’ve thought something completely different from what really happened.

“… So, you’re awake,” Finn muttered at last. “Go shower. Clean yourself good, and look for white… sticky… stuff.”

“W-Wha?! W-W-W-W-White, sticky, stuff?!”

Finn recalled when the Specter had attached itself to his shoulder.

“Hm… hot, too.”

“White, sticky, and hot?!” Iris cried, flushing deeply and hurriedly covering her body. “Finn! J-Just what… did you do to me…?”

“… What?” Finn cocked an eyebrow.

“K-Kyahh! Nevermind!”

With a high-pitched yelp, cute and innocent, Iris dashed off into the bathroom, then slammed the door behind her.

Finn followed her with his head, then turned back to the couch where he had tossed Iris’s armor.

“… Hm. Good thing it has auto-cleaning.”