On a hill overlooking Iselia, Blaine sat down on the grass with Kurt sitting in between his legs, presumably asleep. Smiling softly, Blaine brought his hand up to gently look at his hometown – well, Kurt's hometown would be more accurate. Blaine didn't actually live in Iselia; he lived in a small house with his brother, Cooper in the forest on the outskirts of the village. He was still welcomed there, and most people considered him a part of the village, due to him spending so much time there, and the relationship he had with the villagefolk. Others welcomed him thanks to Kurt's influence. Kurt being the Chosen of Mana had a lot of perks, and while Blaine wasn't abusing his best friends status, it was comforting that Kurt could easily have people on his side with just one word.

As Kurt was the Chosen one, Blaine knew that one day, Kurt was going to have to leave Iselia to go on the Journey of Regeneration, and more or less save the world, and that day was probably coming soon as Kurt's mother's failed journey was just under ten years ago. When it was revealed by one of the priests that Kurt, as well as his mother was born with a Cruxis Crystal in his hand that he was going to have to undertake the same journey. No one knew when the day was going to come, but it was usually when the Chosen was a young adult. And because Kurt had not long turned seventeen, Blaine had a feeling that his Day of Prophecy was coming soon. Which was why, until that day came Blaine had spent the last few months spending as much of each day, every day, as he could with Kurt. There were even days that they spent ditching school so that they could spend even more time with each other. Which, even though it was planned, was what today was turning out to be.

With that thought in mind, Blaine tapped Kurt's hip gently.

"Come on, Mr. Sleepy," He said, gently, "We've got school to go to."

"Ugh, but we've got Professor Berry!" Kurt whined, who, judging from how clear his voice was, wasn't sleeping.

"Yes, Kurt," Blaine chuckled "We always have Professor Berry. She's our only Professor after all."

"You know what I mean," Kurt frowned, "Today's one of her 'let's do nothing but talk about Regeneration!' days. I don't even need to go! I already know everything!"

"Well then Mr 'I already know everything'." Blaine teased, earning a deadpan look from Kurt "If you know so much, then I'll let you stay here if you tell me everything. I've got an essay I need to write and none of my books are helping."

Carefully raising an eyebrow, Kurt tilted his head back to rest on Blaine's chest so that he was looking up at him "Basically what you're saying is... 'Kurt I'm way too lazy to write this essay, can you do it for me?'"

"Yep!" Blaine said cheerfully, as he started to run his fingers through Kurt's hair again.

Kurt gave a small "hmmm", as though he was thinking about it "Sure," He said eventually, "But only because I love you."

"Yaaay!," Blaine said his voice even more overly cheery as it already was, pulling Kurt even closer to him in a bear hug "You're the best, Kurt!"

Not expecting the bone-crushingly tight hug, Kurt gasped before squirming, his voice a little wheezy "God, Blaaaaaaine! Let go of me, I can't breathe! You're going to kill me!"

"I'm barely touching you, Kurt!" Blaine protested, nuzzling his face into Kurt's hair "Embrace the hug!"

"It's not a hug, it's a death trap!" Kurt argued back, still trying to get out of Blaine's grasp, "Seriously, Blaine, if you don't let go of me, I'm going to die. And Sylvarant is pretty fucked if they lose another Chosen."

"You're not going to die, Kurt!" Blaine laughed, holding Kurt even tighter "And stop squirming and let me hug you!"

"N-no!" Kurt wheezed out the sudden tightened grip "I'm going to die... I'm dying. You've killed me Blaine Anderson, I hope you're happy!" he said, before forcing a few wheezes and squirming a few more times before letting his body become limp as he leaned against Blaine's body.

Rolling his eyes, Blaine pushed Kurt off his lap, biting back a laugh as Kurt rolled down the hill slightly.

"Jerk," He said, laughing at the scowl Kurt sent him as he climbed back up the hill.

"You're the jerk!" Kurt frowned, pushing Blaine to the side, and sitting down crossed legged, and folded his arms as he feigned to be in a mood with Blaine.

Yelping, Blaine lost his balance, and fell onto his back slightly winded.

"Nope...," Blaine said weakly, "You're the jerk."

Kurt glanced over his shoulder, and rolled his eyes at the useless lump of Blaine that was sprawled out on the grass, before he scooted over to him.

"And you're pathetic," Kurt teased as he laid down next to Blaine, and rested his head on Blaine's shoulder.

Sighing, Blaine wrapped an arm around Kurt's waist to bring him closer, nuzzling into Kurt's hair again.

"I know I am." Blaine said, slowly breathing when he began weaving his fingers through Kurt's hair, his eyes fluttering shut. He could've easily fallen asleep in just how peaceful this was. The spring breeze, the birdsong, and the strangely natural feeling of having Kurt snuggled into him like this. In fact, Blaine was about to doze off when Kurt suddenly spoke again.

"I don't want to be the Chosen."

"Huh?" Blaine opened an eye lazily and looked down at Kurt "What are you talking about?"

"I don't want to be the Chosen," Kurt said, his voice full of indignation. "I don't want to be the one that saves the world. That leaves my home behind. That has to go on a stupid journey with people I hate as my guardians. I don't want to meet people that wouldn't give two shits about me if I was just a normal kid. And I don't want to have to miss out on so much to go to the temple to 'prepare for my Oracle' which I don't even know when it's coming!"

Blaine looked down at Kurt, slightly speechless. He knew that Kurt didn't particularly like his title, but Blaine never thought that he'd felt this strongly about it.

"How.. how long have you felt this way?" Blaine asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ever since I moved here," Kurt said, looking up at Blaine "When I was told that I was going to replace my mother as Chosen.."

"Was that why you moved to Iselia?" asked Blaine, gently. He wasn't going to press for details as it didn't take a genius to figure out that dead parents were not a fun topic.

"Yeah.." Kurt said, sighing "Because the Oracle is coming to the Martel Temple.. it was easier in the long run. That, and my father couldn't afford our old home any more. So he moved back into the house we have now."

"When were you told that you were going to replace your mother?" Blaine asked, curious to know more about his part of Kurt's life. Blaine knew a lot about Kurt and his life, but the Chosen aspect to it was something that Blaine was completely in the dark about.

"When we found out that my mother died," Kurt sighed heavily "It was just a case of 'Hey, your mother's dead. But good news! Turns out because you were also born with a Cruxis crystal in your hand, you're eligible to be the next Chosen!'." Kurt scoffing lightly "I don't even think that's true. I probably wasn't even born with it in my hand. They just chose me because it was easier than finding someone else."

Again, Blaine was at a loss for words. It wasn't really out of shock this time, but it was more to do with the fact that he had no idea what to say. Just as he began to think of something, Kurt sat right up.

"Let's run away." Kurt said, looking down at Blaine.

"W-what?" Blaine gawped at Kurt, sitting up along with him "Are you kidding!?"

"I'm serious, Blaine!" Kurt frowned "I don't want to do this! I don't want to go on this stupid journey, and I don't want to leave you behind! They won't let you come, because you're not 'fit to be a guardian! So let's run! I'll get my bow, you can get a sword from Cooper's cupboard, get a few gels and just.. run away. We can pretend that we're just going hunting, or leave in the middle of the night. Just as long as we get away from here before the oracle."

"I don't know Kurt," Blaine said hesitantly. Kurt was.. He wasn't serious was he? Surely, Kurt was just pulling his leg and would start laughing at Blaine for taking him so seriously. Right? "I really don't -"

"Blaine, please," Kurt pleaded, his eyes actually starting to water over. Shit.. he was deadly serious "I've already got it planned out! We'll run away at night, and stay at either the House of Salvation not far from here, or go to Triet depending on how busy the roads are. And once we cross the desert, we'll go through the Ossa Trail, and take the bridge near Izoold, and find a place to stay in Luin and start a new life there. No one will ever know who we are. They'll only know who I am because of the Cruxis Crystal.. Which I won't get if we leave before the Oracle comes. We won't be able to go after it, because the priests and Professor Berry will track me down and pull me there, and I'll be forced to accept it. So the sooner we leave, the better."

Blaine looked at Kurt with an unreadable expression, his face falling ever so slightly when Kurt leaned closer as if to try and figure out what was going on Blaine's mind. Which was pointless. Blaine barely even knew what he was thinking, so how the hell was Kurt going to know?

"Please... Blaine," Kurt said, taking Blaine's hands, holding his gaze fiercely, the tears Kurt was fighting back now falling freely down his face. "Please.. run away with me...don't look back. Because if we do, we'll only regret leaving, and then we'll end up regretting coming back. So please.."

Blaine had no freaking clue what he should do. He wanted to tell Kurt to stay, because frankly, running away from his role was selfish. It wasn't fair for everyone else in Sylvarant, or either of their families if they left without saying a word -which they would have to do as their families wouldn't even let them see each other until Kurt got his Oracle in case they ran away together. But... Kurt looked so distraught about everything. About being the Chosen. About having to leave his home. To leave.. Him. At first, Blaine thought Kurt was being childish about it, but when Kurt started crying, Blaine felt that there was something deeper in what Blaine was telling him. Whether it was about the Journey of Regeneration itself or leaving home, Blaine didn't know.

He really didn't know what to choose. Kurt would be gone for a year at least, and that thought alone hurt Blaine, but when Kurt came back? Blaine would be done with school, and Kurt would be free of his duties, and they could literally spend their lives together. Kurt would more than likely gain a lot of wealth so money wasn't a concern. Wait... Was Blaine thinking about living with Kurt when he came back home if he went on the journey? They.. They were just friends, right? Of course they were... They'd been best friends for ten years nearly. Maybe they'd live as friends? But if Blaine refused to run away, and make him go on the Journey, then Kurt might hate him and run away on his own and get himself killed. If he did run away with Kurt, while Kurt would probably be happier, it wouldn't be good in the long run. But the future he had planned would happen quicker.

Finally, Blaine came to a decision. The choice in his mind was perfectly clear to him now. Blinking slowly, Blaine opened his mouth, just as a blinding light shone around them, and throughout the whole of Sylvarant.

Blinking rapidly to regain his vision, Blaine looked at Kurt, concern knitting his features when he saw how Kurt's face had fallen and was frozen in a look of sheer horror as he looked in the direction of the Temple

"Kurt, what the hell was that?" Blaine asked, his voice shaking.

Kurt breathed heavily, not taking his eyes off the Temple for nearly a whole minute, before he slowly turned to Blaine, his voice barely audible when he did speak.

"The oracle..."