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“Are you sure you’re okay?” said Lenos through the howling storm. His voice sounded perfectly calm, apparently not bothered to be standing in the midst of a hellish vortex.

Royo was very much not sure that he was okay, however. He was beginning to feel a kind of exhaustion he had never felt before. His head was tired, though the rest of his body was not. It wasn’t quite dizziness or light-headedness, exactly.

He decided to put the Eye back down again.

The storm dissipated almost immediately, as did the web of knowledge around Lenos.

Royo was beginning to understand how it worked. “I am fine,” he finally said, trying not to sound haggard. “Can you find something for me to carry this item in?”

“Ah, okay, let me have a look around.”

Royo tried wrapping his green scarf around the Eye before picking it up again, but as he expected, it did nothing to prevent the object’s power from activating.

Royo let Lenos search in silence. He focused on controlling his breathing as he tried to take mental stock of himself.

He was fairly certain that he was still sane. And his memories--there were no notable gaps, as far as he could tell. Childhood, adolescence, adulthood. All there.

And perhaps most importantly, he still felt the same. Confidence bordering on arrogance? Check. Ambition that approached delusional psychosis? Yeah, that was there, too.

He supposed his gamble had paid off, after all.

It had been a while since he’d felt such a strong sense of relief.

Now all that was left to do was begin testing the limits of the Eye. Its usage obviously took an exhaustive toll, so it would be best if he could somehow determine the most efficient duration to keep it active, he felt. And of course, he still wanted to know exactly how informative the Eye could be. Was it only personal histories? Or was there--?

“Eleyo!”

A gunshot rang out, and Royo turned to see Seyos there, already attacking the both of them with giant red hands.

Royo swiped the Eye and dove out of the way, only for the hand to follow him and clobber him square in the chest. The impact added to his momentum and sent him toppling over himself through the air until he hit the ground and skidded up against a wall.

The wind was knocked out of him, and possibly a rib was broken, but there was no time to worry about that, he knew. The hand was still pursuing him.

He activated the Sword of Hamenszoon and rolled out of the way.

The hand stopped in midair, suddenly not knowing where to go.

This invisible respite wouldn’t last long, though. He had to make the most of it. The Piercing Eye was already active, and though the combination of the Sword’s visual effects added to the Eye’s created just about the most confusing thing Royo had ever looked at, his only concern right now was Seyos. And in that regard, the Eye was not letting him down.