Yeah, no, he was definitely sick. Laeradr already struggled with getting his busy civilian life in order long enough to slip away to patrol once a week or something, let alone get the time to visit his Wonder and do the thing with his Code Piece where he fixed it or whatever. And now he was ******** sick. Wasn't that just completely, utterly, and bombastically <********> Fantastically fabulous! Absolutely amazing! Whatever!

He coughed harshly into his arm as he made his way into the massive coral tree that was his Wonder—just because nobody else was here to be alive and get sick from his germs didn't mean he could abandon all propriety.

"Hi, Zayble," he said tiredly as his body threatened to simply drop out from under him.

Zayble stared at him for a long moment. "Son, what on Neptune are you doing here looking like somethin' the shark dragged in?" he asked incredulously. "You're sick as a dog!"

Laeradr smiled tremulously. "I know," he acknowledged. "But I have to attend to my duties as a Knight, even if—" He cut himself off with a series of harsh coughs.

Zayble sighed, rubbing his forehead. "If it wasn't for the Code Piece acting up," he said sternly, "I'd be telling you to worry about yourself first. You cannot pour from an empty cup, child."

"I'm not a child," Laeradr protested weakly.

Zayble rolled his eyes. "You are to me. Now, then, you're here because of the Code Piece, I assume?"

Laeradr nodded. "Yeah. The Code called us all to a meeting on the moon. Need to resonate with it or something, because of some kind of kooky explosion that happened somewhere in space. Honestly, didn't understand even the small details the thing gave us. I'm just tired and I want to get this over with so the Code stops being sick," he explained. "Heh, maybe I'll get better, too."

"If you get better, it's because you went home to rest, not because of the Code," Zayble said witheringly. "Ancient heavens, child..."

Laeradr couldn't help a small laugh that turned into more coughs. "Okay, okay," he said wheezingly. "Where is the stupid thing so I can go home and get some more sleep?"

A trail of sparkles appeared and he remembered the Code had told them it would help. Alright then. Follow the yellow brick road, or whatever. He could do that.

Zayble nodded. "Follow that, stick your ring in the hold," he explained. "Fairly simple. No traps or puzzles here, like I've heard about in other places."

Laeradr nodded, grateful for that. "Yeah, I don't think I could solve anything if I tried right now," he said. God, he was tired. He simply wanted this over with.

He followed the trail through a couple doors, both of which he had to press his ring against to prove he was Knight Laeradr and not an intruder. Once in the fortified room, he knelt in front of the violently shaking Code Piece and tried to harmonize with it. It was tough, given he felt like he'd fall asleep any second, but he managed to fall into the trance.

An hour later, he emerged, saying goodbye to a relieved looking Zayble before going home to collapse into bed. Thank God.